Discipline Priest Healing Guide — Dragonflight 10.2
Welcome to our Discipline Priest guide for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2. Here, you will learn how to heal as a Discipline Priest in both raids and Mythic+ dungeons. We cover everything from the basics all the way to min-maxing techniques to optimize your output.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Discipline Priest guide.
Discipline Priest Overview
The Discipline specialization relies on healing players through dealing
damage (thanks to the Atonement passive), but also has traditional
heals and absorption spells. Healing through dealing damage allows Discipline
Priests to contribute to the raid's DPS while still performing well as a
healer. Discipline Priests provide very significant, on-demand AoE burst
healing on a very short cooldown.
Balancing healing and dealing damage can be difficult to master at first, but through research and practice, Discipline can be one of the more rewarding specializations to play.
To properly play a healing role, you will need more than just class-specific information. To better understand healing in general, we recommend that you read our healing guide.
Strengths and Weaknesses
High burst healing on a short cooldown.
Strong cooldowns that increase the effective health of your group (through absorbs or damage reduction).
Strong at sustained spot healing in a raid setting.
Provides significant damage with low opportunity cost.
Moderate mobility, having a decent range of spells able to be cast while moving.
Reactive, raid-wide, emergency heals are limited compared to other healing specs.
Mistakes made by the Discipline Priest are far more punishing than on other healers.
High barrier to entry for raid healing.
Poor personal mobility options.
One of only two specializations in the game without access to an interrupt.
Discipline Priest and Guide Changes for Patch 10.2
With the release of patch 10.2, Discipline Priest has recieved fairly significant changes to its talent tree resulting in nearly every page of the guide recieving updates. It is highly recommended to read through the entire guide moving into 10.2 to ensure you are up to date on all the changes.
The primary thing to note going into 10.2 is the changes to both Shadow Covenant (becoming a passive ability instead of active) and the bottom right pet nodes changing position allowing both
Shadowfiend and
Mindbender to take advantage of
Void Summoner and
Inescapable Torment.
With how much power has been moved into having Shadow Covenant active via all the various modifiers tied to it, Discipline will be very focused on utilizing our pet and pushing cooldown reduction on our pet when it is not available.
Light's Wrath has been removed and replaced with
Ultimate Penitence. While overall a very cool spell, its usage will be fairly limited this tier with how powerful our tier set is and the synergy the tier set has with Shadow Covenant. Ultimate Penitence will still absolutely have its place and be used in a variety of situations even if it is not the primary focus of the specialization.
Harsh Discipline has been redesigned to proc off of
Power Word: Radiance casts instead of stacked up via
Smite. As a result, it remains a very powerful talent, but is not something you really need to think about anymore.
For a full breakdown of all Class Changes in Patch 10.2, check out our dedicated page below.
Leveling a Discipline Priest
For open-world questing and leveling, Discipline is viable but slow. If you plan on questing to level, we recommend you quest as Shadow instead of Discipline if your goal is speed. Discipline does, however, have the benefit of being significantly safer while leveling despite being slower. If you plan on leveling through dungeons, Discipline is a fantastic choice. Our leveling guide is a great starting place for basics, as well as some tips and tricks to help when healing.
Hitting max level and then trying to dive straight into end-game content as a healer can be quite daunting. To ease this transition, you should try to implement relevant macros and addons as you are leveling. While not all are necessary throughout the leveling process, getting started in modifying your UI and how it impacts your performance as a healer early on will make it much easier to dive head-on into the end-game content when you reach max level.
Basics of Discipline Priest Gameplay
Discipline Priest plays very differently depending on the content type you are participating in.
In raid content, Discipline is a very proactive style burst healer. Utilizing
our passive in Atonement, we prepare for large, raid-wide, incoming
damage bursts and reverse them very quickly. This style of healing requires
extensive knowledge of the encounter's incoming damage and benefits heavily from
planning/researching the encounters ahead of time. Due to this, the
specialization will not be for everybody but will also provide a great sense of
accomplishment for those seeking a challenge.
