Spiritual Guidance: 4 common myths about Discipline Priests
by Matt Low 
Dec 28th 2008 at 8:00PM
Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week, Matticus wants to dispel a few common beliefs about the Discipline Priest.
Even though I'm still a Holy Priest at heart, I wanted to raise more awareness for Discipline Priests. This week's post in particular is aimed at raid leaders or players who don't think Discipline can't cut it.
So let's start with the first one. Priests themselves know what they can and can't do.
Myth: Disc Priests can't solo heal
False
The abilities of a Priest revolve around their Power Word: Shield and Divine Aegis procs. I can't emphasize this enough. It's all about the damage prevention with healers littered in between.
They can hold their own in a raid environment provided they are used correctly.
Raid leaders and analysts need to remember that prevented damage may not always show up correctly. Even though it looks like a Disc Priest may not be healing as much as Joe Paladin, you have to factor shielding in there somehow. A good rule of thumb I like to use is to take the Priest's overall healing and add 30% to see how much damage has been mitigated or healed.
I'm probably way off on that though.
Myth: Disc Priests can't raid heal
False
While it is true that a Disc Priest cannot match the throughput of a deep Holy, Circle of Healing Priest, that does not mean they can't raid heal. They're just not the best for the job. Think about it this way. A Paladin can raid heal. They're just not optimized for it.
Prayer of Healing and Holy Nova are there to help. Don't write them off entirely. They can still do it.
Myth: Disc Priests run out of mana quickly
False
After inspecting various Priests that I've pugged stuff with, I've come to the conclusion that there are a few... shall we say, misguided players out there.
I beg you.
Please do not use some sort of hybrid 35/35/0 talent selection and then promptly complain about running out of mana. A Disc Priest is not a player who goes down the Disc tree to pick up Improved Divine Spirit and then invests the rest into Holy.
It doesn't work that way.
A Disc Priest is one that actually goes deep down the Disc tree. We're talking like at least 45 points. Give or take.
All the good stuff and mana regen stuff? You pick that up deep in the Discipline or Holy trees. It's virtually impossible to pick both of them up unless you can somehow hack yourself into getting 120 talent points.
In Discipline, mana regen talents revolve around Rapture. I guess you could factor in Enlightenment, Power Infusion, and Mental Agility as well.
Under Holy, it's all about Surge of Light, Serendipity, and Holy Concentration.
(On a side note, do other Priests get annoyed when Surge of Light or Holy Concentration procs and no one has taken any damage? I suppose you could Surge off a free Smite.)
Myth: Disc Priests are useless
False
Okay, so I might have made that last myth up. But seriously, if I had to give an opinion on this, I think the reason Disc Priests are discriminated against is because they're still relatively new. The game's only been out for a little over a month and Disc Priests have had a reputation as being all stars in PvP action and not so much in the PvE area.
So to raid leaders, the next time you think about turning down a Disc Priest, please make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Turn them down because you're full on healers. Turn them down because you don't have enough raid healers. Or if they're not geared enough for the content you're doing.
Give them a chance to change your mind.
Remember when Protection Paladins used to be scoffed at? Then they started to main tank Karazhan without shackles or CCs. Pretty soon, doing Hyjal practically required a Prot Paladin (because it was easier to, not because it was absolutely necessary).
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 out our other Leveling Guides as well as our Wrath Guides and Galleries!Filed under: Priest, Analysis / Opinion, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Jesse Dec 28th 2008 8:16PM
so, as a prot pally, here's my objection to discipline priests. Your shields prevent damage, which prevents me from getting heals which prevents me from getting mana back for the heals. Same for warriors and bear druids not getting rage from shielded damage.
This is not such an issue right now, especially with the new BoSanc mechanic, but it could become an issue as we begin to overgear content by a wider margin.
This is the mechanic that blizzard needs to fix to make raid leaders see disc priests as the main heals.
luke Dec 28th 2008 8:21PM
warriors and druids should not have any issues getting rage even with shields on then, they fixed that with the overhaul of tanking.
Also as a disc priest that has a prot pally that we regularly run heroics together with speaking with him about it, he said its not even a issue. I still have to heal him when hes near the end of weakend soul, and that is always enough to give him enough mana.
Dahras Dec 28th 2008 9:45PM
Actually, damage shields have not effectedr rage since patch 1.5, when rage generation was calculated before the shield absorbed the damage, yet people complained about gettting PW:S and the like in BC. Of course, the complaint about shields effecting prot pallies is still valid.
RipeTomatoe Dec 29th 2008 12:34AM
I'm also a prot pally, and I find that if I am tanking something, no matter what heals are coming my way, and mana is being generated, also, if you think mana is a problem, then judge wisdom, no ones stopping you; we also have divine plea, which is 25% of mana back to us, over 10 secs (I think it's 10) I rarely run out of mana, and the only time I do is when I'm not taking any sorts of damage, like when I'm on DPS duty for a solo tanked boss, even then I rarely run out, just because of raid heals alone.
Heilig Dec 29th 2008 2:49AM
"This is not such an issue right now, especially with the new BoSanc mechanic, but it could become an issue as we begin to overgear content by a wider margin."
Re-read what you just wrote. As the gear gap widens, teh amount of mana coming to you from BoSanc will increase, compensating for the amount lost due to incoming damage being lower.
Mana is only an issue for Prot Pallies in PvP. In PvE, if your mana is getting low, it means you're not taking much damage. if you're not taking much damage, you're not in danger of Dying. if you're not in danger of dying, pull more mobs. Problem solved.
