First of all allow me to add a bit of a disclaimer: I recently returned to the game and to this class and I’m still learning the ropes.
I’d like to discuss Power Word: Solace and class design. In my opinion, Power Word: Solace is not different enough to warrant its own keybind. I could elaborate on why I feel this way but for the sake of this being the opening post I’m going to try and keep it short and straight to the point. The fact of the matter is that Power Word: Solace is a direct damage spell that is instant and regenerates 1% mana. Smite is a direct damage spell that has a cast time and does not generate mana. I can only find one scenarion where I’d rather use Smite and that is at the very beginning of combat (if there are other reasons feel free to share them; I fully accept that my general inexperience may have blinded me to alternative reasons).
I can’t shake the feeling that Solace is not a complete spell yet. It needs to have more dynamic with the other spells in our arsenal. For instance, what if Smite gave us a stacking buff that increased the damage of Solace? Let’s say the buff had a cap of 5. Then maybe we wouldn’t want to click it the moment it’s available but rather wait until the cap was met. Then it would warrant having its own keybind, in my opinion. Because then it would not be a surefire thing that we should cast Solace rather than Smite. There are other ways to get this desired effect and I’m sure there is a lot Blizzard could do with this spell to make it more exciting. As it stands, while regenerating 1% mana is useful, it’s not really all that exciting. As it is right now I want nothing more than to pair it with the same keybind as Smite. If there is an efficient way to do this let me know! My own experimentations so far have only yielded bitter fruits.
Anyway, thank you for reading! Please share your thoughts, my sager brethren!
p.s. it is great to play a priest again!
p.p.s. Steve is a great name for a priest.
And now allow me to elaborate. I’m going to assume my standard forum identity as this is the avatar I’ve posted on most and is the character I feel most comfortable posting with. I mainly posted on my priest to lend myself some credibility and to allow you to see just how green I am.
Anyway! Like I said in the disclaimer, I’ve recently returned to the game. So far I’ve sort of purposedly avoided Power Word: Solace, because I realized I was terrible at utilizing it. I would want to use it on cooldown but I’d always forget it and I felt like I only wanted to macro it together with Smite, but didn’t know how to do it. Today I experimented with it and I had no luck. Apparently there is no way of checking whether an ability is on cooldown or not via macros, or so the google search results have told me so far.
It made me wonder why I felt this way. Say what you will about the ability pruning but in many cases I think Blizzard has done a commendable job in making specializations and abilities feel more unique. No two buttons should do the same thing, and while Smite and Solace do different things, they don’t feel different enough. Smite is a filler and Solace I want to use whenever it is off cooldown, macroing these two abilities seem like the natural solution to me. And that is not a good feeling to have. I’d rather Solace was different enough to warrant its own keybind.
I don’t have any two spells that I feel this way with on my Holy Paladin, nor on my Rogue. So it irks me. In general, I think that Priests talent tree is rather unexciting as a whole if you compare it to Holy Paladins. I’m not sure why that is, either. But I will say that I very much appreciate the Disc playstyle. But solace? It needs some work.
I’m not going to go too far in depth with my response here but I disagree with you. To start compared with the other options on the row solace adds way more than the others from a class design perspective. Having more tools to deal damage with as far as Disc is concerned is amazing.
With regards to comments about Solace’s strength, its the most powerful on the row in pretty much all situations. Outside of our DoT and schism, Solace provides the largest ST damage output, thus healing also. Furthermore being buffed by Schism further increases its potency. It costs no mana and is castable on the move, its an all round incredible talent for the discs kit.
I cant speak for your own excitement, but compared to Legion where you simply took a passive mana gain on PW:S having solace as part of our kit adds so much to the play style. Sure you are going to be using it on CD or as close to as you can, I can concede to that. That being said there is still a lot of nuance to its use, whereby you save it for burst healing or use it on priority targets for instant damage.
I agree. In comparison to Holy Paladins I find that the Disc talents are rather unexciting. Gaining a .5% mana return on Power Word: Shield when it breaks is not really something to get ecstatic about (not like Reflective Shield. Why can’t we have talents like that instead?). The manafiend isn’t all that exciting either since it doesn’t add anything new. So on this row, Power Word: Solace is the most appealing option from a gameplay point of view, but whenever I’ve played with it I’ve always felt that I’d rather just combine it with Smite.
