What you need to know about the specialization
Healers are a necessity in any raid or group activity. When thinking about healing, the first class everyone thinks of is the Priest. One of its specializations is Discipline, which isn’t much of a WotLK Classic gold farmer, but is one of the best kinds of healers in the game.
Here’s how to build one.
Discipline Priest Specialization Overview
Disc Priests have solid single-target healing. Plus, they don’t have much competition for the equipment they need. Although, even without good gear, they have strong passives that make up for it, making them excellent without best-in-slot armor.
More than that, they have excellent scaling throughout the expansion. No matter what phase, they remain a competitive and capable healer.
However, even with all these advantages, they also have flaws. They don’t work well if there’s more than one in a party, and players need intimate knowledge about the fight. They can better predict incoming damage and use the appropriate skill with the latter. That means it’s not for new or more casual players. Learning about the timing and order of a boss’s attacks takes time and research.
Also, their specialty is single-target healing, so their AoE abilities take a hit. It can be a benefit in specific circumstances but the opposite in others. They’re not a well-rounded class that can handle anything thrown at them.
Best Races for a Disc Priest
Races have a unique ability that can help provide an advantage to the class. There are some more useful ones than others, and here are some recommendations.
Alliance
Draenei: They have the Heroic Presence skill, which increases the hit chance of spells and attacks. It’s party-wide instead of raid-wide, but still good to have in reserve. It’s also better for PvE, not PvP.
Human: The Human Spirit, Will to Survive, and Perception are their racial abilities. While the first isn’t too beneficial, Will to Survive is almost a PvP Trinket, and Perception is a handy ability.
Horde
Blood Elf: Horde players can finally play a Priest with Blood Elves. With their new and improved Arcane Torrent, they have an excellent source of mana regen and emergency silence ability. Both have uses in PvP and PvE, making the race a logical choice.
Troll: A solid choice, though Disc Priests can’t wholly exploit their abilities. Berserking is excellent in an emergency, but the Haste boost won’t be efficiently used.
Undead: Will of the Forsaken remains an excellent ability in PvP and PvE sometimes. It remains a popular choice even for Disc Priests.
Talents Overview
Discipline Priests focus on single-target healing. However, they also have various other abilities that will be helpful in different circumstances.
Healing
Penance – A talent that can either heal allies or damage enemies.
Power Word: Shield – Grants an ally, a shield that absorbs damage and prevents spell pushback. Has a bit of a drawback that targets hit by it get Weakened Soul and can’t be shielded for a while.
Binding Heal – A minor heal that doesn’t generate much threat, perfect for healing when on low health. This heals both the caster and the target.
Flash Heal – Quick instant healing for a bruised ally.
Greater Heal – Slow-casted heal that recovers significant amounts of health. The delay in casting is balanced by the amount healed. The regeneration is excellent for tanks and those who badly need healing.
Prayer of Healing – The only AoE healing spell in a Disc Priest repertoire. Heals the target and allies within range by a moderate amount but has a slow casting time.
Prayer of Mending – A buff that grants minor regeneration when the ally gets hit. It then bounces to another target, providing the same effects. Perfect for AoE attacks with minor but consistent damage.
Renew – A healing-over-time spell perfect for any ally taking constant damage.
Cooldowns
Desperate Prayer – An emergency button that heals you a significant amount.
Pain Suppression – Extra damage mitigation for tanks, especially when timed to take a boss’s heavy-damage mechanic.
Power Infusion – Provides a 20% reduction in mana usage. It can be used to boost the efficiency of a DPS or healing abilities.
Inner Focus – Nullifies the mana cost of the next spell used and boosts its Critical Chance by 25% if it can hit a Critical. Excellent for magic with high mana costs and AoE healing.
Shadowfiend – It’s a mana regeneration aid. While it’s active, you recover 5% of your maximum mana per attack. When paired with Hymn of Hope, the amount increases.
Divine Hymn – An AoE healing spell that should only be used when the regular rotation cannot keep up. It costs a lot of mana and has a long cooldown. One of the best spells to use Inner Focus on.
Hymn of Hope – another mana restoration spell, it recovers the resource for those who are almost running out and increases their capacity by 20%. A downside to the skill is that targeting is random, and you might not receive its effects.
Utility
Dispel Magic – A single-target ability that removes buffs (from enemies) or debuffs (from allies).
Fear Ward – Nullifies the effects of the next Fear-inducing attack. If another one follows, the ward won’t cover that anymore.
