Spiritual Guidance: Holy and discipline tier 12 set bonuses
by Dawn Moore 
May 9th 2011 at 9:00AM
Information about patch 4.2 has been coming in nonstop this past week, and our favorite dataminers at Wowhead and MMO-Champion have dug up a first look at the class set bonuses for tier 12 gear. As usual, the community has been chatting up a storm since the release, especially the priests. Today I'll be joining that discussion to examine what holy and discipline priests have to look forward to in the next content tier -- or not look forward to, depending on your perspective. Either way, let's take a look.
- Holy/Discipline two-piece Your Flash Heal, Heal, and Greater Heal spells cause you to regenerate 2% of your base mana every 5 seconds for 15 seconds.
- Holy/Discipline four-piece You have a chance when you cast a helpful spell to summon a Cauterizing Flame. Friendly raid and party members can use the Cauterizing Flame to be instantly healed for 4,625 to 5,375. Lasts for 45 sec seconds or 10 charges. After using the Cauterizing Flame, players cannot benefit from it again for 10 seconds.
Please keep in mind that these are not officially from Blizzard and can change at any time.
If you follow my column at all, you may remember that during Cataclysm alpha and beta testing, I frequently quoted The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by saying, "Don't panic!" At the time, it was easy to worry about our class when we were working with so little information. I want to say that again today, because I think it's appropriate to the situation.
So, again ... Don't panic. Patch 4.2 hasn't really been tested on the public test realm yet, and none of the available premade characters are equipped with tier 12 gear to see how anything will work. All we can do right now is speculate off limited information.
Two-piece bonus
So to quickly explain the bonus (in case you're suffering the aftereffects of some heavy Mother's Day cake and ice cream binging), you'll get 6% of our base mana over 15 seconds (2% over 3 ticks), provided you cast a Flash Heal, Heal, or Greater Heal every 15 seconds. Overall, I like this set bonus. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask priests to cast any of those spells once per 15 seconds. It's particularly strong in 10-man healing, but as my priestly cohort Kinaesthesia points out, even 25-man raid healing holy priests should be using Flash Heal frequently to take advantage of Serendipity. So overall, I think the activation is fine on this.
I am interested to see how the uptime management will work, since the developers often approach each one a little differently. Will the mana return auto-refresh if you cast another trigger spell when you have the buff up already? If so, will that interfere with the timer on the mana return mechanic, or will it just allow you 100% uptime? Will it work like Rapture, where we have to be sure to activate it as soon as it ticks off or else the trigger spell does nothing? As soon as I know, I'll let you know, but keep your fingers crossed for something good.
After that, I want to draw your attention to the words "base mana." This is the amount of mana you have before gear, talents, buffs, or base intellect. So unlike Rapture, Shadowfiend, and Hymn of Hope, this mana return mechanic on the two-piece bonus will not be affected by the amount of intellect your character has -- just something to keep in mind. At level 85, base mana is 20,590 for priests, so this set bonus will give you 412 MP5, or 1,235 mana for the whole duration. Tyrande's Favorite Doll, for some measure of comparison, returns 350 MP5 if you're using it on cooldown.
Some people have pointed out the current tier 11 four-piece bonus can return more mana than the tier 12 two-piece bonus, but aside from the fact you're comparing a two-piece to a four-piecebonus, the amount of mana returned by tier 11 really does vary per spec. Holy priests got a far better deal out of the four-piece tier 11 bonus than disc, with effortless 100% uptime on the mana return mechanic. Discipline, on the other hand, has to be glyphed for Penance and use a spell (that costs mana) on cooldown to get 100% uptime. Just comparing the two, I'd expect disc priests to swap to tier 12 two-piece as quickly as possible, while holy priests carefully weigh the options to see how much they're losing just because of how well the tier 11 four-piece bonus works for them.
Four-piece bonus
Much of the reason I gave you a little speech about not panicking earlier has to do with this four-piece bonus, because at surface level it looks like the developers are giving us a second Lightwell. It's a fiery, proccing, instant-healing (as opposed to HoT-healing) Lightwell, but still a Lightwell. Or is it?
Anyone who has played WoW at level cap knows about the baggage surrounding Lightwell. I've highlighted all the complaints, strengths, and then some in various posts over my time at WoW Insider, and no matter how good our raids get at using it or how much it gets buffed, people still hate it. They hate it because it takes control away from the caster in a way that other classes don't have to deal with, or because of how much practice and reinforcement it requires to be used. Some just hate it because it's inconvenient in comparison to everything else, and honestly, I wouldn't disagree with that even if I do love Lightwell.
So when it looks like Blizzard is giving us a second Lightwell, I understand the contention -- I just hope that everyone will stop and recognize that we really honestly don't know how this thing works yet. We know how Lightwell looks, and yes, this does look like a Lightwell, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is a Lightwell. Let me point out a few things.
