[Priest] PvE Discipline Priest Guide

[Deleted]

Out of curiosity, Spiritus, do you keep a different set of gear for each of your disc specs or do you regem and reforge if you need to use your SoS build?

That's what I was GOING to ask before I thought to look up your armory and now I see you've changed that spec for a Holy PvP one!
Oh well.

[Breekjou]

Thank you for reading!

Just so you are aware, I don't really see the viability of the XPS build outside of theory. Its a fun look at what a real DPS/Healer hybrid could be in WoW, but ultimately there isn't any room for it in the design.

Also, are you tank healing with your crit build?

Crit Build - I will be the healer on the off tank (Nef,Magmaw,Halfus etc) and will always be specced into atonement/evangelism.. Focus casting and basically being there to add some damage mitigation.

Mainly I explained to our Healing leader that on the fights were fewer healers are needed i could go XPS - Well as a purest healer he thought this was bull until i quoted this guide, Basically he said if my Healing + DPS = His Healing through put plus a little extra, he will allow me to keep doing that... Is that possible? - From what if seen in five mans I can pull 4k dps and around 4/5k hps on certain fights were alot of movement is not required...I basically try and go for Smite stacks after holy fire than prayer of healing and greater heal and penance regardless of groups health just to test my mana efficiency ...

[Zeernial]

Casting binding heal is about the same as casting heal on yourself and on the tank, its not a situational spell it should be used every time you`re damaged.

[Deleted]

It also doesn't work with Strength of Soul or apply/refresh grace.
Blinding is great if you absolutely need heals now while still healing someone else, but if there's no immediate danger then our other tools are more useful.

[Deleted]

Binding heal is great - it has the efficiency of Heal, but throughput is 75% of flash heal on each target. I use it all the time. You should be able to fire off a few BHs without having to worry about grace dropping off.

[[-Spiritus-]]

Out of curiosity, Spiritus, do you keep a different set of gear for each of your disc specs or do you regem and reforge if you need to use your SoS build?

I do not. I find my high HST build comfortable enough to tank heal with and the majority of the time I'm raid healing. The only two fights I purely tank heal nowadays are H. Halfus & H. Chimaeron. I would keep my gemming the same regardless of what stat build I was pushing.

That's what I was GOING to ask before I thought to look up your armory and now I see you've changed that spec for a Holy PvP one!
Oh well.

I'll do some pub-stomp pre-made BGs now and again with some old friends. I really dig Holy for PvP. More and stronger instant cast healing options added to gems like B&S, LW, GS, & HW:Ch make for fun play. For some reason, I also tend to find more options to be able to go offensive when doing BGs as Holy and its fun to drop into CH:Ch and toss out a MSx3->MB combo or two.

---------- Post added 2011-04-15 at 06:56 AM ----------

Mainly I explained to our Healing leader that on the fights were fewer healers are needed i could go XPS - Well as a purest healer he thought this was bull until i quoted this guide, Basically he said if my Healing + DPS = His Healing through put plus a little extra, he will allow me to keep doing that... Is that possible?

If you use the rotation and stat weights I specified, you should have no problems with having your XPS >or= his HPS. However, I still wouldn't recommend it for serious play. If you think a situation called for an XPS Disc priest, more likely than not your raid is not properly executing the encounter. All in all, I think your raid would be better served with you taking a more traditional role.

From what if seen in five mans I can pull 4k dps and around 4/5k hps on certain fights were alot of movement is not required...I basically try and go for Smite stacks after holy fire than prayer of healing and greater heal and penance regardless of groups health just to test my mana efficiency ...

This isn't what I would call "XPS" play, which is aimed at reaching the highest possible combination of DPS & HPS. What you are doing is a fairly standard Atonement based raid healing role, using HF->Smite during low damage periods to set up for AA to prayer, penance, & GH. I think this is perfectly viable, however, I really wouldn't call it "XPS," which I get to define because I made it up! =P

Think of XPS as pushing the greatest amount of DPS possible in Disc while maximizing the number of Atonement heals that go out.

---------- Post added 2011-04-15 at 07:02 AM ----------

Casting binding heal is about the same as casting heal on yourself and on the tank, its not a situational spell it should be used every time you`re damaged.

