Disc priest healing during aoe

[jimmy valmer]

Is it just prayer of healing spam? Also is that spell a smart heal?

[Tripping]

PoH only heals people in your party... so no, it is not a smart heal. You also have things like Cascade or other 90 talents

[jimmy valmer]

Should I let the other healers worry about aoe healing?

[Tripping]

ou have nice AoE mitigation, so nom but you won't be quite as strong as classes such as shamans at AoE.

[Deleted]

A Discipline priest shouldn't be focusing on healing AoE, they should be focusing on mitigating the damage before it can hit. Try and time your Spirit Shells with raid wide damage bursts (Warsong, Calamity, Swelling Pride etc), have DA layered on as many people as possible (L90 talent) and fall back on PoM, PoH and the L90 if you really do need to pull people up. Other healing classes are stronger at the latter.

[Alfryd]

Discipline AoE healing is a process of pre-emptive actions. You're meant to build up absorbs such as Spirit Shell and Divine Aegis before AoE occurs, instead of acting during it.

[Zka]

PoH only heals people in your party...

False, it heals all people in the target's party.

[Deleted]

Just to add, use divine star when stacked, its our most powerfull aoe spell. Alot of fights can be stacked so always let your raidleader/party know to stack on fights they can. If you are widely spread Halo will shine, make sure you are roughly 25 yards away from players. Cascade is usefull in some fights where people are standing loosly/moving alot, i use it currently only on shamans hc auctually when healing at the top.

Like people said make sure you know when dmg is incomming and pop Spiritshell, preferably with AA and IF. On constant damage PoH and only use PoM if it will hit enough targets. On lower spike/aoe dmg just atonement.

[Adinora]

It seems like you need a bit of knowledge on this: http://howtopriest.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=1837

Very good information in there.

[Hypasonic]

Let other healing classes worry about "getting people up" and you just need to focus on preventing them from going down, with good use of shell/90 talents. Generally speaking Halo isn't worthwhile in 25m (apart from Malkorok) as every other fight will be better served with Star or Cascade, just make sure you have AA up when using them and shelling, an IF PoH is also decent as a "mini shell".

[Adinora]

Halo isn't worthwhile in 25m (apart from Malkorok) as every other fight will be better served with Star or Cascade

I believe it's pretty useful for Sha of Pride. But yes otherwise usually DS. I rarely use Cascade as disc though, but maybe that's just a personal preference.

[Dracodraco]

I believe it's pretty useful for Sha of Pride. But yes otherwise usually DS. I rarely use Cascade as disc though, but maybe that's just a personal preference.

Halo is preferable for the majority of tactics on Immerseus, Sha, Juggernaut, Nazgrim, Malkorok, and Paragons (I prefer it on spoils too, but that fight is just pure aids with "only" 12 people to heal).
Reasonings -
Immerseus: Cascade spends it's jumps on both damage and healing. You get almost no healing if there's adds left up from the AOE, or you use it during the blob-waves. The only time to use it for full healing would be when the boss has just spawned after a submerge phase, at which point it isn't needed. On the other hand, Halo is extremely strong, capable of bringing 4-5 blobs to full solo if I hit a "pack" of them correct (EG a quadrant).
Sha: Even if you stack for the gift buffs, everyone is still going to be either in the same general area (stacked loosely behind), or if you use a tactic where you spread around the room for soaks/prisons, you hit everyone from the middle of the room (which you still can do during prisons with the stack tactic). You also get 2 halo's per swelling, one right before swelling for shields, and one around prisons. Ideal.

Juggernaut: I see some people take cascade here. That's a waste. It is a much weaker heal than halo, and positioned correct (your raid should be spread out anyway) halo will inflict far bigger numbers than cascade. It's basicly an instant full heal during knockback phase. Cascade may be stronger for sustained damage, but let's get real - atonement will still be the bigger factor here, and halo will do about as much coverage as cascade anyway (more healing but less often).

Nazgrim:
Only one thing you'd want to blow AOE heal for, warcry. Positioned correct it puts up full shields on half the raids even with a moments notice. Cascade's bounces are far too slow, even with great reactions.

Malkorok: Self explanatory.

