WotLK [Guide] Shieldspopping - A PvE Discipline guide (2024)

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December 29, 2016
Nemmish
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[Guide] Shieldspopping - A PvE Discipline guide
Content
Introduction, The power of discipline healing, the absorbs
Talents, glyphs
Talents
Glyphs
Rotation, spells, buffs
Rotation
Mana management, Rapture, Shadowfiend, Hymn of Hope
Power Infusion, the value of haste for each class
Pain Suppression
Prayer of Healing vs. Flash Heal
Gear, enchants, stats, gems
Gear and enchants
Stats
Gems
Consumables
Professions
Races
Raid healing
Addons
1. Introduction, The power of discipline healing, the absorbs

Hello all, I am Nemmish, maining discipline priest for over a couple of years now on Warmane. Recently I have seen that some priests are lost in what and how to do as a discipline, so I decided to make this guide.
I do play shadow and holy too, so don't be surprised if you find me wearing a different gear on the armory :) and I am still on the way to be BiS, so look over the missing parts of my gear.
The value of a discipline doesn't lie in the amount of absorbs one does, because that can easily depend on the situation, on the value of other healers and on the incoming damage. The incoming damage can be mitigated by a lot of things, buffs, auras, what a discipline priest has no influence on. All in all, don't ask how much I absorb in a fight.
This is not an in-depth guide, but rather a quick starter for the ones in need. For more information about end-game and 0% buff raiding, do check out Iqui's guide.
I made the guide, to help others. Advice and criticism are welcomed, but please cause no drama over this.
Unlike other healers, discipline priests have to prevent damage most of the times. Reacting after the damage has been done is already too late so to say.
The way we can be the most effective is to be prepared for the incoming damage.
This means you must
preshield the members, depending on the boss you are facing and that's it pretty much for the basics. If you do this, then we got an average discipline healer.
But what makes one a good discipline?
Topping the absorbs and heals on Skada is a common misconception. A bad discipline can be on top, just as a good one.
Being a good discipline is not only about spamming shields. That is the basic, the minimum what one should do. If you just think about, the discipline priest should be always in the top of the recount, since they can "cheat" with their absorbs and heals, because their shield will be consumed first by the incoming damage (Valanyr bubble checks-in. It varies from time to time, but do keep an eye on if the shield provided by Valanyr gets consumed first or your bubble.). Not even giving a chance for other healers to fill up the damage (because none was done).
To be a good discipline you have to know your role, your spells and buffs. How you can twist around your gameplay to get the best out of the raid setup.
You are a supporting class with such spells in your pocket what can make you the most unique of all the healers if you use them well.
Used terms
5SR - 5 Second Rule
BiS - Best in Slot
BT - Borrowed Time
CD - Cooldown
FH - Flash Heal
FP - Focused Power
GCD - Global Cooldown
HOT - Heal Over Time
I5SR - Inside 5 Second Rule
ICD - Internal Cooldown
ImpS - Improved Power Word: Shield
MP5 - Mana per 5 second
OO5SR - Outside Of 5 Second Rule
OOM - Out Of Mana
PI - Power Infusion
PoH - Prayer of Healing
PoM - Prayer of Mending
PS - Pain Suppression
PVE - Player versus Environment
PVP - Player versus Player
PW:S - Power Word Shield
SP - Spell Power
TD - Twin Disciplines
2. Talents, glyphs

a. Talents

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b. Glyphs

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3. Rotation, spells, buffs
In this section, I will give you a quick explanation on some spells, that I have noticed people lack knowledge on, and an in depth look on the most important ones.
a. Rotation

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I will explain some of the spells and buffs below. The reason why I have chosen these three is because to my experience, they are the most misunderstood ones.
b. Mana management, Rapture, Shadowfiend, Hymn of Hope

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c. Power Infusion, the value of haste for each class

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d. Pain Suppression

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e. Prayer of Healing vs. Flash Heal

