First Aid valuable?

[Abeezil]

I'd never paid much attention to First Aid as a secondary but, on reading up on it a bit, it begins to look like a really worthwhile thing. I didn't realise before it included treatment for venom. There don't seem to be a lot of trainers, though......

If you have more than one character, do you have to level all up? Or can you make one a kind of specialist and have that one mail bandages off to others if they've got the basic skill? Is there any money to be made selling bandages on the AH?

[PlayThemAll]

I level it on all my characters. Even the healing classes. Personally I think its the single most useful profession in the game.

You must have certain FA skill to use the different bandages so yes, you will have to level it on any character that will use it.

[semiiramiis]

I'd never paid much attention to First Aid as a secondary but, on reading up on it a bit, it begins to look like a really worthwhile thing. I didn't realise before it included treatment for venom. There don't seem to be a lot of trainers, though......

If you have more than one character, do you have to level all up? Or can you make one a kind of specialist and have that one mail bandages off to others if they've got the basic skill? Is there any money to be made selling bandages on the AH?


You need a certain level of first aid skill to USE the bandages, as well as to make them. I don't sell my bandages in the ah, I vendor them... they sell to vend higher than the cloth goes on the ah. There are few trainers, most of the fa training comes from books. I honestly use my vaunted 375 first aid very little, but as a resto shaman, I don't need to. Non healing classes should definitely invest in the skill.

[elsegundo]

Its pretty essential to my style of play. maybe its not to others, but i find it really needed for my characters.

You can heal others. You can heal your pet too.

Imagine a hunter needed to freeze his target since his pet is almost dead. Bandage+medpet+feedpet=full heath by the time freeze trap breaks.

Also good for locks after lifetaps.

Good for priests when they're out of mana. haha.

Good for melee players when they need a quick heal and cant get out of combat.

Good for mages when they need to freeze/sheep their mob in place then heal.

Good for any class when you're out of mana, potions are on cooldown, and you need to heal quickly.

many uses for bandages.

but remember... there's a 1 minute cooldown. its channeled. any damage taken will interrupt the process and leave you with a 1 minute cooldown.

you can buy anti-venom from a vendor. you can buy strong anti-venom from the AH as they are drops... i think.

[luziferial]

take it and never look back. You'll need it.

There will be time when you need it.

[Abeezil]

take it and never look back. You'll need it.

There will be time when you need it.

Many thanks to all of you. I'm going to make a real point now of levelling up my characters in First Aid. I knew it could heal pets and other players' chars, but the more I read up on it the more I realise it's a very important skill for all.

[Marlous]

Often I use it to speed up grinding (because 8 seconds of bandaging surpasses 15 seconds of eating, sometimes even twice), but it's also great as an emergency. If your health potions are on cooldown, and you can't eat because there are mobs nearby who'll aggro any minute, then just wrap a bandage around you and you're good to go again. I often used it in combination with sheep, sap, another form of cc, or my pet/minion, and it can be a true lifesaver. Just make sure you don't have any dots on you that do damage, because then it'll be interrupted and you're screwed.

There's just one thing I don't understand, and while on the subject I might as well ask here.. a few days ago I wanted to bandage a friend who was in combat, because he was close to dying. I didn't have any aggro, wasn't attacked, so my channeling shouldn't be interrupted. However, as soon as I started channeling I got a fail, and my friend got the 1-minute bandage tag so he couldn't be healed again. He later said that it probably was because he was taking damage.. which boggles me, because how can MY channeling spell be interrupted by HIM taking damage? :shocked:

[Renata]

It's a nearly indispensable skill for all classes, even for healers, especially at the highest levels. You just never know when you are going to be stuck in a situation when you're (a) low mana and (b) low health and (c) in a position where speed in healing is necessary and/or (d) you're in combat.

These all become vital in raid situations. The big problem with regaining health through food is that you have to be out of combat to eat. You don't have to be in combat to bandage -- heck, you can crowd-control a mob and bandage while he's tied up (I've done this many times on my warlock -- banish and bandage -- though be careful doing this with sheeping on mages because that heals up the mob and that's often the last thing you want to do). Healing potions have long cool downs and get damned expensive the higher level you need to go.

Many times in raids, to save healer mana, non-tank classes are asked to bandage when possible after taking damage from AOEs and spells from mobs and adds. This contributes to the entire raid because the healer can concentrate more of their energy on the tanks and other encounter-critical people.

