Lightwell

Lightwell is a Holy priest ability, learned at level 36, that conjures a very shiny healing well. Every second it will attempt to give party and raid members a 6 second buff (Lightwell Renew) that heals for a notable amount while the buff is active.

Notes and tactics

 * Each charge heals for 3 ticks, although this can be increased with sufficient haste.
 * Lightwell receive a 164.8% spell power coefficient per tick, or 494.5% per charge if you prefer. This makes Lightwell the undeniably best scaling healing spell in the game considering that there are 15 or 17 charges to the spell.
 * Lightwell has the highest HPM (healing per mana spent ratio) of any healing spell in the game. However its effectiveness is entirely dependent upon players clicking the Lightwell in order to receive healing.
 * Lightwell costs less than a single Heal (or Flash Heal) to cast, but if fully used will yield roughly 1300% of the healing.
 * Even if only 2 charges out of 15 are fully used, Lightwell will far outstrip Heal in terms of mana efficiency.
 * Like Renew, Lightwell ticks are affected by haste, but not by priest mastery. Unlike Renew, they cannot crit.
 * Lightwell Renew, like Renew, is a magical buff, and so can be dispelled.
 * Travelling too far away from your Lightwell will cause it to despawn.
 * Location can be critical to the utility of a Lightwell. Selecting a location that is within range of the target players is of course vital, but can be tricky with moving or multiple targets.

PVE:
 * Lightwell is usually not usable by the tanks since it breaks on damage > 30% of a HP bar. Lightwell primarily serves the DPSers.

PVP:
 * Lightwell is useful as a rear line healing dispenser, allowing damaged players to retreat and heal up without taxing the healer mana pool. While it is easily killed, this doesn't often happen.
 * Lightwell can be very handy in PvP. Unfortunately, the Lightwell's low HP makes it a relatively easy target for any informed opposing player.

Glyph of Lighwell
Glyph of Lightwell significantly changes the functionality of Lightwell, requiring players to actively interact with the well in order to receive healing. While much of the above applies equally to both forms, below are some notes and tips specifically regarding the modified Lightwell.


 * The direct interaction required by a modified Lightwell tends to make it far less effective in pugs and unorganised groups. When players are aware of the well's effects and how to obtain them, Lightwell can be extremely effective. Various macros can be useful for this purpose. The effectiveness of a modified Lightwell is direct proportionate to the awareness and education of the players involved.
 * Location is particularly critical when using Glyph of Lightwell. Selecting a location that is within practical clicking-range of the target players (especially important for melee damage-dealers) and out of danger (not too close to Bosses, lava, etc.) is vital to encouraging their interaction.
 * Clicking the Lightwell can proc weapon enchants such as Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent.
 * You can click a Lightwell from up to 20 yards away.
 * You can click a Lightwell without de-selecting your current target.
 * You can click the entire pillar of light of the Lightwell, not just the base.
 * You can click to receive a HoT from a Lightwell even when you're:
 * 1) Stunned
 * 2) Sapped
 * 3) Casting
 * 4) Running
 * 5) Feared
 * 6) Falling
 * 7) Eating
 * 8) Drinking

PVE:
 * Lightwell is usually not usable by the tanks since it breaks on damage > 30% of a HP bar. While the extended healthpools of cataclysm mean that such hits are infrequent, they still do occur. Giving a lightwell to the tank often means most of it is wasted. Which is a shame, because most tanks really love the Lightwell.
 * Lightwell primarily serve the DPSers. Unfortunately, meleers are often too preoccupied staring up a mob's crotch to notice it. The primary recipients of Lightwell is usually the ranged DPSers. The Lightwell serve as a great complement or replacement for a bandage.

History
Prior to Patch 5.4.0, Lightwell featured the functionality now found through Glyph of Lightwell. The Lightwell did not heal targets automatically, but instead required players to click on the well in order to receive healing.

This functionality in its time engendered a significant amount of controversy and complaints from priests and non-priests alike, although some argued that the greatest factor in the failure of Lightwell as a useful healing tool lay in the lack of education of the playerbase. Over time Blizzard granted progressive buffs to Lightwell, but the spell failed to receive whole-hearted acceptance by most players due to the requirement for their own active interaction, preferring to leave the healing to the healers.

Patch 5.0.4 introduced Glyph of Lightspring, providing priests with an alternative functionality for the well. Apparently this alternative was well-received, as with Patch 5.4.0 the new design was adopted as the default functionality of Lightwell.

Controversy
Lightwell was situationally an extremely powerful healing spell, but had a lot of bad reputation and stigma spanning from years of being oversold by Blizzard while being a rather underwhelming ability. The spell was often jokingly referred to as "lolwell" by both priests and non-priests alike, and frequently saw more action as a location raid marker than a healing spell.

Since its conception, Blizzard has given multiple buffs to Lightwell, each often doubling the potency of the spell. Following Cataclysm, the spell became more useful since the healing model no longer required everyone to be topped off within 3 seconds, but its value was only there if the priest's group actually used it. There was still a lot of bad feelings connected to Lightwell, and it was very rare for the Lightwell to be used in pugs.

Lightwell had a rather massive healing potential, and a major topic of discussion was whether Holy Priests were balanced against having Lightwell. If this were the case, then Holy Priests would naturally have a lower output than other healers, able to reach the same potential as other healers only if other players actually use the Lightwell. This could mean that Holy Priests put additional workload on their group to achieve the same result as another healer. On the flipside, if priests were not balanced against having Lightwell, then Holy Priests were potentially the most powerful healers out there as long as the Lightwells were used. No conclusive evidence of either situation was produced, but either case was perceived as bad from a balance point of view.

Education
One of the key factors affecting the success or otherwise of Lightwells was the awareness of other players. Many priests suggested using macros to both announce the placement of a Lightwell and to inform players of its purpose. Within guilds many priests reported good usage, once guild members were familiarized with its design, with many non-priests praising Lightwell very highly. However, within pugs this was much harder to achieve, requiring routine explanation (for which macros may be excellently suited) in order to secure player interaction.

Without education, the majority of players in pugs appeared to be unaware of the nature and use of Lightwells. Consequently Lightwells placed in such groups often went unused, or were used ineffectively, such as by players at full health. Many priests encouraged a gradual process of education of the community, so that players would eventually become more aware of the functionality of Lightwells and make use of them when they appeared. Some players however remained dismissive and hostile towards the use of Lightwells, citing difficulty in using them (especially for melee damage-dealers) and disagreement with placing the burden of responsibility upon non-healers as some of their reasons.

Trivia

 * One of the loading screen tips reads "Click on the Lightwell... unless it's a Lightspring!".
 * The tip was originally simply "Click on the Lightwell!", but this was changed some time after the introduction of the now defunct Glyph of Lightspring.
 * The Lightwell appears as a rare card for the Priest class in Hearthstone. The flavor text reads: "It isn't clear if people ignore the Lightwell, or if it is just invisible."