This is going way way off topic in a tank forum but, hey, why not...
The issue with Beacon is *not* using it, but how it works. If there is a second healer in the raid, using it becomes shaky at best. With a 25 man raid, the odds of it being useful drops tremendously.
I was using a TBC example of when it can be useful, that does not by any means tell you I have not used it in Beta.
The core problem with Beacon is the fact the "Mirror Heal" is based from effective heal only. So the HoT that another healer put on your target gimps your Beacon effect in a huge way.
Therefore, at this stage, Holy seems the "flexible" tree. Prot and Ret will have a hard time even picking up Blessing of Kings. At 70, with a full Beacon Spec, holy has 10 extra points for Kings and Benediction. At level 80, Sanctuary is very easy to pickup and the *ONLY* real loss in the Holy Tree is Beacon. (
found here) The level 80 setup even allows for full JudgePure spec.
So, sure Sanctuary *may* be reworked before Naxx. But unless Beacon is also worked on quite a bit, I stand by my assertion that it is not as useful as Sanctuary in *SOME* cases, and this build may be very viable if you *know* you will have a Warrior tank.
Also, let's not discount the Divine Guardian effect. Beacon lets a Pally "kind of" heal 2 targets in an AoE situation. Divine Guardian helps keep EVERYONE alive in an AoE situation.
Again, I never presented this as a "Perfect" or even "Best" solution. But please don't call it rubbish because I used a TBC example for ease of understanding to non-Beta players, or assume that Sanctuary is the only thing that needs fine tuning. As it stands, Beacon is far less than it should be, and Sanctuary is far more than it should be. That sort of makes it more attractive to not take the under-powered ability and take the overpowered ability. ESPECIALLY when it is an ability that can be such a boon to my tank.
