Holy Priest Healing Mythic+ Tips Battle for Azeroth 8.0.1

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Last updated on Sep 25, 2018 at 09:22 by Niphyr 30 comments

General Information

On this page, you will various tips and pieces of advice for clearing high Mythic+ content with your Holy Priest.

The other pages of our Holy Priest guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Niphyr, a generally knowledgeable, long-time healing Priest and theorycrafter. You can follow him on Twitter.

1. Foreword

In order to provide the most accurate Mythic+ dungeon-specific advice, we teamed up with Putto, a Priest healing for the guild Honestly.

2. Holy Priest in Mythic+

Holy Priest sits in the middle of the pack for Mythic+ content in Battle for Azeroth. Due to changes in dungeon damage patterns since Legion, some nerfs to other previously dominant healers and some buffs to talents, all healer specs are very competitive with one another now. Holy Priest has several main draws that make it an attractive spec to play for M+ content in BfA, with multiple strong cooldowns in Divine Hymn Icon Divine Hymn and Apotheosis Icon Apotheosis, strong single target damage, hefty group healing potential and a straightforward, beginner-friendly playstyle. Holy Priest still suffers from several of the same problems as in Legion, lacking mobility, healing on the move and poor burst healing outside of Holy Words and major cooldown windows.

2.1. Holy Priest Mythic+ Rotation

For more information about the Holy Priest rotation in Mythic+, refer back to the Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities page.

2.2. Holy Priest Utility

Holy Priest provides support for the party through healing, damage, and other additional effects, such as dispels and crowd control.

Purify removes all harmful Magic and Disease effects on an 8-second cooldown. Often referred to as dispel, Purify is used frequently in all dungeons and can often be vital to the success of a trash pull or boss.
Dispel Magic removes one beneficial Magic effect from an enemy target. Often referred to as purge, Dispel Magic is very useful in Mythic+, as there are a lot of enemies with very powerful Magic buffs that we can remove immediately.
Mass Dispel is cast at an area, removing all harmful effects from 5 allies inside it, and 1 beneficial effect from 5 enemies. While the 40-second cooldown is quite long, there is ample opportunity to make use of this spell to help reduce incoming damage.
Guardian Spirit places a buff on an ally for 10 seconds, increasing their healing taken by 60% and, in the event they take fatal damage, it will instead heal them to 40% health. Together with the Guardian Angel talent, this becomes a powerful single target external cooldown on a 60-second cooldown, presuming the life saving effect does not trigger.
Angelic Feather is a talent that can be used by yourself or to assist slower allies in avoiding damage and dangerous situations.
Censure is a talent which stuns the target of your Holy Word: Chastise for 4 seconds. This can be used to help reduce incoming damage from dangerous enemies and, due to casting Smite frequently during low damage periods, will be available regularly.
Shining Force is a talent that knocks away all nearby enemies from an ally, slowing them by 70% for 3 seconds. This can be used to both temporarily reduce the incoming damage on the tank, as well as interrupt a group of enemies. Be careful to coordinate this ability with your group, so you don't disrupt any planned crowd control.
Psychic Scream causes 5 enemies within 8 yards to flee for up to 8 seconds. This can be used to interrupt groups of enemies and, due to being broken on damage, it is very likely enemies will not flee too far if they are currently being attacked by your allies. Care should still be taken with nearby enemies that may be pulled into combat if a fleeing enemy gets too close to them. The cooldown can be reduced by 30 seconds with the Psychic Voice talent.
Shackle Undead can be used to disable a single Undead enemy for 50 seconds. A number of dungeons have dangerous Undead enemies which are good candidates for Shackle Undead. Damage taken will remove this effect.
Leap of Faith can be helpful for assisting allies in avoiding damage and should not be overlooked.
Power Word: Fortitude provides a 10% Stamina buff to all allies for 60-minutes and should be kept up on everyone at all times.
Mind Control temporarily controls an enemy which allows you to move, attack and cast some of their abilities. This can be beneficial in some dungeons, as specific enemies have valuable spells that can buff your party or debuff enemies.

3. Holy Priest Mythic+ Talents

Below are the suggested talents for Mythic+.

