Beleth's original post can be found here.
Last updated 4-28-05.
Unofficial Priest FAQ
This FAQ has a number of sections, each section geared to address a single topic in detail. Please see the Table of Contents below to see where the information you are looking for can be found. (If you cannot find the information you are looking for, please politely post a request for the information and I will see if I can add it to the FAQ.)
As to whether or not this FAQ is based on fact or opinion, my answer to that can only be "yes." I'd like to think that I can be objective enough to provide factual information, but I also believe that it is impossible for me to fully step outside of my preferences and my play style. I hope that this does not affect the usefulness of this FAQ and, instead, hope that it adds some flavor to the document.
I would also like to readily admit that I am not a level 60 Priest. There are a number of parts of World of Warcraft that I have not yet explored personally and that my information and/or opinions may be lacking or inaccurate in some regards because of this. I have done my best to draw upon not only my own experiences, but also the experiences of my more experienced guildmates and other highly experienced priests who post on these forums.
Please keep in mind that this document will be developed over time and that your patience in this matter is appreciated. If you believe that I have omitted something important or am wrong about something, please post constuctively with your feedback.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section 1 -- Introductory Questions About Priests
1.1 What are priests?
1.2 Why play a priest?
1.3 What are the strengths of a priest?
1.4 What are the weaknesses of a priest?
1.5 How do I play a priest well?
1.6 What should I expect to have to deal with playing a priest?
1.7 Are priests overpowered or underpowered?
1.8 Are there any current technical issues with priests?
Section 2 -- Priestly Details
2.1 What races are the best for priests and what are racial spells?
2.2 How does mana regeneration work?
2.3 What statistics are the best for priests?
2.4 What enchantments are good for priests?
2.5 What weapon should I use?
2.6 Is it important to have a wand?
2.7 How do +healing and +damage items work?
2.8 Should I focus on +stat or +healing/damage?
2.9 Should I focus on +% chance of a critical with a spell?
2.10 Should I focus on "restores X mana every Y seconds"?
2.11 What professions are good for priests?
Section 3 -- Priestly Loot
3.1 What are good items for priests that can be made with Tailoring?
3.2 Where can I find good items for my priest?
Section 4 -- Soloing as a Priest
4.1 What are the general principles behind good soloing?
4.2 What are priest-specific practices for good soloing?
4.3 Can you give some specific spell casting orders to try out?
4.4 How do I know if I'm "good enough" or "great" at soloing?
Section 5 -- Grouping as a Priest
5.1 What are the general principles behind good grouping?
5.2 What is aggro management and why is it important?
5.3 What are the different roles for priests in a group?
5.4 How can I be a good healer when I'm the only healer in a group?
5.5 How can I be a good healer when there is more than one healer in a group?
5.6 Can you give some specific spell casting orders to try out?
5.7 My whole party just died - was it all my fault?
5.8 How do I know if I'm "good enough" or "great" in a group?
5.9 What I'm not saying...
Section 6 -- Introduction to Talents
6.1 What are "talents"?
6.2 When do I get talent points and how do I get more?
6.3 Why can't I get the talent I want?
6.4 I don't like my talent build; can I get a new one?
6.5 What is a "talent calculator" and where can I find one?
Section 7 -- Discipline Talents
Section 8 -- Holy Talents
Section 9 -- Shadow Talents
Section 10 -- Talent Builds
10.1 What talents are the best; what talent tree is the best?
10.2 Is it best to put everything into one talent tree, into two, or into all three?
10.3 What should I put talent points into first?
10.4 What are some sample talent builds I can look at?
Section 11 -- Miscellaneous Questions
11.1 Can Shadow priests heal?
11.2 Are Priests or Druids better at healing?
11.3 How long is a "tick"?
11.4 What's the "Spirit soft cap" about?
11.5 What's the Priest Epic Quest?
Section 12 -- Links
Section 13 -- Version History
Section 1 -- Introductory Questions About Priests
1.1 What are priests?
Priests are a spellcasting class available to both the Alliance and the Horde. It has often been claimed that we were designed first and foremost to be healers, and effective healers we are. That being said, there is no reason that we should limit ourselves to only being healers; skilled priests are some of the deadliest characters in the player-vs-player aspect of this game and can be incredibly difficult to kill. We also have our own bag of tricks that give us a range of unique capabilities beyond just healing and just dealing damage.
1.2 Why play a priest?
You want a class that "plays well with others." Priests can partner and group effectively with any other class(es). Many groups will often specifically look for priests for adventuring with, and some guilds also specifically keep eyes open for priests.
You don't want to have to be on the front lines. Priests can function just as well, if not better, standing back from the main fighting and having some buffer between you and your enemies.
You want to be able to heal. About half the classes in World of Warcraft have some kind of healing, so healing isn't rare, but classes that are able to heal themselves (much less others) are more flexible both when soloing and with a group.
1.3 What are the strengths of a priest?
Healing. Priests are one of the best, if not outright the best, healers in the game. As mentioned above, healing provides flexibility and power both when soloing and when in a group.
Mana Efficient. While priests do have some spells that are quite costly in terms of the mana they require, a skilled priest can tailor how much mana he/she wants to spend reasonably easily.
Crowd Control/Aggro Management. Psychic Scream, Fade, Shackle Undead, and Mind Control are all great ways to manage enemies around you in a number of different situations.
1.4 What are the weaknesses of a priest?
Melee. No matter what equipment a priest has, his/her melee effectiveness is going to be minimal relative to most classes. Priests are also one of the most vulnerable classes in the game when it comes to physical damage.
Mana Dependent. Hand in hand with the above statement, a priest travels on his/her mana pool. Without it, priests are mostly powerless.
Learning Curve. While the learning curve for a priest is not as steep as for a hybrid class (Druid and Shaman, specifically), compared to the other classes it seems to take more time for a player to find a good rhythm with playing a priest.
1.5 How do I play a priest well?
There is no simple answer to this question. However, I have included the question as I have been asked it a number of times as have other priests that I know. Hopefully this FAQ will provide some insight into answering this question, and the best way to answer it is to create a priest and play around with the character.
1.6 What should I expect to have to deal with playing a priest?
You should expect to grind slower than more other classes. Priests are quite possibly the most defensively-oriented class in the game, meaning that it generally takes a priest longer to kill an enemy than it would take another class to do so. This can be quite frustrating.
You should expect some groups you're in to insist that you heal and do nothing but heal. Almost any experienced player will not have this attitude, but I guarantee you that you will be in at least a few groups that expect you to only do what they think you should do. This, too, can be quite frustrating.
You should expect to be blamed when things go wrong in a group. If the tank died that was "obviously" because he/she wasn't healed, which means that you "obviously" weren't doing your job. Nevermind, of course, that they charged in while you weren't at full mana... Again, almost all expereinced players are mature and responsible enough to know that it isn't always the priest's fault, though I'll guarantee you that you'll have at least a few groups that will turn you into a scapegoat. This, as well, can be quite frustrating.
You should expect to have the opportunity to be the pivotal member in any party. There will be many fights in which every second counts and knowing the right heal to cast at the right time determines whether your party lives or gets wiped. You'll know why you chose to be a priest when your party says "Wow... I thought we were all dead with that pull." This can be quite rewarding.
You should expect to be viewed as a team player and to have a reputation for contributing to the party as a whole. Priests interact with every member of the party and everyone will know that you're not focusing just on you being the star. People respect those who think of and act on others, and being a priest naturally tends towards that behavior. This, too, can be quite rewarding.
More than anything else, you should expect to have a character that you will grow to love playing. From Mind Controlling enemies and getting them to kill each other, Psychic Scream/Mind Flay kiting enemies above your level to death, being able to take away an enemy's health and mana at the same time, and making the occasional newbie paranoid with Mind Vision, you'll never be at a lack of rich experiences. This, as well, can be quite rewarding.
1.7 Are priests overpowered or underpowered?
Neither. Priests definitely have their strengths and arenas in which they get the play the star, though they are far from unstoppable. Probably the largest discussion on this subject has been on whether or not Shadow Priests (that is, priests who invest heavily in the Shadow talent tree) are overpowered in player-vs-player combat. Most Shadow Priests I know have been put in their place by another class, and most non-priests I know have been able to defeat a Shadow Priest.
1.8 Are there any current technical issues with priests?
Patch 1.4 seems to have addressed the outstanding technical issues with priests. If you have know of any more issues, please post and I will update this section.
Section 2 -- Priestly Details
2.1 What races are the best for priests and what are racial spells?
For most classes what race you choose is mainly cosmetic or depends slightly in your personal preference as to the racial traits. This is not so for priests, as each race has two race-specific spells it acquires at levels 10 and 20.
For the Horde, Undead priests are generally considered to be the better choice over the Troll. The Undead racial ability "Will of the Forsaken" is an incredibly powerful racial trait that can make all the difference between being able to heal effectively or getting your party killed. The Undead level 10 "Touch of Weakness" (next physical attack deals more damager and reduces target's damage dealt) and the Troll level 10 "Hex of Weakness" (reduces target's damage dealt without a physical attack) are roughly equivalent, and the Undead level 20 spell "Devouring Plague" (a damage over time spell than heals the damage it deals) has more impact than the Troll's level 20 "Shadowguard" (that slightly damages enemies who attack the caster, having only 3 charges).
For the Alliance, Dwarves are generally considered to be the better choice over Humans and Night Elves. Dwarves and Humans receive the lifesaving "Desperate Prayer" (an instant cast self heal) and level 10 wheras the Night Elven "Starshards" (a channeled damage spell) that can be reasonably mimicked with Mind Flay. The Dwarven level 20 "Fear Ward" (a spell that protects against one fear effect) can keep you and your party in control during combat whereas the Human "Feedback" (a spell that potentially deals mana and health damage with your physical attacks) isn't very useful when grouping and the Night Elven "Elune's Grace" (a spell that protects slightly against ranged physical attacks) is often not effective in general.
2.2 How does mana regeneration work?
Mana regeneration, in general, relies on two things: your Spirit attribute and whether or not you are casting/have recently cast a spell.
You can calculate your mana regeneration by taking your Spirit, dividing by four, and then adding thirteen to it. This is the amount of mana you regenerate every two seconds. For example, a priest with a Spirit of 100 would regenerate 100/4 = 25 + 13 = 38 mana every two seconds.
However, you do not regenerate mana when (1) when you are channeling a spell or (2) for a five second period of time after having cast a spell. This last part is often referred to as the "five second rule," something you may have heard talked about. Understanding mana regeneration and the five second rule is crucial to be an effective priest and I will discuss this more in detail in later sections.
2.3 What statistics are the best for priests?
There are three statistics that are good for priests: Intellect, Spirit, and Stamina. These three attributes have the following effects:
Every point of Intellect increases your maximum mana by 15 points. Every 100 points of Intellect increases your chance of a critical effect with spells by 1%
Every four points of Spirit incerases your mana regeneration by one point every two seconds. Every nine points of Spirit increases your health regeneration by one point every two seconds.
Every point of Stamina increases your maximum health by 10 points.
Intellect is generally accepted to be the most important statistic for a priest because it is the only statistic that influences the size of your mana pool, and it is your mana pool that determines how many spells you can cast before you are unable to cast any more. There are those who believe that focusing on Spirit is generally better overall as the greater your Spirit the faster you can recover mana during a combat when you run out.
Consider the benefits of +10 Intellect versus +10 Spirit. The +10 to Intellect would provide you with +150 mana to your mana pool. The +10 Spirit would provide you with +2.5 mana regeneration every two seconds, meaning that you'd have to not be casting spells during combat for 120 seconds (two minutes) to regenerate the 150 mana that you could have started the combat with if you had chosen to go with Intellect instead.