Levitate – A mobility ability that slows fall speed and lets the caster walk on water or float above the ground. The Glyph of Levitate cancels the reagent requirement, making it only use mana.
Mass Dispel – Dispel Magic, but for multiple targets. It can also remove some statuses that a normal Dispel cannot.
Shackle Undead – Keeps an undead enemy immobile and unable to attack; helpful when trying to control a crowd of zombie enemies. If a target under its effects gets hit, it will remove the status.
Abolish Disease – Periodically removes diseases from allies every 3 seconds for 12 seconds.
Fade – Reduces threat to 0 temporarily. You regain it when the effect of the buff ends.
Mind Soothe – Reduces the aggro range of mobs (must be humanoid), allowing allies to avoid them without engaging in battle.
Buffs
Inner Fire – A self-buff that increases Armor and Spell Power for as long as it’s active. Getting hit removes one of its 20 charges. When all disappear, the buff deactivates.
Prayer of Fortitude – Raid-wide (but only within range) buff that increases Stamina for an hour. The Power Word: Fortitude ability is a single-target variant. The buff can be enhanced by various other talents.
Prayer of Spirit – Raid-wide (within a specific range) buff that increases Spirit. The buff has a 1-hour duration. Divine Spirit is its single-target counterpart.
Prayer of Shadow Protection – Same with the two above, an AoE buff that increases Shadow Protection. Has a single-target variant, and the Glyph of SP can increase its duration.
Miscellaneous Spells
Mana Burn – Reduces an enemy’s mana by an amount proportional to your maximum mana. Primarily a PvP ability, but it has limited use in PvE.
Holy Nova – A dual-purpose spell that heals allies caught in the blast while damaging enemies. However, since it’s only party-wide, it has limited usage during raids.
Resurrection – Revives an ally from death and can only be used outside combat.
Mind Control – An ability that’s not used in PvE anymore. It can have some use in solo questing content.
Mind Vision – A fun scouting ability that allows the player to see through the target’s point of view.
Psychic Scream – Knocks back enemies within melee range. It acts like a panic button but is not used in raids because it can scatter mobs out of formation.
Builds recommend different skills for different activities, so there is some flexibility in which talents to get.
Best-in-Slot Equipment
This is an ‘ideal,’ meaning it’s unrealistic to acquire a complete set of these. Fortunately, there are WotLK item substitutes and more realistic recommendations. Besides, having one to three pieces of the ideal sometimes is enough to make an efficient and competent Disc Priest.
Alliance Priests
- Velen’s Cowl of Triumph
- Wall of the Val’kyr
- Velen’s Shoulderpads of Triumph
- Jaina’s Radiance
- Velen’s Robe of Triumph
- Bindings of Dark Essence
- Gloves of the Lifeless Touch
- Cord of Biting Cold
- Velen’s Leggings of Triumph
- Boots of the Mourning Widow
- Band of Deplorable Violence
- Ring of the Darkmender
- Solace of the Defeated
- Show of Faith
- Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings
- Chalice of Searing Light
- Rod of Imprisoned Souls
Horde Priests
- Zabra’s Cowl of Triumph
- Cry of the Val’kyr
- Zabra’s Shoulderpads of Triumph
- Aethas’ Intensity
- Zabra’s Robe of Triumph
- Dark Essence Bindings
- Handwraps of the Lifeless Touch
- Belt of Biting Cold
- Zabra’s Leggings of Triumph
- Sandals of the Mourning Widow
- Lurid Manifestation
- Circle of the Darkmender
- Solace of the Fallen
- Show of Faith
- Val’anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings
- Mystifying Charm
- Scepter of Imprisoned Souls
Again, it’s unlikely that you get all of these items in one account, so many of them will have to be substituted with another. Still, even with passable equipment, Discipline Priests can be effective at their role. It’s not as vital that you get the BiS equipment for them.
Stat Priorities for WoW WotLK Disc Priest
While checking if a newly acquired gear is better than what you have, the best way is to simulate it. For a general knowledge of what to prioritize, here are the stats you should look at:
- Haste Rating (until you reach soft cap)
- Spell Power
- Critical Strike Rating
- Haste Rating (past soft cap)
- Intellect
- Spirit
- Mana per 5
Enjoy Playing a Discipline Priest in WoW Classic!
Discipline Priests can be challenging to play. Because they have so many single-target healing spells, they must prioritize which ally to heal. In contrast, healers with AoE healing spells don’t have to think about it so much because nearby allies recover because they were near a critically injured friend. Still, they’re a must-have in various raids and count among the best healers in the game.
Follow Techdee for more!
