Priest healing 10man heroics in DS

[Brzzt]

I play both holy and disc fairly well for a low progressed realm (I am by no means a top player and have perfect gameplay lol). I find I can play both in Dragon Soul in the limited time we've been in there and be fine in either spec. We cleared 8/8 normal mode in the first week and started heroics this week where we killed only 1/8 heroic so far (Morchok) My question is fairly simple without going into details unless you want them..

Should a priest be AA spec and have to play disc in 10man due to DPS requirements?

I am being told I'll need to heal as an AA disc specced priest in order to meet DPS requirements and they'll require me pulling 10k DPS.

Does this sound right for 10man? Is this needed? Or is my guild's overall raid DPS just too low? What about 10mans that don't have a healing priest, how do they get by without one if it is so needed.

Confused :-(

(I guess the reason I'm asking is because I've played as a holy priest main spec since back in BC when I decided to make priest my main, and with all the ups and downs (mostly downs) that holy priest has seen over the expansions and tiers where disc was stronger, I stuck it out. Holy is finally made into something viable and strong and I'm being asked to DPS as AA because the raid needs it.)

[roxodon]

I've never considered AA as any kind of "dps" specc. What you do is heal. You heal and you heal. You use HF and smite as filler or when there isn't anything to do. If the DPS is off it's quite simple, your DPSers have to dps more or you'll have to switch a healer for a dps.

I'm no expert, but you shouldn't consider atonement as a dps choice.

[arfur]

they are terrible just for implying that.

It's all about the archangel buff. That's it. Sure there are encounters such as halfus (pre change) maloriak, sinestra we busted out alot of dps on the egg as evangelism holy hehe, domo and deathwing where you can chip in a bit, especially if there is that much downtime. but honestly... they are out of their minds implying you need to factor in your dps. It's about the healing buff. nothing more.

[Envied]

You as a Disc Priest are neither a raid healer nor a "DPSer". Your role within your raid group is to presume all incoming damage and mitigate it as much as possible. Whether that comes from Aegis stacking via ProH or PW:Shield, the choice is yours, but NEVER should you be asked to pull 10k DPS (assisting with it on fights like Ultraxion or when there is downtime is the exception).


As AA/A spec, I believe you start at with Smite x2, Holy Fire, Smite x2 and then you proc your AA. From here on out, it's up to you to decide what happens next. If there is no huge incoming damage, then keep smiting/HF away at the boss, while keeping your PW:Shield up on your tank(s) to proc your Rapture off it's CD. Your raid leader must have bumped his or her little head and gone crazy. Either or, you should ask them to provide you with a current WoL link of a Disc Priest within a 10M raiding enviroment who is pulling 10k DPS purely from smite/HF... it just isn't going to happen, nor should it.