When can I heal?Follow

Hey guys,
After leveling a Hunter, Mage and Shaman I thought I'd turn my hand to healing as dps'ing has become a little boring and I thought I'd try something different.
At lvl 44 I'am still Shadow spec dps'ing and havent even had to heal anything else apart from myself.
I geared up in Sp and Int. cloth armour thinking thats what a priest needs only to find out I'am stuck in Shadow for a bit longer and have to concentrate on spellpower and mp5, so the outdated faq here saids.
Although having said that I've seen a lot of priests my level running around in stam/int gear (eagle) over spellpower and sp.
I've also been eating food t gain sp, I'am guessing stop doing that and look at food that gives more spellpower?
The Shadow faq here is extremely outdated and EJ only concentrates on post 80 info for raiding, theres not to much out there pre 80 for advice.
At what level can I put away the Shadow spec and start looking at Disc/Holy?
My plan is to dual spec in both healing specs and become a fully blown out healer.
I understand Shadow is great for leveling but I'am not learning a thing about healing as yet.
Also Shadowform, every priest seems to running around in black but at my lower level I'am not seeing the point.
I have one damage spell and 2 DoT's whilst in Shadowform and I lose the ability to use my 2 other Holy damage spells, Smite and Holy Fire, so this limits me to the amount of damage I can do.
Once MB is cast I'am just standing there waiting for it to be used again instead of using my other damage spells in a rotation.
So I dont really see the point of Shadowform at lvl 44.
Is there any guides worth reading that help in understanding the process to 80?
I'am going to dual spec to Holy now but have read its best to stay with Shadow if you want to level and only concentrate on one spec until in the higher levels.
So far all I've learned has come from outdated info and a lot of trial and error, a step in the right direction would be great.
Thanks for any advice given, I've read the healing guides on here and cant wait to be able to put all that information into practice.



Edited, Jan 3rd 2010 2:37am by RodStorm

Thanks mate, to be honest I really have no idea what sort of gear I should be wearing right now..sp, int, spellpower, I'am sort of playing a spec I didnt want to play.
I just wanted to learn to heal, not dps all over again.
I'am going to stick with it as I've invested to much time not to but I want to do it the right way and not the wrong way.

There is no reason whatsoever that you should spec Shadow if you don't enjoy it. You can heal right this very second if you want to (even as Shadow, btw). There is really no difference at all between Shadow gear and healing gear at level 44. Spec how you want, use that LFG tool, and go for it.

A couple of suggestions for spec(s) to be used for both healing and leveling: Searing Light is the key to the so-called Smite spec. It's a fun spec and worth looking at if Shadow isn't fun for you. And fill in 3/3 Spirit Tap while leveling regardless of spec.

To help with some of your gear/stat questions:

Really it's no different than itemizing for Shadow except you don't need Hit to heal. At level 44 I assure you that whatever gear you have is just fine to heal anything in your level range as long as it's caster gear. A mix of Owl, Eagle, and Whale works great.

Int is never something to kick out of bed for eating crackers. Spirit is your regen stat for Holy. For Disc, mathematically MP5 is better (I think it's something like 3 Spi = 1 MP5), but IMO you really don't need to worry about that distinction until you're 80 and raiding; you're not going to get a lot of choice over what's on your upgrades as you level. Once you get to Outland you'll start seeing meaningful amounts of Spellpower and Crit, and you'll work those into your priorities, but right now there's so little on the old world gear that I wouldn't give up good old Int or Spirit for it. Stamina is good if you're on a PVP server or doing battlegrounds, otherwise I wouldn't particularly pursue it unless you have so little health that AOE in instances is killing you.

My personal priority preference for Holy or Disc is Spellpower - Int - Spirit/MP5 - Crit - Haste. Lots of Disc priests like Int better than Spellpower, and the argument over whether Crit or Haste is better is ongoing because the right answer changes with every patch (I hear Haste is amazing for Disc right now). Where you prioritize Spirit/MP5 is going to depend on what you're doing and whether you're running out of mana doing it, or not. Those are things that you'll get a feel for as you go.

As for how to do the actual healing, do read the Healing Guide sticky.


Edited, Jan 2nd 2010 10:31pm by teacake

That looks fine, but I would suggest spending your first 3 points in Spirit Tap. It's in the shadow tree, sure, but it's first tier and is insanely good for any leveling priest. Combine that with stacking spirit on gear and you won't run out of mana, regardless of spec.

Disc has instant shields for everyone. That's what I'd do.

I really don't think there's a real common trend on this. I believe we have quite a few raiders here who dual spec Holy-Disc so they can change on the fly for different fights depending on what's needed. I think there are probably a lot of Shadow priests who dual spec with a healing spec for when their guild is in a jam or whatnot. People with healing specs sometimes also like to dual with a DPS spec for soloing and dailies and such.