As far as what is better between Stamina and Spirit as secondary statistics, the general consensus isn't as clear cut. The main argument in favor of Stamina is that it allows you to take more hits while soloing. The main arguments in favor of Spirit is that it reduces your downtime when soloing and, in a group when you shouldn't be taking hits, allows you to cast more healing spells over the course of a long combat. The best way to decide which is a better choice for you is to experiment with wearing different pieces of equipment and discovering which works best for your play style.
2.4 What enchantments are good for priests?
Enchantments that increase your Intellect, Spirit, Stamina, health, and mana are generally the best enchantments for priests. Here is a list of which enchantments you can get on different pieces of equipment:
Bracer: +Intellect (up to +7), +Spirit (up to +9), +Stamina (up to +9)
Boots: +Spirit (up to +5), +Stamina (up to +7)
Chest: +health (up to +100 health), +mana (up to +100 mana), +statistics (up to +4 to all)
Cloak: +defense (up to +70 armor), +resistance (up to +5 to all)
2H Weapon: +Intellect (up to +9), +Spirit (up to +9)
2.5 What weapon should I use: dagger, mace, or staff?
Before answering this question, it is important to be completely clear that priests will never be good at melee combat, and there are three reasons for this. First, cloth armor doesn't provide enough armor rating to provide that much protection from physical damage. Second, cloth armor doesn't generally provide any significant +Strength or +Agility modifiers, both being crucial statistics for melee combat. Third, priests do not generally gain +Strength or +Agility statistics increases when leveling up.
Given that priests are not going to fare well in melee combat, one's choice of weapon should not depend on the damage-per-second of the weapon. Instead, you should focus more on the non-physical combat bonuses that it provides you. Because of this, priests generally are better served with daggers and staves than maces because maces do not tend to provide useful bonuses to a priest.
In general, staves are usually a simple and effective solution for a priest. They tend to consistently provide good bonuses to Intellect, Spirit, and Stamina in addition to resistance, mana generation, and increased damage/healing bonuses. You can also get +Intellect and +Spirit enchantments on a staff.
That said, using a dagger provides more flexibility as it also allows you to equip an "off hand" item, and there are situations in which a good dagger combined with a good off hand item are more effective than what staves you may have available to you. This is sometimes the case in terms of raw statistics bonuses, but more often what happens is a dagger and an off hand item will have non-statistics bonuses that outweigh the raw benefit of just improving your statistics. For example, equipping a dagger with mana regeneration during combat and an off hand item that makes your spells cost less mana may be more effective than just increasing your mana pool with a +Intellect staff.
It is best to always have a good staff, good dagger, and a few good off hand items in your bank. This way you can always experiment with different combinations of new weapons, new spells, and new talents.
2.6 Is it important to have a wand?
Yes, it is important to have a wand. First, there is no reason not to have a wand; you have space for it in your character screen that will just go to waste without it. Second, wands are an excellent way to deal ranged damage at no mana cost to you, something very important for mana management (which will be discussed more in later sections). Third, wands can provide useful statistics and resistance bonuses, meaning that even if you never use it in combat a wand can serve as a pseudo-ring.
There are some priests who use a "dagger-wand" or "mace-wand" (with a fast mace) melee tactic and find that to deal out more damage than normal melee combat. You strike with your dagger/mace, then while the dagger/mace is cooling down from the attack you immediately fire your wand, then while you wand is cooling down from its attack you strike again with your dagger/mace, and so on. The idea is that you are overall attacking faster than you would be just using a dagger or just using a wand.
2.7 How do +healing and +damage items work?
There used to be an official Blizzard post about this, though I cannot find it at the time of writing this. (If you can, please post with the link.)
An item with "+X to healing spells and effects" will increase all of your healing spells by that amount. Spells that heal over time, such as Renew, will have the total amount healed increased by that amount, not each three second "tick" of healing. Damage spells and damage over time spells work similarly with this bonus.
Items with "up to +X to healing spells and effects" work slightly differently. Generally speaking, the longer the spell takes to cast the more of the bonus it will receive. For example, a Greater Heal spell might receive the entire bonus whereas a Flash Heal might only receive a small part of it. Damage spells and damage over time spells work similarly with this bonus.
2.8 Should I focus on +stat or +healing/damage?
There is no hard and fast answer to this question. As with the question of what weapon to use, try out different sets of gear and experiment.
This issue comes up most often Shadow priests (priests who focus on the Shadow talent tree) as Shadow priests generally want to deal out as much damage as possible, leaning them towards +Shadow damage equipment, and also want to be able to function as an effective healer in a group, leaning them towards +stat equipment as statistics bonuses are always useful. Many experienced Shadow priests tend to collect two sets of equipment in their 30's when Shadoweave equipment from Tailoring starts to be wearable, one set of +Shadow damage gear for soloing and one set of +statistics gear for grouping.
2.9 Should I focus on +% chance of a critical with a spell?
Given the current issues with +% critical effect items and talents not applying to healing spells, generally using this gear will be less effective than either +stat or +healing/damage gear. This will definitely change if this issue is resolved.
2.10 Should I focus on "restores X mana every Y seconds"?
There are, overall, few ways to get mana back while casting and during the five second rule. Equipment with the bonus of "+X mana every Y sec." (usually every five seconds) is one effective way to do so, and some priests feel that this equipment provides a significant edge in prolonged combat. Many often find that it takes at least three or four pieces of this kind of equipment to have a significant effect. As with +stat and +healing/damage gear, I would suggest that you test out the equipment that works best with your play style.
2.11 What professions are good for priests?
Alchemy and Herbalism is a popular and effective choice for a priest as potions can provide +Intellect for more spells, +health and +health regeneration for more durability, and healing/mana potions for emergencies. This selection is also a great way to help out companions and guildmates as you'll be able to fill their needs as well as your own.
Tailoring and Enchanting is another popular choice among priests. Tailoring allows you to make a number of potent garments for yourself and, as it requires no gathering skill, frees you up to take Enchanting. Tailoring also provides you with a way to make magic items to use as reagents for your Enchanting skill. There are a significant number of priests (and non-priests) who feel that this combination is too expensive, as you have to spend money on tailoring supplies and on learning two sets of patterns and formulas in addition to not being able to sell magic items for money (as they are needed for reagents). Pairing either Tailoring or Enchanting with a gathering skill (Herbalism, Mining, Skinning) has become more common over time.
Engineering and Mining is another viable and effective pairing for priests. Engineering has a number of "engineers only" cloth items that have high +Intellect and +Stamina bonuses in addition to a variety of other effects. There are also a number of gadgets that are generally useful for increasing one's overall damage-per-second, something that many priests struggle with.
Section 3 -- Priestly Loot
3.1 What are good items for priests that can be made with Tailoring?
Note that, in general, garments that you find are generally better than items that can be made with Tailoring at the same level. This is not always the case, to be sure, though generally it turns out to be that way. Whether or not you think that this is the way things "should be," it is something to accept.
Below is a selection of items that can be made with Tailoring that would be most suited to a priest. The items are sorted generally by the level at which you can wear them. I grouped garments into their natural groups and then arranged the groups roughly in order of level, though as each grou pis spread across many levels there is some overlap. I would like to spotlight one item, the item that I think is the gem of Tailoring: Spidersilk Boots. Available at level 20 and relatively difficult for a level 20 to get the materials to make, if you can get your hands on a pair of Spidersilk Boots you'll find yourself wearing them for many seasons.
Up to Level 20
Level 12, Heavy Woolen Gloves, 19 Armor, +2 Intellect, +2 Spirit
Level 14, Pearl-clasped Cloak, 16 Armor, +3 Intellect
Level 14, Woolen Boots, 22 Armor, +2 Intellect, +2 Spirit, +2 Agility
Level 16, Gray Woolen Robe, 35 Armor, +5 Intellect, +4 Stamina
Level 17, Heavy Woolen Pants, 31 Armor, +6 Spirit, +3 Intellect
Level 20, Spidersilk Boots, 29 Armor, +7 Spirit, +4 Intellect, +4 Stamina
Levels 21-30
Level 21, Gloves of Meditation, 25 Armor, +7 Spirit
Level 22, Lesser Wizard's Robe, 41 Armor, +8 Intellect, +5 Spirit
Level 24, Azure Silk Hood, 33 Armor
Level 25, Truefaith Gloves, 27 Armor, +3 Intellect, up to +14 healing
Level 28, Green Silk Armor, 45 Armor, +13 Intellect
Level 28, Enchanter's Cowl, 37 Armor, +10 Intellect, +6 Spirit
Level 30, Crimson Silk Belt, 26 Armor, +7 Intellect, +6 Spirit
Levels 31-33
Level 31, Green Silken Shoulders, 36 Armor, +11 Intellect
Level 32, Long Silken Cloak, 24 Armor, +6 Spirit, +5 Intellect
Level 33, Robe of Power (bind on pickup, meaning that only tailors can wear it), 55 Armor, +12 Intellect, +8 Spirit, up to +8 on magical damage and healing
Black Mageweave
Level 36, Black Mageweave Leggings, 47 Armor, +14 Spirit, +8 Intellect
Level 36, Black Mageweave Vest, 54 Armor, +12 Spirit, +11 Intellect
Level 37, Black Mageweave Robe, 55 Armor, +14 Spirit, +8 Intellect
Level 38, Black Mageweave Gloves, 35 Armor, up to +9 on magical damage and healing
Level 41, Black Mageweave Headband, 49 Armor, +13 Spirit, +12 Intellect
Level 41, Black Mageweave Boots, 41 Armor, +11 Spirit, +7 Intellect
Level 41, Black Mageweave Shoulders, 45 Armor, +10 Spirit, +9 Intellect
Shadoweave (+Shadow damage)
Level 37, Shadoweave Pants, 48 Armor, +6 Stamina, up to +15 Shadow damage
Level 38, Shadoweave Robe, 57 Armor, +7 Spirit, up to +15 Shadow damage
Level 40, Shadoweave Gloves, 37 Armor, +5 Intellect, up to +12 Shadow damage
Level 42, Shadoweave Shoulders, 46 Armor, +7 Stamina, up to +12 Shadow damage
Level 43, Shadoweave Boots, 43 Armor, +10 Spirit, up to +10 Shadow damage
Dreamweave (+damage and +healing)
Level 40, Dreamweave Vest, 65 Armor, +14 Spirit, +9 Intellect, up to +1 to +19 on magical damage and healing
Level 40, Dreamweave Gloves, 41 Armor, +7 Spirit, +4 Intellect, up to +1 to +19 on magical damage and healing
Level 45, Dreamweave Circlet, 53 Armor, +12 Spirit, +6 Intellect, up to +9 on magical damage and healing
Ghostweave (+X mana every 5 seconds)
Level 48, Ghostweave Belt, 39 Armor, +8 Intellect, +6 mana every 5 sec.
Level 49, Ghostweave Gloves, 44 Armor, +8 Intellect, +6 mana every 5 sec.
Level 50, Ghostweave Vest, 71 Armor, +9 Intellect, +8 mana every 5 sec.
Level 53, Ghostweave Pants, 66 Armor, +12 Intellect, +8 mana every 5 sec.
