Warrior Priest - So misunderstood!

[Envicta]

Hey guys,

I thought i'd give my opinion on Warrior-Priests,  because I learn something everyday about other careers and thought i'd share some insights for all you people who are yet to explore the world of Melee healing

Obviously we're in the Priest family,   although we really should be sitting on the fence between the Warrior and the Priest families...

One of things I find most people don't understand about Warrior-Priests is how different we are to both the AM and RP.

For both the AM and RP,    they use Action-points (AP) for their healing spells,   and since AP's refill in time (very quickly!),  they are able to continue spamming these without needing to do anything else . (I appreciate AM has a weird mechanic thats discussed elsewhere if you're interested!)

However the WP uses their AP for Melee abilities and our own resource named "Righteous Fury" for our healing/utility abilities.

The general mechanic is quite simple,     you donk someone over the head and you generate X Righteous fury.   The main attack ability is "Bludgeon" and will generate 30 Fury,   with a maximum of 250 Fury to be collected.      Fury DOES regenerate over time, but you need to be OOC and its very slow!

So for an example..       I've just started TA in Tier-3,   I start with 250 Fury, I'm charging towards the enemy and I start firing off my healing spells ..          Very quickly I'll be down to low Fury and i'll be unable to cast another spell..         I now have 2 options..           I either hit someone or I use an ability called "Supplication" which will convert AP->Fury over 3-5 seconds (generates about 150 fury)

Now i'm not a fan of Supplication,    so I prefer to get up close and personal and donk some heads...

Doing even a little DPS can quickly regenerate your fury bar back...

This is not common knowledge I feel,     as I constantly have people jumping in front of me wondering why i'm not healing them...          its normally because i've just had to spam 3-4 heals together and I'm now running on empty...     Warrior Priests are designed to top-up peoples health with our HoTs...     We're not designed to rescue you from 5% health.

Now the WORST thing for a WP is a Retreat..        because it involves lots of healing and no DPSing (unless your suicidal),      So you shouldnt expect a lot from us during this time..     Unless we can find a "safe" area and use supplication.

But on the counter of that...  the BEST situation for a WP is ATTACKING!..         Let us be up the front with the Tanks, hitting things and we'll have more than enough Fury to keep these Group heals/Shields and HoT's flowing..

So now a quick look at what a Warrior-Priest can bring to a fight..

I can only give comments on the Salvation (healing) tree,     but based on forums,   it would appear that the majority of us have gone this way..

Group Healing -   We have a fantastic Group heal,   150 foot range,  1sec cast and 2sec CD..    It consumes a fair amount of Fury but its the core of my healing at the moment.      To complement this,  we have a Group HoT (via Talents) that is instant-cast with 10sec CD.     Both of these combined results in 90% of my healing.

Direct Healing -   Unfortunately we dont have one!    I don't have a single large heal,      I only have a single-target HoT and a castable HOT with a small front-loaded heal (nothing impressive!)

Melee-based healing -   This is where we shine..    Divine Assault,   an amazing ability where you hit the Enemy 4 times,   each time doing 250% of the damage as healing to your defensive target.    I love this ability,   it can easily do 1200 healing at 26 and has saved numerous lives.

Utility -   We bring a number of Prayers to the group,  these ranged from +Armor,  25% chance for Heal on dmg,  25% chance for extra dmg when dpsing.     

Shield -   Our shield is quite impressive,  its a group-cast, so every single team-member benefits from it.

So that's about it..

We're very capable melee fighters,     with fantastic survival from our heals..       

Point us towards the enemy, charge and we'll throw out some impressive heals while continuing the face-smashing-pain!..

However if we're retreating or there is a stalemate (2 sides doing ranged DPS over no-mans-land),  then please give us some sympathy as we're probably running dry and can't really help you!

It should be noted that due to our lack of direct-heals,   if you run at us with 5% health,  even if we do have full fury,  then its very unlikely we're going to save your life because our HoTs won't soak up any burst damage thats going to end your life...       We prefer to Top-up peoples health, than to rescue you

Also this is my opinion and might not be shared with all WP's, but were not Raid-friendly healers.   Our heals are group-based which mean its very easy to simply focus on your group and ignore everything else.     I will throw my instant HoT on anyone I see when running into battle,  but mid-combat the only people who will benefit from my heals are my group as i'll be using my Group Heal/HoT in the vast majority of cases, although Battleground objective people are an exception,  so are our Tanks who are nearby.


