Priest Spec.

[Holmeser]

So i added a priest to my group (lvl 50) and was wondering how to spec it?
mainly i want the priest to heal but while questing it would be nice to have so DPS coming from it.
So any help from you guys would be great
thanks
-H

[Coltimar]

Discipline is nice. Powerful shields, cheap Renew's and good, steady holy dps. You spend less time healing your tank, especially at that level.

[Rocky Rhode]

I went with a Spriest and never have looked back.

[Mac]

I went with a Spriest and never have looked back.

I see you have shadow priest and resto shaman. Can you explain how you are using your sp, and what your reasoning was for going with the resto shaman for heals, instead of the other way around, holy priest and ele shaman dps?

I have a sp at 80 that is in blues at this point but is duel spec'd shadow / holy. I was considering bringing up my 70 shaman and was trying to decide between the two who would be best boxing the groups heals.

TIA

[Rocky Rhode]

I see you have shadow priest and resto shaman. Can you explain how you are using your sp, and what your reasoning was for going with the resto shaman for heals, instead of the other way around, holy priest and ele shaman dps?

I have a sp at 80 that is in blues at this point but is duel spec'd shadow / holy. I was considering bringing up my 70 shaman and was trying to decide between the two who would be best boxing the groups heals.

TIA

The reason I went with Shaman to heal and Spriest for DPS was personal preference really.

My Spriest is simply fire and forget; her VT/VE pumps so much HP back that she never requires spot heals, is always the last one standing when things go crazy, and she adds a smallish HoT to the entire team. ((When fighting Eadric the Pure I laugh when he targets my Spriest…she takes the full 15k hammer; back to full health before his next Radiance)) I have her set up on a priority casting sequence; trash mobs she is usually at the bottom of the dps meters, but boss fights she blows all my toons off the charts. Once the Spriest gets the DoT’s in place Mind Blast/Mind Flay inflicts massive damage, and gives back to the team a percentage of mana and life.

Shaman resto provides fantastic tank management; Pre-fight Earth Shield with Riptide/LHW rotation is the only two spells I ever need to use on the MT in normal encounters. Boss fights I will drop the Healing Stream totem while keeping the Mana Tide for mid-fight encounters. For group heals I have a Chain Heal spam rotation that I use on fights that have lots of splash damage.

Would changing the Shaman to Ele and the Priest to Holy or Disc make it easier?
/shrug…I have yet to find an encounter that I cannot overcome by changing my positioning and/or movement. All and all, I personally find the Spriest with Resto Shaman a winning combo, your mileage may vary.

[aboron]

The reason I went with Shaman to heal and Spriest for DPS was personal preference really.

My Spriest is simply fire and forget; her VT/VE pumps so much HP back that she never requires spot heals, is always the last one standing when things go crazy, and she adds a smallish HoT to the entire team. ((When fighting Eadric the Pure I laugh when he targets my Spriest…she takes the full 15k hammer; back to full health before his next Radiance)) I have her set up on a priority casting sequence; trash mobs she is usually at the bottom of the dps meters, but boss fights she blows all my toons off the charts. Once the Spriest gets the DoT’s in place Mind Blast/Mind Flay inflicts massive damage, and gives back to the team a percentage of mana and life.

Shaman resto provides fantastic tank management; Pre-fight Earth Shield with Riptide/LHW rotation is the only two spells I ever need to use on the MT in normal encounters. Boss fights I will drop the Healing Stream totem while keeping the Mana Tide for mid-fight encounters. For group heals I have a Chain Heal spam rotation that I use on fights that have lots of splash damage.

Would changing the Shaman to Ele and the Priest to Holy or Disc make it easier?
/shrug…I have yet to find an encounter that I cannot overcome by changing my positioning and/or movement. All and all, I personally find the Spriest with Resto Shaman a winning combo, your mileage may vary.

What kind of macros are you using currently on the spriest? I have 3 of them and any little bonus i can find for their macros gets me 3x the benefit.

My current macros are:

Start boss fight:

/castsequence [nochanneling] reset=14/combat/target ,,, vampiric embrace, mind flay, mind flay, shadow word: pain

(the blanks are to give my tank macro time to get agro)

Sustained DPS:

/use 13
/use 14
/castsequence [nochanneling] reset=combat/target Mind Blast,Mind Flay,Mind Flay,Mind Flay,Mind Flay,Mind Blast,Mind Flay,Mind Flay,Mind Flay,Mind Flay,Vampiric Embrace
/castrandom Devouring Plague,Devouring Plague

Check my sig for their current gear/specs.

[moosejaw]

The resto shaman is easier to box for healing. I have a semi geared paly/ shaman team with the resto and I am starting up my mixed team with a disc priest. While the disc priest has much more potential, it does require more attention when healing. I may dual spec the priest to a holy build for better group healing or go shadow and sub in the resto shaman.

Earth shield, earthliving weapon and chain heal glyphs. Link to shaman Soloflight.

[Coltimar]

IMO, Holy Priest is the easiest class to heal with, but they are nigh useless for doing damage.

[daviddoran]

I heal with a holy priest, very easy IMO, u got a shield, an instant HoT, a ping pong auto heal, and big punchy group and single target heals. For easier fights, i just swap actionbars, and lolsmite, with holy fire thrown in there. I do 1k to 1400 dps in full holy spec/gear, which IMO aint too shabby. I also have her dual specced shadow, and she does double the dps, but it aint nothing compared to my shammy. I haven't boxed a resto sham, but it cant be too hard. I'm about ready to ditch a shadow off spec and go Disc, just to try something different.

[moosejaw]

I want to add that the empowered renew talent makes renew perform like Riptide with the instant splash heal then the hot continuing. This makes the resto shaman really easy to play with a "pass clicks" setup. Riptide then LHW and a toon is topped off real fast. Earth shield is very OP for healing and frees up the healer to watch the group more. I am taking empowered renew when I respec my priest, skipping lightwell, and taking everything I can to improve the group heal. A glyphed chain heal just can't be beat in some situations i.e. Loken (if you can't take him down before the the second nova).

I can't wait to try my priest as holy again. I am sure the priest will get much better as I gear up.

Edit: I want to add that Prayer of Mending has limited use in 5 mans without an additional target to take damage. I have a hunter pet in range but that is it. The pet doesn't always take damage to make the Pom jump so it seems like it is wasted after the first tank heal. Although I loved it on the last boss in Gundrak last nite when the pet took the impale instead of my healer!