Healing So Far

[Elethia]

Jhaz, I'd love to get your input on the progression of Disc and Holy thus far in MoP. Early on, I know many priests felt Disc was ineffectual for most encounters—Gara'jal being the main exception. We've seen a big turn around since the hotfixes, with Holy becoming, as you put it, "the underdog".

I know Paragon's WF H WoE saw you as a Holy Priest. Were you Holy for any of Paragon's other first kills?

Did you feel Disc was seeing too great a disparity in healing? There are some who have said Disc will always be worth bringing because of its excellent utility—the ability to preempt with absorbs and the very-powerful-when-stacked Barrier.

What about now? Do you feel the second hotfix, buffing Rapture and DA, was too much? Do you think Holy needs a second buff, or do you feel it's in a good place and other healers need to be reined in? How does Holy's regen/mana consumption feel to you?

Thanks for any and all answers. :D

[Jhazrun]

Were you Holy for any of Paragon's other first kills?

I wasn't, no.

Did you feel Disc was seeing too great a disparity in healing?

Well, it certainly wasn't a lot of fun.

There are some who have said Disc will always be worth bringing because of its excellent utility—the ability to preempt with absorbs and the very-powerful-when-stacked Barrier.

Utility without power has no place in 10s where you constitute up to 50% of healers. Moreover, in 10s Barrier is just kind of... there, and I usually forget I even have it.

What about now? Do you feel the second hotfix, buffing Rapture and DA, was too much?

Combined with improving gear, they're presenting some issues with scaling. It's possible that Rapture might be taking a chill-pill before the next raid tier.

Do you think Holy needs a second buff, or do you feel it's in a good place and other healers need to be reined in? How does Holy's regen/mana consumption feel to you?

I haven't tried out Holy with the additional +10% on Chakras, but chances are its mana will continue to feel awful with neither Disci's regen nor the other healers' free resources.

[Cyvus]

The system of night-day phases on Tsulong would lead one to think Holy "feels" better.

Given you were Discipline, unless I read incorrectly, how did you feel?

Obviously it worked, but any other thoughts?

[Jhazrun]

The system of night-day phases on Tsulong would lead one to think Holy "feels" better.

I'm not sure I see the connection. Help me up to speed, will you?

[Cyvus]

The need for AoE-single target swap to accommodate the phase changes seemed natural for the Sanctuary-Serenity system.

[Jhazrun]

The need for AoE-single target swap to accommodate the phase changes seemed natural for the Sanctuary-Serenity system.

Going through different Chakras might be awfully cute, but you're not actually gaining anything over when you just get to sit in one all the way.

Chakra isn't an asset. That Chakra doesn't screw you over isn't a point for Holy, but a pre-requirement to even consider the spec in the first place. So you've got a hypothetical ideal boss where all your spells benefit and you're able to function at 100% throughout the entire fight? Cool. So can every other healer since forever. You're now at the starting line, not the finish. What is it you can DO that Disci can't with vastly greater resources?

[Cyvus]

It's always about regen...

How bleh.

Ty for enlightening me.

[Drivird]

Hi Jhazrun, I've always been playing a DISC priest but latey I've been annoyed by it and have switched to holy, which I now like best in raid. I've never been an outstanding player but I'd like to understand game mechanics and so on, so I'd like to ask you if you believe that for 10 man raiding

1 - using PW: Solace, shadowfiend and Hymn of Hope as mana generation tools
2 - reaching the haste point where i get +1 glyphed renew tick and putting all the available spare pints in mastery
3 - selecting Power Infusion or Twist of Fate to reduce even more mana consumption when possible
4 - sporting 12k spirit + lightweave embroidery + Jade Spirit enchant + 1275 spirit from flask and food, no spirit trinket procs
5 - using blue chackra (because I am on raid healing duty)

one can have enough resources to keep up with similarly geared DISC? I am at the moment doing very well on Garalon, that's why I hope that maybe i can do good on other fights as well.

Which other healer(s) do you believe interact best with a Holy priest?

Thanks a lot for the answer!

[Jhazrun]

1 - using PW: Solace, shadowfiend and Hymn of Hope as mana generation tools

I'm pretty sure you can't afford to cut off your HPS for Solace anywhere where you'd actually need the mana. Also, Hymn's 9% mana on a 6-minute cooldown is so negligible that it's really better used just to get 8 secs of free healing when you're already at 0 mana by letting it tick once and then spamming until the buff expires. In the talent tier I personally prefer FDCL, as I'm in yellow chakra for 99% of my time as Holy in 10s.

2 - reaching the haste point where i get +1 glyphed renew tick and putting all the available spare pints in mastery

Yellow chakra has a curious interaction with glyphed Renew. Refreshing a 3-tick Renew restarts it at the regular 4 ticks (while still benefiting from the glyph), plus up to an additional tick for the remainder of the current period. With only 12.5% haste (3039 rating with raid buff), a simple Heal-into-Renew combo leaves you with a six-tick, 133%-power HoT.

3 - selecting Power Infusion or Twist of Fate to reduce even more mana consumption when possible

Well, Divine Insight is awful, so one of the above is hardly surprising.

4 - sporting 12k spirit + lightweave embroidery + Jade Spirit enchant + 1275 spirit from flask and food, no spirit trinket procs

Hold on right there! Tailoring embroideries grant Spirit at a 1.5:1 ratio to Intellect, whereas flasks and food at only 1:1. Wasting stat budget on inefficient flask-Spirit makes no sense if you're going to pass on Darkglow anyway. Unless you're specifically going all-out on either Spirit or Intellect, Darkglow with INT-flask/food gives you the most efficient mix.

5 - using blue chackra (because I am on raid healing duty)

In tens, rolling Renews on multiple targets with efficient single-target heals (plus Cascade for a raid-wide refresh) is raid healing. Without distractions I could push out 100k HPS or more just by chain-casting Heal, and that was before the chakra buff. Blue chakra is a trap.

one can have enough resources to keep up with similarly geared DISC? I am at the moment doing very well on Garalon, that's why I hope that maybe i can do good on other fights as well.

Yellow-chakra Holy can easily keep up as long as there's enough continuous damage (Garalon, Heroic Will of the Emperor), but as soon as there's a lull and you have to choose between letting your Renews fall off or continuing to spend mana with nothing to heal, you're ruined.

Which other healer(s) do you believe interact best with a Holy priest?

I like paladin best (everything works best with a paladin), but anything but a monk or druid. You'd just get your HoTs in a tangle.

[Afua]

With only 12.5% haste (3039 rating with raid buff), a simple Heal-into-Renew combo leaves you with a six-tick, 133%-power HoT.

Wow, I knew blue chakra wasn't good in 10s, but with this great tip Yellow really jumps forward! Just tried it on Garalon H and was able to push over 100k with little mana spendings. Although I'm not yet comfortable with this playstyle yet and it requires more practice, in the end it will be worth it I'm sure. Thanks, Jhazrun ^_^