Yet another way priests are SOL

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Healing someone else who is PVP flagged will also pvp flag you.

This is correct. Buff, heal etc. It's very easy to get into combat and it's unlikely that you are going to get reported if you are seen as being an active participant in the battleground to begin with. People are primarily going to be looking for those that aren't taking part in anything at all.

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A blue on the priest forums, and it is for this topic? Wow.

We can discuss other things if you like? How has your day been so far? Did you get enough rest last night? You ate breakfast I'm sure since it's the most important meal of the day right? :)

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So the rumors are true.. Blues do exist!

No no. I'm a figment of your imagination I swear.

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Hi, Neth! <3

Say, have you read+seen Stardust? If you like Terry Pratchett (though, who on earth doesn't?), odds are good it'll suit your tastes as well.

I actually haven't as of yet. I haven't had much time for reading as of late sadly unless it's forums, emails etc.

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Like the definition of Soon, and the nature of 2.3 patch notes? ^_^

What if soon was now? Where would we go from there? ;)

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Is Blizzard aware that you can use /ignore and /whisper functions to accurately determine who the other team is in an Arena, and then switch gear appropriately?

Why do I get LESS rep now from a full clear of Hyjal?

Is the sound change to VE/VT intentional?

You sure you want to ask general questions on the Priest forums? Generally when I reply to those the lynch mob comes out of the woodwork.

I'll make sure the team knows about the first one. I'll look into the second, and not sure about the third. Could you explain a bit more?

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It's apparently making the mana gain sounds for every VT/VE tick. Hence, it's not just spamming little numbers at us, it's also spamming noise.

Could you all make sure this is posted in the Bug Forum for them to look at? I know they are collecting any sound issue reports they can get so they can nail down the issues people are having.

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a/s/l?

Ageless, I'm a candle, the Nether

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Hi, Nethaera! I'm happy to see your flame is burning brightly this morning!

As you may or may not recall, about a month and a half ago, I said:





And you said:



And as much as I've never been an "Are We There Yet?!?!?"-twitcher, I'm just curious as to if you have anything more to bring back. ^^ <3

I don't have any big Discipline revamps to bring you (those are liable to come in the expansion), but we can talk a little about some changes that are coming up in patch 2.3.

For instance, Pain Suppression is getting changed a bit to have more utility beyond personal use. You'll be able to cast it on a friendly target and it will do a couple of things. First it's going to reduce the target's threat by 5%. and next it's going to reduce the damage that person takes by 40%. The cooldown is also going to be reduced to 2 minutes. The intent is to give it more utility while still making it viable for multiple targets. When you're trying to protect an AoEing mage in a raid, this could become a very useful tool.

Meditation is also going to geta bit of a bump up and it will increase to 10/20/30% mana regen as well.

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I get the distinct impression that this makes it (a) not good for tanks in certain situations where you might want to use it ("hurr I just dropped the tank's total threat by 5%"), and (b) maybe useful for PvP if you're trying to protect someone other than yourself taking an assist train but not enough to swing people away from Blessed Resilience. My personal opinion is that Pain Suppression isn't the problem; the series of burn talents you take to get to it are the problem.

Okay, this is great news.

I'm thinking along the lines of being able to use it on the off-tank that gets aggro and they want to drop it a bit so that the main tank can grab it back. Sure you want that Fury Warrior doing damage but they aren't always the best one to have aggro when there is someone else doing the main tanking.

BTW, these changes are slated for 2.3 at this point in time and not expansion.

We want people to know that we really have been working on things that are more positive for you all and of course want to continue watching for feedback that will continue to help us make things better all around.

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Still leaves one to wonder what on earth a 41 disc spec would be doing in a PvE environ.

I'm disc/holy still on my priest. It has it's utility. The developers recognize that Disc doesn't have a real cohesive focus however and that is why it's something we are looking at refining in the expansion. In the meantime, we have some changes going in for many of the classes for 2.3 as a way to improve things and also set the groundwork for the expansion both.

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Great news neth. The meditation change was definately a start. Are they going to look into priest survivability anymore? and what about spirit as a stat on gear?

On the survivability end, we're going to be having Power Word: Shield gain additional benefit from spell damage and healing bonuses. Base absorb values for ranks 10, 11 and 12 have been reduced though to go with that as a balancing factor for it. Unfortunately I don't have any concrete information on what the values will end up being right now.

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Will PS still be 65% when we cast it on our own character or 40% all around?

It's going to be 40% all around.

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And the dispel resistance? Will it remain?

This will remain, yes.

There are a lot more things that people are bringing up in this thread wondering if there is more. I've given you what I have for now. Should more be added, we'll see if we can get you that information when the time is right. Otherwise, please realize, these additions and changes are not meant to be major revamps at all. The larger changes to the talent trees etc, are going to come with the expansion. In the meantime, a lot of this is setting the groundwork.

We're going to keep watching what everyone is saying on the class forums. Even if we seem silent at times , I would hope that this information gives evidence that there is more going on in the background.

