Discipline Priest Healing Easy Mode — Shadowlands 9.0.2
On this page, we explain how to easily play Discipline Priest in World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.0.2, using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This page is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialisation without being overwhelmed by the numerous subtleties and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of Discipline Priests
Discipline Priests rely on healing players through dealing damage (through
Atonement), but also has traditional heals and absorption spells which
are to be used in situations where Atonement is not sufficient.
Healing through dealing damage allows them to contribute to the group's DPS,
while still performing well as a healer. Discipline Priests provide some of the
greatest burst healing in the game on a relatively short cooldown.
For a more in-depth description on the spells you have available to you as a Discipline Priest, take a look at our spell summary page.
Talent Choice for Discipline Priests
These are currently the easier talent choices as a Discipline Priest for a newer player. Note that some of the suggestions sacrifice a bit of performance for ease of use, but overall the difference is not great. Consult the detailed talents page for the complete picture.
Dungeons
- Level 15:
Twist of Fate
- Level 25:
Angelic Feather
- Level 30:
Power Word: Solace /
Mindbender
- Level 35: Completely situational/irrelevant
- Level 40:
Sins of the Many /
Shadow Covenant
- Level 45:
Purge the Wicked
- Level 50:
Lenience
Raids
- Level 15:
Schism
- Level 25:
Angelic Feather
- Level 30:
Power Word: Solace
- Level 35: Completely situational/irrelevant
- Level 40:
Sins of the Many
- Level 45:
Purge the Wicked
- Level 50:
Evangelism
Stat Choice for Discipline Priests
Currently, you will want to prioritise secondary stats as follows for all content:
- Haste
- Critical Strike
- Versatility
- Mastery
While we provide stat preference lists, swapping gear to higher item level items — and their higher Intellect/total stats — should, usually, provide a larger upgrade than using lower item level items with better stats. The exception to this rule are items with important tertiary stats, Leech and Avoidance, which should still be used ahead of other items without them, unless the difference in item level is around 10 or above.
For more information on stats for Discipline, please take a look at our stats page below.
Basic Playstyle for Discipline Priests
Discipline Priests rely on applying Atonement and then dealing
damage in order to heal through Atonement.
Atonement Rotation (DPS Priority)
The ideal rotation for dealing damage in order to generate
Atonement healing is as follows.
- Maintain
Shadow Word: Pain (or
Purge the Wicked, if you have taken this talent) on the target.
- Use
Schism as needed to provide a damage increase and thus healing increase for your
Atonements (if you have taken this talent).
- Use
Power Word: Solace on cooldown (if you have taken this talent).
- Use
Penance on cooldown.
- Use
Mind Blast on cooldown.
- Use
Smite as a filler or
Mind Sear if locked out of the Holy spellschool via
Shadow Covenant.
Raid Healing
For healing damage on multiple raid members at once, your primary tool is
Atonement. Proactively place Atonement on the required players
through the use of such spells as
Power Word: Radiance,
Power Word: Shield, or
Shadow Mend, so that when the damage
starts coming in, you can already begin healing them through dealing
damage.
If you must heal a rather low number of players then you should use
Power Word: Shield or
Shadow Mend to apply
Atonement on
them. Power Word: Shield is used during periods of
movement, as well as when Atonement needs to be applied to a target who is full
health and would not benefit from the direct heal of Shadow Mend. Make sure you
do not fall into the trap of over applying Atonement and under utilizing them.
The primary value of these single target spells like Power Word: Shield and
Shadow Mend is the Atonement application, NOT the direct heal or absorb.
If you apply Atonement to someone, make sure you DPS after that to take
advantage of it.
Power Word: Radiance can be used as needed to get out
a handful of Atonements (note that the duration is only 60% of normal Atonement)
between major damage events, but keep in mind to let them recharge for your next
big burst healing rotation (high damage).
If the number of players you have to heal or the damage received are high, then you should use the following rotation in advance of taking the damage.
- Apply around 5
Atonement buffs (using
Power Word: Shield or
Shadow Mend).
