Priest is the only class ive never played really. I boosted a priest in legion and tried shadow, enjoyed it more than I do most ranged specs but never tried it after that.
ive only healed as MW, which is fun, but truth be told I dont think its for me. I hear disc can do damage as well and I think that would be more fun. I just dont know anything about the spec at all
I would suggest checking out some of the typical guides and then coming back and asking people specific questions.
fair enough!
IcyVeins has a good general overview, as well as more detail to dig into.
For a really quick and dirty, Disc’s specialty is atonement. You apply the atonement buff to allies (that generally lasts 15 or 8 seconds), then dps to transfer a portion of your damage into healing on those allies. You mix this with some more traditional direct healing, as well as some absorbs / damage reduction.
Be aware Disc has a rather harsh learning curve. It’s not very intuitive, and it takes practice and research to get even decently good. It’s very proactive, meaning you have to anticipate and prepare healing, not just react when healing is needed. It’s also very fast paced and frenetic, constantly switching back and forth between dpsing and healing / applying atonements. Expect to work harder for the same results. That being said, it’s a great thrill to successfully pull it off, and you contribute good damage and damage reduction on top. If you want to do it, there’s many people here that would be glad to help with tips and tricks, but no worries if it’s not right for you - it’s fairly niche.
You apply the atonement buff to allies (that generally lasts 15 or 8 seconds), then dps to transfer a portion of your damage into healing on those allies. You mix this with some more traditional direct healing, as well as some absorbs / damage reduction.
This is one of the two things that got me at first which made it so hard. I had the impression from things I’d read that the basic atonement rotation should account for most of the healing. I didn’t realize that the class required a balance of everything. That, along with the fact that you should view the various CDs as a major part of the rotation (similar to HPal which I just got into this xpac) to get big healing out, and not just “Oh S***” buttons like they can be for some other classes.
this sounds AMAZING to me
It is. When I was deciding what to play back when I started playing this game, dealing damage to heal was what made me give discipline the first try. It has been my main since then although I have played almost all healers. If you enjoy this playstyle, don’t get discouraged if it feels hard at times (it probably will). If you persevere, the feeling of reward will never stop getting better. With other healers I always feel like I have hit a wall, but with discipline there’s always something to improve and this keeps the game fresh to me without having to invest time in alts.
Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot. I didn’t understand that either when they first introduced the mechanic in Legion - kept having tanks die because I didn’t think we were supposed to use Shadow Mend. Part of it is, until this patch, direct heals were a very, very minor part of our raid rotation. And the majority of guides are written for raid play. Blizzard certainly hasn’t helped as the little blurb they have for Disc in-game is really outdated, and the descriptive text on Shadow Mend makes it sounds like a trap spell. Some kind of in-game tutorial on how to use and mix the tools would be awesome, now that I think about it. Until then, I just try to give people a good idea of what they’re getting into. ![:slight_smile:](https://d38bqls1q93fod.cloudfront.net/en/wow/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=6" ":slight_smile:")
Part of it is, until this patch, direct heals were a very, very minor part of our raid rotation.
And this makes total sense. Unfortunately it’s not, or wasn’t, clarified often.
And the majority of guides are written for raid play.
Yea this is still a problem (and not just for this class), considering M+ and PvP are also quite popular. Many don’t raid but even those who do still spend a lot of time doing M+. Some class guides do incorporate the differences in small sections, though. Also was trying to find some resources tonight actually on which of two trinkets were better and found some stat weights that were for raid only, so that wasn’t super helpful. Eventually had to rely on a trinket chart someone made using I have no idea what logic, but it confirmed my thoughts at least. Either way, people in general need to think outside the raid box a bit.
Yeah. I play a lot of alts (had every class max level in Legion), and I don’t raid on most of them. It’s a bit frustrating when I want to know which talents and stats and azerite traits are better for leveling or world questing or dungeons but the guides are 90% focused on raiding. Not that it’s going to make or break me being able to do that content, but it can all be a little overwhelming when I don’t understand the intricacies of the spec.
so i’ve been playing since BC and finally made a priest and went disc from the start. I chose not to boost due to the leveling curve and i can say it’s the most fun toon i’ve had. Its crazy popping shields and doing damage to an enemy to heal your party. it’s a ton of things to keep up with and Vudho or healbot is a must as you can have an enemy targeted but click your party members for a shield / heal and go right back to casting your dps spells…
it’s a blast
Sure.
Step #1: Don’t do it, blizzard hates priests right now.
Might find some stuff if ya google “how to priest” It’s where I picked up my disc thinking.
Skill cap high, but for solo questing etc disc beats out shadow IMHO
Holy is pretty much instanced pve for me.
Disc can manage a lot, but does have a bit of trouble with fast spike and nothing to dps.
Main mechanic is shield absorb and put atonment on your folk you are healing, then dps stuff and like your dot and stuff and the damage also ticks / hits all with atonment on it.
Few useful cooldowns.
If in pvp you can get kicked, so master juking and knowing when to burn hard casts and when ya just can’t
Mind control has all kinds of unintended consequences.
One lately is that thing where someone gets a ton of damage if they have something dispelled off them. mind control them, then let someone hit ya with a purge from your group and a big chunk of their health is boom gone.
Lots of fun interactions.
Still mind controling something and just jumping it off a cliff or bridge has a flavor all its own.