New test realm patch notes.

[MongoJerry]

You seem to still be thinking of Holy Nova as an AOE spell which it isn't at all.

Yes, I do think of it as an AOE damage spell, because one of the biggest problems with a priest is a lack of any effective AOE damage -- something very annoying when bugs pop out of silithids, for example. Regarding the "group heal" aspect of it, it sounds marginal, because parties aren't usually confined to a space within 10 yards of the priest. So, yeah, in theory it might be mana efficient to use it, but chances are, it's going to miss several members of the party. I certainly wouldn't count on it to heal someone in an emergency, and I certainly don't think it's worth wasting the extra points in the already weak Holy Tree to get it. Priests already have a dazzling array of healing spells at their disposal. What they need is a modest aoe damage spell, which is what Holy Nova was originally all about.

[Icebird]

Yes, I do think of it as an AOE damage spell, because one of the biggest problems with a priest is a lack of any effective AOE damage -- something very annoying when bugs pop out of silithids, for example.  Regarding the "group heal" aspect of it, it sounds marginal, because parties aren't usually confined to a space within 10 yards of the priest.  So, yeah, in theory it might be mana efficient to use it, but chances are, it's going to miss several members of the party.  I certainly wouldn't count on it to heal someone in an emergency, and I certainly don't think it's worth wasting the extra points in the already weak Holy Tree to get it.  Priests already have a dazzling array of healing spells at their disposal.  What they need is a modest aoe damage spell, which is what Holy Nova was originally all about.
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Out of curiosity , what is the range of Prayer of Healing?

Chris

[MongoJerry]

Out of curiosity , what is the range of Prayer of Healing?

I believe it's the same as Flash Heal -- 40 yards. It's certainly no less than 30 yards.

[KiloVictor]

That's your opinion and you're entitled to it, but I happen to like holy nova.  It's not a "use all the time" skill, but it can come in handy.  I've used it to heal up our mages and do some damage and it doesn't cause any aggro whatsoever.  Yeah, it doesn't reduce aggro, but at least I can heal the entire group instantly and without causing additional aggro.

No-aggro healing is a pretty cool idea... if they were to make the skill a bit more competitive with PoH, I'd be very tempted to respec as a Holy priest. Understandably, generating no aggro for all your healing would be a bit overpowered, but right now, it feels like somebody willing to go 31 points into Holy isn't really getting much for it. Maybe with a bit more buffing to Holy Nova, we'd actually see more Holy spec priests.

I still think they have to figure out if it's a damage spell or a healing spell. Having some of each just seems strange to me.

And I'm done talking about priests on these boards.&nbsp; People don't die under my watch very often so apparently I'm doing something right, but the feeling I get from these boards is that I have no clue in hell.&nbsp; Someone kick me the next time I try to give some kind of perspective about how my priest in particular plays.&nbsp; <_<
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Illigitimati non carborundum. :D

Seriously, while I had a little trouble following your one post on shielding, that's my problem and not yours. If your strategy works for you, that's all that matters.

Besides, we can't have debate without different opinions -- so please don't deprive the rest of us of your viewpoints, especially if it's counter to the conventional wisdom. Sometimes sacred cows make the best hamburger. :)

Kv

[mjdoom]

Besides, we can't have debate without different opinions --&nbsp; so please don't deprive the rest of us of your viewpoints, especially if it's counter to the conventional wisdom. Sometimes sacred cows make the best hamburger. :)

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I usually never qoute something for agreement but I don't think I could have said it better myself. We need different opinions and viewpoints if any good will come from the discussion. Everyone can learn something from someone else and it does no good if someone posts something and everyone just quotes it and /signs it and agrees. :P

- mjdoom

[Alram]

I usually never qoute something for agreement but I don't think I could have said it better myself.&nbsp; We need different opinions and viewpoints if any good will come from the discussion.&nbsp; Everyone can learn something from someone else and it does no good if someone posts something and everyone just quotes it and /signs it and agrees.&nbsp; :P

- mjdoom
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I agree.

