Discipline Priest 6.2

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Discipline Priest guide.

[Guest Schäfer]

Hi there,

 

I am enjoying your guide on the Discipline Priest.

 

While reading on suggested AddOns, you do not mention "Decursive", which to me is an invaluable tool, togeher with "Grid" for Raiding. For ElvUI it is recommended to use "Clique", which provides all the @mouseover features, with configurable mousekeys, extra mouse buttons, etc - to simply right click or middle click over the grid, to cast spells on that target - if the mouse is not hovering a raid unit frame, it will cast the spell on the default (self or MT).

 

You have any comments to these, or why you don't use them?

 

/Schäfer @ Runetotem

[Guest Demmuda Wyrmrest]

Today I tried to download "ElvUI" and my Malware detection exploded. The download left me with over thirty detected threats. I thought maybe I had gone to the wrong site but then found this at the battlenet forums:

 

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/14880818840

 

Please think twice before loading this program onto your computer.

[Damien 1,514]

The battle.net link doesn't work. It probably got removed, because it was non-sensical. The only thing you download from ElvUI is a zip file containing a number of text files organized in directories. These text files are just LUA code that will be executed by your WoW client and the LUA interpreter in WoW is extremely restrictive in what it allows addons to do.

In short the problem lies with your malware detection software, not with ElvUI.

[Brewmonksta 157]

The link appears to work now.

 

The discussion has seem to come to the conclusion that an addon ontop of elvui called shadow and light has a "backdoor" and the standard elvui pack has no such problem.

 

Im still going to use elvui and have never had a malware issue with it over the years of my usage.

[Berdine 1]

Can someone explain to me why dysmorphic samophlange is still a BiS trinket with the drop of 6.0.3?  i am not sure I understand.  Mana isn't an issue, so the spirit proc is pretty useless.  So you are pretty much just getting a straight int buff.  it seems to me that there would be a better trinket now for disc priests and holy priests.  pretty much all healers.  am I wrong?

 

Berdine

[Vlad 411]

Can someone explain to me why dysmorphic samophlange is still a BiS trinket with the drop of 6.0.3?  i am not sure I understand.  Mana isn't an issue, so the spirit proc is pretty useless.  So you are pretty much just getting a straight int buff.  it seems to me that there would be a better trinket now for disc priests and holy priests.  pretty much all healers.  am I wrong?

 

Berdine

Thanks for pointing it out. Black of Blood Y'Shaarj, for instance, is much better. I'm fixing the guide now.

[Shamphoo 1]

A nice guildy is now outhealing a lot of our healers just spamming PW:S and Holy Nova..
It's redicilous (believe me, he isn't the talented player).

[Storm 426]

I've done upwards of 20k hps on a 563 disc priest doing nothing but spamming holy nova on GCD. healing breakdown at the end was something like 65% holy nova, 33% divine aegis (from holy nova crits), and 2% a couple other things that I cast 1-2 times.

 

But that won't hold up at level 100. Holy nova isn't nearly as mana efficient at level 100, and the healing of other spells is much stronger compared to it. Holy nova may remain a decent filler spell for aoe healing situations, but it won't be a GCD spam like it is right now. 

[Guest Guest]

Thanks for the update. There's probably a typo I would like to mention. In stat priority there's written "haste" as 2nd important stat, which I assume the writer probably meant "spirit".

[Guest Zerael]

Wait, I don't really get it, in stat priority haste is second prefered stat, but in the explanation you've written that it's low priority?

[Gwenymph 414]

At early iLVLs though, probably all through Highmaul, Mastery IS more important based on the current state of PWS.  IF/when PWS get a nerf Mastery will fall back down the list.

[Guest Zerael]

Then why are all the gems and enchants typed as haste? D:

[Borikk 0]

Gems, enchants, and potions will need to be updated as well. They're haste focused too.

[Guest Vanessa]

Yes, I do believe that is a typo.  Should be Crit>Mast and Haste will not be something you go after as Disc.

 

So same deal as in MoP? Why was it all changed to haste in the first place? Lol. So confused. Someone please update accurately.

[Vlad 411]

Thanks, guys. You're right about Haste not being worth such a high spot. I'm updating the priority now.

[Espiee 161]

Where's spirit on that list though?

 

The summary of stats below mention it, but it's nowhere on the listing.