Runecloth
Level 46, Runecloth Belt, 37 Armor, +12 Intellect, +8 Spirit
Level 47, Runecloth Tunic, 68 Armor, +17 Spirit, +11 Intellect
Level 47, Runecloth Robe, 68 Armor, +17 Intellect, +11 Spirit
Level 48, Runecloth Cloak, 34 Armor, +9 Spirit, +8 Intellect
Level 50, Runecloth Gloves, 45 Armor, +9 Spirit, +9 Intellect, up to +7 on magical damage and healing
Level 51, Runecloth Boots, 50 Armor, +14 Spirit, +9 Intellect
Level 52, Runecloth Pants, 65 Armor, +20 Spirit, +12 Intellect
Level 54, Runecloth Headband, 62 Armor, +20 Intellect, +13 Spirit
Level 56, Runecloth Shoulders, 59 Armor, +15 Intellect, +10 Spirit
Felcloth (+Shadow damage)
Level 50, Felcloth Pants, 62 Armor, +12 Intellect, up to +18 Shadow damage
Level 52, Felcloth Boots, 51 Armor, +12 Spirit, up to +12 Fire damage (the odd one out of the set)
Level 53, Felcloth Hood, 61 Armor, +10 Intellect, up to +24 Shadow damage
Level 56, Felcloth Robe, 79 Armor, +7 Stamina, up to +32 Shadow damage
Level 57, Felcloth Shoulders, 60 Armor, +5 Spirit, up to +18 Shadow damage
Level 57, Felcloth Gloves, 55 ARmor, +9 Stamina, up to +28 Shadow damage
Mooncloth
Level 51, Mooncloth Boots, 55 Armor, +14 Intellect, +13 Spirit, +11 Stamina
Level 53, Mooncloth Leggings, 72 Armor, +21 Spirit, +14 Intellect, +12 Stamina
Level 55, Mooncloth Vest, 85 Armor, +20 Intellect, +19 Spirit, +12 Stamina
Level 56, Mooncloth Shoulders, 65 Armor, +17 Intellect, +11 Spirit, +9 Stamina
Level 56, Mooncloth Robe, 87 Armor, +25 Intellect, +12 Spirit, +12 Stamina
Level 57, Mooncloth Gloves, 55 Armor, +16 Intellect, +15 Spirit, +9 Stamina
Level 57, Mooncloth Circlet, 71 Armor, +23 Intellect, +15 Spirit, +13 Stamina
High Level Epics
Level 57, Robe of the Archmage, 96 Armor, +12 Intellect, up to +35 on magical damage and healing, +1% critical strike with spells, use: restores 375 to 625 mana
Level 57, Truefaith Vestments, 96 Armor, +14 Stamina, up to +66 healing, +6 mana every 5 sec., -2.0 sec. on Fade cooldown
Level 57, Gloves of Spell Mastery, 60 Armor, +10 Intellect, +8 Spirit, +2% critical strike with spells
Level 57, Cloak of Warding, 214 Armor, +7 Defense
Level 57, Belt of the Archmage, 54 Armor, +25 Intellect, +10 Stamina, +1% critical strike with spells
3.2 Where can I find good items for my priest?
You can search through the incredibly wide selection of items on Allakhazam.com or Thottbot.com if you want to be able to find everything you might possibly desire. Some of the best items and the easiest ones to find (though not the easiest ones to get to) occur in instances, so for this section I'm going to focus on items that you can acquire in the various instances across Azeroth. (One day I will add the quests related to these instances as well.)
Ragefire Chasm
Crystalline Cuffs, Level 13, 14 Armor, +2 Spirit, +1 Intellect (Taragaman the Hungerer)
Robe of Evocation, Level 13, 32 Armor, +4 Intellect, +3 Stamina (Jergosh the Invoker)
Deadmines
Cookie's Stirring Rod, Level 17, 22.3 dps (Cookie)
Lavishly Jeweled Ring, Level 17, +6 Intellect, +2 Agility (Gilnid)
Emberstone Staff, Level 18, 19.7 dps, +8 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +5 Stamina (Captain Greenskin)
Corsair's Overshirt, Level 19, 42 Armor, +11 Spirit, +5 Stamina (Edwin VanCleef)
Wailing Caverns
Living Root, Level 20, 21.2 dps, +12 Spirit, +2 Stamina, +5 Nature Resistance (Verdan the Deep Everliving)
Fathom Ring, Level 21, +6 Spirit, +3 Stamina, +3 Intellect (Mutanus the Devourer)
Slime-encrusted Pads, Level 22, 34 Armor, +3 health every 4 sec. (Mutanus the Devourer)
Shadowfang Keep
Odo's Ley Staff, Level 21, 21.7 dps, +12 Spirit, +5 Stamina (Odo the Blindwatcher)
Feline Mantle, Level 23, 34 Armor, +10 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Agility (Wolf Master Nandos)
Belt of Arugal, Level 24, 26 Armor, +10 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Agility (Archamge Arugal)
Robes of Arugal, Level 24, 46 Armor, +10 Spirit, +9 Intellect, +5 Stamina, +3 Agility (Archmage Arugal)
Blackfathom Deeps
Leech Pants, Level 26, 42 Armor, +15 Spirit, +5 Intellect, +1 Stamina (Aku'mai)
Glowing Thresher Cape, Level 24, 23 Armor, +8 Spirit, +3 Strength (Old Serra'kis)
Rod of the Sleepwalker, Level 24, 23.9 dps, +11 Intellect, +10 Spirit (Twilight Lord Kelris)
The Stockade
None.
Gnomeregan
Electrocutioner Lagnut, Level 29, +9 Spirit, +4 Stamina (Electrocutioner 6000)
Electromagnetic Gigaflux Reactivator, Level 32, 44 Armor, +15 Intellect, +12 Spirit, use: bolt of lightning at all enemines in front of the caster causing 147 to 167 Nature damage and surrounds the caster with a barrier of electricity for 10 min. (Mekgineer Thermaplugg)
Razorfen Kraul
Swinetusk Shank, Level 30, 23.0 dps, +6 Stamina, +4 Spirit (Agathelos the Raging)
Stygian Bone Amulet, Level 23, +8 Spirit, +4 Stamina (Blind Hunter)
Batwing Mantle, Level 27, 37 Armor, +10 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +3 Agility (Blind Hunter)
Agamaggan's Clutch, Level 31, +9 Spirit, +5 Stamina (Charlga Razorflank)
Wind Spirit Staff, Level 27, 26.7 dps, +15 Spirit, +5 Intellect, +3 Stamina (Earthcaller Halmgar)
The Scarlet Monastery
Blighted Leggings, Level 30, 45 Armor, +17 Spirit, up to +7 Shadow damage (Azshir the Sleepless)
Ghostshard Talisman, Level 30, +9 Stamina, +4 Spirit (Azshir the Sleepless)
Necrotic Wand, Level 30, 33.2 dps (Azshir the Sleepless)
Embalmed Shroud, Level 30, 42 Armor, +12 Spirit, +11 Intellect, +7 Stamina (Fallen Champion)
Orb of the Forgotten Seer, Level 33, up to +7 to magical damage and healing (Bloodmage Thalnos)
Hypnotic Blade, Level 34, 26.8 dps, +8 Intellect, +3 Spirit (Arcanist Doan)
Illusionary Rod, Level 34, 34.7 dps, +15 Intellect, +10 Spirit, +7 Stamina (Arcanist Doan)
Hand of Righteousness, Level 39, 29.8 dps, +8 Spirit, up to +14 healing (High Inquisitor Whitemane)
Triune Amulet, Level 39, +7 Intellect, +7 Spirit, +7 Stamina (High Inquisitor Whitemane)
Whitemane's Chapeau, Level 39, 52 Armor, +14 Intellect, +14 Spirit, +9 Stamina (High Inquisitor Whitemane)
Razorfen Downs
Silky Spider Cape, Level 35, 30 Armor, +11 Stamina, +5 Spirit (Tuten'kash)
Deathmage Sash, Level 36, 33 Armor, +15 Intellect, +6 Stamina (Mordresh Fire Eye)
Glowing Eye for Ordresh, Level 36, +11 Spirit, +5 Intellect (Mordresh Fire Eye)
Mordresh's Lifeless Skull, Level 36, +11 Spirit, +5 Stamina (Mordresh Fire Eye)
Robes of the Lich, Level 39, 64 Armor, +10 Intellect, +20 Stamina (Amnennar the Coldbringer)
Uldaman
Stoneweaver Leggings, Level 35, 51 Armor, +15 Spirit, +9 Stamina, +8 Intellect (Ironaya)
Grimlok's Tribal Vestments, Level 42, 68 Armor, +20 Spirit, +10 Stamina, +5 Intellect (Grimlock)
Zul'Farrak
Lifeblood Amulet, Level 43, +13 Stamina, +5 Spirit (Antu'sul)
Bad Mojo Mask, Level 44, 57 Armor, +24 Intellect, up to +10 Shadow damage (Shadowpriest Sezz'ziz)
Maraudon
Satyrmane Sash, Level 45, 40 Armor, +15 Intellect, +10 Stamina, +10 Shadow Resistance (Lord Vyletongue)
Nature's Embrace, Level 46, 73 Armor, up to +22 Holy damage, +8 mana every 5 sec. (Meshlok the Harvester)
Noxious Shooter, Level 46, 50.0 dps, +7 Stamina, +5 Nature Resistance (Noxxion)
Heart of Noxxion, Level 46, +10 Nature Resistance, use: removes one poison effect (Noxxion)
Vinerot Sandals, Level 46, 50 Armor, +12 Intellect, +12 Spirit, +12 Nature Resistance (Razorlash)
Grovekeeper's Drape, Level 47, 37 Armor, +12 Stamina, +10 Nature Resistance (Celebras the Cursed)
Cloud Stone, Level 48, +10 Intellect, +10 Spirit, +10 Arcane Resistance (Landslide)
Rotgrip Mantle, Level 48, 57 Armor, +17 Intellect, +11 Spirit (Rotgrip)
Charstone Dirk, Level 49, 35.9 dps, +11 Intellect, +2 mana every 5 sec. (Princess Theradras)
Eye of Theradras, Level 49, 63 Armor, +20 Intellect, +13 Stamina, +11 Spirit (Princess Theradras)
Gemshard Heart, Level 49, +10 Intellect, +10 Stamina, +6 Spirit (Princess Theradras)
The Sunken Temple
Codex: Prayer of Fortitude, Level 48 (various)
Featherskin Cape, Level 49, 39 Armor, +15 Spirit, +4 Intellect, +4 Stamina (Avatar of Hakkar)
Spire of Hakkar, Level 49, 46.5 dps, +16 Spirit, +16 Stamina, up to +10 on magical damage and healing (Avater of Hakkar)
Gloves of the Atal'ai Prophet, Level 50, 49 Armor, +20 Spirit, +6 Stamina, +5 Strength (Jammal'an the Prophet)
Kilt of the Atal'ai Prophet, Level 50, 69 Armor, +18 Spirit, +18 Intellect, +9 Stamina, +4 Strength (Jammal'an the Prophet)
Vestments of the Atal'ai Prophet, Level 50, 78 Armor, +27 Spirit, +11 Intellect (Jammal'an the Prophet)
Dragon's Eye, Level 51, +15 Spirit, +6 Stamina (Shade of Eranikus)
Rod of Corrosion, Level 51, 55.0 dps, +10 Nature Resistance (Shade of Eranikus)
Blackrock Depths
Kindling Staff, Level 48, +25 Spirit, +10 Stamina, +15 Fire Resistance (Pyromancer Loregrain)
Cyclopean Band, Level 49, +15 Spirit, +4 Intellect, +4 Strength (Ok'thor the Breaker)
Graverot Capt, Level 50, 36 Armor, +11 Stamina, +6 Spirit (Anub'shiah)
Chief Architect's Monocle, Level 50, 64 Armor, +27 Intellect, +10 Stamina, +3 Spirit (Fineous Darkvire)
Blood-etched Blade, Level 52, 20.3 dps, chance on hit: causes 120 damage and converts that damage into your mana (Doom'rel, Dope'rel, Hate'rel, Seeth'rel, Vile'rel)
Haunting Specter Leggings, Level 52, 71 Armor, +28 Spirit, +12 Intellect (Doom'rel, Dope'rel, Hate'rel, Seeth'rel, Vile'rel)
Cape of the Fire Salamander, Level 53, 41 Armor, +16 Spirit, +5 Stamina, +7 Fire Resistance (Ambassador Flamelash)