In Mythic+ content, Discipline attempts to utilize Atonement as
much as possible to stay aggressive and keep people topped while contributing
damage. With the ability to apply atonement to the entire group with a single
Power Word: Radiance, it is very easy to have a high uptime in regard to
DPSing. With cooldowns like
Rapture and
Power Word: Barrier to
nearly negate or reduce incoming mechanics, it can be fairly easy to achieve
the above goal. In situations where atonement is not enough to keep someone
alive, Discipline falls back on their direct heals like
Penance,
Power Word: Shield, and
Power Word: Life. Learning how to balance
being aggressive and trusting your atonement and falling back on direct heals
is the biggest challenge in the path of mastering Discipline Priest in a mythic
plus environment.
To learn more about the fundamentals and make sure you are doing the basics right, familiarize yourself with the Spell Summary page, then move on to the Easy Mode page.
If you have played Discipline Priest recently and you are looking to dive more in-depth in regards to current talent recommendations, rotations, and other topics, check out the below pages.
How to Gear Up a Discipline Priest
Gearing as a healer is fairly straightforward in regards to the basics. You will generally prioritize item level in most situations as the value of your different secondary stats is close enough that more stats is better than targeting a specific one. This can be complicated by gear with effects or tertiary stats like leech or sockets.
To assist in handling the edge cases that gearing can throw at you, as well as what gear to look out for, take a look at our stats and gear pages below.
After obtaining your new gear, be sure to look at our Enchant and Consumable page to get the most out of your character.
Discipline Priest in Dragonflight
With the addition of the new Talent Trees in Dragonflight, the core playstyle
remains the same with the addition of some very fun and impactful new tools.
Harsh Discipline is a strict upgrade to our existing legendary
The Penitent One,
Twilight Equilibrium provide a very strong and
interesting impact on our cast sequencing,
Power Word: Life introduces a
very impactful triage tool to the kit, and many more.
Discipline Priest End-Game
Identifying the content type you plan on focusing on overall or in a specific instance is crucial to determine how you gear and play. Whether you plan on raiding, sticking to Mythic Plus, or focusing on PvP, understanding the basics of your class and the spells at your disposal is the important first step. Hop into our specific content-type guides for more tailored information.
Improving as a Discipline Priest
To be successful as a Discipline Priest in any type of content, having the ability to analyze your mistakes and gameplay is crucial. Identifying common issues, logging your play, and learning to analyze those logs are the best next step in your path to Discipline Priest mastery.
Changelog
- 12 Nov. 2023 (Amirdrassil page): Added Page.
- 11 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Spirit Boots Nerf.
- 11 Nov. 2023 (enchants page): Fixed Health Potion Mention.
- 11 Nov. 2023 (mythic+ page): Removed outdated mention.
- 11 Nov. 2023 (rotation page): Fixed small rotation issue.
- 07 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated BiS List, Crafting recommendations, trinket list for 10.2.
- 07 Nov. 2023 (gear page): Updated page post Sporecloak nerf.
- 07 Nov. 2023 (rotation page): Updated page for Patch 10.2
- 07 Nov. 2023 (rotation page): Added additional clarification.
- 07 Nov. 2023 (talents page): Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 07 Nov. 2023 (talents page): Removed outdated reference.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (enchants page): Added mention of new Weapon enchant and Helm enchant for 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated for Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (spells page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 04 Sep. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Added BiS list and updated page for 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Updated talent recommendations for 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Aug. 2023 (rotation page): Updated rotation to reflect Rhapsody hotfix.
- 10 Aug. 2023 (talents page): Updated post hotfix to Rhapsody and VE.
- 10 Aug. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated M+ talent recommendations and updated wording for raid.
- 19 Jul. 2023 (gear page): Updated Trinket rankings to reflect the Echoing Tyrstone nerf.
- 19 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Fixed formatting issue.
- 12 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Updated to new page format.
- 11 Jul. 2023 (gear page): Updated Mega Dungeon gear recommendation based on further testing.
