Peripherals & Add-ons a Healers Best Friend
Over the years I’ve learned to make my gameplay much easier by using game add-on mods like VuhDo, Power Auras, and Big Wigs. However I can’t forget to mention what computer peripherals have done for my style of game play, especially when it comes to what I enjoy best, healing in Raids. Can we do the job without add ons or peripherals? Well of course we can but using them sure makes our job easier and loads of fun.
I download all my add ons from Curse.com. They have thousands of them for World of Warcraft. I personally use about 10 since I’ve never been one to completely change my screen by cluttering it all up with mods. However I would like to mention 4 that I find very useful for raiding and dungeons.
VuhDo: I just recently wrote a post on using the VuhDo healing UI mod. It’s a must have for me when healing raids. Find that post here.
Power Auras: This add-on allows for visual cues of buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, etc. I absolutely love this add-on for setting up visual cues of all my cooldowns around my character. Lets admit it, at times we can get a little tunnel visioned and having auras close to my character indicating when certain buffs or proc’s are off cooldown really comes in handy. Most of the auras that I have set up are for my healing buffs, damage mitigation spells and a few talent proc’s. However, you can just about make an aura for anything(trinkets,debuffs) that has a cooldown. If you would like a list of my own personal auras for my Holy Paladin just send me an email and I will send them to you.
Power Auras
OmniCC: OmniCC is an addon that adds text to items, spells and abilities that are on cooldown to indicate when they will be ready to use. In other words, it turns all the standard analogue cooldowns into digital ones. I love this as a digital cue timer for when my potions and buffs(in addition to Power Auras) are off cooldown.
OmniCC
Big Wigs: This is a boss encounter add-on that is designed to trigger alert messages, timer bars, sounds, and so forth, for one specific raid encounter. Any serious and not so serious player should have a boss encounter add-on before participating in a raid. Will make yours and your teammates experience in the raid much more pleasurable 🙂 If you’re looking for a boss encounter add-on for 5 mans, you might want to check out Little Wigs.
BigWigs in Action
BigWigs Encounter Screen
I’ve always been a gadget guy so when I was first introduced to the Razer products website, I knew I was in big trouble. I can’t even begin to tell you how much of a difference their products have been to my game play. The two I use are the Razer Naga and the Razer Nostromo.
Razer Nostromo: This is a gaming keypad that has 16 fully programmable Hyperesponse keys, 8 keymaps that you can switch between on the fly, and an 8-way directional thumb pad all integrated into one dedicated gaming keypad. For the longest time I was controlling my movement and certain abilities/spells with my left hand using my keyboard. While that worked just fine, because there were so many keys around my hand, I found myself looking down at the keyboard to make sure I hit the correct button. Now with the Nostromo, I can control all movement and spell/abilities on the fly without delay all in the palm of my left hand and never have to look down. With 8 keymaps at my disposal, I have full control of all 4 of my healers. Like all things new, you have to give yourself time to get comfortable with it to build that muscle memory.
Razer Nostromo Keypad
Razer Naga: This is a 17 button gaming mouse. It replicates all my in game buttons onto the mouse for some serious streamlined game play. At first I have to admit, it felt kind of bulky and trying to press the buttons on the side felt awkward. I knew that this mouse in addition to mouseover macro’s would really improve my gameplay as a healer so I really worked hard in getting used to the feel of the mouse so that I’d build back that muscle memory. Two years later I have absolutely no regrets and can’t imagine playing without one. I sort of guaranteed that by buying two 🙂
Razer Naga Gaming Mouse
So if you’re feeling like your not playing to your full potential try using one of these add ons or even better, add a new gadget to your gaming family and check out some cool peripherals from Razer or any other online gamer gear website. If you have any questions or suggestions on good add ons or peripherals you want to share, please feel free to leave a comment, email me or send me a Tweet on Twitter. Have fun and good luck out there.
Megacode 🙂
Healing Spec 
Great write-up of your addon and peripherals! I have a couple of questions about the Nostromo, if you don’t mind :). First, is use of it compatible with use of your regular keyboard. For example if I wanted to type something in raid chat, would I still be able to without unplugging the Nostromo? And you use the thumbpad for movement? I have a Naga already and the little training nubs ended up needing to be superglued on (they’re not really “training” me anymore, they’re “telling me where the heck my fingers are” :P). Does the Nostromo have similar sticky nubs?
As far as addons, I’m an addon junkie. I love to see others’ addons and how they use them. I also use VuhDo and I appreciated your walkthrough. I’ve been using the addon for a couple of years and I feel like I learned some things (mostly about configuring for Holy Radiance :P) from your post. So thanks :). I’m interested in your power auras, too. I’ve just started playing a holy pally after coming from a die-hard resto druid (/sigh), so any tips or tricks you use to make your auras more useful are always appreciated.
Raevyn
April 19, 2012
Glad you found the write up useful 🙂
Yes the Nostromo works in addition to the keyboard so you basically have a full functioning keypad(Nostromo) and keyboard. I use my Nostromo with my left hand and if need be type away on my keyboard, use shift key, etc…
The Nostromo doesn’t come with sticky pads like the Naga. You really don’t need them because the Nostromo really fits nice and comfortable around your hand and all the buttons are big enough to hit with out making a mistake. The thumb pad on the side is very convenient as well 🙂 Go into Best Buy Electronics if there is one near you and give it a test drive.
Also, I am gonna work on getting a quick post or page up on my Power Auras. I am more than happy to help out with any Holy Pally questions you might have. Fyi, I did a post on healing 5 mans. You can find it here
healingspec
April 19, 2012
I have to agree with your add-on choices, although I’m more of a DBM guy myself. I’ll never forget the switch to Vuhdo though – that was an amazing day! I use a standard keyboard and the Razer Lachesis 5000 mouse. I’ve always been really intrigued by the Nostromo, but I don’t think it’s for me. The fact that I would have to lift my hand and then move it to the keyboard to type and then move it back to the device is kind of a deal breaker. I’ve also always been interested in the Naga, but have never made the leap and spent the money to get one… although someday I certainly will.
Sprinks
April 19, 2012
Yeah, I do find myself using DBM on some fights. I just got really used to and comfortable with BigWigs interface but they both get the job done.
The only time I find myself needing to switch over and type on the keyboard is if I need to type in guild chat. Otherwise when in healing mode, left hand on Nostromo and right hand on Naga. I never need to let go of either one or look down away from my screen.
healingspec
April 19, 2012
Great write up as always, I love this blog! I’ve been giving a gaming keypad some serious thought, i’m just concerned it’ll be a hard transition. Maybe i’ll grab it around when mists comes out so I can level with it.
aunakaheals
April 20, 2012
Like anything new, it takes a little getting used to but you’ll be surprised how fast it will take to get comfortable with it.
healingspec
April 20, 2012