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Power Word Shield Question for Disc PriestFollow

#1 Jul 14 2010 at 4:00 AM Rating: Decent
37 posts
Good evening everyone,

I have a funny question but I am pretty sure I have read this before but I still want to clarify. From a post here I understand the PW:S is the bread and butter of a disc priest. I have ran almost all those random classic instances and not one died. Thanks to Shield and its much more mana efficient then being holy.I might be wrong here if I made this statement.

Most of my runs, the tanks don't complained about being shielded but a few have raise this question especially the warrior and durid class. They say they don't have rage if they're shielded. So they ask me to stop shielding them. For a warrior that was fine cos he was well geared and about to take the hits without his HP going down. So I just cast renew. Monday while running sunken temple with a durid tank, he kept whinning about not enough rage, straved of rage. But without the shield his HP gets low pretty fast. So I told him shields are what disc priest use. He doesn;t seem happy about that but eventually I kept the whole grp alive and exited without any deaths. Furthermore I see that when he aggros the mobs, they don't run loose. So whats this fuss about no rage all about and why is he complaining he is starved of rage. I wonder. So the next few instances I will tell the tank that I am a disc priest and use shields. If you're not comfortable then I'll leave. They say its ok. Some commented saying they love my heals.

I am troubled to post this in the forum cos I really need to know whether shields will play am important role is heals when I start heals in 60,70,80 instance.

Also since its my 1st time playing Disc priest and I am loving it atm, whats the best way to play a disc priest in BGs. I get to live longer and almost can take 2 to 3 on me before dying and I do heals there but how do you effectively play this class in BGs.

Sorry for the long post but I want you to understand what I was trying to project and hope you'll be able to assist me.

Cheers all and always love this forum. I hate the hunters forum as they aren't helpful. I am not new to WOW but new to certain classes and priest forums in the only forum that I get to learn alot and I want to thank all of you.
#2 Jul 14 2010 at 4:16 AM Rating: Good
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Changed in 3.1 or even before that, absorbed damage still gives rage.
#3 Jul 14 2010 at 6:23 AM Rating: Good
Yes, they aren't informed well - being shielded used to prevent them from gaining rage but this was removed quite a while ago.

As per Ghostcrawler,
Quote:
If a group is getting on to you for using PW:Shield as a Discipline priest (or jeez even a Holy priest), you have my permission to say "GC says you're doing it wrong."


So yeah, you are supposed to use your shields.

I've had people complain about it in raids, as well, but really, it's a brilliant spell and the stuff they're saying against it is mostly prejudice.


For PvP, be aware of all the spells you have. That's the key, really. Use your cooldowns. Try to line of sight people. Use Mind Control to let people run off cliffs and kill themselves. I don't know. Ask Teacake.
#4 Jul 14 2010 at 6:48 AM Rating: Excellent
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4,074 posts
As others have said, those tanks are still living in 2007.

Kingpriest wrote:

Also since its my 1st time playing Disc priest and I am loving it atm, whats the best way to play a disc priest in BGs. I get to live longer and almost can take 2 to 3 on me before dying and I do heals there but how do you effectively play this class in BGs.


Sounds like you're doing fine to me. But a few general thoughts, just my opinions:

Battlegrounds are a little different than arena in that it's all about the objectives and for the most part, deaths are not a super big deal, so you can take more risks. Your main goal isn't to stay alive, so if getting killed gives you a high probability of someone else being able to complete an objective, get killed. Likewise, you don't need to save everyone. Only save the people who are furthering the goal. If people are fighting uselessly in the road, run by them. Triage in the bigger battelgrounds - you aren't going to have heals for everyone, so let the people who suck die.

You've also got a lot of offensive capability if you do a Smite build, which can be a lot of fun to play. The must-haves there are Searing Light and the Smite glyph.

You're a great defender as long as you're playing with a team that will respond to incoming calls. You can survive for a really long time protecting a node even against multiple enemies until reinforcements arrive.

You're a kickass protector of flag carriers. Shield/PoM them, Shield yourself, and Psychic Scream when enemies approach, and that's half the battle right there.

AV is pretty much like PVE. Stand in the back, Shield everyone taking damage, keep PoM rolling, and throw Penance at whoever needs it.

I tend to save Pain Suppression for myself in BG's. Pain Suppression + Desperate Prayer = Aw, look at that, I'm not dead after all. If you've got a separate PVP spec, make sure you have the PS glyph. When a rogue stuns you, most likely you're already Shielded since you should be keeping that on yourself any time you don't have Weakened Soul. Pop Pain Suppression as soon as the Shield is nearly worn off, and unless he way outgears you, you can make it all the way through his little stun-lock-and-kill-you-in-3-GCD's thing and come out of it at like 75% health. This makes them cry. It's awesome.