- We don't know if the heal is affected by spellpower. It probably won't be, since it has charges, but I do agree with critics that the base healing is very low. If the healing is effected by spellpower, then it will make up for the problem that other players have to actively choose to use it.
- We don't know if you can have more than one Cauterizing Flame up at once. We also don't know if it will be stationary or if it will increase or decrease in size. This is important because if you can have multiple Cauterizing Flames up, it will increase the available healing your party can get from it and increase its accessibility to the raid. If it crawls or grows in size, it will be even better. Just imagine if Lightwell chased after low-health people like Doomfire chases after scrubby raiders.
- We don't know how the use mechanic will work or the range you have to be in to use it. Just because Blizzard won't give us an Argent Lightwell in our talent tree doesn't mean it won't give us something like it as a set bonus. Imagine if all you have to do to use the Cauterizing Flame is stand next to it or in it. Alternatively, maybe Cauterizing Flame will be able to be used in a macro so players can use it like a Healthstone if they're within range. The main reason the developers puts so many limitations on Lightwell is because of how powerful they want the spell to be when players take initiative to use it. For something as fleeting as a set bonus, they might be open to alternative ways to use this. Hell, if we're lucky, in a few months we'll be screaming, "Why can't Lightwell work like Cauterizing Flame?!"
Shadow two-piece bonus
- Shadow two-piece Your Shadowfiend deals 20% additional damage as fire damage and its cooldown is reduced by 75 seconds.
Though you might end up having to reforge, the two-piece bonus shadow priests are getting is pretty tasty-looking for healing priests. Combined with Veiled Shadows, you can get a Shadowfiend every 2 minutes and 45 seconds. That's quite a bit of mana return.
Of course, before you get excited, the boys (and girls) over at Elitist Jerks point out that the extra Shadowfiend might not account for much more than Veiled Shadows already does, depending on the duration of the fights and when you decide to use it. Only in longer-duration fights does it look like you're really going to get extra Shadowfiends, and you need to use your cooldown early and on cooldown for that. More food for thought!
Wait and see
So that's that. I know I didn't quite bash the bonuses to a satisfactory level, if that's what you were looking for; I'll have a more concrete opinion after I can see the bonus in action on PTR. Until then, I've read some really thoughtful opinions (both positive and negative) around the priest-o-sphere in forums and blogs. Check them out.
- Initial thoughts on the T12 set bonus from The Stories of O
- T12 set bonuses, Random thoughts from Jinxed Thoughts
- T12 set bonus discussion from PlusHeal.com (contributions from several respected priests)
Also, as I said, there is some good discussion on Elitist Jerks, in the most recent posts of the holy and discipline threads.
Spiritual Guidance has the inside line on pre-raid gear, valor point and raid gear, and healing strategies for bosses such as Atramedes and Chimaeron. Newcomer to the priest class? Look into Discipline Priest 101 and Holy Priest 101.
Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tinwhisker May 9th 2011 9:18AM
Secondary is the graphical worry. In the FIRELANDS, how exactly are you supposed to find and click on the proc'd FLAME PILLAR during a raid encounter? Green fire maybe? =P
Nadia May 9th 2011 9:22AM
Maybe it'll look like Holy Fire?
Cigan May 9th 2011 9:23AM
My hope with the cauterizing flame is that they start to experiment with some of the requested changes to lightwell that the community has been asking for in an ability that couldn't potentially completely imbalance the healing game. My suspicion and hope is that part of why they haven't made some of the requested changes to lightwell isn't that they don't want the spell to work that way, it's that in order for lightwell to heal enough to be worth the talent point, dramatic changes to it have the potential to tip the balance too much. This gives them a safer playground to experiment with auto applying lightwell charges and, allowing macros etc. So we'll see. If it really is just a lightwell like dynamic at these sorts of healing levels then I'm out. If it scales enough to be worth taking the time to click on it, then it will be broken beyond imagination in groups that are competent, and just as useless in groups that aren't.
Revnah May 9th 2011 10:47AM
Actually, since the changes in the last (second last) patch, I think Lightwell is fantastic. It's between 3rd and 5th on my list of how much (in percentage of my overall healing) each spell has healed. I use it on every cooldown and my guild love it :-)
(and I love my guild for using it!)
Heather May 9th 2011 10:54AM
The best response re: T12 4 piece bonus was from a Dwarf Priest on the WoW Forums:
"So my "style of healing" is going to be randomly proccing a red fire that people are supposed to find and click for a weaker Lightwell effect, on a red background, in a red zone, while fighting red bosses shooting red fire, surrounded by players in red armor?
"Hooray, it's "Hide the Lightwell: Red Edition!""
That about sums up my feelings on the subject.
adamncsu May 9th 2011 1:27PM
too many assumptions made. how about you refrain judgement until you know how it will look and how it will function?
Heather May 9th 2011 1:27PM
@adamncsu: Track record, buddy. If you don't start bitching well in advance, it takes months for stupid things to get fixed. Sometimes, they don't get fixed at all.
