I’m going to go into a huge 3.3 Discipline versus Holy priest healing war again, this time in regards to talent mechanics.

I’m sure if you’re a Wrath of the Lich King priest veteran, you’ve heard of Serendipity; it’s that Holy talent located near the end of the tree. Through its 3-point splendor, priests can lower the casting time of Greater Heal and Prayer of Healing by up to 36%. This is the equivalent to the Discipline Borrowed Time, which grants 25% spell haste to the next spell cast after Power Word: Shield.

Why Holy is a more enjoyable and strategic experience versus Discipline

I call Serendipity “the fun of Holy” because it requires priests to strategically rotate between Flash Heal/Binding Heal and Greater Heal/Prayer of Healing. It adds an extra dynamic to Holy healing that Discipline priests don’t have. Consider the two haste options:

• In the case of Borrowed Time, the priest can get 25% haste through one casting of one spell (Power Word: Shield) and may then apply the haste to any spell.
• In the case of Serendipity, the priest can get 12% haste through the one casting of two spells (Flash Heal or Binding Heal) and may then apply the haste to two spells (Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing.) Eww compared to the Discipline version! But then, the priest can get 24% haste through two castings of two spells or 36% haste through the three castings of two spells. Sounds cooler.

Discipline priest? No brainer, black-and-white rotation mechanism. Holy priest? Decisions, decisions, decisions, and a whole lot of strategy.

How to effectively execute Serendipity 3

When I try to explain to Holy priests how to use Serendipity, first I go over how to get Serendipity 3, or 36% haste. You’re going to want to get 3 Flash Heals as fast as possible, which is easier than you think thanks to Surge of Light (SoL also drastically helps the mana efficiency of three Flash Heal casts.) This is the rotation I use when raid healing and trying to get Serendipity 3:

1. Prayer of Mending, insta-cast
2. Circle of Healing, insta-cast, usually crits at least one of the five targets (CoH glyph FTW)
3. SoL Flash Heal, insta-cast
4. Another Flash Heal, at regular casting time and mana expenditure
5. Prayer of Mending crits, another insta-cast
6. Serendipity 3!

Of course, it’s not always that ideal, but you’d be surprised how often this magic flows. I call it the “music effect” because you develop a GCD beat, with a longer note / slightly more time spent on that regular casting time Flash Heal. After you reach Serendipity 3, you can choose to Greater Heal the tank or further beef your raid heals with a Prayer of Healing. You can also squat on Serendipity 3 if you think big damage is coming soon and you want to react fast. Keep in mind that Borrowed Time does not let you squat on its effects for nearly as long as Serendipity.

To make this even more complicated (and therefore fun), let’s go back to how Serendipity is proc’d with Binding Heal. I’d venture to say a good 50% of healing priests space on the fact they have Binding Heal; before Serendipity, I hardly cast it. There really is no excuse in wasting mana healing yourself though when you can use it to heal yourself and someone else; so whenever you take splash damage (or PvP ouchies), turn to your Binding Heal to get yourself to full–someone else to full!–and get your Serendipity proc. It’ll make you feel like the l33tsauce.

When to use Serendipity 1 and Serendipity 2

Now that you know how to strategically Flash Heal and/or Binding Heal yourself to Serendipity 3, let’s go back to Serendipity 1 and 2. Remember that Serendipity 1 gets you 12% haste and Serendipity 2 gets you 24% haste.

Serendipity 2 is dangerously close to the same effect as Borrowed Time, except it only applies to two spells. (When I healed Discipline, I strangely found myself Borrowed Timing my way through Greater Heal and Prayer of Healing 90% of the time anyway, so what’s the huge difference?) You can get yourself to Serendipity 1 in a flash simply through the Circle of Healing / crit! / SoL Flash Heal trick. Serendipity 2 doesn’t take much more, at a casting bar Flash Heal or an SoL Flash Heal from your bouncing Prayer of Mending.

And then you got to figure out whether Serendipity 1 or Serendipity 2 is worth casting.