You're generally awesome against classes who can't self-heal. DoT them up, Shield yourself, and stop to cast a Holy Fire/Smite or heal yourself whenever you can. Eventually you just wear them down.

Don't bother trying to kill a tree.
#5 Jul 14 2010 at 6:49 AM Rating: Good
I use PW:S as a GOGOGOOGGOGOGO signal, since it's generally the last thing cast on me before a pull and it takes enough of the edge off the initial hit(s) for the healers to get in place and start doing their voodoo.

It's gotten me yelled at a few times Smiley: laugh
#6 Jul 14 2010 at 7:18 AM Rating: Good
Overlord Norellicus wrote:
I use PW:S as a GOGOGOOGGOGOGO signal, since it's generally the last thing cast on me before a pull and it takes enough of the edge off the initial hit(s) for the healers to get in place and start doing their voodoo.

It's gotten me yelled at a few times Smiley: laugh


I usually cast PW:S before ProM in heroics.

In raids even more so because I want to see who gets the other priests' ProM as mine is the weakest right now.
#7 Jul 14 2010 at 2:14 PM Rating: Good
The only class that should ever complain about a shield would be a Paladin Tank. They actually have a talent that gives them back mana when they are healed. Although they have other talents that give back mana, and many say they should just pull more, it is something for you to consider.

It's your choice how to handle it. If a paladin tank isn't taking too much damage, you may choose to renew vs shield on the trash, and maybe just shield him on the boss or if he starts to go down in health too fast.
#8 Jul 14 2010 at 2:32 PM Rating: Excellent
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7,732 posts
I use PW:S a lot. In a heroic I keep PW:S on CD on everyone and Mind Sear trash. Smite, HF and Penance for bosses with a little PI for fun. If they need more healing I use FH with a Renew as needed.

Raiding I use PW:S a lot. Penance on tanks or someone else if they get real low. I use Renew enough to make me thinking about glyphing it over FH again but then I'd want extras so can switch to FH for 10s.

Anyway, shields are good, the pally should have DP up anyway for mana.
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#9 Jul 15 2010 at 8:38 AM Rating: Excellent
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129 posts
Looks like the answers above have everything covered. I watch a palidin's mana almost as much as I watch their health. If they are full of mana I go ahead and shield them.

If a tank is weak or the upcoming challenge is tough (like a boss) I shield and PoM before the fight so the cool downs are over earlier.

If the tank is strong or the upcoming fight is not tough I (because I have the PW: shield glyph) wait until the PoM shifts and they take some damage so I don't waste the heal that comes with the shield.
#10 Jul 19 2010 at 8:49 PM Rating: Default
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988 posts
POM is just as bad for paladins since the heal is accounted to the pally himself and with that won't result in any mana gain. Shaman's Earth Shield works the same, and THAT ONE is giving my level 65 tankadin - in a world still without Divine Plea - some serious headaches.

I'm not telling anyone to stop shielding, especially not shammies who don't really have a choice, but priests should really keep an eye on a paladin's mana bar.

At very low levels it's obviously not so much of an issue since pretty much everybody in the group will have to sit down for a drink eventually. Running heroics with overgeared people isn't so much of a problem either since mobs will generally die before mana becomes an issue (plus there is Divine Plea then too). Raid damage is high enough too.

Everything in between though needs some attention. I think that's something where disc priests need to have some faith in their OWN abilities and shields. It is NOT necessary to keep a tank at 100% all the time (unless you count that DOT from King Dred). It's perfectly fine to let the tank drop a bit, cast the shield, and THEN fill him back up, knowing that he won't be taking any more damage while you shoot off your hasted Penance. Doing it that way keeps everybody happy.
#11 Jul 19 2010 at 9:07 PM Rating: Decent
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4,684 posts
Quote:
POM is just as bad for paladins since the heal is accounted to the pally himself and with that won't result in any mana gain.

Are you absolutely sure about this?

