Benediction Friction

Hails,
Have you ever attempted to pop Benediction (benny) on a busted up teammate only to have him die before getting healed? Worse still, the skill pops on yourself, unneeded?:mad:

What techniques do you use to avoid this?

I just learned to use benediction at 20% instead of using it at the very last moment. Also i move/spam esc to cancel any possible skill queue so it goes off right when i want it.
On the part of being used on myself, i can't say i've ever suffered this so can't help you there. I've heard that macroing helps but i really don't recommend using macros with benediction due the queues.

Raging helps though
https://youtu.be/37Wrm8hLzFQ?t=1m41s just replace hollowed ground with benediction :D

All the time.
I read that if you use a macro, I cant remember it exactly now, but I think it was just:

/micon Benediction
/ac "Benediction" <t>

That it is only supposed to cast on your target. Hasn't worked for me though.

yeeaaahhhh..... I'm pretty sure all WHMs have had this (or will, if they're newer). A few times, I've bene'd and the action effects go off on the person.... who is on the ground (I guess it was some timing or some lag somewhere). Usually it just switches to me, though. It's annoying ._. Bene wasted for nothing on top of a long CD...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Whiteroom

All the time.
I read that if you use a macro, I cant remember it exactly now, but I think it was just:

/micon Benediction
/ac "Benediction" <t>

That it is only supposed to cast on your target. Hasn't worked for me though.

---

So I switch to a whole other crossbar for going offensive on dungeon, and use that exact macro w/ <2> , instead of <t>, so I can Benny the tank in the middle of my holy spam (if you're not the tank and you get agro, sry but you're hosed). This actually works pretty good.

I'll try <t> on my healing crossbars, (since I don't soft-target anything (I hard target everything)) and see if there's improvement.

From a macro perspective, based on how other abilities (like Lustrate) work, I don't think using <t> will make a difference in preventing benediction from not bouncing back to you if the target is invalid because they're dead... using <t> in a macro will do the same as using the regular version of the skill on your target. However, using it on a party slot number such as <2> where you have your tank like mentioned above would prevent it from casting on any target over than that person. Of course if you're in 8 person content where both 2 and 3 are tanks then that would lock the ability to a tank other than the one you want to use it on. If you have a keyboard with plenty of space you could always have one for benediction on slot <2> and one for it on slot <3> but that would take up too much valuable crossbar real estate for most controller users.

By the way you can test if a macro will do this or not at a training dummy, since they aren't a valid target for healing spells. If it bounces back to you, you can expect the same from a just-deceased party member... if it doesn't go off at all, then you know it's locked to the specific target.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Buff_Archer

From a macro perspective, based on how other abilities (like Lustrate) work, I don't think using <t> will make a difference in preventing benediction from not bouncing back to you if the target is invalid because they're dead... using <t> in a macro will do the same as using the regular version of the skill on your target.

---

I think the error comes from soft-targeting (after you hit the button once, next spell/skill everts to the last hard target) and people spamming the benny button. Since I hard-target everything (like a K&M player), the <t> should fix the accidental self-bennying, because

/ac "any healing action"

without the <t> will always try to cast on something (you or the hard target) even if your soft target is dead. I'll attempt on the test dummy to verify....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Buff_Archer

By the way you can test if a macro will do this or not at a training dummy, since they aren't a valid target for healing spells. If it bounces back to you, you can expect the same from a just-deceased party member... if it doesn't go off at all, then you know it's locked to the specific target.

---

Seems Legit. And here I was about to send my Choco to solo Gorgi.

Benediction has a built in delay, it's just like Holmgang. Using a macro can make it worse.
I have had my whm benedict me, see the heal go off on me, and still die.
There really is nothing you can do about it, until SE decides to fix it.

The self targeting problem, is a little different, and the above poster has the correct fix as far as I know.

Wow at least u had it bounce back on you, mine usually doesn't hit anything when it misses the dead player.
I guess cuz the animation went off just as the player died but it takes a second for the numbers to show up thus actually not healing them till the animation is like half way. When they die it still gets casted on them thus showing they recovered their max hp ( green numbers on screen ) while having 0 hp.

Im just like wow ok not cool.

