Finally a SS...and...On the Subject of Gemming
Finally I remembered to take a SS in raid.
Notice that I hit a lag spike right before I took it. Well, that was our Faction Champions down last night. Now we're banging our heads against Twin Val'kyrs. But it does feel like we're getting somewhere.
I broke my 258 cherry!
Sandals of the Mourning Widow
On the Subject of Gemming
When I first started perusing the priest forums, I was surprised at how many priests attacked my gem choices. At first, I started doubting myself. Am I doing it wrong? But my arguments always made sense to me, so I didn't change. I did some research and realized that I'm not alone in how I gem so I felt more secure.
As I continued to browse the priest forums, I began to notice that most Discipline priests who posted there got at least a few trolls telling them they're gemming wrong. I began to realize that there is no "right" way to gem for Discipline.
Gemming preferences change depending on spec, healing assignments, raid setup, and other reasons. Discipline is so versatile that they can fill in almost any role. Obviously a shield spammer wouldn't gem the same as a tank healer. This is why I find it ridiculous that I am challenged by both tank healers and shield spammers on how I gem, since I am a raid support healer.
The most common argument I get against my gemming is the argument that "PW: S doesn't crit". That would be your shield spammers talking. Here's my argument: I don't just use PW: S. I am a raid support healer. I want all of my Discipline talents and abilities to be utilized and so gemming a little crit to get me to almost 45% raid buffed insures that I have Divine Aegis, Inspiration and other crit based abilities constantly around the raid. Over 35% self buffed crit means that you're neglecting other stats so I regem to reflect that as I get gear.
I run with some very talented healers and after adding my absorbs I end up in the top 1-3 for most fights. Plus, we hardly ever wipe on fights due to a healing issue. I know most people condemn "well it works for me!" and I agree with them…partially. When it works for you in hard modes, that means it works. Most hard modes leave little room for error. When you consistently down several hard modes a week, you're doing something right.
I guess the whole point of what I'm trying to say is this: if you can back up your reasoning for gemming/gearing/speccing a certain way and it makes sense, don't change because some one else says to. A shield spamming priest picking up crit because a raid healing priest said so would make that shield spamming priest that much less effective. If I gemmed straight spell power, I would probably have mana issues and I wouldn't get as many Divine Aegis procs or Inspiration procs. Never underestimate a Discipline priest's crit!
My reasons for my gems:
I gem enough Intellect to be secure in my ability to not go oom. Just enough. Any more is a waste. Reason? That should be obvious. This makes me very self sufficient, never needing an innervate.
I gem enough Crit to get my crit in between 30-35%(ish). Any more than that gimps my spell power. Reason? Divine Aegis/Inspiration procs. More absorbs.
The rest of the slots I gem spell power.
I ignore blue sockets because I don't need spirit or mp5. I can get much more use out of Int/Crit/Spell power.
Notice that I hit a lag spike right before I took it. Well, that was our Faction Champions down last night. Now we're banging our heads against Twin Val'kyrs. But it does feel like we're getting somewhere.
I broke my 258 cherry!
Sandals of the Mourning Widow
On the Subject of Gemming
When I first started perusing the priest forums, I was surprised at how many priests attacked my gem choices. At first, I started doubting myself. Am I doing it wrong? But my arguments always made sense to me, so I didn't change. I did some research and realized that I'm not alone in how I gem so I felt more secure.
As I continued to browse the priest forums, I began to notice that most Discipline priests who posted there got at least a few trolls telling them they're gemming wrong. I began to realize that there is no "right" way to gem for Discipline.
Gemming preferences change depending on spec, healing assignments, raid setup, and other reasons. Discipline is so versatile that they can fill in almost any role. Obviously a shield spammer wouldn't gem the same as a tank healer. This is why I find it ridiculous that I am challenged by both tank healers and shield spammers on how I gem, since I am a raid support healer.
The most common argument I get against my gemming is the argument that "PW: S doesn't crit". That would be your shield spammers talking. Here's my argument: I don't just use PW: S. I am a raid support healer. I want all of my Discipline talents and abilities to be utilized and so gemming a little crit to get me to almost 45% raid buffed insures that I have Divine Aegis, Inspiration and other crit based abilities constantly around the raid. Over 35% self buffed crit means that you're neglecting other stats so I regem to reflect that as I get gear.
I run with some very talented healers and after adding my absorbs I end up in the top 1-3 for most fights. Plus, we hardly ever wipe on fights due to a healing issue. I know most people condemn "well it works for me!" and I agree with them…partially. When it works for you in hard modes, that means it works. Most hard modes leave little room for error. When you consistently down several hard modes a week, you're doing something right.
I guess the whole point of what I'm trying to say is this: if you can back up your reasoning for gemming/gearing/speccing a certain way and it makes sense, don't change because some one else says to. A shield spamming priest picking up crit because a raid healing priest said so would make that shield spamming priest that much less effective. If I gemmed straight spell power, I would probably have mana issues and I wouldn't get as many Divine Aegis procs or Inspiration procs. Never underestimate a Discipline priest's crit!
My reasons for my gems:
I gem enough Intellect to be secure in my ability to not go oom. Just enough. Any more is a waste. Reason? That should be obvious. This makes me very self sufficient, never needing an innervate.
I gem enough Crit to get my crit in between 30-35%(ish). Any more than that gimps my spell power. Reason? Divine Aegis/Inspiration procs. More absorbs.
The rest of the slots I gem spell power.
I ignore blue sockets because I don't need spirit or mp5. I can get much more use out of Int/Crit/Spell power.
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2 comments:
i'm happy you wrote this. i was holy with disc as my offpsec, but recently (as of this week) i switched to having disc as my main after a chance to use it in a raid and i must say i love it. i worried about my gems and had to switch them out. from what i read on the forums, spellpower and crit is good and then haste as well. my spellpower is low so i ignored the blue sockets as well and i have a couple of gems that are for crit to get me higher till i can get more specific gear. i was critized by some random person for my gemming but i felt i had a good arguement and i was happy with it. thank you for this blog, i just recently found it and i do enjoy reading it! /wave <3
I'm glad I could help! Don't listen to people who say "no you're wrong RAWR" and can't give a real reason. As long as you can defend yourself with well thought out arguments, don't let someone change how you do things. Different playstyles are what makes this game fun. That's the difference between an rpg and an mmorpg. If everybody played/gemmed/specced the same, we'd just be playing an offline rpg!
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