January 16, 2009
Glyphs for the Holy Priest
It would seem Garen is on a roll with his information on his holy priest and why he is… well the way he is… So here you have it… Garen’s Holy Priest Glyphs.
-Andrea
Okay, for the sake of this opening thought process, let’s assume that I am you!
So I’m a shiny new level 80 priest. I’ve already got a little healing experience, and I have made the decision to improve myself.
The first thing I did was respect to “Garen’s Awesome Spec ©”. I then went and loaded up on reagents. (That’s another post).
Now, I’m staring at the AH figuring out what I want for glyphs.
Glyphs? What are those?
Now, back to me being me, and you being you.
Well, Wowwiki gives a decent explanation of what glyphs are and what levels you need to be to use them.
Let’s read that now, shall we?
–WoWWiki’s Thoughts–
Glyphs are spell and ability enhancements that can be created by inscription.
Two kinds of glyphs exist:
Major – large improvements to skills.
Minor – small improvements to skills or cosmetic changes.
Individuals gain a glyph slot based on their level:
Level 15: 1 Major, 1 Minor.
Level 30: 2 Major, 1 Minor.
Level 50: 2 Major, 2 Minor.
Level 70: 2 Major, 3 Minor.
Level 80: 3 Major, 3 Minor.
To be able to install a glyph, major or minor, you will need to stand close to a Lexicon of Power, which can be found near any Inscription trainer.
Like gems, once installed, a glyph is consumed. It cannot be recovered.
Glyphs can be overwritten, major by major and minor by minor. This can be used as a minor form of or in conjunction with respecing.
–End of WoWWiki’s Thoughts–
So, glyphs can be kind of cool. Well, then there comes the question of WHICH glyphs do I want to use?
There aren’t that many glyphs available for each class. And the difference of Minor vs. Major glyphs is improvement vs. cosmetic.
Here is how I glyphed, you can change it as you see fit. But this is what made sense to me.
MINOR 1: Glyph of Levitate – Your Levitate spell no longer requires a reagent.
Here is why this is cool. HOW IS THIS NOT COOL? Farming light feathers sucks. Add to this that when you jump off a ledge and you are mashing on that button and it turns out you DON’T have any feathers, you swear as you pancake on the ground. This removes the need to farm, and it adds a level of security that few have known before. If you only have one glyph on your priest, This is IT!
MINOR 2: Glyph of Fortitude – Reduces the mana cost of your Power Word: Fortitude and Prayer of Fortitude spells by 50%.
Here is why this is cool. Every time there is a wipe (That’s the tanks fault!), and every time you form a group, you utilize PW: Fortitude. Mana reduction increases your ability to stay in the fight, and decreases the amount of time required to buff your group. This is always a plus.
MINOR 3: Glyph of Fading – Reduces the mana cost of your Fade spell by 30%.
Here is why this is cool. Mana reduction on spells is a common recurring theme in my posts. Anything that the priest can do to improve his healing ability or lengthen his staying power in combat is considered to be a plus. In this case, since you are mashing on the fade button every 30 seconds anyways (You are, aren’t you?), this will removes some of the mana cost of doing so. Thus, giving you 30% more fades for your money before you run out of mana. Or, over the course of 6 fades, giving you one more greater heal. That’s always a plus.
MAJOR 1: Glyph of Renew – Reduces the duration of your Renew by 3 sec. but increases the amount healed each tick by 25%.
Here is why this is cool. I throw out renews to keep my tank alive. My tank takes massive damage. I can renew on a regular basis, but for those 10 seconds that this is ticking, it is doing a more effective job of keeping him alive.
MAJOR 2: Glyph of Flash Heal – Reduces the mana cost of your Flash Heal by 10%
Here is why this is cool. Flash heal is a bread and butter spell for priests. Considering that mana usage is what determines your long term effectiveness, any method of reducing the mana cost of a common spell is considered a good thing. By reducing an already lowered spell cost by another 10%, you are improving your staying power in a long fight by that much more.
MAJOR 3: Glyph of Dispel Magic – Your Dispel Magic spell also heals your target for 6% of maximum health.
Here is why this is cool. About half the time that someone is affected by some sort of magic, it is also causing damage. This eases the number of spells I need to cast to keep someone alive. Pair this with talents that lower the mana cost of this spell, and talents that lower the cost of instant spells in general, and this become a very cheap and very effective multi function ability.
Of all the glyphs that I use, this one is the only one I have reservations about. I have been unable to find the Glyph of Spirit of Redemption on the AH as of yet. As soon as I do, there is a decent chance this one will be replaced.
So there it is, THAT is how I am glyphed. That is WHY I am glyphed the way I am. And this is all part of the equation that makes me as AWESOME as I really am.
Comments are always a good thing.
Holy Priest Spec
Here’s another post by my forever awesome hubby, Garen…. Garen has been a holy priest nearly his entire wow career, and he doesn’t play by everyone else’s rules…. I hope you enjoy his post about the spec he uses for raiding! Sorry for flipping classes so suddenly, but this is ALToholics Are Us, after all.
