A lot has been changed about Discipline Priests from the last season on Mists of Pandaria moving towards the first season of Warlords of Draenor. The Discipline Priest has always been a specialization that heavily relied on its absorbs. This is still true with the release of WoD as several of Disc’s spells have been changed or removed. Blizzard wanted to have healers make decisions as to what spell they are going to use rather than pressing one or two keys to top off the tank every few minutes. With Draenor, they are purposefully forcing players stay below 100% health. Blizzard has deliberately made heals less potent than the damage of the monsters. Direct from the Blizzard website, “We want healers to care about who they’re targeting and which heals they’re using…” Blizzard is looking to make healing more interactive than the previous expansions by making healing more of a challenge while still allowing players to have the time to make decisions.
Here you can watch as I heal through the bosses of The Everbloom Heroic Dungeon as a Discipline Priest. There is not much but spamming Flash of Light when it comes to healing as a Discipline Priest since the release of WoD.
http://youtu.be/rrxEmhgADwk?list=UUGEucRTdFXmFHUOGnrbgZ8w
Once you hit level 100 the real test begins. To do heroic dungeons you are now required to have at least a silver ranking in the role you are queuing for. So if you are healing you have to enter the proving grounds and pass both Bronze and Silver rankings. When I went into Heroic dungeons fresh from hitting level 100 my first heroic dungeon was more stressful than being locked in a room with my mother for three days. Healing as a Discipline Priest has taken a new turn, and the difficulty in some of the dungeons is very real. I had not read about how Blizzard wanted players to sit below 100 percent health, and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me why I couldn’t keep anyone topped off (it really didn’t help that our hunter was pulling extra mobs and standing in the fire). Healing had really become more of a challenge, and even today when I have a substantial amount of gear healing is still difficult and I really have to think about what I’m going to cast before I cast it. I personally had become so used to Pandaria healing where you could stand in fire and not worry about a thing. Now in Draenor dungeons, the mechanics really need to be followed or your group will be in for a world of hurt.
In my opinion playing discipline priest is a lot more challenging, but also feels empty. With a lot of removed and changed spells I think the Discipline-spec is now missing a lot of the spells that once made it more fun. Renew used to be a big spell when playing the Discipline Priest. You would throw a Power Word Shield, and an Renew on the Tank. Next, you would do the same for all the other players in the dungeon. Lastly, you topped off the tank with a Penance. Halo, Cascade, or Divine Star could be used when they were off cool down in order to get out your area of effect heals without slowing down the use of absorbs and Flash of Lights. The fast pace of Prayer of Mending (PoMs) could be used every chance you got. Now healing has definitely slowed down in pace. Healers watch the health of the Tank and DPS; while quickly glancing down at Penance to see how long you have left on cool down and filling the time with Flash of Lights. Mana is your greatest enemy in dungeons as you have to watch it carefully so you can make it through the fight. I do love the new challenge that comes with healing, but I miss the other spells that made this spec my favorite when I played my priest.
Spell Changes
| Removed | Changed: |
|---|---|
| Renew | Cascade has a 1.5 second cast time |
| Inner Will | Halo has a 1.5 second cast time |
| Inner Focus | Prayer of Mending has a 1.5 second cast time |
| Void Shift | Divine Star has a 1.5 second cast time |
| Hyme of Hope | Renew is now only for Holy Priests |
| Heal | Greater heal has been renamed Heal Silence has been added to the Discipline Spec Focused will is triggered by any damage taken |
Some other changes to Discipline Priests are:
- Dominate Mind now shares diminishing returns (DR) with other mesmerize effects.
- Psychic Scream is now a level 60 talent and replaces Psyfiend, and has a 45 second cool down up from 30.
- Void Tendrils now will break after the target receives sufficient damage.
- Holy Nova is now learned at level 20 and the mana cost has been lowered while the healing has been buffed.
- Evangelism no longer affects the damage or mana cost of spells.
- Spirit Shell is now a level 75 talent replacing Divine Insight for discipline priests.
*New* Level 100 Talents
Clarity of Will: Shields the target with a protective ward, absorbing 23,608 damage within 20sec.
40yd range 5,040 mana 2.32 sec cast
Words of Mending: Your healing and shielding spell casts grant you a stack of Word of Mending. When you gain 10 stacks of Word of Mending, your next targeted healing or shielding spell also casts a prayer of mending at them.
Passive
Saving Grace: Heals a friendly target for 23,275. Reduces your absorbs and healing done by 10% for 8 sec, stacking up to 10 times.
40 yd range 4,800 mana 1.39 sec cast