Cheers,

Invicta (Rank 26 Warrior Priest - and LOVING it!)

[Pashur]

Nice summary of daily WP life Invicta.
I have a WP main but I am only at lvl 18 at the moment so I don't have any great aoe heals yet. I am sure the WP mechanics will be better understood with time. WP healing is a lot about anticipation of who will need heals because as you say if someone is taken heavy damage we cannot save them. In some ways it is like druid raid healing in WoW except that we need to hit things to get our "mana".
I find I use Supplication a lot in scenarios early in the Tiers when I am squishy. I tend to be more useful doing heal-supplication-heal than repeatedly die at the front. Retreats are as you say awful. You are normally totally out of RF and there is no time to stop. Depending on the numbers chasing you and your current health one could try the aggro reduction ability followed by a Supplication. I usually run until I can do a more safe supplication.
Well, I am looking forward to getting all those nice abilities you talk about and like you, I love my WP 

[Jarkko]

Good post!

I already posted some PvE points in http://handsofjustice.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=209.msg1263#msg1263


There are a couple things I would like to add:


1) We have exactly one life-saver ability: [spell]8264[/spell]
In PvE and PvP it is my "oh shit!" -button. Things go wrong if the party members are not healed up (with the HoTs or heals from others). In PvP I also use it pro-actively at the start, ie pop the shield immediatly at the start of combat (because as healer it is quite usual to be gunned down by opponents, and at least my shield protects them when I croak; if not, it will make healing easier) so that my side gains maximal advantage of it.


2) Contrary to Invictas opinion, I think Warrior Priests are arguably the best raid healers We have a spell + tactics that makes other healers green of envy: [spell]8266[/spell]  + [spell]8289[/spell]
However, the "slight" problem is that it becomes available earliest at rank 34. As DoK in beta I (and other DoKs) did use the spell a lot in front of keep/citadel gates, and two DoKs could keep the whole raid alive through burning oil, AoE spells, cannon-fire (the channeling seemed at least not break easily even when recieving damage). And now that many damaging abilities are curses, the Cleansing Power seem (note, I am rank 21 still, so no first hand experience) simply just wonderfully synergistic with Martyr's Blessing
True, we are not the healer supposed to keep the tank alive when they are down to 5%, but we do keep the rest of the raid up at nearly maximal health, and in PvP we are invaluable.


3) Don't underestimate Smite. It is a very good tool to do decent DPS (as long as there are more than a couple you can hit with it) and it is an excellent RF builder. What is more, it allows us to stand right behind the tanks, so the meat... errr... the armoured friends I meant, automatically protect us (wether they want or not).


4) Divine Assault is our only "burst" heal. However, it also, if you are Salvation specced (like me  ), is in PvP ia killer vs squishies (Castigation (which now is a curse, yay!, I had totally missed that change ) to place a dot and drop their iniative, followed by Weight of Guilt (as the target is cursed by Castigation the slow actually works usually ) and then Divine Assault (when you start Divine Assault you automatically face the target, no matter how much they run around us, and with Emperors Ward most likely proccing, it means we eat even Witch Elves for breakfast ) -> Dead squishy.

[Envicta]

Oh I definitely agree that Martrys Blessing has amazing potential..       So much however that I feel it is only going to be a matter of time before its nerfed unfortunately..

This is one that I will definitely pick up and probably spam endlessly!!

Its potential in a turtle-type-defense scenario is just amazing...

However I have to disagree with the use of "Cleansing Power" tactic,  as in my opinion I wouldn't want to waste a tactic slot to remove curses, when as far as I'm aware,   curses are not common place in War (This is pure assumption,  correct me if I'm wrong!!),  but I still appreciate that removing a curse of every player within 30 feet is an impressive feat

My experiences of Divine-Light so far have been very disappointing..        if I'm in a group of people currently assaulting the enemy,  I will cast my shield as we clash into them in true heroic war-cry fashion!      But I find its short lived and at Rank 26,   the 400-450 damage it absorbs does little but stop 1-2 blows from a big nasty smell Orc in my face..       Also in order for my WP to die,  I must be having a lot of focused fire and therefore no shield is going to save my life

Smite!  Wow...  Sorry I forgot to mention the amazing power of Smite...