Using it every time you are damaged is a fairly inefficient use of the spell, IMO. Remember that it has the same MPCT as FH, which means liberal casting will OOM you quickly, regardless of its relative efficiency. The good thing about BH is its slightly less powerful than two FHs cast at the same time, but at the same cost as 1 FH. This makes it the go to spell for when you need to get yourself and someone else up quickly.

I would not, for example, recommend casting BH when both you and the tank are at 80% health. More likely than not the raid healers have your back, so trust them and use a more preferable spell to counter the 20% health deficit on the tank.

[Breekjou]

If you use the rotation and stat weights I specified, you should have no problems with having your XPS >or= his HPS. However, I still wouldn't recommend it for serious play. If you think a situation called for an XPS Disc priest, more likely than not your raid is not properly executing the encounter. All in all, I think your raid would be better served with you taking a more traditional role.




This isn't what I would call "XPS" play, which is aimed at reaching the highest possible combination of DPS & HPS. What you are doing is a fairly standard Atonement based raid healing role, using HF->Smite during low damage periods to set up for AA to prayer, penance, & GH. I think this is perfectly viable, however, I really wouldn't call it "XPS," which I get to define because I made it up! =P

Think of XPS as pushing the greatest amount of DPS possible in Disc while maximizing the number of Atonement heals that go out.[COLOR="red"]

Cool XPS is still a cool concept - However as you said a more traditional role is advisable. All in all Disc is imho is a fun specc to play - would never of thought that I could have so much fun with a healing class - my warrior is fun , but omfg disc rules :P

[TheTrueM4gg0t]

hey spiritus,
nice guide, very intressting stuff!

but I dont understand your point 4 of tankhealing.
why do you need 5 mastery (32.5% better shields) to make your crits heal 200% more?
as far as I see, even base mastery (8mas, 20%) bringts you above this level.
a crit does 150% heal, and a DA schield with 36% of the power of the heal (30% DA + 20% increase = 36% with base mastery)
150 *0.36 = 54% DA schield (of initial heal amount)
and heal + schield = 150 + 54 = 204% is already above 200%.

what don't i understand, and why 32.5% ??

greez edi

[Combatmedic]

Ah well - this thread got bumped again, so might as well throw in my 2 cents around disc. raidhealing.
Been thinking about it a while and would be interested in your response.

It seems like you are happy about spamming PoH and some of your arguments around haste vs. mastery/crit. also seems to evolve spamming PoH(Which isnt a bad thing - PoH rocks..) Esp. the argument of a group getting unbalanced health wise, if stacking mastery/crit, I would like to challenge a bit.

I do like your argumentation around haste. Haste is really powerfull when combined with PoH.
But instead of gearing for it, I rely more on BT.
My rotation goes along the line of PW:S - PoM(On CD) - Penance(For mana regen) - PoH - PW:S - PoH - PW:S etc.

The idea is to get as much BT usage as possible, so the cast of PoH goes down to around 1.9s, which in turn, leaves a very nice DA esp. if it crits.
This supports your idea around mastery/crit. for tank healing - awesome reading btw.

At my current gearlvl.
PW:S hits for around 30k + glyph
PoH hits for around 40k + glyph + DA, with a 1.9s cast with BT
Im not loosing that much weaving PW:S.

The unbalanced healing the increased mastery/crit causes, I covered with PW:S and PoM.
Cant remember having trouble with an unbalanced group health - plus the splash healing from other healers, tends to level the raid as a whole(Shamans and Holy Priests produces a lot..).

I like this rotation, since it gives some other synergies raid healing wise, than swaying away from the disc. power house attribute(absorbing damage)
- From time to time, my DA absorbs surpasses my PoH healing(I know its rng with the crits - but they do help a lot). Im inclined to believe, thats achievable because of my mastery/crit ratings.
- Its way easier to save that unlucky raider, taking extra damage from something during AOE phases, since you are allready in the PW:S/PoH rythm.
- PW:S only gets stronger by the day - meaning the spell coe. is way higher than PoH - though still miles to a perfect PoH(Which in my present gear is in the vicinity of 100-110k) - but then again, the perfect PoH is very random^^

I do think its a detail - however, most seems to either 70% PW:S Spam or 70% PoH spam.
There is a way between the two and it seems effective enough, to at least make me an effecient healer.
I tend to land at 40% PW:S(with glyph) and 40% PoH(With glyph and DA) when raidhealing.

