Random Holy Priest Questions from a noob priest

Classes Priest
1

First time priest player and while I have done some healing before (back in legion and in another game) I’m basically starting from a clean slate. So far I’ve gotten to level 51 (started at 20 with a mechagnome) and recently decided to focus on holy priest (I enjoyed that more than disc) and chose the night fae covenant. I have questions on some abilities that weren’t covered in the icy-veins/wowhead/warcraftpriests guides.

  1. Power Word: Shield - Not discussed in the guides for Holy but its relevant to the Fae Guardians damage reduction buff. Should I be selfish and use it on myself to get the dmg reduction or should I regularly use it on the tank? I’m pretty sure its just tank or heal and everyone else can go suck it.
  2. Mind Control and Mind Vision - They seem useful in pvp but am I correct in thinking I’ll never use them in a dungeon?
  3. Fade - Does this ability actually do anything? Based on the description I was expecting it to be like the Hunter’s Feign Death but it seems useless; anything that has aggro on me just keeps coming for me no matter what. Attempting to use it proactively (to avoid aggro) doesn’t seem to do squat either.
  4. Renew - Should I be spamming this if I have “nothing better to do”? Or should I be selective on who and when it goes and use those “nothing better to do” times strictly for offensive spells?
  5. Holy Word: Chastise - Holy doesn’t seem to have any interrupts unless I take the censure talent (shining force could also be used as an interrupt but it would screw over AOE abilities too). Even with the censure talent and using this for interrupt purposes should i be using it on CD anyways instead of keeping it in reserve for interrupts?
  6. Holy Word Sanctify and Serenity - the guides say to use these on CD, but it seems like a waste to use them immediately in combat. How soon into combat or at what health should people be at before I use 1 or both of these?
  7. Power Infusion - Once I get this ability, should I always use it on myself? Or is there another time where I shouldn’t be so selfish and share it with others?

This is in the context of dungeon/M+ healing. I might do raid healing at some point but since my healer is only level 51, that’s about a month away for sparsely played alt. I’m not looking to be the “leet holy healer dude” just a “competent holy heal”

Thanks.

2

I’ll give you my opinions:

  1. PW Shield: I’ve always loved this spell as a priest. Even back in Vanilla with warriors hated it because it slowed their rage generator. As NF, when you use Guardians, put it on your tank. With the right conduits, you can move it around some and cheese the effect a little bit. But generally, I reserve it for the tank during Guardians. 20% DR is too nice on a tank.

Otherwise, I use it as a mobile heal on any one. PW:S and Renew while I move around. I’ll also usually PW:S the tank before they pull.

  1. MC & MV. Sometimes MC can cheese certain things, but generally its not used a lot.

  2. It doesn’t do anything prior to pulling agro. It just reduces your threat when you pull agro, making it easier for the tank to get it back. If it appears to not have done anything, that means the tank or DPS has generated almost no threat on the mob in which case it won’t do anything at all until they do.

  3. Renew - I only use renew on people who maybe took some damage, have a DOT on them or something like that, but don’t really need a real heal to stay alive. I’ll use it on the move in conjunction with PW:S. If you don’t have anyone that needs heals, DPS. Holy Fire, Smite, Chastise, SW:P. Always be casting mon!

  4. outside pvp, I use shining force. So I’ll chastise on CD for DPS.

  5. Holy Words - I think use on CD isn’t meant to be literal. For me it just means don’t be afraid to use them frequently. Don’t think of them as a typical CD that you save for big moments. They recover fast enough when you need them and with Apotheosis talent, you can get them back right away if you mistimed the use. So use them frequently as needed. Especially when mobility is needed. Getting an instant big heal off while running is great.

  6. PI - I typically give this to the DPS. Usually a Mage or Boomkin, and i try to use it when they pop their DPS CDs.

I love where Holy is. You have so many tools at your disposal. And even compared to my druid, I honestly feel like a far more mobile healer than any other healer I have. I wish we had some more DPS options, but oh well. Biggest challenge is keybinds and remembering things like using Leap of Faith.

One thing, when you get to 60, try to get Flash Concentration legendary ASAP. It is game changing.

