World-of-warcraft – Leveling a healing priest with heirlooom

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I just rolled a priest and have all of the cloth + staff heirloom. The problem is, the heirloom is all sta/int gear, there is none with spirit on it for cloth wearers. I rolled a priest primarily so I can heal, and queue into instances as a healer. It seems the heirloom is best suited for a shadow priest though.

What's the ideal thing to do in a position like this? Will I be able to heal in holy spec while wearing heirloom, or will my HPS not cut it?

Best Answer

The heirlooms are super effective items. They are equivalent to some of the best dungeon drops you can get(or better) and they keep up every time you level.

Spirit only matters in long fights (five minutes or more) such as raid bosses. It shouldn't matter for dungeon instance running. You should manage your in combat/out of combat time so you can drink if your tank is chain pulling. Sometimes it's worth it to allow the tank get out of range so you can finish your drink.

Resist the temptation to heal stupid. If the tank pulls before you're ready, he deserves swift death. If the dps pull before the tank is ready, they deserve swift death. You don't have to kill bad party members, but you don't have to save them either. If you try to save everyone from their mistakes, you will run out of mana.

I put together the efficiency statistics for my 68 holy priest that has a couple of heirlooms and no WoTLK gear (this research ignores crits, and considers chakra:serenity and Inner Fire). You might be able to use this information to choose more efficient heals and better keep up with the group.

Cast Time Heals
Heal         144 mana  2.45 cast  6792 heal    47.1 h/m   58 m/s  2772 h/s
Greater Heal 448 mana  2.45 cast 14504 heal    32.3 h/m  182 m/s  5920 h/s
Flash Heal   448 mana  1.47 cast 10878 heal    24.2 h/m  304 m/s  7400 h/s

Heal is super efficient and should be a go-to choice. Low heals per cast time is the downside.

Flash Heal is super inefficient and should be a last resort (except when it's free).

Instant Spells
PW Shield    464 mana  1.47 gcd   10781 absorb       23.2 a/m  315 m/s  7334 a/s
Renew        198 mana  0.97 gcd   1185 + 1974x4 heal 45.8 h/m  204 m/s  9361 h/s
HW Serenity  152 mana  1.47 gcd   8583 heal          56.4 h/m  103 m/s  5838 h/s

Power Word: Shield is super inefficient - last resort. Holy Word: Serenity is the go-to rescue spell. Renew should be kept up on tank, as it can be extended free by any direct heal via Chakra: Serenity.

Multitarget Heals
Binding Heal       410 mana, 1.47 cast  7880x2 heal  38.4 h/m  278 m/s
Prayer of Healing  342 mana, 2.45 cast  3861x5 heal  56.4 h/m  139 m/s
Circle of Healing  243 mana, 1.47 gcd   2687x5 heal  55.2 h/m  165 m/s
Prayer of Mending  266 mana, 1.47 gcd   3285x5 heal  61.7 h/m  180 m/s

These spells would be mana efficient if everyone took damage at the same rate as the tank. These are group rescue spells. Their efficiency is comparable, so use the one that fits your time and aoe shape (you+1 vs all). Slight nod to Prayer of Healing for low mana per second.

Other stats:
Int: 454, Mana: 7600
Spirit: 239, non-casting mana regen: 421 mana / 5 seconds.
Informally observed mana regen rate: ~170 mana per second when not casting.
Tanks at this level typically have ~12k hp.
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