In high-stress battles, the FH / FH / GH / FH / FH / GH rotation works like a charm. It could be because 24% from Serendipity 2 is so similar to 25% from Borrowed Time that I feel cozy with that method. When the raid is taking continuous, mind-throbbing damage, that’s when Serendipity 1 comes in; something as simple as a quick CoH / crit! / SoL Flash Heal on tank / Serendipity 1 PoH can do the trick.

There are situations for all stages of Serendipity and that is part of why the strategy is so much greater than the static Discipline counterpart. GG, Borrowed Time.

I missed the NaBloPoMo post yesterday (whoops!), but hopefully the Serendipity guide was well worth it. Feel free to ask questions or leave comments with your own Serendipity pointers.

Spirit is a make-or-break stat for Holy, whether you are healing or smiting. While both Intellect and Spirit determine your mana regen, and Intellect even supports the Crit needed for Surge of Light, I will be focusing strictly on Spirit in this 3.3 gearing guide. My personal agenda with this guide is getting my Spirit above my Intellect so that DMC:G procs for an additional Spirit buff.

All of this gear linked here is obtainable in 10-mans or in the new ICC dungeons. There are 25-man equivalents if you’re in a larger guild.

Head: Thaumaturge’s Crackling Cowl drops from Saurfang in ICC-10. The Spirit and Haste on this helm is ideal for Holy heals, though it does conflict with your four-piece bonus.

Neck: I hate this slot. You’re either stuck with the Evoker’s Charm, or you need to swindle yourself into a 25-ICC for Bone Sentinel’s Amulet. Since this guide isn’t for 25-mans, you get to keep your i226. Trienish said that the PvP one will be available without a minimum rating in a couple weeks though, so you could also hold your breath for that (or try Iron Council hardmode in Ulduar-10.)

Shoulders: Bloodstained Surgeon’s Shoulderguards. Festergut in ICC-10 is holding your Spirit and Critical Strike shoulders.

Chest: I am saving my 95 painstaking emblems of frost for the Crimson Acolyte Robe tier piece for this gear slot. If that doesn’t sound like a great idea to you though, consider Mord’rethar Robes or the crafted Royal Moonshroud Robe. If you’re on Kalecgos, you can even gather the mats, whisper me and mention my blog and I’ll craft the robe for you for free.

Wrist: Bracers of Dark Blessings. Lady Deathwhisper in ICC-10 has these beautiful Critical Strike and Spirit wrists.

Weapon: Everyone is after the hilt these days, right? Unfortunately, the mace doesn’t give you Spirit, but who can say no?

Off-hand: The best Spirit offhand is still the Antique Cornerstone Grimoire from Onyxia 10. There is, however, another offhand without Spirit, the Shriveled Heart, if you’re looking something to compliment your hilt.

Trinkets: I mentioned the Darkmoon Card earlier, but what about the other slot? If you’re after Spirit, you’re after mana regeneration, so I would suggest the Ephemeral Snowflake I wrote about in a previous post.

Rings: Stick with the triumph emblem ring and a ring from Onyxia’s head for these two slots. They’re both wonderful Spirit rings.

Boots: Prelate’s Snowshoes from heroic Pit of Saron took me weeks to get, but they’re well worth the runs. The Spirit on these boots go nicely with a Spirit enchant.

Belt: The Cord of the Patronizing Practitioner from Marrowgar in ICC-10 comes with ample amounts of Haste and Spirit. The Haste and Critical Strike items sprinkled across Spirit compliment each other nicely in a spec that benefits from the “Haste saves lives” theory and the Critical Strike for Surge of Light.

Gloves: For 60 emblems of frost, you can pick yourself up a beautiful set of Crimson Acolyte Gloves, Spirit gloves that will push you towards your amazing 2-piece and even more amazing 4-piece set bonus. This also applies to all the other tier categories for the aforementioned items, at 95 or 60 emblems of frost a piece. Don’t have the emblems? Consider these Suspiciously Soft Gloves instead.