Disc vs. Shadow - Viability in Mythic+

[Psyh 0]

Up until Legion, I've primary spent my time in game in Areans or BGs, however the concept of Mythic+ really intrigues me. I'm stuck trying though trying to decide which class I want to main spec before Legion comes out. 

The reason why it's a concern now, is because I don't want to start dumping my artifact power into one weapon, only to, down the road, regret my decision and switch. To my knowledge there's no way to "refund" artifact power at this time - please stop my now if there is. 

Furthermore, I want to chose a spec that's going to be both viable in PVP (3's mostly) and Mythic+ dungeons (I know, I'm asking for a lot here). I already know Shadow is going to be a strong contender in 3's and I'm fairly certain Disc will be as well (I think, I hope). What I don't know, is where do they both stand in Mythic+. 

I've stayed away from Legion Dungeons on the beta to avoid spoilers, but on live, they seem to struggle with AoE healing (at least compared to other healers). Has anyone played either spec on the beta, in Mythic+ and would care to share their experience? 

I'm sure it'll come up, so let me get it out of the way --- I have no interest in playing Holy. Yes, I know they're an amazing healer. They spec as a whole does not appeal to me, the whole "holy light" thing. I like Disc and Shadow, because of the lore surrounding them and it's what kept me playing a priest for 8 years now. 

Thanks in advance for the feedback!

[Smacktard 2]

Discipline has no trouble with AoE healing provided you know when the burst damage is coming. Discipline remains the only healing spec that emphasizes proactive healing - which means using Rapture for bubble spam and PW:Radiance to spread Atonement when it's down. Pop Rapture, then PW:R if you need Atonement on a few more people, then drop your Shadowfiend/Mindbender and a haste cooldown (trinket or PI) and watch the raid...not die. Your setup needs to happen well before the damage you're trying to heal through (which has been true of Discipline for years) and once you're finished with setup, you go back to your damage rotation and let Atonement do all the work. 

 

Your SF/MB does a crapton of damage, and that's only made more noticeable when you give it a haste buff. Then again, since MB only has a 1min CD, it's not something you really want to hold on to. Just drop that fucker. He'll do work.

As for viability, Shadow is one of the top ten DPS specs right now. Actually #1 on council fights according to Noxxic. Discipline is almost always a strong healing spec, but it will always have that skill floor (minimum competency) that most other specs don't.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Smacktard

[Valks 2,377]

22 hours ago, Smacktard said:

As for viability, Shadow is one of the top ten DPS specs right now. Actually #1 on council fights according to Noxxic. Discipline is almost always a strong healing spec, but it will always have that skill floor (minimum competency) that most other specs don't.

Before trusting anything Noxxic puts up, I would suggest checking out the rankings from the official Simcraft website.

http://www.simulationcraft.org/reports/Raid_T19P.html

Shadow sucks on single target, yet Noxxic lists it as #4 highest ST? Take the information they have there with a very large pinch of salt.

[Smacktard 2]

9 hours ago, Blainie said:

Before trusting anything Noxxic puts up, I would suggest checking out the rankings from the official Simcraft website.

http://www.simulationcraft.org/reports/Raid_T19P.html

Shadow sucks on single target, yet Noxxic lists it as #4 highest ST? Take the information they have there with a very large pinch of salt.

Shadow is only #6 on SimCraft's rankings for the same ilvl. The actual numbers they posted are only 30k apart, which isn't a terribly large variance considering first and last place vary by over 100,000 on both.

I think it's safe to say Shadow doesn't suck on ST.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Smacktard

[Valks 2,377]

On 9/20/2016 at 4:25 PM, Smacktard said:

Shadow is only #6 on SimCraft's rankings for the same ilvl. The actual numbers they posted are only 30k apart, which isn't a terribly large variance considering first and last place vary by over 100,000 on both.

I think it's safe to say Shadow doesn't suck on ST.

You are looking at the SimCraft version for Surrender to Madness. If we assume perfect latency, perfect rotation and no errors in anything, yes, I agree, they don't.

If you make an error, you die from S2M and do 0 DPS. The skill floor you discuss isn't a simple one, it is a "mess up and kill yourself" sort of skill floor.

Look at where it is listed without S2M, nearly a 70k difference AND Noxxic doesn't even recommend using Surrender to Madness. I have no idea where they have pulled their numbers from.