1. #1
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    Post Priest viability in (mid-gane) BG

    Hey chaps.

    My only character is a lvl 48 priest (discipline).
    I like healing in dungeons, pve is satisfying (i never die) and i like the support/on the sideline role i take in pvp. I wont give up on my priest but pvp is very frustrating:
    - I find it hard to kill.
    - I find it easy to get killed.
    The latter is given (though, i am disc?) but the first frustrates me.
    I have decent gear and I've gathered that PW:shield is advantageous in lower levels, something i've learned from experience. Yet, i feel like a margin player in pvp, a factor ignored (unless i take on the roll of full support; which really only grants me the highest death score in BG).

    I get my enjoyment in pvp from killing rogues and to some degree hunters (though, them crits!).
    - Warriors are insane (even arms, prot i usually never win)
    - Paladins are unkillable, same goes for druid
    - Shaman goes beyond the scale of anything; one WF proc and i'm down. No chance.
    - Mages are usually easy to beat (being the most interesting class paired with).
    - I win my mirror fights usually against shadow.
    - Warlocks don't exist in this game anymore (reference; the least played class, i almost never meet a warlock in pvp but i know they're a tough opponent).

    Is it supposed to be like this? I'm a class with two healing specs and one dmg spec, so maybe i'm not supposed to be a factor in pvp?
    Is it my gear (heirlooms are a great deal better than my gear)?

    It's a fair argument that Blizzard serves the majority of the playerbase; lvl 85 players and this is not a rant about how unbalanced things are. I'd really like to know how other players in my bracket is doing? Is it the same experience? Tips? What lies ahead 5-10 levels?

    regards!

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Lilikoi View Post
    Hey chaps.

    My only character is a lvl 48 priest (discipline).
    I like healing in dungeons, pve is satisfying (i never die) and i like the support/on the sideline role i take in pvp. I wont give up on my priest but pvp is very frustrating:
    - I find it hard to kill.
    - I find it easy to get killed.
    The latter is given (though, i am disc?) but the first frustrates me.
    Discipline is a healing spec, you aren't supposed to be able to kill with it. You are supposed to heal with it. That takes care of your first gripe, if you want to kill things more easily as a priest, go respec into Shadow.

    As for the second point, it really depends what you're up against. Cataclysm broke a lot of the low level scaling. Everything is out of wack, and nowhere near as balanced as it was in earlier expansions. They've never bothered fixing it this expac, and moving forward with the class redesigns, it's an issue that won't really be addressed. That said, appeal to the broken scaling abilities Disc has at that level, like Penance and PWS. Combat regen is fairly potent as well, so you can take advantage of spamming Flash Heal a lot more. Heal yourself and your teammates and allow them to burst people down. They'll do a much better job of it than you will with Disc.

    At the end of the day however, DPS balance or not, you aren't supposed to be able to survive focus fire in BGs - especially from 3+ people. The obligation is on your teammates to peel off you partially, but also on you to stay out of the way by hiding in bushes, LoSing, and the like. Don't charge head first in DoTing everything and spamming HF/Smite and expect Atonement awesomeness to win.




    I have decent gear and I've gathered that PW:shield is advantageous in lower levels, something i've learned from experience. Yet, i feel like a margin player in pvp, a factor ignored (unless i take on the roll of full support; which really only grants me the highest death score in BG).
    Think HEALER, not support. This is NOT League of Legends. Focus on keeping everyone else alive, and run in for a well timed Psychic Scream when it will be the most effective.


    I get my enjoyment in pvp from killing rogues and to some degree hunters (though, them crits!).
    - Warriors are insane (even arms, prot i usually never win)
    - Paladins are unkillable, same goes for druid
    - Shaman goes beyond the scale of anything; one WF proc and i'm down. No chance.
    - Mages are usually easy to beat (being the most interesting class paired with).
    - I win my mirror fights usually against shadow.
    - Warlocks don't exist in this game anymore (reference; the least played class, i almost never meet a warlock in pvp but i know they're a tough opponent).
    Like I said, if you want to kill stuff -- especially in a PvP environment -- you need to go Shadow.

    Is it supposed to be like this? I'm a class with two healing specs and one dmg spec, so maybe i'm not supposed to be a factor in pvp?
    Is it my gear (heirlooms are a great deal better than my gear)?
    If you're spec'd into Holy or Disc, your primary role is healing. Shadow is for Damage Dealing.

    It's a fair argument that Blizzard serves the majority of the playerbase; lvl 85 players and this is not a rant about how unbalanced things are. I'd really like to know how other players in my bracket is doing? Is it the same experience? Tips? What lies ahead 5-10 levels?

    regards!
    Discs priests have great survival in 1v1s in world PvP, but WoW doesn't focus around that sort of combat. Most PvP happens in ranked matches at 85 in Arena or Rated BGs, with non-Rated BGs being the catchall horsing around. In those environments, expect to be crowd controlled or bursted down b/c you're a healer. Ath 85, Disc has a lot of tools to stay alive, and as such you can survive focus fire from 2 DPS and even 3 for short periods, but if 5 come at you -- you're dead unless other healers are spamming the hell out of you.
    Last edited by Themos; 2012-02-16 at 11:14 PM.

  3. #3
    High Overlord Alter Ego Pablo's Avatar
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    Don't even bother posting about this please. The game is centered around the highest character level. They're not gonna balance low level PvP.
    Last edited by Alter Ego Pablo; 2012-02-28 at 07:31 PM.

