Can we give Abyssal Drain a proper indicator please?

[Alice_Rivers]

As a healer it's frustrating to work around because it's never clear if the DRK in question is dropping to use this or just dying. Several times I've been told "I was going to use Abyssal Drain and then you bene-d me", so I'd like to have some way of knowing that Abyssal Drain is available or to have it reworked slightly so that it's use can be communicated in a way I as a healer can use to plan around. My preference would be for a simple "Abyssal Drain Ready" effect when it comes off cooldown rather than a change in functionality.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

This is an interesting topic to think about because this may actually go beyond just Abyssal Drain, but to stay on topic I'll keep it to Abyssal Drain.

First, technically you can roughly tell whether or not a Dark Knight is holding Abyssal Drain or not by keeping tabs if you recently saw the animation or hear the sound of it going off (or alternatively Carve & Spit), the problem is rather keeping tabs on a 60s CD without a clear indicator when they use it "again". For example, I use my Abyssal Drain relatively early before a healer uses resources (60-70% max HP) so its out of the window fast + I used it for damage, others will hold it exclusively for the heal which is probably where your problem is rooted in.

Realistically, other than making UI elements to keep track of certain abilities (maybe selected per job), it's not realistic to expect a single cooldown in DRK's kit to have a visual tell that "Abyssal Drain / Carve & Spit is ready". The other way would be to have the sustain be a buff that you can see, working a bit similar to Bloodwhetting, but other than that it is "just" a 60s CD attack with a lifesteal attached to them. Maybe this would be easier if Carve was split from Drain again.

Honestly, a lot of abilities could benefit from having better communication to them - maybe not WoW style addon fiesta of "telling everything", but certainly more. Ironically, in PvP they made strides to make certain effects more visible. PLD's Hallowed Ground and DRK's Undead Rebirth effects have huge visual tells showing whether or not they are active for instance.

[AmiableApkallu]

As a healer, I don't exactly care about whether something like Abyssal Drain (or Bloodwhetting) is currently off-cooldown. I care about what the remaining cooldown is, so that I can gauge whether the tank's HP might hit zero first in the absence of any healing.

But then, I care about only these particular skills because they can have a yo-yo like effect on a tank's health.

[bundythenoob]

Part of being a healer in this game comes down to relying on your game sense and listening for sound queues/visual effects. it's something you'll just develop over time as you fight alongside the different tanks in the game.
I do suggest you try and not let peoples comments like that affect you. As long as they're not dead, you guys can continue the fight and you'll further develop that game sense. salty egomaniacs exist everywhere, so you can only control what you do, which is to continue improving and trusting in your abilities.

I play WHM on my alt and I noticed that if I keep regen on them while they pull and space out my usage use of Holy rather than spamming it, I can pretty much keep the tank alive indefinitely without even resorting to using lillies

last tip I have is smth i've been telling everyone for awhile now...challenge yourself to get comfortable with using swiftcast-holy as your first action when the tank finishes pulling!
it's seriously stupidly strong in dungeon content, and those 4 seconds of stun buy you the time to cast medica2/regen/cure2/lillies, whichever the tank needs

I've had a ton of fun healing as WHM by changing the order in which I use my spells. once you learn to trust in yourself, you'll be able to keep your tanks alive, and we'll in turn trust in you to keep us alive [:

[Flowerscody2]

Abyssal drain hardly heals enough to worry about it. That drk was just being whiny.

[Carighan]

As a healer it's frustrating to work around because it's never clear if the DRK in question is dropping to use this or just dying. Several times I've been told "I was going to use Abyssal Drain and then you bene-d me", so I'd like to have some way of knowing that Abyssal Drain is available or to have it reworked slightly so that it's use can be communicated in a way I as a healer can use to plan around. My preference would be for a simple "Abyssal Drain Ready" effect when it comes off cooldown rather than a change in functionality.

Doesn't the same work the other way around? The DRK can't tell when you'll be using Bene, either!

[Absurdity]

As a healer, I don't exactly care about whether something like Abyssal Drain (or Bloodwhetting) is currently off-cooldown. I care about what the remaining cooldown is, so that I can gauge whether the tank's HP might hit zero first in the absence of any healing.

But then, I care about only these particular skills because they can have a yo-yo like effect on a tank's health.

This is similar to how I operate on the rare occasions I heal as well.

In dungeons the only thing that really matters is that they use their mitigation. I will be rotation through a set of pre-planned oGCDs (or GCDs in the case of Lillies) anyway because they're free, and since those are planned with 0 healing from their end in mind it doesn't matter which tank I get either.

In raids you basically never need to heal them anyway because your party healing will sustain the tanks as well.
Same applies to savage as well, with tank buster healing being pre-planned and whatever invuln usage your tank has is usually communicated before the pull.

[Valence]

I can see where this is coming from but this goes beyond that this. What about the healer suddenly spamming holy when you start popping TBN? Or when you pop any tank invuln? Most healers / tank interactions can boil down to whether or not you know if the other is going to use their own tools that will negate yours in effect.

[Supersnow845]

Abyssal drain hardly heals enough to worry about it. That drk was just being whiny.

Abyssal drain on 4 or more enemies is basically a benediction

Hardly nothing

[Alice_Rivers]

I'm glad people pointed out that I took a narrow view and that the system I'm proposing would be of greater benefit if it applied to all major cooldowns, quite possibly including two minute ones.

I can see where this is coming from but this goes beyond that this. What about the healer suddenly spamming holy when you start popping TBN? Or when you pop any tank invuln? Most healers / tank interactions can boil down to whether or not you know if the other is going to use their own tools that will negate yours in effect.

As regards this, I've long been an advocate of decoupling Holy and it's stun though not for this reason specifically, I want to be able to choose when I stun the pack and it would benefit DRKs too. In terms of invulns, I've never had an issue with them, I've had a couple of oopsies here and there where invuln and benediction have gone out at the same time but that's life, I find invulns are sufficiently well telegraphed with their icon being at the top of the list.