Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Holy Only Specialization Benefits and New Non-Spec Spells
III. MoP Talent Tree Choices
IV. Glyphs
- A) Major
B) Minor
- A) Spirit
B) Haste
C) Mastery
D) Crit
VII. Gemming
- A) Basic Gems
B) Meta Gems
- A) Food
B) Flasks
C) Potions
X. Inner Fire and Inner Will
XI. Mana Management
XII. Rotation
- A) Single Target Healing
B) AOE or Raid Healing
XIV. Additional Reading
XV. Changelog
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I. Introduction
This guide is meant to be a loose guideline on what you might want to consider when speccing, gearing, and playing your Holy Priest in Mists of Pandaria. You will find a good deal of education in this guide, as the intention of this guide is to help Holy Priests make informed decisions-- not just blindly spec or gem specific ways "because this guide said so". You will need to make choices based on your unique situation. Healing is very much an art: playstyle, preference, raid composition, and raid encounter mechanics can have a meaningful impact on the decisions discussed in this guide.
It is strongly suggested to ask questions in this thread as to facilitate discussion on what we can do as Holy Priests to improve our gameplay.
Acronyms used in this guide:
AOE - Area of Effect
CD- Cooldown
CoH - Circle of Healing
DH - Divine Hymn
DPS - Damage per second (used in evaluating throughput)
EoL - Echo of Light (Holy’s Mastery)
FDCL - From Darkness; Comes Light
HoH - Hymn of Hope
HoT - Heal over time
HP - Hit or Health Points
HPM - Healing per mana (used in evaluating efficiency)
HPS - Healing per second (used in evaluating throughput)
HW - Holy Word
POM - Prayer of Mending
PPM - Proc per minute (used in evaluating buff uptime)
PW - Power Word
SoL - Surge of Light
SoR - Spirit of Redemption
ToF - Twist of Fate
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II. Holy Only Specialization Benefits and New Non-Spec Spells
Chakra - this ability allows the priest to enter one of three states (or stances) that will enhance either DPS, Single Target Healing, or AOE Healing. It also transforms HW: Chastise into either HW: Sanctuary or HW: Serenity.
Circle of Healing - Instant AOE Heal.
Divine Focus - 70% pushback immunity.
Divine Hymn - Powerful AOE Heal-- considered a Raid Cooldown.
Echo of Light - Holy's Mastery, which provides additional output on our non-over time heals.
Guardian Spirit - Emergency protective spell you can cast on targets in imminent danger.
HW: Chastise - an instant cast stun, that can be transformed into one of two healing spells depending on the Chakra state you are in.
Lightwell - allows you to cast an interactable unit that can apply a strong heal over time on players that click it. (See also Lightspring)
Meditation - allows for 50% of your spirit based regen to occur during combat.
Rapid Renewal - Enhances a Holy Priest's renew.
Serendipity - Hastens subsequent heals after using Flash Heal.
Spirit of Redemption - Allows you to heal, with no mana cost, for a brief time after you die. Often referred to as "angel form".
Void Shift - This is a new spell introduced in Mists of Pandaria. It should be considered an emergency heal, as it will swap health percentages between yourself and your target, as well as healing the lower health target. It has a substantial cooldown, so it likely will only be able to be used once per encounter-- so use it wisely.
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III. Talent Tree Choices
The first thing we need to understand about the talent trees is that they are completely different from the talent trees of the past. Instead of having many points to put into a series of talents that may provide X% more healing, we are given 3 abilities to choose from every 15 levels. Each tier is themed around a specific ability or benefit. Additionally, respeccing is easier and the reagent Tome of the Clear Mind allows you to change in and out of those abilities when out of combat.
What this means is that it will be much easier to change talent choices and we will be able to change as the encounter changes. If there is a fight that favors one talent over another, you can easily swap to that talent for that fight, and then swap to a different talent if the next fight favors another. That will be the biggest test for these tiers of content, figuring which will be best for which encounter.
Which talent is "best" in a given tier... frankly, it really depends on the encounter at hand. I think discussion on an encounter by encounter basis will be exceptionally beneficial to really analyze these spells.
Level 15: Tier 1 - Croud Control
Void Tendrils - This ability can be handy when you need to root a group of mobs that you raid is kiting. Rooted mobs will still melee player targets in melee range.
Psyfiend - A periodic single target fear in addition to your Psychic Scream. The Psyfiend will favor mobs that have you as their primary aggro target.
Dominate Mind - Good old Mind Control, but effective on non-humanoids. Channel must be maintained to keep control of the target.
