I’ve been playing a healing priest in Classic and I realized I really miss just straight up healing as a priest and not the DPS style of disc (even though I do enjoy that sometimes too).
But like, every time I check on holy priest they’re always at the bottom of every tier list and barely anyone plays it in keys. Is it like, actually viable to play a holy priest still? Like I don’t really wanna push high keys, my biggest goal is getting KSM at most. Is that possible as a holy priest even though they’re the bottom tier healer? Does it make trying to do keys feel more stressful playing a bottom tier healer, too?
If I just wanna do some kinda challenging dungeon content casually as a healer but still be chill and relaxed, can I do that as a holy priest even though they’ve been consistently ranked bottom tier for healers in keys? I very much miss being able to do this in earlier iterations of the game, healing priests have always been a staple in this game for many.
couple things… you def can do them as holy if ksm is your aim. they do well enough for that no problem. I run with one in my rl friends group and he doesn’t struggle but they dont really run above 8s rn. hell yesterday i was trying to fill my vault with 10s on my 625 rdruid alt and a few times they were taking holy priests over me lol. so you def can do it!
other point is in regards to ‘just wanna do challenging content casually but still be chill and relaxed’ …id say youre better off trying to find a ksm push group in the discord for a more chill time. Keys can be intense af for any healer pugging in this season. maybe the op rings will make things a lot easier in a couple weeks but sometimes i feel stressed to the brink in pug keys. just depends on the group really.
gl out there though. i believe you can get ksm on holy priest no question.
Short answer, yes, you can. It depends on how far you want to go. Holy is capable of some very silly throughput but lacks solid defensive abilities for high end keys (not the keys I’m running). Holy does very well in a raid environment as well so that is a non issue. But yes you absolutely can get ksm and ksh as a holy. Of course there will always be a stronger option for a dungeon healer, but I also believe that as an individual you will always perform better with what you want to play versus what you feel pressured to play.
Holy & Archon was fun and showing promise for awhile, then I was gone for a few weeks and it just couldn’t keep up. I’m guessing they nerfed it, but I was too disinterested to look up exactly what changed. I’m really tired of the tuning pendulum smashing from OP to useless so quick.
Is holy priest more of a reactive healer or a proactive healer would you say? I am not enjoying some of the healing changes lately to make most healers more proactive and have to memorize all the damage patterns for every mob in dungeons. I miss playing a healer how it used to be in the game and just reacting to damage and healing it. It feels like it’s a lot harder to learn a dungeon as you play through it more as a healer so I gave up and switched to DPS in retail.
Holy priest are one of the strongest spot healers in the game right now.
In raids, Holy is there to rotate thier cds with mechanics and focus healing on those dealing with mechanics while other healers aoe heal. Holy spot healing helps keep people alive through harder parts.
M+ is a different beast. Spot healing js great in lower keys to help compensate for bad play from team mates and where you see thier heslth spike. The problem is spot healing becomes less benificial when the entire team is taking damage, then stronger AOE healing is needed and that where Holy lacks.
Low keys = damage doesnt kill = needing to be topped quickly = bad for Disc better for Holy
Higher Key = damage kills = focus swaps from spot healing those low to now more inportant aoe team damage gets healed through = bad for Holy Great for Disc.
It’s totally fine and excels at healing 1-2 targets. What really starts to hurt it in higher keys is:
Lack of mobility while casting
No poison cleanse (some seasons this is worse than others)
No real group heals to speak of
No kick
If you want to feel totally useless as a healer, try healing through the big mini-boss beetle at the top of the stairs in CoT as a Holy Priest.
As soon as I started going from 10s to 11s, it got painful and I changed mains to Pres Evoker.
@OP
To piggy back on this post, damage does mean alot, but while other healers are able to deal damage while healing, Holy does damage or healing.
Disc cast smite for attonement healing
Pallies Judge for more combo points and healing
Fist Monks…punch things for healing
For Holy Priest, its cast damage or healing not both. This puts them lower down compared to other healers as they can add more to the group overall dps than a Holy priest can. This doesnt mean dont do dps aswell, Chastise is a Holy Word aswell and procs all your holy Word based talents/interactions.
Sorry for the late reply. Holy is a reactive healer. And I hear what you’re saying! I spent a long time playing holy paladin which is also a reactive healer, so for me something like resto druid feels foreign.
Okay adding onto this, if I dip my toes into disc as well, when does it start to feel like I can actually keep people up? Because I just hit 80 on my priest and I healed some normal dungeons to 80 as holy just fine. But I switched to try out disc for one dungeon and it was like even getting my rotation out I felt like I just could not keep people up at all. I just hit 80 so my gear sucks though, but I was just doing a normal dungeon and the tank was just running off without me.
What ilvl does disc start to feel decent and like maybe stronger than holy? Because I genuinely felt a lot stronger as holy.
I main Holy Priest, but have R Druid and R Sham as alts. I only do keys on my Priest. Priest has been my main healer for the most part since Wrath. Just came back after a long hiatus.
I find as a HPriest, keys are very hit or miss. In a group with GOOD (players, not damage output) DPS, I am almost bored. Yes, some fights require intense AOE healing, but I’m usually good. Groups with TERRIBLE DPS are a whole different story. Suddenly I don’t know how to play the game, etc. Over-Pulling is also an issue.
I think part of the problem is maybe some people don’t realize I’m holy and not disc. Nobody has asked. I’m guessing people just assume I’m Disc since it’s meta. Overall, the standing issue I’m having is terrible players. If they want to take avoidable damage, that’s on them. I have limited heals when moving, and some fights that just blows for Holy…
They’re viable, but they’re a low pickrate because Disc is able to put out enough healing while providing respectable damage alongside it. Holy heals “too much” - their sheer numbers probably outpace most other healing specs, but that’s it. And their sheer numbers are higher than a good team would reasonably need, so they take a Disc Priest who does half the healing but three times the damage because that’s still enough healing.