Note: I no longer play WoW. I have gotten many requests for an update. If any industrious player wants to add a revision to this guide to make allowance for changes due to patches or expansions, you have my permission. Also, If you email me the change I will post it here for all to see.
WoW Priest
Guide v. 1.0
w/ focus on leveling and healing
Written by Whispre and Amentet
Members of the Unholy Legion guild
Tichondrius server
3 Shadow
Priest vs. Holy Priest
4. Stats,
Equipment, and Weapons
8. Healing
efficiency breakdown
13. Grouping
with Priests for the non Priest
Fixed data in description for Improved Prayer of Healing
This guide was conceived to provide a comprehensive source
of information regarding the nuances associated with playing the Priest class
in World of Warcraft (WoW). This guide serves as a contribution to the WoW
gaming community to foster an appreciation for the Priest class, to provide new
Priests with a better understanding of their class and to facilitate the interaction
of Priests with other classes. The
information provided within this guide has been verified by multiple Priests at
various levels. However, most of these
volunteers were undead so it was difficult to verify the racial talents/spells.
This current version of this guide is written with precise objectives, the best ways to get to 60 as fast as possible, and how to be the best healer you can be once you get there. Since there are many ways to build and play a Priest, it is important to emphasize that the recommendations provided within this guide are specifically targeted to meet these objectives. . If you have additional suggestions, comments, contributions or discover calculation/information errors, please feel free submit these to whispre@whispre.com
Whispre has played Priest/Healer classes in MMORPGs since 1997 and is currently a level 60 Priest as a member of the Tichondrius guild, Unholy Legion. In the real world, he works in IT as a Systems Support LAN/WAN Analyst and is responsible for over 100 critical systems. He enjoys water sports, fishing, skiing, poker, reading of all sorts, and of course online gaming.
Amentet has played various classes in MMORPGs since 1995 and is currently a level 43 Priest as a member of the Tichondrius guild, Unholy Legion. In the real world, she works at a NASA sponsored research facility that is dedicated to the processing and interpretation of satellite imagery for mitigating natural disasters. She is working on a PhD in Geology and is currently immersed in the proposal writing phase of that endeavor. Her more playful side includes a love for adventure, SCUBA diving, skydiving, mountain climbing, spelunking, martial arts and exotic travel. She also has a passion for science fiction and fantasy including movies, TV shows, novels, comic books and video games.
From
Blizzard:
The Priest
class is the master of healing and hate control. Other classes such as the
Shaman, Druid, and Paladin can heal, but not as well as the Priest. The Priest
can also resurrect dead players along with the Shaman and Paladin. The Warlock
also has the ability to resurrect, through the use of soul stones. The Priest
has some buffs that can help party members. The Priest can even take control of
humanoid monsters at higher character levels.
Much has been said about this description, yet the current manifestation of the Priest is somewhat different than Blizzard’s original description. The Priest class is a very functional, well-balanced class that has the capability to be powerful in both PvP and PvE, doing damage or healing. However, you cannot do both and expect to be the best so it is important to choose your path wisely and specialize in that path through a judicious selection of your talents.
3 Shadow Priest vs. Holy Priest
When we discuss Priest roles, we typically use the terms “Shadow Priest” and “Holy Priest” to describe the two Priest class paths. This is somewhat misleading however, since each path optimally includes talents within the Discipline tree. Therefore, “Shadow Priest” actually refers to those with Shadow/Discipline builds and Holy Priest refers to those with Holy/Discipline builds. Both are valid builds, and both have a role to play, yet however similar they are in some ways, they are also very different.
The Shadow Priest puts the majority of their points into Shadow, usually at least 31 points so they can get Shadowform. This is the preferred build for leveling to 60 as your damage output is vastly increased, rivaling most other classes for pure dps. In Shadowform, you cannot heal, so you are focused on damage, with some added utility spells like Silence. In instances, the Shadow Priest can still heal, and be the primary healer most of the time, all the way up through Upper Black Rock Spire (UBRS), assuming you have a backup healer. However, you will have less mana, heal for less hp per heal, and spend more mana casting heals than the Holy Priest. Shadow spec is what you want if you want to spend the majority of your time in PvP.