Paragons: I see far too many priests take Cascade for this fight, and it really makes me cringe. Here's why:
During the first part of the fight (up untill hisek is dead) most tactics will rely on keeping the ranged and melee in two stacked camps, so as to easily deal with AIM and to bait amber into correct positions (moving as a unit to avoid amber damage). This makes cascade borderline useless for the first half of the fight where you'd want heavy throughput.
Most priests seem to take it for the fiery lines, in which case, bah. It isn't a smart heal, so the chances that it'll bounce on a target that is close to death is likely extremely small. It's also (still) slow reacting, so best case scenario, you put up a minor shield before it hits someone, or you heal someone up after it's over.
The only plus for cascade on paragons is that you can use it for every fiery lines, while Halo is useable for every other only. On the other hand, Halo is so strong that if you use it correct, you don't need any raid cds to deal with that specific fiery lines, opening up for adding more to the non-halo ones. Priest running into melee and haloing should hit every ranged (melee are bombarded by ground effects anyway), hitting all of them for atleast 300-400K healing, and potentially a 500K shield.

[Bonkura]

Halo is nice for spoils too.

[kenn9530]

cascade is bad for any disc priest, either use Halo or DS.

[Hypasonic]

Halo is preferable for the majority of tactics on Immerseus, Sha, Juggernaut, Nazgrim, Malkorok, and Paragons (I prefer it on spoils too, but that fight is just pure aids with "only" 12 people to heal).
Reasonings -
Immerseus: Cascade spends it's jumps on both damage and healing. You get almost no healing if there's adds left up from the AOE, or you use it during the blob-waves. The only time to use it for full healing would be when the boss has just spawned after a submerge phase, at which point it isn't needed. On the other hand, Halo is extremely strong, capable of bringing 4-5 blobs to full solo if I hit a "pack" of them correct (EG a quadrant).
Sha: Even if you stack for the gift buffs, everyone is still going to be either in the same general area (stacked loosely behind), or if you use a tactic where you spread around the room for soaks/prisons, you hit everyone from the middle of the room (which you still can do during prisons with the stack tactic). You also get 2 halo's per swelling, one right before swelling for shields, and one around prisons. Ideal.

Juggernaut: I see some people take cascade here. That's a waste. It is a much weaker heal than halo, and positioned correct (your raid should be spread out anyway) halo will inflict far bigger numbers than cascade. It's basicly an instant full heal during knockback phase. Cascade may be stronger for sustained damage, but let's get real - atonement will still be the bigger factor here, and halo will do about as much coverage as cascade anyway (more healing but less often).

Nazgrim:
Only one thing you'd want to blow AOE heal for, warcry. Positioned correct it puts up full shields on half the raids even with a moments notice. Cascade's bounces are far too slow, even with great reactions.

Malkorok: Self explanatory.

Paragons: I see far too many priests take Cascade for this fight, and it really makes me cringe. Here's why:
During the first part of the fight (up untill hisek is dead) most tactics will rely on keeping the ranged and melee in two stacked camps, so as to easily deal with AIM and to bait amber into correct positions (moving as a unit to avoid amber damage). This makes cascade borderline useless for the first half of the fight where you'd want heavy throughput.
Most priests seem to take it for the fiery lines, in which case, bah. It isn't a smart heal, so the chances that it'll bounce on a target that is close to death is likely extremely small. It's also (still) slow reacting, so best case scenario, you put up a minor shield before it hits someone, or you heal someone up after it's over.
The only plus for cascade on paragons is that you can use it for every fiery lines, while Halo is useable for every other only. On the other hand, Halo is so strong that if you use it correct, you don't need any raid cds to deal with that specific fiery lines, opening up for adding more to the non-halo ones. Priest running into melee and haloing should hit every ranged (melee are bombarded by ground effects anyway), hitting all of them for atleast 300-400K healing, and potentially a 500K shield.

Cascade doesn't do damage and heal, it does one or the other depending on who you target....and on immerseus cascade it much better when popped prior to the blobs hitting the middle, halo works for clumped up mobs but isn't really needed.

If you do the stack tactic on sha (as we do) then star is miles better, as it's OP and can generate MUCH more divine aegis than a halo that requires you to be out of the group to use it effectively and costs a lot more mana.

I used to use Halo on Jugg, but now I use cascade and get far better results, if you raid stacks up enough then you can go with star but we don't stack up that much and even though halo would hit most people, it won't hit them all for full efficiency whereas Cascade will always heals for the most amount as it hits the targets farthest away each time.

I agree halo is good for nazgrim when timed with a cry, this week I used cascade and did far more healing than our other disc who used halo, pretty much same reasons as jugg.

