Healer Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Discipline Priest abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.2).

Single Target

Ensure Shadow Word Pain is active before starting your rotation.

• Power Word ShieldView detailsApply Atonement to a single target.
• RenewView detailsUse for additional Atonement applications.
• Flash HealView detailsUse when a target needs immediate healing.
• Power Word RadianceView detailsApply Atonement to multiple targets.
• Mind BlastView detailsUse for burst damage and healing.
• PenanceView detailsCast for strong healing through Atonement.
• SmiteView detailsUse as a filler for damage and healing.

Maintain Shadow Word Pain and apply Atonement using Power Word Shield, Renew, or Power Word Radiance. Use Mind Blast and Penance for burst healing, and fill with Smite.

AoE

Ensure Shadow Word Pain is refreshed on all targets.

• Power Word RadianceView detailsApply Atonement to multiple allies.
• VoidwraithView detailsActivate for AoE damage and healing.
• Mind BlastView detailsUse for burst AoE healing.
• PenanceView detailsCast for strong AoE healing through Atonement.
• Holy NovaView detailsUse for AoE damage and healing.

Apply Atonement with Power Word Radiance, then use Voidwraith and Mind Blast for burst AoE healing. Follow with Penance and Holy Nova for sustained AoE output.

Cooldowns

• EvangelismView detailsExtend Atonement duration during high damage phases.
• Ultimate PenitenceView detailsUse for burst healing or defensive utility.
• Power Word BarrierView detailsPlace for group-wide damage reduction.
• Pain SuppressionView detailsUse on a single target to mitigate heavy damage.
• ShadowfiendView detailsActivate for additional healing and damage.

Use Evangelism to extend Atonement during burst phases. Ultimate Penitence provides flexibility for healing or defense. Power Word Barrier and Pain Suppression mitigate group and single-target damage, while Shadowfiend boosts healing and damage.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.