I don't like the new disc.

[Deleted]

My real concern, as stated above, is that now we are punished aven harder for not antecipating damage as in WoD. And on top of that PW:R has a slow cast and by the time you get around 10~12 ppl with atonement (using PW:S, Plea at up to 6 targets and then PW:R) to start doing damage, the first buffs applyed are already falling off.

I think they either have to increase Atonement buff duration or reduce cast time of PW:R.

And how many classes are able to sustainably spam heal 10-12 people at once?

If you maintain around 5 Atonements, there are no issues. 5 is the amount of targets Chain Heal lands on.

[Pearl1717]

Disc isn't a pure healing spec in legion, it's a "support" spec.
The reason they chose to give it to Priest is because they had TWO healing specs. Now they have 1, and a hybrid.
As Gorsameth said, if you don't like it, go Holy.

No. Disc is not a support healer. Stop propagating this myth. Seriously, its getting old.

[Helelos]

Also, Penance should go back to being usable on friendly targets baseline and apply atonement. Change the existing talent to increase healing done to the target or something.

[Deleted]

Not trying to be rude but i dont understand topics like this. YOU and a couple of others dont like the spec, so i needs to be changed? There is 5 other heal specs, dont you like any of those either? I mean dont get me wrong i dont like the new disc playstyle either but i just play holy (wich im loving btw), doesnt mean i think it should change.

And they are completly viable in pre-patch and if they dont change alot they will be on Legion live aswell. It just requires skill to play, you need to put time in it and learn it. Practice. Right now people are just looking at proper bird and method guide or all the logs where people are playing the spec wrong and assume its a bad spec. Ive seen plenty of logs both in pre-patch and beta where they are completly viable. Some fights more then others but they arent anywhere near as bad as you are making them out to be.

Do some research and go to discord and warcraftlogs and look for yourself. Dont jump on the bandwagon just cause some people say its bad. And dont like it? Then maybe...you know...dont play it?

[Alvito]

For 2 expansions disc players have been spoiled and have developed poor habits. If disc was all you played during that time the new much more in depth play style might be very hatd to adjust to. Blizzard has stated that disc is the most complicated healer to play if not the most complicated spec overall. The current version will be a deal breaker for many people I'm sure.

[Deleted]

Yup thats what im doing as well, MW monk it is for me (they nailed MW and WW, two best designed specs in the entire game)

To each their own I guess.

I have never mained a priest before but I feel like having it as at least my alt in Legion. I really like shadow and disc is looking fun for dungeons

[luma]

Some people didn't really likes the spec, it's just a challenge cause somebody said it's requires high skill cap. So now a clunky spec with a lot of unnecessary garbage is high cap. But at the end of the day, when your tank is dying, you'll have to press 4 buttons to watch his death when any other healer just need one to save him.

[A dot Ham]

Do you guys think disc will be like this all of legion or will blizz will change it if they get enough negative feedback?

They don't do major class changes mid xpac. Even if it is flat out broken... you won't see a major change until the next xpac.

So learn to love it, or change classes/specs.

[Deleted]

Some people didn't really likes the spec, it's just a challenge cause somebody said it's requires high skill cap. So now a clunky spec with a lot of unnecessary garbage is high cap. But at the end of the day, when your tank is dying, you'll have to press 4 buttons to watch his death when any other healer just need one to save him.

Shadow Mend is one button the last time I checked. Perhaps you need to bind it to a single key instead of a 4 key macro.

Even with Echo of Light, with my current gear Shadow Mend >>>> Flash Heal in healing. With Grace the difference is just stupid.

[Krstl]

I really don't understand why so many people are complaining about disc healing. The only thing you really need to track is attonements on people. Other than that, it's pretty much what you were doing before. Put your dot on the boss, spam smite and penance on cooldown. How hard is that? This isn't rocket science. Go watch a video that explains the changes. Ask for help from a disc priest who understand how it works. Coming to the forums and complaining that it's just terrible without giving actual facts on how or why it is terrible is just a waste of time. I have raided as disc since wrath, I raided this prepatch and was able to keep up with other healers, even beat them on some fights and was able to do as much damage as our tanks. I've played disc on beta and it's much better. Judging everything before the true content of what the build is designed for is just another waste of time. Maybe try seeing the build for what it was made for before you judge that "disc isn't viable" or "disc is just terrible". If you're bad at disc now, it won't really get better in Legion and there are tons of other healer classes out there you can take up to stop making the rest of disc priests look bad because you refuse to properly research your class and learn how to play it.

