Quote Originally Posted by Maeka View Post
I'm rather guilty of saving cooldowns for "oh crap" moments that might never come, and Lightspeed is in the same vein as Swiftcast, a "If I need to Res someone...." button. It's just... I don't know why I always do that lol.
I know why. The fear of fault. It's easy to play healer safely. However, to play it optimally is to live a bit on the dangerous side, but you can reduce risk through acquired knowledge and anticipation of how your group is going to perform.

When you do a lot of PUGs as a healer, you start to notice a trend with players. As an example, any player who mentions they are new to the instance will likely fail mechanics if they are not explained before engagement. It is in this case where it is a good idea to hold onto Swiftcast/Lightspeed etc. when you know the mechanic is coming.

When you hold on to abilities like Swiftcast and Lightspeed, you're holding on to a crutch that may never serve any purpose. Eventually as a healer, you have to walk the tight rope without a safety net if you want to optimize your toolkit. You must know that mistakes will happen when learning to optimize, and mistakes are a very good thing when you learn from them.

Improvisation is also key and healers have many ways to do so. Also keep in mind that even the best healers can't heal through EX stupid. OGCD "oh crap" abilities are not going to keep these players alive, and are actually better used on a player who is already good at staying on their feet. You increase the chances of success this way.