itemisation and optim of a disc pve priest?

[thunderstruk]

ok hi guys

first of all sorry for my english wich is not my native.

i decided to up my priest which i played during BC as a holy, and my raid team need more a priest than my main so^^
thinking about the next patch, holy seems to me not so valuable any more and disc priest pleases more to me.
i wonder so what am i suppose to focus about bonus? spirit, intell, crit, sp?
i'm a bit aware that sp is coming on every pieces so i think it's not the focus one... but what's next?

thanks for your answers :P

[Deleted]

Spellpower > Intellect > critrating > haste > spirit

That should be the priority itemization for discipline priests.

[Silkath]

I'd suggest initially focusing on crit, as this improves both our mana regen and the size of our heals and gives more Dvinie Aegis procs for shielding.

Never bother with spirit, if it's on an item that's nice but don't replace crit/haste items with spirit.

Spellpower is obviously important but comes on all caster gear so you don't really need to try to get this. Intellect is also extremely valuable for a Disc priest (larger mana pool, more mana from Rapture, more crit) but again comes on almost all gear so you don't need to try and pick it up. I'd suggest always using the spellpower and int gems (Luminous Monarch Topaz).

Some things to aim for:

20k mana pool - requires about 1100 int raid buffed
25% crit without a Boomkin - requires about 350 crit rating with the above amount of int

At this point you should have more than enough mana for any fight in 25 man raids. Then you can start adding haste (around 350-450 haste is good) but keep adding intellect and spellpower.

[thoukaia]

Spellpower > Intellect > critrating > haste > spirit

That should be the priority itemization for discipline priests.

Intellect > Spellpower > crit > spirit > haste

[Izenhart]

intellect > critical rating > haste > spellpower.

Big heals ain't needed for disc priests, you just need to be able to do it all night long, critty and fast.

[thunderstruk]

thanks a lot for your fasts answer.

i begin to plan which hero to focus on^^

so i retain that spirit is not so necessar to a disc prefer intel. and then crit and haste...

no pb about regen without so much spirit however?

[Deleted]

intellect > critical rating > haste > spellpower.

Big heals ain't needed for disc priests, you just need to be able to do it all night long, critty and fast.

I posted spellpower > intellect > crit > haste, but you might aswell remove spellpower there, since it comes with every gear upgrade anyway.

But still i'd prefer 2k spellpower are 20k mana, then 1.3k spellpower at 25k mana, but yeah spellpower will come along.

[Amgyn]

why is haste last?

[Deleted]

Discipline can afford to loose some itemization points regarding haste, because we have 5% haste if specced for it, so haste is less important then holy.

[Kelesti]

Discipline can afford to loose some itemization points regarding haste, because we have 5% haste if specced for it, so haste is less important then holy.

Real reason? Because Penance, PW: Shield, and Prayer of Mending all have cooldowns.
Getting 1.0 second Flash Heals is cool, but there's no real point to it.

[kruger]

In what way does crit improve mana regen ?

[Neichus]

Rapture gets you mana back from heals and bubbles. Crits make bubbles due to Divine Aegis. So when you crit you heal for more + create a shield that when absorbed returns even more.

As for my answer, I think a lot of people underrate haste for Disc. From what I've seen (I play holy, a good friend of mine plays disc) is that Disc and Holy start in different places. Holy starts with high thoroughput and through gearing and playstyle is primarily concerned about efficiency which is achieved through using the right heals at the right time + exploitation of the 5sr. Disc by comparison starts with relatively low thoroughput but has a much higher level of sustainability while chain casting. Spellpower, Haste, and Crit all increase HPS.

The problem to me with gearing for crit is that it's expensive in terms of itemization. In order to get 1% crit it takes a lot more rating than for Haste, probably due to how many mechanics are tied into crit for different classes. Unless you're in the most top end gear you really don't have access to a wide variety of well-itemized crit pieces (an intentional situation on Blizzard's part), let alone the sheer iLevel needed to amass a high level of crit without sacrificing too many other stats. This is further underlined by the fact that priests can only get 5% crit (with another 4-6% situationally) through talents (by comparison to 13+/-6% for Paladins and 14% for Shamans). By comparison Haste is cheap and it's everywhere on gear, again probably because it increases HPS but not HPM. It's true that Discipline is limited by some cooldowns, but Discipline isn't doing nothing while shield and Penance are on cooldown.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I rambled too much. Point is that maybe if you've got your pick of all the best gear in the future crit will exceed haste in value, but from what I've seen in a practical gearing up sense Haste is cheaper and easier to get.