Level 30: Tier 2 - Movement
Body and Soul - Now available to both holy and discipline! There have always been a number of fights where a periodic sprint on a specified target has been helpful; the only downside is that PW: Shield can be an expensive method of delivering this sprint (and your Shields are weak when compared to Disc). Additionally, if your raid has a Discipline Priest, you could be fighting Weakened Soul.
Angelic Feather - Much less mana exhaustive than using PW: Shield to deliver this sprint; however, requires the use of a targeting reticle and can be used by the unintended target if another player gets too close.
Phantasm - Unlike the other two talents in this tier, it does not grant increased speed but instead drops and grants immunity to movement impairing effects. (note this is less exciting for Trolls/Gnomes due to their racial abilities)
Level 45: Tier 3 -Mana Restoration/Efficiency
From Darkness, Comes Light - FDCL is arguably the hardest talent to quantify the amount of mana we ‘regen’, since it mostly is a mana savings ability. That said is is the least predictable source of mana regeneration since it purely revolves around RNG. Additionally, for FDCL to proc you have to be casting one of the required spells to trigger it— depending on your role, casting a Heal, Flash Heal, Greater Heal, or Smite might not be something you do with much regularity (ie. If you are primarily raid healing). If that is the case, you might not proc FDCL often enough to benefit from it. If you are doing a lot of Single Target Direct Heals, and have good RNG on the proc, it could work out greatly to your advantage. And for Holy priests, FDCL’s free-Flash Heals, also can translate into discounted Greater Heals and Prayer of Healings via Serendipity.
Level 45: Tier 3 -Mana Restoration/Efficiency
From Darkness, Comes Light - FDCL is arguably the hardest talent to quantify the amount of mana we ‘regen’, since it mostly is a mana savings ability. That said is is the least predictable source of mana regeneration since it purely revolves around RNG. Additionally, for FDCL to proc you have to be casting one of the required spells to trigger it— depending on your role, casting a Heal, Flash Heal, Greater Heal, or Smite might not be something you do with much regularity (ie. If you are primarily raid healing). If that is the case, you might not proc FDCL often enough to benefit from it. If you are doing a lot of Single Target Direct Heals, and have good RNG on the proc, it could work out greatly to your advantage.
Mindbender - The first thing to keep in mind is that this replaces Shadowfiend. If you do not spec into this, you will still have access to baseline Shadowfiend. The latest incarnation has it have a 60 second cooldown, and restore 1.46% mana per swing. The biggest boon with this change is that we can cast it more often (well, duh)… It gives you greater uptime of the spell, despite per CAST Shadowfiend restores more mana. The fact that you get more off in a given encounter is the critical point as it provides greater granularity.
Power Word: Solace - Changed in 5.2 this now replaces Holy Fire (dealing the same amount of damage) and removes its 1.8% mana cost. It restores 1% of your total mana, applies/refreshes your evangelism stacks and heals for 100% of the damage it deals. (not dissimilar to Atonement). If you were casting Holy Fire before (though as a Holy Priest, you likely are not since you did not have access to Archangel), this spell provides incredible synergy to your playstyle as well as providing up to 1500/mp5. (6 casts per minute). The Granularity of Solace's regen is also something of importance to maximizing the number of casts when compared to Mindbender. Simply put, its a mana positive, smart 100k heal.
Level 60: Tier 4 - Survival
Desperate Prayer- Our old tried and true friend. An on use 30% HP heal that is capable of a critical hit and benefits from Echo of Light. A Healthstone on steroids!
Spectral Guise - On use "stealth" capable of being broken if our guise is hit three times, or if we are taken out of steath via an AOE. You cannot use this ability to "duck" boss damage.
Angelic Bulwark - Automatic 20% HP shield if you are brought below 30% HP; no need to push a button. The exchange for the automatic trigger is a 10% loss when compared to Desperate Prayer. Good option if you are bad about using Heathstones and want/need an automatic survival talent. (Note: if a single blow takes you from 31% HP to 0, Bulwark is not triggered).
Level 75: Tier 5 - Throughput
Twist of Fate - Increases your output after you heal low health players (Echo of Light included). Likely not helpful unless you are in an encounter where people are consistently below 20% so your ToF buff is up for a substantial duration of the fight. For healers its like an inverse Execute. An important detail to keep in mind is that ToF does not provide any added benefit to PW: Sheild.
Power Infusion - Now available to all priests, not just Discipline. On demand 2 minute cooldown that is self-cast only. Strong option for both added output and mana savings.
