Spiritual Guidance: Handling Incoming AoE as Discipline
by Matt Low 
Apr 19th 2009 at 7:00PM
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. Matt's got awesome raid healing tips to share as Discipline along with some thoughts for dual spec!
The first week of Ulduar is almost done! For those in there, how far have you managed to go? I've found it to be a test and a challenge for not only myself, but for the crew I raid with. Thank goodness for dual spec as it's saved me both time and money for switching between different roles.
I wanted to share a few tip I picked up in my experience so far as a raiding Discipline Priest.
The mass shield techniqueI admit that it took me a while to break this habit. I knew that Power Word: Shield didn't have a cooldown anymore on the cast. Yes, Weakened Soul is still there. But having the 4 second limit dropped (Soul Warding) and being able to cast rapid fire shields on players around me?Heck, I got so trigger happy I even threw some on a Ghoul and Succubus just for fun in Warsong Gulch!
That's just made pure awesome wyn.
Especially in a fun AoE raid damage filled instance like Ulduar where my ability to massively heal groups is limited, I feel I can still contribute in some way.
Let's apply it to a raid boss. For those of you that have managed to work your way up to Deconstructor, you'll know what I mean.
Tymapnic Tantrum – 10% health lost per second for 12 seconds. That's a lot of raid damage being handed out.
If I feel a Tantrum is about to hit the raid, I'll start shielding as many players as I can around me. It's a whole field of bubbles that can mitigate enough damage to allow healers to play catch up! Keep this technique in mind when you anticipate a number of players about to take hits. Granted, it's not wise or feasible to shield the entire raid. It's not logistical either since some players will be too far away from you.
But if you're standing with a group of 5-8 players, it's a technique that should be considered.
Are there consequences?
Power Word: Shield costs 532 mana (for me as Dwarf). Shielding 5 targets will set me back ~2500 mana. When Rapture kicks in, I'm only getting back ~600 mana (assuming I have a mana pool of 25000). I don't advocate using this the whole time. You'll run out of mana trying to keep active shields up on everyone. Used sparingly and in anticipation of incoming damage, it will buy enough time for the rest of the healers in your group to pitch in.
But let's not read too much into this! I'm not going to lie, I've felt the mana pinch too while healing. Stocking with Flask of Pure Mojo and other mana regen goodies have helped soften the blow.
Other thoughts
I did set up my dual spec when I had the opportunity. I did grab Holy as my 2nd spec for the time being. I'm starting to wonder if that was the right thing to do. In order to effectively play Holy, I have to completely rewire my gear. New enchants, gems, and different pieces of gear are going to be needed in order to play Holy at the level that Ulduar needs.
Perhaps what I should've done was spec in a similar Disc like fashion with a different set of glyphs. Let's hope I figure something out soon before I lose my mind.
Good luck and good fortune to players continuing to work their way through Ulduar (both via easy or hard mode)!
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, Raiding, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
jjcoola998 Apr 19th 2009 7:29PM
Aoe bubbles + melee = love
notBowen Apr 19th 2009 8:57PM
An article about AoE healing as Disc and no mention of PoH being group targetable and therefore much more useful is a little... lacking I find. Hell at least in ten man it helps a ton on Deconstructor, throw out a shield for Borrowed Time then PoH on group 1, repeat for group 2.
PoM out on every CD in a fight like Saph with constant raid wide damage is also key. Hell on every fight shoot it out on every CD if you can spare the mana.
Theyas Apr 19th 2009 7:32PM
Soul Warding has COMPLETELY changed how I play discipline, and has made it more fun!
I don't mind the mana issue (when it arrives) because it gives me an excuse to use Shadowfiend or Hymn of Hope, which has made the game more interesting for me, requiring me to actually keep an eye on my mana bar, whereas before I didn't need to. I got bored a lot.
Throwing shields around is fun as hell and the 4 piece set bonus from Tier 8 gear will only make it more fun!
It's also nice to get that Borrowed time effect after a shield for a Prayer of Healing or a Resurrection, too!
vern Apr 19th 2009 7:32PM
Discpline shields are nice for bosses like Deconstructor or Mimiron.
But otherwise I think Holy can handle AOE healing better, specially via Prayer of healing spams accelerated via talents is really nice.
Bubsa Apr 19th 2009 8:05PM
Rather than going Holy and getting a bunch of new gear/chants etc, a cheap-arse way to help out with AoE would probably be to have a second disc spec, similar to your first, with a few different glyps - notably the PoH glyph, and the PW:S glyph (if you're not already rolling with it). I wouldn't recommend the Nova glyph though.