[mjdoom]

I agree.
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The simplicity and context of this post puts a smile on my face. :)

[Alarick]

I hope the autoshoot doesn't mess up my wand + dagger combo for my priest.&nbsp; To be honest I'm not sure I like autoshoot for wands.&nbsp; I like to be able to stop wanding and instantly respond to a heal or shield if something unexpected happened, and if I have to move to do it it will be a bit annoying.
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Actually, once the bugs are ironed out, this is exactly how it's supposed to work. You should be able to do anything to cancel the wand toggle, including casting spells. From what I've heard, you can auto-wand and auto-attack, but it still works the same way in that the melee attacks only build while the wand isn't "active."

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out.

[nobbie]

Just curious:

How many test servers did you U.S. guys get? I'm asking because here in Europe, we got ONE single test server for all three main EU languages (German, English, French), and waiting lines currently vary between 4000 and 5000 (60 minutes and more waiting time). I could briefly connect to the EU test server with my pre-made level 60 Warlock this morning after over 60 minutes waiting time, but have been kicked offline with a server-down after 30 minutes, just when I had arranged the dozens of Warlock skills and wanted to buy the Infernal and Doomguard reagents in Orgrimmar.

Testing is currently absolutely impossible, and Blizzard could also take that single test server offline under such circumstances. That would save them the costs for the support personnel, and also grant the French personnel the well deserved free Monday that has been stolen from them by the French government.

[Mirajj]

Just curious:

How many test servers did you U.S. guys get?
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Two. One for PvP, and one PvE

[nobbie]

Ok, and how is the login/connection/play situation?

The entrance to a Battleground: Number of players is about equal to your postion in the waiting line at the EU login screen ...

[savaughn]

Ok, and how is the login/connection/play situation?

The entrance to a Battleground: Number of players is about equal to your postion in the waiting line at the EU login screen ...
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I strongly suspect this is very intentional. The test server would adversely affect the play servers if there were more. Plus, this artificially elevates the load on that server which lets them volume test their server improvements.

[Alarick]

Unless they put the cooldown back to 5 seconds the way it was in the beta, I don't see Holy Nova ever being useful. It was nice for a couple of weeks in the beta when I had Holy Nova and a bunch of +damange items.&nbsp; I could help out the mages doing damage in the Lyceum.&nbsp; Of course, I was doing about half to one-third the damage that mages could do, but it was nice to be able to contribute.&nbsp; Then, they made it so that +damage items didn't help Holy Nova at all and then made the cooldown 60 seconds just so that they could make sure that no one ever used the skill, I suppose.&nbsp; Now, +damage items help a little but still not much, and the cooldown has been reduced.&nbsp; It's still not worth the investment to go all the way up in the Holy tree to get.&nbsp; Get the cooldown back to 5 seconds, and I'll consider it, though.
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Yea, I have to agree here. Holy Nova was barely useful before the changes, and is less useful afterwards.

It suffers from a few limitations. First, damage is damage, and can break CC. A lot of times, that's dangerous, even if it is aggro free.

Second, the range is pitiful. I haven't changed my spec to try it out, but I know from experience with other spells how short the range is. It seems like it'd be rather difficult to get all of the people in range to make it as efficient as Prayer of Healing in a hectic battle.

Finally, and this is my own opinion, the top of the healing tree should not be an AoE damage and AoE healing spell. It needs to be something to make the healing spells of the priest the best bar none. Currently, I can see no reason to spec Holy over Disc because the small to moderate increase in the power of the healing spells is no where near as good as the massive increase in staying power one can get from the Disc talents.

It would take a large change in the entire Holy tree for me to spec back into it, but from the reports made by Fangtooth, it doesn't seem like that will happen soon, or even at all really.