Divine Insight - As holy, this essentially turns your Prayer of Mending into a Chain Heal, and doesn’t trigger POM's CD. It is affected by the Glyph of Prayer of Mending. Given the fact that it can proc off of both PoH and GHeal there are a number of opportunities to use this ability. Exceptionally powerful given that it smarty, and near instantly, heals up to 5 targets, as well as not triggering your POM cooldown.
Level 90: Tier 6 - AOE Healing
Cascade - Heals 15 targets (pets are eligible targets) favoring targets further away. No diminishing returns since the target number is finite. Likely our go-to and default choice unless a fight commands the other talent’s increased frequency or increased output. Important to note that a bounce cannot hit the same player twice. Solid option provided your raid is slightly spread out, and periodic/moderate burst is needed.
Divine Star - Least expensive, lowest cooldown of the 3 choices. Diminishing returns after 6 targets. More mana efficient than a Prayer of Healing, but heals for the least per cast of the three talents in this tier. Strong option provided your raid is grouped up, and constant healing is needed.
Halo - Most expensive, but potentially highest amount healed per cast and has the greatest burst capability. Potentially restrictive due to its high cooldown and mana cost. Requires 25 yard distance for the best output. Diminishing returns after 6 targets. Good selection if your raid is spread out and if large burst healing is needed or if raid damage times well with the 45 second cooldown.
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IV. Glyphs
The Glyph system has changed and we no longer have Prime, Major, and Minor glyphs. We have Major and Minor only. Major glyphs are ones that actively change/affect spells or their output, while Minor glyphs are quality of life/cosmetic changes.
A) Major
As holy we do not have many choices and the glyphs we select may depend on our role in a raid, and whether or not we are healing 10 or 25-man. Haste levels also can affect which glyphs we choose (See the Secondary Stat section of this guide for more details). Here are the options that a Holy Priest can choose from:
Circle of Healing
Desperation
Fade
Holy Nova
Inner Sanctum
Lightspring
Lightwell
Mass Dispel
Prayer of Mending
Purify
Spirit of Redemption
Renew
Choices for these Glyphs can swing dramatically depending on your role and if you are in 25 man as well as certain fight mechanics.
Examples:
- 10 man raiders likely will not take the Glyph of Circle of Healing, as they have fewer targets likely in range of CoH, while 25 man raiders may consider the cost increase worth it for the additional target. It is important to note that the increased healing is less than the increase of mana cost, so using this glyph does make the HPM worse.
- Raid Healing Focused 25 man healers, may pass on the Glyph of Prayer of Mending, as the bonus is arguably superior for Tank healing and they may want to leverage Divine Insight on 5 bounces, not 4.
- You would not use the Glyph of Desperation, unless there was a raidwide stun, that you'd want to reactively CD the tank. (eg. Halfus' Furious Roar)
Lightwell vs Lightspring:
The key difference between Lightwell and Lightspring is the ‘on demand’ use. Lightspring only heals if a player is within range (40 yards up from LWs 20) and is under 50% HP. Lightwell, can be used on Demand. Depending on the fight, instructing your raid members (regardless of HP threshold) to click Lightwell may work out better. Remember - Lightwell can be clicked when stunned!
Note: Glyph of Lightwell adds 2 charges to either Lightwell or Lightspring depending if you’ve glyphed for it or not.
Ultimately it really is your choice, but for Holy the more commonly used glyphs are Renew, Lightspring, Lightwell, Circle of Healing, and Prayer of Mending.
B) Minor
Most of these are purely cosmetic and fun, take a look at them and figure which you want to use.
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V. Secondary Stats and Reforging
First it is very important to keep in mind that the budget for secondary stats is DOUBLE that of primary stats. This means an item that has a budget for 1 point of Intellect would have an equivalent budget of 2 Spirit, Mastery, or Haste. This is clearly illustrated by looking at hybrid gems.
Not all items (Elixirs, Potions, Foods) show this, so favoring secondary stats that are not double of primary could be placing yourself under budget.
A) Spirit - this is our primary regen stat. Intellect no longer increases our regen, and only affects our spellpower and critical strike chance, with this in mind spirit will be critical to our regen. Each point of spirit is worth roughly 0.56/mp5. Fresh 90’s will want to stack as much spirit as possible until they reach a level of regen that is comfortable for their gameplay, and then pare back introducing throughput stats in its place.
B) Haste - haste reduces our cast time, and increases the speed at which Heal over Time spells tick. With enough haste, you can add additional ticks. A breakdown of haste ratings for each spell affected is available here. For every 425 haste rating you have, you gain 1% haste.
