A few Disc Questions

[Töasty]

Hi, I'm guessing this has been discussed before, but since searching is not working, I was wondering what people thought about these few questions I have. When I first started healing as disc, I thought that renew was fairly worthless to me, since it could not crit and proc divine aegis, it did not take advantage of borrowed time. PW:S followed by a hasted flash heal seemed to work fine. However, as I've talked to a few other healers, a couple priest, some druids, they told me I should be using renew more.

Originally, I was using the flash heal glyph with 5 points in divine fury, for the oh shit borrowed time greater heal, but I changed to the glyph of renew, with 2 points in healing focus and 3 points in renew. Can anyone shed some light on what they think about these two options? Is one better for 10 man vs 25 man? In ten mans I usually heal with a druid.

Also, does haste vs crit on my gear affect the choice between these two specs/glyphs? Thanks!

[Deleted]

Personally, I close to never use Renew. In most cases, where a Renew could be used, a Shield can be used better (unless of course you're using Renew reactively to damage, in which case it's likely better to Penance/FH and top off the target asap). Obviously in 10-man Weakened Soul rears its ugly head a lot more and as a result you may be pressed to use Renew somewhat more than you would consider in 25-man. However, personally, I've never had a problem with not using Renew. It's a very valid point that it can't proc Divine Aegis (although it does technically benefit from borrowed time given that the GCD is reduced). You're right though, there's no NEED to use it, and frankly I'm curious as to why some other priests would like to see you use it more.

As for glyphs/spec, I personally never rated Divine Fury because the "oh shit" heal of Discipline, really, is Penance, not Gheal. I actually just run with 4 points in spellwarding since I never use Gheal and it saves a decent amount of damage on a lot of ICC fights. 2 points in Healing Focus is still worthwhile. Glyph of Renew is OK if you really want to use Renew. As I say, I personally don't, I find the FH glyph just fine, although you could most likely get by without it anyway given where Discipline regen is currently at. There isn't really a great alternative.

[Bigslick]

Holy has numerous talents that allow Renew to have considerably greater impact, a direct initial heal, to proc SoL... Renew is pretty low value for disc as we have so few talents that boost / synergize with it. Regardless of what you decide to do with those 3 points, keep the 2 in Healing Focus. Personally, I hardly ever use renew in 25M aside from putting up on the tank on H Sindy before Unchained Magic is cast or keeping it rolling on H VDW since there's nothing else to do there. In 10M it can have a little more utility to throw on tanks on fights you're 2-healing for the extra HPS buffer against extreme damage, but again that's the main area it would benefit and still isn't necessary. Shield is your primary pre-emptive tool against future damage; for restoration, FH is faster in delivery, similar in GCD consumption, and can proc Inspiration and DA.

As to the talent points, you need to invest points in Imp. Renew, Spell Warding, or Div. Fury to reach the 3rd tier of holy. None of these are mandatory talents by any stretch. If you're doing H ICC, Spell Warding is huge. If you're just doing normal modes, there's not any major difference between the three, though for 10M DF can be nice if you're levered into the role of tank healing, and regardless because there aren't as many healers to provide that fast nuke heal (when your penance is already used/on cd).

As far as glyphs are concerned, if you're comfortable enough with your mana to drop the FH glyph, going with the PoH glyph should take priority over glyph of Renew unless you find yourself commonly cast into the role of supporting tank-healing, in which case Renew is stronger (though it may be harder to give up the FH glyph).

Unless your gear is crazily unbalanced, neither haste nor crit should have any bearing on your decision.

[Töasty]

Self buffed, I have 2964 spell power, 26.30% crit (31.3% for holy), 520 haste, and 658/380 mp5, 27.5k mana pool. I'm fairly new to healing, so I'm not even sure which role I normally fill. I have disc spec and shadow spec, and when I heal, it generally seems to be with a druid, and I find myself doing everything, I keep PoM up, I bubble tanks, raid, through out penances and flash heals or renews. I think maybe I'm trying to do too much at once, especially with a druid healing with me, I see someone's health drop, and I tend to want to get them back up quickly, and there might already be a HoT ticking on them.

[Dominic42]

If you see someone's health drop, the first thing you want to do is get a PW:S on them if possible. This is doubly true when healing with a druid because their HOTs will probably tick that person to full before your shield is consumed (unless the person is standing in fire...)

PoM, bubbles, and penances are you best tools, and you should toss out flash heals as backup, and renews when on the move (if you can't bubble due to weakened soul). The occasional, well-timed Prayer of Healing is good too.

[Rtwo]

If you see someone's health drop, the first thing you want to do is get a PW:S on them if possible. This is doubly true when healing with a druid because their HOTs will probably tick that person to full before your shield is consumed (unless the person is standing in fire...)

this, i was going to say the same thing.

i only roll renew on tanks in free gcd's or some situational use, also depens on raidcomp, for example its more usefull if you are healing with a pally as when you are healing with a druid (in 10's)
most of the time its only used on tanks (i dont talent/glyph for it)