[Guest Jezebel]

So Jaz no longer plays disc in WoD?    Is that a sign the spec is no longer viable ?

[Gwenymph 414]

No, it is still viable.  Atm, there look to be plenty streams and posts about both specs.  Will get a better feel for the balance between which spec is preferred in raiding starting Dec 9 when Mythic unlocks

[Vlad 411]

Where's spirit on that list though?

 

The summary of stats below mention it, but it's nowhere on the listing.

I really don't think you can just plop Spirit down into the priority and say "this is how important it is", because it doesn't really directly compete with other stats. To begin with, it's only there on some select few pieces of gear, and more importantly, it's hard to assign it a strict value, since it works on the "until you're comfortable" system. As we say, it is an important stat, and you should initially get it where ever you can, but after that you need to evaluate your healing and see if you need more or not.

[Espiee 161]

I really don't think you can just plop Spirit down into the priority and say "this is how important it is", because it doesn't really directly compete with other stats. To begin with, it's only there on some select few pieces of gear, and more importantly, it's hard to assign it a strict value, since it works on the "until you're comfortable" system. As we say, it is an important stat, and you should initially get it where ever you can, but after that you need to evaluate your healing and see if you need more or not.

 

This is a dangerous road to take. Spirit is if anything a buffer. It will help you recuperate if you managed your mana wrongly. It'll help you in longer fight. It's essentially a stat you take to give yourself some sort of protection against bad decisions or player folly.

 

You're right that when played well spirit is only needed up to a certain point, but IV guides ultimately serve as introductions with additional bits for getting better at a given spec. And it's exactly those players for whom spirit will work the best. Players new to a class will make more mistakes, they will not know exactly what to do when. Spirit is a mean to reduce the lash back from those mistakes. Not mentioning it until the more spelled-out advanced section doesn't underscore how important spirit can be. This at least is why I always liked that the older versions of the stat priorities always contained spirit with the mentioned reservations.

 

Moreover, in Warlords spirit has been buffed significantly and is limited to a few slots. On trinkets especially you have to make a very influential choice between throughput trinkets or regeneration trinkets, but also with regards to other slots such as what legendary ring to pursue. Someone new to a class may see spirit only mentioned in the more advanced section and think spirit isn't important for him, when it plays a key role as you're gearing up and getting to know a spec.

[Guest Shade]

Am i the only one noticing the reviewer of this topic is actualy a "Holy" priest?

[Guest Fatwhacker]

A few things: at early gear levels in wod, Haste should have a pretty high priority since your mastery and crit numbers are so low as to be comical. Once you've gotten to ilvl 630 or so, crit and mastery retake their top tier spots.

Also, spirit is necessary only insofar as a buffer for poor spell choice; with baseline spirit, you can spam heal all day long. Only when using flash heal repeatedly does mana become an issue. I'm sure this will change in raids where the fights last longer, but I can start heroic bosses at 30 percent mana and still not run out through proper heal selection.

[Guest Ja]

Do you know exact stat weights for disco priest? Maxdps still not updated :/ thx

[Thoy 0]

Thanks for your guide. I wondering about a few things though:

 

- I'm having mana issues (ilvl 640, but missing Spirit on a lot of pieces) in Challenge mode 5-mans, which I assume will get worse in raids. Not sure trading mana for Penance-on-the-move makes sense: for that to be useful, it requires sort of a perfect storm: 1- Priest must be forced to keep moving 2- someone must be dying 3- that someone must already have Weakened soul. That combination does happen, but a lot less often than my having to try and save mana. What do others think ?

 

- You say Prayer of Healing always beats Divine Star. Sure in 5-mans. But in raids, won't DS's raid-aware healing edge out PoH cumbersome group-based one, and Cascade's need for distance ? I'm thinking we might want to double-check for fights with a tightly packed raid and uneven damage (dots...). I used to swap those 3 talents a lot in SoO, I think that'll still happen. Very situational.

 

- Is Archangel still that important ? I find I'm having trouble finding time to really take advantage of it, and I begrudge the time spent casting Holy Fire. What do others think ?

 

- I *am* running with the PoH glyph, because the tank always can use more healing, while the raid is not always taking progressive damage (ie, PoM bounces get wasted). As you say, that's situational, a few fights do feature low-intensity raid-wide permanent AOE.

Edited November 27, 2014 by Thoy