In this article, we explain what the best statistics are for Discipline Priests (WoW 4.3), how the class benefits from each of them, and what your reforging strategy should be. We also detail what the various caps are and why they should be attained. The statistics priority is important as it influences reforging strategies as well as itemisation choices (gear, enchants, and gems).

Make sure to check our Gear Optimisation Guide, which serves as a support guide for this article. The other articles of our Discipline Priest guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

1. Basics↑top

Unlike other classes, Discipline Priests do not have a preset statistic priority. Instead, they can choose between 3 statistic priorities that are perfectly viable for both tank and raid healing. Choosing your priority will affect your playstyle, as we explain later in this article.

• Intellect > Spirit > Haste Rating > Mastery Rating > Critical Strike Rating
  • tank healing: very accurate healing (heals reach your target in time)
  • raid healing: highest AoE healing output
• Intellect > Spirit > Mastery Rating > Critical Strike Rating > Haste Rating
  • tank healing: highest tank healing output
  • raid healing: ideal for long periods of sustained damage
• Intellect > Spirit > Mastery Rating > Haste Rating > Critical Strike Rating
  • tank healing: good healing output and accuracy
  • raid healing: ideal when you want to prevent damage rather than heal it

If you are unsure what the optimal reforging strategy is for the priority you choose, please refer to the reforging section of our Gear Optimisation Guide.

2. Getting a Better Understanding↑top

2.1. Statistics Explanations

2.1.1. Intellect

Intellect is the only statistic which is clearly optimal for Discipline Priests. It is the best statistic for mana regeneration (as it increases your mana pool, and all of your means of mana regeneration are based on your maximum mana) as well as for healing throughput. You should attempt to get as much Intellect as you can (mostly through having higher item level gear and getting Intellect enchants, where available).

Enlightenment, a passive ability that you gain for choosing the Discipline specialisation, increases your Intellect by 15%.

2.1.2. Spirit

Spirit is the healer statistic. It increases your mana regeneration. You will, for the most part, prefer gear pieces with Spirit, although if the other secondary statistic on the item is undesirable to you, it may be worth using an item without Spirit.

How much Spirit you should have is up to you and your playstyle. If you are running out of mana often, even while properly using your mana regeneration cooldowns, you should aim for more Spirit. Keep in mind that this advice does not take into account your spell usage, which can be the cause for your mana problems.

If you are comfortable with your level of mana regeneration, you can start reforging out of Spirit or avoiding gear with Spirit, and opt for more throughput.

2.1.3. Haste Rating

Haste Rating is most useful for AoE raid healing. It can be useful for single target healing (either in the case of tank healing or raid healing), depending on the situation.

Haste Rating has the following benefits:

• Reduces the cast time of all your spells, increasing the chance that you will finish casting before your target dies as well as that you will finish casting before you are forced to move.
• Provides the highest throughput, in the case of Prayer of Healing spam (AoE raid damage).
• Increases the amount of healing ticks from Renew as well as the amount of ticks from Hymn of Hope and Divine Hymn.
• Allows you to cast Greater Heal on the same target more often, thus reducing the Weakened Soul debuff faster (if Strength of Soul is talented), thus allowing you to shield this target (very useful when tank healing) more often.

Prioritising Haste Rating over other statistics will result in the following drawbacks:

• By casting more spells in a given amount of time, you will deplete your mana faster.
• Your absorption effects ( Power Word: Shield and Divine Aegis) will be weaker due to the lack of Mastery Rating.
• Your spells will be critical heals less often (and thus also cause Divine Aegis less often) due to the lack of Critical Strike Rating.

2.1.4. Mastery Rating

Mastery Rating is most useful for tank healing or sustained AoE raid healing. It can be useful for single target raid healing or other types of AoE raid healing, depending on various factors.