Benediction has a delay. You need to adjust when you use Bene based on the speed of the coming attack. It's the same as Hallowed Ground. I can't HG right before Akh Morn is about to hit. Instead I have to use it around 70% cast time, or it won't go off in time.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by radioactive_lego

What techniques do you use to avoid this?

---

You basically have to accept that if you're using benediction as a panic heal, that there's a good chance it will not work. By the time you notice, target, and cast, it may be too late, even if the server hasn't quite killed the player yet.

Outside healing tanks in cleric stance, I like to consider benediction an 'undo mistake' button. If I notice someone screw up a mechanic and they're about to eat a second (perhaps unavoidable) mechanic after, it's fairly easy to time benediction between the two. This also makes you look really good.

I've actually only have had this happen like twice... And I use Bene all the time. I always use Bene early.

With Benediction, I typically get the best results when I'm planning to use it. In a speed run, I can DPS and squeeze out a Benediction when the tank is around 1k-1.5k HP, and it will usually top off the tank while their HP dips into triple digits. Using it as an emergency heal is a little trickier, since you are less likely to get the full value from the heal, and you'll probably waste a second targeting, especially if you're in panic mode, making it even more likely for your target to die as you try to land your heal. Even so, Benediction is the only skill that can save someone at the brink of death, and I'd rather see it on cooldown and wasted than to leave it unused. It's a risk you have to take. If you know a tank buster is coming up in a raid situation, Benediction is great for topping off the tank while your partner healer is asleep at the wheel, and you're busy spot/raid healing or otherwise.

"Benediction Friction" is relatively common, but as you play with it more, you'll learn the slight delay and experience it less and less.

The healing on yourself only happens if you are too late in casting bene.

For the most pressing issue of your tank dying while the animation goes, there is, sadly, no way of avoiding it and <t> macro won't help it.

For me I find Benediction is most helpful for those times where you see the tank take a hit in HP, you do maybe Cure, which brings back a bit but while casting that they take more damage, where they are going down faster than you can possibly heal due to them maybe pulling too much or having too much aggro etc, where you just know they are basically going to die in a moment. When they are at like 20% then I use it, where I know that probably trying one more Cure or Cure II wouldn't hit them in time as they probably only have a couple seconds left to live. Versus just using it when their HP is low. I was always worried people would get mad saying I'm wasting it but most times it's hardly ever needed, or definitely isn't needed more than once, so using it has helped me a few times just to get them back to 100% while the situation is brought under control.

I've noticed (mostly from Mr Happy's videos) that planning on using Benediction while you squeeze out DPS seems to be the best plan. Holy spam, watch HP, when it gets to a certain amount pop Benne, keep healing. Also seen him use it immediately after a mechanic so that the tank doesn't get crit/dragon breathed/mechanic'd to death immediately after.

It even happens in games like WoW with Lay on Hands - even though that stuff isn't animation based and has a much more rapid state check.

Like others have said, best bet is to make sure you use it early - esp with animation delay, and definitely macro it to <t> and/or <mo> only. Turn off self targetting too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pandabearcat

and definitely macro it to <t> and/or <mo> only. Turn off self targetting too.

---

I don't do this and I have no problems. And I use Bene a lot.

While spamming? Its a recipe for disaster, better remove all moving parts.

http://i.imgur.com/ucwCNW5.png

but in serious tone, i use it more as a "tank cd" than "ohshitwtf".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pandabearcat

While spamming? Its a recipe for disaster, better remove all moving parts.

---

Well, I'm on PS4 so I don't know how much of a difference that makes. I generally have the tank as my hard target and just spam Holy or hit left/right on the dpad to soft target an enemy to cast a spell. If I have the boss hard targeted (usually during a raid) I have no trouble hitting up/down to get to my target and casting Bene on them. Or even hitting R3 to target the boss' target if they are the one in need.

I'm not sure if Bene is harder to use on PC or not, but it's an incredibly easy spell to use effectively and efficiently on the PS4. Especially if you keep in mind the lag.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by radioactive_lego

What techniques do you use to avoid this?

---

Be slightly faster is really the best advice. Most of the time bene is going to be used in an emergency situation and it has that slight delay. I wouldn't macro benediction, instead i'd recommend putting bene on a certain spot on the hotbar always, and practice hitting it as fast as you can. HEC plays a big part and literally fractions of a second count.