C) Mastery - As holy we have innately 10% Echo of Light. Mastery scales 1 Mastery per 600 Mastery Rating and then we gain 1.25% Echo of Light, per Mastery. Or more simply put, as Holy for every 480 Mastery Rating, your Echo of Light increases by 1%. EoL is only generated on direct heals (no HoTs). Depending on the damage pattern of a fight and the other healers in your group, Echo of Light can represent a substantial amount of your healing in a given encounter.
D) Crit - Heals when they crit, heal for an additional 100%. However, crits can be RNG and consistency can be important to a healer. Further, Holy Priests do not have Divine Aegis, and as a result do not gain as much from Crit as our Discipline counterparts. For holy, crit is generally the least sought after secondary stat. For every 600 crit rating you have, you gain 1% crit.
What should you stack and reforge? A lot of this really depends on your spell breakdown: what you are casting, how frequently, and how effective it is. Generally speaking, want to reach the first breakpoint for Renew (unglyphed) which improves its HPM. Then determine if the breakpoint for Lightwell & Lightspring is reachable, provided you are seeing good results from those spells (which you should), then consider hitting that breakpoint as well of 4,716 raidbuffed. You will notice that HW: Sanctuary's 3rd added tick is 4,716; so if you can reach 4,716 you should likely also be able to hit 4,717. After that, you are only a few points shy of the Renew (glyphed) breakpoint of 4,721 and should be able to reach that.
Stat priority is very difficult to pin down for Priests as we have such a wide arsenal of spells to choose from, and even running Simcraft or other simulations our stat weights can swing and vary wildly. The most important thing to keep in mind when running simulations is: your spell breakdown on a sim should mirror your spell breakdown on your logs. If it doesn't, you run the risk of tilting stats that favor abilities you are never using! (Ie. if you gear for high Echo of Light output, but are mostly casting Renew, you are missing out since Renew doesn't directly benefit from Mastery (Rapid Renewal does, however)).
Note: In 5.0.4 and Mists of Pandaria, Divine Hymn and Hymn of Hope no longer gain additional ticks from Haste. Haste will decrease the channeling time, and in turn, its HPS, but not increase the actual raw healing done.
Your Basic Secondary Stat Priority Should Be:
- 1. Spirit up to the point you are comfortable with regen
2. Haste to your desired breakpoint
3. Mastery for Echo of Light, provided you are casting spells benefiting from it
4. Crit - Crit for healers is tricky as it is an RNG stat, and as Holy we do not gain as substantive additional throughput that our Discipline brethren do.
Spirit, especially early on, will be the go-to stat for all healers since we will need to learn how to manage mana in the new world of Fixed Mana Pools.
Haste beyond your breakpoints is still a valid stat as it will shorten cast time of our healing spells and provide benefit to some of our regen abilities. (Fiend, MB, and Solace). The "priority" listed above should be considered a loose system, as a good deal of it will vary dramatically based on your spell usage. I urge all priests to look at their healing logs, and determine what spells are representing the largest portions of their output and then consider which stats benefit most from them.
For Example: if Renew is a large part of your output, and you are a few points shy of a breakpoint, you would likely want to reforge to reach that level. Or if you are doing a good deal of Tank Healing and Single Target Heals on your tank is a majority of your output, you are likely goign to see Echo of Light also be a large part of your healing done-- gearing for more mastery can also be a large benefit.
Which brings up a good question: What impact does Haste have upon our Glyph decisions?
The Glyph of Renew affects your Renew breakpoint. Glyphed renew always has a higher HPS than non-glyphed Renew, however haste can affect the HPM if one (glyphed or unglyphed) reaches a breakpoint and the other doesn’t. When glyphed, the first breakpoint for Renew is 4,721 (raidbuffed) and when unglyphed it is only 3,039 (raidbuffed). This means, if you can hit the 3,039 breakpoint, but cannot hit the 4,721 breakpoint you likely should not glyph Renew as your unglyphed renew would have 5 ticks, and glyphed renew would have 3. (albeit 33% stronger per tick) Since Mana conservation will be king in MoP, you generally should maximize your HPM and adjust HPS as you become more comfortable with your mana consumption.
Of course, if Renew is auto-refreshed via Chakra: Serenity, the HPM is dramatically improved.
TLDR:
3,038 Haste or less, Glyph Renew for better HPS and equal HPM.
