Spiritual Guidance: The new age raiding Holy Priest
by Matt Low 
Jul 20th 2008 at 11:00PM
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is now Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. For the next few weeks, I'll be taking a look into the depths of Black Temple from a Priestly perspective.
I was planning on finishing my Black Temple guide but the lure of all this awesome beta news is simply too hard to ignore! I'll have to postpone the guide for a rainy day. Fellow WoW Insider blogger Alex Z. has a terrific analysis of the new Priest talents! It's an excellent analysis of how the Priests will be come the expansion. This week, I want to go further in depth on not just new spells and abilities that Priests bring to a raid but how changes to the other classes will be affecting us. I'll also touch a bit on threat, my thoughts on Lightwell, and the raid viability of Discipline.
The initial glance at the Holy talent tree has me disappointed a bit. It is similar to the idea of having 15 bucks in your pocket to go spend on a 200 flavour ice cream store only to discover that they're out of stock on all but 3 flavours. There does not appear to be anything earth shattering or game breaking added or changed. Sure we know that Circle of Healing is a smart heal capable of zeroing in on the most wounded players. However, this is offset by the fact that there's a 6 second nerf. Despite this, I still foresee a future in Wrath with a CoH specced Priest.
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet (to my knowledge) is the possible variances in raiding specs. In the current game right now, the bar for raiding is set at 25 players. There are only two 10 player level 70 instances at the moment. We know in Wrath that all raid instances will be designed to accommodate both 10 and 25 players each. In any case, our spec revolves around our ability to heal as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time using the least amount of mana. Is it possible that we might see more than 2 possible raid specs? After all, what is useful for a 10 player raid might not be so relevant in the 25s, right? I can't help but wonder if we're going to see a trend involving healing specs optimized for healing individual targets in 10 player raids vs healing specs built for healing multiple targets in 25 player raids. A set of specs for 10 player raiding and a set of specs for 25 player raiding is something I can see happening.
The raid buffed Priest
A quick browse through at the other classes show a slight improvement in how the raiding Priest will look with the Shaman and the Paladin.
From the Shaman:
- Flametongue Totem - Spellpower increase: Instead of gaining a static Spellpower boost, our healing bonus seems to scale accordingly.
- Wrath of Air Totem - 10% spell haste: Here's another welcome addition! Our heals will be going off a little faster than normal.
- Improved Devotion Aura - All healing done to units affected by Devotion Aura increased by 1/2/3%: While the percentage increase may not seem like much, the bonuses do add up over time.
I understand that there's been some changes to threat. Salvation's been removed and so has Tranquil Air Totem. Picking up the new 3 points in Silent Resolve could very well be a must. At the moment I don't have any points invested in it (due to having awesomesauce tanks) but now I'm a little wary. Again, the game is in beta stage and I'm going to hold off on this for the time being. We'll need to get more information about threat changes before it can be evaluated reliably.
Lightwell
Lightwell's been improved substantially! It's gone from being a 4th line spell to a potential 1st line threat (hockey reference). Unfortunately, I still don't see it being used extensively in a 25 player setting. It's a near instant cast spell with 10 charges that can be activated every 3 minutes. It's usefulness is going to depend on those using it. With the current raid environment revolving around micromanaging things, will there really be time for raiders to jump back and take advantage of it? That's going to largely depend on the encounters we'll see in end game.
Discipline
Between Grace, Divine Aegis, Rapture, and Penance, Discipline is looking to be a potential PvE single target healing spec of choice. I'm going to have to take some time later on and play with the talent calculator on WoWhead. Divine Aegis has me wondering if Priests will be gunning for spell crit gear. Sadly, we don't know what the internal cooldown on the Aegis talent is (if there is one).
Anyways, all we know is that this is just the beginning. It's a great time to be a WoW player with all the information we get to scrutinize and analyze!
Want to find more great tips for carrying out your Priestly duties? Spiritual Guidance has you covered with all there is to know!And don't forget to check the WoW Insider Directory for more priestly info!
Filed under: Priest, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
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Nogun Jul 20th 2008 11:52PM
Resto Druid's utility will also improve the a Priest's healing more than in TBC.
The Tree of Life aura will now be raid wide, the Improved Tree of Life talent will also increase the effect by 15% so in total healing done to everyone with the aura will be increased by 40% of the Druid's aura.
Only a bit strange that will all these new must have utilties for a 25man raid a priest gets a PvP panic button and a cooldown on their main TBC heal while both Paladin and Druid get a similar without cooldown.
Nogun Jul 20th 2008 11:52PM
correction:
40% of the Druid's Spirit.