- Use
Power Word: Radiance twice about 4-5 seconds before the damage occurs.
- Use
Evangelism.
- Use
Shadowfiend.
- Use
Schism if taken.
- Use
Power Word: Solace.
- Use
Penance.
- Use
Mind Blast.
- Keep using
Smite until
Atonement buffs begin to expire.
Dungeon Healing
Healing in a dungeon relies on Atonement when the damage amounts
are low to medium. For higher amounts of damage, you will need to make use of
additional spells.
- Low to medium damage: you should maintain Atonement on the target
through using
Shadow Mend and simply perform your DPS rotation. This should provide enough healing to keep the target alive.
- High damage:
Atonement healing will no longer suffice on its own. In addition to utilizing
Atonement, you may have to spam
Shadow Mend. In case of group-wide damage, you should use
Power Word: Radiance to quickly apply 5 Atonements at 60% duration and use
Schism,
Power Word: Solace and
Penance offensively to heal up your group.
Shadowfiend can supplement your healing quite well in a pinch, so it is recommended to save the cooldown as best you can for packs or bosses that require the extra healing.
Rapture and
Power Word: Barrier are extremely powerful cooldowns that Discipline has available. Make sure to not fall into the trap of holding cooldowns too long for perfect moment. Specifically, Rapture has a very short cooldown.
For more in-depth rotation advice, take a look at your rotation guide linked below.
Atonement Applicators
Power Word: Shield is best used in situations when you are on the
move and the target will not benefit from the direct healing of
Shadow Mend. On the other hand,
Shadow Mend can be a great way
to spot heal and apply
Atonement in situations where you have the time
to stop moving in order to cast it.
Power Word: Radiance provides a quick
method of applying 5 Atonements at 60% of normal duration. Keep in mind that
Power Word: Radiance is our most Mana-efficient and GCD-efficient
applicator.
Cooldown Usage for Discipline Priests
Evangelism is a Discipline Priest's primary raid cooldown. Utilizing this properly is key to performing well with the specialisation. Always aim to have at least 15
Atonements out before using this cooldown. Evangelism should always be used after a double
Power Word: Radiance cast. See the raid healing section above for a detailed cast sequence involving Evangelism for a better idea of how to use this well.
Schism, despite its tooltip only mentions dealing increased damage, is a significant part of our healing potential. It is one of the few damage amplification sources in the game that does increase our
Atonement healing. This should be used in conjunction with as many
Power Word: Radiance charges as possible as well as with every
Evangelism cast.
Pain Suppression should be used on a tank, before a damage spike. Alternatively, it can be used on a raid member who is targeted by a very damaging ability.
Power Word: Barrier should be used to mitigate intense AoE damage; it requires the raid to be stacked in one place.
Shadowfiend should be used for additional DPS (and therefore Atonement healing) when this is needed at high atonement counts.
Rapture should be used when you anticipate a large amount of AoE damage. This allows you to provide a large absorb shield about 9 targets, which also serves to set up
Atonement on them for subsequent healing. Used in dungeons it is extremely powerful at only a 1.5-minute cooldown. Because of it being on a short cooldown, it is recommended to be used as frequently as possible. Uses include: heavy tank damage, pre-shielding, and healing major damage over time abilities. Be aware that after Rapture expires any new
Power Word: Shield casts will replace the previous buff on the target.
Desperate Prayer provides increased health for its duration, but also provides a heal for the amount that it increased. This provides you with a quick heal when you drop low and added survivability.
Power Infusion provides a Haste steroid that can be used either on yourself, during a ramp up or a high intensity moment in dungeons, or used on an ally DPS during their cooldowns for more group/raid damage output.
Changelog
- 23 Nov. 2020: Removed references to Azerite and Essences. Added reference to Power Infusion.
- 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
More Priest Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide is written and maintained by Clandon, Healer in Incarnate as well as staff and theorycrafter at Warcraft Priests (join them on Discord or on their website) and is reviewed by the other staff at Warcraft Priests and notable members of the healing community.
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