Discipline Priest Frequently Asked Questions — The War Within (Season 1)
On this page, we go over several of the most frequently asked questions regarding Discipline Priest in World of Warcraft — The War Within (Season 1). This will be updated as more common repeated questions surface over the course of the expansion.
Discipline Priest FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
What changed with Discipline going into The War Within?
:Not much. The primary difference outside of a few two-pointers on the tree becoming one-pointers is Rapture being changed. Instead of lasting for a set duration where you can spam shields to your heart's content, it now buffs the next 3 Shields by a larger amount than previously but with a 30-second time limit. As a result, Rapture is even less of an important cooldown in raid than it already was but has gained a lot of flexibility in Mythic+.
Is Discipline Priest easier in The War Within?
Not really. Voidweaver is our recommended talent tree by default for all content, and outside of a few small sequence changes, the hero tree does not significantly change our playstyle or rotation.
How do Entropic Rift and Collapsing Void interact with Atonement?
There is NO LOSS IN HEALING when hitting more than one target for both Entropic Rift and Collapsing Void.
Entropic Rift deals the same damage to all targets hit but only heals via Atonement off a single damage target. Collapsing Void is an even split amongst all targets hit, however each hit creates an atonement event.
Why did our Stat Priority change?
Due to the introduction of Hero Talents, Mastery impacts a greater percentage of our overall healing in TWW. As a result, Mastery has taken enough of a lead over critical strike that we felt it was appropriate to swap the order. All secondary stats past haste are still close in value, so you will not see a major difference overall.
So what Hero Talents do we play?
Our current recommendation is Voidweaver in all content as a default. In raid, there could be some very niche opportunities for Oracle, but in keys, Voidweaver is significantly ahead.
Why do we use a bunch of different colored gems?
The new Blasphemite gems gain increased value per unique color of gem equipped. The recommended gemming strategy is in place to prioritize both the stats we desire in addition to activating the Blasphemite as much as we can.
How does Voidwraith work exactly?
Voidwraith replaces your currently selected pet, either Mindbender or Shadowfiend. Voidwraith has a one-minute cooldown when talented into Mindbender and a 2-minute cooldown when talented into Shadowfiend. Voidwraith inherits the cooldown reduction per cast from Void Summoner based on the pet currently talented into. With Mindbender talented, you can expect around a 40-45-second cooldown, and with Shadowfiend talented, you can expect a 60-second cooldown. Voidwraith gains the Shadowfiend coefficients for Shadow Covenant, Inescapable Torment, and Essence Devourer even when talented into Mindbender (Despite the tooltips saying otherwise. This is likely a bug but has not been fixed/changed as of now.)
How good is our tier set?
Our 2-set bonus is solid and comes out to be about a 3-4% increase overall. Our 4-set bonus comes out at less than 1% in raid and 1-2% in m+. As such, while you will still want to wear your 4-set bonus in both content types, Discipline should not be a high priority to receive it and can even consider wearing other gear until you have tier of the same item level available.
Why do we cast Mind Blast so early in the Rapture ramp?
As Rapture Ramp Atonements are lacking the extension from Evangelism, the Mind Blast is moved earlier in the sequence to ensure the Collapsing Void triggers prior to your Power Word: Radiance Atonements falling off.
So do we run Mindbender or Shadowfiend?
Both! Given Void Summoner's existence, you can expect to get Shadowfiend to around 1 minute as Voidweaver or 90 seconds as Oracle and Mindbender to around 40-45 seconds. As a result, you will use both depending on which one fits the fight timers better. The most important thing is to make sure that whichever pet you run, you are getting as many uses of it as possible.
How does Twilight Equilibrium interact with Purge the Wicked?
Since Purge the Wicked is Radiant damage (Holy + Fire), it will be buffed by Twilight Equilibrium. Buffing Purge the Wicked via Twilight Equilibrium causes the entire DoT to be buffed by 15%. If you spread the buffed DoT via Penance, you spread the buffed version of the DoT. Refreshing the DoT without the Twilight Equilibrium buff will overwrite it with a normal, non-buffed version.
So are we using Ultimate Penitence?
In some cases, yes. For a single point, Ultimate Penitence is a solid pick-up, but it's not something that will take priority over a ramp focusing on either Shadowfiend or Mindbender. When running Oracle, due to Preventive Measures, Ultimate Penitence becomes much more powerful and is fully invested in talent point-wise. For Voidweaver, it can still be run but be more of a supplementary cooldown when your pet is unavailable.
Why is there a single Flash Heal cast in our raid ramp rotations?
Binding Heal causes Flash Heal to apply Atonement to both your target and yourself. This means that you can get 2 Atonement applications for a single GCD, and you should avoid applying Atonement to yourself earlier in the ramp if possible.
Does damage from Trinkets/Racials/Enchants/Embellishments/etc work with Atonement?
No. External damage effects (not within Discipline's spellbook) provide no healing benefit at all.
Does Crystalline Reflection damage heal through Atonement?
No. The damage reflected does not contribute to Atonement in any way.
I see that a lot of people combine Rapture and Evangelism, but the guide here says to split them. What do I do?
Many people simply combine out of pure laziness, copying what they see elsewhere or following other resources that recommend combining. Our recommendation is to almost always **split**. While there are some very rare moments where combining can make sense, in the vast majority of situations, splitting the two will provide greater coverage. When you use both together, the increase healing that Rapture provides is often simply covering what Evangelism would have covered on its own. It is generally better to use Rapture to augment an otherwise weaker moment and let Evangelism shine on its own.
Changelog
- 09 Sep. 2024: Updated page for Season 1 Release.
- 21 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within Release.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Reviewed for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Season 4.
- 27 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6
- 15 Jan. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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This guide is written and maintained by Clandon, Healer in Vindicatum and Owner of Warcraft Priests (join them on Discord. This guide is peer reviewed by other staff at Warcraft Priests and other notable members of the healing community.
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