Re-activating your WoW account, or interested in "Trying Before You Buy"?Holy Priest Goes Disc, Seeks Healing Advice
Respeccing in Orgrimmar
Since I already have the Dual-speccing set up on this character, and had my off-spec as Shadow, I chose to replace the Shadow Priest build for now, instead of the Holy Priest build.
Why? Because I'm very familiar with my Holy healing spec, and not so familiar with my Shadow one, so I feel more affinity towards the old familiar one. I just can't let go quite yet.
I'll be sad to see my Body and Soul shielding buff go away, for example - that's pretty deep in the Holy tree so I can't get it and be a Discipline Priest. But I loved being able to run faster than everyone else for a few seconds as we ran back to boss wipe scenes.
And during fights like Grobbulus where folks have to get away from the rest of the raid before their infection bursts, Body and Soul was an awesome addition, because when I shielded people and they ran a bit faster for a few seconds, it helped make up for lag or poor reaction timing.
Now who will do that?
Ah well, I guess that's not my concern.
My concern is... figuring out how to heal with this Discipline stuff!
And then figuring out what gear from my Holy set I need to replace to be more Discipliney...
And aaaauuuughhhh I have to get new glyphs! Good thing I'm an Inscriptionist!
And good thing I like a challenge :)
Anyone have any advice for me? I'll probably spend some time in the Elitist Jerks forums over the next 24 hours.
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Disc Priest here. (HollowHalo on US-Laughing Skull)
A few simple things:
1. You're as much of a healer as a "damage mitigator". You'll look horrible on meters, so please ignore them.
2. Get alot of Crit.
3. Main spells are Penance, Flash Heal and PW:S. Keep Renew on Tanks. Use PoM, PoH, and AoE heals as necessary.
4. I'm glyphed for PVP right now, but you'll probably want the improved PW:S, Penance and Flash Heal.
Awesome!
I was able to swap out some of my Haste gear for Crit gear from my Shadow set, so now I'm just under 10% Haste (~300) and over 25% crit.
I ran a Heroic Culling of Stratholme and we did a timed run successfully with hardly any hitches (I got nailed in the shadow world and didn't heal ME fast enough) and it all worked okay... so we'll see how it goes come raid time :)
I'll take your info into my rotation, as I had some of the things going okay, but wasn't sure of priority of other things (like PW:S and renew).
Thanks again!
First time reader here. Awesome blog btw :)
I just recently restarted WoW, so all this talk and abbreviations are like a foreign language to me lol.
But awesome blog. keep up the awesome work.
Hi,
I respec'd disc a few weeks ago. Its been lots of fun. I didn't buy the glyph of penance at first but its a must! 2 seconds off the cooldown is major. My mana holds out better as disc. I also find that I get more compliments as disc. My theory is that at those times when all hell breaks loose I'm better at keeping people alive. Between shields, that frisbee spell, hymns, penance, penance, penance and pain suppression I have more oh crap buttons. And that's when people notice the difference. :)
I really enjoy discpriest.com. There's a long elitest jerks guide too.
~Bryan
Hey!!
Okay so...this is on a TOTALLY unrelated topic as to the post you made in search of some help for healing as discipline BUT...i'm unable to find a good place to post it, and I kind of wanted to have it so other people can read it..and as well get your feed back on this. (If you want it might be a good topic for another post..in that case if you can move my comment to it that would be cool too)
Anyways So..as you may remember I have not been playing WoW for some time about a year and a half now. I continually read about it, check things out, and find it awesome to keep up with your posts as it feels like i'm almost living vicariously through your adventures. So...while reading up on the new updates or whatever changes are being made to the game, I find that so many things have gone in the direction of i guess away from the realism of it. I mean i know that the game isn't really all that possible in the first place and what not...but like for those who play on a role playing server or just people that want to try and submerse themselves into WoW...do you find that things have gotten somewhat out of hand in that sense..like here as an example.
I used to play before all the major patches in the last year right and since then, they have implemented the fact that you are now able to just stack and carry all of your badges from battlegrounds, and your badge of justice or any of the other raid boss drop tokens like that...sure not to bad to be able to carry all that stuff...but it used to be that you could only carry your mounts in your bags, and your non combat pets in your bags..so for most people you would carry one land, one flying and one cosmetic pet at a time..switch it up when you get bored.
I Guess to that extent it kind of made things a little more realistic that you are not carrying with you like 50 pets and 16 mounts at a time. I do sort of like how it went because yeah when you get bored you can use any choice you want..and i really love the randomness you use when pulling out a non combat pet with your macro. But do you find some of that has taken away from the game, do you think people have stopped playing because of how much the game has changed since how it was played way back at level cap 60? Plus the ability that land mounts can now what is it swim or run on water? Why do priests, and DK's and whoever else have the ability to run on water then if anyone can do it?