Guiding Staff of Wisdom, Level 54, 50.5 dps, +29 Spirit, +10 Stamina, +10 Frost Resistance (Emperor Dagran Thaurissan)
High Priestess Boots, Level 54, +20 Stamina, +7 Spirit, +10 Shadow Resistance (High Priestess of Thaurissan)
Force of Will, Level 55, 1% chance when struck of reducing all melee damage done against you by 25 for 10 sec, +10 Defense (Emperor Dagran Thaurissan)
Robes of the Royal Crown, Level 55, 85 Armor, +29 Spirit, +9 Intellect, +5 Stamina, +3 Sgility (Emperor Dagran Thaurissan)
Thaurissan's Royal Scepter, Level 55, +15 Spirit, +5 Intellect, +5 Stamina (Emperor Dargan Thaurissan)
The Emperpor's New Cape, Level 55, +16 Stamina, +7 Agility (Emperor Dargan Thaurissan)
Blackrock Spire
Codex: Prayer of Fortitude II, Level 60 (various)
Serpentine Skuller, Level 51, 54.6 dps, +10 Shadow resistance (Jed Runewatcher)
Demonskin Gloves, Level 52, 51 Armor, +17 Spirit, +9 Intellect, +9 Stamina (Burning Felguard)
Funeral Cuffs, Level 54, 37 Armor, +14 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +10 Shadow resistance (Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin)
Golbe of D'sak, Level 54, +16 Intellect, +5 Stamina, +7 Shadow resistance (Spirestone Lord Magus)
Ogreseer Tower Boots, Level 54, +20 Spirit, +7 Intellect, +5 Strength (Spirestone Lord Magus)
Rosewine Circle, Level 55, +16 Spirit, +7 Agility (War Master Voone)
Skyshroud Leggings, Level 55, 75 Armor, +8 Stamina, +8 Intellect, up to +28 on magical damage and healing (Highlord Omokk)
Briarwood Reed, Level 55, up to +22 on magical damage and healing (Jed Runewatcher)
Starfire Tiara, Level 55, 69 Armor, +28 Intellect, +10 Spirit, +10 Fire Resistance (Jed Runewatcher)
Hands of Power, Level 55, 53 Armor, +6 Intellect, +6 Spirit, up to +18 on magical damage and healing (Quartermaster Zigris)
Devout Mantle, Level 55, 64 Armor, +21 Intellect, +9 Spirit, +4 Stamina (Solakar Flamewreath)
Wolfshear Leggings, Level 56, 76 Armor, +30 Spirit, +5 Stamina, +10 Nature Resistance (Gizrul the Slavener)
Sunderseer Mantle, Level 56, 65 Armor, +17 Intellect, +11 Spirit, +7 Agility, +4 Stamina (Crystal Fang)
Trindlehaven Staff, Level 56, 52.1 dps, +30 Intellect, +12 Stamina (Overlord Wyrmthalak)
Dustfeather Sash, Level 56, 49 Armor, +21 Intellect, +10 Stamina (Solakar Flamewreath)
Dreadmist Robe, Level 58, 89 Armor, +21 Intellect, +20 Stamina, +13 Spirit (General Drakkisath)
Devout Robe, Level 58, 89 Armor, +24 Intellect, +15 Spirit, +13 Stamina (General Drakkisath)
Magister's Robes, Level 58, 89 Armor, +31 Intellect, +9 Stamina, +8 Spirit (General Drakkisath)
Tooth of Gnarr, Level 58, +15 Intellect, +10 Spirit (General Drakkistah)
Bloodmoon Cloak, Level 58, 45 Armor, +17 Stamina, +5 Spirit, +7 Arcane resistance (The Beast)
Frostweaver Cape, Level 58, 45 Armor, +12 Intellect, +12 Spirit, +10 Frost resistance (The Beast)
Spiritshroud Leggings, Level 58, 78 Armor, +21 Intellect, +21 Spirit, +10 Stamina, +5 Agility (The Beast)
Stratholme
Codex: Prayer of Fortitude II, Level 60 (various)
Skul's Ghastly Touch, Level 52, 55.8 dps, up to +10 Shadow damage (Skul)
Devout Gloves, Level 54, 52 Armor, +17 Spirit, +10 Intellect, +7 Stamina, +4 Agility (Archivist Galford)
Grimgore Noose, Level 54, 47 Armor, +17 Intellect, +10 Spirit, +8 Stamina, +3 Strength (Timmy the Cruel)
Dreadmist Sandals, Level 54, 58 Armor, +17 Stamina, +10 Spirit, +9 Intellect (Baroness Anastari)
Royal Tribunal Cloack, Level 54, 42 Armor, +16 Intellect, +7 Stamina (Magistrate Barthilas)
Devout Sandlas, Level 54, 58 Armor, +17 Spirit, +10 Intellect, +9 Stamina (Maleki the Pallid)
Magister's Boots, Level 54, 58 Armor, +14 Intellect, +14 Spirit, +9 Stamina (Postmaster Malown)
Banshee Finger, Level 55, 59.7 dps, +10 Frost Resistance (Baroness Anastari)
Band of Flesh, Level 55, +16 Stamina, +6 Strength, +3 Agility (Ramstein the Gorger)
Soulstealer Mantle, Level 55, 64 Armor, +22 Intellect, +9 Spirit (Ramstain the Gorger)
Tome of Knowledge, Level 56, +8 all stats (Archivist Galford)
Devout Skirt, Level 56, 76 Armor, +23 Spirit, +15 Intellect, +8 Stamina, +8 Agility (Baron Rivendare)
Dreadmist Leggings, Level 56, 76 Armor, +21 Spirit, +15 Stamina, +12 Intellect, +5 Agility (Baron Rivendare)
Magister's Leggings, Level 56, 76 Armor, +21 Spirit, +20 Intellect, +8 Stamina, +8 Agility (Baron Rivendare)
The Postmaster's Seal, Level 56, +17 Spirit, +6 Intellect, +3 Agility (Postmaster Malown)
The Postmaster's Treads, Level 56, 60 Armor, +15 Intellect, +14 Stamina, +6 Spirit, +6 Agility (Postmaster Malown)
The Postmaster's Trousers, Level 56, 76 Armor, +20 Intellect, +20 Spirit, +12 Agility (Postmaster Malown)
The Postmaster's Tunic, Level 56, 87 Armor, +30 Intellect, +10 Spirit, +5 Agility (Postmaster Malown)
The Postmaster's Band, Level 56, 70 Armor, +30 Intellect, +10 Stamina, +10 Shadow resistance (Postmaster Malown)
Stoneskin Gargoyle Cape, Level 56, 43 Armor, +14 Stamina, +8 Agility, +7 Strength (Stonespine)
Gift of the Elven Magi, Level 58, 41.3 dps, +10 Intellect, +6 Spirit, +5 Stamina (Balnazzar)
Star of Mystaria, Level 58, +9 Intellect, +9 Spirit, +9 Stamina, +7 Agility (Balnazzar)
Robes of the Exalted, Level 58, +11 Spirit, +5 Intellect, up to +62 healing (Baron Rivendare)
Seal of Rivendare, Level 58, +17 Intellect, +7 Spirit (Baron Rivendare)
Dire Maul
Codex: Prayer of Fortitude II, Level 60 (various)
Holy Bologna: What the Light Won't Tell You, starts a quest that leads to Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas, +10 Fire Resistance, +4 mana ever 5 sec., up to +30 healing (various)
Tempest Talisman, Level 53, +7 Intellect, +6 Spirit, +1% critical strike with spells (Hydrospawn)
Whipvine Cord, Level 54, 47 Armor, +9 Intellect, +6 mana every 5 sec., up to +28 healing (Alzzin the Wildshaper)
Ring of Demonic Guile, Level 54, +10 Intellect, +6 mana every 5 sec. (Alzzin the Wildshaper)
Ring of Demonic Potency, Level 54, +10 Stamina, +4 health every 5 sec. (Alzzin the Wildshaper)
Energetic Rob, Level 54, 38.7 dps, +5 Intellect, up to +8 on magical damage and healing (Alzzin the Wildshaper)
Brightspark Gloves, Level 55, 53 Armor, +15 Intellect, +9 Stamina, +1% critical strike with spells (Tsu'zee)
Band of the Hierophant, Level 55, +11 Spirit, +10 Intellect, +7 Stamina (The Razza)
Maiden's Circle, Level 55, +7 Intellect, +6 Spirit, up to +10 on magical damage and healing (The Razza)
Mana Channeling Wand, Level 56, 60.9 dps, +4 mana every 5 sec. (Cho'Rush the Observer)
Mindtap Talisman, Level 56, +11 mana every 5 sec. (Magister Kalendris)
Elder Magus Pendant, Level 56, +10 Intellect, +7 Spirit, +6 Stanmina (Magister Kalendris)
Padre's Trousers, Level 56, 76 Armor, +20 Intellect, +6 mana every 5 sec., up to +38 healing (Illyanna Ravenoak)
Robe of the Everlasting Night, Level 57, 88 Armor, +13 Intellect, +11 Stamina, +5 Spirit, up to +19 on magical damage and healing (Immol'thar)
Blade of the New Moon, Level 57, 40.7 dps, +5 Stamina, up to +13 Shadow damage (Immol'thar)
Cloak of the Cosmos, Level 57, 44 Armor, +11 Intellect, +7 Stamina, up to +24 healing (Immol'thar)
Boots of the Full Moon, Level 57, 60 Armor, +12 Intellect, +12 Stamina, +9 Spirit, up to +24 healing (Captain Kromcrush)
Emerald Flame Ring, Level 57, +12 Intellect, +8 Spirit, +7 Stamina, up to +14 healing (Prince Tortheldrin)
Brightly Glowing Stone, Level 58, +7 Stamina, up to +34 healing (King Gordok)
Crown of the Ogre King, Level 58, 73 Armor, +18 Intellect, +16 Stamina, +11 Spirit, +1% critical strike with spells (King Gordok)
Scholomace
Codex: Prayer of Fortitude II, Level 60 (various)
Dreadmist Mantle, Level 55, 64 Armor, +15 Intellect, +14 Stamina, +9 Spirit (Jandice Barov)
Magister's Mantle, Level 55, 64 Armor, +22 Intellect, +6 Stamina, +6 Spirit (Ras Frostwhisper)
Cluth on Andros, Level 56, 49 Armor, +22 Intellect, +8 Spirit, +3 Stamina (Kirtonos the Herald)
Heart of the Fiend, Level 56, +15 Spirit, +5 Intellect, +5 Stamina (Kirtonos the Herald)
Bonecreeper Stylus, Level 57, 62.6 dps, +4 Intellect, up to +6 on magical damager and healing (Darkmaster Gandling)
Devout Crown, Level 57, 71 Armor, +24 Intellect, +15 Spirit, +13 Stamina (Darkmaster Gandling)
Dreadmist Mask, Level 57, 71 Armor, +23 Intellect, +15 Stamina, +12 Spirit (Darkmaster Gandling)
Magister's Crown, Level 57, 71 Armor, +30 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +11 Stamina, (Darkmaster Gandling)
Witchblade, Level 57, 40.6 dps, +8 Intellect, up to +10 on Shadow/Arcane damage (Darkmaster Gandling)
Section 4 -- Soloing as a Priest
4.1 What are the general principles behind good soloing?
First Principle: you must be able to kill your opponent. This may seem obvious, but it's important to keep in mind that the primary goal of soloing effective is and always will be not dying, and the only way to avoid death is to successfully kill your opponent. Whatever strategy you utilize must have an effective method for consistently dealing out significant damage.
Second Principle: you must be able to moderate the damage dealt to you. Priests have weak armor and low stamina, and even if you're dealing out a fair amount of damage it's quite possible for the enemy to be able to kill you first. It is not important to prevent any damage from being done to you, but it essential to be able to moderate the amount of damage you take.
