switching from Disc to Holy

[Bellgarrath]

ok i am currently Disc/Shadow spec. My guild is needing another raid healer as we are currently heavy on tank heals. my question is how much of a difference in gear do the two specs have? I've never ran holy before always been disc. Any help would be appreciated. Bellgarrath on Bonechewer.

[Star]

The biggest difference gear wise is that Crit is awful for Holy. You don't really ever want it - reforge wherever you have it.

Gems:
Red - +40 Int
Yellow - +20 Int +20 Haste/Mastery
Blue - +20 Int +20 Spi

You can run Haste or Mastery. Generally most agree that Mastery is better at a lower gear level since it adds more HPM and Haste is better at a higher gear level with more HPS - although both methods are viable to stack, or even just go with whatever you have. 12.5% haste will get you another tick on Renew, so it's a good thing to shoot for (raid buffed).

Hope this helps :)

[Bellgarrath]

awesome thx. now i just gotta find a holy guide for dummies. im so set in my ways with disc i think it may be hard to switch over.

also is it posible to raid heal as disc if so i may just tinker with holy instead of pushing for really getting into the nitty gritty of it.

[Floaties]

Disc is the 2nd best raid healer around :P (imo)


of course... the first being a holy priest...

I think this because it has nearly as much raw aoe hps as a holy priest with different tank / raid CDs.

I'm just a disc try-hard though.


If a holy priest is hitting it's max potential without overhealing you really can't beat it.

Derailing over.

[Arlee]

awesome thx. now i just gotta find a holy guide for dummies. im so set in my ways with disc i think it may be hard to switch over.

also is it posible to raid heal as disc if so i may just tinker with holy instead of pushing for really getting into the nitty gritty of it.

I recently made this switch for my offspec (switched from Disc to Holy). It's not too hard to switch but it is a bit of a different mindset. Also you have to be very aware of what kind of damage will be coming (aoe or tank pummeling) to properly use chakra.

Disc is fun for aoe healing, though if you really want to focus on being a raid healer I'd say go holy, sry pudding ;)

[Star]

If you're going to be a pure raid healer definitely go Holy. Also, you don't have to really worry about Chakra - just stay in Sanctuary all the time. It buffs your Renew for tank healing and buffs all of your raid heals including reducing the CD on CoH - which is your new best friend!

[Bellgarrath]

hah pudding didnt know you were from Houston. Im from right outside of Tyler. talk about a small world

[Bellgarrath]

well good news. i recruited a resto druid to my guild last night so i dont have to worry about raid heals. also the other holy pally we have is going to be going ret. since he is the only holy pally we have we will pretty much let him have any of the plate healing gear that drops. so looks like ill be keeping Disc/Shadow for now. thanks for all the help guys.

[possibry]

the extra tick on renew isnt as gamebreaking as some holy priests make it out to be. 99% of the time it gets healed over by other healers anyway.

[Nephelee]

I semi-disagree on the renew statement. For 25 normal modes, I rarely used renew.. but I've ended up using it a fair amount on the movement heavy 25 heroics. Also don't forget you also gain a tick on your Hymn of Hope and Divine Hymn.