I had some happy illusions in my head about dual speccing Disc/Holy in cataclysm, and singing the happy “do-it-all-healer” song while merrily healing anything and everything with a flick of my talent spec.
Then I peeked at the latest cataclysm build rundown on wow.com and I realized that I am way too stupid to be holy. This chakra thing, man, chakra!
As I understand it, in order to get the most out of “the chakra thing” you have to do the following:
- Make sure Chakra is off cooldown (ok, I can handle this part).
- Activate Chakra (so far so good, press a button, I can do that)
- Immediately cast appropriate spell to activate the right chakra state (uh oh…. potential for screwup)
- Cast the spells that your chakra state helps (otherwise why did you bother?)
- Make sure that you cast the appropriate spell that extends your specific type of chakra state often enough so you get multiple 4 second extends before expiration (hahahah I am supposed to do that? I’m so going to screw it up and let the chakra expire)
- Cast that chastise thing that is different for each chakra state. Make sure Chakra is still up. Make sure you remember what chastise “means” in this particular chakra state. (I’m hiding under my desk)
I don’t even know where to begin except to imagine the ways that I will horribly foul this up on a regular basis. Chakra active 10% of the time? Yep, that will be me. Bonuses from Chakra state – 0? Yep that will be me again. ”Oh shit, I activated the renew state when I meant to activate the AOE! CRAP!” or “What do you mean that my chakra vanished right before I cast Chastise?” or “Chastise does WHAT under this chakra? News to me!”
I have a thing about words.
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My level 70 priest just learned to disc because I hate the word “chakra” that much.
I’m excited about Holy come Cataclysm. As long as they get the spell scaling correct, I’m looking forward to it. I’m also curious to see how the game handles chakras/revelations and whether they make something new and shiny but then force us to get outside addons to make it display at all well.
I do however, question the game design philosophy which gives one healing spec 101 buttons to push and the others considerably less. For AoE healing, Holy will have Holy Nova, Prayer of Healing, Circle of healing, Holy Word: Sanctuary (Chastise plus PoH chakra), Divine Hymn and Binding Heal to pick from, meanwhile Druids have Wild Growth (didn’t include Reju because then I’d have to include renew and we could be here all week), Shamans have Healing Rain and Chain Heal etc. The potential for screwing up your spell choice is definitely a lot higher for Priests. I also wonder just how user friendly healing on a Priest will be for first time healers… somehow I feel it might be a bit painful.
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I agree. Â Even now, I wouldn’t recommend priesting for people who want a “part-time healer alt.” Â There’s just TOO MUCH to remember. Â (While I was learning, I had post-its stuck to the edges of my screen to remind me of all my useful but easily-forgotten abilities and their corresponding hotkeys. Â NERD ALERT.)
UGH! Â I think you hit the nail on the head zel, this is EXACTLY my fear with upcoming holy changes.
The thing that drew me to holy is the versatility of the spec. Â This really is pushing you to into “subspec” roles (if I can really call it that). Â I cast renew more than anything, so I will likely be in renew chakra most of the time. Â Its the only way I am going to get anything out of it, to be honest.
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Re: subspec roles. Â It is entirely possible that one chakra state will totally be better than the others according to EJ math. Â And if you use the other chakra states, you fail at priesting. Â I know they are supposed to be based on situation or assignment, but realistically we always end up with certain spells that EJ or other number crunchers declare to be not worth it.