Spiritual Guidance: A first look at tier 13 set bonuses for holy and discipline priests
by Dawn Moore 
Sep 26th 2011 at 5:00PM
Over the weekend, Blizzard released a preview of tier 13 set bonuses, which for priests means despite not having any idea what priest tier 13 is going to look like at the moment, we now at least know what it does. Exciting, huh? So as you can expect we're going to take a look at the two-piece and four-piece bonuses today and give the lot of it a little analysis for discipline and holy priests. Let's have a look, shall we?
- Two-piece After using Power Infusion or Lightwell, the mana cost of your healing spells is reduced by 25% for [10|15] seconds (10 seconds for discipline, 15 for non-discipline).
- Four-piece Your Power Word: Shield has a 10% chance to absorb 100% additional damage, and the cooldown of your Holy Word abilities is reduced by 20%.
A look at the two-piece set bonus
Following the trend of tier 11 and 12, the latest healing priest tier shares at least one set bonus that is similar in design to the bonuses belonging to the other three healers. This time, all four healers are looking to get a 10- to 15-second buff whenever they cast a particular ability. For the duration of the buff, all spells cast by the healer will have their mana costs reduced by 25%. The duration of the buff depends on the cooldown of whatever the trigger ability is, which for discipline priests is Power Infusion and for holy priests is Lightwell. Since Power Infusion has a 2-minute cooldown, their buff will last for 10 seconds, while holy priests will get a 15-second buff for the 3-minute cooldown of Lightwell.
Right now, I can't say I have any complaints about the healing priest two-piece bonus -- or at least, not one that I don't think any other healing class wouldn't have. Usually I climb on a soap box if one set bonus seems a little better than another, but in this case, I don't think any particular healing class has a slightly better version of the set bonus. I'd say they all suffer from the same shortcoming.
What's the shortcoming? You're put into a situation where you have to choose between using your cooldown abilities when it's most appropriate in the fight to or using your abilities as soon as you can to maximize the uptime of the mana cost reduction buff.
Overall, I don't think that's actually a terribly compromising decision for healers to make, but it is a decision to make all the same. Personally, I like that we're left to choose, since healing is largely a game of decision making anyway. (If you don't like making decisions, you're playing the wrong role, I'd say!) Choosing between optimization of strategy and optimization of mana will definitely vary from fight to fight. Honestly, I think this two-piece bonus will make things interesting, since how much mana you have or need can often affect your strategy.
Looking at it from a priest's perspective one more time, though, I foresee a bit of angst from some holy priests who don't like taking or using Lightwell to use their two-piece. Being a biased lover of Lightwell, I can't say I sympathize terribly with their plight, but I'll tip my hat in their general direction.
Focusing on four-piece bonus
The four-piece bonus is where things start to go all SNAFU on us. It's not that bad, mind you, but I'd definitely say there are some four-piece bonuses that are better than others. Not wanting to complain too much, let's just look at ours.
To put things simply, the four-piece set bonuses increase healing priest output situationally. For discipline priests, we'll have a 10% chance whenever we cast Power Word: Shield for that shield to absorb for double the original value. 10% isn't high, but 100% more is so ... not too bad. For holy, things aren't quite as messy with proc rates; instead, holy priests just receive a flat 20% cooldown reduction to all their Holy Word abilities, which is ... good? Well, let me explain what I said earlier about this being situational.
Unless tier 13 encounter design is going to vary drastically from the previous tiers for healers, both holy priests and disc priests don't stand to reap much from their four-piece bonuses on every fight. There is a chance to get some use from them on every fight, yes, but some styles of healing are going to be better suited than other for getting a lot for the bonuses. Holy tank healers are going to get a lot more out of a 3-second reduction of Holy Word: Serenity than holy raid healers are going to get from a 8-second reduction to Holy Word: Sanctuary. Why? Because when you're tank healing, you're cycling in Holy Word: Serenity constantly. Raid healing doesn't require the same of Holy Word: Sanctuary, however, and since I only use that ability in very specific situations, the 20% reduction to the cooldown doesn't mean much to me.
On the plus side, if you're willing to disregard resilience gear, holy priest PVP will be a lot more interesting with a 24-second cooldown on Holy Word: Chastise. Post-raid Battlegrounds, anyone?
