Do you know exactly what you're looking for? Let's get to it!
Talent Builds
This Discipline Priest build is well rounded and suited for all types of content, without focusing on any one thing in particular. For a deeper look at each talent and more specialized builds for specific activities, see the Disc Priest Talent Guide.
Talents
Rotation
This section is meant to give a good point of view for a standard ramp up when using Evangelism. This section gives a general overview, but more optimizes, talent variations, and advanced tips can be found in the Disc Priest Rotation Guide. When Ramping your focus is on spending time building up Atonement count on the raid and then you Follow-Thru with the damage priority in order to maximize the value of the Atonements.
- Maintain Shadow Word: Pain or Purge the Wicked on the boss and continue to spread them if it will reach full duration and does not interfere with your preparation before damage goes out.
- Cast Power Word: Shield or Shadow Mend to maintain Atonement on tanks. When "ramping up" you'll use Shadow Mend if the target is injured and Power Word: Shield if the target is not to cover around 6 or 7 allies with Atonement before big damage goes out.
- Cast one Power Word: Radiance.
- Use Mindbender or Shadowfiend.
- Cast the second Power Word: Radiance.
- Use Evangelism to extend the duration of all active Atonement.
- After Atonements are extended you move into the damage rotation tab and continue in it until most of your Atonement's durations have expired.
- Maintain Shadow Word: Pain or Purge the Wicked on the boss.
- Cast Schism (can be held briefly to time for a big hit).
- Cast Halo if talented.
- Cast Power Word: Solace if talented.
- Cast Holy Nova if you have a Sudden Revelation proc.
- Cast Penance.
- Cast Smite until Atonements wear off.
Stats
Discipline Priests primarily favor Intellect through Item Level, along with Haste, though secondary stats are generally close in value.
- Intellect
- Haste
- Critical Strike
- Mastery
- Versatility
Gear in Battle for Azeroth is heavily focused on pursuing item level upgrades on your gear pieces. While haste will be a primary focus to prepare for raids, if you find a non-haste item that is 10 item levels higher than the haste piece, it is quite likely that the higher ilvl piece will be better. Some exceptions to item level can be rings and some trinkets. For further detail, check the gear guide.
Enhancements
Only two gear slots can be enchanted by all players in Battle for Azeroth: weapons and rings. There are also glove enchants which can assist with professions, Enchanter-only bracer enchants which modify hearthstone use, and Tailor-only cloak enchants which reduce threat slightly.
- Weapon: Enchant Weapon - Machinist's Brilliance
- Rings: Enchant Ring - Accord of Haste
- Gems: Leviathan's Eye of Intellect and Quick Sand Spinel
Essences
The essence system offers powerful additional abilities to your toolkit that are unlocked throughout various activities like reputations, pvp and pve. Essences often have various situational or specific benefits, to find out more check out the full Discipline Priest Essences for the Heart of Azeroth - Battle for Azeroth 8.2 here for unlock requirements and breakdowns of specific uses.
Excerpt from the Essence Guide:
The Ever-Rising Tide — The Tome of the Quickening Tides
- Use on: Raids
The best Major essence for most raid encounters. It halts your mana regen over the course of the duration but is excellent for Discipline's ramps in a raiding environment. With a low cooldown there is very heavy emphasis on optimizing your ramp up windows to take advantage of the raw healing buff that is granted by each successive cast. The general plan will be to maximize stacks without severely impacting your build up on Atonements.
The Minor Power is also useful, but entirely passive so you will not need to worry about micromanaging it. Additional primary stats or mana returned are consistently helpful and are well suited to both areas of content.
Effect on gameplay
Through testing on the PTR the most favorable way seemed to include using both Power Word: Radiance charges during the duration, after multiple Power Word: Shield / Shadow Mend casts, so that you could maximize your uptime dealing damage with the healing buff up. This can cut down on a stack or two but will offer a sizeable burst that maximizes buff uptime and Atonement duration. Abilities like Evangelism, Power Word: Solace, and Rapture do not grant stacks so they should not be utilized during the Overcharge Mana buff.
When using this ability with Rapture, it does not increase the value of your absorption effects so it seems favorable to use the Overcharge Mana after you activate Rapture, then cast as many Power Word: Shields as possible during the remaining duration then into a singular Power Word: Radiance for a smaller ramp in between Evangelism uses. You lose out on an extra Power Word: Shield cast but gain an extra stack of healing bonus which is helpful with this smaller ramp not being able to extend the duration.