Dispelling FAQ

[Shadowwolf]

So lately I've noticed a huge problem with dispels on raids. One the fights where dispelling is critical, a lot of folks freeze up, dont know what to do, arent prepared, etc. I blame this issue squarely on WotLK since the majority of it, there was nothing to dispell really in raids with the exception of a very few exclusive fights. Lately though, Blizzard has reintroduced the concept of bad buffs that need to be removed into ICC and RS and made them extremely crucial to defeat the encounters. Rotface, Lich King, Halion are the main ones.

I've also noticed an issue when I write this that some folks using Healbot are having issues with dispels and not seeing debuffs properly. Personally, I believe Healbot is problematic and over complicates the healing role. I tried to use it in the past, and I found just hotkeys and a good raid UI works more effectively. Im going to cover a few suggestions on making it easier to dispel in the hopes that we can help get rid of the issues that have been haunting us on LK and Halion sometimes.

Decursive

http://www.twilightonalex.com/downloads/addons/combat/47-decursive-2-5

Now, for basic dispelling without using any sort of healing addon or even a specific raid UI, you have 2 options. You can go with the basic Blizzard Raid UI and customize it slightly to give you a better view of debuffs, or you can go with Decursive. Some folks dont like Decursive for various reasons, others say they cant use it because it doesnt get along with their machine well, and that happens. I find it very valuable and handy because it allows me to do quick dispels and even quick CC's when there are fights with Mind Controlling going on like Lady Deathwhisper. On my druid I have it configured to allow me to do my dispelling and then have a setup where I can hit my control key and click the player box and it will cast Cyclone on them for when the time is necessary to control MC casts. I've actually found this method to be 100x quicker for me than using Grid which I use for healing however thats just a personal like and my play style. You might find something different.

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Decursive basically adds a bunch of small boxes to a section of your screen you choose (you can move the grid around to where you like it best) and each small box represents a player in your group/raid. The latest version that was updated last week from when I write this now shows the raid icon of the person debuffed if there is one. Some fights Bigwigs and the like put icons on debuffed people, now you can see it here in the small boxes of Decursive. It also has a timer that shows you how long the debuff has been ticking for on them. This is pretty helpful when you have to either keep a debuff on someone for a set time or something. You can also change it to time left if you wish as well as customize a wide range of things like colors, etc.

Default UI

You could also use the default UI to see debuffs, though you need to hotkey your dispels to removed them with the following...

Pulling out the groups or classes in the raid tab will show you each group and its members, and if you right-click on the group, you can choose to show debuffs.

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You can also narrow it down further and tell WoW to only show debuffs on people you can remove in the interface options:

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Grid

I use Grid to see health frames and all because its nice, neat, tidy and efficient. The default version of Grid with no addons will show debuffs you can cure on folks by coloring their name box. I use an addon for grid to see the actual debuff icon (because sometimes I want to see what it is they have and how many stacks in case its something good that is classified as a debuff like [spell=70873]Emerald Vigor[/spell]). The addon I use is called GridStatusRaidDebuff and it will display an icon for every raid level debuff in the game in the grid name box.

http://www.wowace.com/addons/grid-status-raid-debuff/

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Clique

http://www.twilightonalex.com/downloads/addons/interface-enhancement/101-clique-r141

This is a nifty addon that will allow you to map spell casts and actions based on mouse movements, hovering over different frames, etc. I personally dont use this as much as I probably should, but many folks who do say its really handy and effective. It works great with all raid frame addons especially Grid. On our site download I have posted some basic FAQ's for Clique and using it.

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X-Perl and AG_UF

Both X-Perl and AG_Unitframes have options to change the color of a players health box when they get debuffed as well in the configurations. If you use one of these instead of Grid or the default UI it can help identify debuffs as well. Unfortunately they dont come with a "removal" type feature so you will need to use either Clique or hotkey your dispell as with the default UI.

Other Addons

There are probably 20 or 30 other addons out there which help identify and or remove debuffs which you can explore. My suggestion is to find one you like and can use easily and stick with that. It should also be something thats effective and not buggy since again, a lot of the time, quick removal of the debuffs is crucial to winning the fight.

[MaddenKage]

yea i love decursive, i never had problems with using it and healbot though

[Air]

Personally what I do when I'm on my shaman is this.  I use grid, and have clique for addons.  For dispelling, I have a macro bound to the 1 key.  Anytime I see something to dispel, I just hover my cursor over the persons name in grid and spam the 1 key.  I'm usually just as fast as someone with decursive doing it this way.  I'm at work, but I can post the macro I use to do the dispeling.

[Docsamson]

Personally what I do when I'm on my shaman is this.  I use grid, and have clique for addons.  For dispelling, I have a macro bound to the 1 key.  Anytime I see something to dispel, I just hover my cursor over the persons name in grid and spam the 1 key.  I'm usually just as fast as someone with decursive doing it this way.  I'm at work, but I can post the macro I use to do the dispeling.

Clique was basically designed to interface with Grid extremely well, from what I understand.  Decursive was designed to be (mostly) standalone and raidframe-independent, not even really requiring them for the most part.  I've used Clique in the past, but for what I tend to heal (PvP) I stopped using it in favor of macros and hotkeys.  Lots of macros and hotkeys.  Granted, when I was using it, it was wonderful.  It takes a bit to get it working for you, and to get used to it, but for mouseover hotkey healing I wouldn't use anything else (except maybe VuhDo, but that's a bit newer and more prone to issues, but is essentially Grid+Clique and Healbot rolled into one easy-to-use package).