Third Principle: you must not rely on consumables, such as potions, to succeed. Potions and other consumables (a.k.a. one use items) are excellent resources that every priest should use when needed. That said, by their very nature they aren't something that you can use each and every fight. This means that you cannot rely on them in general practice.
Fourth Principle: you must reduce your downtime after combats. "Downtime" is the period of time you have to wait after a combat to regenerate enough health and mana for it to be safe for you to engage in another combat. This isn't strictly a necessity in the same sense that the other three are necessary, but at the same time killing one enemy every 90 seconds is significantly less effective experience-wise and money-wise tha killing one enemy every 60 seconds. It's also much less fun to have to wait for a long time after a fight, and that should not be underestimated.
4.2 What are priest-specific practices for good soloing?
By far, the simplest and easiest practice you can engage in that will have a significant effect on your soloing is choosing what enemies to engage in combat. Fighting enemies generally two to four levels below your level is the ideal range for a priest when soloing. Your offensive spells will deal greater damage relative to your enemy's maximum health, meaning that you will kill it faster (first principle) and use fewer spells overall (fourth principle). Your spells will be resisted less often if at all, meaning you'll be dealing damage consistently and with fewer spells (first and foruth principles). You will take less damage relative to your maximum health and your healing spells will more effective relative to the damage dealt to you (second principle) and, therefore, casting fewer healing spells (fourth principle). All of this combined means that you should rarely ever have an emergency situation in which you'd need to rely on potions to survive (third principle). It is impossible to emphasize enough that effective soloing begins with your choice of opponent. It is definitely possible to solo enemies at or above your level, I'm not saying that it isn't. Overall, though, this is a very effective (if not the most effective) practice to improve your soloing.
Once you've chosen your opponent, there are a number of general practices that can significantly improve your chances of winning.
Before combat, make sure that you have PW:Fortitude and Inner Fire active. There is very little reason why you would want to cast these during combat instead of before combat. If they are not active then cast them and wait to regenerate your mana before going into combat.
Pulling (that is, initiating an attack on your enemy) with a damage spell such as Smite or Mind Blast is best instead of opening with SW:Pain. Smite and Mind Blast have casting times whereas SW:Pain does not, meanining that if you pull with either of those two spells you're effectively getting that casting time for free before the enemy is aware of you. Some prefer opening with Smite because Smite has a longer casting time, and some prefer Mind Blast as the cooldown for the spell will begin sooner. After you've enganged in combat, you should have SW:Pain active on your enemy.
Once combat has started you are going to find it more difficult to cast spells as you lose casting time when your enemies hit you. There are some enemies that tend to "hit hard and hit slow" (such as bears or humanoids with a single weapon) and others that "hit soft and hit often" (such as cats or humanoids with two weapons). Spellcasters tend to prefer the "hard and slow" enemies as there will be fewer interruptions during spellcasting, and if you have the choice between the two (and often you may not) you should pick the enemy with the slower attack rate.
The best way to avoid spellcasting interruptions is the spell PW:Shield. While the shield is active you will not lose any casting time for taking hits. (You can still be stunned, silenced, counterspelled, etc., but by far the most common interruption to spell casting will be time lost due to taking hits.) Having this active before combat is often a good idea as it's one less spell you have to remember casting during combat and it also gets the 30 second cooldown started sooner.
Another way to free yourself, albeit temporarily, from casting interruptions is with Psychic Scream. This is an incredibly effective spell for that purpose as it can give you up to 8 seconds of the enemy running away from you and usually 4-6 seconds of the enemy running back at you (as enemies usually don't run in a straight line away from you). You can use this time to regenerate some mana, to cast a couple of healing spells if you are low on health, or to cast some damage dealing spells without worrying about the lost casting time. A word of warning above the last option, though, is that quite often your enemy will run out of range of your offensive spells. Combining Psychic Scream with Mind Flay (a spell unlocked by the Shadow talent tree) is a deadly combination as Mind Flay is the most mana efficient spell in terms of dealing damage, but as a channeled spell is difficult to use when you are taking hits. The -50% movement from Mind Flay also keeps your enemy in range while it's running from you.
Having PW:Shield up will protect you from some hits, though inevitably the shield will fall and you will start taking damage. Often the best way to deal heal yourself is to cast Renew just as you start taking damage. Renew is an instant cast, meaning that it cannot be interrupted by taking hits, and works in the background, meaning that if you're taking too much damage you can cast a second healing spell on yourself while Renew is actively healing you in addition to your other heal spell. You can also cast Renew just as you start taking damage whereas you have to wait until you are significantly hurt for another heal to be worthwhile. If you have to heal yourself with another heal, Flash Heal is generally the best as its short casting time makes it much less likely to be interrupted, meaning you get health back faster and get get back to dealing damage faster.
When your enemy is low on health, swtich from casting spells to using your melee weapons (or wand if it's running away). By stopping your spellcasting you get through the "five second rule" of mana regeneration and start regenerating mana faster after your combat, or even start regenerating it during your combat depending on when you switch from spells to weapons. It's best to make sure that SW:Pain is active before you switch to weapons to kill your enemy faster.
4.3 Can you give some specific spell casting orders to try out?
Gathering up the information above, here is one possible casting order to try out:
Make sure that PW:Fortitude is active.
Make sure that Inner Fire is active. Regenerate mana if needed. Cast appropriate racial spells (Undead's "Touch of Weakness", Troll's "Shadowgaurd", Human's "Feedback", if applicable Night Elves' "Elune's Grace", in applicable Dwarves' "Fear Ward"). Cast PW:Shield. Wait fifteen seconds - this will give you 10 seconds of mana regen and also lower the cooldown of PW:Shield. Cast Smite. Cast SW:Pain. Cast Mind Blast. Continue casting Smite with Mind Blast when available. Cast Renew when your shield falls. Cast PW:Shield when the cooldown runs out. Swtich to weapons/wand when the enemy's health is at 25%.
This is a very conservative casting order, meaning that you are very likely to survive, but it has a rather high mana cost. As you get better you will probably find that only one PW:Shield is necessary, that you may not need the racial spells, etc.
This is a basic casting order that you should definitely modify to fit your preferred play style. There are no spells or abilities here that are unlocked by talents, which is intentional as this is a very general casting order. As you gain new spells and abilities through your talent trees you'll definitely want to modify your casting order to include them.
4.4 How do I know if I'm "good enough" or "great" at soloing?
Many people want to know is they are "good enough" or "great" at soloing as a priest. There is no one right answer to this question, though here are some guidelines that may help you evalute how effective you are at playing your priest:
Can you... - solo enemies at your own level, - solo two enemies simultaneously at three or four levels below your level, and - solo an Elite enemy at five or six levels below your level?
Can you...
- solo enemies at two or three levels above your level, - solo two enemies simultaneously at your level, and - solo an Elite enemy at three of four levels below your level?
Can you... - solo enemies at four or more levels above your level, - solo three enemies simultaneously at your level, and - solo an Elite enemy at your level?
Section 5 -- Grouping as a Priest
5.1 What are the general principles behind good grouping?
The principles of good grouping are essentially the exact same principles as those for soloing. They may or may not surprise you, though it should make sense: you must kill your enemies, you must not (all) die, you can't rely on consumables, and you want to reduce your downtime between fights.
However, there are two important differences between being soloing and being in a group. First, when you are in a group it's very important to make sure that the enemies are attacking your physically strongest and most durable compaions. This is because in intances and other elite areas (the most common areas to be in a group) enemies are much stronger than normal and it is crucial to make sure that they damage they deal goes to those with the best armor and largest health. The manner in which you control who the enemies attack is called "aggro management" and discussed below.
Second, when you are in a group it is important to play to your strengths as much as possible. When you are soloing you have to do everything, but not so in a group. Each member needs to be operating at their best, and the only way to do that is to focus your energies on doing what priests are able to do best. This is called fulfilling your "role" in a group and is discussed below.
5.2 What is aggro management and why is it important?
What is "aggro"? "Aggro" (short for "aggravation") is basically how much attention you've drawn to yourself with any given enemy. Sometimes the word "threat" is used, and it is synonymous with "aggro".
What causes aggro? There are three factors that determine how much aggro is generated: what you do, how much it does, and who you do it to. For damage spells, you only generate aggro on enemies you deal damage to, and the amount of aggro you generate is equivalent to the amount of damage you deal. For healing spells, you generate aggro on everyone near the person you are healing. It is very important to understand this. For example, if your party engages three enemies and your companions only attack two of them, then a healing spell will undoubtedly attract the third to you as you'll be the only one with any aggro on that third enemy. Healing generates roughly half the aggro of dealing damage, meaning that dealing 200 points of damage generates roughly the same amount of aggro that healing 400 points of damage does. Many other abilities (such as a Warrior's "taunt") generate aggro as well.
Aggro management is making sure that the physically strongest members have the most aggro on all of the enemies at all times. This ensures three things: that the physically weaker members of the party stay alive, that spellcasters do not get interrupted when trying to cast spells, and that healing can be streamlined to only one or two people instead of having to heal everybody. As priests we care greatly about all of these points: we are fragile, we cast spells, and we are genearlly expected to heal the damage on others.
5.3 What are the different roles for priests in a group?
There are basically three roles in any party and there are two relative rankings of each role:
Aggro managers, often called "tanks". These people are responsible for making sure what I discussed above happens during each and every combat. Specifically, these people want the aggro to be on them all the time. To be an effective tank you have to keep an eye on every enemy and make sure that you know who they are attacking at all times, and to cause more aggro as needed on any that look to a companion as a target. Primary aggro managers have skills that are effective at managing aggro with both individual enemies and groups of enemies and have high armor and health ratings. Secondary aggro managers have skills that are effective at managing aggro with individual enemies but not so much with groups. Some classes are not aggro managers of any kind.
Damage dealers. These people are responsible for killing your enemies in the most efficient manner possible. While an aggro manager need to make sure that all enemies feel his/her presence all the time, a damage dealer wants to focus his/her attacks on one enemy at a time to cause the most deaths in the smallest amount of time possible. Damage dealers are responsible for coordinating with order damage dealers to focus fire on the same enemy (or sometimes enemies) at the same time to kill them faster. Primary damage dealers are basically those classes that deal damage the fastest of all classes. Secondary damage dealers are everyone else. All classes are damage dealers of some kind.
Healers. These people are responsible for making sure that, ideally, no one dies in combat. When the aggro managers have four elite enemies pounding away at them, it is the healers who will keep them alive. Healers must always be looking not necessarily at the enemies, but at the health bars of their companions, making sure that no one gets low on health and noticing the rate at which people are losing health. Primary healers have large mana pools and a variety of healing spells for different situations. Secondary healers have smaller mana pools on average and fewer healing spells that are often less potent and/or mana efficient. Some classes are not healers of any kind.
Priests are secondary damage dealers and primary healers. Because not everyone is a healer and because everyone must play to their strengths, priests will almost always (and should almost always) function as healers when in a group. This is the role of a priest in a group.
5.4 How can I be a good healer when I'm the only healer in a group?
By "only healer" it is important to understand that I mean "only primary healer" in a group. Secondary healers should not be healing for the most part and should be playing to their own strengths.
It is important to be as invisible as possible. Stand back from the group so that you won't accidentally pull an enemy yourself (especially when going around corners) and so that if you ever have an enemy come after you there will be some time for you to cast Fade on yourself. Don't cast spells for the first five or so seconds of combat so that your aggro managers can start building up their threat. When you're getting used to being a healer on your first few instances, do not attack the enemies at all. It may feel awkward standing there and doing nothing, but conserving your mana and keeping your aggro down are very important.