Level	Choices
15	✘ Enlightenment	✔ Trail of Light	✘ Enduring Renewal
30	? Angel's Mercy	? Perseverance	✔ Angelic Feather
45	? Cosmic Ripple	✔ Guardian Angel	✘ Afterlife
60	? Psychic Voice	✔ Censure	? Shining Force
75	✔ Surge of Light	✘ Binding Heal	✔ Circle of Healing
90	✘ Benediction	✔ Divine Star	✔ Halo
100	? Light of the Naaru	✔ Apotheosis	✘ Holy Word: Salvation

3.1. Talent Discussion

Level 15: Trail of Light is the best talent in nearly all situations.
Level 30: Angelic Feather is the best talent in nearly all situations, due to the increased movement speed for both yourself and your allies, however, if there are particular abilities that require additional damage reduction, then Perseverance can be a good option.
Level 45: Guardian Angel is the strongest choice as it greatly enhances our external cooldown, Guardian Spirit.
Level 60: All 3 talents on this row have situational uses, however we suggest primarily using Censure, as it is a reliable option for controlling dangerous enemies.
Level 75: Surge of Light and Circle of Healing are the strongest picks on this row. Surge of Light provides you with instant cast Flash Heals and can be generated from Smite casts. Circle of Healing is also a great choice, as it provides reliable group healing and can be cast while on the move.
Level 90: Halo is a fantastic group heal but can be challenging to use in some dungeons without pulling additional enemies into combat. Divine Star is also a great choice for additional healing and damage and can be cast while on the move.
Level 100: Apotheosis is a strong cooldown that greatly increases your throughput for 20 seconds, on a 2-minute cooldown. Light of the Naaru has less impact, but can provide a reliable healing increase over the course of the dungeon.

3.2. Tier One Affixes

Fortified Icon Fortified and Tyrannical Icon Tyrannical are the two affixes every player will see. These affixes shift the focus of Mythic+ from boss to trash depending on the week.

3.2.1. Tyrannical

Tyrannical Icon Tyrannical increases the Health pool of boss enemies by 40% and their damage dealt by 15%.

During Tyrannical weeks we need to be more careful with Mana management on bosses. Also, heavy hitting boss abilities might require the use of Perseverance Icon Perseverance and require some planning of Desperate Prayer Icon Desperate Prayer usage to reliably survive.

3.2.2. Fortified

Fortified Icon Fortified increases the Health pool of all non-boss enemies by 20% and damage dealt by 30%.

Fortified increases the focus on your crowd control abilities, such as Shining Force Icon Shining Force and Censure Icon Censure. You should also be mindful of dangerous debuffs, which you must dispel quickly using Purify Icon Purify and Mass Dispel Icon Mass Dispel, and dangerous enemy buffs, which you can dispel with Dispel Magic Icon Dispel Magic.

3.3. Tier Two Affixes

3.3.1. Raging

Raging Icon Raging increases the damage dealt by enemies below 30% by 100% until they die.

This affix can be particularly dangerous to your group, especially during Fortified Icon Fortified weeks. Care should be taken to ensure that your group are adequately applying crowd control to dangerous enemies that get low on health, to avoid unnecessary damage.

3.3.2. Teeming

Teeming Icon Teeming adds additional trash mobs to certain packs throughout each dungeon.

This affix typically has little impact on our role as healers. It is something your entire group should be mindful of when crowd-controlling and dealing with the larger packs of enemies.

3.3.3. Bolstering

Bolstering Icon Bolstering causes dying enemies to increase the maximum health and damage of other nearby enemies by 20%.

This affix typically has little impact on our role as healers. To counter this affix, DPS all mobs down evenly and focus on the highest health pool enemies first.

3.3.4. Sanguine

Sanguine Icon Sanguine places a pool of blood on the ground when an enemy dies. This pool will heal enemies who stay inside the zone, while damaging players.

This affix typically has little impact on our role as healers. Be mindful of casting Holy Word: Chastise Icon Holy Word: Chastise on enemies inside a Sanguine pool, as they will heal for the duration of the stun.

3.3.5. Bursting

Bursting Icon Bursting causes enemies to detonate when slain, afflicting the group with a stacking debuff that causes players to suffer 10% of their maximum health in damage every four seconds.

When handling this affix, make sure your group knows how many stacks you can handle at a given point and try to save healing cooldowns, such as Apotheosis Icon Apotheosis and Divine Hymn Icon Divine Hymn, for larger pulls, which will cause high Bursting stacks. For smaller Bursting stacks, either your typical single target rotation or Holy Word: Sanctify Icon Holy Word: Sanctify and Prayer of Healing Icon Prayer of Healing can handle the group-wide damage. Circle of Healing Icon Circle of Healing in particular is a great talent choice for assisting with healing the group-wide damage.

