#46 - July 1, 2010, 6:44 a.m.
We've had many threads on this topic already, some with blue posts, so I feel like I'm starting to sound like the proverbial broken record here, but I'll give it a go one more time:
-- We want to add talents that are more than just +healing. You've got plenty of those.
-- There are opportunities for *every* healer to dps.
-- Opportunity 1. Leveling or soloing. Not every healer wants to use their dual spec on say Elemental or Shadow.
-- Opportunity 2. PvP. Good healers, especially priests in today's game, can contribute a lot of damage.
-- Opportunity 3. Dungeons. This is particularly true when the content is easy and you want to get through it quickly. Healing more doesn't make things go any faster. Dealing damage does.
-- Opportunity 4. Raids. No matter how challenging the content, there are moments when nobody is taking damage and you can spare the mana. Your choices are do nothing, tab out to YouTube, or maybe do a little damage.
-- If you are the kind of healer that never, ever, ever wants to do damage under any circumstances, then don't. You'll have choices to avoid anything dps-related.
-- I also don't think you'll be expected to dps. Your 2-3 dps talents aren't going to let you compete with a mage. There are very few fights balanced along such a razor's edge that your dps will contribute more than say what the rogue and lock could add if they just stepped it up a bit. Besides, in those really challenging fights, you probably are going to have to devote all of your GCDs and mana towards actual healing.