2 Likes
3
  1. Correct. Never use PW:S outside of Fae.
  2. MC good for Mythic+ for bring straggling mobs into group or as a crappy interrupt if your DPS isn’t good.
  3. You use fade to reduce aggro. It brings your aggro to 0 while active and mobs will attack the player with the highest threat after you. If there is no other player with threat, you will still be attacked. You regain all the threat you lost back when the fade is over. It gives good buffer for a tank to build aggro on mobs if your generating too much heal threat. It’s currently most important use is with the endurance conduit that makes fade give you damage reduction.
  4. Don’t use renew outside of high mobility fights. You ALWAYS have something better to do.
  5. Depends on how coordinated your group is.
  6. They are so mana efficient that there is no reason not to use them on CD if people have taken damage. You’re gonna lose more mana in the end by holding these abilities. Doesn’t mean to use them on 100% health targets, just means don’t hesitate on healing with it because you’d rather hold.
  7. Never use on yourself. Only give to DPS when they pop CDs. In uncoordinated groups you can use Weak Aura’s that detect when DPSers have popped their CDs. Combust, Dark Soul, Celestial Alignment, etc. are all good options.
2 Likes
4

PW:Shield during Fae goes to whoever seems to be getting a ton of dmg.
Sometimes could be the tank, sometimes could be you, or maybe a DPS teammate.
If you know someone is gonna get a hard hit you just use it on them. Remember you can move it around so it’s not like you use it on someone and it dies there.

Nope, you won’t use them in a dungeon ever.

This ability is amazing, I miss it a lot when playing other healers. Idk why it doesn’t work with you but for me it does make adds stop going for me. Also if you have the defensive conduit it gives you damage reduction.

Use it on someone who will be getting sustained dmg but don’t prioritize it too much.
It’s a good spell to use it if you’re on the move tho.

I mostly save it for interrupts.

In raid you use them on CD.
In dungeons and M+ you use it on demand. Use it when people are kinda low 40-50% hps.

You might want to use this spell on your DPS when they are bursting, it will pump up their dmg considerably.
You can also use it on yourself if you are in a hard situation and need to spam heals fast.

2 Likes
5

Thanks. This clarifies a lot of stuff.

1 Like
6

Fade is only useful in terms of dropping aggro if another player also has threat on the mob. If you are the only one on the mob’s threat list it won’t do anything.

I generally save it for interrupts when needed.

In terms of healing, “use on CD” has an implied “assuming there are people injured enough to benefit.” When people start dipping below 50% is probably safe

2 Likes
7

When you activate Fae Guardians you automatically get the Benevolent + Guardian faerie on yourself so you only need to cast PWS on the tank if you want to bounce it to them.

You’ll never use Mind Control in any dungeon. Mind Vision can be useful scouting things out.

It completely drops aggro of anything you’re currently in combat with as long as somebody else is on its aggro table. It also has a secondary effect that lowers the range enemies can aggro you so you can sneak past mobs in dungeons or make questing a little easier.

It’s perfectly fine to use Renew to fish for Surge of Light procs and to keep it on a tank in a dungeon.

As Holy you’ll want to take Shining Force instead for dungeons because you can punt trash away from the tank to help them kite and use it as a make shift interrupt as well.

You’ll want to use these when they’re appropriate. So if somebody is at like 50-60% hp you can use Serenity on them. If multiple people are injured you can use CoH and Serenity.

If you install an addon like OmniCD you can track the cds of party members. So if a fire mage uses combust you want to PI them for example.

1 Like
8

Thanks for the info.
Since I use and abuse WA a lot I made a WA for the notifying me I should share PI with someone specific (coded to specific ability usages cast by players assigned to DPS roles in my group and set to only go off once every 30 seconds and not go off at all if Power infusion is on CD)

