[Priest] Disc Discussion

[Nikachelle]

Despite really WANTING to use my pretty angel wings... I hated it and the playstyle. So no A/A spec for me.

Although now looking at the specs, it seems I didn't pick up the speed boost in Holy (first tier, forget the name). That might help me out.

[thatguy]

Yeah, that sounds like your issue Nika. That holy talent is a must. I've found myself casting more G. Heals than Heals as Disc though.

[Nikachelle]

Yeah, that sounds like your issue Nika. That holy talent is a must. I've found myself casting more G. Heals than Heals as Disc though.

I'll switch that for sure when I go home tonight. Greater Heal just costs so much mana that I try to avoid using it unless it's absolutely necessary.

[daemonym]

I can't really comment on the average mana used per pull, but from what I've been reading, spirit stacking isn't as vital for disc thanks to Rapture (which benefits more from Int.) EJ actually did some maths that shows using GHeal w/ Inner Focus on cd actually provides better healing return for the roughly the same mana cost as using just Heal. Penance should be used pretty much on CD and unless you're a raid healer, which is one of discs weaker points, PW:S should only be used to maintain Rapture, which severely reduces the need to stack Mastery (that's probably a run-on sentence, but hopefully my point still gets through XD.) I know this may not be completely helpful to your question, but might give you some ideas of things you can try.

Unfortunately I'm only limited to 5 mans now and that basically counts as raid healing with the group acting like moths. I know that rapture is great mana return, but damn is it hard to time it so that a shield breaks when the CD is up. I'll give the whole "stick to gheal with IF" bit a shot when servers come up. Still a tad nervous of healing somebody in a heroic that wants to aoe everything in greens.

[thatguy]

Yeah, that sounds like your issue Nika. That holy talent is a must. I've found myself casting more G. Heals than Heals as Disc though.

I'll switch that for sure when I go home tonight. Greater Heal just costs so much mana that I try to avoid using it unless it's absolutely necessary.

Make sure that you have Inner Focus on cooldown. Combined with Train of Thought, G. Heal's effective mana usage can get significantly reduced. Then again, you're probably already doing this. Doh!

Edit: Just noticed that daemonym said the same thing above me. Sorry about that.

[thatguy]

...but damn is it hard to time it so that a shield breaks when the CD is up.

Power Aura Rapture Cooldown:

Code: Select all

Version:4.9; g:0.9686; icon:Spell_Holy_Rapture; buffname:Rapture; r:0.9843; Extra:true; x:1; bufftype:13; stacks:1; texture:16; alpha:0.7; owntex:true; isResting:0; duration:12; soundend:23; size:0.18; y:-224; texmode:2; finish:3; timer.b:0; timer.g:0.8824; timer.h:1.22; timer.UpdatePing:true; timer.enabled:true; timer.cents:false; timer.y:-224; timer.Transparent:true; timer.UseOwnColor:true; timer.ShowActivation:true

You're welcome.

[daemonym]

...but damn is it hard to time it so that a shield breaks when the CD is up.

Power Aura Rapture Cooldown:

Code: Select all

Version:4.9; g:0.9686; icon:Spell_Holy_Rapture; buffname:Rapture; r:0.9843; Extra:true; x:1; bufftype:13; stacks:1; texture:16; alpha:0.7; owntex:true; isResting:0; duration:12; soundend:23; size:0.18; y:-224; texmode:2; finish:3; timer.b:0; timer.g:0.8824; timer.h:1.22; timer.UpdatePing:true; timer.enabled:true; timer.cents:false; timer.y:-224; timer.Transparent:true; timer.UseOwnColor:true; timer.ShowActivation:true

You're welcome.

I actually have an addon to tell me when the cd is up. What I was referring to is when I have to, or am able to, cast multiple shields on people taking what "seems" to be regular damage. One will break before rapture goes off and with 1k left on the shield it sits there and they don't take damage again. Then I have to wait for the next shield to break before rapture procs again.

Basically I'm wanting to have rapture on CD perpetually so I don't "waste" and potential regen from it and get the most out of my shields as I can. And I mean waste in the same sense that if you are at full mana you're wasting your spirit regen.

[Nikachelle]

Yeah, that sounds like your issue Nika. That holy talent is a must. I've found myself casting more G. Heals than Heals as Disc though.

I'll switch that for sure when I go home tonight. Greater Heal just costs so much mana that I try to avoid using it unless it's absolutely necessary.

God, this is like night and day. That extra 0.5 seconds is a godsend.

[Levantine]

ITT: Nika being an arse and forgetting to spec a mandatory healing Priest talent.

[Nikachelle]

ITT: Nika being an arse and forgetting to spec a mandatory healing Priest talent.

Shhhhh!

[bldavis]

ITT: Nika being an arse and forgetting to spec a mandatory healing Priest talent.

Shhhhh!

/snicker

[Halcya]

I'm resurrecting this thread since I raid as disc, and I'd like to add my perspective on some things mentioned in this thread (I'm still sad at times that I haven't raided with my prot paladin in a year). I have a mix of heroic and raid gear, so this should give you an idea a snapshot of what it's like part way through progression.

