Train of Thought

[Aure 0]

Hello guys!

While taking a look at the website's Disc Priest guide I noticed you guys suggested not spending any points in Train of Thought when atonement healing. I can see why it's a big thing for a dedicated tank healing build without A/A but I really can't see the reason why it would suck at our smite-healing priests.

I'm not sure if there is a major discussion about this in other Disc communities because it's a tricky question, but I hope someone here will be able to help me and other priests.

Thank you!

[MadMonk 154]

Hello Aure

I believe the main reason is that choosing an atonement build takes an extra 5 talent points from your 'free to choose' talents. This gives less space to fiddle with the leftovers. Personally when I spec into atonement I also skip Train of Thought simply because I believe that you can spend them in more useful talents. (extra haste, shorter SF cooldown, 10% damage reduction on crit...).

If you follow the talents on this image, you only have 9 spare points. putting 5 of those into atonement (evangelism+archangel+atonement) leaves only 4 points to choose freely. From here on out you can just pick the ones you like the most. Personally I'd go for Inspiration and Strength of Soul. Ofcourse this also depends on your raid setup. If you have other people specced into a 10% damage reduction on crit, you could drop that one for train of thoughts or hast or shadowfiend or... I suggest you try some different builds and look for the one that suits you best.

MadMonk

[Vlad 369]

Hello guys!

While taking a look at the website's Disc Priest guide I noticed you guys suggested not spending any points in Train of Thought when atonement healing. I can see why it's a big thing for a dedicated tank healing build without A/A but I really can't see the reason why it would suck at our smite-healing priests.

I'm not sure if there is a major discussion about this in other Disc communities because it's a tricky question, but I hope someone here will be able to help me and other priests.

Thank you!

MadMonk pretty much nailed the answer.

I'd just like to clarify that we do not "suggest not taking Train of Thought when atonement healing", rather we do not list it as a possible variation. We do not cover all possible or possibly viable talent build combinations in our guides, since that would make them extremely lengthy and boring.

There's nothing wrong with taking Train of Thought when also taking atonement talents per se. The only issue is, as MadMonk pointed out, that you use up a lot of talent points to get atonement healing, so Train of Thought is perhaps a luxury you cannot afford.

Keep in mind that, at least as a Discipline Priest, your character is very much prone to your own personalised playstyle. If you feel you'd like to have Train of Thought and atonement, together, then by all means go for it.

[Aure 0]

Great! Thank you very much for the answers!

[Vlad 369]

You are welcome!

[ThrIronMustache 8]

In my honest opinion it really comes down to what your role is in your group. But with that being said I can't really think of any situations in our current content to allow for a heavy use of greater heal rendering the need for the talent as a whole useless. The whole idea behind the "Smite Priest" is to allow a player to both dps and heal as a very viable setup with the emphasis obviously on the former. I myself have a 396 iLevel and am capable of pulling 12.5k dps on a heroic dummy. The switch from holy to attonement has made a pretty noticeable change in all of our heroic content. (Currently working on Spine)