With the ability to cast Smite on the move as you're charging into the enemy,  this becomes a powerful weapon..  ..    as Jarkkp points out its also a fantastic Fury builder,  as you gain something like 15 Fury for each target you hit via the Cone effect..               

I pretty much spam smite as much as I can with its 6 second CD..     Its truly amazing ability and such awesome animation

So with Smite and our Shield,  we're just designed to lead charges

PS.   Smite by its name,   really should do more damage in my opinion though,    maybe rename to tickle

PS2.   Smite is great way of disrupting Destruction force who are trying to capture the Bauble at the start of TA.  Assuming you get there in time obviously!   But I start casting it,  timing it so it fires the second I get to the top

Invicta.

[Jarkko]

However I have to disagree with the use of "Cleansing Power" tactic,  as in my opinion I wouldn't want to waste a tactic slot to remove curses, when as far as I'm aware,   curses are not common place in War (This is pure assumption,  correct me if I'm wrong!!),  but I still appreciate that removing a curse of every player within 30 feet is an impressive feat

A lot of Ailments and other lasting effects were changed to Curses between closed beta and open beta. Sorcerer has now (according to Wardb) 34 different abilities (including those from talents), of them 10 are curses. Even chosen has 4 curses, and the rest of Destro classes have something between those two numbers as far as I can see.

Curses snare, disarm, silence, prevent healing. Removing them is IMO the first priority in a PvP eniroment, because else you are just a sitting duck waiting to get chopped. What is more, many curses hit several targets (wither baseline or at least with talents), so in a massed situation you might quite often see lots and lots of curses around you.

However, slotting Cleansing Power *always* is not too bright. WAR has the nice thing that you can have several tactic bars. When the enemy is strong at cursing, then mount the bar with Cleansing; when they are weak in cursing you definitively should not keep it mounted

With the ability to cast Smite on the move as you're charging into the enemy,  this becomes a powerful weapon..  ..    as Jarkkp points out its also a fantastic Fury builder,  as you gain something like 15 Fury for each target you hit via the Cone effect..     

If you ever played a hunter in WoW, the term "Jump-shot" is familiar to you. Smite is an excellent jump-shot ability when you are low on RF and running away. Activate Smite, jump in the air and make a 360 degree turn in the air. If you time it right Smite will hit those behind you without you having to slow down at all

[Envicta]

I know exactly what you mean about Hunters "jump-shot",   however I don't feel the need to jump,  it has to be said

I love pre-casting it,  so soon as I come to the top of the volcano in TA I let it rip!

Also as you said..  When retreating,  to start casting it,   only to do a quick 180 and let it fire ..

I've even managed to get one off when I got knockbacked!!   

The information on curses is very interesting!    I have to admit I did not believe they were that common place..   

My issue is still using a Tactic-slot and more importantly... a Mastery point for an ability that I may not use..   

I guess i'll wait til Tier-4 and see what the effect curses have on PVP....  but thx for that input

Invicta.

[Pythias]

Smite is an excellent jump-shot ability when you are low on RF and running away. Activate Smite, jump in the air and make a 360 degree turn in the air. If you time it right Smite will hit those behind you without you having to slow down at all

Have you tested this? I've read somewhere that it's not possible in WAR since your orientation seems to update only when you're on the ground, not mid-air.

[Jarkko]

Have you tested this? I've read somewhere that it's not possible in WAR since your orientation seems to update only when you're on the ground, not mid-air.

I did believe that to be only for targeted abilities (so that you don't see the bunny hopping rogues so familiar from WoW), and not AoE or cone abilites. And yes, I have tested it, sometimes the smite goes were I want, but often my smite goes in totally wrong direction; however, I have put it down to be the reason of my timing problem (ie lack of skill) *but* it could of course be the orientation thingy. I need to test a bit more to be more certain if it is possible or not.

[Jarkko]

The information on curses is very interesting!    I have to admit I did not believe they were that common place..   

To be honest, so was I. For example, I did believe Warrior Priests have no curses (I had led myself to believe that because of CB experiences) but it is not so    The thing dawned only to me after it was hammered to me (it wasn't by any chance you Invicta who did it? sorry, can't remember who it was) that for example [spell]Weight of Guilt[/spell] *is* a curse now. This got me interested to check when that happened, and when I saw that, I started to go through the list of abilities

[Envicta]

Yeah I seem to remember talking to you about it ...

