I've stepped on some toes with the word Healbot, I'm sorry. I don't want to end up as what healbot implies. Healing only. Priest does much more, and is pivotal, but I believe not just for simple healing. However, a nuker is not what I have in mind.
Overall strategy is a mixed character focusing on threat reduction, fade, while still having the 10 Holy tree strengthened heal talents, but definitely not damage. Note the lack of damage enhancing talents. Those can go out the door. Less mana efficiency per spellcast, but perhaps fewer casts required.
Use SW:Pain as a streaming healing effect. Multiple targets if applicable. Focus on shadow tree and discipline tree utility spells, rather than pure holy tree healing criticals and mana efficiency.
Wanna save mana? Silence, so enemy casters don't DO damage to be healed. Fear (granted, instances not so good to fear most of the time) so enemies don't touch you. Range, same reason. I've learned as a warlock, if there's room to work with, use it! Keep those enemies bay with fear while DoT works, or enough breathing room to regen mana, bandage up, whip up a new heal pot, healthstone. Time-buying, rather than ever diminishing returns on being per/time efficient.
Heck, curse of recklessness (makes enemy immune to fear and running away) made the problems of gogogo adds party-wiping poof into smoke. Essentially, that buys time to rest up.
I approach the battlefield not by looking at factors, but the derived result. What is healing trying to achieve? What is the subset of healing, mana-effiency, trying to achieve? Its buying time. The priest's role is death prevention, buying time to work. Direct healing per time or per mana only make for one part of the equation. You can buy time in other ways. Buy damage receiving time, buy non-combat time sparsed between damage-receiving, but buy time in more ways than healing.
With overheals inducing aggro effect, I'm not sure I want terribly more critical heals. That draws threat to my priest, and actually losing time. Time wasted on priest defending or running off, rather than concentrating. Maybe, maybe not. How've your critical heals faired?
Simply, I don't think healing is end-all be-all. I don't want any party to expect me to only expend mana on healing, and talents on mana efficiency. Shadow opens up many new options. Silence, Mind flay (leash of slow!), Improved Fade (less damage to self, less mana spent).
The damage enhancers don't have much utility, but the ability to silence and channel (instant) slow? IFade.
Healbots are heal per mana per time efficiency only fanatics. That's narrowly looking at one factor of the equation. When increasing time available, or decreasing damage needed to be healed, the net efficiency changes dramatically. Damage-to-enemy enhancers don't have that kind of effect (except at low levels).
Yes, my talent tree choices will be going under revisions. I don't like spells failing to resists, so I'll be investing in resist suppression.
My baseline shadow investment is 22 talent points, with 3 optional in shadow affinity:
Blackout Rank 5 -- startup investment and stun. Time-buying
Shadow Affinity Rank 3-5 (optional) -- threat reduction. May not be necessary as per one comment earlier with IFade, but 3 needed somewhere to invest in tiers Shadow Focus Rank 5 -- fewer recasts, less mana wasted
Improved Psychic Scream Rank 2 -- near constant fear utility
Mind Flay Rank 1 -- low cost slow 'leash'. extreme utility
Improved Fade Rank 2 -- IFade boons already mentioned
Shadow Reach Rank 3 -- Range improvement to all shadow spells, particularly Mind flay
Silence Rank 1 -- Bring casters to melee
Vampiric Embrace Rank 1 -- One talent point for up to 9.4 healing per second per SW:Pain for minimal 36 mana per minute. Passive healing to compliment Priest's natural healing abilities. Adds to other shadow damage spells as well, but SW:Pain is the only consistent one.
Spirit Tap's reliability will vary. I find it difficult to even consistently lash on a channeled Soul Drain before death, let alone finishing enemies off with a spirit tap mid battle. Wouldn't I be focusing on healing spells?
Holy Tree investment minimum: 10 pts for aforementioned Renew and Spiritual healing
That's 33 talent points spent so far. I'd probably spend the rest in the discipline tree. Go for resist/fear/silence effects, Improved Power Word, and lower cost of the instant Power Word, then shave off mana burn.
Unbreakable Will Rank 5
Improved Power Word: Shield Rank 3
Improved Power Word: Fortitude Rank 2
Mental Agility Rank 5
Improved Mana Burn Rank 2
Discipline Total: 17
That is what I would build. I think I'd keep Mind flay a low trained rank to keep mana costs down. Its utility is in slowing and passive healing, not high damage and threat.
Non-sequitor questions:
I wish Orc's passive resist stun ability worked. My guildmates at mannoroth and I have never seen "resist" when it came to stun. Ever. Can any others confirm this?
Do any casters here use swords (I keep seeing casters being able to train in swords), or does "one staff to rule them all" apply? I trained my Warlock in swords for amusement purposes, but generally do not use swords.