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4. Gear, enchants, stats, gems

a. Gear and enchants

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b. Stats

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c. Gems

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5. Consumables

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6. Professions

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7. Races

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8. Raid healing

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9. Addons

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And last but not least I want to thank a few ppl for helping and pressuring me to write the guide :)
Fluffybully, Selaya and all the disciplines I have been discussing with in the past few months.
Also ElitistJerks and Wowhead for some calculations and playstyle references.
Edits and fixes:
2016.12.29. Added Prayer of Healing vs. Flash Heal
2016.12.30. Fixed Races, and added more detail to the Power Infusion bulletpoint (haste paladins). Fixed enchants section.
2017.01.02. Updated meta gems, fixed the BiS set and the boss health for affliction warlocks.
2017.01.05. Added spirit calculating formula and the explanation of the 5 second rule.
2017.12.09. Fixed and polished the links, and some of the texts.
2018.03.31. Still fixing the appearance of the guide, also added some texts to the links in case they broke
2018.04.28. Changed some formatting, and updated the haste value of PI for the dps classes. Also added a more detailed haste cap part.
2018.11.20. Changed the BiS lists a little, and updated the titles of the two, since I found this two more fitting.
2019.01.31. Added a calculation for the Total Absorbs into the Stats section.
2020.07.21. Applied some cosmetics, and corrections in the wording and formatting. As well as added an addon section.
2020.09.08. Added some extra clarification to the meta gems and added some extra terms.
2020.09.24. Added Tailoring to the list of professions with extra comments.
2021.07.20. Added extra information on the calculation of haste.
Edited: July 20, 2021
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December 30, 2016
DarkenedHue
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See Also
WotLK Disc pve guide WotLK Classic Discipline Priest Guide Discipline Priest Guide for The War Within WotLK [Disc Priest] 3.3.5 Tier 7 BiS List & Stat Priority
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Nicely thought-out and written, formatting is great on the eyes too!
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December 30, 2016
Mercy
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Overall well-constructed and pleasant format for a guide.
Now I'll give you my feedback.
@ Giving a Holydin Power Infusion, I think it's important in this situation to be aware of the Holydin's gear-set. There are a fair number of Holydins who use a "haste build" to get their Holy Light spell as close to the GCD as possible. For this particular players, the haste of Power Infusion would be lost. Naturally, the mana cost reduction is still great, but I think if the Holydin in question is geared like this, it would be best to move on to the next recommendation of healers to apply it to.
@ Spirit vs. MP5, It's great that you brought this up. I know a lot of priests who just aren't aware of this, and despite me trying to tell them of it, they dismiss it. This here was enough to get my approval on the guide, as so few people actually touch on this point. I'd highly recommend that people don't dismiss it, either, as it can be a huge factor while still gearing.
@ Bullet point #7, I'm fairly certain you meant Races here, rather than Classes. Also, on this point, I like to recommend Blood Elves and Humans whenever possible, as they are the most mana efficient of the races, and thus more friendly to newbies. The Human racial is particularly powerful if the priest in question ever plans to play either Shadow or Holy.
Edit: I've also added the [Guide] tag to this thread and put on the guides sticky thread for this section. If you want further alterations for the thread's name (in case you feel "Guide" being mentioned feels silly to you), feel free to let me know.
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December 30, 2016
Nemmish
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Originally Posted by DarkenedHue
Nicely thought-out and written, formatting is great on the eyes too!
Thank you ^^ I have edited it for long and still have a way to go :D
Originally Posted by Mercy
@ Giving a Holydin Power Infusion, I think it's important in this situation to be aware of the Holydin's gear-set. There are a fair number of Holydins who use a "haste build" to get their Holy Light spell as close to the GCD as possible. [..]
You are right, I have added this bit to the list. I wanted to include it, but somehow I left it out. Thank you for pointing it out :)
Originally Posted by Mercy
@ Bullet point #7, I'm fairly certain you meant Races here, rather than Classes.[...]
Ooops, fixed and added the prioritised classes in terms of mana efficiency.
Originally Posted by Mercy
Edit: I've also added the [Guide] tag to this thread and put on the guides sticky thread for this section. If you want further alterations for the thread's name (in case you feel "Guide" being mentioned feels silly to you), feel free to let me know.
Thank you a lot for this :) I am not at all bothered by the "Guide" tag.
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December 30, 2016
Jakkre
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Very nice guide!
Just one thing regarding engineering:
The parachute http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=63765 gives 27 sp.
Guess thats better than 23 haste from http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=44472 and the parachute is also handy in case ur rocket boots explode.
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December 30, 2016
Nemmish
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Originally Posted by Jakkre
