Zealot: Path of the iPhone®

Yes, after 25 years someone gave me a nickname.

So, I've been asked about my specc a lot lately. Seems that when you start edging closer to rr70 ppl start taking you more seriously. Not that my healing has changed much but there you go.

My specc looks like this with 3 more points spent in the alchemy tree (wardb doesn't account for the extra specc points you get with every 10 rrs). Bear in mind that the Warping the Spirit tactic has had its effect changed and now makes Tzeentch's Cordial have a % (20%?) chance to increase the target's armour for 1056 and reduce his armour penetration by 10% for 10 seconds. This chance applies with every tick of the HoT so, with a bit of luck it will refresh itself down to the last tick.

I'm now the proud owner of 2 Tyrant pieces: the shoulders and the belt. Still wearing Sentinel chest piece (Assasin's Suit or whatever it's called. The one that looks like a BW on its appearance) mainly because I'm only rr68. And Darkpromise never drops for me. Ever. Hands and boots are Warlord and I'm wearing a spiffy Cowl of the Fist with a Mask of the Bloodletter appearance. Wicked. I've got all 4 ToVL glyphs, the semi-crappy LoTD cloak, a rr65 SC weapon and a rr55 SC focus.

------!! SELF-INTERVIEW TAIIMMEEE!!!11eleven!-------

Q: I've heard Zealots are better off focusing on ST (Single Target) healing and not group heals. Why did you go for Dark Rites?

A: I would rather have my groupheal crit everyone for 2.5k than take as long a cast time on an Elixir of Dark Blessings for a possible 5k for the simple fact that the only thing taking a serious beating that can wait that long is a turtling tank. Also, bombing being a very current problem I gotta face the fact that every single person in my party is likely to be hit at exactly the same time. So, yes, Zealot's ST is VERY good and VERY strong, especially because, unlike the Shaman (the DoKs don't even count for ST when not dps specced), Zealots can specc specifically for ST but grouphealing is essential especially if you find yourself being the only healer in your party.

Q:Would you bet on Willpower or Wounds for survivability?

A: Tricky. I'll be the first one to admit it, I'm a very squishy Zealot. Mostly due to the fact that I stacked Willpower until I had it softcapped without my Willpower buff. Still, if I'm running with a good group that will assist me when I'm targeted, squishiness is no longer much of a factor. Also, they might say Shamans excel at survivability and DoKs have better armour but Zealots have Embrace the Warp (not to be confused with Warping Embrace even though the icons appear to be the same). Yes the cooldown is terrible but, odds are, after you use it Order will just give up on you. Another thing crucial to upping your survivability is location and spatial awareness, but more on that later.

Q: What stats are most important for a healing specced Zealot?

A: Willpower primarily (no-brainer that one) and Healing crit. Healing crit is essential and is actually something I'm lacking. At 23ish% I'm still nowhere near where I want to be (please God, Mythic, anyone, I need those DP boots. If they were to magically appear in my mailbox I wouldn't tell a soul. I swear!) It's essential not only for the obvious reason (you heal more, duh) but for 2 of my tactics: RB (you get AP back on healing crits) and BoC. With RB proccing off groupheals I can pretty much spam DoP nonstop and throw TCs and a LA around and not even care that my AP ritual doesn't apply to me. BoC just makes healing all around that much easier. It also makes my FoC crit for over 1k with just 8 points spent in Alchemy. For an insta cast cheap heal that's just awesome.

Q: Is it worth it buying more than one Ritual? Like say, the AP and the DR one?

A: I would have to say no. It's just not worth a specc point imho. If you feel your regular healing isn't cutting it, I'd go for the healing one. If you can do ok without it go for the AP one. It will make your party kill stuff faster. This "stuff" includes stuff hitting you.

Q:What about for PvE? Are Zealots any good at PvE healing? What specc do you go with when healing LV or ToVL?

A: Zealots are the quintessential PvE healer. We have so many useful things for PvE, it's scary. The selfres is useful when you wipe, obviously. You can up a tank's wounds for 60 seconds which is useful for bosses that have a hard first strike. The new Warping the Spirit works wonders because of the extra armour. Tzeentch's Talon helps a ton with dps races and so does the AP ritual. And if you're ST specced PvE is where you'll truly shine as a steady flow of Elixirs can keep your tank up against almost anything.

Tactics wise I only swap something out to slot in Subtlety, seeing as Guards are better spent on something other than me and I dont wanna die. I don't bother respeccing to ST for PvE anymore. Just not worth the money and my specc is good enough atm to handle both situations.

Q: What would you say is the Zealot's biggest fault?

A: Until 1.3.6 I would say it was its complete lack of dps viability when healing specced. Now, I really couldn't say. I haven't tried turning my Harbinger on at all, seeing as I don't need to damage anything. For leveling a Zealot, it might have been a good change but, then again, I don't know any Zealots who are PvE solo-leveling so it's true usefulness is lost on me. At the moment, I'm completely satisfied with how things work on my Zelly.

Absent Sara is absent!