Looking at the 3.1 changes, there are lots of good things in store for us Priesty types. Seems like Shadow is actually getting the biggest buff PvE//P wise. Spirit Tap is improved, DoTs crit more often, Shadow form reduces spell dmg...lucky folks. Holy gets some much needed mana cost reduction for our Nova, and Divine Spirit! Disc gets a super shield, making them all the more PvE viable. I could list the tons and tons of changes to each tree, but it's much easier to just look at the patch notes.


I'm curious, though. How do you guys think this will change our current play-styles, if at all? I think Holy is going to be better AoE healers, and Disc will continue to be its shield popping self. Shadow might be the spec of choice for you avid PvPers...you guys were already practically wearing plate @.@...but how will it affect you?

I need to find a new place to stick my Improved Holy Conc points, but I think the change is definitely worthwhile. Greater Heal will most likely become my cast of choice, since it won't be as much of a mana sucker. I'm thinking about dropping Test of Faith, too. I really only nabbed it for the crit >< If anyone is aware of a new tree floating around, please, let me know so I can play around with stuff =]

What do you think?


Fae♥

According to a good number of sources, namely Elitist Jerks, Disc Priests are absolutely wonderful for fights such as sarth+3. But, most of the Priest community will probably react to the switch as I did at the beginning of Lich King- Disc? No way. PvE healing = Holy. However, this is no longer true. Even if you're in a guild that is still progressing through Naxx, or even if you're a PuGger, Disc Priests can be wonderful things to carry around in your back pocket.

Whats the difference between a Disc Priest and a Holy Priest?
Holy folks are wonderful at repair. We are the Jack of all Trades [Master of None /cry] healers who have a variety of single target and group wide heals. We have direct heals, HoTs, shields, insta-casts, long casts, everything. And we use everything. If you're healing as Holy and you don't have every single healing spell [with the exception of the leveling ones such as Lesser Heal and Heal] on your action bars then you're wrong. I don't care what your excuse is- Holy Priests use every. single. spell. Yes, many of us have become Flash Heal spammers but we still use...everything. You start the pull with a PoM and refresh it everytime the cd's up, shield a threat-happy DPSer, CoH or PoH after aoe damage, Flash Heal or Greater Heal depending on the damage taken, Binding Heal when you're hurt also, toss Renews...Guardian Spirit in O-S! situations...etc. Everything.

Discipline Priests are all about mitigation. They have a variety of shields and damage reducing spells that prevent oncoming damage. They will probably not top the healing charts...ever. Because they don't really...heal. They make the other healers in the group lives' easier by saving them mana and GCD's-making the others all the more efficient. Of course, they still have all of the wonderful spells a Holy Priest has, they're just not as good. A properly specc'd Disc Priest will go alllll the way into Disc, picking only a few talents out of the first two or three tiers in Holy. They don't get the extra healing, or spellpower from spirit, or mana cost reduction or any of the other strong Holy talents, but it's ok- they don't really need them. No, this does not mean a Disc Priest sits in the back of the raid tossing shields and never casting a heal...sitting there idly bored- maybe reading their favorite web comic. They have to know the fights just like any other healer because spells have several minute cd's, and a wasted one could cause a wipe.


So, which is better? Mitigation, or repair?
Both.
o.O
Mitigation makes it easier to repair. Multiple Discipline Priests are not really necessary for a raid, but having one around makes all of your other healers happy. Deciding which you want to play is all about...how you like to play. Holy Priests are generally in the middle of it all, tossing out heals as fast as they can be cast, while Disc's stay to the back and watch for possible incoming damage. At present, I'm still Holy but that's only because another Priest geared for Disc faster than I did ><

Speaking of Gear...
Holy Priest's aim for the max healing output with the highest amount of mana efficiency. Mmmm...spellpower, Spirit, Haste, and mp5! Crit is a good side item...int is important, but mana regeneration is strong as Holy so it's not really something to focus on.
Disc Priests are kinda like Pallies. They don't really have mana concerns, they love crit, and they don't benefit from Spirit in any way other than mana regen. Spellpower, Crit, and Int are the most important stats for Disc folks.

Using Loot Rank, I've compiled the following list of gear choices for a Disc Priest. I only chose to display the top 3, but you can copy the values and choose a longer list. If you prefer one stat over another, it's pretty simple to change stuff around.

Disc Gear List

As you can see, alot of the gear is more DPSy than Healy. But, that's because most cloth gear with crit is aimed towards DPSers >< I promise I won't make fun of you if you're wearing the Shadow tier gear.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me or post 'em here!
♥Fae

By request and to follow suit with the other WoW bloggers here is the sixth screenshot in my WoW folder.

This is me and my now fatty boomchicken rl friend after we both acquired our Frostwolves oh-so-long-ago. I downed a Noggenflogger to make my poor little BE self even tinier, and...I'm not sure what he took to make himself bigger..hmmm.

I introduced him to the game after I had been playing for about half a year all by myself. Bringing friends in definitely made it even more fun. We quested together, farmed enchanting patterns together- jerk totally stole Crusader from me /sob- and eventually began raiding together. You know all of those silly people in PuGs and the occasional guildy that loves to stand in the pretty flashy void zones? We made fun of them. We yelled at them. We blamed our repair bills on them. We made a chat channel and filled it with people who shared a burning hatred for a certain guild member. And it was fun. We stayed on Skype and cursed and hollered when things went poorly yet calmly explained the problems over Vent...because we could. And it was fun. Having someone you actually really and truly know in the guild makes it fun. The wipes faced on progression nights were no longer wipes, they were excuses for more inside jokes, verbal stress relief and, most importantly, ideas that sprung to mind could be bounced back and forth between someone who knows how you think. And these ideas became new strategies, new ways to attempt a boss, just...something different. And it was fun.