Hello fellow priests, I would appreciate it if you can offer some advice:
Basically I had a long break from WoW (last played in BC), and an even longer break from hardcore raiding (last raided in vanilla). Trying to pick it up again with friends and I realize the very fundamentals of priest healing have changed significantly. Back in vanilla I was primarily spot healing with shields/renews/flashes in 40 men, and it relied very much on reaction. Perhaps I was doing it wrong but it was enough to top meters with the least overhealing, so I thought it was the correct way to heal.
It is very different now. I tried to adept the new style by incorporating Chakra (typically Sanctuary for raids/Serenity for 5 men). In between PoM/CoH CDs I use a lot of renews/Heal/GH to preserve mana - days of Flash spamming is gone. Although I do enough to keep the group/raid from dying, I'm very low in meter, so I must be doing something wrong here. Any suggestion?
I noticed the goto spell for a lot of holy priests is PoH, but I really don't understand how it is viable when it has a slow cast time and heals for only 10k (roughly) per target. It is probably a good spell for topping off groups, but in critical times where 10k off PoH vs 30k off single target GH is the difference between the survivability of a member, why bother with PoH? Healers will have an easier time when groups are only taking gradual dmg, but I truly believe how a healer reacts to sudden dmg that renders member close to dying is what differentiates the good ones vs the bad ones.
I also understand the logic behind meter is flawed. But at the end of the day, it is the only stats available and players WILL be judged against it. It is not a good feeling to be a bottom feeder.