3,839-4,720 Haste, do not Glyph Renew for better HPM
4,721-13,160 Haste, Glyph Renew for better HPM/HPS
After reaching your desired Haste threshold, you generally will want to start stacking Mastery to gain both HPC and HPS from Echo of Light on our Non HoT Based Heals. With mana being at such a premium, Mastery will provide direct throughput at no additional mana cost. (Note: Haste does have an affect on mana regen via HoH, Shadowfiend/Mindbender swing timers, and PW: Solace cast time, which can directly affect regeneration)
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VI. Enchants
We do have some choice in our enchants, generally speaking we should be using our gems as our primary source of regen (since they benefit from the 2:1 Secondary to Primary stat itemization) not our enchants. [*] denote the BIS option. (Profession only enchants are listed here provided they are mutually exclusive to the basic enchant).
Shoulder
Greater Crane Wing Inscription [*]
Crane Wing Inscription
Secret Crane Wing Inscription (Scribe Only) [*]
Cloak
Superior Intellect [*]
Superior Critical Strike
Darkglow Embroidery (Tailor Only) [*] - Mana Regen
Lightweave Embroidery (Tailor Only) [*] - Throughput
Chest
Glorious Stats [*]
Mighty Spirit [*]
Both Enchants are strong options provided you need the added (120 spirit) spirit it provides in exchange for the other 80 stats you'd be giving up-- particularly Intellect. It does win out on the 2:1 ratio rule it really depends on when and where you need your stats.
Wrist
Super Intellect [*]
Mastery
Fur Lining - Intellect (Leatherworking Only) [*]
Rings
Greater Intellect (Enchanter Only) [*]
Gloves
Superior Mastery
Greater Haste
[*] - Varies based on desired haste breakpoint
Waist
Living Steel Belt Buckle [*]
Legs
Greater Pearlescent Spellthread [*]
Pearlescent Spellthread
Boots
Pandaren's Step
Greater Haste
[*] Varies basted on desired haste breakpoint and if you are running Inner Will or not. Inner Will does not stack with the 8% movement speed buff that Pandaren's Step provides.
Weapon
Windsong (main hand)
Jade Spirit (main hand)
Major Intellect (offhand)
[*] Weapon Enchants are tricky. If you are in desperate need for mana regeneration, have gemmed and raidbuffed yourself for spirit, a number of people are considering using Heartsong Enchant for an average static value of ~108 spirit. That being said, is 108 spirit worth more than what Jade Spirit's int proc can provide you or what Windsong's secondary stat proc can provide you--- NO.
According to final clarity from Blizzard, Jade Spirit equalized, should provide 396 intellect, and additionally has a 750 spirit proc when you proc the spell under 25% mana. (which results in ~45 spirit equalized, assuming you are under 25% mana for 25% of the fight). This is using the 12 second buff duration, and 50 second ICD and assuming you proc it as soon as it comes off CD.
Windsong is a bit trickier to evaluate since it can provide three possible buffs: 1500 of either Crit, Mastery, or Haste. Each has its own ICD, and multiple buffs can be active on a player at one time. It has a 1PPM, with a 1 sec CD between each individual stat proc. This puts each stat with ~20% uptime, which means the enchant is roughly worth 300 of each Mastery, Crit, and Haste.
At first glance it seems we should be considering debating the potency of secondary stat scaling or raw spellpower scaling. This answer may depend on your healing style. The enchant is about in line with the 1:2 ratio that primary:secondary stats have in Mists. Ultimately, its about a wash and you should be asking yourself "is gaining 429 int worth 900 total of secondary stats?".
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VII. Gemming
A) Basic Gems: when you first hit 90, mana will be a big concern for you and you will want to likely focus on regen being more important than throughput. This means, you’ll want everything to have some form of spirit on it! As mana becomes less scarce, gemming for more throughput stats will become more and more viable.
Red
Brilliant Primordial Ruby
Purple
Purified Imperial Amethist
Orange
Potent Vermilion Onyx
Reckless Vermilion Onyx
Artful Vermilion Onyx
Yellow
Smooth Sun's Radiance
Quick Sun's Radiance
Fractured Sun's Radiance
Yellow gems should be used only to reach specific secondary stat goals. For the most part, yellow sockets should be matched with Orange Hybrids. (See Discussion Below.)
Blue
Sparkling River’s Heart
Green
Energized Wild Jade
Misty Wild Jade
Zen Wild Jade
Green Gems should be used when trying to reach specific secondary stat goals, as well as trying to maintain higher levels of spirit.
Which gems you will want to use will vary based on your personal stat priority and haste breakpoint goals, however you will likely want to prioritize spirit until you reach a comfortable level of regen, then follow the rules outlined in the Stats section of this guide.
Assuming you've met your personal mana regen thresholds, generally you'll want to have your sockets prioritize Brilliant gems in your Red sockets, hybrid gems in Yellow sockets, and hybrid gems in your Blue sockets. Hybrid gems should be used to meet your secondary stat goals. (eg. Haste breakpoints) Socket bonuses that provide a valuable enough bonus should be met, unless breaking the socket bonus provides more stats that you value greater than the bonus stat.
