Post by Samanosuke
I. IntroductionII. PurposeIII. Tactic / MethodIV. GearV. Main Highlights of Holy Nova priestVI. Concluding thoughts***Findings***I. IntroductionI am currently a
Holy Nova based priest.
Edit : There has been changes to Power Infusion, but overall it doesn't affect the overall build very much.
The VERY minimum that one can attain both holy nova and power infusion(key to dmg output) is lvl 51.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMhkhxtbboZ0xtThe build I currently use at lvl 70 is. Arena/Defense Build
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxGhzhxtbxktfxt00bTalent points can be played with. Main emphasis is holy nova and pain suppression.
An alternate build focuses on using surge of light. DPS Build
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMuzhxtbxoZcgt0bbVb. The talents can be played around with to suit your play style. But the main emphasis on this is surge of light and power infusion. Also, since mental agility is maxed (decreases instant cast spells by 10%, for holy nova) it makes sense to max out improved renew. This makes it a VERY mana efficient heal.
A raiding build that focuses on getting hit cap-
http://wowhead.com/?talent=bxt0zhxtrhoZctt0cbVbHeal orientated build
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxGhzhxtb0oZfxt0s0aV Of course, don't expect raid healing quality, but this is an added boost to healing sufficient enough to get through dungeons/heroics more easily than the previous 2.
II. PurposeFrom merriam-webster*
Efficient suggests an acting or a potential for action or use in such a way as to avoid
loss or
waste of energy in effecting, producing, or functioning
Effective stresses the actual production of or the
power to produce an effect
An electric scooter or bicycle may be energy "efficient" but when you have to travel 10 miles, a sports car with greater "effectiveness" (it waste more energy overall through heat/sound/etc) is by far the better choice.
A Holy Nova priest stresses "Effectiveness" in killing to reach efficiency in
time. The aim is to kill a multitude of enemies all at once, then stopping for 30 seconds to drink. Traditional priests stress efficiency in
mana to sustain their energy. Overall a Holy Nova priest kills with greater speed.
III. Tactic / MethodShield, run in, gather mobs(refresh shield when it runs low), pop off Power Infusion then let loose*** Holy Nova***. The amount of HP recovered with Holy Nova is more than enough to survive. If the mobs are doing a large amount of dmg then a mid AoE shield refresh is more than enough to compensate. After it is done, a simple drink recovers you back to full HP. Smite away mobs until the Cool downs are done, drink to full mana again and resume.
If ever for some reason a mob isn't dead, pop off Inner Focus for a quick Holy Nova (usually finish the job). When you hit level 66 you get
Shadowfiend, this used during pulls gives you a few thousand more mana. As a last resort, if you are pulling a particular mob for the first time and underestimated their HP, a simple mana pot gives more than enough to finish the job.
Holy Nova Coefficient is 14.29%.
Offensive gear focuses on
+crit, +int, and +dmg. You need about 100 +dmg to get +14 dmg per Holy Nova and ~875 mana equates to ~58 +int. At lvl 70, +80 int = +1% crit chance.
Make sure you have a set for healing that ONLY focuses on
+healing as you will not likely be AoE'ing during a group instance. Exceptions include nonelites which come few and far between.
IV. GearAt lvl 58 you can obtain 2 important trinkets (they DO NOT share the same Cool down, meaning you can use both at the same time);
Blessed Prayer Beads Vengeance of the Illidari You can link them together with this macro...
/use Blessed Prayer Beads
/use Vengeance of the Illidari
/cast Power Infusion
*If one is on Cool down the rest will still activate.*
This trinket ALSO doesn't share a cool down with Vengeance of the Illidari
Essence of the Martyr. Using this over Blessed Prayer Beads gives an additional 191 +heal and 63 +dmg. Keep in mind that when you are AoE pulling, the dmg goes to enemies and heal benefits you...so you get the benefit from both.
This trinket can REPLACE Vengeance of the Illidari, but cannot be used in conjunction with it because of shared cool down.
