Going Holy.. need a few questions answered.

[Deleted]

Hey all,

Dinged on my priest 4 days ago and have decided to go holy. I have been healing dungeons since I dinged 85 but haven't really until now had a chance to go over a few guides and such. I read ones on tankspot and elitistjerk but have a few questions. I am currently only running normals till I get used to healing, although I did accidentally go into a DM Heroic, which surprisingly went OK.

1) Chakra - I have been used this with the state which gives me 10% crit chance on heals.. I generally find myself having this on the entire time of doing a dungeon keeping renew refreshed on the tank with it. Should I be taking more awareness of the fights, and be changing it to the AoE one during certain boss fights that require a lot of raid healing and then switching back?

2) Inner Fire/Inner Will - I generally have Inner Fire on due to my gear but as my gear is getting better each day should I consider to switching to Inner Will, or as with Chakra is it more of what the fight is going like?

3) On the two guides I read they had some conflicting notes about spells, one said to have renew key binded for when you need it, the other said flash heal and renew are you main spells. I have been following the guide from Tankspot on healing, so have Heal and Greater Heal along with Circle of Healing as my main spells, does this sound correct.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Chris

[Ynna]

Most help I could offer can be found in the guide in my signature. It needs a very slight update for 4.1, but it still should help you out.

1) In 5 man dungeons Serenity is the best Chakra to be in pretty much all of the time. Most bosses don't dish out enough AoE damage to give up the convenience of Serenity and the few that do are hardly difficult enough to justify Sanctuary. You could try to take Sanctuary on a few bosses, but it is hardly necessary.

2) Inner Fire offers extra Spell Power, which is awesome. I never switch to Inner Will in 5 mans, except when running back from wipes.

3) The one that says that Flash Heal and Renew are your main spells is outdated. Nowadays your main spell is Heal.

[Deleted]

Perfect, always forget a stickys!

Thanks for your help

[Theotormon]

Hey all,

Dinged on my priest 4 days ago and have decided to go holy. I have been healing dungeons since I dinged 85 but haven't really until now had a chance to go over a few guides and such. I read ones on tankspot and elitistjerk but have a few questions. I am currently only running normals till I get used to healing, although I did accidentally go into a DM Heroic, which surprisingly went OK.

1) Chakra - I have been used this with the state which gives me 10% crit chance on heals.. I generally find myself having this on the entire time of doing a dungeon keeping renew refreshed on the tank with it. Should I be taking more awareness of the fights, and be changing it to the AoE one during certain boss fights that require a lot of raid healing and then switching back?

2) Inner Fire/Inner Will - I generally have Inner Fire on due to my gear but as my gear is getting better each day should I consider to switching to Inner Will, or as with Chakra is it more of what the fight is going like?

3) On the two guides I read they had some conflicting notes about spells, one said to have renew key binded for when you need it, the other said flash heal and renew are you main spells. I have been following the guide from Tankspot on healing, so have Heal and Greater Heal along with Circle of Healing as my main spells, does this sound correct.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Chris

1.) I almost never switch out of chakra:serenity. It's a cheap heal and increases single target healing. If you are specced into serendipity (and you should be) It's awesome for your "Oh crap!" combo of 2x FH + 1x GH. Also nice to pop before a desperate prayer on yourself. Furthermore, direct heals refresh renew, so it is always rolling on your target. Chakra:Sanctuary is very situational indeed. Until the most recent patch, I never used it due to the high mana cost and relatively low healing. Honestly, haven't used it since the change. One could argue it would be useful on fights like Argaloth in BH, where there is raid damage and everyone is stacked, but I still stick with serenity. The only exception I've seen is certain H-mode raid bosses where sanctuary is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, raid movement negates its overall usefulness. On a side note, make sure your lightwell is up for every boss and every difficult trash pull. Attach a macro to it explaining its use. people may get sick of the chat spam (which you can disable if that's the case), but they'll remember to use the lightwell.

2.) I run inner will at all times. Yes, Inner fire provides minimal increases to armor and spellpower, but the 15% mana cost reduction on shield, renew, chakra:serenity, circle of healing, prayer of mending and desperate prayer cannot be ignored, in addition to the amazing movement speed increase. Save inner fire for shadow.

3.) meh. Your fights should go like this (and any other holy priest will agree, if they know what's up, but I'm always open to suggestions): Make sure you are in chakra:serenity. Shield your tank, hit him with (glyphed) prayer of mending and renew before he pulls. While it's just tank damage, spam heal as needed. Since heal is so low mana cost, if you have ~2,500 spirit, your combat regen will make it almost a free cast. Use PW serenity on every CD as needed.
Download decursive and prayer of mending tracker. Dispel/cure disease as needed (cheaper than healing thru the debuffs if using inner will) and use PoM EVERY time it's exhausted. It's an amazing spell.
If the tank gets in trouble, pop PW serenity, followed by 2x FH + GH (again you should be specced into serendipity). If tank and group are taking massive damage, pop chakra:serenity on tank, 2x FH on tank, then a prayer of healing (serendipity will speed the cast) and a circle of healing. Avoid spamming prayer of healing (which you should have glyphed, as well), because successive casts will negate the glyphed HoT. Echo of Light mastery does not get overwritten and stacks, to an extent.
For light group damage where tank is also taking normal damage, shield tank (with glyphed shield, it heals for part of the absorption amount, refreshing renew, as all direct heals in chakra:serenity do), then pop renew on group and shield them a few seconds later (both to absorb and refresh renew). This strategy is viable using inner will because the mana cost is negligible. When you have a free second from your topped off tank, cast a cheap heal on the damaged DPS to refresh their renew, likewise for the tank. PW serenity also refreshes the renew.
Your top heals will likely be PW serenity (not in amount, due to the CD, but use it every chance you have), heal, circle of healing (glyphed, cheap with inner will), and prayer of mending. Flash heal is so expensive it should only be used in emergencies. I find myself using it only really when tank is taking massive damage and must be brought up quickly, or when it's free due to Surge of Light talent (which procs quite a bit if you are spamming heal).