Mastery Rating has the following benefits:

• It increases the amount absorbed by your Power Word: Shield, boosting its efficiency any time your shield is entirely consumed (this is mostly the case with tank damage).
• It increases the amount absorbed by your Divine Aegis. This is only of benefit when there is enough damage to break your Divine Aegis, as otherwise the effect is wasted (such as if the Divine Aegis you have stacked after healing the raid up with Prayer of Healing expires without being broken by damage).

Prioritising Mastery Rating over other statistics will result in the following drawbacks:

• All your spells with a cast time will be cast slower, and will gain no benefit from Mastery Rating unless they are critical heals (with the exception of Prayer of Healing).
• Your spells will be critical heals less often (and thus also cause Divine Aegis less often) due to the lack of Critical Strike Rating.

2.1.5. Critical Strike Rating

Critical Strike Rating is most useful for tank healing. For single target or AoE raid healing, it can provide certain benefits in some situations, though these are generally outweighed by the drawbacks.

Critical Strike Rating provides the following benefits:

• Gives your heals a chance to heal for double their normal amount.
• Increases the chance for you to proc Divine Aegis (from critical heals).

Prioritising Critical Strike Rating over other statistics will result in the following drawbacks:

• All your spells with a cast time will be slower.
• The absorption effects from Power Word: Shield and Divine Aegis will be relatively weak, due to the lack of Mastery Rating.
• You run a high risk of regularly overhealing targets because of your critical heals (with the exception of the tank who is more likely to be lower on health and thus able to benefit from greater heals).

2.2. Priorities

Because Haste Rating, Mastery Rating and Critical Strike Rating all complement each other, it is difficult to say to completely drop one statistic for another.

Our advice is to always analyse your current situation (your role, the other healers in your raid, the type of damage in the encounter) and choose the statistics which fit it best. We propose the following three combinations, though others may work just as well for you.

2.2.1. Haste Rating > Mastery Rating > Critical Strike Rating

This statistic combination will yield the most powerful AoE raid healing (i.e., spamming Prayer of Healing). It ensures that you are able to complete more casts in a given amount of time and that your heals have a greater chance to reach their target before the target dies.

Furthermore, this gives you a higher chance to finish a cast before being forced to move due to environmental damage or other fight mechanics.

In case of tank healing, prioritising Haste Rating means that you can cast Heal and Greater Heal more quickly on the tank, also lower their Weakened Soul debuff faster (assuming you have Strength of Soul talented), meaning that you can shield them more often.

For single target healing on players other than the tank, it means that your casts will reach their target faster, giving you more accuracy.

2.2.2. Mastery Rating > Critical Strike Rating > Haste Rating

This statistic combination is the strongest for tank healing. It provides a large amount of absorption from your Power Word: Shield on the tank. Additionally, any Divine Aegis on the tank will be greater, as well. This is especially useful since the Divine Aegis on the tank will almost always be used up entirely by the damage they receive.

The Critical Strike Rating will provide you with a chance for "double heals". These will most often not overheal, as the tank will seldom be at full health.

For AoE raid healing, this combination can provide excellent results in situations where there is sustained raid damage. This is because the Divine Aegises from your Prayer of Healing (which will be quite strong due to your Mastery Rating) will end up being used fully by the constant raid damage.

In raid damage situations where there are long periods of time in between the damage spikes, Mastery Rating's efficiency drops significantly, since Divine Aegis will generally expire (after 15 seconds) and thus be of no use.

2.2.3. Mastery Rating > Haste Rating > Critical Strike Rating

This statistic combination will provide you with the benefits of high Mastery Rating (stronger absorbs from Power Word: Shield and Divine Aegis), while also providing you with a relatively low cast time on your spells.

It is beneficial for AoE raid healing, when you desire to prevent more of the damage rather than to heal it. It also allows you to use Prayer of Healing on one or more groups, in order to build up Divine Aegis in preparation for a big damage spike.

It also provides good tank healing, by providing stronger shields and faster heals on the tank, while avoiding the unpredictability of Critical Strike Rating.