Holy Vs Disc

Classes Priest
1

With 9.2 coming up I’m curious how the options are looking. I have a resto shaman and have played resto druid before off and on but i have never delved into the world of priests. I am looking to make one (the mogs are enough to keep me interested lol). Even though I’ve never played a priest, the idea of disc has always sounded appealing. I do hear it gets boring, though, which surprises me.

If you were going to roll a priest in anticipation of 9.2 which would you be more inclined to choose? The play would be largely PvE, I may occassionally do PvP but it isnt my main focus. So, anything related to mythic +, raiding, etc is what I’m looking into.

Interested to hear your opinions, thanks!

2

I just started playing Holy and it’s incredible. They are HPS machines!!! I have been healing M+ with ease.

3 Likes
3

Hard to say until the patch rolls out and they stop messing with tuning. If it’s like 9.1, I would have recommended Disc. for PvP and Holy for PvE. But that doesn’t mean either spec. isn’t viable in the other mode of play. Holy does quite well in PvP. Disc. in PvE, well, I’d say go for it if you really like the spec., do Mythic raids, or roll with organized groups in M+ where not a lot of damage is taken/no missed interrupts/high dps.

If you like a reactive healer with stronger triage single target healing and just a more mana efficient, pure healing spec., then Holy is the way to go.

If you like a proactive healer doing damage to simultaneously blanket heal your allies for more modest amounts after putting Atonement on them, Disc. is the way to go. Disc. tends to do more damage than Holy as damage is required for Atonement healing. However, this spec. is more punishing if you fall behind by failing to anticipate incoming damage. Disc. also kind of requires a larger group to best leverage Atonement healing (more people to heal). Outside of Salvation, Holy core throughput abilities don’t scale as much as Disc. with group size.

2 Likes
4

There is a reason holy shines over disc in heroic 30 mans my friend, because disc doesnt scale beyond 20 and holy does. So im not sure i agree with you on that. hymn and salv work well in 30 man setting where disc can suffer, which is why disc is more a mythic spec then heroic normal spec

1 Like
5

Holy is easier to play correctly (IMO), and is getting enormous buffs for next patch.

6

Outside of Salvation…and yes Hymn too. Point I was making that outside of those abilities, the majority of your healing will be the same for a 5 target group or a 20 target group. Whereas Disc. reaches it’s limit upon Atonements expiring before any healing can be done and continues to scale up to 20.

I rarely join anything larger than 18 people and see them far less often than smaller group sizes. It generally gets laggy and turns into a cluster when it gets too large.

7

Holy scales better with larger group sizes past 18-20.

That’s just false considering Holy’s mastery.

8

Indeed, the buffs are part of the reason I’m more inclined to try Holy. It looks like it’ll be really good coming up with 9.2.

9

Why are people quoting out of context and/or ignoring it? Mathematically, how does the throughput of a fixed percentage HOT from a Heal on a single target in a 5 man group change in a 20 man group? How does Echo of Light affect any other core ability in different group sizes OUTSIDE of Hymn and Salvation?

10

It can be ticking on more than 5 players at a time.

11

So. What’s the difference in the total Echo of Light between 6 successive casts of the same spell (Heal, Flash Heal, Renew, Prayer of Healing, Prayer of Mending, IDC what you pick) onto one target and a single spell cast successively on 6 different targets? What about 10 of those spells on one target or 1 single spell on 10 different people?

12

Not sure what you are looking fro there… but ive been drinking. But i will try. If you cast like 2-3 flash, you have echo of light there, plus then a circle of healing, so suddenly you have 7-8 echos going, into a prayer of healing in 9.2. Echo of light can be your top heal as a rule and with divine hymn leaving echo on all 30 people it adds up to a lot

13

So. Don’t you guys know Echoes of Light work like Devouring Plagues in that any remaining damage, or in this case healing, over time will be added to a refreshed damage/healing over time effect?

