Priest discussion

[ImpartialSanity]

I have a few questions for Zhinn. I watched the Paragon LK HM kill video today and your playstyle made me curious about your spec. I figured, from the heavy use of Flash Heal for tank healing, that you'd picked up Empowered Healing. I wanted to know what you'd dropped to pick up those 5 points, I checked it on the Armory and was was a bit surprised to find 0/3 BR and 0/3 ToF.

Would you care to walk me through your thought process a bit? 3% isn't huge, I know, especially when you're using Flash Heal so much, but have you had any noticeably negative effects on your other heals? As for ToF, it seems like that extra healing below 50% would be a good thing when so much damage is being taken. Would you ever consider switching the 3 points in Serendipity to either 3 in BR or 3 in ToF?

Thanks and congrats on the kill!

- Elly

[Riia]

Firstly, a big congrats to your world first on LK 25H.

Have some questions, mainly for Jhazrun.

Why emp. renew spec? Is this a personal preference or is it just better output then flash heal spec? My holy off spec is currently flash heal, but have been considering going back to emp renew for certain fights like Sindragosa HM. I thought flash heal would be better for LK 25 man, as my guild is *still* progressing through him. I normally dps, but on the occasion that I heal, it feels as if FH > emp renew for the most part, excepting transition phases maybe..?

We normally roll with 1-2 resto druids, 1 holy priest (unless I have to heal, 2 holy priests), 2 holy pallies and a resto shaman. Seems like an excessive amount of healers, but whatever works for progression I guess.

Just curious is all. FH spec has been pretty good so far, but emp renew was always nice too. Hope you get a chance to reply =)

Thanks!

~Riia

[Zylix]

Hey Jhazrun, Zylix here again..

I got a few upgrades since I last talked to you.. other then the MCR chest is it a good idea to get the Sandals of Consecration crafted as well? Also if you dont mind checking out my armory again to see when or if you think I should just make the permanent switch to Disc or if I should stay Disc and Holy and if you think the gems look good for that as well..

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... s&cn=Zylix

Thanks!

[Jhazrun]

Phyrio, Aleatha, domtheskater, Daedra, and Riia, welcome to the forums! Welcome back, too, Zylix,

I would like your opinion on the tradeoffs, for a raiding Discipline priest, between gemming stamina and gemming spirit?

The Creed of the Min-Maxer strictly forbids STA spendings, but in all sincereness you're not looking at a significant gain from the SPI, either. If you feel yourself dropping low often enough for the trade-off to serve a purpose, tempting the Fates would not necessarily be out of the question, though I do wash my hands from related hubris-induced tragedies.

Isn't Serendipity 3/3 a waste?

Also due to my healing i can gem it for max SP + INT/SPI instead of SP + Haste gems. I mean i'm thinking the gear haste with shammy totems will be enough already due to my healing.

In most encounters I do consider it a waste of precious deep talent points, yes. Given the sub-parity of Flash Heal you're more often than not actually giving up HPS stacking Serendipity.

Holy sports no Haste soft-cap like that of Discipline. Despite failing to aid Circle of Healing and Prayer of Mending, however, it still carries an HPS increase in Renew.
Renews, in turn, maintain Holy Concentration to supply a Holy Priest's mana regeneration. As such, Haste functions as providing both output and longevity, bringing it ahead of INT in terms of socketing options.

For the holy spec you use would you recommend using pure SP gems like you do for both of your specs or using intellect and spirit or haste +SP gems (for LK 25 and heroic mode progress)

Holy has relatively high "off-color" returns from Blue and Yellow. Picking up the socket bonuses is almost always worth it, and was it not for the infinite-value SP of Discipline at the Lich King I would be using SP-SPI and SP-Haste to that end.

As a Discipline priest going into the heroic Lich King encounters soon enough, is stacking spellpower in my gem slots the way to go?
Are there conditions were it is better to gem say SP/INT, just an example.

Ten-man Lich King favors a balanced mix of stats due to the length of the encounter and the spectrum of healing tasks required, but the potency of the 25-man Infest and the overabundance of Rapture mana have you channel your resources to pure SP to power Power Word: Shield.

Why emp. renew spec? Is this a personal preference or is it just better output then flash heal spec?