To Disc priests: Shield me all you want. Anyone that kicks you from a group for doing so is retarded and is probably going to get you nothing but a repair bill. A tank's job is to survive and hold aggro. With threat mechanics all jacked up for tanks in Wrath, aggro is out of the equation. That means our only real job is to survive. Shields help us do that, and they're way better than healing after the fact when our health is low and you might not get that big heal off in time.
Wolfblitzer Dec 29th 2008 9:58AM
@ Heilig
While threat isn't nearly the concern it was in TBC, it is definitely still a concern on AOE pulls and when you have very strong dps. I find in raids that on most bosses I can manage to put out 4-6k threat per second, and my best rogue and warrior are usually between 50 to 75% of my threat. So if I were to lose 25% of my threat, there'd be problems. I'm not saying a disc priest would cause that to happen, because I doubt they would, due to my being at max rage against most every boss.
Stephen Dec 29th 2008 11:47AM
I'm a disc priest. Main healed a pally MT on everything but Malygos. He's said about the same thing. He thinks it COULD be a problem at some point, but it hasn't been so he's not stressed about it.
Warriors love the shields. They can do stuff they wouldn't ordinarily do or they would get killed. Whirlwind after I hit them with a PW:Shield for example.
Our Death Knight tank doesn't think he can get through some of the boss encounters without my shields.
chamual Dec 29th 2008 10:25PM
The new BoSanc mechanic is designed for when you outgear instances, not when you are at the level for them. When you outgear them you will be dodge\parry\bocking every attack thrown at you generating 2% mana every attack so it won't matter whether you are shielded or not.
Having a shield on you for when the hits do hit (which as a prot paladin you are failing at if you aren't at least blocking every single incoming melee hit) is awesome, and a discipline priest is exactly what you want throwing shields and heals onto you to mitigate the damage that does get through.
jbodar Dec 29th 2008 10:29PM
@Stephen
Yeah, I have no personal experience, but I would think Death Knights love Disc Priests for those moments where all runes are down.
Aaron A. Jan 15th 2009 6:58PM
"I would think Death Knights love Disc Priests for those moments where all runes are down."
My Death Knight would heartily agree with you. We don't need Rage, so damage mitigation is always welcome. As the author noted and emptyrepublic concurred, you really have to go deep into the tree to realize the benefits of Discipline, but once you do, it's well worth it.
My guild is fortunate enough to have a Disc. Priest and a Tree Druid as our main healers, and they both do an excellent job. The Priest, in fact, recently picked up the "Northrend Dungeonmaster" Achievement, the first in our guild to do so. Obviously she's doing something right.
Laidanyl Dec 28th 2008 8:38PM
"This week's post in particular is aimed at raid leaders or players who don't think Discipline can't cut it."
Judging from the rest of your post, which is relatively pro-discipline, I think perhaps you've got an unintentional double negative going on here. If you're aiming it at players who don't think discipline can't cut it, that would imply that you want them to think discipline can't cut it, which I don't think is what you want them to think. I think.
Kusaionara Dec 28th 2008 8:28PM
"...who don't think Discipline can't cut it. "
Still trying to wrap my head around this.
Sorry, I hate to nitpick, but Wow Insider really needs an editor.
Charlie Dec 28th 2008 8:29PM
hey man, it happens. How many times have you turned in a short paper that you had an error on that you didn't catch?
Nobodys perfect.
Kakistocracy Dec 28th 2008 9:10PM
That's exactly the point, most people recognize that it's a pain to catch their own errors, because they tend to skim things they wrote, thus the need for an editor.
Now if he had said, "So-and-so needs to learn English", that clearly would be wrong.
Kassu Dec 29th 2008 5:57AM
@ Charlie
What is it with you oversensitive people who see insult in every piece of criticism?
Charlie Dec 28th 2008 8:31PM
I'm pretty excited to get my priest to 80 and be super duper disc man. Hopefully 2s and 3s by that point wont be the PEW PEW fest they are now.
Though the thought of grinding honor, tailoring, enchanting, and cooking has kept me from leveling her. Acheivements make my altitist go away.
Medved Dec 28th 2008 8:34PM
Yea i used to be a disc priest till 70 and my guild leader knew nothing about what disc priests can do so i was kinda left in the dark/assigned raid heal. Though he did like Power infusion with bloodlust. yum. but in the end i was kinda convinced/forced to respec (I did it when the new talents came out) to holy. I liked that i was getting more out of my greater heal, and it was helpful to raid cuz i loved to bubble, yet we had warrior tanks. However, i feel alot squishier being holy, and i feel like i go thru mana faster, yet ive been holy all the way to 80 and all seems well. I feel kinda bad about leaving disc, yet i think both talents can do a great job at healing, so there should be no discrimination.
And yea, i have those surge of light proc problems too. Its nice while soloing for the extra smite, but i hate it when i get it and theres nothing to heal or smite. You aint the only one.
SantaDuJuan Dec 28th 2008 8:43PM
Thank God for you guys posting this, I wish it was required to view this before you could log on to WoW
I'm pretty much set that the second class I get to 80 will be a Discipline Priest.
Not sure if I want PVE or PVP more, depends on which is more fun!
emptyrepublic Dec 28th 2008 8:50PM
I have no hesitation picking up a Disc Priest to heal when I tank. So long as they are speced to fully take advantage of the tree and not attempt some silly hybrid. I can't pay much attention what is actually happening when I'm tanking but so long as the net effect is that I stay up and we keep moving without any hindrance then Disc is just fine.
Zarfay Dec 28th 2008 8:52PM
Discs priests are my favourite type of priest :-)
also lol @ joe paladin