Upcoming Addon Changes Will Break Healer Playstyles

Community General Discussion
1

I’ve been playing a Mistweaver Monk for a while now, and like many other healers, I rely heavily on click-to-cast functionality via VuhDo. Not because I’m trying to automate the game, but because my action bars are absolutely maxed out. I currently have around 45 keybinds, many of which are utility abilities like healthstones, potions, racials, dispels, defensives, CC, and mobility. Even with careful binding, I simply don’t have enough keys left for all of my healing abilities—at least not in a way that’s practical during high-pressure raid or M+ content.

This is where VuhDo (or similar addons like Clique) steps in. It allows me to map healing spells to mouse clicks on unit frames, massively improving my responsiveness and efficiency. With Blizzard now expressing interest in restricting or removing addon functionality that mimics or supplements combat gameplay, I’m seriously concerned about the impact this will have on healer classes.

Why This Matters:

  • Modern healer design expects us to DPS. It’s not just about keeping the party alive anymore. We’re balancing healing throughput and contributing meaningful damage. That means we need space for damaging abilities and our full healing toolkit.

  • Even “simple” healers are overloaded. Classes like Mistweaver, Discipline, and Holy Paladin have 10+ rotational buttons just for core play. Add in utility and you’re looking at 40+ binds, easy.

  • Without addons, we are forced to script our gameplay. Sure, you can say “just use mouseover macros” or “learn modifier keys,” but that’s not a sustainable or accessible solution for everyone. The answer to “how do I play my class?” shouldn’t be “go write macros.”

This Isn’t Just a Skill Issue
I know there will be comments saying this is a “skill issue” or that “people should just learn better binds.” But look at discussions within the healing community — people are worried. Many are already saying they’ll stop healing if they lose tools like VuhDo. These aren’t casuals — this includes mythic raiders and high M+ players.

Removing these options risks gutting an already thin healer population.

A Plea to Blizzard:
I understand the goal of making the game more fair and intuitive. Some addons do go too far. But please don’t take away the tools that make playing a healer feasible. If you’re going to remove VuhDo-like functionality, we desperately need an official replacement — something that lets us bind spells to mouse clicks on frames, with the flexibility we currently have.

Healing is already one of the least-played roles. Don’t make it even harder to love.

Thanks for reading.

13 Likes
2

Yea this isn’t an idle threat, its a simple reality. No way on earth I’m healing if I lose things like vuhdo.

I think the intent is admirable, but translating intent into reality is going to be a challenge for Blizz.

11 Likes
3

It’s a classic Blizzard move to address a problem once it’s way too late.
We’re now at a point where doing high end content without addons is basically impossible, and they’ll either have to start integrating more addons directly into the game or completely overhaul the entire foundation of modern WoW.
At this point, any changes are like slapping a band aid on a corpse that’s been rotting for years. Their lack of awareness is honestly comical.

5 Likes
4

I think they have let the cat out of the bag way too early .

The blizzard UI is at least 3-4 years away from being efficient enough to not need addons and that also if they keep working on it

A more reasonable timeline would had been after worldsoul saga had finished

2 Likes
5

The thing is, while it will make the gameplay substantially worse…the people that will suffer most are the casual players. Skilled players will adapt.

Many already struggle even with addons.

They should leave addons alone and just remove all the bloat all the classes have. Consolidate spells. Remove the trillion procs each class has. We can return to a time when healers have half the spells they do now, half the interactions and random buffs to track.

That would make it easier for newer players

2 Likes
7

You can do half of what vuhdo/cell/clique could do with mouseover macros.

Granted I find it harsh to go back to keybinding healer heals buttons but it sure isn’t the end of the world. :slight_smile:

1 Like
8

But… But…

There’s built-in click-cast since DF. Go to settings, type in search ‘click’ and try it out. In Shadowlands, my only addon was HealBot Continued 2,but after DF launch, I went full addonless.