Very nice guide!
Just one thing regarding engineering:
The parachute http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=63765 gives 27 sp.
Guess thats better than 23 haste from http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=44472 and the parachute is also handy in case ur rocket boots explode.
Yep you are right, I overlooked the SP outcome, I will update the guide with it :) The parachute effect is useless though, because of Levitate.
Thanks for the feedback!
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December 30, 2016
Jakkre
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Originally Posted by Nemmish
The parachute effect is useless though, because of Levitate.
Yeah its pretty useless but not completely. Parachute doesn't break on dmg, triggers no GCD and cost no mana.
So if ur nitro boots really happen to explode u are better of using the parachute than levitate.
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See Also
Discipline Priest Healing Gear and Best in Slot - The War Within (Season 1)
December 30, 2016
Fluffybully
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Originally Posted by Jakkre
Yeah its pretty useless but not completely. Parachute doesn't break on dmg, triggers no GCD and cost no mana.
So if ur nitro boots really happen to explode u are better of using the parachute than levitate.
They don't fail in instances. Never saw them fail in instances, so it's pretty much useless in Raid environment.
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December 30, 2016
Mercy
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Originally Posted by Fluffybully
They don't fail in instances. Never saw them fail in instances, so it's pretty much useless in Raid environment.
Yes, as far as I know, they are scripted so that they do not fail in instances.
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December 30, 2016
magaginho
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Three questions for the guide writer.
a) You do know that going color code in a Discipline priest brings no benefits on the long run, correct?
b) You recommend people to not use the tier hands. I'm going to ask the reason why since I'm curious to see if the explanation behind it is the typical one.
c) You state that Solace is the best pick possible; Why not Abacus since it's your mandatory Spell Power boost and your primary ability relies on it? Mana management can be done with a proper timed placement of your Power Word: Shield and with a good replenishment through your multiple abilities.
Edited: December 31, 2016
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December 31, 2016
Nemmish
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Originally Posted by magaginho
Three questions for the guide writer.
a) You do know that going color code in a Discipline priest brings no benefits on the long run, correct?
Red, blue, yellow sockets: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113
For activating the meta, I prefer using 2 gems instead of the +10 to stats one, because this is the way I can get the most SP in the end.
Originally Posted by magaginho
b) You recommend people to not use the tier hands. I'm going to ask the reason why since I'm curious to see if the explanation behind it is the typical one.
I have made 2 BiS gear set, one to focus haste, changing the t10 healing to the shadow chest. The other one focuses SP outcome. The offset gloves have 10 less sp, but an extra socket, meaning the outcome will be 10 sp more, than the usual build, also a lot more spirit. As I have stated in my guide.
Originally Posted by magaginho
c) You state that Solace is the best pick possible; Why not Abbacus since it's your mandatory Spell Power boost and your primary ability relies on it? Mana management can be done with a proper timed placement of your Power Word: Shield and with a good replenishment through your multiple abilities.
For shorter fights, when you don't have to worry about your mana management, http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50366 is considered bis.
And it is rather a personal preference, that is why I have mentioned both trinkets.
I think I have answered all your questions, ask away if I failed to explain clearly :)
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December 31, 2016
magaginho
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Originally Posted by Nemmish
Red, blue, yellow sockets: http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=40113
For activating the meta, I prefer using 2 gems instead of the +10 to stats one, because this is the way I can get the most SP in the end.
You're not taking a specific Meta in consideration; http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41333
Those 2% intellect take away all the requisites that your recommended meta asks for, specially when it comes to obtaining more spell power. It takes away all the extra color gems and that automatically transforms your gemming into a full spell power gemming that will bring more spell power results than the current one that you provide and advise.
Originally Posted by Nemmish
I have made 2 BiS gear set, one to focus haste, changing the t10 healing to the shadow chest. The other one focuses SP outcome. The offset gloves have 10 less sp, but an extra socket, meaning the outcome will be 10 sp more, than the usual build, also a lot more spirit. As I have stated in my guide.
I was already expecting this answer but I wanted to make sure it came out. Discussing this will be a personal taste and a waste of time on the long run.
Originally Posted by Nemmish
For shorter fights, when you don't have to worry about your mana management, http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50366 is considered bis.
And it is rather a personal preference, that is why I have mentioned both trinkets.