Here is my armory if you want to see my spec and glyphs (offset if disc PvP)

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...ormon/advanced

Good luck, mate, and I hope this helps.

[HDPriest]

Please check out Ynna's guide and disregard almost everything Theotormon said. Holy leaves itself open to varying playstyles, but glyphed PW:S and never being in Chakra: Sanctuary are just bad ideas. In 5mans, you usually don't Need the AoE Chakra, but it's very helpful to get used to switching out to be the most efficient (also, I think he's confusing the Chakra with the Holy Word...which IS mostly useless until HMs.)

[Theotormon]

1.) I noticed the above comment misinterprets my statement, in that I said sanctuary is "ALMOST" never used and is "SITUATIONAL." Additionally, what specific examples can you provide for its use (H Chim, for one, occasionally H Maloriak or when group stacks on V&T)?

2.) He says glyphed shield is no good, but offers no suggestion as an alternative. Assuming you are using prime glyphs for prayer of healing and renew, flash heal is really your only choice in lieu of shield, and since flash heal is only used in emergencies, it seems the overall effectiveness of that glyph would be minimized. You'll also notice Ynna's guide says flash heal is "not the best glyph" and, if you have to use guardian spirit more than once in a fight you have bigger issues going on. Glyphed shield's power lies not in the small heal, but in its ability to shield WHILE refreshing renew if you are in chakra:serenity.

3.) Changed grammatical error mixing "Chakra" and "Power Word," as well, though I think most priests could have figured that out.

4.) He is correct in that holy has no real rotation and is open to varying playstyles. I merely provided a starter guideline. Obviously, situational circumstances and the vast healing toolbox at your disposal will mean your play varies from this guideline.

Thank you for your contribution, friend, but if you actually have something to contribute, research and do it properly. My advice is almost identical to Ynna's. Furthermore, link armory so we may learn from your build.

[Ynna]

Please check out Ynna's guide and disregard almost everything Theotormon said. Holy leaves itself open to varying playstyles, but glyphed PW:S and never being in Chakra: Sanctuary are just bad ideas. In 5mans, you usually don't Need the AoE Chakra, but it's very helpful to get used to switching out to be the most efficient (also, I think he's confusing the Chakra with the Holy Word...which IS mostly useless until HMs.)

Well, Theotormon kinda has a point concerning Glyph of Power Word: Shield. In 5 mans you want Glyph of Renew and Glyph of Prayer of Healing. The third glyph can be either Glyph of Guardian Spirit, Flash Heal, Lightwell or Power Word: Shield. None of these glyphs will make the difference in a 5 man.
Guardian Spirit is nice to have when you're failing a lot of trash, but no very useful where it matters (bossfights).
Flash Heal is rather shunned in 5 mans, but okay, fairly useful when people get low, so the glyph has at least some value.
Lightwell: Most people in 5 man don't bother with it, so I'd be amazed if 10 charges get used, let alone 15.
Power Word: Shield is about as situational as Flash Heal in 5 mans for a Holy Priest.
So, while I would advice Flash Heal or Guardian Spirit, Power Word: Shield is not really an inferior glyph choice.

[HDPriest]

1) Chakra Sanctuary (NOT the Holy Word) is useful on any boss that does regular AoE damage. Anhrapet, the 1st 2 in VP, Rajh, etc etc. Learning when to use the correct Chakra is part of what makes a good HolyPriest instead of a mediocre one.
2) I could not imagine casting PW:S enough as Holy to validate glyphing it. It's a speed boost. Useful, but leave the shield-healing to Discipline; you have better tools. Also, perhaps some PuGs won't click the Lightwell, but I found mine running dry before I could place another one consistently enough to feel the glyph was mandatory....no, not just in guild groups. Maybe my macro yelling when I place it and putting a raidmarker on it helped or maybe I just had better luck than you have in PuGs, but I'd say the optional 3rd choices are between GS, FH, and Renew. I run with GS or Renew, usually Renew on 5mans or GS if the tank is very undergeared.
3) He dinged 4 days ago, if you are still mixing up the very useful Chakra stance with the meh Holy Word, it's not unreasonable to imagine that he would too.
4)Holy has LOTS of tools and differing opinions on the best ways to do that, in that I believe we are all in agreement. But a very new starter Priest will be a bit more limited in what's optimal.

ps: I'm a girl, not that it matters, and I'm well researched in Priesting. No, I won't link my Armory but if you'd like a wowtal build I'd be happy to share that...I don't see that you linked one either though.