When your companions start taking damage, your first course of action should be to cast Renew on them. Renew is an instant cast, meaning that you can cast it quickly and follow up with another spell or another companion if needed. Most importantly, though, is that is generates aggro as it heals, meaning that it takes 15 seconds for all of the aggro to hit your enemies. This makes it the "least noticable" of all of your heals which helps to keep you as invisible as possible.
If Renew isn't enough, and often it won't be, cast a Heal spell of some kind. The kind of heal you cast should depend on the situation. If only one companion is taking damage, then you might want to wait for his/her health to be around half and then heal it all with a Greater Heal spell. If many companions are taking damage then you would be better served by casting Flash Heal as quickly as possible.
Learning when best to use Prayer of Healing takes practice and experience. Roughly speaking, think of Prayer of Healing as the same as casting Flash Heal on everyone for the mana cost of a bit over two Flash Heals. If three or four companions (or, hopefully not, all of you) are taking significant damage, then this is the most mana efficient way to heal it. That said, this is also the spell that generates the most aggro of any healing spell, meaning that you might heal the entire party only to get yourself killed and, therefore, kill the entire party.
"Burst Heal" when possible. This means to cast a number of healing spells in a row to get everyone to full health and then stop for a while. This allows the five second rule to wear off and for your mana regeneration to kick in again. There are times when this is not possible, though often it will be. This practice is key for surviving long combats where you'll need all of the mana that you can get.
Use PW:Shield liberally on spell casters and as a last resort on others. For the same reason that PW:Sheild is excellent to use when soloing, it's excellent to cast on other spellcasters. That said, it is mana inefficient relative to your healing spells and since non-spellcasters don't cast about being interrupted it should only be used as a last resort. You should always cast this spell when someone gets to critical health if possible, another reason you don't want to cast it blindly on your aggro managers.
If you come under attack, you should always cast Fade as your first response. If that gets them off of you, then stand still for a few seconds to allow your aggro managers to build up their aggro on that enemy. If this doesn't work, then immediately call out "on me!" to your group to get the attention of your aggro managers. If you're not in immediate danger of dying then cast Renew on yourself instead of PW:Shield, but be ready with the shield if you need it. Whatever you do, do not run around like a chicken with its head cut off - this makes it next to impossible for an aggro manager to get to the enemy.
Given that you'll be standing back from the party, you'll be able to see if any new enemies join the fight. Call out "add" if you see a new enemy, or "inc" if you see an incoming patrol that hasn't hit yet. If you see an enemy start to run, try casting a spell/using your wand to kill it or Mind Flay (if you have the spell) to slow it. You'll also be in prime position to watch for enemy totems and remove them with your wand.
5.5 How can I be a good healer when there is more than one healer in a group?
When there are two or more primary healers in a group, there are generally two methods to handle healing.
The easiest method is to have a main healer and side healer(s). The main healer's job is to act as if he/she is the only healer in the group. The side healer(s) job(s) is (are) to function as a secondary damage dealing while keeping an eye on the main healer. When the main healer gets to around 25% mana or comes under attack, the side healer(s) switch gears and help with healing. While the side healer(s) is (are) dealing damage it is important to not use high aggro attacks (Mind Blast is right out) and to stay at above half mana.
Another method is to divide up who heals which companions, usually one healer taking the main aggro manager and another healer taking the other two (in the case of two healers). All healers will then have to deal some damage, but not attract too much attention or spend too much mana, and also heal their assigned companions. This can be a hard line to walk as it's often difficult to pay attention to enemies and multiple health bars at the same time. It's also important for each healer to also watch the mana of the other(s) and take over more of the healing if necessary. That said, with skilled healers this can be a very effective and flexible arrangement.
5.6 Can you give some specific spell casting orders to try out?
Look above for suggestions for when to use which spells. "Casting orders" genearlly don't apply to group situations.
5.7 My whole party just died - was it all my fault?
Many times, when a group dies, there is one person more responsible than others for that happening. Usually this happens when someone pulls too large a group of enemies at once, either intentionally or by accident. This person should rarely be a priest as a priest should neither be initiating combat nor be at the front of the group. There are times in which no one is really to blame because, say, a runner escaped from combat just long enough to pull the next group of enemies. These are just two examples the two most common reasons for group death. In neither case is a priest to blame (or to be blamed more than everyone else in the group).
However, there are times in which a priest is to blame. I'll admit to being a side healer and not paying enough attention to the main healer's mana, and when that ran out our main tank died and the rest of us followed soon after. I'll also admit to burning through my mana too quickly by healing when it wasn't truly needed and not having the healing when we needed it most. I've made lots more mistakes than this, many of which I'm too embarrassed to write about here, and I know that the reason for the group dying was my fault.
Overall, generally priests get blamed more often than they should because it's very easy for someone to say "I died because you didn't heal me, that's your job, you didn't do your job." Usually that misses the real reason why the group died. Sometimes, though, it will by your fault, and the best thing for you do to is to own up to it and apologize.
5.8 How do I know if I'm "good enough" or "great" in a group?
As with soloing, there is no way to answer this question, and it's much harder to come up with guidelines similar to the ones with soloing for being in a group. Sometimes having to ressurect for or five times in an instance is doing well, sometimes it's doing poorly. My best answer, as unsatisfying as it may be, is that when your other four companions say "Wow, I thought we were totally dead with that pull..." you're a great healer.
5.9 What I'm not saying...
I want to be very clear about something here: I am not saying that priests should only heal in every single group that they are in and never do anything else. There are many situations in which priests will function as damage dealers or even aggro managers depending upon the size of the group and the classes of your companions. Experienced priests are, and have to be, flexible and adaptable. The above is intended to be taken as general commentary for most situations, and in that regard I believe that it is accurate.
Section 6 -- Introduction to Talents
6.1 What are "talents"?
Talents are abilities that improve various aspects of your priest, from increasing the potency of certain spells, unlocking new spells, affecting maximum mana or mana regeneration, and much more. Talents are a way for you to be able to do new things or for you to make what you do better.
6.2 When do I get talent points and how do I get more?
You get your first talent point at level 10 and you get one talent point every level thereafter. This gives you a total of 51 talent points at level 60.
6.3 Why can't I get the talent I want?
There are two restrictions on what talents you are allowed to put talents in. The first restriction is the "tiering" system of talents. Each talent tree has seven tiers of talents, the first tier being on the very top when you look at the tree and the seventh tier being at the very bottom. The second tier requires that five talent points already be in that tree, and each tier beyond the second requires another five talent points in that tree.
The second restriction is that some talents have other talents as prerequisites. You have to have the maximum number of talent points in the prerequisite talent before you are able to have access to the talent you desire.
6.4 I don't like my talent build; can I get a new one?
Yes, you are able to unlearn your talents and allocate them differently. This process is often referred to as "respeccing." To do this, talk to a priest trainer and select "I want to unlearn my talents." The first time you do this the cost is 1 gold, for the second time 5 gold, and then +5 gold each time up to a maximum of 50 gold for your eleventh and future unlearnings.
There are some talents that unlock spells, such as "Mind Flay" and "Holy Fire." When you unlearn your talents you lose all training you had in these spells. If you had Mind Flay at Rank 4 before unlearning your talents, for example, you'll have to buy Ranks 2-4 over again even if you immediately put a talent point back into Mind Flay.
6.5 What is a "talent calculator" and where can I find one?
Section 7 -- Discipline Talents
Please note that all talent descriptions refer to having the full number of talent points possible in that talent.
Tier 1
Unbreakable Will
5/5 Increases your chance to resist Stun, Fear, and Silence effects by 15%.
There are very few talents, items, etc. that provide defense against Stun, Fear, and Silence effects. This talent is one of them. All three of these effects can mean death for a priest when soloing, and can mean death of the entire party in an instance. If you choose to invest any points in the Discipline tree you have to choose between one of the two first tier talents in this tree, and Unbreakable Will is a talent that will always be useful in any situation.
Silent Resolve
5/5 Reduces the threat generated by your damage spells by -20%.
This talent is more flexible than its equivalent in the Shadow tree, Shadow Affinity, applying to any damage spells at the small cost of reducing aggro by -20% instead of -25%, meaning that this talent would be approriate for a Holy-focused priest while also being useful to a Shadow-focused priest who wants to split into the Disciple tree. This being said, this talent is not that versatile overall... When soloing this talent does not assist you at all, and if you are acting as a healer in a group then this talent doesn't reduce aggro caused by your heals.
Tier 2
Wand Specialization
5/5 Increases your damage with Wands by 25%.
The primary way for a priest to effectively deal damage is through spellcasting. Wands are a useful way to deal ranged damage without costing any mana, though wands will always be significantly below the damage that you can cause through spellcasting. At level 30 (just to pick a level), Mind Flay deals 42 dps, Mind Blast deals 116 dps, and Smite deals 63 dps (without any talents affecting this damage). Most wands usable by a level 30 priest are in the 25-30 dps range. With the 25% extra damage the wand damage becomes 31.25-37.5 dps, still below any of the dps of the three spells listed, meaning that the overall damage output of your priest will not be affected at all.
Martyrdom
2/2 Gives you a 100% chance to gain the Focused Casting effect that lasts for 6 seconds after being the victim of a critical strike. The Focused Casting effect prevents you from losing casting time when taking damage.
This is definintely a talent that you don't want to have to use, but when you do you'll be glad that you have it at your disposal. Martyrdom will often be most useful when soloing as you shouldn't be taking too many hits when you're in a group, and probably most effective when soloing two (or more) enemies at a time when it can be quite difficult to cast any non-instant spell. The six-second window allows you to heal yourself without interruption and to cast one or two offensive spells (to hopefully put one attacker to rest). It can take some time to be aware of when this talent kicks in and how to use it to its greatest effect, and expecting it to kick in when it doesn't can lead to very unpleasant results.
Improved Power Word: Shield
3/3 Reduces the duration of your Power World Shield's Weakened Soul effect by -15.0 sec.
PW:Shield is one of the few true "life savers" in the game, being able to provide immediate relief to either yourself or a companion. It also allows you or a fellow spell caster to cast heals or offensive spells without interruption, perhaps giving you the time you need to save yourself or an ally, or to finish off an enemy and remove an immediate danger. The only drawback to the spell, however, is the 30 second cooldown between castings. Under heavy fire the a shield can easily fall in half that time, if not sooner. This talent provides you with a signficantly greater number of opportunities to fight without spell interruption or to save a companion at the last minute.
Improved Power Word: Fortitude
2/2 Increases the effect of your Power Word: Fortitude and Prayer of Fortitude spells by 30%.
This talent can provide either a small amount or a great amount of added heatlth, anywhere from 20 health extra for yourself from +30% to a +8 Stamina PW:Fortitude up to 800 extra health for your party from +30% to five castings of the highest rank PW:Fortitude. (Recall that +1 Stamina = +10 health.) In loose terms it seems that the +30% to PW:Fortitude can be translated into roughly being able to take one extra hit, perhaps two hits for mail/plate wearers. In a tight situation, the extra hit can mean the difference between getting a heal off or you/your companion dying.
Tier 3
Focused Casting
1/1 While active, you no longer lose casting time from taking damage. Lasts 8 seconds.
The benefits of Martyrdom without having to wait for an enemy to get a critical strike against you, and it lasts a bit longer as a bonus. This talent is generally more useful in situations where you are fighting one-on-one, where the chance of your opponent gettinga critical strike against you is smaller than when fighting multiple enemies, or when you accidentally draw the attention of a large number of opponents and you need to be able to cast without interruption well before you want any of them to get a critical strike against you.
Mental Agility
5/5 Reduces the mana cost of your instant cast spells by -10%.