-Andrea
I’m a priest!
I’m a half way DECENT priest.
I’ve been doing it for 3 and a half years now.
So, the other day, another priest asks me… “Why are you so good?”
Other than the obvious answer of “Cause I’m Awesome!”, I told him it’s because I put a little thought into my spec, and I fill a role that most other priests don’t quite want to touch. So I fill that niche that all guilds need, but no one wants to fill. All the while, I still remaining an awesome and viable healer.
Allow me to give you the break down.
Priesting in the healing sense utilizes two of the three talent trees.
Discipline (Yes!) – Holy (Yes!) – Shadow (No!)
Okay, here we go!
DISCIPLINE!
Tier 1
Unbreakable Will (5/5) – When a priest is stunned, he’s useless. When a priest is feared, he’s useless. 5 points in this talent makes you less useless!
Tier 2
Silent Resolve (3/3) – When a priest takes agro, he dies. This reduces agro.
Improved Inner Fire (3/3) – Inner fire now increases your spell damage/healing. By putting three points into this talent, you get a buff of almost 200 spell power. That’s healing, damage, and awesomeness in a fiery can!
Tier 3
Inner Focus (1/1) – FREE CAST OF ANY SPELL! Popping a greater heal while regaining mana is an excellent way to keep you in the fight longer. Also, when you are OOM, this makes it so you can save your tanks life. Though, as a good priest, you shouldn’t be OOM.
Meditation (3/3) – Priesting requires mana. Anything you can do to make that pool fill faster or not stop filling is a good thing. Keeping a 30% regen ticker on your mana pool is AWESOME. It means you run out less.
Improved Power word: Fortitude (2/2) – Two points needed to be spent, and I chose to put them here. Stamina is an excellent stat to have. It helps everyone. Savor it!
Tier 4
Mental Agility (5/5) – Renew, Prayer of Mending, Dispel Magic, Shadow word: Pain, Shadow word: Death, Lightwell, Power word: Shield. What do these have in common? INSTANT CAST! Mental agility reduces the mana cost. Again, this keeps you in battle longer.
Tier 5
Divine Spirit (1/1) – THIS is why I spec the way I do. SPIRIT! Spirit translates into mana regen, +Healing, and a buff to damage to anyone that receives it. PUT THE POINT HERE!
Improved Divine Spirit (2/2) – This is the part of the spirit combo that gives you the buff to damage. Don’t forget these points!
Tier 6
Enlightenment (5/5) – I had 5 points to put somewhere in either the holy or the disc trees, I found that the stat increases made me happier than the prayer of healing increase (Cause I don’t use PoH very often) Crappy reason, but it’s true. You can put these 5 wherever you want actually. I won’t be mad. ^.^
HOLY
Tier 1
Healing Focus (2/2) – Pushback can ruin a perfectly good greater heal. This will help to keep you from being stopped in your tracks.
Improved Renew (3/3) – Renew is a vital spell for keeping groups and raids up. It’s a constant tick. Making it better will make each tick better when you aren’t paying attention.
Holy Specialization (3/5) – Crit on a heal is awesome, however it’s not required. While putting points in other places, this was used to get me up to the next tier. On the plus side, it DOES make me crit more often.
Tier 2
Divine Fury (5/5) – This will make you cast faster! Faster casting = More heals = Less dying!
Tier 3
Desperate Prayer (1/1) – Sometimes when healing, you take agro, this will heal you. Instantly! Even good when you ARE desperate. But don’t say you’re desperate. People can’t know what we really feel as priests.
Inspiration (3/3) – You heal tanks for a living! Tanks use armor! This improves your tanks armor while you keep him alive. Both parties win!
Tier 4
Improved Healing (3/3) – Less mana used = More heals cast!
Tier 5
Spirit of Redemption (1/1) – If for some reason you die, you have an additional 10 seconds to keep your party/tank alive. This can mean the difference between life and death.
Spiritual Guidance (5/5) – I made the comment that spirit is vital to a priest. It IS! It is one of your most important stats. This improves on it by increasing your +healing by a percentage of your spirit. More spirit = More heals.
Tier 6
Spiritual Healing (5/5) – This increases your healing done. As a holy priest, this makes you better, OR, as I like to say… “More Awesome!”.
Tier 7
Holy Concentration (3/3) – Clearcasting allows you to get a free cast every so often. Free casts cause mana regen. Gotta love that.
Lightwell (1/1) – NO! It is NOT a “LoL-Well”. This is a vital tool that gives a free renew to your party at their own leisure. USE IT! Just try it and see what your parties think. It’s actually pretty cool.
Tier 8
Empowered Healing (5/5) – Again, increasing your +Healing makes you a better healer. (In theory)
Tier 9
Circle of Healing (1/1) – Mass healing with a single click with no need to pay attention. Serious, what’s not to love?
That’s how I run my priest. You can run yours any way you see fit. But I hope my comments have made at least SOME sense.
I’ll do another post soon about how/why I love spirit. And another one about glyphs. But, this should suffice for now.
Let me know if you have comments.
Altoholic's Are Us 