[Amgyn]

i figure since we dont want to dive into the damn holy tree too much (just get enough for inspiration) we want our actual heals to be fast (see greater heal)

specced you can get Gheal to 2.5 seconds...... unspecced its 3seconds... right now i have very little points in holy and gheal is about 2.6 seconds... probably like 2.3 seconds after a shield.

i like haste.. fast penance, reduced GCD for all my instants (shield,pom,renew)... but i guess i should stack int and crit now

[Kelesti]

i figure since we dont want to dive into the damn holy tree too much (just get enough for inspiration) we want our actual heals to be fast (see greater heal)

specced you can get Gheal to 2.5 seconds...... unspecced its 3seconds... right now i have very little points in holy and gheal is about 2.6 seconds... probably like 2.3 seconds after a shield.

i like haste.. fast penance, reduced GCD for all my instants (shield,pom,renew)... but i guess i should stack int and crit now

Except (with few exceptions) 2 Flashes is better than one Greater, so your point on "actual" heals falls quite low.

[Healium]

it kinda bugs me when people just post things like stat1 > stat2 > stat3 and so on. in most cases one stat is not -always- better. the way i gear for disc (and holy for that matter) is based on a different system. balance your mp5 and crit well enough so that you don't oom by the end of a fight. once you're not going oom getting more haste and spell power is best to increase your healing output.

basically gear for what works for you.

[Fenixdown]

Crit > int > haste > spellpower > mp/5 > spirit

Until yuo start looking at 10-man and 25-man raid gear, which all but a random one or two pieces lacks any regen stat, this is the best way to look at stat priority.

Crit should always be first. Rapture is your greatest mana regen battery, and one of the best things about it is that it goes well with Divine Aegis procs. Raid buffed right now I'm sitting at about 30% crit and I think in an entire Naxx run I used 3 mana pots total. One was simply because KT hit me with mana detonation twice in a row. : /

The reason haste is not as much of a priority is because your spells are generically fast already. As a discipline priest, get out of the habit of spamming GH like you do as holy. It's mana cost and cast time make Flash Heal your better go-to spell for in between Penance, Renew, and PoM. Save GH for the "oh s*(^" button when you pop a shield and need a huge heal right now, or when popping Inner Focus. A good spot for a final haste total in all raid gear is around the 250 range, but certainly no more than 350. Crit should be stacked as much as you can get it, then when your crit is at a good spot (at least the 490-500 mark), you can branch out and see if you want to add more haste for a little more balance and speed.

Spellpower could go above haste on the list, but never above int or crit. As a discipline priest, you will not heal big like you do as holy, you heal smart. If you're a "meterwhore" like some people I see post in these forums, I'd either stop looking or delete your meter. Out of 6 healers I generally finish no higher than 4th, barring something crazy, but if you factor in mitigation circumstances I certainly do more of that than anyone. That's your job now. Think of yourself as a walking piece of tank gear. You prevent damage to the tank so healers have less to worry about.

Spirit is certainly last. Save some extra regen, discipline gets no real benefit from spirit, unlike holy. If you want to increase your io5sr regen, mp/5 gear is a better choice. Most gear will have spirit regardless. If it has crit, though, it's still perfect for discipline.

[Kelesti]

Spirit is certainly last. Save some extra regen, discipline gets no real benefit from spirit, unlike holy. If you want to increase your io5sr regen, mp/5 gear is a better choice. Most gear will have spirit regardless. If it has crit, though, it's still perfect for discipline.

Hey Fenix, think we'll actually see a Disc tier set some day?

[Bigslick]

Crit > int > haste > spellpower > mp/5 > spirit

Int should definitely be prioritized (all things in moderation) over crit. Not only does Int gives crit rating (though less per itemization point of course), but it also scales with both Mental Strength and Kings to provide a substantially larger mana pool.

Rapture is your greatest mana regen battery

This is true, and Rapture procs off of crits. But the amount of mana gained is based off the overall mana pool, so more mana means more restored. Both int and crit help here.

But consider what else benefits from mana pool and gains nothing from crit:

• Replenishment
• Shadowfiend
• Mana Tide
• Hymn of Hope

In any realistic situation you will gain more mana by focusing more on building int than crit, not to mention that you start with a larger pool to begin with. Now if they'd just give us a better mana strudel...

[Kelesti]

Formula from Elitist Jerks for mana return from Rapture:
Max(0.01035*max mana/base mana*amount healed, 0.025 * Max Mana)

Increasing your Int does increase your return, yes, but there are better returns from just doing MORE with the int you have, i.e. more spellpower. At least, until you get close to the max of your mana pool.

[Fenixdown]

Hey Fenix, think we'll actually see a Disc tier set some day?

Yeah, wouldn't that be awesome. I dusted my T7 chest cuz it's so awful for discipline. No crit, haste, nothing. Now I have Robes of Mutation. Yellow slot + initial crit rating =

I also agree you can definitely make intellect higher on a priority than crit, depending on what your larger focus tends to be. Personally, I prefer crit and let the int take care of itself. Though that ring from KT would be super hawt. Haste, 41 int, and crit. /drool