Priest Healing Discussion: Cataclysm - Page 7

Mortivius · 04/21/11, 8:32 PM

Originally Posted by Starfire

Each spec brings different strengths and weaknesses on different fight.

And it's flawed to just look at it as a whole like that. Besides, I suspect most healing priests are dualspecced Holy and Discipline. Especially if you're in a 10-man guild.

That said, both specs are perfectly fine for all 10-man content. There isn't a single 10-man fight that requires a Disc Priest or a Holy Priest. The spec that makes the fight easier, however, is dependent on your raid composition and other healers in the raid (not even just their class, but their spec/talent and preference).

Really, the only short answer is: both specs.

Yeah, I am dual specced as both Holy and Disc. I realize that both specs can be viable. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice pertaining to a specific mechanic or encounter in the Heroic fights that in their opinion was made easier by them being Holy or Disc, and why they think so, similar to my example of why I thought Disc was easier on Nefarian with my setup.

UnholY_Prince · 04/22/11, 1:57 AM

As a 10m Heroic Priest I find Holy more versatile, but its just personal preference. Lightwell doesn't hold up to Barrier as a raid cooldown. The truth is in 10m you're not soley Tank healing or Raid healing, so you have to be able to do both pretty well. Which is why I prefer Holy.

BaS also is amazing on a lot of fights. Again int he end it just comes down to what works best with your raid setup and what you're most comfortable with though.

Karma · 04/22/11, 11:35 AM

Looking back at purely hard mode version it turns out I split what spec I was in each zone exactly 50/50.

Disc: Omnotron, Maloriak, Nefarian, Halfus, Cho'gall, Conclave

Holy: Magmaw,chimaeron, atramedes, valiona, council, al'akir

Only tiebreaker I guess would be that I'm playing holy for sinestra, although I started out as disc. Some of these I now just play whatever I feel like on them rather than the specified spec above, while others I switch to still for specific mechanics.

edit: guess it might also help to list healing setup. We have holy paly, resto druid, and myself.

alphonsis · 04/25/11, 2:19 PM

Originally Posted by Mortivius

Yeah, I am dual specced as both Holy and Disc. I realize that both specs can be viable. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice pertaining to a specific mechanic or encounter in the Heroic fights that in their opinion was made easier by them being Holy or Disc, and why they think so, similar to my example of why I thought Disc was easier on Nefarian with my setup.

atramedes: holy b/c of b&s
maloriak: disc - pw:s for black, barrier for red (maybe not in 4.1, 3min might be too long)
chimaeron: disc - pw:s and ps for p2

Auralin · 05/02/11, 8:25 PM

For those of you trying to work in Holy Fire as of 4.1 this may be a useful macro:

#showtooltip Holy Fire
/cast [mod:alt, target=mouseover,harm,exists] [mod:alt, harm] [mod:alt, target=targettarget] Holy Fire
/cast [target=mouseover,harm,exists] [harm] [target=targettarget] Smite

With the Holy Fire tooltip showing you can track your CD easily and of course you can change your modifier key from alt to whatever you like.

Arrekesha · 05/06/11, 2:24 PM

Originally Posted by Darkmother

I have tried to heal as atonement spec on magmaw and came up very short to the point i was politely replaced in the raid. I am currently ilvl 353. I had a pally and druid on heals pushing 12k hps while i was at half that. Either I'm doing something wrong or discipline is just not the right spec for this boss.

My top heals for the fight were Atonement PWS and Renew. This is my armory link Darkmother @ Turalyon - Game - World of Warcraft. I am currently looking for 3 more pieces but have not seen 1 of them drop despite the numerous dungeon runs.

My experience with the fight is that it is not a tank healing fight same goes for the Halfus fight. The entire raid takes unavoidable damage. Spamming bubble is just not the way to go and smiting only helps the classes that r within range and at random. I could use some help healing these encounters.

I love disc healing and it kicks the crap out of any heroic battle but sadly has left me feeling very disappointed as a raid healing spec. Any advice on how to make this work.

I have succesfully healed Magmaw several times on my A/A priest, and the key to this fight is to rack up Evangelism and then blow it along with Power Infusion and other possible mana reduction/+haste spells you have and spam PoH during heavy damage phases, usually around the time when adds come down. Depending on the tactics your group/guild is using, PW:B is also very useful to use, preferrably again with PoH spammage. During P2 you will stack up Evangelism again but do not overdo it, as it is easy to burn mana here (I usually blow Hymn of Hope + shadowfiend on first P2, then shadowfiend again on second or possibly third).

Also, in a raid set up where you have strong group healers such as druids, kindly ask to do the tank healing, since this is what disc is best at. Basically, the key to this fight is to be very intuitive when heavy damage will be incoming and use your Evangelism properly.

Kelila · 05/11/11, 8:54 PM

Does everyone spec disc for Heroic Nef (25man)? My guild is starting work on him tonight and many strategy guides mention two disc priests at least. But I was looking over some logs of other guilds that have killed him and many use one disc priest and one holy. At first I assumed these guilds had a surplus of prot paladins to supplement the missing PW:barriers, but many of them had none at all.

