Getting started.. Disc or holy?

[Cryonic]

I'm currently specced as shadow but wanted to start healing too, mainly HC's to begin with because I have almost only shadow gear now. Anyone can help me choose the path to disc or holy? I relly don't know what to expect from them. I do only know that (57/14/0) and (14/57/0) seems to be the most popular specs.

[Samurai]

Disc is more forgiving at low gear levels imo, just cause the shields ad an extra Effective Heal before someone dies.

[Tiberria]

You'll probably also have an easier time healing and gearing for a Disc offspec of a Shadow priest, because the optimal gear for disc (crit/haste gear normally) is also the itemization that you want for your main spec. 3/5 Shadow tier pieces are perfectly itemized for Disc. Holy relies on higher spirit levels that you likely don't have from shadow gear, so you're likely to run into regen issues until you get a dedicated gear set.

As far as what's more fun, it's a personal decision. I much prefer the holy play style, because it feels more dynamic in raids since you have to choose from a lot of different abilities. I find Disc boring especially bubble spam duty in 25 man raids. Alot of people love Disc and hate Holy though, so YMMV.

[Calendra12345]

Disc is more forgiving at low gear levels imo, just cause the shields ad an extra Effective Heal before someone dies.

^ this.

PS: OP, The amount of level 80's you have is disturbing

[Twoflower]

I started healing heroics the second i turned level 80, with a whooping 3000 gearscore ( mostly lvl 72-76 blues from leveling instances ) and had no problems. There were some nasty moments ( like a tank pulling the entire ramp after the second boss in Pit of Saron ) but I survived it all so far

So just jump in there and play whatever spec you like.

[Azyoulike]

If your starting gear is shadow, definitely go disc. Disc has very few mana issues even without much spirit, and mostly cares about high Spellpower.

Wasted itemization budget on Hit will impact disc far less than holy.

Even with a full set of holy gear, disc is still a better spec for most 5 man encounters, however holy is perfectly viable - it comes down to which you enjoy more.

Sometimes I will heal 5 mans as holy for a change, however if I run into a really terrible tank (not crit immune, can't keep threat off me etc etc. ) I'll switch to disc immediately.

[Cryonic]

Tankyou very much for all your answers, they were both educational and made my choice easier. Alot of things that are easilly missed that I picked up on.

[Spartanoble]

For low level go Disc .

For raiding it's your choice

Disc - Single Target (Tanks )
Holy - Raid healing

[Kalmah]

Disc - Single Target (Tanks )
Holy - Raid healing

Don't listen to this.