Before evalutating this talent, let's list the spells that are affected by it: Vampiric Embrace, PW:Fortitude, SW:Pain, PW:Shield, Renew, Fade, Inner Fire, Cure Disease, Psychic Scream, Dispel Magic, Silence, Mind Flay, Mind Vision, Shadow Protection, Abolish Disease, Levitate, Holy Nova, Divine Spirit, and Prayer of Fortitude, and both of your racial spells (unless you're a Troll, in which case only one is an instant cast). Of the 21 spells listed (the 19 listed plus your two racial spells, unless you're a Troll), perhaps 12 of them plus one or two of your racial spells (depending on race) will be used while actively engaged in combat. You'll notice some core combat spells covered by this talent (Renew, PW:Shield, SW:Pain, Fade, Mind Flay for Shadow priests) and also some core spells left out (Mind Blast, Smite, Flash Heal, Prayer of Healing). The value of this talent depends, moreso than most, on your play style and what spells you tend to use the most.
Tier 4
Improved Inner Fire
3/3 Increases the effects of your Inner Fire spell by 45%.
The amount off damage that your armor absorbs depends greatly on your equipment, what level you are, and what other buffs you have active. Assuming that Inner Fire is your only armor buff, the added effect from this talent will usually gives you no more than +5% damage absorption and even that is at the outer limits. The bonus to your attack power is also highly dependent on equipment, level, and other buffs, though roughly speaking the added effect from this talent usually gives you no more than a few dps.
Mental Strength
5/5 Increases your maximum Mana by 10%.
When it comes to playing a spellcaster of any kind, your effectiveness often boils down to the size of your mana pool. No matter what your play style is, the added mana will always provide you with the ability to cast one or two more spells in combat (depending on the spell's mana cost and your mana pool). There really isn't that much more to say.
Improved Mana Burn
2/2 Reduces the casting time of your Mana Burn spell by -0.5 sec.
The normal casting time of Mana Burn is 3.0 seconds with this talent bringing that down to 2.5 seconds. Mana Burn is a possibly the best spell for draining mana from an opponent, draining mana roughly twice as fast as a Warlock's Drain Mana spell (though they get to keep what they drain) and dealing physical damager while a Hunter's Viper Sting does not (though the Hunter's sting is "fire and forget", leaving the Hunter free to perform other actions). When soloing computer enemies is seems just as easy to kill them outright as it does to drain their mana, and in an instance this spell by itself is usually not strong enough to cripple an enemy spellcaster. However, in an instance with a Priest, Warlock, or Hunter to aid you in draining mana the results can be devastating. This talent seems to be most effective in PvP situations where your opponents will be using their mana in a very skilled, deadly fashion and you want to make sure that they have none of it to work with. For PvP, the -0.5 seconds of casting time can give you enough time to PW:Shield an ally who comes under heavy fire during the cast and might even make the difference for whether or not your Mana Burn goes off before an enemy priest's does.
Tier 5
Meditation
5/5 Allows 15% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting.
If one side of the coin for priests is how big their mana pools are, then the other side of the coin is how quickly they can replenish their mana. Skilled priests can work around the five second rule somewhat both when soloing and when in groups, though there are occasions when holding off on healing can be deadly and having long periods of back-to-back casting with breaks smaller than five seconds is unavoidable. This talent can provide a needed edge to be able to provide healing for just that much longer to turn the tide in a battle. Depending on your level (and, therefore, the mana costs of your spells) and your Spirit (and the amount of +Spirit equipment you have), 15% of your regeneration may or may not seem like that much. This talent is most useful when combined with another way to regenerate mana while casting, such as a few pieces of "+X mana every Y sec." equipment or a Paladin's Blessing of Wisdom, as together they can provide a consistent and significant supply of mana.
Inner Focus
1/1 When activated, reduces the Mana cost of your next spell by -100% and increases its critical effect chance by 25% if it is capable of a critical effect.
This talent is an excellent last ditch effort to keep either yourself or your party alive when you're out of mana and your party is hanging on by a thread, or to be able to cast a costly spell for free and keep your mana in reserve to react to a combat as it unfolds. Unless time is a very pressing issue, it's often best to pair this talent with a high mana cost spell such as Prayer of Healing or Greater Heal (or possibly even a Mind Control depending on how much crowd control is needed). The +25% critical effect is less useful than it might seem as there are a number of priest spells that are unable to have a critical effect and there seems to currently be an issue with +% critical effect powers not working on healing spells.
Tier 6
Force of Will
5/5 Increases your spell damage by 5% and the critical strike chance of your offensive spells by 5%.
A talent that might seem out of place given that Discipline spells generally don't deal damage, though it helps some with keeping the damage up for a priest heavy committed to the Discipline tree. That said, for a priest with the same number of talent points other trees, a Shadow priest can have +25% damage and a Holy priest can have +5% critical strike, +10% Smite damage, and -0.5 sec. casting time to Smite and Holy Fire (the -0.5 sec. casting time for Smite is effectively a +25% increase in the dps of Smite).
Tier 7
Divine Spirit
1/1 Holy power infuses the target, increasing their Spirit by 23 for 30 minutes.
The added sprit translates roughly to +5.7 mana and +2.5 health every two seconds. Keep in mind, though, that the mana regeneration still has to take the five second rule into account and that health does not regenerate during combat (unless you are a Troll, in which case your regeneration is at a highly reduced rate). This talent unlocks the first rank of the Divine Spirit spell and you can purchase two more powerful ranks of the spell as you gain levels. The third rank of this spell (the highest possible) gives a bonus of 35 Spirit, which is +8.7 mana and +3.9 health every two seconds. If you take the highest rank of this spell and combine it with Meditation, the result is the equivalent of about a "+3.3 mana every 5 sec." piece of equipment while casting.
Section 8 -- Holy Talents
Please note that all talent descriptions refer to having the full number of talent points possible in that talent.
Tier 1
Improved Renew
5/5 Increases the amounted healed by your Renew spell by 15%.
Renew is a core healing spell for both soloing and grouping being an instant cast that doesn't generate any "up front" aggro because it heals over time. This talent, combined with "Spiritual Healing" and "Mental Agility" (from the Discipline talent tree), takes a maximum rank Renew spell from healing 2.22 health per mana to healing 3.08 health per mana, a jump of 36% in mana efficiency. This is a huge gain and will add great value to any healer's arsenal.
Holy Specialization
5/5 Increases the critical effect chance of your Holy spells by 5%.
If you are going into the Holy talent tree for bonuses healing spells, it is important to note that Renew does not have any chance of getting a critical effect and that PW:Shield is a Discipline spell and, therefore, does not get this increase. This talent will be useful for increasing any "Heal" spell (Flash Heal, etc.) and Prayer of Healing, so there is still some value to be gained from it. Sometimes a critical heal at the right time, especially with Prayer of Healing, can make a huge difference, and other times you'll go through prolonged fights with very few (if any) criticals to your heals. This talent does aid with Smite and Holy Fire, meaning that you can use it offensively to boost your overall dps in addition to using it to supplement your healing spells.
Tier 2
Spiritual Healing
5/5 Increases the amount healed by your healing spells by 10%.
The priest's main role in any group is to be an effective and efficient healer. This talent makes all of your healing spells more potent. There isn't much more that can be said about this talent.
Improved Smite
5/5 Increases the damage of your Smite spell by 10%
Any priest investing heavily into Holy talents will most likely be using Smite and his/her primary damage spell. This talent increases the overall damage dealt by Smite, which translates into a faster and more effective priest for soloing. That said, if you are investing moderately in Holy talents for the benefits to healing, then this talent will probably not complement your overall talent build as much at other talents would.
Tier 3
Holy Fire
1/1 Consumes the enemy in flames that cause 89 to 113 Fire damage and an additional 35 Fire damage over 10 seconds.
The main damage spell for Holy priests is Smite, and taking this talent unlocks another Holy damage spell to add to your spellbook. You can get this talent first at level 20 and at level 22 get Smite Rank 4 which deals 91 to 105 damage. Holy Fire deals slightly more damage on average and deals some damage over time, making it a good spell to pull enemies with. Holy Fire has a cooldown of fifteen seconds, making it possible to cast another one or two times during combat, but given the casting time four seconds you probably wouldn't want to. Holy Fire continues to be slightly more damage than Smite as you learn further ranks over time.
Inspiration
5/5 Increases your target's armor by 25% for 15 seconds after getting a critical effect from your Flash Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, or Prayer of Healing spell.
A 25% bonus to the armor of your tank duirng a combat can give you a bit of needed breathing room during a harrowing fight as your tank will probably be wearing mail or plate. This talent relies on critical effects of your healing spells, meaning that it isn't very predictable. It also isn't very effective on cloth-wearers or even leather-wearers as the added armor bonus isn't going to be very signifciant.
Subtlety
5/5 Reduces the threat generated by your healing spells by 20%.
An effective group is built upon its ability to control aggro and to keep the enemies focused on the aggro managers and not on anyone else, especially not on the healers. This talents helps you stay invisible to the enemies as you heal your companions, meaning that you can focus on the health bars of others instead of your own. Subtlety also makes it easier for aggro managers to do their jobs as they have one less party member to worry about suddenly coming under attack. It is still quite possible to generate enough threat with this talent to have enemies focus on you, though it's significantly less likely to happen.
Tier 4
Improved Healing
5/5 Reduces the Mana cost of your Lesser Heal, Heal, and Greater Heal spells by -15%.
First, keep in mind that you are only going to be using one of these spells at any point in your priestly career, meaning that the bonus to three spells is slightly deceptive. That said, these are the most mana efficient healing spells (for healing a single target) and this talent significantly improves that already considerable efficiency. A maximum rank Greater Heal spell heals 2.64 health per mana and this talent, combined with "Spiritual Healing", turns that into 3.42 health per mana, a jump of 29.5% mana efficiency. If your tank is taking a nasty beating, this talent can help you keep your tank up that much longer. If you tend not to use these spells that often (often relying more on Flash Heal) then this talent will not be of much value to you.
Improved Flash Heal
2/2 Gives you a 70% chance of avoiding interruption casued by damage while casting Flash Heal.
Flash Heal is the spell you turn to when you or a companion absolutely needs health now as Renew is too slow and PW:Shield may still be cooling down. Many times this will happen when you are taking hits, and this talent allows you to continue functioning effectively as a healer while also taking fire. When in instances you might find yourself Flash Healing yourself while you're taking the hits, but you'll be able to keep yourself alive and give your aggro managers time to get the enemies off of you. When soloing this spell makes taking on multiple enemies at a time significantly easier as you'll be able to better maintain your health.
Tier 5
Divine Fury
5/5 Reduces the casting time of your Smite and Holy Fire spells by -0.5 sec.
This talent is an excellent choice for Holy priests to increase their overall damage output. The normal casting time of Smite is 2.5 seconds, meaning that this talent translates into -20% casting time, which then translates into +25% damage-per-second. You'll be going through your mana faster as you'll be casting more Smite spells, though you can choose to control that by consciously using your weapons/wand to supplement spell damage. The casting time decrease for Holy Fire isn't that significant as a 4.5 second casting time on an attack spell is increidbly long for anything other than pulling enemies.
Improved Prayer of Healing
2/2 Reduces the Mana cost of your Prayer of Healing spell by -20%.
If at least three of your companions are wounded, then Prayer of Healing is the most mana efficient (and time efficient, for that matter) spell to get your party's health back up. This talent makes it even more efficient. Assuming that you've got three wounded party members, a maximum rank Prayer of Healing heals 2.81 health per mana and this talent, combined with "Spiritual Healing", turns that into 3.87 health per mana 37.7% increase in mana efficiency. This is a huge increase in your effectiveness in coping with large combats or "area of effect" damage.
Spirit of Redemption
1/1 Upon death, summons a Spirit of Redemption that heals nearby friendly targets for 318 to 360 and another 343 over 21 seconds.