- 11 Jul. 2023 (enchants page): Updated Annulet recommendation section.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (gear page): Added New trinkets and unique items from 10.1.5 Mega Dungeon.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Updated for 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated talent recommendation for 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Updated for patch 10.1.5.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (spells page): Updated for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated Talent recommendations.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 17 May 2023 (gear page): Updated crafting recommendations back due to the bug being fixed.
- 16 May 2023 (gear page): Updated crafting recommendations based on Undulating Sporecloak Bug
- 06 May 2023 (gear page): Added mention of Lariat at higher socket counts.
- 06 May 2023 (enchants page): Updated Enchant and Phial Recommendations based on hotfixes/tuning
- 06 May 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Page updated for Raid Release.
- 06 May 2023 (talents page): Updated to include Season 2 Dungeon Specific Talent Choices.
- 01 May 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (how to improve page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 01 May 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (enchants page): Updated Primordial Stone Recommendations post Hotfixes.
- 01 May 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 01 May 2023 (spells page): Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
- 01 May 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 01 May 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1
- 29 Apr. 2023 (Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible page): Page added.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 21 Mar. 2023 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (simulations page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (addons page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Updated Embellishment recommendation for patch 10.0.5.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (addons page): Added Macro for Potion of Chilled Clarity Cancelaura.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Updated talent recommendations to reflect 10.0.5 changes.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (mythic+ page): Updated talent recommendation for patch 10.0.5.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Updated Rotations to reflect 10.0.5 changes and talent changes.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Updated talent recommendation for patch 10.0.5.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Updated Spell list to reflect 10.0.5 changes.
- 22 Jan. 2023 (easy mode page): Updated talent recommendation for patch 10.0.5.
- 24 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Updated page post raid release on Live Servers.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (FAQ page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (simulations page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear page): Updated Trinkets for Season 1 and added Crafted Gear Section.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (addons page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (addons page): Updated Halo/DStar macro to work with Scov.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (enchants page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (stats page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (Vault of the Incarnates page): Page added.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (mythic+ page): Removed missed mentions of Shining Force on page.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (rotation page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (rotation page): Reformatted the page to utilize build toggles.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents page): Fixed Talent Calculator M+ Link.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (spells page): Moved SotM to the proper location and added Blaze of Light.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (easy mode page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (how to improve page): Reviewed for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (DPS guide): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Legendaries): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Torghast): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Covenants and Soulbinds): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (simulations page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (addons page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (enchants page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (stats page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Castle Nathria page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Sanctum of Domination page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (Sepulcher of the First Ones page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (mythic+ page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (talents page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (spells page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (easy mode page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 25 Oct. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 31 May 2022 (DPS guide): Page reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 22 Feb. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 15 Jan. 2022 (Patch 9.2 Analysis): Page added with initial thoughts and information.
- 01 Nov. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Reviewed and approved for Patch 9.1.5.
- 14 Jul. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Updated page to reflect the launch of Patch 9.1.
- 29 Jun. 2021 (DPS guide): Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 07 Jun. 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Added new covenant legendaries.
- 04 May 2021 (Patch 9.1 Analysis): Page created with initial information.
- 09 Mar. 2021 (DPS guide): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 04 Feb. 2021 (DPS guide): Page added.
- 12 Oct. 2020 (Ny'alotha page): Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 07 Jul. 2019 (The Eternal Palace page): Added page with raid advice for The Eternal Palace.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Uldir page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 24 Jun. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): This page has been reviewed for the release of Patch 8.2 and no changes are necessary.
- 12 May 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Updated page after peer review.
- 12 May 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Updated guide with Live data instead of PTR testing. .
- 16 Apr. 2019 (Crucible of Storms page): Guide added.
- 20 Jan. 2019 (Battle of Dazar'alor page): Added Battle of Dazar'alor tips for Discipline Priest.
- 11 Sep. 2018 (Uldir page): Updated formatting for talent selection.
- 11 Aug. 2018 (Uldir page): Added page with raid advice for Uldir.
More Priest Guides
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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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