Entries in item discussion (1)
Val’anyr, the Hammer of the Ancient Kings Is For Hunters
iTZKooPA on Tuesday, May 5, 2009 - 19 Comments Tags: Ulduar, Val’anyr, healer comparision, healing, healing mace, hunter item, item discussion, legendary items, raid healing, tank healing, the Hammer of the Ancient Kings, ulduar loot 
I kid, I kid. If there is one thing in a guild that can cause drama, it is who gets the privilege - that's what it is after all - of wielding the first copy of a Legendary item. The fact that Val'anyr is another "crafted" orange makes it that much more exclusive, thanks to the random number generator playing a roll in its creation. Now that Bornakk has explicitly laid out the details of the weapon's proc , the discussion can begin on who "deserves" the healing mace.
Before we dive into the class breakdown, it's important that we understand exactly how the proc works. Juggynaut laid out the basics yesterday, but one major point was glossed over, the internal cooldown. Everyone knows what a cooldown is, once used the ability/spell/proc takes x seconds to be usable again. For the HotAK, once the proc is triggered it will not be able to proc again for at least 45 seconds. This is important because to maximize the legendary's benefit during an encounter, you need the item to proc as much as possible. It's not that simple though, healers also need to max out the shield as much as possible.
The discussion over who can reap the most benefits from the tank-healing item already started in the comments section of Juggy's post. Every healing class can trigger the effect relatively fast. The benefits of one class over another becomes more clear when we look at who can efficiently cause the proc, and maximize their shield.
- Druid: Sorry to all the other healers out there, but the shapeshifters seem to be the best suited class for the item. A well-played healing druid can almost guarantee that the proc will pop whenever the cooldown is completed, and add a substantial amount to his shield over the 15 second interval. As an added bonus, the druid doesn't have to change their playstyle to do this.
- Paladin: These plated healers are fantastic single target support. On the flip side this means that their ability to get the proc off is more of a challenge. While they may miss a few procs over the course of an encounter, the class' gigantic heals will make for a large shield, giving them the edge over holy priests.
- Holy Priest: An arsenal of various group and single target heals allows the holy priest to consistantly score the proc. Once triggered, the priest can then focus on Greater Healers to maximize the shield, or raid heal, depending on the encounter. Their abillity to adapt to either situation enables them to maximize their sheild, while remaining efficient.
- Shaman: Resto Shammies get the worst aspects of the Paladin and Holy Priest. Like the paladin, they will miss a few procs. When the shield does activate it's unlikely that they will be able to maximize its potential absorption, the knock against holy priests. Seems that handing a shaman the Hammer of the Ancient Kings is not the best choice.
- Discipline Priest: Plan and simple, you guys got the shaft. Since Disc is based on mitigation and not actual healing - also why they fail to be ranked fairly in healing meters - the proc won't trigger for many of the spec's spells. A Disc priest would have to play their spec poorly to make sure the proc stayed up as much as possible.