The Holy Priest is the best healer in the game. He will be able to heal more hit points on a single load of mana than any other class. Your typical Holy Priest will have at least 30 points in Holy, focusing on the talents that improve his healing type spells. As a Holy Priest, your damage is lackluster compared to Shadow, so you will not spend your time out soloing mobs all day, and if you do, it will not be as productive. However, in high-end, raid-style instances, you will be well suited to be in group one as the primary healer. You can spec Holy while leveling, but I advise against it, because as a Shadow Priest, you can reach level 60 much faster, then for a small fee respec to Holy. After reaching 60, if you intend to spend the majority of your time as a primary healer in instances and on raids in places like UBRS and Molten Core (MC), then you want to permanently spec as Holy/Discipline.
4. Stats,
Equipment, and Weapons
There are three Primary stats that one should be concerned with; Intellect, Stamina, and Spirit, in that order. Intellect dictates that quantity of your mana pool, Stamina dictates the quantity of your health pool and Spirit dictates your mana and health regeneration rate. Intellect also dictates how quickly you skill up in things like weapon skills.
Intellect à Mana
One point of Intellect yields 15 points of mana to the mana pool
Stamina à Health
One point of Stamina yields 10 points of health to the health pool.
Spirit à Mana and Health Regeneration
Mana regeneration = 13 + (Spirit / 4) per tick (one tick = 2 seconds).
So, if ones Spirit is 200 then regen = 13 + (200 / 4) = 63 mana per tick, or 31.5 mana per second.
For a Priest it is important to acquire equipment to improve Intellect first, Stamina second, and Spirit third. Intellect is the most critical since the quantity of your mana pool will dictate the threshold of your ability to continue to cast spells. Stamina is the next most critical because Priests have a relatively low health pool, and very little armor. Priests will get hit from healing aggro and they need to be able to take a couple of hits so your group members have time to pull the mobs off. Spirit is third, because it is relatively ineffective. It is the only stat of the three that has diminishing returns as you boost it up, since the mana and health pool increase significantly as one levels and the regeneration rate is negligible in comparison. More importantly, it is subject to the 5 second rule, which means that your mana will not start regenerating for 5 seconds after casting. Because of this, it is generally better to have a larger mana pool at the start of a fight, than it is to rely on mana regeneration during a fight. Often you will simply not have the luxury of waiting out the 5 second rule to even begin regenerating mana during the fight.
As far as racial stats, as you can see below, the differences are very small and insignificant once you reach 60. Having 50 more mana at level 60 when your total mana pool will be around 6000-8000, is inconsequential. Pick your race based on other criteria.
|
Starting Stats |
Strength |
Agility |
Stamina |
Intellect |
Spirit |
Health |
Mana |
|
Dwarf |
22 |
16 |
23 |
21 |
22 |
82 |
145 |
|
Human |
20 |
20 |
20 |
22 |
24 |
52 |
160 |
|
Night Elf |
17 |
25 |
19 |
22 |
23 |
51 |
160 |
|
Troll |
21 |
22 |
21 |
18 |
24 |
62 |
128 |
|
Undead |
19 |
18 |
21 |
20 |
28 |
62 |
130 |
When it
comes to equipment, Priests are fairly limited using only cloth armor and the
weapon types listed below. I will not go through all of them though. Instead I
will simply suggest you train and use a staff as soon as possible. Staves seem
to have the best combination of stats on them, as well as good dps for melee.
In your off hand, a wand is useful; some have stats such as Intelligence or Stamina.
You can also use a wand for ranged attacks within an instance that will add
some damage without using mana that is better used on healing party members.
Daggers and Staves need to be trained, the
|
Weapon Skills |
Dwarf |
Human |
Night Elf |
Troll |
Undead |
|
Maces |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
|
Unarmed |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
|
Wands |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
Free |
|
Daggers |
10s |
10s |
10s |
10s |
10s |
|
Staves |
10s |
10s |
10s |
10s |
10s |
5. Talent Tree
Lists
Link to Talent build calculator at WoW Vault
§
Spirit Tap - x/5 points
Gives you a 20% chance to gain a
100% bonus to your Spirit after killing a target that yields experience. For
the duration, your Mana may regenerate at a 50% rate while casting. Lasts 15
seconds.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
5 points provides a 100% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit after
killing a target that yields experience.
·
Essential
for leveling, it will greatly increase the speed you can solo mobs 1-60
· New Priests should assign their first 5 points in this talent.
