Trying to raid as Holy. Really considering Discipline...

[Vook]

disc just spams DA and shields

Can't really "spam" DA, and you can't spam shields without OOMing in about 30 seconds.

Oh, other than that, you should really choose on what your other healers are:

Druid/Shaman: Disc
Druid/Paladin: Holy
Shaman/Paladin: Holy

(This is for 10man...I have little 25man knowledge)

So basically if you have a Paladin, you should be Holy. But it's not like Disc is totally useless either. The only fights that I've found Disc to be crappy/noticably inferior to Holy are Chimaeron, Magmaw and Al'Akir. (When it comes to raid healing)

[Deleted]

Can't really "spam" DA, and you can't spam shields without OOMing in about 30 seconds.

with Fiend and Hymn in 60 seconds ;O

[Deleted]

I think that holy actually takes skill and it is rather hard topping the meters since you actually have
to compete and healing snipe people and then disc just spams DA and shields with no real
competition or heal sniping involved so if you think the problem is the other healers are too good I guess
you could try out disc for a bit

I'd have to disagree wholeheartedly here. I find it pretty difficult to top meters as disc vs a holy unless you're getting fed innervates and such. (Talking about 25 man, in 10 man you're usually set as an (off) tank healer if there is a holy priest as well)

1) Spamming shields & DA isn't viable unless you have some very good gear, and even then you don't want to do it in heroic raids. ALSO, there are times where you want to use the holy shield rather because of body and soul (ie atramedes breaths)
2) Mana management as disc is MUCH more difficult than the passive mana 'management' as holy (where most of your spells so efficient that you don't need another way to regen mana). Hell, even the 4-set agreed with me on this; where you had to have weakened soul on a target AND penance it as opposed to just having a chakra enabled. (recently they changed this to just having to use penance)
3) "Heal sniping" (whatever you want to call it) is easier as holy because you have more instant heals in your arsenal (holy word and CoH).

Disc is there for the versatility where you can decently spot-heal, use cooldowns to prevent damage.

I like how people still try to make Disc look like it's the LOL EZ WotLK spec, whereas i feel that right now its 'easier' to raid heal as holy.

[Milkshake86]

I'd have to disagree wholeheartedly here. I find it pretty difficult to top meters as disc vs a holy unless you're getting fed innervates and such. (Talking about 25 man, in 10 man you're usually set as an (off) tank healer if there is a holy priest as well)

1) Spamming shields & DA isn't viable unless you have some very good gear, and even then you don't want to do it in heroic raids. ALSO, there are times where you want to use the holy shield rather because of body and soul (ie atramedes breaths)
2) Mana management as disc is MUCH more difficult than the passive mana 'management' as holy (where most of your spells so efficient that you don't need another way to regen mana). Hell, even the 4-set agreed with me on this; where you had to have weakened soul on a target AND penance it as opposed to just having a chakra enabled. (recently they changed this to just having to use penance)
3) "Heal sniping" (whatever you want to call it) is easier as holy because you have more instant heals in your arsenal (holy word and CoH).

Disc is there for the versatility where you can decently spot-heal, use cooldowns to prevent damage.

I like how people still try to make Disc look like it's the LOL EZ WotLK spec, whereas i feel that right now its 'easier' to raid heal as holy.

Noone use's holy word serenity...Disc priests atleast our Disc priest can compete w/ both of us holy priests. No heal other than Heal is super efficient in holy we also use innerfire for the most part meaning we are using full cost on our instants. Lightwell is our key super efficient spell cast per mana well is the best always.

[Deleted]

3) "Heal sniping" (whatever you want to call it) is easier as holy because you have more instant heals in your arsenal (holy word and CoH).

i loled. Show me a holy priest , even in 10men, using a single target chakra. If you found one , defo s/he special tbh.
So we got 1 instant = CoH , and how the hell u can snip with spell wich crits about 10k ? u got rly undergeared raid members or very good resto druids around ;p

[Zeernial]

switching specs wont magically make you better

if you`re not capable of toping meters as holy or disc, you`re bad I`m sorry its as simple as that.

[healsdude]

switching specs wont magically make you better

if you`re not capable of toping meters as holy or disc, you`re bad I`m sorry its as simple as that.

Don't listen to this, its just bullshit.

Obviously gear makes a difference too, and just because another player is supposedly better than you, that doesn't make you a bad player.

Meters don't make or break the game, they may provide valuable info if you know how to interpret them. For real analysis though, enable combatlogging and upload a raids' combat log to WoL.

[Deleted]

switching specs wont magically make you better

if you`re not capable of toping meters as holy or disc, you`re bad I`m sorry its as simple as that.

Dont listen to this nobhead OP. Just try disc out and see which you enjoy most. Dont look at the meters as divine aegis and bubble counts towards a discs HPS so thats the reson they are doing more "healing". As long as the group survives and you aint dying then its all gravy baby!

If you run with world of logs or something like that, have a sit down and look at it for 15-20 mins and study what you can do better and maybe considering changing your build or reforging to what would suit your group. As long as you arn't like 20% behind the other healers its nothing to worry about.

[Verth Aeyta]

I raid as both Holy and Disc and really I'm about first and second in both specs (Unless I die early on) really when it comes to healing it's all about timing your heals so you're not clipping one another, in our raid our Hpally is almost always in first, fights like Chimareon I pull about 18k-20K healing as holy and 15-17K as Disc. Knowing when to use the right heal is also a big factor on how well your HPS are going to be, I can honestly say I can't tell you how you should heal as it all depends on the dmg your raid takes and whether they can avoid the avoidable dmg.