Ben Jul 20th 2008 11:53PM
I had the same impressions about Discipline. Down through the first 31 points it's business as usual, then suddenly there's a glut of quality, PvE relevant talents. The only question is whether or not it will require taking too many filler talents to get that deep and what talents will be lost from the Holy tree. Like you said, it'll take some playing around with the talent calculator.
I've always been an advocate of letting priests spec into multiple "styles" of healing. After all, we're supposed to be the pure healing spec...if DPS classes can choose specs that let them alter the precise way they deal damage, why can't we have trees that let us do different types of healing?
Nogun Jul 21st 2008 12:12AM
Pain Suppression seems to remain the Priest's Mortal Strike so Discipline gets willingly or not the Arena torch again next expansion.
Some of the deep discipline are indeed very interesting for PvE but they can't make Deep Discipline too appealing in PvE either or Holy ends up like Mages Arcane now. I'm pretty sure the change to Rapture was motivated by this, not returning mana to your group like Vampiric Touch based on healing done anymore but just to yourself.
Ben Jul 21st 2008 2:43AM
It frustrates me that deep Holy and deep Disc can't both be viable PvE healing specs. Let Disc keep its survivability oriented talents so it can remain the PvP spec of choice....give Holy some utility talents toward the top of the tree so PvE Disc healers can fill out their spec.
Ideally I'd like to see 51/20/0 and 20/51/0 as viable PvE healing talents, perhaps with a Disc build still being slightly more optimized for PvP. A pure PvP build would require a deeper commitment to Disc...maybe 60/11/0 or so. Holy could be filled out with damage talents to ease the burdens of grinding for pure PvE players.
The bottom line is I'd love to see a day when raid leaders say, "Ok, for this fight we should take 1 Disc priest, 2 Holy priests, 2 trees, a pally and a shaman."
Daniel Cortez Jul 21st 2008 1:03AM
How does this build look? I sort of came upon it a couple minutes ago and i think it has what would be some very nice Main Tank healing qualities. Probably could use some twinking though.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=bVGbzhxtbxox0bZfxxcc0ac
Any ideas?
Mirethius Jul 21st 2008 2:23AM
I thought maybe like this.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?talent=bVGozGxtbx0xZcxxcs0qV
Caesar Jul 21st 2008 3:54AM
I still get the feeling that the developers don't know what to do with the Discipline tree. It is sort of a Miscellaneous tree or a Holy2 tree.
If you want to really focus on single target healing, all the good Disc talents are so far up the Disc tree that you can't get most of synergistic holy talents.
Survivability talents are spread between the two trees.
There is no focus. It is as if they are saying "here is a healing tree, and here is another different healing tree. We want both to be good for PVE and PVP".
We'd be better off with a clear PVE tree and a clear PVP tree. Just moving talents around and changing the order of things in the tree would be biggest thing they could do.
If they really want Disc priests to be viable in PVE, just keep Grace there. That one talent is more than enough to justify a Disc priest in any raid.
Bulgr Jul 21st 2008 6:51AM
There will be only one raid spot for healing priests in Wrath. Holy priests get nerfed (CoH), while other healing classes get the group heal diversity that priests used to have as a niche.
Likewise, all the other healing classes will bring lots of raid utility and synergy to the table. Priests nothing (aside from the old Fortitude and Divine Spirit, both of which can be cast by one priest - heck even a shadow priest in teh case of Fortitude).
Why would you bring a Holy priest (aside from the obligatory Divine Spirit priest) when you can have another shaman with all his totems and bloodlust/heroism? Or a druid whose Rejuvenation will serve as a mana battery (heck even for energy and rage users)? Or a paladin with all his hands and blessings that do stack (as opposed to priests buffs)?
The only possible niche I can see for priests is if their healing output is massively higher than that of the other classes. Which is utterly unlikely since priests will be reduced to largely single target heals. Also - with the threat changes and removal of Blessing of Salvation, each class must be able to rely on their own threat dumping mechanics. And what do priests have? lol-FADE!?
One healing spot, either some kind of Disc/Holy hybrid that picks up the improved buffs, or a Disc build with Grace and Inspiration.
Deep holy will be for... I don't know.. 5-mans maybe.
Nogun Jul 21st 2008 7:25AM
Don't worry, a class starting out weak in their main role at the start of an expansion has most to look forward to in future patches.
Look what Holy Priests got in patches after TBC
Meditation doubled to 30%
Spirit fixed
AE Healing coefficients improved
about 3 CoH buffs (true that this will mean less after getting a cooldown)
Bulgr Jul 21st 2008 8:20AM
Great... I'll try to keep that in mind while sitting out while my mates progress through Naxx and Utgarde, that eventually my class will be fixed. Too bad I am 2 tiers behind gearwise by that time.
