Is atonement best for priests in 5.3?

[Silentshankr]

I am trying to help my friend who is a disc priest. Currently they are running atonement. Is that the best way to go about as disc or is the standard disc the way to go?

[Vilbu]

I don't know what are his/her experiences from disc, but atonement has become the "standard" disc if not in the end of cata, at least in MoP. Wouldn't advice not using it, but depends totally what are your goals in the game.

[Iannis]

Well atonement is getting nerfed a bit in the next patch, by 20% or so. I wouldn't rely on it to be your main source of healing come the patch. It's pretty handy right now on fights with damage modifiers. I'd say just get used to it being a filler for times during low damage. Or if you can just squeeze it in every 5-10 seconds to keep Evangelism up to buff penance and have archangel ready.
The nerf is intended to force you to use more of your healing arsenal

[Kalmah]

A disc priest that isn't using offensive penance mostly on CD is probably doing it wrong. That alone will account for a huge chunk of atonement healing. Solace is obviously good too and should also be used as close to on CD as possible. Smite is a filler for when you have nothing better to cast.

I don't believe this will change with the 5.3 nerf.

[HardCoder]

PoH is pretty sucktastic in 25 man groups since the DA nerf. If Atonement were nerfed by 50% it would still be better than PoH in large groups.

[Kalmah]

Atonement healing from penance is incredibly strong yes. Atonement healing from smite doesn't beat poh. Not sure how raid size would change that.

[Maleric]

Atonement healing from smite doesn't beat poh.

That really depends on the damage pattern. If random raid members are taking random damage, and PoH will only be effective on 1-2 targets per cast, then Smite is probably better than PoH, between the shorter cast time and it being a smart heal.

EDIT - And this only refers to 5.2, which despite the title is apparently what this thread is about. 5.3 obviously contains a 20% nerf to Atonement, so it remains to be seen what (if anything) disc will be able to use to heal random raid damage.

[lizon]

I've always taken the approach that if any singular spell makes up the vast majority of your healing you are doing something wrong, excluding fights with gimmicks involved of course. One of the mains reasons that Atonement is getting nerfed in 5.3 is because it scales too well with gear. The nerf will bring it back in line with your other healing spells so it isn't too crazy powerful when 5.4 hits.

[Powell]

I'm trying to understand the question here.

Is atonement worth using? Yes
Is using atonement only, good healing? No

Knowing how to make good use of Atonement is key to having efficient healing.
Disc lacks any other form of smart healing mechanics, aside from Cascade.
Atonement is pretty strong as a healing mechanic on random raid damage. PoH is still better on big raid damage.
I find myself not using many single target heals as disc, with the exception to healing tanks and dropping Shields on particular mechanics on fights that makes someone take damage or has to avoid/kite stuff.
I don't mind the nerf to atonement in 5.3, its still strong.

[Kalmah]

Cascade isn't a smart heal.

[HardCoder]

Cascade isn't a smart heal.

I'm not sure whether it is or not. It is however an incredibly effective AoE heal if used at the right time.

[nobodysbaby]

Cascade is not smart. It prefers the players furthest away once it bounced on your target and jump like that.

[whynotchris]

Attonement is definitely in your rotation, but it shouldn't be the only thing you cast. As of now (unless the 20% nerf goes live) you should be casting your Attonement spells at a hostile target over using them as single-target heals.
You should also be making use of PW:S, at least once per Rapture proc. PoH should be used for heavy AoE damage, use it with Spirit Shell if you can predict the damage in a timely manner (8-12 seconds before the damage hits).
Prayer of Mending should also be thrown onto a tank, or someone who will take the damage to proc its jumping. PoM can be very helpful in moderate AoE situations.

Personally, because of Attonement's Smart-heal nature, if a tank is low I will cast directly on them rather than use Attonement. Especially if I know he won't be getting another heal. I don't play with pet HP bars active, so there's no telling if your smart heal will brilliantly prioritize the low pet HP over your tank.

[espoire]

On some fights (most in early normal modes right now, but there are several nerfs incoming) Atonement is better than actual heals. On others - Tortos and Durumu, for example - you would be a fool not to make use of Disc's other unique mechanic: big on-demand shields. Basically, it's good, but not the only thing you use. PW:S and Spirit Shell are big too.

[Velerios]

Cascade is not smart. It prefers the players furthest away once it bounced on your target and jump like that.

As far as i know it prefer the furthest away target, but it also prefer targets that have damage: as far as i seen it it never prefered targets that are at full health.