For paragons, I can't rely on halo healing people that need it, I've never even considered using halo there as it seems kinda worthless.

In shot, if your raid is stacked up enough then take star, otherwise use cascade. (apart form malk) But hey go with what you want, this is just what I've found to work for me.

[Physsia]

In 10 man, Cascade has it uses. Cascade is up for every Fiery Edge on heroic Klaxxi, and it's pretty good for Siegecrafter during his Magnet, where ranged will be loosely stacked and Halo probably won't reach Melee. Cascade hits every unit despite haphazard positioning and it's cooldown is ideal for some mechanics.

[Haywire5714]

My priority for aoe healing: Archangel > Prayer of Mending > Level 90 Talent (if applicable) > Spirit Shell + Prayer of Healing > Penance > Holy Fire > Prayer of Healing.

[Tarien]

Halo is preferable for the majority of tactics on Immerseus, Sha, Juggernaut, Nazgrim, Malkorok, and Paragons (I prefer it on spoils too, but that fight is just pure aids with "only" 12 people to heal).

I disagree, but it is going to entirely depend on whether you are 10 or 25man raiding, and what approach your group is taking to the fight.

Cascade will seem weak in 10mans because it is optimal where it can hit 15 targets, and it cannot do this in a 10man raid, but in 25man fights where people are widely spread (Immerseus for example) it will shine as long as you cast it on a player first. If you cast it on an enemy it will only bounce between enemies, if cast on a player it will bounce between other players.

Haven't got time to respond to the rest of the quoted posts points, just be wary there is a lot of information given out that is either wrong or may not work for your raid size or positioning.

My advice is: experiment. Try each spell out each attempt or each week if you're killing the boss, and see what gets the best results. Try to think about when you are going to use the ability in order to gain the most possible healing from it. Generally speaking:

Divine Star: If you are stacked up for even half the fight (ie Protectors when going through some of the desperate measures phases) take it. It is hands down the most OP heal in the game. When people aren't stacked aim it at the melee/tanks, since they will generally be grouped up on the current target and provide plenty of targets to hit.

Cascade: Use if people are pretty much never grouped up (Immerseus, Sha of Pride Heroic (if not stacking)), and to be honest only in 25mans else 5 of its 15 possible heals are wasted. Sure you might (over)heal some pets, but that's wasted healing tbh.

Halo: I have the least experience with this spell, honestly I have yet to find a situation where Halo is better than the other two options - however I am still progressing in Heroics and if anyone wants to tell me which 25man fights Halo really shines above the other options, please do. If you were to take it it might be on a fight like Malkorok where you could stand in the middle and cast it, or Sha of Pride Heroic if the raid is spread around the boss. Just beware the high mana cost, another reason I am loathe to use this in my never ending quest to swap spirit for more crit

On normal I take DS for every single fight except Immerseus where I take Cascade (as we're so spread). On heroic 25mans this is my usage so far:

Immerseus: Cascade, huge range of the bounces is perfect, cast right after I get Archangel.

Protectors: Divine Star, awesome during all three Desperate Measures phases and I just aim at the melee otherwise.

Norushen: DS, we're stacked pretty tight, it does insane healing (365k HPS overall on this weeks kill)

Sha: Cascade, but I should really look into Halo. Might test it next week and see how I go.

Galakras: DS, everyone is nuking the adds, then we're stacked in two groups behind the boss and I just aim DS through both groups. Massive heals.

Iron Jug: Cascade. I was using DS for the knockback phases where we group out of range of the mortars, but the other Disc priest was getting better results with Cascade during Phase 1 as there is a lot of raid damage, so I switched. Could possibly try halo, though it is a mana intensive fight.

Dark Shaman: DS. Up top I aim it into the melee/tank group healing them and the healers with me, down below everyone is stacked up moving in parallel to the tanks. Stacked = DS.

That's all I got for now

[Dracodraco]

Cascade doesn't do damage and heal, it does one or the other depending on who you target....and on immerseus cascade it much better when popped prior to the blobs hitting the middle, halo works for clumped up mobs but isn't really needed.

I guess the healing blobs on immerseus counts as enemies, then - I am 100% sure that it bounces around on enemy targets after throwing it on one. It's borderline useless for healing them up, which is the entire point of the fight, given that. I guess if you want to pad meters for healing people up after everything has hit and there's downtime anyway, cascade will be allright. It's just pointless, really :/.

