Discipline Priest Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King

Mana efficiency, stronger shields and buffs, and Power Infusion: healing that wastes little.

A cloth-wearing healer who also deals Shadow damage. Priests heal single targets and groups, shield allies with Power Word: Shield and fight with Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Blast. More about the priest

Class: Priest
Roles: Healer
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent: Penance
Popular builds: 2
Version: WoW Wrath of the Lich King

How to play

Discipline in Wrath prevents damage instead of healing it: Power Word: Shield absorbs damage (and Rapture returns mana when it does), Divine Aegis adds a shield after your critical heals, Penance heals in quick bursts, Grace raises healing on your target, and Borrowed Time speeds up the spell after a shield.

Shield the tanks and anyone about to take damage, Penance when ready and Flash Heal to fill. Pain Suppression and Power Infusion are cooldowns your raid leader will want timed.

Discipline is the best priest for tank healing and very strong in arenas.

At a glance

Single-target healing
Group healing
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Wrath of the Lich King.

Rotation and priorities

1Power Word: Shield on tanks and on players about to take damage.
2Prayer of Mending whenever it is ready.
3Penance whenever it is ready.
4Flash Heal to fill, keeping Grace on the tank.
5Pain Suppression for big tank damage; Power Infusion on a caster or yourself.
6Hymn of Hope and Shadowfiend when mana runs low.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Prevents damage before it lands.
Pain Suppression and Power Infusion.
Strong in arenas.

Weaknesses

Weaker at healing a whole raid at once.
Shields are wasted if the damage never comes.
Low solo damage.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Spell power
2
Intellect
3
Haste
4
Critical strikeDivine Aegis
5
Spirit
6
Mana per 5 sec

What to look for

Spell power and Intellect first, then haste and crit.
Resilience and Stamina for arenas.
A healing staff, or a mace with an off-hand.

Items worth chasing

Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient KingsThe legendary healing mace: its heals leave absorb shields.
Purified Lunar DustA healing trinket with mana regeneration.
Althor's AbacusA healing trinket with a haste proc.
Solace of the DefeatedA healing trinket that builds up mana regeneration.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Discipline
Holy
Shadow

Discipline Healer
HealerPvE
5318
53/18/0
Raid healing with 53 points in Discipline, down to Penance, and 18 in Holy.
- Divine Aegis 3/3
- Pain Suppression 1/1
- Grace 2/2
- Borrowed Time 5/5
- Penance 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Power Word: Shield (major), Glyph of Flash Heal (major), Glyph of Penance (major), Glyph of Fortitude (minor), Glyph of Shadowfiend (minor), Glyph of Fading (minor)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Discipline Arena Healer
HealerPvP
5615
56/15/0
Arena and battleground healing with 56 points in Discipline, down to Penance, and 15 in Holy.
- Divine Aegis 3/3
- Pain Suppression 1/1
- Grace 1/2
- Borrowed Time 5/5
- Penance 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting

Key talents

Penance · top talent, up to 1
Launches a volley of holy light at the target, causing 240 Holy damage to an enemy, or 670 to 756 healing to an ally instantly and every 1 sec for 2 sec.
Focused Will · tier 7, up to 3
Increases your spell critical effect chance by 3%, and after taking a critical hit you gain the Focused Will effect, reducing all damage taken by 4% and increasing healing effects on you by 5%. Stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 8 sec.
Power Infusion · tier 7, up to 1
Infuses the target with power, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and reducing the mana cost of all spells by 20%. Lasts 15 sec.
Renewed Hope · tier 8, up to 2
Increases the critical effect chance of your Flash Heal, Greater Heal and Penance (Heal) spells by 4% on targets afflicted by the Weakened Soul effect, and you have a 100% chance to reduce all damage taken by 3% for 1 min to all friendly party and raid targets when you cast Power Word: Shield. This effect has a 15 sec cooldown.
Rapture · tier 8, up to 3
When your Power Word: Shield is completely absorbed or dispelled you are instantly energized with 2.5% of your total mana, and you have a 100% chance to energize your shielded target with 2% total mana, 8 rage, 16 energy or 32 runic power. This effect can only occur once every 12 sec.
Aspiration · tier 8, up to 2
Reduces the cooldown of your Inner Focus, Power Infusion, Pain Suppression and Penance spells by 20%.
Divine Aegis · tier 9, up to 3
Critical heals create a protective shield on the target, absorbing 30% of the amount healed. Lasts 12 sec.
Pain Suppression · tier 9, up to 1
Instantly reduces a friendly target's threat by 5%, reduces all damage taken by 40% and increases resistance to Dispel mechanics by 65% for 8 sec.
Grace · tier 9, up to 2
Your Flash Heal, Greater Heal, and Penance spells have a 100% chance to bless the target with Grace, increasing all healing received from the Priest by 3%. This effect will stack up to 3 times. Effect lasts 15 sec. Grace can only be active on one target at a time.
Borrowed Time · tier 10, up to 5
Grants 25% spell haste for your next spell after casting Power Word: Shield, and increases the amount absorbed by your Power Word: Shield equal to 40% of your spell power.

Discipline abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.