Holy better then Disc?

[Doomsday823]

I am and have always been a Disc/shadow priest, but ive been starting to get heavy into raiding, 10 man to be exact and some 25 man..My question is, would i do better as holy in raiding vs disc?..I just got the 2 piece tier set yesterday....or do you think ill do just as well with disc?...can someone link me a good holy priest build, or character i could copy from..Thanks in advance
cant post links yet, but my name is parishealton on mannoroth (Horde)

[Guthric]

well that really depends on what you are doing Doom. While Holy is an excellent raid healing spec a holy priest can also tank heal fairly well. While disc is conisdered a tank healing spec they can raid heal very efficently, and depending on the fight exceed a holy priest. If you are getting into heavy raiding as you say i would go smiter to help with the DPS. That really matters up at that level.

[Tarien]

If you are getting into heavy raiding as you say i would go smiter to help with the DPS. That really matters up at that level.

Wut?

I cannot imagine a raiding priest being expected, or even having the spare GCD's let alone mana, to be DPSing except on extremely rare and very situational occasions, ie last phase of Chimaeron where your healing is reduced 99% and it's just a DPS race.

[Deleted]

Wut?

I cannot imagine a raiding priest being expected, or even having the spare GCD's let alone mana, to be DPSing except on extremely rare and very situational occasions, ie last phase of Chimaeron where your healing is reduced 99% and it's just a DPS race.

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=81749/atonement

[discombobulate]

If you are getting into heavy raiding as you say i would go smiter to help with the DPS. That really matters up at that level.

It's all about the archangel buff. not the dps, not even the attonment heals.

[Mazi]

It's all about the archangel buff. not the dps, not even the attonment heals.

Exactly - this is what a lot of people miss! Both specs are extremely powerful at raid healing whereas Disc brings more mitigation (obviously). When it comes to heroic modes in Firelands Barrier is pretty powerful and unfortunately I've had to play Disc for most encounters here. But at the same time, Disc isn't bubble spamming anymore, it's played almost like Holy with lots of PoH.

Here's a P2 Heroic Beth wipe: http://www.worldoflogs.com/reports/r...=11850&e=12262 - feel free to look through other logs as well. I wouldn't call myself an amazing Disc Priest either, only been playing the spec for 3 weeks.

[zakaluka]

and spiking up to 44k hps during the endphase, very nice . I don't think I'm quite capable of that in holy, in 10 man at least (seen bigger numbers but not for that long). In some types of AoE situations, disc outperforms holy quite frankly. That divine aegis is extremely mana efficient.

If I may say, it looks like your healing isn't a problem at all in that raidgroup . Maybe held onto lust a few seconds too long...

[discombobulate]

one thing i'll add is that I prefer to play holy. Also for sustained healing holy I think edges out disc in the HPS catagory, provided there is communication among your priests and you aren't overwriting their own mastery or eachother's glyph of poh continually. (or doing something silly like running 3+ healing priests, just my opinion)

Disc's barrier is useful when the raid is stacked up. very, and the mitigation of incoming burst is great. Both specs have a place in a 25 raid imo, and in ten the priest should play what best suits the situation. (dual specced holy disc for ages now, while in raid)

Raid makeup also plays a part in whats needed. Sadly, more and more since ulduar on, i've felt shoehorned into playing discipline, nothing wrong with the spec (btw my name is a shortened version of discombobulate, which was my late vanilla name for pvp on the then alt)

I do think raid leaders may start to value disc more, due to the fact that " the meters " have disc so high, simply because a shield or DA gets there first so is always consumed fully (if the target is under duress) They most likely don't really know the ins and outs of the class, and simply will look at a meter. Generally I think the healing corp would understand specifically the priest on what to play and what would work best, also considering totems, aura masterys and raid walls available.

Raw hps, and burst fixing people? as well as enjoyment of play? I prefer holy hands down.

[Spike`]

Majordomo in Firelands says Hi

i have both specs and in firelands Disc is way more powerful because of the extra cooldowns it brings and i always get some time to smite for the archangel buff, even more in Majordomo

Holy is more because circle of healing for the quick healing but that's it, Sanctuary still is a total LOL

[Mazi]

Sanctuary is actually buffed/bugged right now and isn't affected by the 6+person limit - so it's actually pumping out solid healing right now.

