I went over the benefits of Surge of Light for the smite priest the other day, but there’s the other talent that’s smack in the middle of the Discipline tree that’s almost as quintessential: Power Infusion. It’s also a boon for the straight Discipline healing priest.

There are standard uses forPower Infusion, like when you’re chucking out your Smite spells or trying to get a fast ninja heal in. I’m not going to go over those. Instead, I thought I would point out four uncommon and yet beneficial uses of Power Infusion:

1. Mana Burn. Let Power Infusion speed up your Mana Burn rate in PvP.
2. Another DPS. Unless I’m in an epeen war while smiting, I find that dropping Power Infusion on another DPS caster is the best way to go. It’s saved me before from close-call enrage timers.
3. Another healer. Paladin healers that are cranking out the single target heals on a tank benefit from Power Infusion and will love you forever. Sometimes it’s best to hand it to them if you’re HoTing.
4. With Divine Hymn. Divine Hymn does a great job by itself, but if you throw Power Infusion on it, the healing rate is nothing short of ridiculous. You’ll be awed at your HPS during that time.

What are some of your favorite situations for Power Infusion? A couple weeks ago, we had a mage that two Discipline priests were alternating Power Infusion on — along with Heroism — and he doubled DPS in comparison to the rest of the raid. Score!

Enjoy your Power Infusion!

While the changes to shadow priests in 3.3 are catastrophically orgasmic, we smite priests still aren’t wiped entirely away from the picture. (Not any more than they were already wiped since the beginning of Wrath of the Lich King, anyway.) There are priests that, regardless of the differences in DPS, will always prefer the play mechanics of smiting over shadowing; if you stuck us in pure DPS classes, you’d have an epic mage vs. warlock showdown. Because of this, while I strongly recommend any priest that wants to do l33t DPS should switch shadow, I also advise that the priests that love smite stick with the spec that’s faithful to them and deal with the ridicule. After all, you’ve already listened to it for years; for expansions.

And to really understand just how much you’ve screwed yourself, I’d like to turn to the the bread and butter of smite spec: Surge of Light.

Why is Surge of Light screwing me?

Surge of Light is located in the dead center of the Holy tree, deep enough that Penance is not possible but early enough that Power Infusion is capable of taunting you. It’s strategic placement in the Holy tree (along with Power Infusion’s placement in the Discipline tree) forces the real smite priest to abandon the notion that they can just “cast Smite while healing” and design a real Holy DPS spec that falls short of the pure Discipline and pure Holy healing counterparts. Surge of Light is your lifesaver and your doomsday bringer.

I REPEAT:

There are priests that have tried to Holy DPS with Penance; forget it. You need Surge of Light and it needs you.

There are priests that have tried to Holy DPS with the Holy tree alone; forget that, too. Surge of Light leaves you room for critical things like Power Infusion and Focused Power.

Surge of Light makes sure that you design a smite spec that gimps your healing, but still makes you a better healer than the shadow priest. You’re a schmuck middle man. But it gives you free Smite procs, so you can’t judge it too terribly!

Does Surge of Light have an internal cooldown?

According to Sinespe on WoWHead, yes. Granted, it’s mighty difficult to test something that only procs 50% of the time to begin with, but he managed to grab a piece of his combat log over 7.28 seconds that showed the internal cooldown:

0.00: Sinetest gains Sinetest's Surge of Light.
      Sinetest gains Sinetest's Holy Concentration.
      Sinetest's Inspiration is refreshed on Sinetest.
      Sinetest's Flash Heal heals Sinetest for 0.(4985 Overhealed)
1.38: Sinetest's Surge of Light fades from Sinetest.
      Sinetest's Serendipity is refreshed on Sinetest.
      Sinetest gains Sinetest's Inner Focus.
3.14: Sinetest's Prayer of Healing heals Sinetest for 0.(6381 Overhealed) (Critical)
      Sinetest's Serendipity fades from Sinetest.
      Sinetest's Inner Focus fades from Sinetest.
      Sinetest's Inspiration is refreshed on Sinetest.
4.52: Sinetest's Flash Heal heals Sinetest for 0.(7644 Overhealed) (Critical)
      Sinetest gains Sinetest's Serendipity.
      Sinetest's Holy Concentration is refreshed on Sinetest.
      Sinetest's Inspiration is refreshed on Sinetest.
5.90: Sinetest's Flash Heal heals Sinetest for 0.(5032 Overhealed)
      Sinetest gains Sinetest's Serendipity (2).
7.28: Sinetest's Flash Heal heals Sinetest for 0.(7306 Overhealed) (Critical)
      Sinetest gains Sinetest's Serendipity (3).
      Sinetest gains Sinetest's Surge of Light.