To be honest,   I was exactly the same..      The first time I read it, I though to myself..     Curse?    Well that sounds pretty stupid!

Anyhow after I realised,  I find that using "Castigation (curse)" first and then using "Weight of Guilt" directly afterwards means i've got a near 100% chance of placing the snare..

Also...   I just did some tests with the doing a spin-jump-smite-attack..      At first I was missing my target by overshooting..       I then countered for this by jumping a little later..         So I can confirm that it will fire in the direction you are facing,  regardless of jumping or not..    It's just a tricky business!      Still a load of fun

Invicta.

[Envicta]

As a Tier-4 update,   my game-plan has changed a LOT!

This may not be relevant after 1.1 with scenario-queue changes but based on thing as they are right now,   you'll be doing SP (Serpents Passage) a LOT.

Due to the nature of the WP,   forcing us into melee in order to provide the best close-range healing,    we now have a key problem..

Quite simply,  the area between our guys and theirs =  Dead mans zone..

A place where only IB/SMs and suicidal people may enter...

Ignore this warning and you'll be DoTTed to hell within 5 seconds,    and die watching your skin burn alive..

It really is a "No go" area,  which causes a very big problem for us..        because we CANT HIT anything!!

If anyone is going to come near you,    its 99% likely to be a tank...    and guess what?     You're melee with no-armor-penetration abilities so you'll be hitting him for 50-100 damage max..

So how have I adapted? 

Well i've pretty much shed my DPS gear,    i've now maximised my healing potential and I'm forced into using "Supplication" pretty much every 5-10 seconds..

In fact, I will do AE Heal,  AE HoT,  2-3 HoT's and then i'd be empty..     So I will Supplicate and repeat..

I truly hope by the time I hit 40 that I'm able to wade into the enemy forces,   bash a few heads and show our amazing survival abilities,    because right now..       We have the same survival as a naked Bright-wizard..

Sad times..   

On the plus note however,      if you can get AWAY from any other WP or RP in your group...   your AE healing alone can make a real difference..

But SP is definitely the first time where I have thought...        "They would be better off with a RP/AM than me",  because they heal off AP's... not fury

Sad times..

Envicta.

[Rubino]

Patch 1.0.4 out in the US today - in the EU sometime...
Is supposed to address the queue pop issue - at least it'll bandaid it.
I think in 1.1 they'll change the pop-rate of scenarios more.

BTW: I find those Squids very handy to hit on the WP.

[Jarkko]

Will be interesting to see T4 soon with my WP (rank 26 atm, so two ranks to go) as I started the leveling process again a couple days ago :p

I'll be slotting the curse-removing tactics next rank, should increase survivability vs casters a lot (not only for me, but for who ever happens to be in my party too).

[Torgal]

Will be interesting to see T4 soon with my WP (rank 26 atm, so two ranks to go) as I started the leveling process again a couple days ago :p

I'll be slotting the curse-removing tactics next rank, should increase survivability vs casters a lot (not only for me, but for who ever happens to be in my party too).

I'm sure you are well aware of all this, but;

If you join at 28, I'm going to strongly advise you to take what you see in there with a pinch of salt. It's usually bad when you first join a tier, but T4 is really harsh, witch elves and sorcs are going to tear you up in less than 5 seconds. I'm only just starting to be able to stand on my own two feet at 32 (nearly 33!). So by all means take a peep, but stick with T3 (for scenarios at least) as long as you're able. Ride the TA wave as long as you can since our win % is massively higher there than T4.

Not an optimistic post, I know, but it's a "don't lose heart" post.

[Jarkko]

If you join at 28, I'm going to strongly advise you to take what you see in there with a pinch of salt. It's usually bad when you first join a tier, but T4 is really harsh, witch elves and sorcs are going to tear you up in less than 5 seconds. I'm only just starting to be able to stand on my own two feet at 32 (nearly 33!). So by all means take a peep, but stick with T3 (for scenarios at least) as long as you're able. Ride the TA wave as long as you can since our win % is massively higher there than T4.

Not an optimistic post, I know, but it's a "don't lose heart" post.

Thanks for the warning I don't mind getting my butt handed to me as long as I learn something in the process. In CB I took part in T4 scenarios with my DoK from rank 31 and on, altough I am aware that is not entirely comparable