A Tank and a Healer is really all that is needed now.

The whole looking for dungeon system has just become a version of carry the DPS now.  I've always been one to day DPS is needed for various things and it sure helps but with the advent of the recent changes to the game mechanics, the new skills and the over gearing that happened, DPS is really just not needed any more.

Any half way decent tank and a disc healer can clear any 5 man dungeon in record time with some serious DPS, more then really is needed to clear a 5 man.  I remember back when I first started doing dungeons they considered 1200 DPS to be acceptable and 1500 DPS to be good or even really good. 

With the setup I just mentioned and the tank getting vengeance stacks and the healer playing smite healing the two will combine for, at worst, 6K DPS which is way more then what was originally needed for dungeons at level 80.

While it is possible for many classes to solo heroic 80 content, my hunter has been doing it since before ICC gear even, it is faster for sure when you have a healer backing you up and of course some DPS to burn down the mobs.

Being the healing will be DPSing mostly and the tank has increasingly huge attack power because of vengeance the DPS spots are more then filled.  The tank is not only tanking but it is filling the spot of 2 DPS and the healer is filling the spot of one DPS.

All the tank does is what their job is, hold aggro by beating on the mobs and all the healer does is what I healer does, heal.  The huge difference here is that now a disc healer using smite healing can be pulling off amazing damage as well as healing the tank.

With the new set up whenever a disc healer casts smite it heals the closest friendly target for an amount equal to the damage done by the smite.  So my smite hits for around 3K and crits for 6K.  That means that my tank, as the only friendly target near the mobs, is getting healed for 3K and 6K with every smite I make.

I had some fun doing some smite healing yesterday in the horseman event.  You know the bug that always disconnects people, well it happened in the run I went on.  The only people that did not disconnect was me and the tank.  The tank was worried, I said, don't worry and started casting smite.  It healed him.  We moved along nicely and HH went down in record time even.  We did not need any DPS to speed things up, they went fast enough as it is.

I did a violet hold run as well.  Smite healing all the way, even on bosses.  I did throw shields on everyone between pulls but it was more of a precaution, it was not actually ever needed.  I would hit my archangel every 5 smites to give myself wings because you know wings freaking rock and there is no reason to to have them on.  When the dungeon was done I had only cast 2 direct heals, both on the last boss.  I had 2400 DPS, more then ample, and everyone was healed well enough to never question the fact I was DPSing.  Oh, and I had wings the whole time so that means I was regaining mana the whole time.  When the last boss bit the dust I was at 100% mana.  Nothing wrong with that is there?

Then I had some friends that were working on collecting souls for shadowmourne that wanted to do a rep run so I volunteered to heal for them.  It was fun.  Even thought not many where over geared the 30% buff make it a quick rep run.  I did my shielding thing, mending thing and then started my smiting thing.  Woohoo, wings again, and damage, and healing.  I am so loving healing now.  I am sure it will not be like this on content that I do not over gear but for now it is fun.

One problem however in a raid environment is that you still need to keep and eye on heal bars being the smite heal is not a smart heal.  It does not go to the closest person that needs a heal, it goes to the closest person even if they are at 100%.  Usually that is the tank.  In a raid environment it might go to the tank that does not need the heal.  So while it is fun, you still need to pay attention to things.  If the smite healing was smart healing then I could see healing only that way which would be exciting for sure.

For leveling or doing elite quests when the time comes it seems like working with a tank and disc priest will be all you would need to tackle anything at the moment.  It is a really over powering combo with the smite healing.  Just remember if you plan to run a smite heal duo, group or even raid to put on your glyph of smite which increases your chance to hit with smite by 18% which more then assures you will never miss.

With the lack of fun hunters are at the moment and the increasing amount of fun disc priests are now I think for the rest of this expansion I'll be running as a healer more then a hunter. 

The hunter system is just too damn clunky now and the whole 3 button thing is rather annoying.  Where is the skill playing a hunter now?  Where are the options?  With focus as it is you really never have options.  It is either A or B depending on where your focus is and what skills are available. Not much fun in just following an instruction booklet so to speak where as the addition to my priest of the smite healing now gives me something else to do while healing besides just being bored and hoping someone gets hit so I have something to do.  Disc healing got more dynamic and I love it.  And did I mention I also get wings with it, yeah, awesome, I know.

On a side note.  DKs are more over powered then they were even when they were first added now.  I am seeing DKs, good and bad ones, pulling double the DPS they used to while doing less.  No wonder I see no whining on the forums from DKs.  They don't want the programmers noticing that they can now pull 10K DPS in quest greens.  Seems every class got huge buffs in damage, tanking and healing and hunters (with rets too maybe) being the only ones that took a hit. 

And on another side note. While I have noticed they toned down the AoE of all classes they increased the single target of all of them so much that hunters are no longer even being invited to raids.  Yesterday I saw it in trade twice already and I expect to see it a lot more.

/2 LF 3 DPS for OS 3D, no hunters.
/2 Looking for 1 tank, 1 healer and lots of DPS for ICC 25 fresh run, no hunters.

Yeap, both real things I saw from trade.  See, it is not only the hunters complaining, everyone else knows it already too.  I am pulling close to the same DPS I did before the patch after some work on my rotation but now I am clumped with the rest of the hunters that are not getting invited.  So I am guilty by association.  Sucks to be a hunter now-a-days even if you are a good one because the name hunter alone means you are not going to be getting any invites.  No invites, clunky system, even if we could do the same DPS as before or more, it is just no fun playing a hunter right now.  Unless you are soloing, that has really gotten better believe it or not.