Healing Dunegons as a Holy Priest

Jumping back into talking about some healing. Yesterday I was dpsing with a guildie who is new to healing as holy, and as we went through he reminded me that finding the right balance of spells to use is not easy by any means. This is not meant to limit your spell usage only to those I have mentioned. The key to effective healing is always through trial and error. Learn what your spells do and evaluate how you can best use them. This is meant to be a starting point for anyone unsure about what to do.

Chakra, learn it, live it, love it
So to start off, for most dungeons you'll spend a lot of time in Chakra:Serenity. For the excetion of trash and bosses with heavy groupwide damage, your main healing spell will be Heal, and being in Serenity just makes the most sense.

Lightwell is your Friend
Before I jump into spell usage, I want to add that casting Lightwell before every boss fight is important. Even if no one else uses it, if the only healing doe to you is through the Lightwell, it has saved you from casting heals on yourself, which is totally worth it.

PoM
After a few nights of running dungeons I was able to see just how much of my healing is coming from my spells. The winner by far is Prayer of Mending. I use it every chance I get always on the tank, and it is by far my leader in healing done. Always use Prayer of Mending!

Healing slow with Heal
Next up is Heal. I use this whenever my targets have 50% or more health, and only if they have taken enough damage (normally around 7,000) first. I like to try to keep Renew on the tank as much as I can. This isn't too hard as long as I'm in Serenity as the Heals refresh its durration.

Emergency use only
I only use Flash Heal if someone is in danger of dying, or if I have a Surge of Light pop up. It is an expensive heal, and while it grants Serendipity, it's not really needed outside of emergencies. Typically if someone needs a big heal Greater Heal will have enough time to land, so casting Flash of Light outside of Surge of Light to maintain Serendipity isn't needed.

Group Healing at its Finest
If atleast 4 members of the group have taken significant damage, I use Prayer of Healing and Circle of Healing. If I have to use these spells often, I should be in Chakra: Sanctuary so their potency is buffed. The same goes for Holy Word: Sanctuary, I try to only use this when the group is stacked up so that it is healing to its fullest. These three spells can cause the most overheal, so don't waste them if you don't have to.

Renew and PW:S
There are times when Renew is really awesome and great to spam on the group, but there aren't many of these times. I've found it's most use to come on the tank. The same goes for Power Word: Shield. With its steep mana cost I try to only use it to give someone the Body and Soul speed boost.

Wraping up
In general try to reduce your overhealing as much as you can. Ideally you should be able to stay below 10% overhealing. Remeber Prayer of Mending, and don't forget about your Chakra and the Lightwell.

Feeling Overpowered

I've finally started leveling my priest and in between questing and leveling his professions I've been able to do runs of Throne of the Tides and Blackrock Caverns. So far, these two dungeons are feeling like warm ups. There really isn't a challenge, and it feels like I have an answer for whatever damage heads my groups way.

I have been trying to stick with Chakra: Serenity for most fights, and I often find myself just standing around waiting to heal. For fights with heavy raid damage I use Chakra: Sanctuary and the same is pretty much true. Lightwell has proven to be very helpful, and I think that people are actually learning how to use it for once.

I am really looking forward to getting into some heroics on this guy because right now healing is not very challenging. Holy priesting is really making me think about which healer I want to play more when I get this guy to 85.

Lightwell has some use (at least that I've noticed)

Recently I posted about pvping as a Holy Priest. The spec that I linked includes Lightwell. Why Lightwell you ask? Well I didn't really know at the time, but now that I have done more battlegrounds I have an answer.

When you are stunned, you can still click Lightwell. Meaning, it will heal you when you can't heal yourself. An example I'll site comes from Arathi Basin. Let's say that I am protecting a flag in the Basin. I will put Lightwell near the Flag (i.e. near where I'll be standing). Now some horde players come to attack me and my comrades. I use my spells to keep myself and my group alive, and BAM, I'm stuned. Can't do a thing for a few seconds. Previously I would just sit there (providing that Every Man for Himself was on cooldown), but no more. I can click the Lightwell, and it will give me a nice heal over time (glyphed it heals for about 4k every 2 seconds).

Pretty sweet if you ask me. While someone is just whacking away at me, I can use the Lightwell, and it (combined with my Blessed Recovery and Blessed Resillience talents) can help me stay alive while I'm stunned, spell locked, and feared (I think).

And if that wasn't good enough, here's another tid bit for yah. People will attack your Lightwell. Not that earth shattering? Well think about this, if they are attacking the Lightwell, that means that they aren't attacking you or your friends. Allowing for an added opportunity to turn the tables.

It's funny, the more that I use Lightwell in battlegrounds, the more I am seeing how useful it can be. Hopefully Cataclysm will change it enough to make it more user friendly, and players will accept it like they do their health stones and healing potions.