Cata Holy Priest Guide (4.0.3)

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Originally Posted by Brittmari

If a disc priest is at the top of the meter, in most cases it is because the dps is avoiding avoidable damage and 90% of the healing needed is tank healing.

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There are very few encounters like that. Even Hodir is not the best example, the tank damage is pretty low there while the whole raid takes a lot of unavoidable damage during frozen blows + frost novas. Thorim normal mode could be a better example, most raid damage is avoidable there, tanks take most of the hits in both phases.

I was almost always on top with my disc priest when I could raidheal and almost always at the bottom when I had to focus on the tank. Only exception was Algalon, the tank damage is just that brutal there.

On encounters with lots of unavoidable damage (almost all encounters) disc can top pretty easily, just by spamming PWS on the whole raid. Somehow I feel like you didn't see a decent disc priest yet.

As Aliena pointed out, leveling a priest is a drag until you get shadowform(i spend 180 emblems on 2 pieces of cloth heirlooms and 2 trinkets which combined grants me 4% of my total mana back each kill,and the heirlooms grants the much desired 20% experience bonus which speeds of the process of leveling abit).

I have a quick question.

I am trying to help my wife set up her healing we are now 70.

She is Holy speced using Elitist talent spec.

My question is she is having a hard time in normal 5 mans but is that because Holy is for 10 -25 man and she should be Disc spec for 5 man content?

I have never really looked at healing so I am trying to help out is Disc better for 5 man (easier)?

Thank you for the info, i will try holy out, if it seems to be too much for me to handle i may just pay some people to run me through lowbie instances and lvl quicker. XP

Another question i wanted to ask Aliena is what is the HuD addon you use, i saw another healer use that and i'm not sure what it is.

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Originally Posted by HDEagle71

I have a quick question.

I am trying to help my wife set up her healing we are now 70.

She is Holy speced using Elitist talent spec.

My question is she is having a hard time in normal 5 mans but is that because Holy is for 10 -25 man and she should be Disc spec for 5 man content?

I have never really looked at healing so I am trying to help out is Disc better for 5 man (easier)?

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indeed disc spec is more of a single-target, preventive healing style. holy is more of a reactive - raid-wide damage over time fights. therefore disc makes healing easier for 5mans. typical rotation would be shield on the tank, pom, penance/flash heals.

good luck

on the guide:

it covers pretty much all the basics, provides a nice place to start off. well done!

HDEagle71--

Any decent healing spec from any class should be able to heal 5 mans without too much trouble. Here's a few tips:

1. Get Healbot or Grid/Clique--Healbot is a bit easier to set up but Grid is more customizable. Blizzard UI is terrible for healing. It IS possible to heal without an addon, but why enter your house through the upstairs window when you've got a front door?

2. Prayer of Mending is any priest's best friend--keep it up at all times. In a 5 man, just cast it on the tank whenever it's off cooldown. Don't worry that it hasn't gotten all 5 bounces.

3. Renew has fallen out of favor with a lot of serious raiders, but it works wonders in 5 mans. Healers and dps shouldn't be taking much damage in most 5 man encounters--Renew and Circle of Healing should be more than enough to keep you focused on the tank.

4. Which leads into: Don't be afraid to let a dpser die to keep the tank topped off. It's much easier to finish a boss fight with 1 tank, 1 dps, and 1 healer than it is with 3 dps and a healer. The dpser will invariably try and smack you down for not giving him any heals, so get Recount or another meter/addon which shows you what damage people are taking and learn to read it. More than half the time, if a dpser dies in a 5 man, it's his own fault for pulling aggro/not getting out of the fire/etc.

5. Grow a thick skin. Healers probably take more abuse in the game than any other player. If you can't laugh it off or give it back, go Shadow.

Delicatesse: If you see Disc priests routinely topping Holy priests when both are assigned to raid heals on World of Logs parses which take absorbtions into account, I submit that it is you who hasn't seen a decent Holy priest yet.

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Originally Posted by defiancex

Thank you for the info, i will try holy out, if it seems to be too much for me to handle i may just pay some people to run me through lowbie instances and lvl quicker. XP

Another question i wanted to ask Aliena is what is the HuD addon you use, i saw another healer use that and i'm not sure what it is.

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Well, i answered my own question. XP

A guildmate of mine was suggesting some addons to me earlier today, Poweraura's was one of them, i really like this addon, i used to use ForteXorcist, i deleted that as soon as i started messing around with Poweraura's. :)

So for a healer that primarily does tank healing, would you suggest simply speccing Disc and leaving Holy for raid healing duties, or is Holy at least somewhat comparable for tank healing?

I ask because I'm the tanking fanatic of our couple, my wife is the healing fanatic. She insists on healing me all the time, but she also loves being holy and it seems like she's always at the bottom of the healing meters and catching flak from people for it. With GHeal sounding like such garbage and Disc being the recognized "tank heal" spec, should I just talk her into Disc? =D

Thanks for a terrific guide, Aliena. Reading your thoughts on stat preferences, gearing and gemming and enchanting, and play style makes me think about how I play, and question what I think I know. It's the diversity of the class and spec, and the many ways to play it, that make it fun and interesting.

I like, for instance, that you still rank spirit as the third most desirable stat behind intellect and spell power, because I have never been able to agree intuitively that spirit is as worthless as many now seem to think it is.

The second time I read through your guide many of your thoughts and ideas began to sink in and gel, and within a short time your guide has become an integral source for me, to be weighed and balanced with and against other valuable sources, point by point, as I continue in my search for the ever-changing balance of what "feels" right.