Personally, I'm presently dual specced Disc-Disc, PVP and PVE. That's also a common thing; a lot of people who enjoy PVP go with PVP/PVE specs since most people do at least some PVE. Easier to go straight from Wintergrasp into the Vault that way.

I think your idea of dual speccing Holy and Disc is a great one for someone new to the class. The healing styles really are quite different and I would definitely suggest giving both a good try.




Recent changes to Shadow made it more attractive than ever. I very rarely spec Shadow, but it was impossible to resist checking it out for a bit.


Edited, Jan 3rd 2010 6:27pm by teacake

People do both. It depends on your goals. I was disc / holy, and would switch out for some fights. I've since geared up a bit and no longer have the need or desire to swap healing specs. I've got a nice disc / shadow arrangement for when I want to do dps. I'm thinking that will work out well for questing with the next expansion. I change things up every so often, so I wouldn't exclude the possibility of my having a holy build in the future.

The choice is yours.

Thanks again guys, one more question, does Disc. and Holy use the same gear?
Does one need gear with more sp. or int. over the other or some other different atributes?
On my Hunter I can use the same gear for any spec, for my Mage and Shammy I need different gear for different specs.
So can I get aay with one lot of gear for both specs or do I need to have 2 different sets?
Thanks again.

If someone is dual spec, disc / holy, although a holy may want more haste vs disc crit, and more spirit, I'd focus on getting really good gear on your main spec first. The off spec will still be ok. It's more critical to have a second set of gear (with some hit) if shadow is your off spec.

Thanks guys, main will be Holy with off-spec Disc. so by the sounds of it the gear is similar.
Int. and Sp. seem to be the main things to lookout for.
And pve only :)
Almost 50 now and things are taking shape, really enjoying playing the class.
As for the Hunter remark, I'am MM and probaly need more ArP than when I was SV but apart from that its pretty much the same.
I only use BM for exotic pets so havent used it for raiding/instances.
Sorry, got a little sidetracked there :)

Edited, Jan 5th 2010 12:37pm by RodStorm

Thanks again for the help, just out of interest which addon is preferred for healing, Grid, Healbot or something else?
I use Grid but its a little intense at times to setup and I tend to forget what I setup in corners, never used Healbot so dont know what its like but it seems basic.
I read up on Vuhdo and it looks pretty good as well, not sure whats the most useful to be using.


Edited, Jan 5th 2010 1:56pm by RodStorm

Oooohhhh...didnt want to cause an argument lol :)
I find Grid hard to work at times, I know its just me and not the addon, but it doesnt always do what I want it to.
I downloaded the pipes addon for it so I can replace some blocks with text so that may help.
Vuhdo seems pretty good though, I watched some vids on using/setting it up and it seems easier to use so I'll give it a go as well.
I want to get use to one healing addon though so it becomes second nature in time.
I'am not real good with macro's as far as writing them goes so for me that wouldnt be a good thing although its something I've wanted to learn.
I tried Pitbull as well but failed badly so went to Stuf which I found a lot easier to use.
It looks the same and has pretty much the same functions.
You are right though it is a personal choice which one to use.
I just like to be good at what I do and anything that helps is a bonus :)
But nothing beats trial and error, 15 years of marriage has taught me that lol.

Edited, Jan 5th 2010 2:46pm by RodStorm

Thanks mate for the feedback, I did a bit of research on Healbot as well and on the Curse site theres a few angry people with the new version saying its buggy so I'll give that one a miss for now.
The interface I'am using is someone elses that I downloaded via the EJ site who was a healer as well.
I had to change his settings around to accomodate my Hunter originally and now I have changed it back to healing.
So my Grid knowledge only comes from what someone else has setup and me trying to work it out.
I'll give Vuhdo a go over Grid as to me its new and I might hopefully find it a bit easier to manage.
Plus the setup gui looked easy to use and has all the features you mentioned in what I need.
But the key to me is its easier to setup, if I get that right then it will work fine.
Also is there any Holy priests out there willing to pm me thier toons name so I can look it up on the Armoury for numbers and gear so I have an idea of where to aim for post 80?
I looked up Wahu for Disc. so now I have an idea with that spec but as I'd like to go Holy as main spec it would be great to see what others have done with themselves.
And I'am right in assuming Disc. is more about preventing, mitigating, damage then healing the MT or OT whereas Holy is purely group heals?
So Holy would be great for 5 man Heroics and for 10/25man Disc. would be a better option so ideally learning/dual speccing both would be advantageous.
Thanks again for the help guys, appreciate it.