I’d might even go so far as to say that I’d prefer Power Word: Solace as a proc that makes Smite gratis and instant, with an added 1% mana return. Kind of like how Surge of Light was in TBC (btw, what’s the deal with Surge of Light still only applying to Flash Heal? …).
I buy this argument. I’ve not yet found myself in such a situation. Still, I would like to see it altered in a way so that it doesn’t becomes less of a no-brainer to use it whenever it is off cooldown. Its design could be improved.
Apologies for the wrong character, on the rare occasion I log in here, it rolls a coin as to which character it posts on.
I could go on for a while about talent trees, there is all sorts of things that can be changed for the better and made more interesting. As far as this row goes, as a mana return row, it serves its purpose.
I still cant agree with this due to my other statements. Smite is the cheap filler, Solace is the burst damage / healing and combines excellently with Schism.
I dislike this idea. As a generic rule of thumb procs are awkward to deal with for disc due to the nature of setting up Atonements and following up with damage. I don’t like the idea of losing an ability which you can choose to use when you need it or on CD if you dont. This type proc would mean you may want to hold onto your main filler spell to make greater use of the proc on larger damage intake which is toxic to the gameplay in my opinion.
I managed to keybind them together by using software outside WoW (basically just keybound two separate keys together). In addition, I made a macro in game so that if I’m not in combat I won’t ever cast Power Word: Solace, and if the control modifier is being pressed I won’t cast it either. I’ve played around with it and, so far, it feels very good.
I think it works because Smite is a low priority ability. Power Word: Solace has higher priority, so now whenever I press the key that has both Power Word: Solace and Smite it will always prioritize Power Word: Solace if it is available. I can also track its cooldown so should there be a moment that does not allow for much smiting I can still cast Solace in succession. So far I’ve not encountered a situation where I’d want to press control in order to not cast Solace. Guides on Wowhead and Icy-veins both recommend using it on CD for damage purposes.
It is because of this experiment’s success that I feel the ability doesn’t really warrant its own keybind. I realize I might come across as a bit nitpicky, and this thread is based on a personal observation and may not necessarily be shared with the wider audience, but in my opinion if you can bind two abilities together like this I think one ought to be changed a bit. Having a keybind which purpose is to be pressed whenever an ability is off cooldown isn’t really all that compelling from a gameplay perspective.
If this is true:
Then it’d be hard for Blizzard to buff it. However, as it stands I think the design is a bit flawed, but for now I’ve managed to find a workaround solution. I will agree that Solace is the most tempting option on that otherwise boring row, but it could be better. I want it to warrant its own keybind.
Yeah, I came to a similar conclusion when thinking about it after having written that post. Procs can be fun (like Searing Light back in the day R.I.P.) but control is preferable.
Well, like I said above I’ve macroed it so that I will always use it over smite except for when I’m outside of combat. I’ve also keybound it so I can press [ctrl] to suppress it in case I’d need to save it.
I’ve never felt the need to save it. That’s kind of my issue. It feels to me like an ability that you want to press the moment it is off CD unless you have other prioritites. If I couldn’t do this macro then I’d probably dislike the ability because remembering to click a button every 12 seconds isn’t my idea of fun. That’s what I mean when I say it doesn’t feel like a complete spell. To me, it seems that the optimal way to use it is to use it on cooldown and its priority sits just at the right spot for it to be macroed together with Smite, and macroing them together works like a charm.
Schism, in comparison, is worthy of a keybind. Using it on cooldown isn’t a sure thing. Partly because of its secondary effects and partly because it has a relatively long cooldown. There’s a point in saving it to be used at the right moment. Maybe the same can be argued for Power Word: Solace but so far I’ve not felt it at all. I feel I benefit a lot more from automatically using it when it’s available.
With that said, I still like it more than the other options in that tier, but it still feels incomplete. I do not wish for it to be removed.
Can’t really comment on that. If you check my priest (original poster) you’ll see I’m still fairly low in the mythic tier. However…!
Can agree on this. I checked Photosynthesis and it sure sounds more exciting than the stuff we get. A lot of disc talents come off as so lacklustre, which does not mean I’m saying disc is lacklustre. I find Disc to be a very enjoyable spec! (Have to be clear on this as to not be misunderstood)
…).