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Spiritual Guidance: A Lightwell primer

Matt Low
Updated ·6 min read

Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a UI and addons blog for WoW. What exactly is Lightwell? How is it used? Why does no one use it?

Oh Lightwell. The things you could have been. Misunderstood by many and under-talented by a large number of Priests. Will you ever see raids?

Perhaps not. But we can try!

Lightwell

The first thing Lightwell novices need to understand is the purpose of the spell. It creates a Holy Lightwell wherever you want it that any player can interact with. A player who uses it gains a charge that heals them for more than 4500 health over a period of 6 seconds. It's got a 40 yard placement range. Be sure you pick up the Lightwell glyph for it. A 20% boost to Lightwell ticks go a long way and will help make this talent even more worthwhile.

There is a slight downside. If the player under the effect of a Lightwell charge takes a hit that's 30% of their total health, the effect disappears.

Lightwell talent spec overview

This particular build doesn't use a maxed Improved Healing (Not much use of Greater Heal anyway). It doesn't pick up Holy Reach or Healing Prayers either. It also happens to be 1 point short on Test of Faith. Anyway, feel free to play with it some and to come up with a particular spec that accommodates you. The important part is obviously investing a point in Lightwell.

Placement

There's two parts to Lightwell usage. I'll get to the second one in a moment. But the first part of Lightwell is where you place it. It makes all the difference in the world. Drop it too far away and the players who benefit the most from it won't be able to use it.

There's a few things to consider before deploying the Lightwell:

  • Make sure the players who need to use them are able to use them. Doesn't matter if it's melee players or ranged players. Keep it handy close by for them to use. If they're in a fight where there's a ton of movement required, try to pick a location where the players who need it most can access it easily.

  • You won't have to worry about healing them as much. Sure you'll want to keep some Renews or Shields on them. But it is a fire and forget type of spell. Ideally you'll want to cater towards the players that healers will not be able to cover as well. For example, a Priest could drop it on one side of the room and heal from the other side because they need to be well out of range for some reason. The Lightwell should last long enough to buy several seconds.

Getting players to use Lightwell

This is the second part of Lightwell effectiveness. And if anyone figures out how to encourage players to use Lightwell, get back to me.

Heh, in all seriousness, many players do not appreciate (or even know) what Lightwell is. They don't understand its capabilities or strengths. If you want to start encouraging its use, just spec into the talent and use it keeping the above points in mind.

What you will want to let the other players know is that the best way to effectively use Lightwell is to simply click it once and then stay away from danger for a few seconds while it works its magic. Remember the 30% threshold. If enough damage is taken, the Lightwell effect is removed. Stay away from any abilities or effects that will deal damage until Lightwell finishes the patching up process.

The really limiting factor on Lightwell is that it requires other players to use it. It's just unfortunate that it isn't utilized by players often enough.

Fights where Lightwell is useful (or at least, not completely useless)

I know Priests can heal these fights without the use of Lightwell. but I'd figure I'd throw out a list here for raid encounters where it's "nice to have".

Loatheb. Great for the times when Loatheb temporarily lowers his no healing aura. Dropping the well on top of Loatheb means you won't have to stress over melee players. You can stick to the ranged.

Four Horsemen. Healing the two tanks on Sir Zelik and Lady Blameaux? Drop a Lightwell between the two of them so they can snag a tick as they tag back and forth.

Gluth. Plant it in the back of the room for your zombie chow kiting raiders. They'll appreciate as they randomly get bitten and attacked by a zombie or two as they' do their job.

Malygos. Players about to get vortexed? Go ahead and pre-Lightwell yourself just before you get thrown around.

Razorscale. Anytime while Razor is in the air is a perfect time. Players are going to take damage whether it is from some whirlwind or from random trash hits.

Deconstructor. Tympanic Tantrums. Enough said.

Kologarn. Ouch. I'm sure players would love to use it after getting swept by that pesky Left Arm.

Hodir. I'm thinking Frozen Blows here. Park it near the melee. If Hodir isn't being moved around, then it's great for those up close to be able to use it. Most of the ranged players are moving around doing the whole buff management thing anyway.

Mimiron. I'd use Lightwell extensively throughout phase 2. Heat waves and his twin cannon arms will ensure that Lightwell becomes popular by the raiders.

General Vezax. Set it up on the outside for your ranged players. Any stray raiders that manage to eat a Shadow Crash or take a tick or two of the General's Mark of the Faceless ability will cherish the well. You might even see it disappear before the 3 minute expiry kicks in!

Yogg-Saron. Phase 3 is a good candidate. The raid will be standing on one side of the room fending off those Immortal Guardians. Drop it and go!

Bonus use! One more thing that Lightwell is incredibly useful for. Trying to find someone in a capital city? Drop a Lightwell! It functions as a perfect beacon. It just can't be missed. Your associates will be able to find you with no problem.

Yes Lightwell isn't exactly the most optimum spell to use in raids. It does have its uses, I will admit. But it's going to take some more time and possibly more buffs before it will see "mainstream" usage. For the present, give it a spin and inject a new spell into your lineup!

Want to find more great tips for carrying out your Priestly duties? Spiritual Guidance has you covered with all there is to know! And don't forget to check out our other Leveling Guides as well as our Wrath Guides and Galleries!