Mistweaver 101: Introduction
For those who follow me on Twitter, you know that I’ve been talking a bit about just how much I love the Mistweaver healing style lately. To expand upon what I said there, I appreciate just how much effort obviously went into crafting a healing spec that truly feels like it is the next logical step for a team of class designers who have experienced 9 years of growth. It feels like Healing+ to me, which isn’t meant to diminish any of the other healing specs so much as to point out that Mistweavers specifically and monks generally had the benefit of years of design experience without being hampered by any preexisting notions of what this new class “should be.”
It’s challenging, and it has a resource meta game unlike what any other healing class has right now. There are many risk versus reward decisions that can really set apart a competent Mistweaver from a highly skilled one.
But before we get into any of the finer points of endgame Mistweaver awesomeness, we need to cover the basics. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting several guides for people who are interested in breaking into Mistweaver healing for the first time. Most of these will be entry level, meaning they will be abbreviation-free and explanation heavy.
I intend to cover my UI setup, including the WeakAuras that I use to make my life a lot easier. I will certainly discuss leveling as a Mistweaver, and specifically “fistweaving” versus traditional healing. There will be some detailed information about the Mistweaver resource meta game once we get to level 90 content. I may also do a live stream at some point to answer questions and demonstrate some of these ideas in action.
But in the meantime, I need some input from those of you who read this blog. What questions do you have about Mistweaver healing? What problems have you run into along the way? What aspects of the spec just really stump or confuse you? Any and all Mistweaver questions are welcome and appreciated. Please post them here as a comment, email me, or send me a tweet.
I’ll do my best to fold all the questions I get into my upcoming posts, which will all be tagged with the “Mistweaver 101” category and title.
Tree Heals Go Woosh 
I started levelling a Mistweaver, but as happens so often when my alts get into their 20s, I lost interest.
So down to the questions:
1. What makes playing a Mistweaver enjoyable?
2. In battlegrounds skilled Mistweavers are as slippery as snakes, and have a big output, but it seems the average player isn’t doing that great with the spec. Is it too complicated?
3. Does knowing Tai-Chi help in any way? Only kidding 🙂
Haha! Well I’m certainly helpless when it comes to Tai-Chi, but I will definitely cover #1 throughout my posts.
As to #2, I can’t make the claim that I’m an especially capable PvP Mistweaver myself, but I do know enough about how skilled Mistweavers can do so well in PvP to talk about it a little. I’ll add it to my list of topics. 🙂
I don’t have many specific questions at the moment other than as a raid leader heal-y monks are a mystery to me, so I’m excited to read your posts and learn more 🙂
I leveled a monk when MoP first dropped, but leveled her BM and then never picked up the hang of MW healing. She retired to the ranch months ago, but in light of this, I make have to pick her up and take another swing at it.
I feel like I should contribute questions, but truth be told, my monk has been put away so long that I’m not sure I have any. At least, I don’t have any I think aren’t already on your list: Mistweaving: how does it work? How do I L2 mistweave? How is your VuhDo set up for MW? How do I transition between fistweaving and direct healing?
I am experienced in disc healing, but I’ve played around with all of the other healing classes and specs too. Mistweaver is the only one where I just didn’t feel like I had the idea of it somehow. Maybe it’s because I leveled her BM? Anyway, I guess some comparisons between MW and other healers might be helpful, but again, I’d have to guess that might already be on your list of topics as well.
These are all really great questions! I think “How do I transition between fistweaving and direct healing?” is a big one that many people struggle with, so I’m sure I’ll talk a lot about it. I’ll make sure to include a VuhDo setup along the way as well. Thanks!
I’ve just started taking my mistweaver to raids. Now I know she doesn’t have the best gear, 2 pieces of flex stuff, timeless isle bits mostly upgraded with burdens and a last seasons conquest weapon main hand although I’m almost in a position to get this seasons but in a raid environment I really feel that my healing isn’t as good as it should be*, but am struggling to figure out why so any tips would be appreciated. I know that’s not a question per se but it’s bugging me.
*Not bottom of the meter and worse geared as I haven’t been doing LFR but I feel that there is something missing.
I’m in SoO LFR on my MW, I even have the i600 legendary cape, (but still some 483 pieces, RNG hates me – avg iLevel is 520ish).
I still feel as if (compared to my DISC and Resto Shaman) that my MW has little ‘control’ in a 25 man setting. I’ve gotten to the point I can keep ReM & Uplift as my main heals, and realize i need to move my weakaura for thunderfocus tea to be a bit more prevelant so as to keep that on cooldown.
ReM and Soothing mists conflict me sooo much. I feel like I’m doing it wrong all the time. Is it just me, or the class?
I think that ReM and Soothing Mists take a long time to get used to, particularly because the healing style is really different and, in some ways, encourages you to overheal and go through a ton of mana intentionally. But I will definitely get into all that in more depth in the upcoming posts!
So like, the first time I ever used Flying Serpent Kick was in the Stockades. I flew straight down the hallway into the first boss.
The idea of using the Chi Torpedo move scares me. A lot. :<
Oh WOW the perils of Flying Serpent Kick, yeah. Chi Torpedo is scary and I actually don’t use it all that often when I raid, but fortunately it doesn’t travel nearly as far as Flying Serpent Kick does.
Also I love this comment. 😀
I look forward to reading this. I raid on my MW monk and resto druid, and I always search out more tips and tricks. There is so little on MW compared to the other healing classes. Even though I feel pretty accomplished as a mistweaver, I look forward to reading what you put together.
I struggle with my Mistweaver a lot in PvP. In big BGs (AV, IoC) I can do great numbers (often topping the charts) but feel ineffective. I struggle to keep folks alive under pressure. I can’t keep myself alive (which is almost certainly CD usage and my lack of skill with them).
This is a different issue from “wait, I got Renewing Mists, how do I use it?” “wait, I got Uplift, you mean I shift my entire healing style to use it now?” but it’s something I’ve definitely struggled with.