Shadow gear being used for Disc, viable? (And a few other Shadow questions)

[Schrute]

I currently main a shadow priest ( http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...&cn=Filippelli) , and have dabbled a bit into Disc healing - my question is that will I be able to make the jump to healing without having to pick up a full set of new gear?

I've had some mild experience healing in Shadow (gogo FH!) on fights like Deathwhisper and the Lich King escape in HoR-Heroic, and haven't had too much of a problem (even though the Deathwhisper fight was largely carried by the best holy pally I've ever met >_>).

I know that ultimately I'll want less hit gear and more Spirit/Haste/Crit etc gear (perhaps even the T9 pieces for healing), but will what I have work for now?

Also, I was curious about how to better my rotation as a Shadow priest. I've read the FAQs and the topics on shadowpriest, but I've hit a wall at just under 6K in a 10-man :-\ - I've read somewhere that Mind Flay/VT are the two most important spells in my roster?

I've been suspicious that the DPS meters do no favors to a DoT using class, given that most of the first 15-30 seconds of the fight are spent getting DoTs up and maintaining them, giving a possibly lower DPS number than what would be the real thing. I've noticed this on the heroic Boss dummy, where I'll go in unbuffed and hover at 3500 then ascend to about 4200 as I continue attacking. If I were to reset the meters while maintaining the same level of rotation, would that change?

I apologize if this is a lot of questions but I'm always desiring to learn more about my class and how to play it properly

Thanks in advance!

[Serenityx]

Well if we could just have Dots doing damage without having to cast them (ramp up time) than yeah our dps would be higher ;D. That is the nature of a Dot orientated dps spec but once those dots get rolling and your Mindflaying your dps can be competitive. Plus those without dots suffer during movement and multiple targets more than we do, on these fights we can really shine.

For discipline most of your shadow gear that doesn't have hit rating should be fine fill in the other slots with gear that has some more int(or gemmed int) and you should be fine. I'm Holy spec as my off spec, most of my shadow gear won't do the trick for that.

[Sorg]

I know that ultimately I'll want less hit gear and more Spirit/Haste/Crit etc gear (perhaps even the T9 pieces for healing), but will what I have work for now?

Say no to spirit.
If you are going to spec Discipline, Spirit is an absolutely wasted stat on your gear.
Spirit mainly increases your mana regeneration outside the five second rule, and a Discipline priest does not gain extra spellpower through spirit.

Apart from that, the crit/haste gear that shadow priests gather is not so bad for discipline.
Currently I sit at around 143 hit rating - as a pure discipline priest, never shadowing around - because the pieces with hit were just so good upgrades I could not really pass.

Discipline priests primarily want Spellpower, Int, Crit, a moderate amound of haste, and mp5.

[Minia]

I currently main a shadow priest ( http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...&cn=Filippelli) , and have dabbled a bit into Disc healing - my question is that will I be able to make the jump to healing without having to pick up a full set of new gear?

I've had some mild experience healing in Shadow (gogo FH!) on fights like Deathwhisper and the Lich King escape in HoR-Heroic, and haven't had too much of a problem (even though the Deathwhisper fight was largely carried by the best holy pally I've ever met >_>).

I know that ultimately I'll want less hit gear and more Spirit/Haste/Crit etc gear (perhaps even the T9 pieces for healing), but will what I have work for now?

Also, I was curious about how to better my rotation as a Shadow priest. I've read the FAQs and the topics on shadowpriest, but I've hit a wall at just under 6K in a 10-man :-\ - I've read somewhere that Mind Flay/VT are the two most important spells in my roster?

I've been suspicious that the DPS meters do no favors to a DoT using class, given that most of the first 15-30 seconds of the fight are spent getting DoTs up and maintaining them, giving a possibly lower DPS number than what would be the real thing. I've noticed this on the heroic Boss dummy, where I'll go in unbuffed and hover at 3500 then ascend to about 4200 as I continue attacking. If I were to reset the meters while maintaining the same level of rotation, would that change?

I apologize if this is a lot of questions but I'm always desiring to learn more about my class and how to play it properly

Thanks in advance!

Personally, I think the tier gear is crap for disc. I much prefer the regular badge gear. However, just reading your stats, looks like your gear is more holyfriendly than disc =/ All that haste and not much crit.

[jonish]

if the question is , "is the shadow set good for healing" the short answer is yes it is , for disc. It isnt nearly as useful for a holy spec but it is actually better than the holy set is for disc.

So if you have a disc spec and a shadow spec, yes the shadow set is far better for you. If you just looking to get gear that is good for both holy and disc you could be better off getting badge gear instead and forgo the sets altogether.