I originally posted this in the returning player section but I think I’ll have better luck here.
Hi, returning player here.
I’ve played some BFA at launch and recently leveled 2 other toons from 110 to 120 and right now I want to get my priest from 90 to 120, preferably doing a lot of dungeons. I’ve always been into healing and the discipline class seems intruiging.
Though it seems it’s radically different from what I know what healing was in WoW. You do damage to heal? Through Atonement? I’ve tested it a bit out in pvp and I seem to be lacking burst healing. Also by the time I buble everyone to activate atonement I have to apply new bubbles because they run out, so there’s little damage I can do. I probably do something wrong. Though surprisingly I was top of the list healing done.
Is this class all about sustain? Could someone briefly just explain the basic mechanics, what makes it different from say Druids (which was all about hots) and Holy priests (which was all about plain single target healing)?
Or perhaps point me to a good guide on youtube? I’ve been through a few but most of them expect you to already know a thing or 2.
Disc Priest has excellent burst healing from what I have gathered Loving it so much that I’m leveling my 2nd Priest to main in Shadowlands.
The issue I typically see new Disc players having is that they don’t use the CDs properly. And remember that Disc isn’t just about healing, it is mostly about preventing dmg.
It’s the same as with Holy Pally. The CDs aren’t for “oh crap” moments only. They are part of your core rotation which is why some of them have extremely low CD.
Having played Disc for a while this is how I prioritize…
Place Shield on tank at all times for Atonement buff (before pull as well). Also on team mates if you predict the pull to be big.
Place Pain on ALL targets (and maintain it).
Use your offensive short CDs (not Schism though) as soon as they are off CD.
Fill in with Smite. And apply either new Shields if you predict incoming dmg, or use Shadowmend if people are missing health (both apply Atonement).
If you see heavy dmg incoming during fight, use CDs (we have like 4-5 of them). This includes Schism for extra dmg on ST, and Shadowfiend (helps healing more).
I thought they just had shadowmend & a big mouth that keeps saying ‘‘I hAvE hIgHeR iO tHaN yOu ThErEfoRe I aM bEtTeR’’ and proceed to do less healing than the shadowpriest while doing 19k dps
I would say the “passive” healing feels fine too the healing done through the Atonements and dmg does in most cases provide all the healing that is needed.
Shadowmend is still used to apply Atonements when there are players who needs need the buff while also missing a bit of health. But like I said most of the time my dmg does enough healing to not need it.
I think the reason new players also struggle is because they don’t play aggressive enough, and then fall into the trap of using Shadowmend most of the time when not needed.
It’s a learning curve
And no Warrior I’m not offended. I just think it’s a odd mindset to “help a person” on a forum by only pointing out silly miss-phrasing’s from other people who actually provide help, and at the same time not contribute with any help yourself. It’s literally what being toxic is
It’s a silly “argument” to have since it is what it is. You can be as offended over me pointing out your “negativity”, but I’m done humoring this “beef” we are having
Don’t pay attention, he just doesn’t like disc priests by the looks of it and he’s obviously been playing with bad ones. Look at his post history, I doubt he knows what constructive response even means.
As I’ve said I’ve tried it several times in PVP (most forgiving content) and I feel like I’m struggling getting atonement everywhere. Everyone is dropping low and I have a hard time keeping up.
I did dungeons as holy and sometimes I just have to spam heal for 2k every 1,5 seconds or so to keep the fight going. Hard to believe I can do this healing doing damage and keep up.
Smite for me does about 640 dmg = 320 healing
Penance does about 1800 dmg = 900 healing
That is for single target healing.
How about healing the whole group. Bubbling everyone takes forever and Radiance is on a 20 second cooldown. Yeah I guess you need to act before everyone starts taking damage.
Maybe I should just jump in a dungeon and see what happens. I can always leave when I completely F up.
I’ll keep in mind that CD’s should be used and are part of the rotation when things get hot. And what are those CD’s? Desperate Prayer I supose? Penance on friendly?
Rapture my friend, Rapture. Then Shadowfiend but it has a long cooldown so should be used with more caution, probably only on bosses before you find your flow in dungeons.