You can think of this talent as being a weak Flash Heal and a weak Renew on all of your companions when you die. Feelings on this talent tend to be mixed. The argument for it is that this talent can keep the rest of the party going long enough near the end of a combat to avoid a complete wipe when the healer dies. The argument against is that rarely will the healer die unless things are going very, very wrong and a last ditch heal spell won't change that. Both positions have merit, and you'll have to decide for yourself whether or not you think that this will come in useful overall.
Tier 6
Master Healer
5/5 Reduces the casting time of your Heal and Greater Heal spells by -0.5.
Greater Heal is the best healing spell for getting your tank's health topped off while he/she is taking massive damage. The only downside to the spell is the 4.0 second casting time as it's very easy for your tank to die when you're just about to finish casting the spell. This talent may seem somewhat ineffective as 3.5 seconds is still a long time for a heal spell, but the extra half second can easily make the difference between deciding to cast Greater Heal or playing it safe with two or three Flash Heals.
Tier 7
Holy Nova
1/1 Causes an explosion of holy light around the caster, causing 112 to 130 Holy damage to all enemy targets within 10 yards and healing all party members within 10 yards for 182 to 210. These effects cause no threat.
Holy Nova is an instant cast area of effect attack spell unlocked by this talent, and you can purchase later ranks of this spell as you gain levels. It's effectively a weak "Smite" and "Flash Heal" to everyone close by. You can get this talent first at level 40, and comparing it to other area of effect attack spells at level 40 (the closest in style being the Mage's Arcane Explosion which deals 139 to 151 damage) Holy Fire deals slightly less damage and is less mana efficient, you do get the healing benefit and don't generate any threat. It can be difficult to gauge the 10 yard range effectively, and with the one minute cooldown you'll have to make every casting count.
Section 9 -- Shadow Talents
Please note that all talent descriptions refer to having the full number of talent points possible in that talent.
Tier 1
Spirit Tap
5/5 Gives you a 100% 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.
This talent is an excellent way to reduce downtime while soloing and avoid spending much money purchasing drinks for yourself. However, where this talent really shines is when you're fighting two-on-one against you (or worse) or get an unexpected add. Keeping the damage going against the enemies while also having to keep your own health up will quickly run through your mana and after you manage to kill one of your opponents you may find yourself unable to stick it out with the second. Spirit Tap, however, gives you that 15 seconds of mana regeneration that can be just enough to win the battle. (Note that while killing other players in PvP does not give your experience, you can still gain the benefit from Spirit Tap if your opponent is at least "green" to you.)
Spirit Tap is not without its limitations, however: you must deal the killing blow in order for Spirit Tap to activate. This makes it less useful in groups when you will be dealing (on average) significantly less damage than your companions and will in all likelihood not get the killing blow. This becomes more and more likely as your level increases as the need for you to focus fulling on healing increases. Also, the higher in level you get the more focused on instances you often become as well, which makes this limitation on Spirit Tap stand out even more. It seems to be not uncommon for 50+ level priests to change their talent build and swap out Spirit Tap in favor of Blackout because of this.
Blackout
5/5 Gives your Shadow damage spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
The usefulness of this talent tends to depend on how much PvP you engage in. Most priests who focus on PvE tend to prefer Spirit Tap to Blackout when selecting first tier talents because of the downtime reduction. Many priets who focus on PvP prefer this talent becomes much more valuable as other players are generally much more dangerous than computer enemies, meaning that stunning them benefits you much more than stunning a computer enemy, and the issue of downtime isn't really an issue for PvP situations. As noted above, it's not uncommon for veteran priests to swap out Spirit Tap for Blackout later in their careers.
Tier 2
Shadow Affinity
5/5 Reduces the threat generated by your Shadow spells by -25%.
Most priests tend to find this talent of minimal value. If you are soloing then the talent doesn't help you because threat isn't an issue. If you are in a group then chances are that you are focusing on healing and this talent doesn't affect aggro generated by healing. The only situation in which this talent would be of use is if you were a side healer and were dealing out some damage, though often in that situation you should be able to keep your threat low enough to not attract too much attention.
Improved Shadow Word: Pain
2/2 Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 6.0 sec.
This talent does not make SW:Pain weaker by spreading out the same amount of damage over a longer period of time. What it does is add two "ticks" to the spell. SW:Pain at Rank 4 (just to pick one) deals out 234 damage over 18 seconds and does so in the form of six 3-second "ticks", dealing out 39 damage every 3 seconds. This talent would make the spell deal out this damage eight times instead of six (two extra 3-second "ticks" worth), dealing a total of 312 damage over 24 seconds.
Often the 18 second duration of SW:Pain isn't enough to run through a full combat when soloing, meaning that you either have to do without the added damage or have to spend the mana on a second casting of the spell. With this talent it's much more likely to run the full course of a fight and aid you when/if you switch from spells to weapons/wand to finish off your opponent. This talent also makes SW:Pain slightly better at preventing runners as the two extra ticks sometimes is enough to kill the running enemy.
Shadow Focus
5/5 Reduces your target's chance to resist your Shadow spells by 10%.
One of the greatest hurdles for a spellcaster to overcome is the resistance of his/her enemies. It's often significantly more difficult for a spellcaster to take on an enemy two or more levels above him/her because of the increased resistance from the level difference. This talent makes it much easier for you to damage enemies at a higher level than you, increasing your overall effectiveness in both soloing and in PvP situations. Also for PvP, this talent is a significant counter to enemy priests' Shadow Protection spell and enemy paladins' Shadow Resistance aura.
Tier 3
Improved Psychic Scream
2/2 Reduces the cooldown of your Psychic Scream spell by -4.0 sec.
Similarly to Blackout, this talent has a different value depending on whether or not you focus on PvE or PvP. Psychic Scream is an excellent spell and something that experienced priests use somewhat regularly in PvE, though the four second cooldown for PvE usually doesn't add that much value as one casting is usually enough. In PvP, however, this talent can make a huge difference. Psychic Scream is one of the reasons why Shadow Priests are so feared in PvP situations, especially in group situations where priests can use this spell to send an enemy party into disarray. Regardless of whether or not you focus on PvE or PvP, however, this talent is often taken if you are investing heavily in the Shadow tree as it is a prerequisite for the Silence talent.
Improved Mind Blast
5/5 Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by -2.5 sec.
Mind Blast is the best damage spell that priests have when it comes to damage-per-second and one of the two core spells for every Shadow Priest. This talent lets you cast Mind Blast significantly faster, leaving only 5.5 seconds gaps between castings instead of 8.0 second gaps, which translates into a significantly higher overall dps.
Mind Flay
1/1 Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 75 Shadow damage over 3 deconds and slowing the target to 50% of their movement speed.
Mind Flay is the most efficient damage spell priests have access to in terms of damage dealt vs. mana spent. Mind Flay is a good follow up to Mind Blast/Smite when pulling an enemy as it will increase the time it takes for the enemy to reach you. Mind Flay with Psychic Scream makes for a highly effecitve combination, slowing down the enemy when feared to keep the enemy in range of your spells and then slowing down the enemy on his run back to you. Mind Flay is also the best priest spell for dealing with runners as it slows their movement by 50%. It's also a good choice for dealing damage with in a group as it doesn't generate too much aggro and the channeling can be interrupted to cast a heal if necessary. (Note that this talent gives you access to the first rank of the Mind Flay spell. As you level you will be given the opportunity to purchase higher ranks of the spell that deal more damage just as with other spells.)
Tier 4
Improved Fade
2/2 Increases the duration of your Fade ability by 10.0 sec.
Fade is a key spell that every priest uses to help the party manage aggro effectively. It's a fast and safe way to get aggro off of you, possibly the fastest and safest way that priests have to do so. (The reason I'm emphasizing "safe" is because casting Psychic Scream gets enemies off of you but only the great risk of pulling neighboring mobs in an instance, meaning that the "solution" can easily be worse than the problem.) Sometimes the normal 10 seconds duration of Fade is enough to get things under control, but sometimes not. This can happen when your party is fighting enemies of a high level as the aggro managers can miss/be resisted and your heals won't be. The extra 10 seconds can be a life saver.
Shadow Reach
3/3 Increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 20%.
If the best offensive talents are ones that directly increase your damage-per-second, then the second best ones are those that increase your flexibility in dealing out damage. This talent falls squarely into that second category. With the added range, pulling an enemy with Mind Blast, following up with SW:Pain, and then getting a full Mind Flay off before the enemy even takes a swing at you is quite doable. The added four yards to Mind Flay also makes the Psychic Scream/Mind Flay combination that much easier to pull off, and it also makes catching runners in an instance that much easier as well.
Tier 5
Silence
1/1 Silences the target, preventing them from casting spells for 5 seconds.
Enemy healer trying to heal himself/herself? Enemy caster dealing out a great deal of damage? Then Silence is your answer. Regardless of whether or not you focus on PvE or PvP, this talent can have significant value for you. The main criticism against this talent is that it "only lasts five seconds." If that is your feeling, try counting to five slowly in instances before you start healing your companions. Five seconds doesn't sound like that long, but when you're in the middle of heated combat it can make all the difference.
Shadow Weaving
5/5 Your Shadow damage spells have a 100% 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.
While it might take a few spells to get going at full strength, this talent is an excellent way to increase your overall damage-per-second in any combat with a possible +15% damage (by having the effect stack five times), and getting up to +15% with five damage spells isn't as difficult as it might seem. This talent affects any Shadow damage dealt to the target, so in the event that you're traveling with a Warlock, for example, Shadow Weaving increases your party's overall dps by that much more.
Vampiric Embrace
1/1 Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow damage you deal for 60 seconds.
This talent gives you the great ability to deal out damage and heal you and your party at the same time. This can be highly useful when soloing and when you're a side healer and want to take the edge off of the main healer. The drawback is that this spell causes a great deal of aggro because you're effectively casting damage spells and a low powered Prayer of Healing spell at the same time, meaning that you've got to manage two sources of aggro at the same time. Using this in conjunction with Mind Blast generates a huge amount of threat. This can be controlled with practice, and this drawback doesn't come up at all when soloing.
Tier 6
Darkness
5/5 Increases your Shadow spell damage by 10%.
This talent lets you deal 10% more overall damage. If you're this heavily invested in the Shadow tree then you've already committed to dealing out larger and larger amounts of damage (especially since Shadow Weaving is a prerequisite for Darkness), in which case your damage-per-second is genearlly how you measure your progress.
Tier 7
Shadowform
1/1 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.
There are definite drawbacks to being in Shadowform, the most obvious and significant being the inability to heal yourself and others. This can get you killed in the wrong situation, and if you're the party's healer then you're not going to want to spend that much time (if any) in Shadowform. That said, one talent point for +15% to Shadow damage is the best trade off that priests will ever get in terms of increasing overall damage-per-second. While Shadowform may have its definitely drawbacks in a group, it is of great use when soloing, especially when combined with Vampiric Embrace.
Section 10 -- Talent Builds
10.1 What talents are the best; what talent tree is the best?
There is no good answer to this question other than to say that every talent has its uses in certain situations. Experimenting with different talents is the best way to discover which talents will work best with your play style. Similarly, you can find many threads on this forum with the titles of "shadow vs. holy priest" or "discipline priests are great" when it comes to deciding what talent tree is the best. I think that, more than anything else, the continued discussions and arguments about what talent tree is the best shows that Blizzard has done a great job about balancing the talent trees against each other.
If you absolutely must have an answer to what talents are the best, I'll refer you to an excellent priest guide at http://wow.whispre.com/files/priest_guide_v1.0.htm that has, amongst a great variety of other useful information, rankings for each talent.
10.2 Is it best to put everything into one talent tree, into two, or into all three?
Similarly to the above, there is no good answer to this question. You'll have to decide for yourself if speccializing in one talent tree or combining the benefits of different talent trees is the best for your playstyle. Good sole-builds, dual-builds, |
- FAQ 
