Part 3 - M+ Issues
Disclaimer:
To start, during Seasons 1 and 2, I pushed high keys on Holy but never attained the seasonal title, mainly due to burnout from running keys halfway through the season. I primarily pug and eventually you hit a wall and finding a consistent group that doesn’t disband after 1-2 weeks is pretty hard.
In Season 3, I transitioned to playing Disc for M+ (while still raiding as Holy). I chose to switch primarily because of my dissatisfaction with how Holy was treated at the start of 10.2 and the significant overhauls to Disc, which resolved many of the issues I had with that spec.
Since I have knowledge of both specs I’ll be able to make some comparisons.
M+ Issue #1 Part 1 - Lack of AOE heals and over reliance on single target heals
Holy is currently entirely reliant on casting single target heals to get through every healing situation, especially after receiving a +40% buff to them this season.
Holy Word Serenity, Flash Heal (including Trail of Light), Divine Image (Healing Light), and Echo of Light healing comprise around 70%+ of your total healing in M+. The remaining percentage consists of Prayer of Mending, Holy Word Sanctify, and other heals.
Compared to Disc or many other healers, Holy lacks significantly in the set-and-forget AOE healing department. Holy Priests have only Holy Word Sanctify, which requires everyone to stand in the same spot, Prayer of Mending, which has limited charges, and Circle of Healing which doesn’t do a lot of healing.
Due to the scarcity of group heals, Holy Priests need to cast on average of 50-100% more spells to achieve the same amount of healing in the group as Monks, Disc Priests, and Holy Paladins. A comparison of logs reveals that an H Priest can cast 400+ spells in some dungeons, while a Disc Priest will cast almost half that amount.
The primary reason for this discrepancy is that when multiple people are <90% HP, Holy Priests need to manually top them off one at a time, whereas Disc Priests can keep Atonement up and heal them passively for free.
How to address this issue? See below.
M+ Issue #1 Part 2 - Addressing the lack of group healing
Holy requires enhancements in its group healing capabilities.
- Divine Hymn needs a significant buff for M+. Currently, it pales in comparison to Ultimate Penitence, which provides 2.5 times the healing and a 50% absorb shield. Allowing movement while channeling and substantially increasing Divine Hymn’s healing potency would be beneficial.
- Allow us to do light group heals while casting DPS spells. This doesn’t entail a full-blown Disc approach but rather allowing Smite or Holy Fire to heal a random person for a percentage of its damage. This helps in healing situations where a few Smite casts can top off individuals at 80% HP without wasting GCDs on Flash Heal.
- Introduce passive group healing akin to Tyr’s Deliverance. Implementing an ability like Lightwell, which emits constant AOE heals to the group over a prolonged duration, would address light healing situations and counter RoT auras.
- Alternatively, double the charges of Prayer of Mending in M+. Currently, the issue with Prayer of Mending is that it disappears instantly if there’s a rot aura.
- Provide easier access to Divine Word. Combining Divine Word with Sanctify through Divine Image and Miracle Worker would create a potent combo.
- Buff Prayer of Healing in M+. Its current potency is inadequate, providing only 30-50k healing per target when everyone has HP pools of 800k+.
Overall, the aim should be to reduce the necessity of casting Flash Heal 200+ times in a dungeon.
M+ Issue #2 - Mana Problems
The mana contrast between Disc and Holy is stark. With the current 4-piece bonus on Disc, you can achieve a 40-50% uptime on Mindbender and easily attain over 400k mana per dungeon.
In contrast, Holy relies mainly on Throes of Pain, Symbol of Hope, and a 3-minute Shadowfiend. Compared to Disc, it’s very easy to run out of mana if you’re not careful.
Holy needs a better method of mana regeneration that doesn’t involve manually tab-targeting every single mob and casting SWP. On Disc, you can spread Purge the Wicked (your SWP equivalent) around with Penance for free.
Holy could benefit from something similar and/or a more efficient passive mana regeneration method comparable to Disc’s.
M+ Issue #3 - Clunky Empyreal Blaze Gameplay
Having to cast the same ability three times in a row with Empyreal Blaze feels clunky. It would be preferable to unleash one big burst of AOE or have a set-and-forget ground AOE. Additionally, Empyreal Blaze lacks unique animations or sound effects.
M+ Issue #4 - Lack of Group Utility
Holy significantly lacks M+ utility compared to Disc.
Disc possesses Lenience (-3% group-wide damage reduction), Power Word Barrier (group-wide defensive), Rapture (allows you to absorb shield the group), and Pain Suppression (with 2 charges).
In contrast, Holy only has Guardian Spirit and Symbol of Hope (which was significantly nerfed). How can this issue be addressed?
- Add an interrupt for Holy/Disc.
- Reinstate Shining Force for Holy/Disc.
- Revert the nerfs to Symbol of Hope for M+.
- Consider a significant buff to the healing bonus provided by Divine Hymn for M+ (perhaps +50% healing taken).
- Reintroduce Fae Guardians.
- Provide Holy with a battle-res or some form of unique utility that Disc/Shadow doesn’t possess.
- I’m sure everyone has more ideas.
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To do… Part 4 - Raid Issues.