MongoJerry,Feb 23 2005, 03:02 PM Wrote:But in high level instance group? You will be beaten to death every time you cast anything more than SW:Pain. If you try to nuke, you'll have wasted your mana that could have been spent healing the other characters more capable of dealing damage, and wipes will ensue.Â
Overall strategy is a mixed character focusing on threat reduction, fade, while still having the 10 Holy tree strengthened heal talents, but definitely not damage. Note the lack of damage enhancing talents. Those can go out the door. Less mana efficiency per spellcast, but perhaps fewer casts required.
Use SW:Pain as a streaming healing effect. Multiple targets if applicable. Focus on shadow tree and discipline tree utility spells, rather than pure holy tree healing criticals and mana efficiency.
Wanna save mana? Silence, so enemy casters don't DO damage to be healed. Fear (granted, instances not so good to fear most of the time) so enemies don't touch you. Range, same reason. I've learned as a warlock, if there's room to work with, use it! Keep those enemies bay with fear while DoT works, or enough breathing room to regen mana, bandage up, whip up a new heal pot, healthstone. Time-buying, rather than ever diminishing returns on being per/time efficient.
Heck, curse of recklessness (makes enemy immune to fear and running away) made the problems of gogogo adds party-wiping poof into smoke. Essentially, that buys time to rest up.
I approach the battlefield not by looking at factors, but the derived result. What is healing trying to achieve? What is the subset of healing, mana-effiency, trying to achieve? Its buying time. The priest's role is death prevention, buying time to work. Direct healing per time or per mana only make for one part of the equation. You can buy time in other ways. Buy damage receiving time, buy non-combat time sparsed between damage-receiving, but buy time in more ways than healing.
With overheals inducing aggro effect, I'm not sure I want terribly more critical heals. That draws threat to my priest, and actually losing time. Time wasted on priest defending or running off, rather than concentrating. Maybe, maybe not. How've your critical heals faired?
Simply, I don't think healing is end-all be-all. I don't want any party to expect me to only expend mana on healing, and talents on mana efficiency. Shadow opens up many new options. Silence, Mind flay (leash of slow!), Improved Fade (less damage to self, less mana spent).
The damage enhancers don't have much utility, but the ability to silence and channel (instant) slow? IFade.
Healbots are heal per mana per time efficiency only fanatics. That's narrowly looking at one factor of the equation. When increasing time available, or decreasing damage needed to be healed, the net efficiency changes dramatically. Damage-to-enemy enhancers don't have that kind of effect (except at low levels).
Yes, my talent tree choices will be going under revisions. I don't like spells failing to resists, so I'll be investing in resist suppression.
My baseline shadow investment is 22 talent points, with 3 optional in shadow affinity:
Blackout Rank 5 -- startup investment and stun. Time-buying
Shadow Affinity Rank 3-5 (optional) -- threat reduction. May not be necessary as per one comment earlier with IFade, but 3 needed somewhere to invest in tiers Shadow Focus Rank 5 -- fewer recasts, less mana wasted
Improved Psychic Scream Rank 2 -- near constant fear utility
Mind Flay Rank 1 -- low cost slow 'leash'. extreme utility
Improved Fade Rank 2 -- IFade boons already mentioned
Shadow Reach Rank 3 -- Range improvement to all shadow spells, particularly Mind flay
Silence Rank 1 -- Bring casters to melee
Vampiric Embrace Rank 1 -- One talent point for up to 9.4 healing per second per SW:Pain for minimal 36 mana per minute. Passive healing to compliment Priest's natural healing abilities. Adds to other shadow damage spells as well, but SW:Pain is the only consistent one.
Spirit Tap's reliability will vary. I find it difficult to even consistently lash on a channeled Soul Drain before death, let alone finishing enemies off with a spirit tap mid battle. Wouldn't I be focusing on healing spells?
Holy Tree investment minimum: 10 pts for aforementioned Renew and Spiritual healing
That's 33 talent points spent so far. I'd probably spend the rest in the discipline tree. Go for resist/fear/silence effects, Improved Power Word, and lower cost of the instant Power Word, then shave off mana burn.
Unbreakable Will Rank 5
Improved Power Word: Shield Rank 3
Improved Power Word: Fortitude Rank 2
Mental Agility Rank 5
Improved Mana Burn Rank 2
Discipline Total: 17
That is what I would build. I think I'd keep Mind flay a low trained rank to keep mana costs down. Its utility is in slowing and passive healing, not high damage and threat.
Non-sequitor questions:
I wish Orc's passive resist stun ability worked. My guildmates at mannoroth and I have never seen "resist" when it came to stun. Ever. Can any others confirm this?
Do any casters here use swords (I keep seeing casters being able to train in swords), or does "one staff to rule them all" apply? I trained my Warlock in swords for amusement purposes, but generally do not use swords.