...Ren

[moopy]

Also, unless you're a tailor, you'll be hard pressed to find anything to do with all that cloth, and will end up shovelling it onto the auction house- making up big batches of bandages and spamming them at the slightest provocation is very useful..

..even for healers. There are points where it's better to bandage rather than heal yourself if you have the time, or when you're silenced etc. For classes with no healing abilities, of course, it's invaluable- and a great deal cheaper than chugging healing pots in situations where you can fit a few bandage ticks in.

Marlous- it is indedd the bperson you're bandaging taking damage that is the problem.. they're not holding still for you while they're getting smacked about now, are they? :)

(Though I have been known to fear/concuss mobs while tanking and bandage myself a bit, when things are getting tight..)

[Ankalima]

And I certainly suggest leveling it as you go. I got my warlock to 70 and then realized just how invaluable it was to have FA. It's a bit of a pain to power level, because grinding so many mobs for so long is just plain boring.

But the bandages to vendor nicely ^_^

[Abeezil]

And I certainly suggest leveling it as you go. I got my warlock to 70 and then realized just how invaluable it was to have FA. It's a bit of a pain to power level, because grinding so many mobs for so long is just plain boring.

But the bandages to vendor nicely ^_^

Thanks. I'll remember that. I've b een reading up on FA and it really is a valuable secondary.

[Samlock]

Great for fights like Kael in MGT where after each lev you can bandage yourself to take some pressure off the healer, and basically on long boss fights as a lock, life tap -> bandage.

[Charzo]

In my guild its actually a requirement to get a FA skill of 375 and your surposed to carry about 30-40 bandages per raid. In my opinion its the most important profession and one that everyone should level up.

[moopy]

As someone I used to raid with said "Dr. First Aid is the best raid healer".

[Abeezil]

As someone I used to raid with said "Dr. First Aid is the best raid healer".

I'm sorry I didn't find out sooner about this - there's not a lot written about it that says what all of you have said: that it's really, really important. I'm starting right away to level up my chars and am going to tell my husband what I've learned so he can work with his too.

I always thought it was like fishing or cooking: nice to have and a bit of fun, but not of vast importance. :blush:

[moopy]

The great thing is that it's absolutely the easiest profession to level- all humanoids drop level-appropriate cloth. Hell, I am usually drowning in the stuff, even though all my toons pack a fair few bandages- my warrior usually carries five stacks or so when solo. I end up putting many stacks of cloth on the AH any day when I'm playing and not in a tough progression raid..

As for cooking and fishing- least said, soonest mended. I know they're insanely useful money savers for buff consumables, but have never had the paitience to level either- on any of my characters. Shame on me!

[Abeezil]

The great thing is that it's absolutely the easiest profession to level- all humanoids drop level-appropriate cloth. Hell, I am usually drowning in the stuff, even though all my toons pack a fair few bandages- my warrior usually carries five stacks or so when solo. I end up putting many stacks of cloth on the AH any day when I'm playing and not in a tough progression raid..

As for cooking and fishing- least said, soonest mended. I know they're insanely useful money savers for buff consumables, but have never had the paitience to level either- on any of my characters. Shame on me!

Tsk, tsk! Shame on you indeed. :grin: I get bored silly fishing and hey, cooking is not far behind (standing by a fire in an inn cooking 83 Longjaw Mud Snappers is a bit tedious!) but I do it anyway for two reasons. First of all, fishing is a surprising money-maker and I'm desperate to make some gold, and secondly because cooking feeds all the alts and their pets.

[moopy]

I know, it makes sense to do it- and I get through so much buff food (mostly blackened sporefish and golden fishsticks) when raiding that it's not funny- and they're expensive. It's just that every time I plan to sit down and powerlevel both of these, something more interesting comes up- you know, like watching paint dry or grass grow :-)

[Marlous]

Stamina and Spelldamage food ftw!

[Dobablo]

I use First Aid for profit. On my server netherweave cloth can go for as low as 2.3g per bundle on the AH. Heavy Netherweave bandages vendor for 3g per 10.