Xi'ri's Gift Using this over VotI gives an additional 6+crit, 60 +heal and 30 +dmg.
I just picked up
Shiffar's Nexus-Horn and I'm lovin it.
The
spellstrike set is nice as it procs often.
As is
Robe of the Elder ScribesUsing these 3 gives a guaranteed 447 +dmg proc, combined with Xi'ri's Gift, this is a temporary 597 +dmg. (It's a shame they changed PI, then it would be +20% as well).
V. Main Highlights of Holy Nova priestThe main highlights of Holy Nova are:1) Instant cast, this makes full use of Power infusion and temp +dmg trinkets/procs.
2) Heals you while you pull.
3) No agro, useful if you party with an AoE mage/pally as support dmg.
Highlights of Holy Nova Build1) Possible to run lower lvl characters through dungeons with ease and speed.
2) All round support dmg, stand alone DPS (lolsmite), AoE farming, and/or Heals.
3) Able to AoE
RANGED enemies
VI. Concluding thoughtsGranted a Frost mage could probably AoE farm with greater raw
firefrostpower, Frost mages CANNOT switch to heals or give buffs other than +int to the party. Nor can they AoE ranged attackers because of interruptions.
Holy Nova priest can AoE farm things 4 or more lvls below him or AT LEVEL based on gear/skill. Entire dungeons can be run ~20lvls below (lvl 60 able to AoE lvl 40 elites, for lower lvl runs).
***Findings***Partying with a Ret pally is awesome.
Sanc Aura gives a 10% bonus. Also, they can use BoP to help you do MASSIVE pulls. You don't have to worry about pally getting agro because you can heal him up faster than enemies can do damage.
confirmed: The damage from Holy Nova comes from
+spelldmg, the healing comes from
+healing. Earlier today I reached a new record in crit heal while wearing heal set.
At lvl 69 I was able to AoE farm Mageslayers and Mana Seekers for Motes of mana at about 5-6 per pull.
Farming Bog Lords for motes of life is no problem at all.
***For fun and to wreck chaos in AV. Find your way into your general's room when it is under attack and start Holy Nova/fear spam. I've seen a room get wiped as a result (an arcane mage and myself) which resulted in massive lulz. Ended up with ~4.5k dps. Go Go Holy Nova kamikaze.**
Even with +heal gear, holy nova tends to do enough dmg to kill mobs. The +healing has the benefit of keeping you alive ALOT longer than +crit/dmg. If holy nova heals for +1000-1200 each, and you can cast it at least12 times. This is an
minimum AoE lifespan of +12,000.
Post by Samanosuke
This topic REALLY caught my attention, so I had to really look at it, inspect the idea, and think. Well, I'm wondering, what about a little rearrangement? I'm thinking I want to try this:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMuzGLtbLoZMet0bbabMore damage output, thanks to Spiritual Guidance, Surge of Light to take advantage of your many criticals (I think, but unsure on practical use here), plus lots more defensive strength. I'm still tweaking before I actually try it. :) My favorite part is Spirit of Redemption, though, to come back and have enough time to cast 10 Holy Novas (maybe 9 for lag) all for free; thinking a wicked PvP surprise. hehe
Thoughts?
That's similar to the build I used for leveling 66-70 (playing with surge of light). As far as I can remember, I don't think Holy Nova was usable while in spirit of redemption mode. I would like to confirm this, but my respec cost is going to be around 50g now. = /
Surge of Light plays perfectly well with Holy Nova build. However, currently I'm arena/farming spec'd, so I'm using the build in first post. +Int and +Crit are very important. The coeficient for Holy Nova is pretty low, and rather than increase dmg by a small amount per point of +spelldmg, its much more prudent to increase your overall crit rate and mana pool through INT. Larger mana pool ='s more Novas you are able to use.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMuzGLtbLoZMet0bbabIt's perfect for DPS spec though, and for the short time I was full DPS I was either 1st or 2nd on dps meters (given I didn't have to heal). Even then, I was able to snag 2-3rd on charts "while" also healing.