[luma]

Shadow Mend is one button the last time I checked. Perhaps you need to bind it to a single key instead of a 4 key macro.

Even with Echo of Light, with my current gear Shadow Mend >>>> Flash Heal in healing. With Grace the difference is just stupid.

Spamming SM makes disc so high cap that I'm about to change my mind. It's so much better than spamming shields, isn't?

[bloodmoth13]

Not sure why that is relevant, i just dont like its design overall.

If you expect them to change it you should probably provide reasons why, its not an unreasonable request is it?

- - - Updated - - -

Anywho, these changes are exactly what i asked for, couldnt be happier, its a great intermediary between holy and shadow and has a very distinct feel to it.

Funnily enough though, while i was most excited for disc changes, im actually happiest with the holy changes, with holy having a distinct identity instead of 1/3 holy specs in the game. The holy word spells are great, the single target heal is huge, just nailed it thematically imo.

[Natrii]

Honestly Like I said before, when I fist started in beta I did loath the spec. Now after playing it more and more, it is fun and very effective. The thing that traps shield Spam discs into hating new disc I think, is the bubble spam mindset. A disc before would need to over the entire raid in bubbles near non stop. Now you really just need to keep up-time on atonement on your tanks 100% and then be a bit proactive of who is taking damage most and keep up on then and spot put atonement on others. There is not blanketing the raid. It is far less mindless now as you pick your atonement targets and weave in as much dps as possible. For big burst you even have the option of blanketing almost 2/3 of the raid proactively and then dpsing your ass off, Schism, penance and mindbender together is massive healing.

Just work outside the box more than before.

[TofuBandita]

Atonement needs a longer buff duration, like at least 20 seconds baseline. Whenever I start dpsing, I always feel like "gotta go back to buffing". Weaving spells in practice is a lot of busywork and becomes draining on more demanding fights. That being said, I like the feeling of landing the right buffs on the correct people and healing a ton.

Disc is much more manageable in dungeons and smaller groups, but 20-man is a hassle getting the right buffs on the right people to do the healing you want. None of the other healers are held hostage by a 15-second buff (which is more like 5-7 second window of dpsing).

I think the short buff time is both what gives it a pseudo 'higher skill-cap,' and keeps it from being op. Extend the Atonement duration too long and it would become really boring. Any old Joe would be able to whack out Atonements with little thought for placement and timing because they could blanket everyone then forget about it while they dps comfortably. The new disc feels to me like a spec designed to keep you on your toes, and do it's meaningful healing in well-timed, well-planned bursts. Thinking of Atonement as two parts - set-up and execution - is probably a good way for all Disc players to regard how they use the spell, rather than feeling like you're constantly cheated of being able to dps for a full 15 or so seconds.

You could think of Atonement as having gears. If there's light damage/low healing required you cruise in first gear - throwing out less Atonements but doing damage for longer. If there's heavy damage incoming you switch into a higher gear - putting Atonement on as many appropriate targets possible while still leaving just enough time to use your hardest hitting damage spells.

I agree though, that at times it just feels like a lot of constant busy-work. But a part of this, at least in my experience, feels like it is more to do with either myself not knowing damage patterns well - and trying to pre-empt unknowable damage by keeping up (unnecessary) Atonements on as many people as possible, or other people not knowing mechanics well and taking a lot of avoidable damage. In the latter circumstance, you can feel like you're constantly scrambling to keep Atonements up and still do enough damage to heal everyone up. (Particularly in 5-mans.) I've found that it's better just to triage. I kind of enjoy the fact that I'm no longer a one trick pony, spamming shields and covering up other players lack of awareness/personal defensive use/health pot usage, etc.

[Deleted]

I think the short buff time is both what gives it a pseudo 'higher skill-cap,' and keeps it from being op. Extend the Atonement duration too long and it would become really boring. Any old Joe would be able to whack out Atonements with little thought for placement and timing because they could blanket everyone then forget about it while they dps comfortably. The new disc feels to me like a spec designed to keep you on your toes, and do it's meaningful healing in well-timed, well-planned bursts. Thinking of Atonement as two parts - set-up and execution - is probably a good way for all Disc players to regard how they use the spell, rather than feeling like you're constantly cheated of being able to dps for a full 15 or so seconds.

