As Disc. For some reason I just can’t figure it out. I can never keep my group up. I’ve done multiple dungeons as Disc in the legion dungeons and each one I get super frustrated and switch to holy because its easy mode. And honestly I pull better DPS as holy as keeping people alive is super easy to the point that I can spam holy fire and smite. What am I doing wrong here? It has to be a learn to play issue but I really don’t get it >.<
Let me be real with you: Disc scales horribly at lower levels. At least, that’s been my experience.
I comfortably heal Heroic Ny’alotha and my weekly M+ (10-11 right now). Every time timewalking comes around and we get scaled down, I change to Holy (sans Azerite gear for it) because Disc becomes a brick spec. Atonement healing is negligible, and you’ll find it’s more efficient to spam Shadowmend than try to apply Atonement and Smite—which was my first clue, considering Shadowmend unbuffed via trait/essence heals for a paltry amount, but is a chunky heal when scaled down.
This reflects the experience I had while leveling, which forced me to immediately swap Holy for any dungeon. I thought at the time it was me, still learning the spec as I leveled, but TW has made me think it isn’t. Disc also really relies on azerite traits right now (Enduring Luminescence and Depth of the Shadows) to make it functional, which you only get access to in BFA leveling.
So I’ve come to learn it isn’t necessarily a player problem but a scaling one. It’s unfortunate, but you’re better of dungeoning as Holy until you get some Azerite gear under your belt.
Thank you for your reply. I was honestly baffled at how low my HPS was without spamming shadowmend. I guess I will hang out in holy for the time being until I get into azerite gear in BFA. Cheers mate!
Disc absolutely has huge scaling issues while leveling, but I thought the OP said Legion dungeons. The scaling isn’t that bad by Legion.
Tahtah, it’s really hard to speak to what you might be doing wrong if we don’t know what you’re DOING. Are you trying to just heal through shields, or are you mixing in dps and Shadow Mend? Are you using mouseovers? Do you have clear indicators of who has atonement? What’s your talents?
This is the toon I’m leveling. I try to get at least 2 or 3 shields out before casting damaging spells. Then shadow mend for spot healing and radiance or aoe healing, but even then it just feels like I can’t keep anybody up effeciently. I schism into solace after radiance for AOE healing but even then I barely see HP bars move 
and then of course I try to purge the wicked into a penance for splashing but I’m tempted to try another talent in that row just for better HPS. ALso kind of a dumb question, but should I avoid penance on enemies and try to use it as a tank heal?
Also the biggest thing that might be my issue is I don’t have any mouseovers. Probably really effecting my HPS.
Personally, I think Disc is near unplayable without mouseovers. That right there is probably half of it, since it sounds like otherwise your casts are reasonable. You need to be able to switch between targets, and between healing and dps, on the fly. You’re taking the offensive build (Schism-Sins), I’d recommend giving the safe build a try (ToF-Shadow Covenant) until you’re feeling more comfortable with the spec.
As for Penance, it’s really dependent on the situation, but I use it offensively most of the time, only defensive if I’m on the move and the tank is dropping fast (otherwise Shadow Mend is usually better).
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I’ll give that a go thank you!
Ideally you’re using mouseovers and/or a healing addon. I use Healbot (I’m set in my ways, have been priest healing since BC) and put up with all its quirks, but a lot of people enjoy Vuhdo, which basically is a mouseover addon. I mainly keep PW:S as a mouseover macro:
#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][help,nodead][@player] Power Word: Shield
Penance should always be used offensively, as the defensive use is rather weak (Contrition, despite recent tweaks to the spec, remains the weakest of the row, and Schism/Twist of Fate still outweigh Castigation).
Main handicap of Disc while in leveling dungeons as well is you really need to be proactive about damage, rather than reactive. No one really cares about mechanics or timing (or not taking avoidable damage right to the face) in leveling dungeons, and unless you run additional versions of DBM, you aren’t getting dungeon timers to time your burst phases.
Again, it’s a bummer, but Holy is the best spec to heal leveling dungeons. Once you hit BFA content, give Disc another try, because it’s truly one of the most engaging and rewarding healing specs once you’ve figured out how to make it work for you!
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Small update. I gave Disc another go after setting up a mouseover macro for PW:S and it makes a WORLD of difference. I found a lot more success. I used twist of fate and Shadow covenant, but I might switch back to schism and sins of the many as I feel it wasn’t as useful to my playstyle. The mouseover alone DRASTICALLY smoothed out my healing and damage.
I have no experience at all with macros so I did have a question. How do I format a macro for mouseover shadowmend? I pulled the mouseover macro for PW:S straight from icy veins but they don’t have one for shadowmend.
Thank you so much for the tips guys! You have been a HUGE help!!
Edit: While holy still feels easier, I feel like I want to go ahead and try to fight through the struggle and get accustomed to the playstyle 
The same macro set up can usually be used for similar spells. So the one I provided as an example up there or the one you pulled from Icyveins can just have “Power Word: Shield” replaced with “Shadow Mend” and should work fine, as they are both beneficial spells that can be used on yourself and allies (thus the text need not change). I’d also recommend setting up Purify as a mouseover macro, too, for quick dispells.
Glad to hear you’re having a better time!
Edit: Oh, and I have Leap of Faith on a mouseover macro, too, bound to my R key for real easy access. You won’t believe how useful the spell can be for saving your teammates! Or yanking them off elevators. To each their own.
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