What dya reckon?
sloth Apr 19th 2009 11:05PM
So who is making sure everyone is topped up and healing individual damage debuffs on raid memebers before the tantrum? Doesn't one of your raid memebers in range having to be healed through a targetted boss ability screw up the contribution disc can make to raid healing by mass shielding?
Learn to Holy,
Gearing for holy isn't radically different to Disc, unless you are overvaluing haste for holy in 3.1, if you have geared with int over spi it isn't going to be a big hit either as int still rocks. We both love crit and sp and don't like MP5 so I don't see the problem.
Given the nature of raid damage in Ulduar, that is it doesn't often come as one big hit, rather a number of smaller hits, POH is not your one stop shop for raid healing. POH is great hasted but unless you set up the raid for it, and the raid doesn't need to spread out, it isn't often hitting all party members.
Don't forget that CoH is still very nice and was buffed slightly, and PoM is kicking arse with the nature of the raid damage in that it bouces around like crazy. Binding heal sets you up for hasted PoH/Gheal while not having to heal yourself directly. Hell when you add up the healing from renew and empowered renew it too is a significant contributer.
Priests have lots of tools that have become viable in 3.1, Holy priests have more tools, and better tools through their talents for raid healing. If you aren't using them in Ulduar then you are missing the fun. I have never seen such a wide spread on healing done by my healing abilities.
To suggest that Disc with different glyphs is the best off spec option for Disc is ignorant. Take some effort and learn to play 3.1 holy properly before looking elsewhere for your raid healing needs.
Charlie Apr 20th 2009 2:15AM
I know most people play disc because they want to play disc. Asking us to respec holy is like making a warrior tank when he doesn't want to.
If you're willing to do it for your raid then fine, but i know that you still lose alot of benefit. For instance:
Disc gives 6% reduced damage to the whole raid. Thats 7.2% reduced damage from tantrum (1.2x.06=.072). Having a disc priest in the raid almost takes a full effective tick away from tantrum.
Charlie Apr 20th 2009 2:44AM
After re-reading your comment, i'm a bit confused. Mostly by this section
"Don't forget that CoH is still very nice and was buffed slightly, and PoM is kicking arse with the nature of the raid damage in that it bouces around like crazy. Binding heal sets you up for hasted PoH/Gheal while not having to heal yourself directly. Hell when you add up the healing from renew and empowered renew it too is a significant contributer."
Disc still has PoM. (though a slightly longer CD)
PW:S Heals yourself while giving you a hasted (twice as much haste) PoH and gives you mana back.
Renew = FH (Larger initial hit, smaller after tick [aegis])
The biggest thing that sets Disc and Holy apart is Penance vs CoH. CoH is arguablly the best raid heal in the game, but Penance arguably the best single target heal in the game.
Also, your inital questions confused me.
"So who is making sure everyone is topped up and healing individual damage debuffs on raid memebers before the tantrum?"
I'm ussualy doing that as disc . A Shield + Penance + FH will top anyone up. Why wouldnt the disc healer being doing that? Are you confusing raid healing with group healing? (meaning individual raid members taking dmg vs multiple members at the same time taking damage)
Ika Apr 20th 2009 2:56AM
Sloth.. why that kind of attitude? Some players simply love disc tree and want to get used to new role Blizz offered us - better raid healing than before patch. Of course Holy is better on raid. It heals pore points. Disc got the ability of more dmg mitigation than before. Now it works on whole raid and is useful. It's good to have at least one disc priest in the raid. It's all about class differences and what they contribute to the whole.
I didn't choose Holy as a dual-spec either. Why? We've got so good Holy priests that it isn't necessary. Other healing classes heal on raid as well, not having so many aoe tools as Holy and are still useful, so why should we choose Holy when we have so much fun as Disc? ;) It's all about our feelings towards specific tree. You just won't force anyone into a specific role/game style.
If you like Holy, that's great, but that's your choice ;)
sloth Apr 20th 2009 5:15AM
Charlie,
I assume that the OP taking Holy as the duel spec was for raid healing, why wouldn't I, he was talking about saving money on changing roles.
Are you arguing that disc with raid healing glyphs is a better option for raid healing than holy?
Yes disc has alot of the tools that holy has for raid healing and some of their own, but I argued that Holy have better tools because we talent them heavily.
Vern eluded to PoH spam as the advantage of Holy, I was just arguing against that.
"Are you confusing raid healing with group healing? (meaning individual raid members taking dmg vs multiple members at the same time taking damage)"
This was a little confusing, I'll assume your not talking about different raid healing assignments as that would be weird, that you are talking about different types of damage you encounter while raid healing.
I was saying that due to single players taking alot of damage during the fight, you would not be able to spend 12 sec (or whatever) spamming PWS on 8 targets before each tantrum, unless someone else was covering the single target heals.
This would make the PWS spam technique unreliable, would it not?