You could think of Atonement as having gears. If there's light damage/low healing required you cruise in first gear - throwing out less Atonements but doing damage for longer. If there's heavy damage incoming you switch into a higher gear - putting Atonement on as many appropriate targets possible while still leaving just enough time to use your hardest hitting damage spells.

I agree though, that at times it just feels like a lot of constant busy-work. But a part of this, at least in my experience, feels like it is more to do with either myself not knowing damage patterns well - and trying to pre-empt unknowable damage by keeping up (unnecessary) Atonements on as many people as possible, or other people not knowing mechanics well and taking a lot of avoidable damage. In the latter circumstance, you can feel like you're constantly scrambling to keep Atonements up and still do enough damage to heal everyone up. (Particularly in 5-mans.) I've found that it's better just to triage. I kind of enjoy the fact that I'm no longer a one trick pony, spamming shields and covering up other players lack of awareness/personal defensive use/health pot usage, etc.

Yeah agree with all of that. Played Disc and Holy quite a bit in raids and 5 man mythic dungeons. Holy is more conventional healing but disc plays very differently which is good imo as its a very different beast than holy. As long as you have a good mix of a dps mind set but also tracking and triaging your atonements, you will do fine. Gotta get the balance right to do the best of both and haave an overal good outcome, i.e. do good damage and enough healing that people stay alive. Cant wait for Legion to see how the artifact plays into it all.

[Harbour]

Always loved Discipline priests, since TBC. Cant play this spec after pre-patch (5man dungeons specifically). Why? Cause i need to reapply these f*cking atonments after every 2-3 casts of damage spell if (!) mobs didnt die by that moment. It doesnt feel flow at all, it felt confusing and underwhelming.
I cant do damage cause atonments and i cant heal cause DPS is usually ENOUGH to kill trash without you and i doubt experience will make it better.
Right now atonments simply break the gameplay. You only start dpsing and then you go all "Oh shit, i need to reapply fking Atonment! Oh shit, tank died cause i reapply Atonments instead of dpsing!
I know that i didnt play it much to learn how to do it right, but this spec's style right now is simply unfiendly to player.
I understand Blizz conception yet on practic that idea probably only works not bad on bosses, with zillion HP and long fights.
BUT its not critical flaw, it can be fixed easily in two ways: 1)Make atonments last longer; 2)Make atonments permanent, like paladin's Beacon of Light. You put them on your teammates and then you damage like a kewl dude sometimse reapplying Shield to save some people from death. That would fit discipline better i think and wont broke the game.

[Staargasm]

Making mouseover macros is key to making Disc more fluent. Also, it wont play anything like it does now at 110, with Artifact wep/perks and 110 gear. I personally like the playstyle, and i'm considering making it my main for Legion

[zaraeirah]

Always loved Discipline priests, since TBC. Cant play this spec after pre-patch (5man dungeons specifically). Why? Cause i need to reapply these f*cking atonments after every 2-3 casts of damage spell if (!) mobs didnt die by that moment. It doesnt feel flow at all, it felt confusing and underwhelming.
I cant do damage cause atonments and i cant heal cause DPS is usually ENOUGH to kill trash without you and i doubt experience will make it better.
Right now atonments simply break the gameplay. You only start dpsing and then you go all "Oh shit, i need to reapply fking Atonment! Oh shit, tank died cause i reapply Atonments instead of dpsing!
I know that i didnt play it much to learn how to do it right, but this spec's style right now is simply unfiendly to player.
I understand Blizz conception yet on practic that idea probably only works not bad on bosses, with zillion HP and long fights.
BUT its not critical flaw, it can be fixed easily in two ways: 1)Make atonments last longer; 2)Make atonments permanent, like paladin's Beacon of Light. You put them on your teammates and then you damage like a kewl dude sometimse reapplying Shield to save some people from death. That would fit discipline better i think and wont broke the game.

In 5 mans, the gameplay for disc is different. Especially if those 5 mans are difficult. You would spec into grace and use shadowmend much more. That should make 5 mans, even difficult ones, much easier for you.

[Puupi]

And how many classes are able to sustainably spam heal 10-12 people at once?

If you maintain around 5 Atonements, there are no issues. 5 is the amount of targets Chain Heal lands on.

Except that CH heals for about 6 times more than 5 target atonement with Smite. Also Chain Heal is smart, Atonement isn't.

[Pearl1717]

Except that CH heals for about 6 times more than 5 target atonement with Smite. Also Chain Heal is smart, Atonement isn't.

And by 6 times I hope you meant only 2 times.