I like both specs and with practice both healing specs are viable in any raid, don't let anyone tell you that Disc is better for 10m and Holy is better for 25's as that is simply not true in the least bit. A truly good healer can heal well in both specs, it just takes practice that's all.

[sacrypheyes]

i mainly use holy for 10h, occasionaly switching to disc sometimes, my raid never had to complain about my performance in holy spec and we're working on nef hm atm.

i find myself quite often in serenity unless heavy aoe healing is required for a decent period of time, at which point i switch to sanctuary. my HW: serenity does very decent healing as well as Heal wich i use for almost constant renew refreshing.
what i also like as holy is being able to keep myself up with little to no effort thanks to blessed resilience + lightwell.

i didn't try the renew "spam" spec/gameplay yet, but it looks like it's working fine for some ppl so i may consider giving it a try someday.

anyway, most of the times i've been using disc were fights were some cds could bring more than the raw healing of holy.
pain supp. / barrier for the main part, though i believe that holy could actually deal with the spike damage quite fine with PoM / PoH / CoH and ofc EoL ticks.

oh and meters are just BS, except maybe for the overhealing in order to check if you're not wasting too much mana on useless healing, or if you're healing too hard, making EoL overheal for ex.

[Taedran]

Thanks for all the amazing responses folks. Really good and helpful insights.

[Verth Aeyta]

Noone use's holy word serenity...Disc priests atleast our Disc priest can compete w/ both of us holy priests. No heal other than Heal is super efficient in holy we also use innerfire for the most part meaning we are using full cost on our instants. Lightwell is our key super efficient spell cast per mana well is the best always.

Speak for yourself, I use serenity all the time, especially on Nef, Holy Word: Serenity is a great spell to use and I always try to mix it up on fights where the group isn't grouped up. Try to use words such as "I don't use" or "My group doesn't use" saying a generalized statement such as "No one uses holy word serenity" is just... well I hope you get the point.

[FieryBull]

i loled. Show me a holy priest , even in 10men, using a single target chakra. If you found one , defo s/he special tbh.
So we got 1 instant = CoH , and how the hell u can snip with spell wich crits about 10k ? u got rly undergeared raid members or very good resto druids around ;p

Uh? Serenity is definitely the better chakra in 10-man. There are only a few cases where sanctuary is better.

[Ynna]

Uh? Serenity is definitely the better chakra in 10-man. There are only a few cases where sanctuary is better.

The spell (Holy Word: Serenity) is indeed more useful in 10 man. However, the extra throughput Chakra: Sanctuary offers makes up the loss of that spell big time.

[Ebbikenezer]

I play both specs and we are well into heroic modes now, so I'll make it simple for you OP:

Learn both specs well. They both have significant advantages over each other depending on the fight and raid composition.

Also: your mindset. Playing Discipline... you need to be in the frame of mind of knowing the fight well and performing as well as possible to mitigate damage. Playing Holy... you need to be ready to react to damage that has already happened.

Knowing how to play the two effectively is what makes a strong healer: not just where you come in on meters.

There are some fights I will ONLY go one or the other, regardless of composition in the group just due to the nature of the fight. Once you know a boss fight inside and out, there's really no stopping you from being a beast healer as a priest as you know exactly how and when to react to the mechanics.

I will say this: Resto druids and shammies can make your numbers appear low in a lot of fights if you are reacting slower than them, or if the fight is kinder to them, and Disc may look a lot better on those fights as it is blocking a lot of incessant raid damage. It doesn't make one better than the other necessarily, you just need to figure out what suits you best in that situation.

Everyone has their opinions on which one may be betetr suited to which task, but I can tell you for a fact that for raid healing both are very viable and oustanding healing specs, and with gear comparable to your other healers it is very easy to "top meters" if that's what you're aiming to do.

Personally, I recommend turning all your meters off and asking people not to link where you can see and just bust your everloving ass off on a fight you know very well.... and then see where you come in afterwards. I always swap my recount or skada over to interrupts and dispels during tough fights... to see... you know... who is doing what matters.

Just my $0.02

[cruxxy]

Learn both specs well. They both have significant advantages over each other depending on the fight and raid composition.

There is no other answer.

You should know when to cast which spell and you should know when to use which spec.

[FieryBull]

The spell (Holy Word: Serenity) is indeed more useful in 10 man. However, the extra throughput Chakra: Sanctuary offers makes up the loss of that spell big time.

The most useful part of serenity is the refresh renew part. And in a 10-man situation, you most likely are on tank-duties sometimes. So this is invaluable. Also, the throughput difference isn't THAT big and when you really need it, you can switch chakra during the fight anyway.

Overall, serenity is alot more mana efficient if you use it well.

[Ynna]

The most useful part of serenity is the refresh renew part. And in a 10-man situation, you most likely are on tank-duties sometimes. So this is invaluable. Also, the throughput difference isn't THAT big and when you really need it, you can switch chakra during the fight anyway.

Overall, serenity is alot more mana efficient if you use it well.

I didn't mean to diss Chakra: Serenity. I use it from time time, and indeed, you can always change if needed. But overall I'm still in Sanctuary.

[Milkshake86]

i have never seen a need to switch to serenity if your single target healing you should be disc otherwise its a holy shit moment and blowing 2 globals for a crap instant over 2 flash and a serendipity greater would benefit more. Comparing the Sanc spell to the serenity spell is apples and oranges the real difference is the bonus effects and sanc is def a load better.

[ianmarmour]

Play both. Peroid, if your worried about meters each fight is different. There realy are better fights for every spec Cho'Gall imho is better for disc due to the mass amount of CD's you have etc. But some fights are better in holy I prefer it for Nef becuase it allows me faster healing on the platforms which is where I struggle.