HealBot 3.3.0 (setup 1)

Still believed by most to be the easiest healing addon to use "out of the box", HealBot 3.3.0 is a must have for any new raiding resto druid. This guide will walk you through the HealBot setup screens one by one and hopefully help you understand and customize your shiny new addon. If you don't have HealBot 3.3.0 installed yet, you can download it here.

Once you locate your healbot options button on your minimap, clicking on it will bring you to the screen below. This is the General tab of the HealBot options menu where you can control how you interact with HealBot from your UI (user interface). Have a look.

Most of the options here are self explanatory, but I've compiled a list of what they do so that there's no confusion. Feel free to play around with this tab if you like, however the default settings work perfectly well (which is part of the appeal to HealBot).

Disable HealBot: Disable all events and hide the bars. (This is the off switch)
Show minimap button: Display or hidethe HealBot icon on your minimap. Hold down right click to move.

Hide option button: Display or hide the option button on your HealBot frame.

Right click opens options: Right clicking on your HealBot frame will open the options screen. I recommend disabling this option because you will likely have a healing spell mapped to your right mouse click and you do not want your options screen popping up accidentally during an encounter.

Enable LibQuickHealth: LibQuickHealth is a mod that allows your addon to use combat log events and information to adjust the character's hp values on your healing addon faster than the server normally would.

Use CPU profiler (Addons CPU usage info): Enabling this option allows HealBot to monitor how much processing power your addons are using. You may want to enable this option if you're pushing the limits of your CPU's capabilities.

Range check frequency: This controls how often HealBot will do a range check on your raid. The lower the setting the faster you will know if someone moved out of your range.

Test bars on/off: This button will show or hide test bars on your UI. I suggest turning the test bars on during the setup process so you can see how each change in options you make will affect the look of the healbot interface on your screen (see test bar image above).

Number of MyTargets: Allows you to control of number of MyTargets you show on your healbot interface. MyTargets allow you to chose specific characters in your party/raid to keep a closer eye on (by grouping them together). Ctrl+Alt+Right click on a health bar to toggle a character to and from your MyTargets group.

Configure classes for: This allows you to choose which character classes healbot will consider ranged, melee, healers, or custom in the buffs tab. (This option is more useful for classes with more complicated buff assignments)

Now that you have the basics taken care of, it's time to customize the addon to fit your healing style. In the Spells tab you will map all of your helpful spells to your mouse buttons. It's this functionality (along with the organization of your raid frames) that make healing addons a must have for raiding druids. All of your heals will soon be a single mouse click away, and its here (in the second tab) that you decide which buttons to map your spells to.

You'll notice at the top of this tab that you can have HealBot enabled all the time or only during combat (drop down image). I recommend having it enabled at all times so that you grow used to the addon and where your spells are mapped. The biggest obstacle you'll face with HealBot is learning its new method of casting.

Immediately below the first drop down menu is where you will toggle between options screens for your left, middle, and right mouse buttons (as you'll see in the drop down image, you can map up to ten buttons if your mouse supports it).

Note: You may choose to stick with HealBot's default settings here and simply get used to it's default mapping. However, I recommend playing around with it and discovering what mappings work best for your healing style.

As you see above (image) you will be using shift, ctrl, and alt along with your mouse clicks to cast your various spells. For example, under the 'left' menu in the 'alt+click' field I have entered Regrowth. This means when I mouse over one of the health bars on my UI, I have to hold down the 'Alt' key and use the left mouse button in order to cast Regrowth on that target. (Or put more simply, alt+left click = Regrowth.)

If I change the menu from 'left' to 'middle' I can enter a different spell, such as Lifebloom, in the 'alt+click' field and that will make alt+middle click = Lifebloom. The process is repeated for every combination of shift, alt, or ctrl + left, middle, or right click (12 spells total).

This may all seem complicated on paper, but once your spells are mapped, casting them in this method will become instinctive.

Some other options available on this screen are as follows:

Auto Target: You will automatically target the character you are casting a certain spell on, bringing up their character portrait at the top of your game screen (if you have not disabled them).

Auto Trinket: If you are wearing trinkets (such as Talisman of Resurgence) that have a 'use' ability that you would like to activate before the casting of a certain spell, you can check off the trinket slot you have it equipped in next to the spell you would like to have activate it and it will be triggered automatically.

Cast when button is: You can choose to have your spell casts occur when your mouse button is pressed or when it is released... whichever is your preference.

Smart cast when out of combat: This option allows HealBot to choose the spell to cast on a target when you are out of combat. If someone in your raid has a debuff or needs to be resurrected, simply pressing left click will have HealBot perform the appropriate action.

Avoid accidental PVP: Checking off this option will have HealBot alert you if casting a helpful spell on one of your group members will cause you to be flagged for PVP.

That concludes part 1 of the HealBot 3.3.0 setup. At this point you are more than ready to start healing with your addon. All of your spells are now at your finger tips, so get out there and practice using it. I promise you it won't take long for you to get accustomed to your button mappings.

Part 2 of the HealBot 3.3.0 setup will focus on altering how the addon looks and what information it portrays on the health bars, so stay tuned.