"Comfortable" Amount of Spirit (Holy Healing)

[Thameos 0]

Greetings, fellow priest community! I am raiding for my first tier as a healer and have a few questions regarding secondary stats.

First, I would like to address the title's question which is my primary and foremost issue. Constantly I see spirit regarded as the main secondary stat (which I understand that entirely), but the amount of it perplexes me a bit. Generally it is based around the playing style of the priest which determines the value from what I understand. Following the "rotation" of the holy priest guide located on this website and a fair amount of other reliable sites, I feel a bit pressed for mana and I'm wondering whether it's a user-based fault or if I just need a spirit flask and meta as well as the food buff perhaps. Currently I have no meta gem, as it would be a waste to get one until I know for sure (not the richest player by far).

To an idea of my where my gear is at, my item level is 372. I am mostly gemmed as well as enchanted with all but the sha-crystal requiring ones (as 10k for me is a lot to throw out for something, so it's hard to spend that much on an item that will be replaced within a few weeks). By mostly gemmed, I mean all but the meta (which can make a significant difference) as well aa few others due to pieces literally obtained last night in LFR. My spirit is at 7,300, I have 20,365 spellpower, and 12,029 intel (self-buffed).

For my rotation, reference mainly the guide here at icy-veins for that, I use that general playstyle with minimal variation. The main mana-concerning talents I use are mindbender (sometimes PW: solace for fights with downtime or gaps in damage), power infusion, and cascade (halo if my group is stacked when I need the burst healing). With mindbender, I am using at 80% mana and on CD for the rest of the fight unless for some odd reason I'm higher than 90% and regenerating quickly due to mechanics or downtime perhaps. When desperate for mana, I'll ask other healers for their raid-wide mana CDs or use the HoH (hymn of hope) + Mindbender/fiend combo.

In comparison to other healers, I'm usually near the top in the healing charts (probably due to some people not paying attention or not knowing their spec). This can vary depending on the gear of theirs in comparison to mine, healing assignments, or possibly experience. I don't see myself overhealing very much (10-15% generally) but the minimal amount that is there is mainly from echo of light mastery and cascade depending on when it's used.

Let me know if you need me to put up an armory link or something else to add on to the post for whatever reason. Also, I can clarify if desired. Thanks for your time, I hope to learn from the community!

[Stasis 36]

It refers to the amount of spirit an individual requires to be able to perform their healing 'rotation' without being mana-starved.

Some healers can get by with comparatively less spirit, simply due to always choosing the correct spell for the situation; or healing a raid that's better at avoiding damage, or with high raid DPS; or is part of an awesome healing team, etc.

If you're able to get through an encounter without ever thinking, "omg I need to heal but don't have the mana", then you likely have sufficient spirit. If you get though with mana to spare, you may want to reforge/gem some of it into another stat. If you're struggling with mana, then you haven't reached a 'comfortable' level.

And spirit also interacts with haste, the faster you cast, the more mana you burn. And vice versa.

I would recommend stacking spirit until you reach that before mentioned 'comfortable' level. The drawback to spirit stacking is slightly less effective healing (less mastery/haste/crit). BUT if you're able to keep people alive (without stressing the other healers) then you're still good to go. As you continue to improve your gear, you'll naturally get those power stats, and be naturally better able to heal the higher demand encounters.

TL;DR:

Stack spirit until you're no longer feeling stressed about mana. Once that stress is gone, you can look to fine-tune your choice of healing spells, etc, and gradually lower your spirit again.

10k+ spirit isn't an unreasonable level to aim for. Personally I'd reforge/gem everything into spirit at your ilv (and yeah the meta too), and continue doing so until you reach that 'comfortable' level.

[Additional reading]

Edited November 15, 2012 by Stasis

[Thameos 0]

thanks for the reply! My main problem is because i'm new as a healer, it's sometimes is hard to tell whether it's my spirit or me playing incorrectly. The numbers such as "10k" helps especially

[Peelyon 416]

I'm running on around 8.5k (with no buffs at all) and find mana is fairly manageable. I'm currently 2 healing most encounters as well and still not really finding the strain. Power Word: Solace is a real help for mana for most of the fights at the moment and I personally prefer it over Mindbender. The more you learn the fights, the more you can prepare to spam PW:Solace. Even on fights like Stone Guard or Spirit Kings that require a fair amount of movement I am still sticking with PW:Solace as damage is fairly predictable. I sometimes hit 10-15k dps on Feng with the damage being so periodic and ensure I always go into the last phase with full mana and shadowfiend still available.

I'm also running with Power Infusion and Cascade so probably not too much difference.

As Stasis says timings and choice of spells make a huge difference, but being a new healer I would prefer to have more spirit than less. I would use a Spirit flask and go for Revitalizing Primal Diamond for now as well.

Hope that helps!