!WA:2!vIv3UTnYv4vRAqA1nzJJ3MK2fBNQI1XkRQXMKnbiPvfGuASn3irQoKYYQPPsuKJezmnjb)X)KfBbIrVixw4I(c4R7v(rix0RhyuSpa5ripb9md1pw12rQcWMdN57CMZCoFNZmdZT(s7UK9s2V93CIRvGVEqAKf9l(KZmttCcI0ctCd8JleDO2GbX0KCNA6Bb93mW1pPFvSQbMCMvqGNDW((677gs79UXVIThsDImTeA4jK4eZOKvoXoO7U04ytyS3nQr3KddPrT3urVjMi767MSYXamR04KGD71p75bx)VBMgz2L6V3AHEMhsJ2OLsTkTa08gRwmRZILkmbMDyCxpZ4KUME0OKUjU7sR476DLa6NoyanQYJ(Mzrehs98665gNu57)HRAOxuuQgbRkvxrfJiT03S4lRKeLs)i4BQvvQENM645dLuvcuBtT2yY8bRdHLAsQvxa9co8QgiT1rgBIrTvQxB(ISLKH0cyeBHv3qrDduBIKX89fYs15gmQgbcLpdTElshUvHR3sD(Rc56s1W6gAKgZhkbdMdx16kQ1isBOPlnxHQQ1qULUHIM6cavJutrvYaxdjPRl1QUXCLPMe55iDTw1Fgsrv3qswPUIrN5kgUHGoaCnGz0gdSP5BERlHrB0scmrjv95JgtKQpoKiJj6yYZxqH0BQquM)sFDfcgcY4gqDeP6Zhort3ODhsJ7PlOiZvGnikn0G5ayu46If(CfrPAh0wyLfW9OOUL2ZXOTBHvlNL)SPIbgzOSXcKK2aBi1qJ0CtnDL5pvQyq)ei)NSiUjcU6ZRJ11vH)MlyiOIvxe(M(Ms10AJwSclISX)pISc8LryjIXMLrsQ1qCQXIj2ZX4MlGhxVvJgAQiE22g1LweLpsam8FLQiJoejvJfvkfvirqDbw5g89k0MVEH6P1WggZVA1wAk1qYAlqHhbsmPvZfQ0gF3Hr51Jzv9ha7vh7u4OKi3HdPrXF5krJA(JY890z349XP9P7r9t0H9wDp4tpnBZ8UoU2ucFdzBIy4tQgSBFZeu9GHYPWw69Z2npt24WBxToU1ZGDRQxVBvjDJU6TQwfO3SBCW1E4GuFXzmwnUSaE51wBTsfqWp3bOyQh1kz1hwgX7fvPcQ4fvtrKPVn6kw6OehQVqD8FEbwMEil4qdzhaPCwtvZDPOkJNTVvycO)hHeQ01US4P)mc8Gho1ONkGxqWoPHCKvIb)DiCiPvNi8uWtAal3PgMyjDUxHv(LC(jbQZnTtMWkfZ2EbiYT058JPOMXFW)n3dCDEWtEH6ft)Ow8F9kT4j6aClabB1jENPsxQ8dk)Ks8LrDPoq5Hze7Qi5tx)VCg8IdzgfKgsc8OXsXXUd9P2Ron0NrSQj1qIx8)Q9uzXvq6GiQC2Pn3GMya(PvlH(A0h)GPZOjWZ5hK8rD9OGi0chNq)HkZyxZi4fwhZeiNemErXIVe40F)fgrmQtW(WG86gLVuawoM(dP2aMpcOWOGHrWTgmGQlaYIIsiflJUuW2W6Lxyaa(4lxD0dcDZWWJbaUjrJV(kKGxCcWnn0F5WGBpfSjuJ7kxX)qHlkYhjlAIDDbXIOjPr(IzzwVa9Ce4XT5pH)osW5vSJlq4KD4HLd1Ah2DgxEMx8(u4cBj00qB4)tkJ3mIYlJFInLZj5rHOnX1BUER6hN6pQ2FHvy36hzltets4sPX0UM9JdI6Vj10RrGnT37N2N49Zgs9PrUw6ahrZ)0yXdc10(WJ4i5(8ENfbsRZvj3R)(Mb7tJqk(dsJHO3zCyXJhS3XtA(tVx9WBYhCMzOh7xW(LS7eE3QJUQkQ5iEfAvXuu6yUmjWLx3Ph7RyRWUxHWBYVj7EuJSfj3U)xFYhGBbtJ8n92c29dSJx8HDO0qjy6TsiCELZXM(U7kyypH9ZwNTSSFGp9DuZyQEse1FyIZ1pBmpn7EWXu4A42XhXXWDWSNkVRPR)BVzFRaVGisE2VJ97ZAlNp75g5zlZUbRc7P9JHcm0dB(tEWAp8XetVqhZCz9DqwFlDyULoiNy5j6g8v8hRd7Hg(pMSt640SYiXT23E0ZoWto6Th9StgDCefmdkugBI4O7Jwnta0VD0WLknwxxkWoJb2PujotTq)Oaonmh7zxpZs5UKZGc(MUdDs059K5dKYZUj4FzpfqY9qCVbqtJnt4ExQZjafMqhY)we3)T3nCPe6bjDJDmHW)2J(2gH3v0P4FdcIGWw34rnyp94jJDCZ0eutfuGF4NDoTuLBfFxUC5Y)(SEPEdeFMezPwgAH3s0jVUaNoy121oXrwcE9dzZN7buBrNV5SSpXsNrw17eJ)kiX0DWHSRDsMdXa6uwvtfZwMVfihtgW9CJD7dX1teVjCnFxE43XJww(jHF26rUVg9htnTbpJjYWy0moXpCENZyZi8lUGZHNxoX)CMyK9dISBhzgEu7rnoBY0kkwO1YG)fsg54o33sIDTWV8ctqOO43O3USWt44P)2tNhD3xtFuyPRsz2hcL8CT6M4aephi9)Zd)1xf2WiQLlpVo)BVltnhtdyxnjFfFDZiIqntNzWAX2I1(nSTZX6WUg7pXEbqd)ZSDZZ(lcppRlRhZ7Zz9ZXSafyZOSbSHmN(YAggAnyU5yVIDB2o)kMzo2l713HYP2Vr2lW0(Fh56pKFYJv6hdT8OeXBKDt9sCxHL0tgseS71pbYd8t(5S0cNYtT3J64A5rDK5vIwHfNNLE)E9ez9wWwlX9eOgPAhIOpaw)MefSUbOLZoNwA56C0O6RwoHlZBspakgMvWDhFO(PJaFinbodFIyEHGa3AojsKYXJ9Y8pViKR6pWDyHJg)rcDo12nMF6ofyK78P3kp7V1t(1bb7Ml6GrmVtscS2lR(6DY19Fw01oC1MOAOnr8JQGQ1uh12nXbn7wcij(UNKPjaNoic2qaQ6cC(8K9fPASQnZ)nR94hM6AFA6tDxVKwPxjtvaNoFcPoFiJHUoxs(AOVEvcgRgU8yZNNgwZn2eY4SDoHx42n7dMEQRFgxcERWXtQfWU2sXKhT23U2JwAV)Z2)3d