Anyways it's just my two cents since i have been sitting on the sidelines for a while now and that's what's been going through my head...wondering if anyone feels the same way?
Liyhe,
Welcome to WoW and welcome to my blog! If you have any questions (and I know you have a billion, because I still have a billion), feel free to leave a comment :)
Bryan,
So far so good with Disc! I stole a friend's spec and have been working out my new rotations and keybindings in HealBot. I'll definitely check out the Disc Priest site too!
Val
Traxxem,
Always great to hear from you :) :)
In regards to your question about whether people have stopped playing due to the changes since level 60 was the cap, I guess my answer would be:
"Sure. Humans get disillusioned all the time and think that a change of scenery will fix their disillusionment. And, well, for a while it DOES seem to work. But after a while the novelty wears off and disillusionment sets in again. What then?"
Most people tend towards looking at what is WRONG with changes around them, and when you look for what is wrong... you find it!
Personally, I've grown to be continually amazed at the ingenuity and fight mechanic changes that happen from expansion to expansion, and while I miss raider skill-tests like Hunter chain-trapping and Mages keeping one target sheeped for an entire fight while still doing quality DPS, I choose to pay attention to the feeling of amazement more than the feeling of loss.
I think it's really cool how many different ways Blizzard has thought up to get us killed throughout the years of World of Warcraft.
It's part of the challenge, it's part of what keeps the game "fresh".
At least in my World of Warcraft :)
Thanks for the welcome! :) I do have a lot of questions, like is PvP worth it in WoW? I tried a BG for the 1st time last night and I was so lost...people running around, jumping around, not working together...was very hectic...I have to admit i was having a problem keeping people healed...i felt like such a noob lol. I hate seeing people die. I am guessing cause for lvling I am spec'd as shadow, that will make a difference in my healing ability?
Also what do i do with these medals and honor points i have earned??? So confused lol.
Sorry for the drawn out question. thanks in advance.
Val, why would you switch? Unless the new spec is far superior, why do it "at the behest of your raid team?"
Maybe this is where I'm not going to be cut out to be a raider. I've written before that I have Mortigan specced the way I like to play him... I dropped my points on Affliction, then put enough in Demonology to max out my VoidWalker's potential. (Which can reduce my overall DPS because those Demonology points could've gone to some destruction talents that would've increased my damage.) However, I like having my VW maxed out, because 1 - he can pull mobs off me with his taunt, and 2 - I can sacrifice him for a serious shield if I need to.
So I tend to show up for an instance with my VW (aka Cookie Monster) in tow, and on a few occasions, the group leader will say to me, "Mort, what's with the VW? You should bring out the Imp." and a few times others have chimed in with stuff like, "Yeah, the Imp has better DPS... you can't instance with the VW... he's for solo-tanking... blah blah blah."
So I give in, and bring out the Imp like the rest of the group wants. We enter the dungeon, get a good fight going, and there's my imp, right next to me throwing his little fireballs. The mobs all die, and while we're looting, I notice something: THE IMP IS GONE. Did he run off somewhere? No... he's dead, dead, dead. Because he has like 2 hit points. And that's when I generally make a comment like "You guys are right... the Imp DOES have higher DPS... he did a great job for the 4 seconds he was alive..." And then I summon my Cookie Monster, whom I know, trust, and love. My group's pally may not pull a mob off me, but Cookie WILL - (because I'm telling him to).
I say all this because I'm long-winded. But my point is that I think you should play your toon the way YOU want to play it. Do the absolute best you can - but play in a way that makes you happy. If you don't like this new Spec, change it back, and tell your guild you don't like it the new spec.
Just my 2 cents... then again, my 2 cents has gotten friends fired before... oh well!
@ Mort: Your VW has skills and abilities that purposefully generate a lot of threat (monster attacks person with highest threat) This makes him an awesome solo beast, but a horrible dungeon buddy. In most* every situation, you never want to play tug-o-war with your tank's threat while in a dungeon/raid. If you're imp died then it's usually the tank's fault... because, as you'll learn, it's always the tank's fault :)
Try not to attack before the tank gets a few good swings in. This allows him to get more threat than you and hopefully stop the beasts from attacking you or your imp. (try sending a whisper to your healer to look out for your imp as well)
@ WoWGrrl: Play the spec you like!
PS get a bigger comment box. :)
@ Liyhe (bored at work, thought i'd share my advice)
PVP can be fun, it depends on what you're into. When you finish a battleground (BG) such as Arathi Basin, you'll get a badge that is associated with that BG. (1 badge if you lose, 3 badges if you win, 2 badges if you tie) Additionally, you'll get honor for each kill you make and more honor depending on BG circumstances and whether or not you win or lose. You can now trade in that honor + badges for new epics. PVP vendors are in Org, SW, Shat, or Dal. (there's probably others, but I can't remember) For directions, you can talk to a guard in one of those cities or look on a WoW website.