  4. #4
    Disc is an offensive healer/supporter in PvP.
    BGs are fun as Disc, because you have multiple roles and can thus do multiple things quite nicely. I'll go over them from top priority to bottom priority:

    1. Dispelling/Mass Dispelling. Whenever enemies have big buffs on (ice block, bubble, wings, icy veins, demon soul, ...) you dispel it ASAP. You also dispel your teammates, especially the other healers and the flag carrier or melees who are just about to land a kill if they get dispelled from you. Prioritize correctly. Use mass dispel when it makes sense (e.g. multiple melees stuck in a frost nova).
    In a Rated BG, this will be your most important role. Disc priests are by far the best dispellers in the game, and the only ones who can dispel ice block / bubble and stuff like that. Make sure you're quick with dispelling. It's great fun to enable a warrior to stick to a mage just by dispelling everything the mage does. That mage will hate you, guaranteed. :) You are generally extremely good at crippling/countering mages.

    2. Healing. If there's nothing to dispel, start healing. Always start with PW:Shield, then Penance (only 1-2 ticks if you fear an interrupt), then Flash Heals, then Renew. PoM on cooldown. But always adjust your healing according to the sitaution. If you might get interrupted use Inner Focus or juke. If you need more throughput use Power Infusion/On-Use-Trinkets. If lots of people need healing use PW:Shield on yourself for +Haste -> Inner Focus -> Divine Hymn (and try to get out of line of sight for using your hymn).

    3. Mana Burning. Burn enemy healers whenever it makes sense (if they can't get away quickly, use Power Infusion to get even more burns out); if not, CC them or pump some damage into them if they are kill target.

    4. CC. Use your fear and mind control to CC healers or melees on you.

    5. Damage. If there's nothing else to do OR if you are sure you can assist with getting a kill, start bursting. Most damage is done via: Shadowfiend -> Mind Spike x3 -> Mind Blast -> SW:Death when low. It's also fun to steal kills with SW:D.
    Don't underestimate Disc burst damage in PvP - if people are low, you are dangerous to them, so play offensively if it makes sense. Priest is the most offensive healer in the game, so use that to your advantage.

    Remember to have good positioning. Try to stay near a pillar/wall/etc. so you can dodge incoming CC by moving away.

    Remember to use Life Grip, either defensively (pull someone away from danger) or offensively (pull friendly melee to target if that target is near you).

    Also, do your best to frustrate people because you have so many tools at your disposal. Mindcontrol them off a ledge or cliff. Put one or two dots on rogues/druids if you see them coming or running away so they can't (re)stealth easily. Dispel shaman ghostwolf/pally sprint. Be ready to mass dispel when facing pally/mage so that the mass dispel lands instantly after they go into bubble or block. Using Lifegrip offensively to get a rogue back on his target for example is also great. Fear Ward incoming fears shortly before they land (do not just buff Fear Ward on you at the start, as it will get dispelled first). Spam mana burn on a healer. Use Mind Control and Fear in conjunction (MC towards you then fear). Put a barrier over a smokebomb, or run inside and fear. Use SW:Death to get out of Polymorphs/Blinds/etc.

    Stay away from good melees, this is your primary weakness as a Disc. Become good at juking and healing yourself under pressure. If it's just one on you, use MC to move him away shortly so your CDs become ready again or to have him waste his interrupt, then spam flashheal on yourself. Unholy DKs are your worst nightmare, you will not survive on your own vs. a good one. But most DKs in BGs are bad, thankfully.

    Playing a disc in a BG is never boring and having a good disc makes a huge difference (every RatedBG group has one, btw). You just have to realize that your role is a supporting role, not someone who will top the charts in either healing, damage or kills or healing. At least not when playing with people of equal gear and skill. RShaman, RDruid and HPala will easily put out 2x or 3x your healing in PvP. But you can do a ton of things they can't. Play to your strengths.

  5. #5
    I am Murloc! gaymer77's Avatar
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    I see 2 problems here with the post.

    1. You said you don't have BOAs so that means you have probably 1/2 the health and spellpower as most people you are going up against. Getting it would help you a lot.

    2. And this is the bigger of the two, YOU ARE A HEALER NOT A DAMAGE DEALER SO HEAL. If you want to do damage then spec shadow and deal damage. Disc is for healing in both dungeons and battlegrounds. Yes you have offensive spells but that's like saying that a shadow priest has healing spells so he should be healing everyone.

  6. #6
    Stood in the Fire PromiscuousPenguin's Avatar
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    Lowbie pvp is not balanced in any way. This is the case nearly all the way to 80+ where it calms down a bit. I leveled my rogue in bgs and one or two shotted people until lvl 60+ and from them onwards it took maybe 4 hits to kill them, I also leveled my dk in bgs and crushed people with my op starting kit and survivability. I dont have a hunter but I got one shotted quite a few times by their aimed shot while leveling the rogue.

    If you want to kill people you will need to respecc shadow as disc will only do so much dmg due to it being a healing specc. All in all, as a priest, expect quite a lot of pain, especially as you have noticed with paladins, frost mages etc. I'm surprised you find rogues easy actually as they should be close to globalling you if they catch you with your shield down.

    If anything at that level you will be better off fighting with the others players in your raid group as opposed to alone where as a priest you are a walking target.
    Last edited by PromiscuousPenguin; 2012-02-28 at 02:41 PM. Reason: spelling

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