B) Meta Gems: As healers we have 3 options from a PVE perspective. You will also notice that Metas no longer have an equipped gem requirement to activate its bonus.
Revitalizing Primal Diamond
Ember Primal Diamond
Burning Primal Diamond
Based purely on regen and evaluating just the meta’s unto themselves, the Revitalizing Primal Diamond is worth ~300 spirit more than the Ember Primal Diamond (varying depending on which Regen Talent you choose at Level 45). To decide what meta you’ll want to use, you first want to ask yourself how your mana regen is working for you and to work backwards from there.
If regen is a your primary concern, and you are gemming full spirit, you simply would gem into the Revitalizing Primal Diamond. (Spirit, spirit, more spirit!)
If regen is important, but you want to begin to incorporate more throughput, and you have 2 blue sockets with Purifieds in them. You would want to use the Ember Primal Diamond and change the Purifieds to Sparklings to slowly shift to more throughput yet still maximize your regen; you'll net ahead in both Spirit and Int. As you need less and less, spirit you can start replacing your basic gems with pure throughput or spirit/throughput hybrid gems.
If throughput is a primary concern for you, and regen secondary, use the Ember Primal Diamond and gem your gear with primarily throughput or spirit/throughput hybrid gems.
If throughput is a primary concern, and regen tertiary, use the Burning Primal Diamond and gem your gear with primarily throughput or spirit/throughput hybrid gems.
Transitioning From Regen to Throughput:
As you gear up and become more and more comfortable (and able) to sustain your own regen, you should look to changing your meta gem first as it can smooth out your transition from pure regen gemming and gearing to more throughput focused strategies.
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VIII. Consumables
A) Food - cooking and food has changed notably in Mists of Pandaria. WoWHead has a comprehensive guide on the cooking specialties. As well as some of the "added benefits" when eating foods of that specialty.
You will notice that food is not affected by the item budget changes that gems were. You are granted at most, 300 of a stat regardless if it is primary or secondary.
For most holy priests we will want to focus on the Way of the Steamer and the Way of the Pot.
- The Way of the Steamer gives us access to strong spirit food, which is a direct increase to our regen. Steamed Crab Surprise provides us with 300 Spirit or ~169mp5.
- The Way of the Pot gives us acess to strong intellect based foods. Mogu Fish Stew provides us with 300 intellect.
Additionally, each cooking specialization also has access to Banquets (10 charges) and Great Banquets (25 charges). Eating at a banquet will provide you with 250 of a primary stat. If you have learned the Specialization of the banquet, you will gain 300 stats of that school's specialization.
Example: If you have learned the Way of the Pot specialization, and eat a Banquet of the Grill, you will gain 250 Intellect. However, if you eat a Banquet of the Pot, you will gain 300 Intellect.
Generally speaking, if you want 300 stats of the buff of your choice without having to worry about what type of Banquet is being dropped-- bring your own food.
B) Flasks
Currently in MoP there are no Guld Cauldrons, which means we will be responsible for our own consumables. In the flask front we can choose between Flask of Falling Leaves for 1,000 spirit worth ~565mp5 or Flask of the Warm Sun for 1,000 intellect. Of course, if you are struggling with mana, the spirit flask will be a good option for you. Note again, similar to food buffs, the item budget is considered equal for primary and secondary stats.
Alternatively you can use elixirs (which do not persist through death) on Battle and one Guardian. However, there are no Guardian elixirs that provide stats valid for a PVE healing priest. So unfortunately, double elixirs simply won’t provide the same amount of stats a single Flask could.
Exilir of Peace
Elixir of the Rapids
Monk's Exlir
Mad hozen Elixir
C) Potions
Master Mana Potion: You will notice that the MoP mana potion no longer grants a ‘range’ of mana, and is fixed at 30,000 mana. Gone are the days of RNG restoration.
Potion of Focus: provides the most mana back possible, however requires you to stop actively casting when using the potion. (MoP version of the Potion of Concentration).
Potion of the Jade Serpent: instant surge in your Intellect. Helpful if mana is not a concern, but if increased output will be.
- Note on Pre-potting: currently pre-potting Intellect does not affect pre-placement of Lightwell, as Lightwell captures your stats at the moment the Charge is used, not at the time it is cast. (Note: this is also affected by your Inner Fire/Will as well).
