Bah, shoulda previewed... Anyway, I will actually have to disagree here. Consider the situation as it is now. In a heavy AOE fight (Bloodqueen), we're severely limited anyway, getting PoM/CoH on CD and filling with Renew/PoH. This Chakra system won't change that at all, because we still won't want to cast Flash Heal, Heal, or Greater Heal because they simply don't serve that purpose. Barring some very bizarre raid-comps, there simply isn't a reason to have a Holy Priest focusing on anything else in that fight because other classes simply do it better. However, imagine the same situation except, damn, this week one of our Holy Pallies can't make it. If it's how it is now, you'll probably have to get a Shaman or Disc Priest to do it, depending on the comp. With Chakras, we ought to be able to fill in that tank healing roll sufficiently to let the other healers focus on what they do best.Originally Posted by bregtann
Yes, we'll be discouraged from casting certain heals in certain situations because of what Chakra we're currently in, but it's just a penalty, not an inability to cast it. I also don't see it being a huge penalty, probably around 10-15% I'd guess, so if you still need that emergency Flash Heal while you're in AOE Chakra, it'll still serve the job, it just may not be as big, as fast, or as mana efficient. Moreso, I think it adds a lot of room for flavor and skill. That is, a good Holy Priest would then know when he should be in what Chakras and start transitioning to them akin to pre-casting PoH for expected damage spikes, where a bad Holy Priest will go "OMG tank damage" then spam single target heals, then "OMG raid damage" and spam aoe heals. I think it has the potential to be far less constraining now because, well, Flash Heal isn't cast much, not because of the situation, but because it sucks. So sure, we may have a smaller toolbox at any given time, but over the course of a few encounters, we'll probably make use of more spells in more situations.