I'm trying to determine which spec to show up as tonight (I'm the raid leader so I have no one to ask really, heh). I have a disc and a holy spec available, but I'm far more comfortable with holy. That being said I don't want to be a detriment to the raid because I'm the "incorrect" spec. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Also, as disc, are we meant to stack the steal power buff and smite? This seems like a rather contrived method to go about healing, but I haven't seen the fight yet myself so I'm not sure what works. Is it more advisable to just cancel the buff asap and heal as normal?

Kimano · 05/12/11, 11:19 PM

Originally Posted by Kelila

Does everyone spec disc for Heroic Nef (25man)? My guild is starting work on him tonight and many strategy guides mention two disc priests at least. But I was looking over some logs of other guilds that have killed him and many use one disc priest and one holy. At first I assumed these guilds had a surplus of prot paladins to supplement the missing PW:barriers, but many of them had none at all.

I'm trying to determine which spec to show up as tonight (I'm the raid leader so I have no one to ask really, heh). I have a disc and a holy spec available, but I'm far more comfortable with holy. That being said I don't want to be a detriment to the raid because I'm the "incorrect" spec. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Also, as disc, are we meant to stack the steal power buff and smite? This seems like a rather contrived method to go about healing, but I haven't seen the fight yet myself so I'm not sure what works. Is it more advisable to just cancel the buff asap and heal as normal?

There really isn't a 'correct' spec for Nef; I do it as Holy, our other main priest prefers Disc. You don't need cooldowns on electrocute as long as your raid members pay attention, break mc's early if they're low, HS if they need to, etc.

Personally, if you're tank healing I'd go Disc, raid healing I'd go Holy. If you're more comfortable as Holy, heal it as Holy, irrespective of the role you're in.

Samstar27000 · 05/15/11, 5:21 PM

Hey this is an open question about which raid frames other healers on this forum find best. I recently hit 85 on my disc priest and have solely used healbot for 5-mans and BH, and I'm fairly comfortable with it. However, I never hear the more skilled healers or posters on the forum mention it, recommending vuhdo or grid in its place. Is there a factor I'm overlooking in terms of the usefulness of healbot, Or am I just an outlier?

Artemisian · 05/15/11, 9:26 PM

Originally Posted by Samstar27000

Hey this is an open question about which raid frames other healers on this forum find best. I recently hit 85 on my disc priest and have solely used healbot for 5-mans and BH, and I'm fairly comfortable with it. However, I never hear the more skilled healers or posters on the forum mention it, recommending vuhdo or grid in its place. Is there a factor I'm overlooking in terms of the usefulness of healbot, Or am I just an outlier?

I've wondered the same thing myself. I've used Healbot since I started healing in Wrath, and it's served me very well. Handles my buffs, my dispels, my various spells, etc. I tried Vuhdo and couldn't make it behave in a way I was comfortable with. I don't have HB bug out (unless there's been a patch, obviously) and have an emergency bar even if it does. I do agree however that having essentially two sets of raid frames (standard Xperl to one side and HB to the other) is redundant, especially since I use a 10" screen.

So! Since I know little about the other addons, is there one that would allow me to use my normal raid frames in a Healbotish fashion, ie. clicking on them in particular ways to cast on that player?

Minifridge · 05/16/11, 12:13 AM

So! Since I know little about the other addons, is there one that would allow me to use my normal raid frames in a Healbotish fashion, ie. clicking on them in particular ways to cast on that player?

Clique.

Elimbras · 05/16/11, 5:26 AM

Grid + Clique should be feasible (or any "UI raid-frame" addon you want, Clique just let you add interaction).
But I would question more the use of this features for most spells. I tend to prefer selecting the target with the mouse (or mouseover macros), and then casting my heal with the keyboard. At least for 25-men raid, I find the UI much more amenable that way. The key point for this however is to change keyboard short cuts, and have your movement keys in the middle of your spell keys (personnally, I use WERSDF for movement, and all left-side keys (up to HY and 6) for dispell / healing spells : I can access all of them with a single hand).

Hegen · 05/16/11, 7:13 AM

Originally Posted by Elimbras

But I would question more the use of this features for most spells. I tend to prefer selecting the target with the mouse (or mouseover macros), and then casting my heal with the keyboard. At least for 25-men raid, I find the UI much more amenable that way.

Why not do both? I use Clique basically for two things: Ctrl + right click shields, right click casts GH (it was FH in Wrath). Left click selects. This way, I can easily spam shields while on the move and have a bread and butter spell available without changing target.

Elimbras · 05/16/11, 9:16 AM

I was not clear with my phrasing. Yes, I agree Clique can be useful for a very few number of spells. However, I don't think that you can realistically manage all spells (at least for a priest) with your mouse / clique, and it's good to be able to cast them efficiently with your keyboard.

Kimano · 05/16/11, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Elimbras

I was not clear with my phrasing. Yes, I agree Clique can be useful for a very few number of spells. However, I don't think that you can realistically manage all spells (at least for a priest) with your mouse / clique, and it's good to be able to cast them efficiently with your keyboard.

I heal this way (spells bound to clicks) and I've never had an issue with it. A 5+ button mouse is a necessity though. I also love modifiers and have every click+shift+ctrl+alt bound. They're also setup on my keyboard, obviously, but that's just for healing my current target.

The bottom line is it's preference. Change up how you're doing it each raid and see which one feels the most comfortable to you.