[NotSoDarklord]

I thought that too, but I'm pretty sure that duels still put you in combat which prevent most armor swaps anyway.&nbsp; Maybe there was a bug with that?
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I can't count the number of times I've used vanish to leave combat (or gouge+run) and equipped my goblin rocket helmet when I've decided that I've had just about enough and want to win a long winded duel :P

[nobbie]

I could finally login to the EU test server, and here's some things that I noticed immediately:

- No Hearth Stone on any of the pre-made characters
- No "Teleport Moonglade" on the (pre-made) Druids
- Almost no activated flight paths

[Phoenix]

I could finally login to the EU test server, and here's some things that I noticed immediately:

- No Hearth Stone on any of the pre-made characters
- No "Teleport Moonglade" on the (pre-made) Druids
- Almost no activated flight paths
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Everyone else has a hearthstone. Check all your bags. If you really don't have one, just talk to the nearest innkeeper and you'll get a new one.

I played a bunch of Warsong Gulch yesterday, and I'm gonna play some more today. It's really fun.

[lfd]

Everyone else has a hearthstone. Check all your bags. If you really don't have one, just talk to the nearest innkeeper and you'll get a new one.
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The Undead Priest doesn't start with one, certainly.

[nobbie]

I've now got a Hearthstone by talking to an innkeeper.

Anyway, I'm already done with the huge BS on the EU (PvP only) test server. I wanted to test the Epic Felsteed quest with the level 60 Warlock and got killed a half dozen times by hordes of sniping Alliance players on my way to Kargath in the Badlands, let alone the Burning Steppes, which I couldn't even reach yet for the second quest giver. In addition to this horrible PvP crap, the latency times were in the range of 2000 to 4000 ms, which makes playing a Warlock impossible. I've heard that the U.S. customers got a PvP and a PvE server for tests, so why not a PvE test server for Europe, too? *shakes head* Until we don't get a PvE server here, which allows uninterrupted testing of non-PvP content like the Epic Mounts quests, Blizzard can test their crap themselves. Sorry folks, but I believe that some folks at Blizzard need a serious kick in their butt :angry:

[Xanthix]

Yea, I have to agree here.&nbsp; Holy Nova was barely useful before the changes, and is less useful afterwards.

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All the reasons given are indeed reasons not to use Holy Nova, but they themselves do not break the talent. An AOE instant heal is still nifty, as is an instant cast AOE for priests.

The real problem with the talent, and I think the reason people really hate it, is its placement. To get it, you must give up Inner Focus and Silence, two awesome always-useful talents. You must also put lots of points in Holy, probably in Master Healer, which people find less than exciting.

I think Blizzard is looking at the talent itself, which is fine, and ignoring the issue of its placement. Holy Nova is a fine talent (who wouldn't take it if it were a tier 2 or 3 talent?), but it's just underwhelming given its position, and compared to your other options.

[Alarick]

All the reasons given are indeed reasons not to use Holy Nova, but they themselves do not break the talent. An AOE instant heal is still nifty, as is an instant cast AOE for priests.

The real problem with the talent, and I think the reason people really hate it, is its placement. To get it, you must give up Inner Focus and Silence, two awesome always-useful talents. You must also put lots of points in Holy, probably in Master Healer, which people find less than exciting.

I think Blizzard is looking at the talent itself, which is fine, and ignoring the issue of its placement. Holy Nova is a fine talent (who wouldn't take it if it were a tier 2 or 3 talent?), but it's just underwhelming given its position, and compared to your other options.
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Yea. It's not so much the talent in and of itself, but the talent as a 31 point talent. It's no where near effective enough to be at the top of the Holy tree.

It's a shame that Fangtooth seemed to bring to the developers that a small change like the cooldown on that spell would make the Holy tree a good tree again. He seemed to ignore all of the good comments about how the tree as a whole is lacking, and leaves little to no reason to go full holy when it means giving up some of the Disc or Shadow talents you could be getting.