[Spike`]

true but still crap, i tested it on Majordomo where it can get the full duration and basicly almost 0% overheal and the result was... 72k ... (this in 10 man)

while still better than before, still bad for the mana it costs and the time it takes to make that, with alot less time prayer of healing do way more healing

[Mazi]

Well yeah, it's not going to do much in 10m, but it's great for 25s.

[Tarien]

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=81749/atonement

I know of the talent, I just can't imagine anyone raiding with a spec that includes that spell and actually smiting except under very rare and situational circumstances. Or am I missing something?

[[-Spiritus-]]

Good lord, Sanctuary is an HPS booster. Think of it this way. AA is a 15% boost to all healing for 18sec, the same duration as HW:Sanc. That means 480,000 hp must be healed in that 18sec, or 26,667 HPS, to equal the output of AA in the situation you describe (which is admittedly ideal in a 10m setting).

That being said, both have positives and negatives. Pluses for Sanc is that it requires only a .5sec set up and does not require additional casting for the boost. Negatives are mana cost and positioning requirements. Pluses for AA is a very low net mana cost (HF+4 smites is still greater than 5% mana, even with Evan [though the atonement healng makes that burden null, assuming you have a period to build the stacks]) and no positional requirements. Negatives are ramp up time and the requirement of the boost to be connected to HPS.

[Mazi]

I know of the talent, I just can't imagine anyone raiding with a spec that includes that spell and actually smiting except under very rare and situational circumstances. Or am I missing something?

Again, the point is to get the Archangel buff, not necessarily to heal people with Atonement. If you're taking Archangel without Atonement, then that's just odd because you're then spending a lot of mana for that 15% buff rather than spending mana & gaining some smart heals out of it. The 15% on a 30sec cooldown is MORE than worth it and definitely useful, if not necessary, for raid healing heroics in Firelands. We are not in the days of bubble spamming for raid healing anymore. The 15% buff also, for the most part, makes up the difference between a Holy PoH & a Disc PoH.

[Deleted]

I know of the talent, I just can't imagine anyone raiding with a spec that includes that spell and actually smiting except under very rare and situational circumstances. Or am I missing something?

I use atonement a lot. It's typically 15-30% of my healing output depending on the fight. As cheap filler heals it's great - more mana efficient than casting Heal and it builds stacks for AA into the bargain.

[Madam]

I know of the talent, I just can't imagine anyone raiding with a spec that includes that spell and actually smiting except under very rare and situational circumstances. Or am I missing something?

When first raiding with AA/A spec it can be rather challenging to find the best times to use Holy Fire and Smite, it does take a bit to get used to handling. I have found that target of target macro's help with speedy casting. In almost every fight there are times (usually before large AoE damage) that the raid and tank need very little healing, let the druids/shams/holy priests fill in that damage. That is the best time to start stacking for your extra healing buff through AA/A spec. In Firelands so far from what I have seen nothing has changed, just need to know when to use Smite, just like the rest of our spells, timing is everything.

[Mazi]

#showtooltip
/targetenemy
/cast Smite

That macro is great - a little annoying with adds, but makes that "omg I'm about to lose my 5 stack MUST SMITE!" moment easy.

[Tarien]

Good lord, Sanctuary is an HPS booster. Think of it this way. AA is a 15% boost to all healing for 18sec, the same duration as HW:Sanc. That means 480,000 hp must be healed in that 18sec, or 26,667 HPS, to equal the output of AA in the situation you describe (which is admittedly ideal in a 10m setting).

That being said, both have positives and negatives. Pluses for Sanc is that it requires only a .5sec set up and does not require additional casting for the boost. Negatives are mana cost and positioning requirements. Pluses for AA is a very low net mana cost (HF+4 smites is still greater than 5% mana, even with Evan [though the atonement healng makes that burden null, assuming you have a period to build the stacks]) and no positional requirements. Negatives are ramp up time and the requirement of the boost to be connected to HPS.

I should imagine with PW:B and the GoPW:B you could get there. Is this used a lot then? Honestly it never occured to me that a PvE Disc priest might want to take this, but then I haven't raid healed as Disc since ICC.

[[-Spiritus-]]

I should imagine with PW:B and the GoPW:B you could get there. Is this used a lot then? Honestly it never occured to me that a PvE Disc priest might want to take this, but then I haven't raid healed as Disc since ICC.

GoPW:B is either super awesome or a complete waste, fight dependent. Remember that GoPW:B affects all heals, not just your own.