3.4. Tier Three Affixes

3.4.1. Volcanic

Volcanic Icon Volcanic spawns volcanic plumes underneath and around players when in combat with any enemy. When damaged by Volcanic, players suffer 50% of their maximum health in damage. The more enemies you are in combat with, the more volcanic plumes will spawn.

This affix is a great one to use the instant cast talents Circle of Healing Icon Circle of Healing and Divine Star Icon Divine Star on to assist in healing your group while on the move. Care must be taken when using Divine Hymn Icon Divine Hymn in case a plume spawns underneath you.

3.4.2. Grievous

Grievous Icon Grievous afflicts players with a stacking damage over time effect when they fall below 90%.

Make sure to quickly remove the debuff with Flash Heal Icon Flash Heal and Holy Word: Serenity Icon Holy Word: Serenity. If you fall behind, use your cooldowns Apotheosis Icon Apotheosis and Guardian Spirit Icon Guardian Spirit to try and catch back up, or it is likely you will fall further behind and deaths will occur. Regular use of the talents Circle of Healing Icon Circle of Healing, Divine Star Icon Divine Star, and Halo Icon Halo can help keep your group above the threshold.

3.4.3. Quaking

Quaking Icon Quaking will periodically attempt to interrupt casters by creating a damaging zone around each player. About 3 seconds after the zone forms, it will deal 20% maximum health in damage to each player caught in the zone and interrupt any casts being finished during the shockwave.

The biggest impact this affix will have on you is the constant interrupts on your casting. Take special care to avoid being in the middle of casting if you are going to be hit by one of the damage zones, as it will interrupt your spell casting and can lead to ally deaths. Circle of Healing Icon Circle of Healing in particular is a great talent choice for assisting with healing with this affix.

3.4.4. Explosive

Explosive Icon Explosive will occasionally spawn Explosive Orbs that need to be targeted and burned down within a short period of time or they will deal significant damage to the party. Explosive Orbs are not cleaveable and the amount of orbs that spawn scales with the amount of enemies pulled.

This affix typically has little impact on our role as healers. That said, we can assist during periods that require less healing by helping damage the orbs with Smite Icon Smite, Holy Fire Icon Holy Fire and Holy Word: Chastise Icon Holy Word: Chastise.

3.4.5. Necrotic

Necrotic Icon Necrotic debuffs the target of enemy melee swings with stacking healing reduction and a minor damage over time effect.

This affix challenges your group's control of enemies as you work towards managing the number of stacks your tank obtains. There is not a lot we can do to help out when an ally has high stacks. Instead, your group should aim to try and reduce the number of stacks gained by stunning, slowing and knocking back enemies. Shining Force Icon Shining Force in particular is extremely helpful at giving your tank additional time to let the stacks expire and should be used regularly.

3.4.6. Skittish

Skittish Icon Skittish reduces the amount of threat generated by tanks throughout the dungeon.

This affix results in a lot of spike damage throughout the dungeon, as the enemies will attack your DPS more often than normal. Your group should aim to control the enemies until the tank has picked up enough threat. You can help with Holy Word: Chastise Icon Holy Word: Chastise.

3.5. Seasonal Affix

Infested Icon Infested is the seasonal affix for the launch of Battle for Azeroth. Enemies afflicted with the Infested debuff will be scattered throughout each dungeon once you reach key level ten. These mobs will heal enemies around them and, when slain, will spawn two Spawn of G'huun that will attempt to infest remaining enemies.

There are several ways to handle Infested Icon Infested mobs depending on pack size, which mob is Infested, and group composition. The first way to handle an Infested enemy is to burn down the infested target and the subsequently spawning Spawn of G'huun, while either crowd controlling or ignoring the other mobs in the pack. The second way is to crowd control the Infested mob and burn down all the other enemies. After you kill an infested mob and the Spawns of G'huun spawn, we can use Censure Icon Censure to stop their movement until they are killed. Be careful using abilities such as Psychic Scream Icon Psychic Scream and Shining Force Icon Shining Force, as these can cause the Spawns of G'huun to get too close to another enemy.