Sinepse believed, from this data, that Surge of Light has a roundabouts ICD of 5 seconds. Pretty fast, but still there. You’re more than likely not going to push it unless your critical strike rating is out of hand. (And if that’s the case, I recommend Haste to get an extra Smite in during Holy Fire; see my Lvl 80 Smite Priest Guide for more tips there.)

How much mp5 does Surge of Light generate?

If you get a Surge of Light proc every 8 seconds (which is feasible with around 25% crit rating), you’re looking at 390.625 Mp5. This is also derived by Sinepse from the above combat log. One of the flaws to his research is that it’s taking Circle of Healing into account (which has the chance to proc on multiple targets), but I do not feel this should differ much given the fast-paced casting time of Smite with the appropriate Haste gear. I, for one, have no problems getting a Surge of Light every 8 seconds.

And what with mana being one of the key issues of smiting, you once again see how Surge of Light has destroyed your chance for Penance and yet taken over your smiting world.

Interested in reading about priests trying to find their way to smite spec? Then check out Surge of Light on WoWHead. You’d be amazed how many people know, either from reading or simple deduction, that this is the backbone of Holy DPS; the discussion of smite spec is always centered around these 2 talent points in the middle of the Holy tree bedlam.

Happy New Year! Johannah the Smite Priest will kick off the January NaBloPoMo THE BEST posts by looking at the five best smite priest loots you can find in the ICC 5-man dungeons released in 3.3. These 5-man dungeon pieces are obtainable simply by diving into your dungeon randomizer tool and grinding through those instances until you’re lucky enough to see [and win] the drop; no raiding or emblems required! (Though emblems are an obvious bonus.)

Note that these items are friendly to smite priests and, as such, will come along with hit. Not that grand for healers! Check back tomorrow for the same list, healing priest style. (Shadow priests will also benefit from these items, but due to the nature of itemization between smite and Shadow, they might not be as ideal.)

In no particular order (I’m doing a circle around the WoW Armory doll)…

1. Chest. Ancient Polar Bear Hide. Ick, Pit of Saron. I’m a big fan of the spirit and haste on this (although you’ll want to make sure you have an ample crit rating before getting too much haste; see the Lvl 80 Smite Priest Raiding Guide for more on itemization.) What I like the most though is the fact that druids seem to take offense to the item’s name; lots of laughs. Alternatively, the Mord’rethar Robes will give you the precious spirit you need for mana regen if you’re already hit capped.
2. Bracers. Bracers of Worn Molars. Falric, Halls of Reflection. Crit and hit rating; totally designed for the smite priest save the lack of spirit! When you’re trying to pick which slots are going spiritless (since smite priests really need spirit on at least half their gear, if not two thirds), bracers should definitely be on the list. It’s hard to pass these up.
3. Off-hand Frill. The Shriveled Heart. The Captain’s Chest, Halls of Reflection. Off-hands are hard to come by, and this one comes packed with haste and crit rating. Of course, you’ll have to deal with one of the ugliest, level-30 graphics in WotLK.
4. Wand. Soulsplinter. Falric, Halls of Reflection. Get your hit and crit in one item with this wand. Wands don’t rain from the sky like some other slots, so it’s always a plus to find a nice one.
5. Gloves. Suspiciously Soft Gloves. Marwyn, Halls of Reflection. Crit rating, spirit, and a hilarious name? These are the best smite priest dungeon gloves around. Of course, with the lack of hit rating, it might not work if you’re still putting your first set together.

Looks like a lot of Halls of Reflection! Make sure to grab a good tank.

Stick around for other THE BEST entries in January from Johannah the Smite Priest.