I can’t speak for PvP since I only go as Shadow Priest in there, but if you struggle with AoE healing then it is pretty much the same dmg rotation as in ST, with the exception that you use Power Word: Radiance to give everyone Atonement first.
I’ll try and explain when to use what bellow here, including “oh crap” moments.
Regular rotation:
Just get the Atonements up on people using either Shadowmend or Shield based on if they have already lost health or not. Then use Shadow Word: Pain on all enemies. Then Power Word: Solace and Penance (on enemy, not team member) as soon as they are not on CD. After this you just fill in with Smite until Solace and Penance is off CD again. While maintaining Atonement up on people (who are taking dmg) of cause.
"Oh crap" moments:
If everyone is taking slight dmg, use Power Word: Radiance.
If everyone is taking medium dmg, use Power Word: Barrior.
If everyone is taking A LOT of dmg, use Rapture and keep spamming people with shield.
If tank is dying (or a PvP teammate), use Pain Suppression on them.
And then just mix and match the CDs based on the situations.
Best advice I have for you, is to put the spells on your bar in a way that makes sense so you don’t need to look at the bar to know what is where. And then yes, just jump into normal/heroic dungeons for practice until you get the hang of it.
But don’t “leave when you **** up” Persevere and accept that you are practicing. Even let people know at the start that you are still new at Disc and learning. That’s what I did back when I learned it.
Thanks. So shadowmend is a valid ability to use in combat, I’ve always tried to avoid using it in combat.
Could you do me a favor and let me know how much dmg you do with Smite in Disc spec and how much healing you do with Healing in holy spec? Just want to compare.
So anyway, it seems like CD’s are mandatory thing for disc priests, would that be fair to say? When I compare with when I played druid a lot, CD’s were not that nescessary. It’s probably why the disc priest CD’s are short.
Try and predict incoming bursts of group damage too before they land.
This is one area where Disc priests shine.
Can’t tell you how many times dropping a power word barrier at the right moment before a wave of incoming damage has saved a group from wiping.
Couple it with some power word shields buffed by rapture on teammates before or after the burst also helps whilst they might still be low on health.
This also gives you enough time to spread shadow word pain (or purge the wicked) if your DoTs have expired on mobs to leech into the atonement buff.
This will passively help to get them back up gradually or alternatively spot heal with penance on CD & shadow mend or apply a burst of power word radiance if teammates are critically low on health, the choice very much depends on the situation and how much consistent damage teammates are receiving after a burst phase.
Are you sure about what you’re saying?
Because i play both and i can tell you that holy is by far better to a group that takes avoidable damage and to heal bursting/grievous stacks. Now if you are in a premade that people know what they are doing + they avoid stuff Disc is a heavenly cool spec to play.
As about damage, you can make a Holy build for up to 20’s that does 40-50k+ overall dps. Now that you cant do with disc because you need these haste/crit corruptions.
Shadowmend is great burst healing on single target, especially if you’re running any depth of shadow Azerite traits and spirit of preservation as a minor essence, I’d recommend both of these if you’re struggling with throughput. Fully stacked with preservation and decent gear your first shadowmend will heal heavily and the second heal is a guaranteed crit.
I’m no m+ expert and have never been anywhere near a 20. I have specced to disc this week to try it and this was the result even with very low haste.
I can imagine disc having lots of problems with bursting and grievous - to my knowledge, discs have never had a strong presence during bursting weeks.
Bursting because you don’t have a tank that know how to play around a disc priest.
Giving the disc a target to damage during bursting it is really important.
Otherwise you are locking them into Shadowmend triage, wich is really hard to do with high bursting stacks.
Grevious is a bit more annoying yes, but again group helping you is important.
Plus during Grevious you should be even more aggressive than usual with CDs usage, to avoid things getting out of hand.
Discipline way to heal is similar to r Druid but with the extra requirement of needing to damage a target to work at 100% effectiveness.
And that is on tanks to give them a target at all times, those tanks that do a super huge pull and then let the group afk because disc struggle to top everyone are idiots.
Loving it so much that I’m leveling my 2nd Priest to main in Shadowlands.
