Ding 60, Question on PenanceFollow

I can help with a few of these at least:



It looks cool?

Actually you can use it to deal damage when solo, but it's much stronger as a heal than it is a missile.



You don't really have to take either one unless you really want the faction recipe from them (but iirc you can get someone else to buy the recipe for you; not positive here); the faction rewards themselves are obsolete now, even the shoulder enchants, as the basic enchant from Sons of Hodir is as good as the best aldor/scryer one, and costs less to boot.



Kind of a preference/flavor thing really; some people level exclusively through dungeons, especially on characters that are hard to solo with...others like the "adventuring around the world" feel of the quests. In the end it doesn't matter too much. I personally prefer to stop running dungeons at certain levels because the options at that point are annoying (looking at you, Old Kingdom) and just quest through them instead, but I definitely enjoy dungeon running too. In any case, there is no "right" way, it is still a game and you should enjoy it in whatever way you prefer.



No real factions to note in outland; once you get to northrend depending on whether this is your first toon on the server, you'll want to prioritize your faction reps accordingly...if it's not your first toon you can just ship the head enchants from your main to the priest as needed. But if it is your first, you'll primarily want Wyrmrest Accord and Kirin Tor tabards to dungeon with so you can get their head enchants.

As for the stats, pretty sure you don't really have to worry about stamina. From outland and beyond your gear will feed you enough of it to sustain yourself. You want all the other stats you listed, including a good amount of spirit since you have talents that siphon your spirit-based mana regen back to you. Some of the other super geniuses here can advise you better on a stat priority than I could, but as a basic rule of thumb while leveling up you'll rarely go wrong if you just take the item that is the higher "item level" (add 10 to the listed level if it's a blue item).

Glyph Penance. You want to get it on the shortest cooldown you can. It's your main direct heal. You can take Greater Heal off your toolbar now, and you'll be using Flash Heal a lot less. Basically, for whatever damage isn't being absorbed, Penance is your first go-to guy. Just be aware of overhealing and don't (generally) fire it off on someone who's at 95%.

Shield the tank and anyone else who might take damage. Keep the tank shielded as much as possible, and cast Penance when damage gets through the shield. Flash Heal/Renew DPS taking damage that the shield doesn't take care of, but this won't happen very often in a 5 man unless you have bad DPS or a tank who can't hold threat. You will use Flash Heal as Disc, but if you're using it more often than Shield/Penance, you may want to have a closer look at why. Prayer of Healing/Hymn when everyone's taking damage at once. You'll get Prayer of Mending at... 68? 70? Somewhere around there. Keep it rolling all the time once you get it.

In general I suggest prioritizing Spellpower, then Intellect, but there will be times when you want to flip those, depending on whether either your mana or healing output seem to be a weak spot. You will need some regen, so don't ignore MP5 or Spirit either. Unless you're doing a lot of PVP, you can pretty much ignore Stamina. You'll most likely get enough of it on your gear naturally to handle any PVE situation you're in.

You don't need to worry about Outland factions unless you're interested in one for a particular reason (such as Mag'har rep if you like the mounts). You'll be out of there sooner than it matters. Once you're in Northrend you'll get a good start on rep with all those factions just by questing through the zones. Once you're 80 dailies and heroics can take care of the rest. But it's always a good idea to look at the rep rewards and see what you're most interested in.

Actually, no. I tried the "Int before SP for Disc" theory and found it didn't work for me. It's great to have a lot of mana but given the choice, I will generally take bigger heals over more heals. Particularly in unpredictable situations - like battlegrounds, or doing 5-mans with inexperienced tanks, or any time you're not working with a team of skilled people who work well together - where you may need a burst-on-demand that you didn't plan for, and don't have cooldowns ready for. I recognize that my experience is not universal, but "spellpower is king" still pretty much holds true for me. Up to a point, obviously, which is why I note that judgment must be used there. If either feels weak, make some adjustments until you find a good balance that works for you.




Well, I'm not leveling but I've never reached the point of infinite mana, so I'm in that spot that you can barely remember except in theory, and I still say Spellpower first. My mana pool would make you pee your pants. I have to manage it very carefully. But I can; with some effort and attention to efficiency, mana can be managed to at least some degree. Inadequate heals can't.

And bear in mind that we're talking about regular 5 mans. You aren't going to see a lot of ten minute boss fights there. But you are going to see a lot of tanks who will die in 3 shots if your heals can't make up for their crappy gear.

As for Int and throughput, frankly I only see that mattering in good gear. Which you don't have at level 60. The extra crit provided by Intellect is pretty small, and when you've got very little crit to speak of in the first place, the difference between 6.7% and 7% is not exactly noticeable.

As always, I can only answer for my own experience. YMMV.


Edited, Jul 26th 2010 3:48pm by teacake