And another WA to whisper someone if I shared it with them (but only if it I successfully cast PI and only if the destination is someone other than myself)

!WA:2!1r1tVnoru8nThwHfGwYHL)kHvrSAxrvfSfv(JehQJsudkTnRTdzrCWzSNNThK9mwZmoTzpWHioSNJe8biN5u(iSh4SveFc6hH9aN5n2MUlvuRiL3))ZV3BEDg0nVlTl95FQuuQZyCqE(e)rdpR)gktvKrw4dxQ3zRkLqfx8JNhhRa9hDNneEuQqowW46WE9pZVVBH9R5qqSqMt0bfbAwo0Y1P4ErLkTi3yXKckrdUWCGRVIuIsjAw0ugvN6CmYkjrAMGRoYvPjsDSmhukscStytmk(twSnPusca(8dqB0GnHtVHOduIszeCgjhS)LV7MkPGsxRsNcClB8Zd40EPe9Pnj7H7n0oIO02Jfxas7H84sfwu24VfIs7h(4p3wbr2HSe7u0mWoSmo(r7T)EtpzO34(U7TpNLT)TK1hzHjZ6fT9vGErbiB9Bnve0kpDfs30YZU2wti2XHXzARWy8pvQ1sTKLKas1B)azl5F7yI5QirEirNjswPkGSmtQV6)2pxPkdRheEy5ZUCBqVJ98d8M0RxFpVRvowcOsxS(gnAjf7jZ8P7xu9gR7vNb7rIexogDL1AtboiJKOomCmUsaYTLki468pBzn5qQY6QAf1tPjy)mRM)vUpZPeLgwuhK1VYUQ9XCyqBFdSDs)rJhmz0QsEBRBv8oM9N5GFd)Pck8h3P4d)FxrBiCnBQ0xIl0GKtY(bekX(7Nwr4S86w9OQ3Aq1h4WfC4farbEAjWt0P3D7)cgnZqCJqWPQLgBmvx1ro5egh9T6OQV6UvFD13u9Ti57EtjoXcUU4EdKSNz)KscfdkX23FnoaCHeZJblNmbH(71GzbOrqxNbPHAsgoFUVBEzMMzTXODoKYIqDoiqhD)khRvgPrzeLA22xZGjS0AnKmeSM5wBWdcvmEsgeo2DyFpF0zhf7zGjklnLOhY8(TxeEAZfHDxlRRqt)6Or01nsKjKF)U4xXNC7hgkKqeZGZ7w8z3Uv0f4AflkqNkbvQiJUqEztE7SgxjbA9zJF9nL)m(oHfVWzu)b(R1IO5ndX3RtWVThJw8XJT9sjsGEZ3ZttXCdYLxiK0PssXYPTeBIL46koPXrXUVS5O3aJitJg61ZTF)ZKlARLqCUhZsSECjJUz6eXKIdfp548t2IN3q)oVO(GM1MgKRxna1PtNDxB2xyTkz8MEh5SwPGS4MBSoN77F(PDvUhEWxEWHDN)xp9Fc
1 Like
9

The first WA notifies you when DPS use their offensive cds? That’s really cool

10

In typical lazy Tinker fashion it’s on a first come, first serve basis for notification. It tells me I should use it on someone and then goes away and stops bothering me.

The way it works is like this: If JoeMasterBlaster the Fire Mage in my party/raid casts Combustion while in combat the icon will appear and “pulse” for 5 seconds with the text “Put PI on JoeMasterBlaster” and then it ignores everyone for 30 seconds, even if I didn’t use Power Infusion, because I just don’t want to keep getting spammed by this icon. It won’t show anything if Power Infusion is already on cooldown though.

The buffer length (30 seconds) as well as the table of spells to watch for are specified on the Actions tab. To update it you do have to be slightly familiar with Lua (the scripting language WoW uses for addons) and to add a spell you have to use the spell name in all upper case. This is to help the code be case-insensitive (Lua sees “xyz” and “XYZ” as different strings since the capitalization doesn’t match). It’s also setup for the American English spellings of abilities and will not work for other languages.

I’m pretty sure it will work. But if it doesn’t, well buyer beware and all that.

11

Nice, thanks for sharing that

12

I use mind control in dungeons all the time. Its a super effective spell for weakening dangerous mobs before a pull or moving caster mobs into the AOE pile.

13

I won’t bother re-answering those questions, but as a holy priest, you can expect to totally struggle getting into groups. It feels like applying for a damn job just to do a decent dungeon, unless you’re in a guild maybe. I’d go sham, druid, or paly if I were you…

14

IO score matters more than anything when you’re trying to get into groups.

15

It does, but apparently not as much as class. In LFD, people want sham, paly, or druid. You can’t get the IO if you can’t get into groups. It’s like getting a job. You can’t get experience because you can’t get a job and can’t get the job because you can’t get experience lol.

16

I personally haven’t had any issues getting into groups (pugged over 200 keys).

We’re at a new season and scoring system so it’s a good time to pump your IO score early because there’s going to be alot of people running keys.

17

Kudos. Ya, I often ask people why I didn’t get an invite, and if they do respond it isn’t the IO.

18

I personally feel like you shouldn’t be asking people about why you’re not getting invited. That’s like opening a can of worms.

19

It’s fine if you feel that way. This is what I have found. Anyhow, priest is the only class I like playing so it doesn’t change anything for me.

20

Take a long walk off a short pier with that worthless, toxic comment

Push your own keys. You don’t worry about invites, it’s way more fun, you have more control, and once you understand that io score is useless but the io dungeon history on their website is gold, your success ratio will be higher.