I love the priest class, I have played it for a long time, I have played all specs in raid situations for a long time, if you really think asking a Disc priest to raid heal as holy now and then is the same as asking a Tank to DPS then you are missing out on a large part of what your class has to offer to the Healing role.
Ulduar is not as easy as raids you would have seen in the past, if you are only ever tank healing then great, no need to think about Holy, but if you have to fill a raid healing role now and then then do your guild a favour and try to have a duel spec best suited to the role.
Of course you don't HAVE to, you don't HAVE to use consumables, you don't HAVE to raid consistently, but if you give 2-cents about what is best for the raid then you would.
I am well aware of the benefits a disc priest brings to a raid, stop assuming everyone is ignorant about Disc just because they don't think it is the spec for all situations.
Jabadabadana Apr 19th 2009 11:11PM
You've known about dual specs coming in for awhile. Is the concept of picking up two sets of gear while you were still in Nax so crazy and alien?
Tanks have been doing it for a long time, and they didn't even change specs. So has anyone else who swaps specs a lot. This doesn't seem like an issue for anyone whose been paying attention.
Besides, Nax and Maly are still sitting there, waiting in the wings for you to do on other days.
Carrie Apr 20th 2009 2:14PM
^^This is close to what I was thinking.
If Holy really does require a completely different style of gear and gems, then just take a few runs through Naxx and pick some gear up.
I knew dual specs was coming and picked up kitty gear for my resto druid every time we ran through. People would chuckle at a tree taking something with AP on it but I'm the one giggling now as I shift into feral spec for Flame Levi and get launched on top of him with teeth and claws bared. =)
obarthelemy Apr 19th 2009 11:18PM
I find that Paladins can heal tanks well enough, so pure Disc is not absolutely required. What's hurting us right now (on Ignis and the Reconstructor, we've downed the other 2) is raid survivability. Since the final levels of Holy don't do much for that, I switched the points over to Disc, in a bid to try and snatch Circle plus interesting Disc goodies:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#bVcbuhhzoZcxxMfMqihb0uh
It's very heavily raid-heal and instant-heals oriented:
- no-CD Shield (no +heal bonus to them, though)
- Circle
- fully tricked-out Renew
- Cheap instant heals
- somewhat weak "classic" heals (Flash and Greater)
We'll see how that works out. What do you think ?
dfsnow Apr 19th 2009 11:42PM
I hope you don't have any disc priests in your raid. Running a spec like that -- where it looks like you're trying to get set up to spam PW:S (since you went deep enough into the tree to get Soul Warding) -- you're going to completely screw them by sticking Weakened Soul debuffs all over the raid.
Charlie Apr 20th 2009 2:17AM
How do you get CoH w/o Divine Providence? It's like getting Soul Warding without Rapture.
Erm...
Madokachan Apr 19th 2009 11:57PM
By the way Rapture is bugged now,
You get mana from more than 1 source if their shield deplete at the same time,
Like in Ignis Furnace...
I tested it myself last raid, if you time it right, (meaning you don't get repture 12 sec prior to Furnace)
and shield like 5-6 persons,
you'll get mana from all of them :)
more trigger happy eh?
hope they'll not fix this too soon :(
Charlie Apr 20th 2009 2:27AM
Has someone confirmed it is bugged? AFAIK its working as intended.
What i read from the tooltip was the 'mana/rage/etc' effect gain to the shielded person can only happen once every twelve seconds. The mana gain to the priest always happens.
I find that in pure tank n' spanks, the mana return is low because of weakened soul debuff. However during high raid damage its high.
Remember that if the shield is not absorbed (or dispelled) you don't gain the mana. Thats ~4500 damage to be done to a target. On tanks thats nothing, but on raids its a bit much
Tridus Apr 20th 2009 5:47AM
@Charlie,
That was not the way it worked on PTR. On there the return to the Priest casting it also had a 12 second cooldown, which made Rapture the worst mana return talent in the game.
The live version is either a bug or a buff. Hopefully its a buff.
sloth Apr 19th 2009 11:53PM
Very bad spec imo, you miss out most of the biggest selling points of both Holy and Disc specs, I'd recommend you choose one then practice practice practice to get the most out ofi it.
If you are looking to raid heal then Holy is the go, personnaly I go with this: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#bVcbuZcxxcfMqih0euVo:0dmMVz
Gothia Apr 20th 2009 3:20AM
Discipline spec'd beyond meditation is pure lose. Silly Priest specing PvP in a Raid do you think you are still in easy mode Naxx. Any raid leader that allows a Disc into the raid is PURE FAIL and should be removed for someone more competent. Matt Low you are a chump and should never be allowed to post your drivel on a supposed site for Raiders.