[Abeezil]

I know, it makes sense to do it- and I get through so much buff food (mostly blackened sporefish and golden fishsticks) when raiding that it's not funny- and they're expensive. It's just that every time I plan to sit down and powerlevel both of these, something more interesting comes up- you know, like watching paint dry or grass grow :-)

I'm amused by the way my Hunter's now-level-42 cat pet has become quite fussy. If I offer a low level food I'm told firmly that that food is not good enough for it. But the low level alts happily down food that only gives 61 Health. :laugh:

[moopy]

Pfft,you let it get spoiled :)

[odinsnephew]

Yes Abeezil, my cat will no longer eat qwik-e-value-dog meat for cats found in Elwynn and such cheap stores. She now only eats those juicy cuts of flesh from various outlands beasts. Or those special sachets of "Whiskas" ;)

[Abeezil]

Yes Abeezil, my cat will no longer eat qwik-e-value-dog meat for cats found in Elwynn and such cheap stores. She now only eats those juicy cuts of flesh from various outlands beasts. Or those special sachets of "Whiskas" ;)

Heck, I think it's 'Sheba' for mine. Which reminds me of something I've thought a few times - you ought to be able to buy 'pet food' from vendors or innkeepers, just for those times you're running low. I've heard, though, that pet gorillas only eat mould and fruit, which makes me awfully glad I don't have one.

[Beruen]

I'm an altaholic, and the only toon I have that hasn't maxed FA for their level is my bank mule. Other than my bank mule, I have one toon that doesn't consider one full stack of the best bandages they can use a minimum requirement to even go grinding, and that's my non-raiding feral druid, because she's never short on mana and health at the same time.

[Vandir]

I agree with the other posters: First Aid is invaluable. It can be useful in a tight spot,to minimize downtime, even in PvP with a stun. You'd be amazed what 6 seconds of bandaging can do. It's useful to all classes, even healers.

I didn't level bandaging until very recently, as a matter of fact. This is my first character, so when I was starting out, I thought "I can just heal". This was a mistake, as that takes a lot of mana out of you when you're a feral druid. If you're OOM then no shifting, no fighting, useless. I power-leveled it to 200 a week ago, and the improvement is amazing. Almost no downtime whatsoever.

The single best thing about bandaging is...
You can use it in Moonkin form! This is great for Balance druids, so they don't have to waste mana healing and shifting back into Moonkin, or to minimize downtime from eating. I'm also not quite sure, but I think you can bandage in Shadowmeld (?)

Edit: I'm level 46 by the way.

[Silverhand]

I use a real simple Rogue FA macro that saves me from silly mistakes from time to time.

/cast blind
/target "yourself"
/use heavy netherweave bandage

You're at full health and ready to reengage.

I have something similar on my warrior as well using stun. That is a true livesaver.


Cheers,

Silverhand


I'd never paid much attention to First Aid as a secondary but, on reading up on it a bit, it begins to look like a really worthwhile thing. I didn't realise before it included treatment for venom. There don't seem to be a lot of trainers, though......

If you have more than one character, do you have to level all up? Or can you make one a kind of specialist and have that one mail bandages off to others if they've got the basic skill? Is there any money to be made selling bandages on the AH?

[elsegundo]

I use a real simple Rogue FA macro that saves me from silly mistakes from time to time.

/cast blind
/target "yourself"
/use heavy netherweave bandage

You're at full health and ready to reengage.

I have something similar on my warrior as well using stun. That is a true livesaver.


Cheers,

Silverhand
/cast blind
/use [target=player] heavy netherweave bandage

[det]

All my characters usually have maxed First aid (yes 375) shortly after I could do the Triage quest. So between lv 35 and 40.

Nothing like having only 2000 health and that is topped up after 4 second :)

Everyone, even healers, need FA. I doubt any raidforce accepts you without it.

And before you ask :) Yes, Cooking and Fishing are valuable too. At least one of your characters should have it maxed. I max cooking on all my alts. Only fishing is limited to my main at 375, my other lv 70s oodle at 150-ish but that is only from doing the daily crocolisk quest. Alas...no luck on a pet bucket yet :(

[thoranbell]

To be quiet honest, I myself have not maxed out my First Aid, and I'm at level 60! I find it to be frustrating when i cannot heal because my mana is low. Which brings me to my next point, all secondary professions are useful in their own ways.

Think about it, fishing can get you some cool stuff, food, and you can even use it for a quest here and there. While cooking is an easy out of combat health. And finally First aid is an easy heal for any character!

[theshard]

All my 70s have maxxed FA. I keep 40 bandages on me and 40 in the bank and always have some spare cloth to make more. Any extra cloth gets made into bandages and vendored. I thought about putting them on the AH for a slight profit over the vendored price but decided it wasn't worth a 3g deposit if they didn't sell.