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IX. Chakra- A Disambiguation
Chakra is one of the hallmarks of a Holy Priest. We have 3 stances, specialized for 3 different tasks. We can change which Chakra state/stance we are in, once every 30 seconds. Chakra was designed so we can can tailor our considerable spellbook for the task at hand. If we need to Single Target Heal, and triage, we can; if we need to focus on Burst AOE healing, we can.
Chakra: Chastise - DPS Stance, rarely (if ever) used in PVE, mostly enables Holy Priests to quest and do dailies without changing specialization.
Chakra: Serenity - Single Target Healing stance. This provides a buff to your Single Target heals. Additionally you gain access to the instant, and heavy-hitting HW: Serenity. Additionally, any single target heal on a target that is affected by Renew, will refresh the duration of Renew back to its full duration. This dramatically improves Renew’s HPM/HPC. Spells affected by Chakra: Serenity: Heal, Greater Heal, Flash Heal, Binding Heal, Renew
Chakra: Sanctuary - AOE Healing stance. This provides a buff to all AOE heals and a cooldown reduction to COH, as well as giving us access to our ground-based AOE heal, HW: Sanctuary. HW: Sanctuary is classified as a HoT, and therefore can scale with haste. Spells affected by Chakra: Sanctuary: Prayer of Healing, Circle of Healing, Divine Star, Halo, Cascade, and Divine Hymn.
Since Chakra has a 30 second cooldown, deciding what stance you are in (and which corresponding bonus) is important to predict. If you are going to need a period of Burst AOE healing, you will likely want to be prepared and in your Chakra: Sanctuary stance to ensure your AOE heals are at their maximum. Ideally, we should be swapping Chakra stances throughout a fight, maximizing our output and tailoring our spells to the task presented. In more common practice, swapping stances is typically something that doesn't happen all that often and really can vary fight to fight.
A subsequent guide on Chakra Healing will be published shortly, specifically discussing the pros, cons, and mechanics of Chakra healing and ‘stance dancing’.
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X. Inner Fire and Inner Will
Either Inner Fire and Inner Will should ALWAYS be active.
Inner Fire has changed, and no longer provides a flat Spellpower increase, but instead scales your spellpower by 10%. This is substantial as it increases its worth as your gear improves. When glyphed with Inner Sanctum, Inner Fire also mitigate 6% of all incoming magic damage.
Inner Will decreases your mana cost of all instant cast spells, and increases your movement speed. When glyphed with Inner Sanctum, that movement speed is further enhanced.
Which should you use? It depends. Generally speaking if you are struggling with mana, Inner Will can assist you in that mana savings. Otherwise, you should likely be using Inner fire for the scaled added throughput.
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XI. Mana Management
Mana will be key in Mists of Pandaria. Figuring out which mana restoration talent you select (FDCL, Mindbender, or PW: Solace), as well as learning how to heal properly. Knowing which spells are suited best for the task at hand. Minimizing our Overhealing also should be a goal of every priest as to be certain we are not wasting our precious mana resources.
At level 90, all priests will be fixed at a flat 300,000 mana. The only way to increase this mana pool is via Meta Gems and the Gnome Racial, Expansive Mind. All spells will cost a fixed percentage of mana. This is means if Greater Heal costs you 5.9% mana (or 17,700 mana at level 90), it will always cost the same amount regardless of gear level. This addresses and interesting issue that Blizzard has always struggled with: mana cost scaling as people gear up through tiers.
What does this mean for us as Holy Priests? Well it means we will need to always be aware of our mana regen, and that Intellect is no longer a mana and throughput stat, it is just a throughput stat. Additionally, Spirit increases in value despite it providing no direct throughput.
We will need to be certain we are using our Regen abilities and potions to their maximum, as well as being certain our gear is balanced between raw throughput, and mana restoration and longevity. As you find yourself gearing up, and needing less spirit (since you have more on your gear) you can start pulling back from spirit from your food/flasks (first) then your gems. The reason I suggest this, as Food/Flask stats are at a 1:1 ratio Int:Secondary Stats, while gems are 2:1 Int:Secondary Stats.
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XII. Rotation
For the most part, there is minimal amounts of change for Holy Priests in Mists of Pandaria.
There is no magic rotation for healing, and it really depends on how the damage is being received by your raid. Here are a series of basic rules and guidelines for a series of damage patterns (Low, Moderate, High, Overwhelming damage for both Single Target and Raid Healing). It should be underscored that these are just sample damage patterns and spell selection options and should not be taken as the only options to heal.
Regardless if you are Single Target or AOE healing, you will always want to keep your Lightwell/Lightspring on CD and within range of a majority of the Raid Group.