Normally I tend to use a Archangel/Atonement build that takes Soul Warding and Train of Thought (preference to ToT). This gives me the flexibility to use multiple PW:S in a short span, the ability to use Smite for melee/tank cover as needed, and a boost to the effectiveness of the IF+GHeal macro when I need it. Sometimes, though, I will be tasked with tank healing, and then I will swap in Strength of Soul for Atonement and drop Archangel for Darkness.

Soul Warding: You want it. Once you are working in heroic/raid level gearing, maintaining several bubbles is viable. Additionally, shield spamming is still viable for expected AoE--you just have to be more intelligent about planning for it due to the long Rapture CD. I prefer it to Surge of Light as at my level of gearing the absorb exceeds the output of Flash Heal (39k shield vs. 25k FH) , and I rarely find myself in a position of needing to chain Flash Heals on a single target (mostly due to an intact healing team that's been together for over 10 months now). The lone exception thus far is the Chimaeron fight, but I cop out and spec to Holy for it.

Strength of Soul is a very strong situational talent. If you are tasked with covering a tank, it will increase the number of shields you can place on your target if you're dropping GHeals on them(which you should be). I drop it, though, if I am being tasked with raid healing, as it's viability diminishes rapidly if you aren't focusing on a few select targets to heal.

if you are in heavy aoe healing (which you shouldnt be as disc, but shit happens) then the PoH glyph is really nice

You absolutely should be aoe healing as disc. Granted Disc aoe healing doesn't have the multitude of options that Holy does, it's still viable. PoH always procs Divine Aegis (which benefits from mastery), and the healing it does warrants not only usage but also getting the glyph. PoH and the resultant DA procs usually accounts for ~30% of my healing done in a given fight. Also, depending on your raid group, Atonement won't hit everyone since ranged tend to wander away, so for me PoH becomes the go-to raid heal for those individuals. I also boost PoH by coupling it to Power Infusion on a macro, much as I link Inner Focus with GHeal.

As for stats, I aim to soft-cap haste when raid buffed (assuming a high BT up-time). After that I focus on Intellect, Crit, and Mastery since, as levantine mentioned, the synergy between them is highly effective for Disc specs. The more you crit, the more DA procs you get and the stronger your Mastery stat becomes. If I am tank healing, I grab more haste by getting Darkness and sacrificing Archangel. I'm generally too lazy to reforge for haste in those case, though doing so would certainly help.

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#bfGorRsbcRMochM:qVcodqz0M is the build I generally use. I glyph Mass Dispel rather than Smite because for two reasons. First, using Holy Fire is a dps/heal loss over straight Smite spamming. With the changes to Holy Fire in 4.1, though, this will need re-evaluation. Second, after years of reduced cast time for Mass Dispel, I simply feel impotent if I don't have the reduced cast time. I also take Levitate so I can watch unsuspecting raid members float off of the elevator in BWD and into the lava pool. (Protip for Holy: If you cast Levitate at the top of the arch of a Body and Soul boosted jump off the elevator, you can float across the entire pool and land at the steps leading to Atramedes).

[Halcya]

I have a question of my own for disc. I'm running my space goat through normal mode dungeons to get a feel for the UI and spec. All of my other toons I use only 1-2 addons in order to help me play better. However even in grim batol with a level 85 tank in all tank gear and an acceptable spec I tend to drop 20-30k mana per pull.

Armory:http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/ysera/allystokpile/simple

All of my gear has spirit on it minus one with an int trink and a spirit trink. I'm gemming for straight int and picking up the occasional socket bonus with either spirit or mastery gems.

I checked recount on a few random pulls and saw I did only a few thousand over healing which translated into wasting half of a greater heal while "most" of my shields broke. The last 1-2 tend not to be fully used up, but they're always put onto melee that stand in cleaves and assorted bad stuff.

My question really is am I doing something wrong or is spending that much mana on your average pull normal ish?

From this and your other posts I don't think you are doing anything wrong per se so much as you have dps which are taking avoidable damage. This, coupled with your gear level, should have you 20% down on mana for each pull. Getting your dps to be more mindful of their positioning should alleviate a lot of it.

[Amirya]

a position of needing to chain Flash Heals on a single target

Granted, I just started playing my disc priest again, but it's my understanding that GHeal is better than spam FHeal.

Is this not the case?

[Levantine]

No, GH is always better than flash heal. You absolutely should never find yourself in the position where having to chain more than one flash is ever the right way to heal. If you do, either you or your group is doing something horrendously wrong.

Put it this way, in that Deadmines we did a while ago I never had to cast more than a single flash heal. I agree that SoS is an okay situational talent (i.e. you know you're going to be tank healing 90% of the time), but I've yet to come into a situation where I found shield spamming to be a more attractive option than PoH spam to warrant picking up Soul Warding.

Surge of Light is also horrible. Always. Especially as disc. I'd drop it in my Holy spec too if there were better things to put the points in at that level (there aren't).