...Or would I just be best off stacking for max. haste?


Disclaimer:
Im in no way a detail fanatic and do believe in the golden middleway in regard of healing.
Easily seen on my reforging, where I tend to go after values on the toon sheet rather than the individuel piece stats.
Same goes for gems, where its a mix of keeping the slot bonus and hitting the sheet toon values.
Atm. I aim for 2k spirit and ~10% haste - thats all^^.
But please dont make this into gear issues to prove my points invalid..:P

A log to the most recent "normal" playstyle raidhealing done - had to run after an add tank all the time(The more running the more shielding^^), but shows my healing style.. I think.
worldoflogs.com/reports/bqsd9x40tco7ny8x/sum/healingDone/?s=885&e=1348

Hope to hear from you Spiritus..

[MomsBasement]

is this going to be updated for 4.1

[[-Spiritus-]]

but I dont understand your point 4 of tankhealing.
why do you need 5 mastery (32.5% better shields) to make your crits heal 200% more?
as far as I see, even base mastery (8mas, 20%) bringts you above this level.
a crit does 150% heal, and a DA schield with 36% of the power of the heal (30% DA + 20% increase = 36% with base mastery)
150 *0.36 = 54% DA schield (of initial heal amount)
and heal + schield = 150 + 54 = 204% is already above 200%.

what don't i understand, and why 32.5% ??
greez edi

If I remember correctly, I believe my original version of the guide was worded differently and then I changed my recommended MST value later but didn't switch the wording. Originally I had recommended less MST, but when PW:S was bumped up in HPS, I increased the value of MST.

You are correct that the base amount of MST + DA will result in a 200% effective CRIT.

The 32.5% value is based on what I have experienced to be a solid balance, with 30% single target crit, and the remainder in HST for T11. I will have to re-evaluate stats based on tank damage patterns in 4.2, combined with any spec changes.

Thank you for catching this, as the guide was clearly incorrect in this case. It has been changed to reflect this.

---------- Post added 2011-05-02 at 10:30 PM ----------

It seems like you are happy about spamming PoH and some of your arguments around haste vs. mastery/crit. also seems to evolve spamming PoH(Which isnt a bad thing - PoH rocks..) Esp. the argument of a group getting unbalanced health wise, if stacking mastery/crit, I would like to challenge a bit.

I do like your argumentation around haste. Haste is really powerfull when combined with PoH.
But instead of gearing for it, I rely more on BT.
My rotation goes along the line of PW:S - PoM(On CD) - Penance(For mana regen) - PoH - PW:S - PoH - PW:S etc.

[snip]

Hope to hear from you Spiritus..

As always, what works for you and gets the kills done with minimal or no deaths is what healing is about, rather than doing what I or any other person says.

My main reason for valuing HST is because, with very low values of crit while raid healing and a horrible MST to DA conversion, the only true benefit to high levels of MST is PW:S.

Now, if you spam PW:S, you'd be stupid to not stack MST. However, if you are spamming PW:S, that means you have a very high gear level and have serious external regen, which is getting severely nerfed in 4.2 w/ the innervate change.

However, if you are mixing in other spells, the question you have to ask is "Does my PW:S absorb enough now for what I'm using it for?" If no, then get more MST, as PW:S is still a defining tool we use.

However, if PoH, Penance, GH, FH, BH, & Heal all benefit greatly from HST, and if they, together, comprise of 60%+ of your total eHPS, then boosting MST over HST is essentially boosting 40% instead of 60%.

Now, I'll be clear. The reason I'm so heavily into HST for T11 is because I feel that my 2.5sec casts feel adequately fast enough at ~2.0--2.08 speed, which requires a significant investment into HST. For T12, depending on damage patterns, I may recommend keeping this same HST levels, but funneling future itemization into MST. That, of course, is depending on what the encounters look like.

To comment directly on your healing style, however, the biggest issue I see conceptually with it is in cases where you are casting PW:S on a target that is unknown whether he will take damage in 15sec or not, you are essentially throwing away mana and time on a PW:S [even with BT in consideration] that could have been spent on a PoH [or any other heal]. Now, if those bubbles are popping, then I could see how it could be very effective.