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One thing that may help out both the devs and the priest community as a whole in a positive manner would be to even have a blue post to the effect of "noted" in the threads where there is actual constrictive conversation being held.

I believe that this would engage more participation in the discussions to give a better representation of the class players for reading, and it may also calm some of the whining about "blizz don't care" bs that you see all over these (and other class) forums.

Just my $0.02

We've actually done this before, but unfortunately it's a double-edged sword. Some people appreciate knowing someone saw it. Others wonder why we don't come back with more pertinent feedback. We do what we can though and will continue to do so.

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Ya I'm kinda dissappointed in the 25% reduction nerf...even if I can cast it on a friend I'm almost ALWAYS targeted first. Maybe if the cooldown was dropped to even less than 2min or maybe PS could grant a big Resilience buff, it lasts only 8 sec...and 25% is alot, BR is looking even better now in alot of ways.

I have to say, I have Pain Suppression now and use it on myself largely when soloing, but, I don't mind giving up a little if it means that I can toss it out on someone else and have them reap some benefit from my investment into the talent. Many people have asked for more utility for the talent and this is a way of giving that to everyone without being too overpowered. If you remember, in the past, it was thought as being too much at 65% to have it castable on someone else and that was the reasoning for not allowing it to be cast on someone other than yourself. Of course we still will keep an eye on this with testing to make sure it's where we want it to be the same as anything else.

I have to say, it's one of my more favorite changes.

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I find this to be particularly amusing...

I never see anyone complaining about PS on the fourms,

You obviously missed those discussions then. I've definitely seen them and even participated in a few discussions.

If you're Holy, of course this isn't going to benefit you, unless of course you have a Disc priest around that pops the Pain Suppression on you when you need it. ;)

We're out and about sharing the changes that are coming up for 2.3 where we can. If you don't see what you want in there, that doesn't mean we aren't still reading or planning things, but those changes may come later. Patch 2.3 isn't set up as a major revamp patch for classes, but it is bringing some nice changes (we feel) to the table for many people.

I can understand cynicism and negativity, but it doesn't need to co-exist and weigh out against every positive bit of information that is shared.

People are still obviously going to have to make choices in their specs for what will work for them and their playstyle best. That hasn't changed since the very start of the game. Hopefully, however, this will improve the fit of the playstyle that some people are using and enjoying.

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If the threat-wiping portion of PS was substantial, we could see a potential PvE use. If the damage-reduction portion were more powerful, it would have obvious PvP impact. If the cooldown were short, it would have more overall efficacy.

We would still prefer Clos or Barkskin. Those require exactly 0 talent points.

Most Priests would rather spec Confetti Explosion.

I'd actually think there would be MORE concern if the aggro-reduction was increased. The reduction serves a purpose right now though. For one, it makes it so that you may not have to use it ONLY on the tank. For another, it makes it more beneficial for tossing it on to someone that really needs the threat reduction such as an AoEer. Remember, it's not a threat wipe but a threat reduction. I think it may end up making discipline priests a bit more attractive to have in addition to Shadow and Holy priests in Raids.

In the end, there are always going to be some spells that are more situational than others. We try to minimize just HOW situational they are, but as we see the debates rage about spec choices, you can easily see that the game is very much about the choices you make and what you want most out of your spec.

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Im inclined to agree with you (agreeing with a CM on a priest thread, theres a first for everything i guess). However, the discipline tree is in such array that it really makes it a burden to go all the way up for this, despite its definate situational usefulness. I suspect the developers recognize this, i just wish they would perhaps move a bit faster on fixing that mess.

Now, if only the holy tree had 41 with similar situational usefulness. One can play with the numbers on circle of healing as much as they want, it was just designed "ineffectively" on the conceptual level.

We do recognize the need for some more updates to the Discipline tree. These ones aren't meant to encompass the whole of it. The expansion is going to see more of the changes people are looking for,but we don't have anything more to discuss on that at this point in time. Keep in mind too that this isn't just about having to buy the expansion. As many of you experienced before with the Burning Crusade, these changes should essentially benefit everyone to a good degree.

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Can you clarify the threat reducing portion of the new PS?

Does this now reduce the target's current, accumulated threat by 5% (ie I place it on a target with 200 threat and their threat drops to 190) or does it reduce their threat generation (ie I place it on a target with 200 threat, they remain at 200; instead of their next attack generating 100 threat it now generates 95)?

Hard to say which would be preferable... If it is the latter, then you're encouraging us to use a very short duration buff pre-emptively before the target starts taking damage--which nullifies the other (more substantial) half of the talent skill.

I believe that it should reduce their current threat and not their generation of threat. Should that be incorrect, we'll hop back in and clarify it.

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Peahy, why don't I ever get hearts? I'm so jealous!

I too was wondering what the focus of disc will be. I'm sure we have some bored forum trolls that will compile lists of suggestions for whatever it may be, so Neth, if you could tell us even which way it is leaning...well, let's just say it involves more hearts!

We don't have information on the focus as of yet. Sorry. It's going to be a while until we get to the point of talking about it.