Set bonuses were just updated a couple minutes ago! I’ve been sitting on this draft, but I’ll go ahead and post it before it gets more dated!

As with all tier gear, the priest tiers this expansion have both good and not-so-good set bonuses. With the T13 bonuses revealed recently, I thought I’d take a chance to offer my opinions. However, keep in mind I haven’t actually acquired 4-piece  of either T11 or T12.

Tier 11

(2 Set): Increases the critical strike chance of your Heal spell by 5%.

Considering where they intended priest healing to be when Cataclysm was being planned, the two-piece made sense. However, Heal just doesn’t work as a spell. It heals a sliver of health on tanks. It’s true that I do use it if the person needing healing isn’t taking much damage, but quite often other heals work better. If someone’s in immediate danger and likely to receive more damage, he’ll get a Power Word: Shield and Flash Heal. If the tank is taking prolonged heavy damage, he’ll get Greater Heals. If a DPS takes damage but isn’t standing in fire or doing something else stupid, a Renew and possibly Power Word: Shield will take care of him. Heal’s just not a good spell right now.

(4 Set): When your Penance spell heals a target you gain 540 Spirit for 10 sec, and being in a Chakra state grants you 540 Spirit for the duration of the Chakra.

The four-piece is nice, but it’s always up for Holy priests and usually up for Discipline priests. Seems unfair.

Tier 12

(2 Set): Casting your Flash Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, and Prayer of Mending spells cause you to regenerate 2% of your base mana every 5 sec for 15 sec.

Pretty much every spell I cast causes me to regenerate mana? Yes please!

(4 Set): You have a chance when you cast a helpful spell to summon a Cauterizing Flame at the target’s location. Each sec the Cauterizing Flame will heal an injured party member within 20 yards for 9250 to 10750. Lasts 5 sec.

As I don’t have four pieces of T12 yet, I don’t know just how smart this smart heal is. It sounds good though!

Tier 13

(2 Set): After using Power Infusion or Lightwell, the mana cost of your healing spells is reduced by 25% for [10|15] sec. (10 sec for Discipline, 15 for non-Discipline.)

This seems disappointing to me even though I know other bloggers have praised it. As Discipline, I use Power Infusion in two situations – whenever it’s up for the mana or during “oh shit” situations. This new two-piece set bonus works for both of those I believe. However, as Holy, I put down Lightwell whenever it’s off cooldown. Okay, that works. Except for the initial cast. Lightwell lasts for the same amount of time that it’s on CD. Because of this, I always cast it before the pull. This way we can use as many of its charges as we need (all of them if the need be) in a shorter amount of time, and then I can recast it. I don’t really need cheap heals before we pull, but the earlier I put it down the better in my opinion. Ten seconds before the pull doesn’t help that much, but a minute and a half before the pull means a minute and a half into the fight I can put down a new one.

(2 Set): After using Power Infusion or Divine Hymn, the mana cost of your healing spells is reduced by 25% for [10|23] sec. (10 sec for Discipline, 23 for non-Discipline.)

You did it! Thanks, Blizzard! Now it’ll do what you intended it to do. I like it.

(4 Set): Your Power Word: Shield has a 10% chance to absorb 100% additional damage, and the cooldown of your Holy Word abilities is reduced by 20%.

(4 Set): Your Power Word: Shield has a 10% chance to absorb 100% additional damage and increase the mana granted by Rapture by 100%, and the duration of your Holy Word abilities is increased by 20%.

This seems really awesome for both healing specs. Power Word: Shield is a fantastic spells for Discipline priests, and I’m sure they’ll get a ton of use out of it. As for Holy, both Holy Word heals are great. I’ve heard the single-target heal referred to as the tank heal and the ground-based AOE one a raid heal, but I don’t think it’s neccessarily like that. I’ve learned to switch Chakras depending on the mobility of the fight at that time (some fights lend themselves to one or the other, and some require me to switch). In any case, a shortned cooldown on these abilities is a welcome addition!

In all, I’m excited about the T13 set bonuses. The two-piece is underwhelming to be sure, but it is a two-piece after all. And after that terrible set “bonus” that was two-piece T11, this is quite welcome! Now we’ll have to wait and see if they get changed before 4.3 goes live.