This is literally one of the few things that I don't understand when I read current Discipline Priests talking about it. How can you have mana problems when you have two abilities like http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=34433 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=64901 that when combined bring you back to (almost) maximum mana value? Even when gearing (and I'm keeping in consideration the current state of Icecrown and Lordaeron for this one), your mana is more than controlable under this terms. I've seen a few skilled Discipline Priests reigning their gear process without a single mp5 or Spirit value in them. Plus, in a likely raiding situation, you'll have http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=57669. Plus, you can also make sure that you make your shields break in order to obtain a partial value of your mana cost back. So here's the question; Why should Solace be taking over Abacus when you have all of this variables on the table in order to sustain your mana values? You're not only wasting a strong value of Spell Power but you're also wasting a really valuable proc for a mana management trinket that is only required if you're not doing your mana management properly or as intended.
I think people have this weird tendency of forgetting for what the discipline priests were originally designed back in the day.
Edited: December 31, 2016
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December 31, 2016
Nemmish
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Originally Posted by magaginho
You're not taking a specific Meta in consideration; http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41333
Those 2% intellect take away all the requisites that your recommended meta asks for, specially when it comes to obtaining more spell power. It takes away all the extra color gems and that automatically transforms your gemming into a full spell power gemming that will bring more spell power results than the current one that you provide and advise.
True, but the 300 mp5 would be too good to skip in order to gain 25 extra spellpower.
Originally Posted by magaginho
I was already expecting this answer but I wanted to make sure it came out. Discussing this will be a personal taste and a waste of time on the long run.
I agree however may I still ask for your own personal taste when it comes to BiS gear?
Originally Posted by magaginho
This is literally one of the few things that I don't understand when I read current Discipline Priests talking about it. How can you have mana problems when you have two abilities like http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=34433 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=64901 that when combined bring you back to (almost) maximum mana value? Even when gearing (and I'm keeping in consideration the current state of Icecrown and Lordaeron for this one), your mana is more than controlable under this terms. I've seen a few skilled Discipline Priests reigning their gear process without a single mp5 or Spirit value in them. Plus, in a likely raiding situation, you'll have http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=57669. Plus, you can also make sure that you make your shields break in order to obtain a partial value of your mana cost back. So here's the question; Why should Solace be taking over Abacus when you have all of this variables on the table in order to sustain your mana values? You're not only wasting a strong value of Spell Power but you're also wasting a really valuable proc for a mana management trinket that is only required if you're not doing your mana management properly or as intended.
I think people have this weird tendency of forgetting for what the discipline priests were originally designed back in the day.
Since I've never gotten the trinket on my priest and based on what I've seen on other priest going oom(they're prolly bad I agree). I can say only this. If the smart heal from the trinket itself works I do agree that the Abacus is top notch. However if it does not then the mana regen is better. As Abacus overhealing would be worthless.
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December 31, 2016
magaginho
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Originally Posted by Nemmish
True, but the 300 mp5 would be too good to skip in order to gain 25 extra spellpower.
If you're basing that 300mp5 value out of your meta, you're wrong. http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41401 not only relies on a proc chance (so you're relying on the RNG gods instead of having a static value behind it. Static values usually bring more results to a raid situation) and when it procs gives +600 mana and an additional 200mp5. However, the actual returns, are around 60mp5. 60mp5 is the value of mp5 that you get from a common http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=37835. Now to really crunch it even more, those +21 intellect directly translate into 315 mana. The benefits are extremely small while compared to the meta I've approached.
http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41333 not only gives you more mana (since those 2% intellect are actually scaling with the gear you're using - Example; If you're a priest with a 32k Mana pool, you'll obtain an additional 640 mana) but it also provides you the other variables included with the bonus intellect that comes with those 2% (Critical Strike, Mana Regeneration and obviously Spell Power). Oh, did I mention that it also has an impact on the returns that you get from http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=57669 ? If anything, the main decision for a discipline priest, should be between http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41333 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=41389 but that boils down into a personal decision of spell power versus 0.5% crit. This, if you really want to be fully optimized. If not, anything goes I guess.
Originally Posted by Nemmish
I agree however may I still ask for your own personal taste when it comes to BiS gear?
Errrgh, this will give me a lot of work. But here goes nothing, I guess. This is how I gear my priests and how I used to see them back in the day;