Discipline priests are in a better situation (as usual, sadly) with Power Word: Shield always being used, regardless of healing style. That said, a playstyle that involves more usage of Power Word: Shield (read: not one where you're just maintaining two shields on the tank and the off tank) will yield more output because there will be more opportunities to proc the additional absorption bonus. That means depending on the situation you may have more opportunities to increase your output than others.
Now, I'll be the first to admit I find the four-piece bonus for holy a bit uninspired, but I have to remind myself that 1.) set bonuses aren't supposed to be game-breaking, and 2.) we've still got a really cool two-piece bonus. I guess it really will depend on encounter design for now. It's possible that there will be a huge demand for Holy Word: Sanctuary or Holy Word: Serenity that I don't know about yet -- hell, maybe Blizzard plans to have us use Holy Word: Chastise in raids for a change. That could be interesting. We'll just have to wait and see.
Alliteration-free conclusion
So there you have it. Hopefully, we'll get to see what our gear looks like later this week. In the interim, you should be excited for the continuation of my stat weight series next week. I didn't see too many questions in my last article about holy stat weights, so be sure to send them to me before the end of the week. Also, be sure to share your own thoughts on the tier 13 set bonuses, if you have any.
By the way, is it just me, or do mages always get their gear previews really early in comparison to everyone else? The developer who works on mages must really be on top of things or something. I wish the priest developers were like him. I mean, they can take all the time they need, but this anticipation is killing me.
Spiritual Guidance has the inside line on pre-raid, valor point and raid gear for patch 4.2, as well as priest healing guides for the early and final bosses of The Firelands. Newcomer to the priest class? Look into leveling a healing priest, plus our guides to Discipline Priest 101 and Holy Priest 101.
Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tom Sep 26th 2011 5:15PM
"... but I have to remind myself that 1.) set bonuses aren't supposed to be game-breaking, and 2.) we've still got a really cool two-piece bonus."
Also, 3.) set bonuses are very likely to change between now and release.
LynMars Sep 26th 2011 5:59PM
Yeah, looking at some of the other class bonuses, there's no little to no way these are all staying the same. I'll wait until they're actually on the live server vendors before making my judgment.
Matrillik Sep 26th 2011 6:21PM
I pray to Elune that you're right.
Kylenne Sep 26th 2011 5:16PM
If it makes you feel any better, I'd gladly exchange them taking longer to show Mage T13 if it meant I didn't have to cosplay a gnome.
Also: I love Lightwell. Lightwell keeps me alive.
Matrillik Sep 26th 2011 5:31PM
I feel like the 2 set for disc is worded very badly. Power Infusion already gives a 20% reduced mana cost for 15s (which you obviously already know, being a power-infusion-as-a-mana-cooldown enthusiast). I'm assuming this means that this buff will stack with that, but will the stack be multiplicative (40%) or additive (45% reduction)? Now that I just calculated that, it seems inconsequential actually. I guess that's pretty cool for shield spamming with a short gcd and almost half the mana cost, or an emergency button for flash heal spam.
On the other hand, there's the lightwell 2set bonus. Seems very counter intuitive to me. Now, I love lightwell, and know how awesome it is for many many boss encounters, but using it as a cooldown just completely interferes with the utility of the spell. Many times, lightwell is placed before the encounter starts, (usually by the melee, a group of casters or where some people will be running/stacking) which helps when you need to place the lightwell somewhere else for a different phase of the fight (nef and rag fights especially). Using lightwell like this is going to completely nullify the 2set for the beginning of the fight. Or if you're trying to use the lightwell as a cooldown, you're probably in a situation where the shit is hitting the fan (flash heals) and you're probably not thinking about the best placement of lightwell and thus, wasting it.
The 4sets don't really seem that powerful (unless you're a heavy shielder). Holy word is really only good if you stay in serenity-chakra, which is not very common for holy priests to do. I'm not saying that it's not used, just that most fights call for serenity chakra because priests are known for heavy aoe output.
The resto shaman 4set is super OP. You are correct. Sure, everybody would like to be able to cast on the move with bloodlust for 20 seconds.