5 Likes
9

I don’t think he mean stuff like vuhdu. It’s more like combat weak auras that nullify certain mechanics. Hell I’d be pissed if they removed vuhdu. And I mostly use it for self healing

10

i really hope they drop the idea of this war on addons.

its too late for that now and it can only make the game worse in the end.

i cant play the game without Cell/omnicd honestly. or well i guess i could if the game becomes way simpler and easier, but do i really want that?.

Cell is a dream.

11

Without addons many casuals will fail and later give up with pve.
Casual player doing heroic mythic raid or m+ without DBM will be hell.
Once again blizzard show who they care about.
They made the game around their 5% champions and they keep on baking it around.

P.S. Don’t forget why WoW became so big back in the days ( one of the most casual friendly MMO ) and don’t show middle finger to your majority.

1 Like
12

I play both HC raid and M+ without addons.

I bet I couldn’t do Mythic raid (only done the welfare, first two) or 14+ keystone without it. That could be true.

13

Yea the current game needs addons , but for some reason you assume it will stay the same . You said it yourself : it is far too stressful atm .

In classic you don’t need addons , because you are not overloaded with hyper complex classes , required healers to do dps , or do high pressure content .
Your tank will not die if you don’t take action in next 0.5 seconds .
They said that they are trying to go back to something like that . That’s why this change will likely come at pre-patch , because than we will have the class changes ready as well .

I personally stopped healing somewhere around legion , because they were determined to make healing as cringe as possible .
I liked the simple riptide , totem , shield , chain healing spam of shaman . What’s wrong with that ?
I liked being able to afk for 10 seconds , while the tank takes enough damage so I can put a heal on them .
I liked not having to dodge swirlies and who knows what every 0.5 seconds .
I liked not having to Dps , unless I really wanted .

The modern game has become way too stressful with way to Many Actions Per Minute (APM) .
Right now they design the game for young people with reaction times in the milliseconds , but make it complex to fit people with 10 years experience .
But create a paradox and forget that if you already have 10 years of XP , you are not that young any more , and that if you are in your 15’s you don’t have those 10 years .
So In the end the game is designed for no-one , and both the young and the old are stressed by something they cannot adapt to , so they use addons as a crutch to bridge that gap .

The real fix ( hopefully for which they are aiming ) is reduce the APM load , so that you have time to either react , or to think about what you are going to press and not rely on muscle memory .

Honestly letting healers have enough time to manually click the target and place a heal on them , with time to spare , in my world would be good design . It would not scare people off from trying to heal , because the 2-4 seconds it took you to spot an injured target , decide which skill to use and mouse over and click on target , will not cause a wipe .
Try not doing anything for 1 sec right now . The moment you look away , your target is already burning trough defensive cds . This is NOT OK . It is bad for PvE and it is twice as bad for PvP .

2 Likes
14

Those. Addons. Will. Not. Be. Removed. Before. The. Game. Supports. The. Ability. To. Play. Without. Them.

Please understand this.

15

Yes, the changes will break a lot of things. But in order for new things to emerge, the old usually has to go.

Also they will happen gradually over many many years.

16

45 keybinds really? Why is that needed? Also u dont need vuhdo to heal. Mousover macro’s ftw.

17

They really need to make a “healer” section in the options with video tutorials showing how these things work :laughing:

Just imagine a player who’s decided to give healing a try and now has to chew through all of these options to make healing more comfortable.

Can’t imagine them doing anything other than throwing hands in the air and giving up.

I use mouseover macros aswell. But it is a big ask to tell people that if they want to heal, they must, first, put all of their target based spells in a mouseover macro. And if they want to save some keybindings, they have to create mouseover help;harm macros. They’re just gonna tell you to shove it, especially new players.

1 Like
18

You of all people should know how Blizz “fixes” stuff.
Either they dont do anything at all or the opposite extreme - they use a “flamethrower to get rid of a fly.” The house has burned down…but at least the fly is gone right? :rofl:

19

The problem with this is that blizzard know no matter how much they try, the community will do it better for free, so blizzards only course of action in their eyes in to make their UI the only choice.

20

I don’t get the implied message. Why should I ‘of all people’ know?

21

me sitting here with vanilla UI like “Oh nooooo”