[Xadefinn]

There's seems to be a lot of conflicting information in this thread. My background with a holy priest dates back to 2006, since when I have raided the entirety of BC, WotLK, and 10/13 HM Cata content. Keep in mind there is never one "perfect" way to play and especially now more so than ever there is room for developing your own play-style.

Keeping that in mind my answers to your questions are how I would approach 5-man normal and heroic dungeons. My answer would differ for 10 and 25 man raiding environments.

1) Chakra: Serenity (the 10% crit chance on heals) is what I would recommend for the majority of cases. Get an initial Renew on the tank and keep it refreshed with Heal, Flash Heal, or Greater Heal. There will be AoE damage in most fights, but even in Chakra: Serenity, Circle of Healing, Prayer of Healing, and Prayer of Mending will do a good enough job to keep your group alive.

There will be an occasional fight where Chakra: Sanctuary will help you out but keep in mind, Holy Word: Sanctuary (the AoE ground heal) is quite expensive. In order to be getting your mana's worth you'll need a fight that not only is dishing out steady AoE dmg, but also where your group will be relatively stacked.

Learning what Chakra state to be in to best deal with the incoming damage and to best use your mana is what separates the good priests from the great priests. This will come with repetition of fights. Experiment and see which works best for you.

2) Inner Fire will be your choice as holy in 99% of cases. Make sure you have spirit as a secondary stat on all of your gear pieces and with proper spell management the mana saved by Inner Will on instants will fall well behind the throughput that the spell power from Inner Fire offers.

3) Holy Priests have a large tool-box of spells. With that comes many split second choices you will have to make on which spell to use when.

A few words of advice on the ones you mentioned:

Heal - at starting gear levels this will be the spell you spam on the tank. Even with minimal spirit you'll be able to cast this many times without running low on mana. This is your filler spell when just the tank is taking regular damage.

Flash Heal - Good for a tank that takes a spike in damage, or a single party member that takes damage. Lets you top them up and quickly return to the tank.

Greater Heal - Use this after a few Flash Heals. The haste from your Serendipity talent will make this big, slow heal worth casting, especially on a tank taking heavy damage.

Renew - Keep this on the tank at all times. Also useful for tossing on a single party member that takes some light damage, just to slowly top them back up. Its instant so you can just get on someone and quickly return to the tank.

Circle of Healing - Expensive at lower gear levels, but use it whenever 3 or more party members are taking damage. Once your gear can support it you'll be using it on cooldown whenever AoE damage is happening.

Hope this helps, enjoy your priest!

[Theotormon]

Thanks for the constructive posts, guys.
Perhaps it's time I start trying inner fire over inner will just to see how it works (the increased throughput probably means less heals will be needed overall, meaning the instant cast mana conservation will be offset. It's just so tempting with IW and talent points in the disc tree making instants so cheap).
For ME, though, even though it seems to not be general consensus, I'm still a big fan of shield as holy. I really like popping a shield on a DPS to refresh renew while in chakra:serenity, as well as absorb some damage. Not ideal for most, I suppose, but if I know they're going to take damage while shield is up (15 sec now, down from 30), it seems natural to me. Again, perhaps my bias comes from the cheap cost due to talented instants and IW.

[Ynna]

1) Chakra: Serenity (the 10% crit chance on heals) is what I would recommend for the majority of cases. Get an initial Renew on the tank and keep it refreshed with Heal, Flash Heal, or Greater Heal. There will be AoE damage in most fights, but even in Chakra: Serenity, Circle of Healing, Prayer of Healing, and Prayer of Mending will do a good enough job to keep your group alive.

There will be an occasional fight where Chakra: Sanctuary will help you out but keep in mind, Holy Word: Sanctuary (the AoE ground heal) is quite expensive. In order to be getting your mana's worth you'll need a fight that not only is dishing out steady AoE dmg, but also where your group will be relatively stacked.

Learning what Chakra state to be in to best deal with the incoming damage and to best use your mana is what separates the good priests from the great priests. This will come with repetition of fights. Experiment and see which works best for you.

While Holy Word: Serenity is a major reason to pick that Chakra Holy Word: Sanctuary isn't the reason you want to be in Chakra: Sanctuary, so you shouldn't base your decision on that. In 5 mans I'd only switch to Chakra: Sanctuary if I will be needing the extra AoE throughput.

Thanks for the constructive posts, guys.
For ME, though, even though it seems to not be general consensus, I'm still a big fan of shield as holy. I really like popping a shield on a DPS to refresh renew while in chakra:serenity, as well as absorb some damage. Not ideal for most, I suppose, but if I know they're going to take damage while shield is up (15 sec now, down from 30), it seems natural to me. Again, perhaps my bias comes from the cheap cost due to talented instants and IW.

I understand the appeal of Power Word: Shield, but it really just isn't an efficient spell (for Holy). Generally you're better off just healing up that damage.