This is probably one of the first posts I've made here, and i felt like I should contribute something.
I've been playing disc priests for a while and thought i could share a few things, this doesn't mean I'm the best though. Feel free to critique anything i say, any feedback is welcome.
General Tips In Arena (In no particular order)
1) Line of Sight
Line of Sight (LoS) is the most important tool for any healer in arena. Using your surroundings to your advantage will determine whether you win or lose any match. As you will see in multiple videos on the net, many healers in 2v2 will sit behind a pillar, come out to give their partner a dispel or heal, and run back in (schhh, around the corner). Although sometimes it can't be helped if you are feared into an open area, your first priority (in many situations) is to get back to somewhere you are not exposed. If you can master this, you are already better than a huge percentage of disc priests, and healers in general.
2) Keyboard Turning and Backpedalling
This tip is a simple one.
- Press Escape
- Click Key Bindings
- Click the button next to Strafe Left
- Bind it to 'A' on your keyboard.
- Now click the button next to Strafe Right
- Bind it to 'D' on your keyboard.
Get used to this, and you will be 100x better, no-body likes keyboard turners.
As for backpedalling, keybind your 'S' key to anything but 'walk backwards'. Get used to it.
3) Key Binding
Key binding is pretty essential to success in arena.
By this I mean pressing a certain button on your keyboard to activate a certain skill.
E.g. When i press 'E' on my keyboard, it casts Flash Heal.
Start out by using 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6 as keybinds. Once you are comfortable with these, start adding a key at a time, then get used to them. E.g. You may want to keybind Penance to 'Q'.
That's about all i can say about binding. Just remember, you have your keys, then Shift-Keys, then Ctrl-Keys, then Alt Keys, Then your mouse scroll wheel, then your F1, F2 buttons, etc. The possibilities are there.
4) Fear Ward
Many, many disc priests treat fear ward as a pre-game buff. The truth is, it is more than this. Make a macro for yourself:
/cast [target=yournamehere] Fear Ward
If you are playing priest/x and fighting priest/x in arena, it is a great idea to use this macro as you are going in for a fear. This will stop the priest from fearing you before you fear him. It also ensures he wastes GCDs (global cool downs) in trying to remove it, giving you an ample amount of time to Psychic Scream him.
This skill is also important when a priest starts running toward you. If you know that the opposing priest has his fear up, just before he is in range of you, pop fear ward on yourself, wasting his fear.
While I'm on the topic of Psychic Scream, you should be using this on CD. In other words, whenever it comes back up, use it again to force the enemy's cooldowns.
Also, it can be a great idea to cast Fear Ward on your shadowfiend when you pop it. Basically, it stops warriors and others from fearing off your pet. Every second your pet isn't hitting a target is more mana you're losing.
5) Shadow Word: Death
Another important tip for disc priests. First of all, create this macro.
/stopcasting
/cast [@focus] Shadow Word: Death
Basically, this macro will automatically stop whatever you are casting midway and cast SWD (Shadow Word: Death) on your focus target. If you are fighting mage/x, it is advisable to put the mage as your focus. Always have some percentage of your vision watching the focus frame for the mages casts. When the mage starts casting polymorph, spam this macro. This will cast SWD at the mage, causing delayed damage back to yourself, breaking the sheep. Although this is the main use for it, it can also be used for Blind, Repentance, etc.
Sidenote: 'Quartz' is a really good addon to be using when you're trying to pull off this kind of thing. It let's you increase your focus cast bar's size, along with a huge range of other things. Go try it out.
6) Dispel Macros
Instead of constantly clicking on your partner's frame or character in arena to dispel them, you can use macros instead. First, make these two macros.
/cast [target=yournamehere] Dispel Magic
/cast [target=party1] Dispel Magic
Now that they are made, keybind them. I bound the first macro to Shift-V and the second to Shift-C. It's simply what you are comfortable with.
Now, whenever you click or press the key for the first macro, it will automatically dispel yourself (No matter who you are targetting.)
The second will dispel your partner automatically (No matter who you are targetting)
These macros can also be used for Power Word: Shield, Renew, Etc.
Sidenote: Replace 'party1' with party2, party3, party4, etc and it will work exactly the same if you are playing 3v3 or 5v5.
