Disc is OP, nerf!

So I decided to start up this blog again after a long hiatus, reason being Wrath of the Lich King gave me nothing to really write about. I’ve been playing Cataclysm since its release however and I’m pretty happy about it so I’m resurrecting this at least for the time being.

My topic for today is Blizzard’s constant nerfing of the Discipline tree and how they are just stomping the problem into the ground rather than actually trying to fix it.

Throughout the entire Wrath expansion, the Discipline tree was absurdly overpowered, but the play-style was very simple. Spam shields, spam more shields and keep spamming more shields, as much as your mana would allow (and remember, this was Wrath, your mana was allowed to do whatever it pleased).

In Cataclysm, Blizzard stated they wanted to make Discipline “more fun”. They wanted to move away from the model of spamming shields left and right, while still maintaining Disc as a viable healing tree. Blizzard’s idea of fun however, is to nerf the crap out of Power Word: Shield every patch so that priests don’t use it as much. They state that “they don’t want it to be the only spell Disc priests use” as a justification for these changes.

The problem is however, that the reason why Disc priests prefer to spam shields is not because they are so powerful, but because it is their only form of utility that makes them unique compared to their holy brethren. Absorption is the only thing the Discipline tree is good at; it falls flat on everything else versus Holy.

Just start comparing the two trees, and see how much you miss by not going Holy. Circle of Healing, one of the most potent AoE heal in the game. Lightwell, the most unique and mana-effective healing spell in the game. Guardian Spirit, the best life-saver spell in the game (besides combat ress). Chakra, the most diversifying, unique healing-mechanic in the game that allows you to swap between single-target healing and AoE healing with the click of a button. And on top of this you have a mastery that affects your every single healing spell, compared to Disciplines mastery, which affects two spells, one of them being a passive ability that you have no control over.

Blizzard stats they want Disc to use their other tools as well and not just spamming shields. I am very curious as to what these tools might be because I’m not finding them, unless the tools they are talking about are cooldowns like Pain Surpression, Power Word: Barrier and Power Infusion, because they are nowhere close to the utility of the Holy tools. On its own the Disc tree may look pretty strong, but once you compare it to the utility of the Holy tree it falls flat on every area except for the shields, which Blizzard are now nerfing the crap out of patch after patch because they think the play style is boring.

In reality, Blizzard designed a flawed tree the moment they made Discipline viable in raids because it was always based solely on shields, but the fact is that despite its flaws in terms of fun game play, it was so good that many priests chose to play as it anyway because they took joy in playing a strong specc that could do what no other healers could, prevent incoming damage instead of just healing it.

Until Blizzard gives Disc priests some tools other than Penance and a 3 minute cooldown Barrier, Disc priests will either spam shields or specc holy. These tools they want us to use after nerfing our shields time after time are non-existent compared to the Holy tree, and unless they do something about the specc it will in my eyes always be broken. I am just waiting for the next patch notes that will probably say “Power Word: Shield has been removed from the game.”