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  1. #1
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    How viable is holy in PvE?

    Hi, so I recently dinged 90 on my priest, mainly to play shadow but I'm also interested in picking up a healing specc. I tried disc and didn't really like the gameplay, and I'm thinking of trying Holy but from what I've heard, it's really not as good.

    I plan on healing pretty casually, running LFR and 10man with my laid back guild. Is holy good enough for this?

  2. #2
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    Holy is easily good enough for that, it's not 'that' far behind the other healing specs (and even quite good on a few fights). It is overall the weakest healing spec in the game though.

  3. #3
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    Okay thats kinda good news. Thanks :P

  4. #4
    Honestly it's very viable, you just have to know how to play it properly.

    Even in HM content.

  5. #5
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    viable yes, optimal no.

  6. #6
    Stood in the Fire PhillieB's Avatar
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    I can only chime in what other have already said, you will have no problem whatsoever doing that as holy.

  7. #7
    Herald of the Titans Vintersol's Avatar
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    Unless you have paladins or disc priests with a good absorb amount in your party, holy fits very well.

  8. #8
    Holy is perfectly viable. The only thing is Disc is currently in a better and stronger place than Holy, so majority of priests are Disc.

  9. #9
    Disc has some serious advantages in terms or mitigating certain mechanics which proves very useful on many HMs (i.e. blade lord, wind lord etc). In terms of throughput holy is perfectly fine, I have run all normal raids as both holy and disc (double healer ftw) both specs have advantages and disadvantages but there shouldn't be any fights you are incapable of doing as holy. If you prefer the play-style and you are running in a casual environment why not go Holy.

  10. #10
    I am currently playing holy and I am always on top or very close to other healers. The problems that you will have is that you must always decide the right heal as mana is a problem. Another problem is you can only be good at half your spells at a time. Example blade lord fight I start in chakra single target for phase 1. For phase 2 you will need to switch to aoe chakra just before it starts. It's unfortunate that holy has to choose chakra should just give you a bonus spell but its what we have to work with. As for discipline it's a good spec however our third healer who rotates in is and 2 discipline healers just don't work in 10 mans.

    Holy is a lot more planning and proper timing but very effective I am constantly pushing 70k heals in ilvl 486 I would strongly suggest reforging haste out for mastery and crit or you will be stacking spirit and lossing a ton of int.

  11. #11
    Legendary! Fenixdown's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cookie View Post
    Holy is easily good enough for that, it's not 'that' far behind the other healing specs (and even quite good on a few fights). It is overall the weakest healing spec in the game though.
    I know a raiding guild that would beg to differ with your assessment. Mainly mine.


    About the only healer we have that tops me is our pally, and on occasions our monk. Holy is freaking amazing for most encounters in this tier. The exceptions would be Elegon, Garalon, Amber Shaper, possibly Shek'zeer, and maybe Sha (I have yet to try holy on Sha, I may do so this week). Beyond that actually small list, holy can easily outperform (or at worst match) discipline's bloated SS numbers with a much more diverse playstyle.

    Keep in mind that I am only speaking for normal modes. We've only just begun heroic, but the first two seem far better for holy than for discipline.
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  12. #12
    Holy is fine.

    It's just that discipline is so much better that you're gimping your raid if you go holy.

  13. #13
    Legendary! Fenixdown's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kalmah View Post
    Holy is fine.

    It's just that discipline is so much better that you're gimping your raid if you go holy.
    No it isn't and no you aren't. Discipline is only best in the "constant but not lethal AoE" fights. Most of the "major AoE incoming" fights leave very little time to set up SS unless you're stacking massive haste, which is a far inferior stat setup. Furthermore, discipline also relies on needing DPS uptime to shine to keep Archangel up as much as possible.

    However, you ARE best (if you are your raid's only priest) to carry both specs and swap back and forth.

    Edit : In 10-man raiding maybe you have a point. But 10-man doesn't count. :P
    Last edited by Fenixdown; 2013-01-10 at 07:13 PM.
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  14. #14
    Beyond that actually small list, holy can easily outperform (or at worst match) discipline's bloated SS numbers with a much more diverse playstyle. Keep in mind that I am only speaking for normal modes. We've only just begun heroic, but the first two seem far better for holy than for discipline.
    While I agree that Holys throughput is fine disc's is certainly better and WoL confirms this for almost every single encounter. The advantage of disc is the ability to manage and mitigate predictable damage. For instance the unseen strike on Heroic Blade lord goes from being an ability that can drop people to say 20% health to an ability that drops people to 80% health making the mechanic much less dangerous and for the most part trivial. By preventing big chucks of raid wide damage with spirit shell/DA ppl do not dip low and the chance of them being killed by other damage is much lower.

