User Interface Issues
A number of Grid plugins I rely on either haven not been updated or are working improperly. Most importantly raid debuffs are unreliable, my HoTs and others' HoTs are not distinguished from each other, and my color-coding of HoTs as they tick down is no longer working. My Grid settings were perfect and living without them has been really painful.
I've been wrestling with VuhDo since it's the next contender but I have a number of problems with it, both functional and aesthetic. Some of it might be inexperience, some of it might just be flaws in the mod. In a nutshell, it has too much flash and motion, not enough customization in the things that matter, and tries to do too much by default. It's better than a broken Grid but damn I miss my perfect Grid.
Broken Grid and imperfect VuhDo has driven me to give Healbot a second chance. Now that I use mostly mouseover macros and a bit of Clique, and the new default raid frames are pretty good, Healbot has nothing to offer me.
The Grid issues have been the biggest fun-suck in my healing world.
Druid at 80
I don't miss tree form as much as I thaugth I would. I feel like healing is slightly more interesting than it was before. For practical purposes I lost Nourish, which I never liked that much. In exchange I got back Lifebloom as something worth casting. Due to Effloresence I'm casting Swiftmend on cooldown, and putting down pancakes of good green stuff is fun. I still feel mobile, powerful, and natury. Druid is alright.
Shaman Healing at 80
Of my four healers, this one seems to have changed the least and is the most boring. Shaman was never that amazing to me, but at it was more fun than Paladin. Since dirty mages and freaking hunter pets now have Heroism/Bloodlust I no longer feel like my shaman provides the amazing raid utility she once did. It's still moderately fun and rather relaxing, but I just haven't been as motivated to raid on my shaman to test out new things because there aren't really interesting new things.
Discipline Priest at 73
I have only begun to scratch the surface of Discipline. I went with a shield-focused spec rather than the Atonement spec where you do damage to heal. Power Word: Barrier feels really fun. There's a lot more to try with the priest, including both an Atonement spec and a Holy spec. I think that shield focused Discipline is not as fun as it used to be. Nonetheless I'm excited about the priest because there is so much left to learn. I haven't tested it as thoroughly as I might because Shadow has been so much fun.
Holy Paladin at 65
The changes here feel the most significant. I went from buff-bot who stands still and spams one spell, to some kind of bizzaro-world rogue in plate who casts instant heals. I love building up charges of Holy Power using Holy Shock and then making a decision about when to discharge them with a powerful (instant! no mana!) Word of Glory. Beacon of Light has been reduced to 50% but at the same time I got a new mechanic that heals me any time I heal anyone else. In leveling dungeons I sometimes had trouble with mana but now as long as I focus on Holy Shock and Word Of Glory, I no longer do. Most importantly I can now practice my preferred healing style which involves a lot of jumping.
So, is it fun?
Yes. Healing in 4.0.1 is really fun. Paladin, the least fun healing class, has been revamped to make it awesome. Druid is still a pleasure to heal with. Shaman is fine and has potential. Priest really has 3 healing specs available and I'm convinced at least one of them will be awesome. I'm excited. I expect I will keep healing mostly on my druid in Cataclysm, since she is my most beloved, but healing in general looks like it will be fun.