Ultimately, however, as I said, I wrote the guide as a guide, not as the 11th commandment. If you find a way that works for you in your guild, then rock on with your bad self!

---------- Post added 2011-05-02 at 10:33 PM ----------

is this going to be updated for 4.1

I was waiting to make sure that the changes in 4.1 were solid and not subject to an oops-jk-fix. I plan to rework it before the weekend, as I need to do new math on HF & finally write the 'PW:S & you' raid healing snippet.

[Deleted]

Spiritus! If the Crit buff goes through, will have you rewrite some things in this guide? Much appreciation your outlook and advice on all things Disc priest! <3

[[-Spiritus-]]

Spiritus! If the Crit buff goes through, will have you rewrite some things in this guide? Much appreciation your outlook and advice on all things Disc priest! <3

I'm actually contemplating scrapping the guide entirely due to possible work opportunities that will all but eliminate my ability to raid on even the light schedule I do now, which would pretty much end my long, long WoW playing days. If this were to occur, I could not in good conscious continue updating a raider's guide to the Disc priest when I'm not actually raiding.

But, yes, if the crit buff goes through, I would essentially have to completely rewrite and remath most of this guide.

[Chromu]

My two cents as disc priest.

Personally i see discipline priest as healer with some dps. Your priority is always intellect>haste=crit>spirit. Your main mana regain is rapture and evangelism, so the need to have spirit on gear is kinda secondary.

The XPS build presented here seems a little flawed. You wont be able to recover mana after casting devouring plague, sw + smite / holy fire only with rapture / evangelism/ raid replenishment - also your healing and dps will be just average.

As discipline priest you don't need twisted faith or hit at all - just glyph divine accuracy and you are hit capped in what you need.

As a healer with dps spec i would suggest as base model: 32/6/0+ 3 free

Mainly your rotation is: penance (grace stacking), power word shield, holy fire, smite,smite,smite, smite, evangelism - repeat. For Aoe: PoH.

Penance will be your main heal - smite will diminish the cool-down each hit.
Flash heals goes for under 30% tank situation - macro with inner focus (or freebie if you pick surge of light, which procs from smite).

Also don't underestimate smites healing, it is as strong as the holy heal spam and, in some fights with dps buff, you may end up healing far more with smite then with other proper healing spec (ex. Halfus).

But take in mind, discipline is still a HEALER with some dps, not a dps that heals.

[HDPriest]

The way you're talking about is possible if u only need an XPS player, but that is not what Disc as a base is. I run AADisc, but nothing like you describe. I HF and Smite during downtimes to build "combo points" for AA (and to keep from getting bored), but most of your time and focus as Disc should be spent actually healing or mitigating damage, not hitting the boss. And Spirit isn't to Disc what it is to Holy, but it's still quite important. AA doesn't give as much mana back as you seem to believe.

If it were as spammy as u make it out to be, it would be very little fun. I take AA because I love the mechanics, spell weaving, and additional throughput CD. It actually adds a layer of complexity if done correctly, and it quite rewarding.

[Blakkeyez]

Cromu & HDPriest: Maybe you should at least read the article before bumping an old post. Because you didn't you assume what Spiritus named XPS would be the same as raid healing with archangel boosted healing through smite/evangelism/atonement which it never claimed to be. Re-read the raid healing section for that.

Quote, Spiritus (from the actual article) "The following is what I believe to be the best DPS possible on a standard fight for Disc, while also attempting to boost HPS as much as possible in the process.

NOTE: I am not suggesting this build to anyone. This is more of a theoretical look than a practical one."

See?

[HDPriest]

Actually, I have read the whole thing and was agreeing with your point/disagreeing with Chromu. I'm actually very sad to think of Spiritus maybe leaving: his is an always-reasonable and trustworty voice in the Discipline community.

[Lysah]

Un-stuck since you kind of deleted your OP and requested it.

[[-Spiritus-]]

Un-stuck since you kind of deleted your OP and requested it.

Yup. Thanks!

[HDPriest]

I wish you the best of luck and hope situations allow you be active again soon /sniffle