A) Single Target Healing
With some of the changes to Chakra: Serenity, Holy Priests can be powerful single target healers, which is something that we have historically struggled with. With Chakra: Serenity now providing a 15% buff to single target heals (Renew included) single target healing is something we can be viable at.
Low Single Target Damage
- ► Chakra state isn't important provided throughput needs are low
► Heal for triage
► Renew for triage, and maintained via Chakra: Serenity on Main Tank Targets
Moderate Single Target Damage
- ► Chakra: Serenity for added throughput and access to HW: Serenity
► Heal for triage
► HW: Serenity on targets who need a moderate instant heal, or will be a subsequent target of heals.
► Renew for triage, and maintained via Chakra: Serenity on Main Tank Targets
► POM on targets who will be taking continual damage and will proc the first charge of POM
High Single Target Damage
- ► Chakra: Serenity for added throughput and access to HW: Serenity
► Heal and HW: Serenity for triage
► Prayer of Mending on CD on the desired target
► Greater Heal provided minimal overhealing
► Flash Heal for Emergency Single Target Heals
Overwhelming Single Target Damage
- ► Chakra: Serenity for added throughput and access to HW: Serenity
► Flash Heal on target, twice, followed by Serendipity hastened Greater Heal rotations
► HW: Serenity to maintain Renew
► Prayer of Mending as available
B) AOE or Raid Healing
Raid Healing has typically been the Holy Priest's wheelhouse, particularly Burst AOE healing... this is no exception in Mists of Pandaria. Paired with Chakra: Sanctuary, we have strong AOE healing combinations we can chain together to provide some of the strongest burst AOE healing in the game.
Low Raid Wide Damage
- ► Chakra state isn't important provided throughput needs are low
► Circle of Healing on cooldown, provided 3+ targets are in need of healing and are in range of the target.
Prayer of Mending on CD, provided it will be able to bounce to multiple targets
► Renew on targets who may need additional healing, particularly if you are in Chakra: Serenity or have Inner Will active
► Prayer of Healing on groups, if necessary, and if Prayer of Healing will heal 3+ targets with minimal overheal
► Divine Star on CD, if specced
Moderate Raid Wide Damage
- ► Chakra: Sanctuary for increased output and COH CD
► Circle of Healing on CD
► Prayer of Mending on CD
► Renew targets who need additional healing (or if the damage is timed, pre-cast Renew on targets before damage starts)
► Holy Word: Sanctuary in an area where a large group of the raid will be standing (ideally without the need to move out of the area)
► Prayer of Healing on groups that need additional healing and Prayer of Healing will heal 3+ targets
► Divine Star/Halo/Cascade on CD (Note on Halo/Cascade: Should be kept on CD provided predictable High or Overwhelming Raid Damage is not coming prior to the cooldown's completion and stability is not needed prior to its arrival)
High Raid Wide Damage
- ► Chakra: Sanctuary for increased output and COH CD
► Circle of Healing on CD
► Prayer of Mending on CD
► Spam Prayer of Healing on groups that need additional healing
► If damage is timed, pre-cast Renew on a number of targets before damage starts. Do not stop POH spam to single target renew.
► Holy Word: Sanctuary in an area where a large group of the raid will be standing (ideally without the need to move out of the area, and before damage starts)
► Divine Star/Halo/Cascade on CD
► Divine Hymn if necessary to stay ahead of damage or to stabilize raid health
Overwhelming Raid Wide Damage
- ► Chakra: Sanctuary for increased output and COH CD
► Circle of Healing on CD
► Prayer of Mending on CD
► If damage is timed, pre-cast Renew on a number of targets before damage starts.
► Holy Word: Sanctuary in an area where a large group of the raid will be standing (ideally without the need to move out of the area, and before damage starts)
► Divine Star/Halo/Cascade on CD
► Divine Hymn
XIII. Racial Bonuses
Racial Bonuses can have a substantial impact on your play, providing substantial CDs as well as regenerative abilities. Each race does bring some flavor and benefit to your play, and if you are trying to min/max your priest these racial perks should be considered.
For a full breakdown and analysis, please read the Tales of a Priest posting available here.
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XIV. Additional Reading
H2P Holy Healing Guide
H2P Addon Guide - Healing
H2P 5-Man Healing Cheat Sheet
H2P Best Professions By PP - Shadow focused, but still relevant and important. The statweights used in this thread are for shadow but still provide solid insight to the profession's benefits.
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XV. Changelog
8.30.12 - Updated to include details on Hymn of Hope/Divine Hymn's haste scaling.
11.7.12 - Updated a couple of errors and clarified points