The thing is, ProM ticks can proc Divine Aegis. Now, I don't know how Blizzard games are coded, but I'd guess that if a ProM jumping on another player checks whether the original caster has Divine Aegis, I'd also guess that it would in all technical senses account the heal to the priest.
#12 Jul 19 2010 at 9:31 PM Rating: Good
ProM used to work differently, but they changed it. On a similar note, though, Power Word: Shield is bugged like hell. First off, the ICC buff applies to it everywhere (not only in ICC). Focused Power and Twin Disciplines are additive instead of multiplicative for PW:S, while it's Focused Power and Imp PW:S for the glyph. At least they fixed the bug that caused Imp PW:S to not increase the Glyph heal, and the Glyph heal isn't affected by the ICC buff outside ICC, although I suppose the latter is actually for the worse.

As for not pre-shielding a target, that would keep me from doing other things while the rest of the group kills stuff. I like my heroics without the hectic feeling I get on my shaman.
#13 Jul 20 2010 at 6:19 AM Rating: Good
So what, you have 25% stronger shields everywhere you go right now?
#14 Jul 20 2010 at 6:31 AM Rating: Decent
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988 posts
Would like to say that I'm absolutely sure about the PoM thing, but I'm not. There has been so much back and forth about who is to get the threat of the heal that I might just have missed something somewhere.

Guess this would call for an actual experiment with a single mob and PoM only so you get an uncluttered combat log.
#15 Jul 20 2010 at 8:26 AM Rating: Good
Norellicus, yes.

It appears that this is only in effect once you enter ICC after a server restart but it doesn't go away if you zone out.


Kanngarnix (huh, just noticed what your name means, lulz) - WoWwiki states that they changed Prayer of Mending to be assigned to the priest in 3.0.2 and I don't see why they'd change it back again.
#16 Jul 20 2010 at 9:41 AM Rating: Decent
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4,684 posts
Quote:
Would like to say that I'm absolutely sure about the PoM thing, but I'm not. There has been so much back and forth about who is to get the threat of the heal that I might just have missed something somewhere.

Guess this would call for an actual experiment with a single mob and PoM only so you get an uncluttered combat log.

Quote:
Kanngarnix (huh, just noticed what your name means, lulz) - WoWwiki states that they changed Prayer of Mending to be assigned to the priest in 3.0.2 and I don't see why they'd change it back again.

If you're talking about threat - yet and no.

I did do this experiment all the way back in what I think was patch 3.0.2, though it might have been 3.1. Back then, Prayer of Mending caused NO threat at all. And this was after the patch that alledgedly fixed the known "Prayer of Mending giving no threat at all" bug. Maybe I'll have to do it again.

Also, now that you mentioned it Kali, I also realized Kann's name. Didn't make it out to be German *lol*
#17 Jul 20 2010 at 9:55 AM Rating: Good
'can do nothing'?

My horribly limited german (I'm a tourist at best) is also rusty.


That's pretty awesome about the shields, lol, though obviously unintentional.

Edited, Jul 20th 2010 11:56am by Norellicus
#18 Jul 20 2010 at 2:37 PM Rating: Default
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988 posts
The name seemed fitting when I made my very first WoW toon, a druid of course. If you know the Asterix comics it should all make sense. I once took part in one of those free migration offers and had to rename the character. He is since known as "Kostnix", which I am sure you'll get figured out now too.

I don't think I'll get to play the next week or 2, but I'm determined to find out for sure what's going on with Spiritual Attunement and PoM. I know Recount adds it to the casting priest, but that alone doesn't really mean anything.
#19 Jul 20 2010 at 3:01 PM Rating: Good
I haven't even thought about Asterix and so on in ages. Thanks for that. Reminds me of times spent in Neubrandenburg of all places, lulz.

Priest forums being all European again, huh?
#20 Jul 20 2010 at 3:20 PM Rating: Good
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27,272 posts
Kalivha wrote:
I haven't even thought about Asterix and so on in ages. Thanks for that. Reminds me of times spent in Neubrandenburg of all places, lulz.

Priest forums being all European again, huh?
Asterix is my second favourite comic ever.
It's awesome <3
#21 Jul 22 2010 at 6:53 AM Rating: Decent
37 posts
So sorry for being away for too long. Had a job to finish. Thanks to all who have replied to my query. The other day I ran with a Durid tank. He was full raged when I shielded him. He didn;t complain when I shielded him. Yes I have started to be alittle wiser now. I won't shield the tank before the fight. See how much of damage he can take. Ofcourse with renew on him. If he takes not much of damage then, I won't shield him but if he takes loads of damage, then shielding is my best option. Also if he pulls alot of mobs, i will shield him.

I think it differs according to gear and fights i guess. Thank you guys so much. I am on my way to OL and waiting on penance. Once I get that I may need a few clarification on this.

Cheers
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