Also of note: The shadow priest set bonuses are re-friggin-diculous. Eat your heart out, Fox. (It actually seems like a lot of dps set bonuses are absurdly powerful)
Matrillik Sep 26th 2011 5:34PM
I would also like to mention that I finally started some holy PVP now that I'm almost full Ruthless and not afraid of dying anymore, and I have to say Holy Word: Chastise is incredibly underwhelming. Like more underwhelming than sanctuary, if that's possible, I don't know what you see in the little guy. Although, chakra stance dancing is pretty interesting in the heat of a battle.
sporkwind Sep 26th 2011 6:05PM
Yep that's the same thing I don't like about 2-Piece is our Holy Priest usually pops a lightwell at the start of the fight and then occasionally when it runs low another one goes down. It's not a mana regeneration cooldown like my druid's innervate is.
That's the only thing I think that is decent about the cooldown for my resto druid. I'm popping innervate when I want to get mana back...and now you're giving me a 25% healing discount as well as the mana. Well good googly goo that is synergistic.
Holy Priests' Lightwell triggering the 25% mana discount...not so synergistic...and kinda unrelated.
That's just my take on it though.
matthias2479 Sep 26th 2011 5:35PM
As a resto shaman that also has a wife that priest heals (holy), we were both pretty meh about our Tier bonuses. Sure they might work great, but I would like to see something that more actively changes play style.
WolfC Sep 26th 2011 5:40PM
My problem with the 2P bonus is that I cast lightwell before battle even begins. The way this bonus works forces me to drop it at non-optimal times and turns it into something it really was not intended for. I am all for making tough decisions but this is one I will not make. I drop lightwell for a variety of reasons and none of them is how to save mana. What if I drop the lightwell knowing that it will be used in a certain stack spot but that AOE damage will not happen for another 30sec? That mana savings is wasted because lightwell is a pre-empitve spell (yes it can be reactive but not everyone knows when I'm casting LW). U have to be smart and knowledgeable in battle on where and when it is most effective because it's heals are OP. Using it to save mana is counter to what I believe the developers originally intended it for .
Now for the 4P. Its is plain terrible for us Non-disc priests...(didn't know holy was renamed until now). The Deathwing encounter alone looks highly mobile. How many times will I really need sanc when it heals are pretty bad and u just have to move away from it to get no benefits. I choose PoH/CoH 9times out of 10. From the Disc perspective our 4P could be very good but I want to see it in action before I really comment on it. Tank healers will see the most benefits from it because they generally have bubbles fully absorbed.
Like you said we do not need anything game breaking but this is the LAST tier of the expansion. The MAIN problem I have with these bonuses I think you neglected, is suppose to be something people really want to have. I really do not want this. t12 was awesome because we got to summon a little pet. This has no creativity behind it. This is not epic, this is not something I really want to play for and try to achieve. Blizzard can come up up with so much better than this. I feel and hope that these are just place holders for our real bonuses in development based on whatever our t13 will look like. For real, does anyone feel epic lowering our mana costs and lowering CDs? So underwhelming.
I actually feel like I will have more benefit from our t12 2P mana regen, and the 5-6% increase SMART heals from the 4P and t13 is not something I will really shoot for. The day I have to give up my cauterizing flame for a reduced CD I most likely will not use is probably the day I loose my will to play.
Sorry for the long post... Blizz can do epic things, this is not even close to fun.
Erebos Sep 26th 2011 7:48PM
"Non-disc priests...(didn't know holy was renamed until now)"
I LOVE this. Seems to support the notion that holy is the red-headed stepchild of priest specs this expansion. I think I'll start referring to my poor, unloved, under-appreciated MAIN spec this way.
I agree with you on everything else, too. Especially tying the 2P to Lightwell. Because, oh yeah, my mana's low/there's a lot of incoming raid damage, lemme just drop this Lightwell that no one will even realize I'm dropping and therefore won't use, thus wasting a GCD.
Not only that, but Lightwell isn't something I save for certain situations. When the CD is up (and I notice that it isn't there anymore :P), Lightwell goes out. Yeah, we'll still get the benefit of the reduced mana costs, but who cares if I can't -choose- when I want them.
And the 4P? WOW. Brb, rolling a resto druid.
But seriously, this had better be a placeholder, because this is the most disappointing set bonus I've seen (for us non-discos, anyway). I never use HW: Sanctuary because of the disgustingly low amount of healing it does (except when I'm raiding BWD/BoT/Throne, and -maybe- once in a while on Occu'thar), so that's useless to me. And, being holy and thus generally assigned (usually of my own accord) to raid healing, I'm never in Chakra: Serenity, so the reduced CD on the HW is also useless. And since anyone in their right mind wouldn't assign a hol--excuse me, non-discipline--priest to tank healing, at least not where they stand now, I think it'll go wasted for a lot of priests.