14

I personally love discipline and think it’s the most engaging spec in the game. It’s also the most rewarding spec to play well imo. I have over 200 keys time over 15 and haven’t got bored yet. Groups are very different and having cooldowns like power infusion, mass dispel, divine star, and barrier is so nice

15

It gets boring raiding for sure as disc–especially if you play with the same group all the time. You learn the boss fight and pattern, then rinse and repeat–and that gets dull. Because disc has mana issues you have to sit on your hands at times or you go oom, too, so people say disc can get very dull because of that. Basically, raiding, you end up pushing your buttons for certain things, and then you sit on your hands, then go again, or just smite between the dances. Basically, you learn when to counter what, and then do it and then do your thing and then sit on your hands. Mind you, in my case, I have pugged a lot and when pugging found you can experiment a lot more vs with a guild that locks you into doing exactly this and exactly that. Versus holy though, it is a lot more limited. With holy you have a lot more room to do things this or that way, but you often will not pump the damage you can as disc. So there is a trade off.

Oh, another thing when comparing disc to holy is that holy is the most resilient of all healers. That is, they die the least of all healers. Disc is actually the opposite–in that they die the most of all healers. As for the whys and wherefores, I am not completely sure, but think it is for a few reasons–like mobility and having a different spell set (holy has potent spells for saving anyone including yourself), but wont get into that unless you want my detailed thoughts on that.

In the end, all healers can be dull though–once you learn the fight pattern. With disc, it just happens sooner. I will say this though, if you pug it is a lot less boring. Each group does things differently, so that can add an element of challenge.

As for M+? I find disc to be super fun in M+ and the most fun of all healers there. And again, if you pug M+ it can be incredibly fun because you never know how things are going to go, and you get this added element of challenge because you have to adapt to the different groups. While some find this a problem, you sound like you are like me and like that.

That said, unfortunately, disc does not pump the damage of the meta healers, h pala and r shammy. And there is something of a stigma when it comes to inviting priests. Hence, if you pug, while it can be more fun than meta, you tend to get less and less fast invites the higher the key. Also, I think holy is terrible in M+. It was fun in BFA when you could pump healing with Prayer of Healing and dps a lot between casts while Echo of Light was ticking. Now you are simply a spot healer with Flash Concentration–which I personally can’t stomach because of how dull it gets.

16

Honestly if we had a better way to apply atonement (cough) PLEA (cough) it wouldnt feel so awkward in raids. I’ve always looked at holy as the big cd burst healing that compares to shaman and druids. Disc has always felt like the sustain healing class. just applying atonement and passively healing as the fight goes on. I like that, but not everyone does.

17

It really depends on your healing style! I prefer Holy because it is more reactive, whereas Disc is primarily prevention. You have to really pay attention to the fight and there is a higher risk of wiping if you miss a big hit of damage.

18

On 9.2 that will mostly depend on how the new patch mechanics will balance the classes:

  1. Tier sets
  2. Double legendary

Havent checked holy on PTR but it looks a bit like the tier set and talent changes may shift the class to a different legendary (for raids). On the current tier, for raids holy is probably the weaker output healer (resto druid and mistweaver does better) - but still a good healer.

Disc looks great for raids on 9.2 (both tier sets and legendary interactions are good). The new upgrades point to more frequent ramps or even more unpredictable cooldown management. Which fixes a big issue on the current tier: low healing outside of ramps, and boring gameplay.

New disc tier also does a decent buff on damage (for m+).

19

Holy is the way to go man, I couldn’t play anything else. I’m at 238 ilvl right now and am getting to the point where I feel like a god

1 Like
20

The thing about disc is the damage. Also the damage prevention and reduction. Also, the absorb factor. The four of them make them meta in raids. It is harder to learn though, by a mile. Holy is also a very resilient healer, disc dies a lot more.

As for M±-disc also outshines holy by a mile. Mostly because damage is a given if the healer is competent. With holy, you have to make a concerted effort to pump damage, and weave it in between your healing spells–Holy Nova aside.

1 Like