A wise man once said: Disco is life itself!
This is a truth a select few priests have realized. Disco is life. But disco is also very different from the other two specs, and its mechanics are somewhat unique, so I thought I'd write up a guide for those that are thinking of joining the ways of the disco.
I shall cover three main aspects of the Disco:
Healing Style
Mana Regen
Talents and Stats
Beginning with this post, covering healing style.
Forget everything you learned as a Holy Priest. Disco is unique. There's a reason meters such as Recount show us in a bad light: The whole healing game was built on rules the disco just won't follow. Disco takes a whole new approach to healing that is premeditated and proactive: We know the damage is coming, we're going to blunt most (if not all) of it before it even hits you. ICC25 loves us with raid wide damage in every boss fight and multiple tanks, whether you've got a tank to look after or you're raid healing.
Which brings us to healing roles and style: We're fairly versatile. We can tank heal or raid heal, but where we shine is… neither! Pallies are better tank healers. Druids are better raid healers. But we are the best filler healer. That sounds kind of underwhelming, but it really isn't. We are the buffer that makes the difference. We are the soft pillow cushioning each blow, preventing many of the lower-health-pool classes from going squish. The shield that keeps that DPS hanging alive at 80 hp until the other healers top him up.
Never underestimate the power of your Shield. It's your first response button. It prevents more damage than a flash heal heals. It's worth two Flash of Lights (if one crits). The more spell power you have, the bigger your shield, and it's instant, and it *prevents* any incoming damage for those precious seconds it takes for a heal to land. That's the main thing you have to start thinking about. It's Better Than Healing.
With adequate haste rating, throwing out a PoM and shielding a 5 man group will net you more "healing" than a Prayer of Healing. Need a big heal? Shield + Penance + Flash Heal. Always in that order – shield is better than healing, remember? And it makes both the subsequent heals 25% faster due to Borrowed Time, which is not consumed by Penance. Substitute Greater Heal if the situation calls for it in between Penance cooldowns, but it's really only worth it if you specced into Divine Fury. That said, a Greater Heal crit Divine Aegis can be something gorgeous. Just remember to keep using it with that Inner Focus for maximum return. (You use Inner Focus at least 2-3 times per boss fight, right?)
OK, so why don't you just stand there and shield everyone the whole time?
Because you'll go oom.
A shield that isn't hit is the same as an overheal. It gains you no Rapture mana returns and it absorbs no damage. A good Disco knows who is likely to take damage and keeps shields up on those targets for maximum healing+Rapture efficiency. Tanks should always have Weakened Soul. Not only does it buffer incoming damage, but you can be certain your bubble is consumed. Even if nobody else takes damage, the tank should give you Rapture mana returns every 15 seconds. Shielding the tank consistently gives you mana. When you're not shielding active tanks, you're actually losing mana regen. How cool is that?
Disco priests need to know tactics, so that they know what to expect. We are all about pre-emptive mitigation, and in order to pre-empt, we need to know what's coming.
Example: On fights like Saurfang, you know that your ranged are going to handle adds, and you generally have a good idea when adds are about to hit. This is very helpful information because your mages and other key add controllers should always be shielded when adds are coming (look for an active Shield though, not the Weakened Soul, as their shields will hopefully last the full 30 seconds with minimal hits from mobs). Another thing to note is that a marked person without Weakened Soul is a sign of lost opportunity.
A good way to keep track of all this, is to configure your grid to indicate clearly both who has the Weakened Soul debuff and who has an active shield. Set it to two different indicators and make them show all shields, not just your own. For example, I've set WS on my center icon with a lower priority than PoM (which also has a lower priority than diseases and magic debuffs), and Shield in the top right corner in a bright yellow colour. One glance at grid shows me who's shielded, who's not, and who can be re-shielded when their current one runs out. Duration on Weakened Soul can also be set if you have it as the center icon, giving you a clear indicator on whether or not you can re-shield soon, without switching to that target.
Of course there are many playstyles available within Discipline, and you should work on finding your own. You may favour different priorities than I do. But try to keep in mind the strengths of Discipline are different from other forms of healing. And I think that's just awesome.
Next up: Mana Regen
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