7) Inner Fire
First, follow my keybind tutorial and keybind 'Inner Fire' to something you are comfortable with. Mine is 'X'.
Your inner fire buff will stay on until you are struck 32 times by melee/range attacks. This buff gives you 100+ spellpower when fully geared and increases your armour by 4000+ (when glyphed). There is no reason not to keep it up all the time.
8) Mass Dispel
Some people glyph this, some don't. Read the spell if you want to know what it does.
If you ever see a mage Iceblock, a paladin 'Bubble' or use hand of protection, using mass dispel over them will get rid of it. Sometimes you will be lucky if it works the first time, sometimes you will need to try a few times.
Watch a few of Hydramist's videos. I saw a few awsome mass dispels in 'Hydra 9' just this morning.
Once you play arena for a while, you can pre-meditate bubbles, iceblocks, etc and cast Mass dispel just before they use it.
Sidenote: If you have already mass dispelled once, or the Bubble / Iceblock's duration has almost run out, it is probably more necessary to conserve your mana instead of trying another mass dispel.
9) DPS
It is always a good idea to help your partner burst the opponent down when they start to get low on health. This is how to do it.
Holy Fire > Mind Blast > Smite > Smite > SWD(Maybe)
Then repeat.
You'd be surprised how much damage a disc priest can really do.
As for your shadowfiend, it isn't only used for gaining mana. Use your shadowfiend when you are going for a kill on the target. You'll be surprised to see that the fiend can hit upwards of 1.5k.
10) Holy Nova
Simple. If you see a rogue in stealth, use this skill.
Another use is if you are going for a kill and the target is on 5%-10%ish health. (Risky imo)
11) Power Infusion
This increases your haste by 20%. Here's how i use it.
E.g. I'm playing priest/rogue and fighting a mirror (priest/rogue). My rogue gets a sap on the priest and i run in, use Power Infusion and start dispelling everything i can off the priest. When it comes back off cooldown, i'll use it for some quick heals or burst.
12) Pain Suppression
Use PS when you are about to take heavy burst, not while it's already incoming (unless it's necessary).
The simple workaround for a bladestorm is giving yourself power word shield, proccing (activating) a buff called 'Borrowed Time'. You will see this right at the end of the disc talent tree, just before penance. With this 25% haste, you have time to cast a renew, PoM and penance. This should overcome many of your problems. As for when to use PS, lets say you are Priest/Rogue vs Mage/Rogue. The rogue opens on you, and you can foresee a kidney shot coming, along with the huge burst from the mage. This is the point you would pop Pain Suppression.
13) Fake Casting
This takes time to master, but is a huge help to survive rogues/mages/dks/warriors, etc. Basically, fake casting is where you start casting a spell and cancel it at a certain point by walking forward a step. If you cancel it BEFORE, say, a rogue casts kick, his kick will have no effect and you have a nice 5+ seconds of 'free casting' time.
This can also be used against mages. If you are getting low on hp, don't expect to be able to pull off heals under pressure without being interrupted. Instead, fake cast a flash heal and hope for him to cast Counterspell. If you fake casted correctly, you will be silenced for a few seconds, but you will not suffer from the Lockout effect on that type of spell.
14) Communicate!
If you are using any voice messaging programs while doing arena, don't be silent while you play. Tell your partner when you are drinking, when you think he is line of sighting you, when he needs to pop certain cooldowns, etc. A good example of poor communication is when Pain Suppression and cloak of shadows are used at the same time on the rogue. Against a spellcleave, you have basically rendered PS useless.
15) Trinket
I know from experience that most people will trinket the second cd you throw at them.
E.g. After a sap, I will generally fear. Many will trinket this, only to find that soon after they can be thrown into a full blind, followed by a sap. Trinket when your partner starts to get low. If you partner is running on 5% hp and you are taken into a full cyclone, this is the point where you need to trinket and start to push some big heals out.
If you are Undead you have 'Will of The Forsaken' in the general tab of your spells. This works like a trinket, but for fears, charms and sleep effects only. The great thing here is that if you use WoTF to break a fear, your trinket is only put on a 40 second cooldown, instead of a 2 minute cooldown.
Oh, also... I suck.