On the other hand, the discipline 4P? I have a disc OS (because, you know, I like healing on my priest, and I can't do it as non-discipline, right?) that would love this. The only problem I foresee is not knowing when to expect it (that DPS you just shielded who almost immediately afterward stopped taking damage? DOUBLE THE SHIELD!), but that's the nature of it and I'll take that over nothing.
Yams Sep 26th 2011 5:42PM
The biggest issue I have with the two set for Holy is that most of us use Lightwell pre-pull. A regen proc before the fight has even started is a waste and I don't really like the idea of altering that bit of playstyle.
As for the four set... it's really rather pointless for Holy. My only hope is that maybe this means they're doing away with the Tome of Light talent and giving us something new in it's place. Holy-only Divine Hymn talent maybe?
Artemisian Sep 26th 2011 5:53PM
As a disc mastery-stacking shielder, I'm quite looking forward to my four-piece. PW:S is usually my biggest heal in a non-AOE fight (looking at you Majordomo), so a buff to that is quite appreciated.
The two-piece is ... meh. 90% of the time my Power Infusion goes to our arcane mage anyway, as I don't really need it most times. If I still get the reduction when I do that, it might be nice ... I save mana on the long haul, I guess.
The Lightwell thing for holy really is retarded; I always pre-Lightwell, it makes zero sense to pop it during the fight. Can you imagine if they had it to proc whenever someone clicked the Lightwell ... madly OP!
Erebos Sep 26th 2011 8:00PM
You've pointed out something that only just struck me when I read this article: what if I give PI to someone else?
It seems that they set the mana reduction buff to 10 seconds to account for the 20% casting speed from PI, but most of the time I don't use it on myself anyway. I feel like this is going to cause a lot of discos to reconsider that. I know I will. Even if I don't need the casting bonus or mana cost reduction from PI, if I'm getting extra from my 2P but I can get more if I'm casting faster, then I'm all over it.
rayden54 Sep 26th 2011 6:14PM
I would say that the priest that doesn't use/rely on Lightwell a lot actually has the advantage. To them, Lightwell just becomes an extra mana-effeciency cooldown and nothing else changes. It's the ones that already use Lightwell that have a decision to make.
paulmewis Sep 26th 2011 6:00PM
They're saving the best til last.
Mitch_b_666 Sep 26th 2011 6:37PM
I'm hoping that's true, and not just that they've not finished it yet. I wasnt really a big fan of our T11 sink shoulders, or our T12 toilet bowl head. It made my gnome feel like an all-in-one-bathroom.
paulmewis Sep 27th 2011 8:42PM
They're up.... and they are GORGEOUS
The Lesser Evil Sep 26th 2011 6:15PM
I'm curious to see if we'll get a change to Power Infusion/Lightwell in 4.3. Right now, the Lightwell bonus just seems unfair, considering it's something that Holy Priests cast pre-fight generally, and it costs a load more mana than Power Infusion does. I'm also confused about how the mana reduction will stack with the one already gotten from Power Infusion...
What I would have liked to see from the tier bonus for Holy would be something that turns either Divine Hymn into something worth casting without a HPS loss or something akin to the tanking set bonuses that turns Guardian Spirit into a raid cooldown as well.
bill Sep 26th 2011 6:16PM
Those bonuses are plain terrible and are among the worst ever seen in WOW. It's time to call for Blizzard to fire the priest developer or whoever is responsible for this ongoing joke. This ?? After the no spirit cloth fiasco in the Firelands ? You got to be kidding.
Holy T13 2P requires you to spend 6100 mana to be later saving 25% on heals casted in the next 15s.
This is pretty much a zero sum case. That bonus will allow you to save 6-7k mana... and here we go full 360. You'll get reimbursed the mana cost of the lightwell you used to get the bonus in a first place.
T13 4P is unusable for holy. Sanctuary is not worth casting because of its excessive mana cost and low efficiency. 20% shorter on something I don't cast = nothing.
Some devs are stuck in dismissal mode and holy priests keep getting sit for raid. Again, someone is being unprofessional at Blizzard and should be fired ASAP.
vocenoctum Sep 26th 2011 6:22PM
What about having the mana gain tied into a different cooldown, like Guardian Spirit? I can't see Lightwell working out for it's intended use...