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Originally Posted by Nemmish
Since I've never gotten the trinket on my priest and based on what I've seen on other priest going oom(they're prolly bad I agree). I can say only this. If the smart heal from the trinket itself works I do agree that the Abacus is top notch. However if it does not then the mana regen is better. As Abacus overhealing would be worthless.
Well, you shouldn't rely yourself on what you see from others or from your personal experience either if you're missing some of the good information behind it. The smart heal was working as intended the last time I've checked and it's the main reason why it's so strong. Ignoring such strong proc and base stat always makes me wonder what the hell is going on with people in general. Nothing personal.
Edited: December 31, 2016
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December 31, 2016
harthoran
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First off, I want to say this is a beautiful guide to read on both an aesthetic and educational level. Speaking to the concerns about mana:
Originally Posted by magaginho
This is literally one of the few things that I don't understand when I read current Discipline Priests talking about it. How can you have mana problems when you have two abilities like http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=34433 and http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=64901 that when combined bring you back to (almost) maximum mana value? Even when gearing (and I'm keeping in consideration the current state of Icecrown and Lordaeron for this one), your mana is more than controlable under this terms. I've seen a few skilled Discipline Priests reigning their gear process without a single mp5 or Spirit value in them. Plus, in a likely raiding situation, you'll have http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=57669. Plus, you can also make sure that you make your shields break in order to obtain a partial value of your mana cost back. So here's the question; Why should Solace be taking over Abacus when you have all of this variables on the table in order to sustain your mana values? You're not only wasting a strong value of Spell Power but you're also wasting a really valuable proc for a mana management trinket that is only required if you're not doing your mana management properly or as intended.
I think people have this weird tendency of forgetting for what the discipline priests were originally designed back in the day.
The only fights I would personally consider using a Solace over Althor's is Professor Putricide and Lich King, any other fight is not long enough to be able to dump your mana pool twice. Even though I've used Solace before on Lich King, I normally do not use it anymore, and I'll explain why.
In P1 and P2, there are obviously plenty of ways to stay topped off with http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47537. You have a choice to use your shadowfiend during P1.5, or combine it with Hymn during P2.5. I personally prefer using it in P1.5 combined with a shaman's http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=5675. Alternatively, use your hymn with it in P2.5 and you're pretty much 75%+ mana going into p3.
In P3, there is actually a very easy way to utilize http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=47537 to regain all your mana: http://wotlk.openwow.com/spell=68980. Every time I'm pulled in, Rapture restores about 30% of my mana pool, which will get spent back during FMC and any misc bubbling during Vile Spirit soaks. In P3, mana can easily be conserved by halting the spam of PW:S, only bubbling the tanks and people who will be soaking / are in danger of spirit bursts. If you used Shadowfiend P1.5, it will be up again to use, combine it with yours/a shadow priests hymn. If you used it in P2.5, you should have enough mana combined with harvest soul raptures to preserve your mana through P3. If not, call for one innervate, its what they're for.
However, the reason many Disc priests tend to use Solace here is to avoid worrying about the ideal scenario for all the above tactics, as more often than note, a fight is a less than ideal scenario. Perhaps you need to Hymn at a non-optimal time for a previously dead raid member, or perhaps dying and being resurrected mid-fight. You lose 33 spellpower and an effective heal proc from Althor's for it, which is about 5% of your heals.
As for Professor Putricide, I'd use a Solace. If you manage to use GTS+Althor's without going out of mana, please show me how you did it in a video, as I have no idea.
Sidenote @Nemmish: In your SP-focused build, you use http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50720. Wouldn't http://wotlk.openwow.com/item=50644 be a better choice?
Loafers (Shaos)
Edited: December 31, 2016
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WotLK [Guide] Shieldspopping - A PvE Discipline guide (2024)

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