Battlegrounds don't take too long to complete which means if you're short on time, this may work out well for you.
http://discpriest.com/
Stats:
Spell power > Int > Crit >> Mp5 >> Haste > Spirit
Spells:
PoM on CD - Shield on CD on tank - FH - FH - Penance.
And no, don't use Renew. FH >> Renew. (Less mana, more heal, chance for DA..) Let Holy renewing.
Gear:
As stats require. MP5 >>> Spirit
Mana: use hymn on bosses under 70%, use shadowfiend under 40%, use manapot as last chance (rarely needed)
Gl & Hf
Awesome!
Cool it looks like my re-gearing and general learnings of disc are pretty close. Now it's just practice.
It's odd how much of a healing change it really is to go from raid healing to MT healing tho, nevermind the rotation change :)
I have been holy spec healing since I hit 80 and have enjoyed every moment of it. But I have noticed that I've missed out on most raids due to my spec and a lack of need for raid healers on my server. Most raids are looking for main tank healers.
In order to solve my dilema, i respeced Discipline. After switching I realized i lost about 250-300 spell power. I also gained close to 2000 mana, more mana regen, and more haste. As Holy I had 1942 spell power unbuffed and as Disc I had 1679 spell power. With the loss of that much spell power, will i still be able to heal single targets as effectively as I could as Holy? Is the loss of that much spell power overcome by what i gain in its place? Or should I just stick with the Holy spec i currently have and tough it out? If anyone has an answer, please let me know
~Thepopè (Galakrond)
I realize this is an older post, but I wanted to make the offer anyway.
I've been disc since the patch came that introduced penance, that famous patch just before LK hit.
Still am disc main spec, various other specs for offspec. Let me know if you would like to chat about disc things sometimes. :)
Shyraia’s last blog post..CC: Ulduar Drake = Carrot on a Stick
Hey guys, you have a really cool thread going here :) Nice to see a blog that's all about priest healing. Seems like healing goes agains the male ego or something... none of the guys in my guild ever want to heal, so we're always short on healers. I have an 80 druid main that I'm running a 25 man Naxx group on, and just dinged 80 with my priest, so I came looking for advice on playing her. She's been holy, but the guys have been telling me I need to go disc too. I think gear is more important than spec at this point, but I'm getting it figured out. The biggest thing is running out of mana all the time - drives me nuts, lol. Used to being able to throw out HT and hots pretty much nonstop without running out. Guess that's a case of gear. And remembering hymn and shadowfiend. Those are important too, lol.
Will be checking out other pages too, looking for a spec build I like. Happy raiding guys, and if any of you are on a server with too many healers, feel free to transfer to ally on Coilfang and look me up :D
Hey,
I just thought I'd post an update. My guild has been running ulduar 10 and 25 lately and I'm happier than ever being disc.
The encounters are crazy with aoe damage. I find myself casting 70+ shields in each boss attempt. I use flash heal, binding heal and even holy nova which I rarely used in naxx. Aoe healing is harder as disc, most of the time I'm trying to throw shields to prevent the damage or at least prevent deaths.
I'm also being chosen to be the main tank healer a lot. With three stacks of grace, +9% healing focused healing on target is actually really good. Though iron council is freakin' stressful to keep up with.
Dungeongirl,
I've been gearing more for int for the bigger mana pool. Spirit seems to stink, adding intellect has been better. Though it seems every ulduar piece has spirit on it. And cast lots of shields, they give back mana if consumed.
~Bryan
Well if your raiding in my opion u have no use being a disc priest because the 2 sets of tier gear are set up for Holy/shadow priests not disc so u are wasting your time, dont so what eveyone think you should do everyone thinks is best for you!! Holy all the way my friend!!
o and subrosa there is a reason that all the drops have spirit (because raids are for holy priests)
just a final thought. anyone who says disc priests have no place in a raid should /delete their priest cause you don't have a goddam clue. Holy is awesome for raid healing, but disc priests bring a vital and important below the table advantages. I think the priest t8 and 8.5 was awesome for disc priest. ninja priest ftw.
I've been healing as disc for a long time now, and it's really a fun spec.
Some things I recommend would be to get a threat meter, and if group healing, spend any excess global cooldowns dropping PW:S on those likely to take damage, who are close to the tank in threat. Always keep weakened soul active on the tank. Spellpower and Int are king, followed by crit. Do not stack haste beyond 11%. Do not stack Spirit ever, because you should never stop casting long enough to benefit from being "outside of the 5 second rule" (remember to spend any extra GCDs on PW:S).
Remember that healing meters do not show the majority of Disc priest contribution, so don't take crap from ignorant people.