The scaling of Renew towers over that of Flash Heal, and combined with current raid mechanics leaves little room for the latter in higher-end content.
The only exceptions to the Renew dominance are Deathbringer Saurfang and the Lich King, and even in said encounters Holy is a liability unless already have with you a Discipline Priest.

Is it a good idea to get the Sandals of Consecration crafted as well? You think I should just make the permanent switch to Disc or if I should stay Disc and Holy and if you think the gems look good for that as well?

The Sandals are very good if you can afford them, second only to a Heroic 25-man pair.

One of Priests strengths is the flexibility of a Holy-Discipline dual-spec. I would highly recommend that you get yourself comfortable with each. In most cases the socketing overlaps well enough between the two for no effort to be required in swaps.

[Zylix]

@ Jhazrun

Thank you as always for quick replies! So looks to me that I am gemming perfectly for Disc and my Holy off-spec =]

I will be picking the Sandals up almost immediately the second I can purchase 5 Saronites off my Paladin! Thanks again for always being on to message people, its pretty awesome what you guys do, keep it up!

p.s. If you can think of anything else you think I should look into getting or should do, I am always up for suggestions.. also JC or Alchemy for my second profession?? Thanks again Jhaz.

[Riia]

Why emp. renew spec? Is this a personal preference or is it just better output then flash heal spec?

The scaling of Renew towers over that of Flash Heal, and combined with current raid mechanics leaves little room for the latter in higher-end content.
The only exceptions to the Renew dominance are Deathbringer Saurfang and the Lich King, and even in said encounters Holy is a liability unless already have with you a Discipline Priest.

Thanks a bunch. =)

[Fabbin]

I am currently the primary disc priest in my guild, and we do not have a prot pal. Seeing as how I have to be disc 100% of the time for Renewed Hope, I was curious as to if I should gem for some regen rather than straight SP. We are working on HMs in 25s. Some fights I run into a couple mana problems but most of the time I'm usually ok. 10 mans is where I run into some trouble once and awhile.

I also am still on the edge about my boots, I have been playing around with Plague Scientist's Boots but I also have Sandals of Consecration, not sure if the haste from the Plague is worth it and should just use the Sandals for more regen.

Just looking for your opinion, thanks in advance

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-shee ... ALL+MiGHTY

I was also curious if there was a screenshot of your UI anywhere, Jhazrun.

And major gratz on LK HM world first. The video was awesome!

[Drax]

Question for Jhazrun.

Interms of min-maxing our guild raids for heroic icc content, I've been unsure lately of how my holy priest stacks up to other healing classes/specs. Do you know where a holy priest's niche is? Especially relative to a resto shammy and druid.

Thanks in advanced

[Jhazrun]

Happy to help, Fabbin and Drax,

I was curious as to if I should gem for some regen rather than straight SP. We are working on HMs in 25s.

I have been playing around with Plague Scientist's Boots but I also have Sandals of Consecration, not sure if the haste from the Plague is worth it and should just use the Sandals for more regen.

I was also curious if there was a screenshot of your UI anywhere, Jhazrun.

SP-INT in Yellows with a bonus of +5 SP or up.
SP-SPI/SP-Mp5s in Blues with a bonus of +7 SP or up.
SP in everything else.
Note that the values above only apply when activating the bonus with a single non-red gem; Items with two or more yellow and/or blue sockets always want full SP.

25-mans: Sandals
10-mans: Plague Scientist's

There currently is no 'shot up of my UI on grounds of it's weird.

Interms of min-maxing our guild raids for heroic icc content, I've been unsure lately of how my holy priest stacks up to other healing classes/specs. Do you know where a holy priest's niche is? Especially relative to a resto shammy and druid.

In 25-mans Holy Priests currently hold a role as first responders to counter and even out damage spikes.

[Zylix]

So I might be going Holy officially for my guild as we have a better geared Disc Priest already topping meters on World of Logs...

So my rant is why in the world is Disc Priests out healing Holy Priests on World of Logs... what happened, it almost makes me not want to play my Priest as Holy because of this.

If anyone here cares to discuss, I would be glad to read and get your guys opinions on the matter..

Thanks