If you do the stack tactic on sha (as we do) then star is miles better, as it's OP and can generate MUCH more divine aegis than a halo that requires you to be out of the group to use it effectively and costs a lot more mana.

So you seriously have the entire raid stacked up in one spot, eating every single crash (that keeps stacking up pride on the group)? Chances are no, you aren't - you are loosely spread with the gift people stacking in the middle, and everyone spread around. Your divine star will barely ever hit 2/3 of the raid like that, and Halo will be far superior mainly due to the ways the damage is delivered on the fight -
No damage at all except for people getting hit with crashes+debuffs (both are atonement-level damage).
Some stress when prisons go out (4x people getting hit by a strong dot, everyone on the move to free people out, people spread out so range may become an issue for few) - this is where you use the halo the first time, as standing right in the center of the sha will heal everyone that's standing on a prison-button or closer, giving the entire raid full health+shields.
Then nothing but debuffs/crashes again till swelling pride, at which point you just run through sha and Halo again, with semi-max distance to the semi-grouped up raid.
Basicly - damage income is far too sporadic and unnoticeable to even warrant divine star usage. Sure, shielding the raid is great, but half of those are gonna fall off anyway.

I used to use Halo on Jugg, but now I use cascade and get far better results, if you raid stacks up enough then you can go with star but we don't stack up that much and even though halo would hit most people, it won't hit them all for full efficiency whereas Cascade will always heals for the most amount as it hits the targets farthest away each time.

Cascade "prefers" further targets. The issue is that despite cascade hitting for it's "full efficiency", that's still basicly half of what a Halo at full efficiency hits for (200K VS 400K).

I agree halo is good for nazgrim when timed with a cry, this week I used cascade and did far more healing than our other disc who used halo, pretty much same reasons as jugg.

Your other disc has slow reaction times, then :/.

For paragons, I can't rely on halo healing people that need it, I've never even considered using halo there as it seems kinda worthless.

Uhm. How? Not even joking, seriously - how is cascade a more reliable heal on the people who "needs it" than halo?
-Cascade hits max 15 targets (or roughly half the raid). Assuming ranged are standing a fair distance from the melee (due to fiery lines, duh), cascade will be jumping between ranged+melee. Melee does not need healing due to all the other AOE effects, so half the hits are "wasted" on melee.
-Halo hits every person in the raid, assuming you position yourself correct (running into melee to Halo, basicly). It's a 300-400K heal with a potential shield on essentially every ranged person, as they'll be spread in a circle at roughly max halo distance around the melee. You can count on Halo healing *everyone* who needs it, no "if" or "but" 's. Cascade isn't a smart heal, so you can't rely on that. It's the exact same reason you take Halo on Malkorok, really.

As for Tarien, everything I have said so far has been about 25 man - sorry if that wasn't clear.

In the end, there's ONE noticeable upside to cascade over Halo - Cascade is idiot proof. You don't have to think about where you cast it, you don't have to position yourself at all. 50% of making Halo work is knowing how to position yourself compared to the raid in order to get the max potential healing from it, being able to place yourself without endangering people etc... Sadly, Divine star doesn't have this same aspect of "minmaxing" despite being a proximity/"skillshot" spell, as it is used purely when everyone's stacked up, making the entire minmaxing concept null and void. I can understand why some people are seeing cascade do much better than halo if they are not used to optimising it.
As for mana, that's a completly irrellevant concept if you're a disc priest. A disc who still needs to manage mana outside of a pure-shield spam playstyle aren't smiting enough <.<.

[Hypasonic]

I'm kinda lost how you think halo is better than star when you can hit enough people with it #25man. I guess you'd use halo for protectors too? Yes we do stack on sha of pride, and I don't have any issues "aiming" the star such that it hits as many people as possible, and the shields cannot "fall off", star has a 15 second CD and Divine Aegis lasts for 15 seconds, so assuming you star off of cd (which you should) then you're basically blanketing the raid with shields, which is the whole point of being a disc....blanketing or not.

Halo is viable, but I found better results from Cascade once my fellow priest mate told me why he uses it, and it makes sense to me. You compare the healing of halo to cascade but don't take into account the fact cascade has a lower cd and mana cost?

For paragons its just not needed for me to use halo, like I said I have never and would never consider using it, I don't want to "run in to melee" to use it and we've managed just fine without it......

The top ranked discs use cascade on paragons, so I guess they are all wrong too.