3.1 Priest Opinion and Analysis and PTR Guild
February 24, 2009 by Matticus
Filed under All Stories, News and Opinion, Patch Notes
My wrist is killing me so I’ll keep this brief. The PTR just got loaded and greenlit last night at around 9 PM PST. You can find the patch notes here.
I stayed up most of last night burning the midnight oil with the rest of the WoW Insider staff. My analysis and opinion on the Priest changes are live right now.
Plus Heal PTR Guild
I mentioned that I would be forming a PTR team to go in and explore Ulduar. I doubt I’ll be able to get my entire guild involved so I will need a few extras.
I’ve opened a new forum on Plusheal for PTR Discussion.
In addition, I’ll be organizing my guild building efforts on the PTR in this thread. Siha has signed on. This will be a lot of fun! So if you’re interested and if you’re looking for a group to join, post on that thread!
I'm Matticus and I play a Dwarf Priest. My home is in Conquest, a raiding Guild that I have founded. Every week, I log 12 hours raiding on Ner'Zhul.
Wynthea is the Troll Priest with the best Mohawk on Firetree. Currently, I raid 4 nights a week in a hardcore guild. I started playing WoW in May 2005, and raiding end-game in May 2007. My guild is currently working through 25-man WotLK content. I've tried playing other classes, but Priests are my passion. I am extremely fond of Dwarves.... especially with Ketchup. 
My name is Sydera and I like to heal things--think Florence Nightingale with foliage. I play a night elf druid on Ner'Zhul, and I raid 12 hours a week. As a guild officer for Conquest, I coordinate healing and recruit new raiders. I started playing WoW in Fall 2005, and it was love at first click. Before I discovered the joys of Broccoli-stalk healing, I raided as a holy paladin, and I now have alts in all healing classes. I have to say, though, bark beats poofy dresses and heavy plate in my book.
I eagerly await more sperging out over Ulduar. Looks like 3.1 should be the biggest patch in quite a while. Can’t wait on that either.
I’m curious as to how much the changes to serendipity is going to effect spell weaving and if we will see a rise in GHeal usage because of it or if this revised talent will now be considered on of the more useless ones.
Holy Duegs last blog post..On a Grassy Knoll, Sniping Your Heals
Could I ask your thoughts on the mana longevity status of priests come patch 3.1? I read your article on WoWinsider and you seem over quite pleased with the changes, suggesting that most of them are buffs.
I read it and I disagree. I see them as nerf bats to our regen disguised under the silky cover of talent revitalization.
With the loss of Serendipity and Rapture as they are, how goes healing? I am holy spec so while I am excited about some of the changes, I am more worried as to if I will become a powerhouse of healing and then run oom after, say, 30 seconds because I have to rely on nothing but my mp5.
Blizzard seems to be very keen on preventing healers having any backup regen which can be seen in the train of thought where Hymn of Hope was removed completely.
I am the MT healer on Sarth 3D as holy; this regen nerf is lighting up some pretty big warning signals for me.
I understand some of our talents reduces the cost of our spells, but I am not completely convinced that this balances out. I just wondered if you have some insightful comments regarding this very big issue of mana regen since you’ve been on the PTR and will have the experience to make an informed feedback that I can trust.
@Lilkam: The mana regen nerf is here to stay, like it or not. We have to accept that. On current content, skilled and relatively geared players will have zero problems with mana even on some of the hardest stuff.
I’m quite pleased on the extra secondary effects that the talents have gotten. I’m obviously disappointed that spells like Hymn of Hope and talents like Serendipity have been removed and changed respectively.
Yes, I’ve been on the PTR. Unfortunately, Ulduar hasn’t struck yet. I don’t have a full team on board to run any raids with as of yet. As such, I cannot give an accurate assessment of mana. I don’t have any healing test dummies to work with. Alas, I must field test healing accordingly
.
The trend, to me at least, seems that our out of 5s casting is being nerfed. But our in casting is being buffed. Buffs include either mana returns or spell cost decreases.
Like I said, I’ll get a better picture one I start heading into raids.
I wasn’t speaking of the oofrs nerf; had they left our talents alone, I probably wouldn’t have noticed since I don’t rely on being oofrs to manage my mana.
My sole concern was with the nerf to Serendipity, with overhealing being holy’s gateway to mana recycling, and likewise on disc with shielding and healing. I just wonder how much of a difference will I be seeing with my longevity, will it be shorter, longer? Will I be able to produce the same healing output for the same length of time as before, even if I am using a different cast cycle?
All rhetorical questions.
I suppose I am stuck trying to decide if I should put out the bottles in celebration or start bemoaning and the gnashing of teeth at the coming of 3.1:P
Btw, you should definitely rest your wrist!