Linkage Jul 21st 2008 9:17AM
"I know you're an exceptional healer and have been with us for years, but we'd rather take the druid we just met with 500 less healing bonus than you because...you know...druid."
I don't see that scenario happening very often.
Often I find that getting into raids depends not on your class, but on yourself and those you are with. My guildmates take me along not necessarily because I am a priest, but because I am a capable and reliable healer and they trust me.
Cynra Jul 21st 2008 11:26AM
Linkage, that becomes more of an issue in competative end-game raiding and not most raids. When competing to progress, you need optimal raid composition. It's a given. It's the only way to successfully press forward with as little down time as possible.
Unfortunately, these raids pave the way for the people that follow. Their strategies and explainations of the fight are used as guides, and so people follow what they do. And it makes sense: those raids that have flexibility will want an optimal composition as well. Because people are most likely not fighting to get slots into their raid they may have to settle for a less-than optimal composition.
Friends and guildmates can only get people so far. If I found that I had seven paladins of more than adequate healing capabilities who wanted to go into Black Temple with me, I'd probably have to turn some of them down. The lack of a group heal and HoTs probably would harm our efforts -- irregardless of how well they perform. Now, this is an extreme example, but it's something to consider!
Cynra Jul 21st 2008 8:13AM
With the changes to a post-2.4 Spirit-based mana regen system and the announced changes to all of the healing class, I see priests as still being the hybrid healing class that relies heavily on high regeneration and flexibility to be effective. Many of the other healing classes are getting further raid-worth, viable talents that seem to be lacking for priests.
To be honest, I was disappointed with the changes I've seen announced to the Holy tree so far. I haven't seen anything new or breath-taking or even really thought-provoking out of the tree and I'm a little worried that we might see even more of a shift from priests in raiding in favor of those classes that bring more synergy and unique benefits to the raid. We witnessed this with the start of The Burning Crusade when other healing classes finally got the buffs that they needed to compete with priests in raiding while priests -- what was once considered THE healing class -- languished behind.
Which isn't to say that the other classes need to be nerfed or that priests can't perform as well -- or even better! -- than their healing counterparts. It's just much much more difficult and we provide less benefit in stacking us.
Discipline tree seems to be what interests me most and I've pleased to see that deep Discipline has provided unique benefits that exist more than just to be a crutch to the Holy tree or as the PvP tree. Unfortunately, I have the sneaky suspicion that Discipline may become the healing tree of choice in raids while Holy may languish behind.
And Caesar is right; a lot of the talents between the Holy and Discipline trees are spread around willy-nilly without any discernable focus. I'm not sure what I would change myself but I think that what we see does warrant a little concern.
Seamus Jul 21st 2008 9:15AM
They have really buffed the Shield in the Disc tree. I almost never use my PW:S in raiding or 5-mans because I usually run with a warrior who needs to get hit. I'll probably stick with Holy for PvE healing.
Lizardking63 Jul 21st 2008 9:28AM
I agree that the Priest changes are lackluster at best. As I look towards Wrath, one of the big decisions for me is going to be which 70 to run to 80 first. Regrettably, my long time "Main" Priest, may be my last toon to hit 80.
Hydden Jul 21st 2008 10:28AM
Is Guardian Spirit also a pre-wipe-recovery spell? i.e. cast it on the Pally, he casts Divine Intervention on the Priest (or another healer), and the fight can continue - perhaps they live, perhaps they don't, but at least the wipe-recovery is there (at the cost of taking a healer out of the fight).
Anyway, I always thought of Lightwell as something the Priest has sitting next to him, for use by the casters against AOE/ranged damage from a boss. It's not something melee DPS would use, but it's something the Priest himself could tap or other range DPS. After all, melee DPS are probably sharing in the Circle of Healing & Prayer of Mending joy in the frontlines.
Cynra Jul 21st 2008 11:21AM
Lightwell does have its uses, but most priests seem to agree that they're minimal and not usually worth the point needed to grab the talent. The issue with Lightwell is misuse (charges can be burned by repeated clicking) and the fact that damage will interrupt the HoT. With the prevalence of splash damage once you exit Karazhan, this makes its application a little more difficult.
In fights where splash damage is timed, you can throw down a Lightwell and have people use it to top themselves off. However, when that damage is sporadic/random in any way its effective use becomes diminished.
P Lo Jul 21st 2008 10:58AM
This is a Holy nerf..... any other reading of it is wishful thinking Im afraid. Specifically when you look at our standing vs. the other healing classes.
I have severa toons, so I try not to get to subjective- but I just dont see what blizz has been thinking in regards to holy priests. How they are not setup as the hands-down best pure healing class is beyond me. It's not like there's a lot of other roles a holy plays!