Thanks again, and I hope you keep it up to date so I can follow your thoughts.

Oddly

Great Guide, Very informative :) Thanks!

Hi, i just have one quick question which i think most people could answer for me.

i have always used renew, i have it glyphed to heal more with one less tick, i was wondering why you believe it is better leave it tick one more time and lose the +25% healing done by per tick, i know we lack the Hot's that other classes have(damn druids) but a stronger Hot is better to have then a longer one isnt it?

sorry no need to answer she said in the second video, doh!

I have spent most of the last x-pac and all of this one tanking and decided to see about healing, so as to have a better understanding of the current encounters. Thanks for this vid, it was very helpful.

However, I seem to be missing some key points: notably UI. I have watched the H NBE vid and see that Aliena has some addons that would greatly help in healing. Anyone know what they are?

I am pretty sure that she uses grid for her raid frames, but what is the unitframes?

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Originally Posted by Bovinity

So for a healer that primarily does tank healing, would you suggest simply speccing Disc and leaving Holy for raid healing duties, or is Holy at least somewhat comparable for tank healing?

I ask because I'm the tanking fanatic of our couple, my wife is the healing fanatic. She insists on healing me all the time, but she also loves being holy and it seems like she's always at the bottom of the healing meters and catching flak from people for it. With GHeal sounding like such garbage and Disc being the recognized "tank heal" spec, should I just talk her into Disc? =D

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yes, from all the healers out there, Holy Priest is most likely the worse for tank healing. every other healing class/spec can perform this task better than the holy priest.

for tank healing on a priest, disc is the way to go. and nothing else. of course if you raid Holy you're not going disc only for a 5man. you can keep a tank up on a 5man while being holy. you just can't beat a paladin, shaman, disc priest, or a druid, on tank-healing on endgame raiding content.

@Seraphia
"I have watched the H NBE vid and see that Aliena has some addons that would greatly help in healing. Anyone know what they are?"

shes most likely using Power Auras (for the flashing thingies around her). This is an addon that helps you knowing when you have certain buff active. lets say a Surge of Light (gives you a instant-free-noncrit Flash Heal). So, you configure it to show a texture or image on the screen everytime that buff is active. so you don't miss it. It also works the other way around: it can show you when you lack of a buff. lets say Inner Fire. those two are the most common uses for priests with Power Auras. Surge of Light and the lack of Inner Fire.

for buffs seems like Satrina Buffs? its easier to ask her hehe. hard to tell :p. Besides poweraura and grid, the rest of the addons are pretty much down to your own personal taste (BossMods,barmods,Minimap,chat,CDtimers). as long as they get the job done. you'll be ok. Power Auras and Grid, are definitely a must :)

Please don't send me PMs about my UI, there's a whoooole thread about it in the UI section that should answer every question!

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Originally Posted by Abolita

Was just about to ask if we would be getting this in HD. Thanks for the upload, and thanks for the great guide Aliena!

Curious, would you not recommend getting Springy Arachnoweave - Spell - World of Warcraft if you are an engineer?

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As a disc priest who is not also a tailor I use this. I use it for holy aswell but if I had two backs I would probably keep a back enchanted with haste for a holy set focusing on haste. I'm not sure I would always use the haste cloak, but it is certainly a lot closer since you don't need to stack sp as holy.

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Originally Posted by Brittmari

I would like to add a shout-out for Lightweave Embroidery over Darkweave for Tailors, Ember Skyflare Meta over Beaming Earthsiege, and even taking 1 point out of Meditation to put into a throughput or utility talent.

With Shadowfiend, Hymn of Hope, Mana Potions and Arcane Torrent (for Blood Elves) I find that I almost never get close to running out of mana (and I usually don't even use the pots or Hymn). We generally run 6 healers and don't do Heroic or Hard Modes, so it might be different if you run fewer healers. But I'd definitely counsel examining how often you go oom, and if it's almost never, consider some changes to lower regen and bump up throughput.

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Meditation is such a good talent taking a point out of it is silly...Simple as this is bread and butter priest talenting no spec goes without it.

If you aren't going oom thats good but when everything goes wrong holy can go oom, disc can go oom even when things go right depending on spell useage. Myself I use mana as much as possible, no point ending a fight on 10k mana. Equally no point ooming at 25% which is why I stick too insightful earthsiege.

You also mention you aren't doing hard modes/heroic which really don't test the limits of a player's mana pool.

I have noticed that i still run out of mana extremely quickly, and im not sure if it's something that usually happens. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

-Thunder

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Meditation is such a good talent taking a point out of it is silly...Simple as this is bread and butter priest talenting no spec goes without it.

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I really don't think an absolute statement like this is accurate. A lot of it depends on circumstances. If you have other strong healers in your raid, you should be able to get o5sr more often. If your dps is really strong and avoids avoidable damage, fights will be shorter and you won't need as much regen. Efficient use of Hymn of Hope, Inner Focus, Shadowfiend, etc. helps out a lot.

Your statement that a Holy Priest can go oom when everything goes wrong may be true, but my philosophy is to plan for normal circumstances, and not worry about the 5% of the time that you get bad luck.

Obviously, taking a point out of Meditation is the last thing you should do after re-gearing for throughput over regen, but I still say if you don't go oom on 19 out of 20 fights, it's worth a try to toss a point somewhere else.

Thunderheals,

That question is way too general. We'd have to look at logs from the fights you have problems with to really give you an idea of what you might be doing wrong. Also, it depends on what content you're doing--your gear looks fine for 25 man Ulduar, but its on the bottom end for 25 man ToC.