I'm withholding most judgment until I actually see how it works, but on the surface it honestly sounds retarded as hell. We already have a ridiculous time getting DPS to use the Lightwell - to the point that we're literally yelling at people over Vent "CLICK THE FUCKING LIGHTWELL." And our 4pc bonus is gonna be...another Lightwell? Really?
-_-
sharlatan May 9th 2011 11:25AM
Anyone actually think Biz will let holy/disc use the shadow 2P? anyone? nope thought not, its going to get changed to make it impossible so lets ditch that right now as a silly idea.
The 4P is great, its free heals, yeah it requires raid awareness and competent fellow raiders, but if you are raiding with people who cant be arsed or are incapable of clicking an object which may keep them alive and does nothing bad (off gcd, does not interrupt casting, can be clicked stunned), then its time to ditch the scrubs and get a decent raid team.
Fox Van Allen May 9th 2011 11:25AM
too late; already panicked
Dawn Moore May 9th 2011 11:26AM
What do you have to worry about Van Allen? o-o
Vael May 9th 2011 12:22PM
That they'll realize how awesome Shadow 4P is, and nerf the heck outta it!
For reference, since it wasn't here:
Shadow 4 Pieces - While you have Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch active on the same target you gain Dark Flames, which reduces the cooldown of Mind Blast by 3 sec.
Keep in mind, folks, that this is all PTR data, and therefore: subject to massive, game-breaking, Fox-saddening changes. :-p
Fox Van Allen May 9th 2011 12:39PM
"What do you have to worry about Van Allen? o-o"
I left home without my hair glue and I worry my hair is not as awesome as it should be D:
"That they'll realize how awesome Shadow 4P is, and nerf the heck outta it!"
Actually, I don't think the 4pc shadow bonus is all that great. I mean, it sounds good, but the deeper you dig into its consequences, the more it loses its luster. I'll outline all the reasons why on Wednesday.
The 2pc bonus rocks, though. It rocks so hard.
StormDance May 9th 2011 1:34PM
@Vael
yeah I saw the Shadow 4pc and was like "OMG massive damage!" too,
then I thought about how fast that it would OOM me and I sad faced :(
Thestreal May 9th 2011 11:28PM
Keep in mind, as the gear gets better our mana pools increase.
Darian May 9th 2011 1:04PM
I don't like the fact that lightwell is only healing spell (minus healthstone) that requires players to use to be effective. Lightwell is a nice gimmick for some fights and I don't want it gone, but I don't want ANOTHER one.
zarmy May 9th 2011 1:55PM
"Also, as other healing classes have pointed out, even if this set bonus is the worst thing in the world, it's a lot more interesting than anything they're getting."
I'd rather have something that is not flashy and is functional than the most flashiest 4 piece ever and is worthless. Not everything requires rainbows and unicorns to make it good, we're not paladins.
Simply put, if click heals are so amazing that blizzard wants to give us more, why are no other healers forced to deal with this annoyance? The other healing classes would be less likely to try and argue for the firewells if they knew what a pain it was to get people to use them. This 4 piece is also the only 4 piece, ever, that actively requires other people to make it work. In situations, this could be the only 4 piece ever to never have a use if other people are not willing or able to use the firewells. Essentially it has the potential of having zero impact on our healing.
Herman May 9th 2011 4:02PM
people have this love affair with lightwell, but when i'm in a raid, I try to use it, but even as dps, when i'm at 70% or so, i click it, it starts ticking, and then some other healer snipes the heal, and it just over heals me. i don't understand why healers do this, even the default raid frames have incoming heals displayed now, so they shouldn't be doing it, but it keeps happening. then when i could most use a lightwell, there isn't one around.
BB Crisp May 9th 2011 4:16PM
Most of my apprehension about this 4-piece bonus revolves around the idea that other raid members will have to click on the thing for it to any good and I'll have little control over placement. Based on its current description, that's precisely the case.
But you're right, it makes little sense to bash the concept at the moment. It's too early in development. I just hope that somehow we end up getting a smart heal or smart heal enhancement like the other healing classes are getting.
Lipstick May 10th 2011 1:53AM
I'm not jazzed about it -- but then, I only have the 2pc atm because I was relatively slow this xpac after being a hm raider in wrath I took time off. My RL is just more important to me this time around than raiding -- so odds are good I probably wont get it, and by the time I do -- it will already have the bugs worked out.
I can hope right?
Wyred May 10th 2011 9:22AM
"The main reason the developers puts so many limitations on Lightwell is because of how powerful they want the spell to be when players take initiative to use it."
This is backwards. They buffed the spell to be incredibly powerful because no player would spec it or use it, and after all those buffs they still had to remove some limitations because people still wouldn't use it. And rightly so. I refuse to click the stupid goddamn lightwell no matter how many stupid yell macros holy priests add to it, because it's a stupid spell. Condolences on your 4pc, Blizz just won't leave this dead horse alone.