Actually dumbarse your the only one that resembled anything close to a flame on this thread.

Well, this is not a flame. Well, maybe just a little fire, but agree with almost all you say. I hope I am not misinterpreting what you said. If so, I apologize.

First, I'm a 62 druid on Terris-Thule, so you will understand my point of view.

Second, I would never try to displace or replace a cleric in a group or adventure. You guys will always heal better than me, and though I do envy some of your abilities, feel that there are other benefits to being a druid that I can live with.

All that being said, however, when I am in a group with a cleric there are several things that I do on a routine basis. In addition to MA and SA hot buttons, I add "target" buttons for MA, SA, and the Cleric. This is no big deal in a group but can sometimes be critical on a raid.

I also assume, whether I am told or not, that I am the backup healer. Please, please, please let me assure all Clerics that does not mean that I am in competition with you in any way. When you are having the most fun (read adds, bad pulls, etc.), I drop my nuking priorities a bit and watch out for the group members. I believe that a quick heal (500 hp) to any group member does NOT mean that I think a Cleric is not doing their job. And I always consider that I don't know what may be interfering with or affecting the Cleric and I don't take the time to check. If I see a tank get below 30 percent, he's gonna get a quick heal from me while I try to scope out the situation. If my heal hits right before your complete heal, I consider this MY wasted mana, not yours. I will take the mana loss in return for my insurance that you didn't get CH interrupted, or an add didn't jump you where I can't see what is going on, or whatever. This doesn't happen very often, and most capable Clerics will inform you of what they are doing so you don't feel you need to do this. WHAT I WILL NEVER DO is stand there and watch a tank die thinking the Cleric has a heal on the way. Not that I haven't done so in the past a time or two... to my regret.

I would encourage any Cleric to view this as a constructive enhancement to the group's tactics, not as some kind of statement about the Cleric's ability.

Secondly, I have on occasion CH-ed other group members on a somewhat routine basis. That happens in the following kinds of situations: The group is highly DPS-capable and they keep dropping the doggone mobs before I can get my nukes off (my good nukes usually take about 10 secs to cast or more, and DOTs are no good whatsoever). The mobs are hitting all the group members pretty good and several are down fairly far in health but not critical. Nothing the Cleric can't handle, but I hate standing there FM and nothing to do. (Yes, I am assuming all group members are fully buffed and DSed and so on). What I do in that case is wait until the Cleric calls a CH on one group member and I CH another one. My CH is kinda anemic compared to his, but I figure in that situation any use of my mana is constructive. In every case that I have done this, the Cleric has been appreciative, and have never had a problem. This also applies when I have time to nuke once, but can clearly see a second will not take before the mob drops, so I look for something else to do. Anyway, I always view my role to be supplemental to the Cleric, and not competitive.

Lastly, I always try to keep an eye on the Cleric's health, especially in touchy situations where you get quick adds from several different directions. My biggest fault as a MH is that I almost always forget to watch my own health as much as I should. When I see the Cleric health bar move, it gets my attention because I feel that if the Cleric dies, we are ALL dead. I have no compunction about throwing heals on the Cleric and neglecting ALL other duties (except evac) to do so. Usually, if things get tense, the Cleric will ask me to heal or watch one group member or if we are almost at the boss mob in LDoN crawl and they need to med up to full, I will take all the heals for a bit. To me, this is all part of being a team member, and a big part of what I enjoy the most in this game.

Take it from me, a quick heal hitting a group member just before your heal hits is not an insult to you or to Clericdom (if there is such a thing). If it happens consistently, the druid may need a little off-line persuasion (in RL a two by four works) but they will usually appreciate constructive criticism. You would not believe how many druids have almost NEVER grouped until post-50. If it continues and you are really annoyed, a "tsk, tsk druid - try using your mana to nuke and let me heal" message should do it. If not, a "disband from group" will usually suffice. If that don't work, I don't know what to tell you.

Lastly, believe me when I say: We ALL love Clerics in this game, and no one loves you more than we "second-rate healers."

When I do 60+ LDoNs I have noticed a 10 AP penalty if just one person in the group is 59. Normally high level characters aren't willing to group up with lower level ones unless they are either guildmates or there just isn't anyone else available (such as in the wee hours of the morning)