Disc or shadow? Easy question; holy.

Drewtang

Veteran
Okay okay, obviously disc is overall stronger than holy, but i believe there is an argument to play holy in both pocket-healing and arena situations. I've also never seen one besides myself at 19. Let's discuss..

Pros:

+Instant cast cc (also deals about 300 without enchant proc)
+Lay on hands every minute
+Ability to top multiple teammates at once through both renew (serves as a very strong catalyst for coastal surge procs) and Trail of Light
+Holy fire is like mind blast + SW:p

Cons:

-EZ target for rogues (must either pre-renew, dodge kick, or have chastise + fear to survive)
-Very team-reliant, you won't kill anything without ele force, but coastal surge is too good due to easy spread healing)
-No perma shield
-Immobile.. must stand still to heal (outside of HW:S)

I don't have screenshots of BG's, but I usually top healing (over disc) while doing a respectable amount of damage (usually 90% of a discs'). I understand that strong numbers don't mean the class is strong, but if I am able to keep up with disc while offering more CC/a LoH, I think it's worth trying.

Consensus:

Pugs - Disc is the strongest. The ability to spam shields and heals while moving and throwing out respectable DPS is just nuts.

Wargames/Playing with a group - Holy seems stronger. In a team fight, a holy will be able to spread-heal much better. Not to mention, the one minute lay on hands can save a low teammate in ways shield/penance cannot (I will admit its much easier for a disc to heal a moving FC). I suggest queueing with friends because you will constantly require peels and need to coordinate CC to reach holy's true potential. Positioning is more important for this spec than any other in the game.

Arena: Depends on team comp.. disc seems stronger for RMP, whereas holy shines with a hybrid class + peeler due to being able to die in a cheapshot. The extra cc and instant cast LoH just might be more worth the lack of survivability.. Disc = easier to survive. Holy = Higher kill potential

I'm not sure where I'm really going with this post.. I just wanted to hear some opinions/inspire people to try off-meta stuff. Don't worry, I think disc is better. I also think holy can be better in situations, thus making it worth a look.

(also shadow can be crazy too but this is for another post)

/discuss
 
Holy isn't bad by any means, but it's kinda just outclassed by the other healers in the bracket. Raw numbers are, as you said, fairly unreliable (especially in pugs) to go by because it might just be you were in the teamfight/brawls more than the others. And I don't think you can really compare it to Disc (I don't think any healers can be compared to Disc, save maaaaybe for Resto Druid if you really want to stretch it) due to the way they heal. Disc is a proactive healer and Holy is a reactive one. From what I've seen, I think Holy Priest excels more as a "brawler" type of build just like Hpal when in pugs, instead of as a straight up healer.

In wargames, Disc is straight up better. Yeah, shields doesn't actually help topping people off on it's own, but it buys time for the MW or Rsham to top off the target while giving the team a "Power Word: Fortitude". It also has some uses in that you can shield someone dotted going for a restealth, and stop the stealth from breaking from dot damage as well. Disc is also basically unkickable since you'll rarely, if ever, really throw off Penance (basically your panic button) while Holy will have to think about such positioning even more to not be in range of the opposing shaman(s)' Windshear. Not as big deal, but a deal nonetheless.

Again, Holy isn't bad. It's just... in some ways a worse Resto Shaman. I think Rsham is the spec it compares the most to.

Atleast from my point of view.


That said, playing it is a-okay.


Also, I think Shadow Priest is on the cusp of being Wargames viable, though the incoming nerfs will hamper it in this bracket just a bit.
 
I think Kyo hit the nail on the head, but here's my take anyway..Disc is great because it's the only healer that can not only be proactive, but also can respond strong to burst and still be reactive with both penance and flash heal...one of which can be cast on the move (penance), plus dealing reasonable damage along the way. Even among reactive healers, both resto sham and MW outclass holy...Also, if a class is team dependent to be able to survive or excel, I look at that as a problem. The team will be placed under more pressure to compensate for me playing a weaker class, when I could switch to disc and relieve that pressure. If I need a peel, the dps should be there doing that...but if I need one every 2 secs that's a problem.

Would love for holy to become competitive, I enjoy playing it more than disc in PvE situations, but it's hard to justify playing it when disc is available to you & is just stronger...and the things holy is good at are better with other classes.
 
why are you all talking about wargames when they wont happen until gsc stops crying about losing tc and games can actually form

multiple patches will happen inbetween then and whats best is anyones guess


edit: or until a new e-girl joins the 19 community and everyone wants to show off their dick ingame and games happen, if anyone knows 1 hit me up i want games to form
 
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