    Additionally any fights that have damage based abilities that interact with healing can all but eliminated with a skilled disc priest (i.e. debuff of ambershaper, shielding people in resonance fields, etc). The extensive list of predictable abilities that can be easily mitigated/trivialized with a skilled disc priest is what makes disc so much better.

    As always, damage prevented is much much better than damage healed. That is why disc is so strong.

  15. #15
    Legendary! Fenixdown's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Markle View Post
    While I agree that Holys throughput is fine disc's is certainly better and WoL confirms this for almost every single encounter. The advantage of disc is the ability to manage and mitigate predictable damage. For instance the unseen strike on Heroic Blade lord goes from being an ability that can drop people to say 20% health to an ability that drops people to 80% health making the mechanic much less dangerous and for the most part trivial. By preventing big chucks of raid wide damage with spirit shell/DA ppl do not dip low and the chance of them being killed by other damage is much lower.

    Additionally any fights that have damage based abilities that interact with healing can all but eliminated with a skilled disc priest (i.e. debuff of ambershaper, shielding people in resonance fields, etc). The extensive list of predictable abilities that can be easily mitigated/trivialized with a skilled disc priest is what makes disc so much better.

    As always, damage prevented is much much better than damage healed. That is why disc is so strong.
    Again, in 10-man sure. Try setting up a whole raid of SS for Blade Lord in 25-man running only 16% buffed haste and see how far you get. It's much easier and more mana efficient to top a raid off with a quick Cascade + CoH alongside your monk and pally buddies in 25's than it is to stand outside the raid group trying to get five PoH casts off on 24 people before it's time to stack up.

    But I don't count 10-man. 10-man is boring, easy, and inferior (in my opinion, of course).
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  16. #16
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    But I don't count 10-man. 10-man is boring, easy, and inferior (in my opinion, of course).
    Some players would consider normal modes (and especially judging a spec based on that) boring, easy and inferior.

    Might as well add that I took a look at your logs, and you are struggling to put out average numbers in a guild just starting on hc content. The fact that you consider yourself superior (and qualified to say that holy is stronger than disc) based on this laughable.
    Last edited by mmoc321e539296; 2013-01-10 at 08:35 PM.

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Fenixdown View Post
    But I don't count 10-man. 10-man is boring, easy, and inferior (in my opinion, of course).
    I think people that make childish comments like this are boring and inferior (in my opinion, of course). The OP specifically says they will be playing 10 man and LFR. Giving them advice about 25 man and heroic content is just silly. The game is what you make of it and how you choose to enjoy yourself. If that means raiding 10 man casually with a group of friends, then that's what it is. Making dismissive comments just makes you look like the elitist asshat that you are.

    To the OP, you should always play what you enjoy. You pay to play a game, and it should be fun. If you don't like Disc, then don't play Disc. Casual raiding normal modes is one instance where you can bring the player and not the class, so being holy will be perfectly fine for your raid group when you aren't melting faces as shadow. Cheers!

    Edit: 10 man Sinestra says hi Fenix!
    Last edited by Sakamae; 2013-01-10 at 09:19 PM.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Fenixdown View Post
    Again, in 10-man sure. Try setting up a whole raid of SS for Blade Lord
    you don't get to cap out the absorb in 25, sure, but you still get amazing mileage out of spirit shell regardless on mechanics like force and verve, unseen strike, crush, sonic burst and rain of blades. it lets more players survive mechanics and require less healing afterwards... no brainer.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Sakamae View Post
    you should always play what you enjoy. You pay to play a game, and it should be fun. If you don't like Disc, then don't play Disc.
    I aggree. When I was healing as Holy in Cataclysm 5-man heroic, our group wiped and the tank told me "first, you're going to change your spec because holy sucks". I felt bad about it when I saw all the priests as Disc and I don't feel like using this spec.
    I just thought I should play what I want. If a spec is available it means it's competitive with the others. The player make the character powerful, not only the spec.

    I suggest you try both specs and see which one fits you the most.
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  20. #20
    Disc is certainly much better throughputwise on any fight with spikey large damage due to spirit shell, sustained damage due to divine aegis, any fight where absorbs help a lot, or any fight where you can really abuse atonement due to damage buffs. I think that covers almost every fight this tier.

    I prefer holy for Tsulong, but mostly because of the single target heal and guardian spirit.
    I also prefer holy to dps.

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