i can only heal with holy in M+, if i heal with disc in M+ , game messed up. i can’t heal properly when it comes to area healing. how do you heal with Disc with area?
There are numerous posts here to look over to find the answer to your question and icy veins guide is done by a reputable priest
I was in the same boat, I couldn’t do even +2s as a disc priest and even then I was barely pooping any damage cause I was too busy drinking for mana and spamming shadowmend. But I swapped to holy and I’m doing +5s and above now and I My guess is that its that pugs are still learning the dungeon mechanics
Holy works better in pugs and groups that are less experienced because the healing throughput should be higher then disc in a 5 man.
Holy is more of a carry spec wheres disc is typically a progression spec that is better suited to a knowledgeable group
In saying that 90% of disc players that complain about it are generally doing something wrong
Yeah I think you’re 100% right. But on a solid run, as Disc you can easily beat the tanks DPS its makes a humongous different for single target fights especially bosses. I think it’ll be even better next week when the bosses become strong not the mobs
As a returning disc priest, here how I’ve categorized the two healing specs:
Holy is great at reactionary healing when people take sudden damage. Lots of healers had heard or uttered the phrase, “You can’t heal stupid.” Well, Holy can. Holy is best in uncoordinated groups that take avoidable damage.
Disc is more of a proactive healer. You need to predict when damage comes out before it happens. It also does poorly when things go south and you have to play catch up. But, in a coordinated group, disc is amazing. When people can easily avoid or mitigate incoming damage, then the little damage they do take is easily handled by disc, and they can help even more with their damage which can be on par with tanks.
This is the main thing. Also group make up. That guy that constantly stands in the green stuff… You have to let him go at some point. He will throw off the whole cenergy of disc. SS will help a lot. Soon as you know things are fixing to go down, pop it and get as many shields on everyone that you can. You can recover a group, its just not easy. Pain suppression will stop that dude from going into the ground, Infusion will give you the speed to get the damage or mends out you need to get everyone back up. Its a tricky play style that balances damage and healing but I would bet that if you stick to it, you will figure it out instead of going holy.
I have liked Disc ever since I made this guy. Its hard, I bang my fist on the keyboard because I slipped or could have done something different but I always stick with it. Many of my runs too though just isnt even a healer problem. Its a group problem where one or a couple of the members just are not geared to be in the + they are in. Tried to help some guild members this weekend and push a 165 tank through a +2… it didnt go well at all.
Disc has a substantially higher skill floor than other healers.
The biggest thing I think people misunderstand about disc is it’s not about damage does healing. It’s about CDs. If you’re not regularly using PS/Barrier/Rapture you’re doing something HORRIBLY wrong. Your defensives are how you prevent yourself from falling behind. Try to also never use PS+barrier on a pull, if you have a scuffed pull, you’ll want to pair one of the mitigations with rapture.
That being said DPS tend to be what makes or breaks most runs, especially on higher keys. Mobs need to be properly interrupted/cc’d, and you need enough damage output to burn packs fast enough.
M+ is VERY MUCH a team effort, and if one aspect (tank/healer/dps) falls behind, it effects the other. The more you understand the mobs/fights/your party members the easier it is to tell where the problem lies.