§
Blackout - x/5 points
Gives your Shadow damage spells a
2% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
·
Satisfactory
·
Maxed:
5 points provides a 10% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
·
At
60, consider reassigning 5 points from Spirit tap into this talent if you are
staying Shadow
·
Blackout
activates more than you would think, and can make quite a difference in a
fight.
§
Shadow Affinity - x/5 point
Reduces the threat generated by your Shadow spells by 5%.
·
Worthless
· If you are in Shadowform, you will usually be either solo or PvP and in neither case does aggro matter. If you are Shadow specced but healing in an instance, you will not be doing damage, and certainly should not be doing enough to draw aggro anyway, making this talent worthless.
§
Improved
Shadow Word: Pain - x/2 points
Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 3 seconds.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
2 points increases the duration of your spell by 6 seconds.
· Max this if you are Shadow.
§
Shadow Focus - x/5 points
Reduces your target's chance to resist your Shadow spells by 2%.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
5 points reduces your target’s chance to resist your Shadow spells by 10%.
· Good for soloing or PvP.
§
Improved
Psychic Scream - x/2 points
Reduces the cool down of your Psychic Scream ability by 2 seconds.
·
Satisfactory
·
Maxed:
2 points reduces cool down from 30 seconds to 26 seconds.
·
Insignificant,
especially with increased resists and the reduced duration of the spell in PvP.
§
Improved
Mind Blast - x/5 points
Reduces the cool down of your Mind Blast spell by 0.5 second.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
5 points reduces the cool down of your Mind Blast spell by 2.5 seconds
· Max this one, Mind Blast is your number one biggest nuke, and you will want to be able to recast it as quickly as possible.
§
Mind
Flay - x/1 point
Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 75 damage over 3 seconds
and slowing the target to 50% of their movement speed.
·
Excellent
· Along with Mind blast and Shadow Word: Pain, this will complete your offensive Shadow arsenal, your most mana efficient damage spell, and great for use in slowing down runners in instances, or slowing down opponents in PvP, either keeping them from running away, or reaching you as quickly.
§
Improved
Fade - x/2 points
Increases the duration of your Fade ability by 5 seconds.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
2 points increases the duration of your Fade ability by 10 seconds.
· This is vital as a Shadow Priest when healing in instances. You will not have subtlety, so this is your only means of healing aggro reduction, put 2 points in.
§
Shadow
Reach - x/3 points
Increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 6%.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
3 points increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 18%
·
Very
good talent, max this if you are a Shadow Priest, more range is always good.
§
Silence - x/1 point
Silence the target, preventing them from casting spells for 5 seconds.
·
Excellent
· Good PvP, and in some situations in PvE. You can use this to stop that Mage from sheeping your Warrior before he kills it, and use it to silence a caster in an instance, making it run to the group instead of standing back and casting.
§
Shadow
Weaving - x/5 points
Your Shadow damage spells have a 20% chance to cause your target to be
vulnerable to Shadow damage. This vulnerability increases the Shadow damage
dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
·
Excellent
·
Maxed:
5 points yields 100% chance
to cause your target to be vulnerable to Shadow Damage, unless it is resisted.
Each cast adds 3% damage to the next cast, so only on your 6th cast
will you get the full 15%, however you usually will average 9% or so increased
damage soloing
·
Prerequisite
for Darkness.
§
Vampiric Embrace - x/1 point
Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed
for 20% of any Shadow damage you deal for 1 minute.
·
Satisfactory
·
While
soloing, it is unlikely that you will require Vampiric Embrace since mobs
generally expire prior to the penetration of Power Word: Shield. However, since the talent only costs 40 mana
it is an option for Priests that prefer a Renew effect while they are in Shadowform.
·
In
instances, your primary role will be as a healer and therefore it is unlikely
that you will be doing a significant amount of Shadow damage, therefore this
talent will provide a very low return in healing benefits. It may be useful at
lower levels however it provides less benefits as one advances in levels.
§
Darkness - x/5 points
Increases your Shadow spell damage by 2%.
·
Excellent
·
5
points increases your Shadow spell damage by 10%
· Prerequisite for Shadowform.
§
Shadowform - x/1 point
Assume a Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 15% and reducing Physical
damage done to you by 15%. However, you may only cast Shadow and Discipline
spells while in this form.
·
Excellent
· The single best bottom of tree talent for the Priest class.
· Cannot cast Holy spells (heal) in Shadowform. At level 60, it costs 400 mana, so it is not efficient to drop, heal, and recast mid-fight