By: Michael Crosato
Updated: 7/5/05

This article is intended for Priests built for healing (i.e. Raid Instances, 5 man instances and Group PvP). The first comparison is to directly compare different chest pieces.

Some questions that this article may answer are which piece of gear is better, how much better it is, and the benefits on intellect, spirit, +healing, +mana regen.

Your base stats for a level 60 Priest this includes no racial attributes such as The Human Spirit. The stats are as follows: 1386 Mana, 120 Intellect, and 125 Spirit. The priest will have no buffs on him at all.

5/5 in all talents which include: Metal Agility, Improved Renew, Spiritual Healing, Holy Specialization, Mental Strength and Meditation.

Formulas Used: Chance to critical on a given spell: +5% Base + Holy Specialization + Intellect*0.01 + Gear Bonuses.

Average heal of a given Spell: 0.25[Minimum Heal + Maximum Heal + (2 * +Healing Gear Bonus * Benefit from +Healing Gear)]*Spiritual Healing*(2 + Chance to Critical).

Full Regeneration [FR] State = Spirit * 0.125 + Mana Regen/5seconds.
This state occurs if you have not completed casting a spell for 5 seconds.

Regeneration during Casting [RDC] = Mediation * Spirit * 0.125 + Mana Regen/5 Seconds
This state occurs if you have completed casting a spell within the last 5 seconds.

Total Mana = Base Mana + Total Intellect * 15 + Time in RDC * RDC Rate + Time in FR * FR Rate.
This is how I come up with the mana total mana available to a priest during a given battle length.

Total HP produced from a given spell = Total mana * (Average Heal of a spell / Mana Cost of the Spell)

Mana Regeneration Rate: 1 Spirit = 0.125 mana/second

1 Intellect = 15 mana

Flash Heal Rank 7 [FHR7] benefits 43% of +Healing Bonus.
Greater Heal Rank 4 [GHR4] benefits 100% of +Healing Bonus.
Renew Rank 9 [RR9] benefits 100% over the 5 ticks.

The chest pieces we will be comparing are: Devout Robe, Mindsurge Robe, Robes of the Exalted, Truefaith Vestments, Robes of Prophecy, Robes of Transcendence, and Magister’s Robes.

The gear set the Priest has will be as follows: The Devout Set less the Chest piece and the Leggings, Spiritshroud Leggings, 2x Seals of Rivendare, Frostweaver Cape, 2x Mindtap Talisman, Tooth Gnarr, Staff Hale Magefire, Stormrager. Enchantments: +9 Intellect to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boots.

The gear stats totals + base total are: 359 Intellect, 306 Spirit, 22 Mana Regerated/5 seconds.

To show stats in different situations we will simulate different battle lengths. In each battle there will be two stats: Time in Full Regeneration [FR] state and Time in Regeneration During Casting [RDC] state. The Battles I will simulate are 60s in RDC, 60s in FR and 120s in RDC, 120s in FR and 180s in RDC.

A second number will always be listed next to the item being compared, it is a ratio compared to the Devout Robe. Greater than 1 is better, less than 1 is worse.

Battle 1: 60s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Name of Gear \ Total Mana \ Ratio

Magister's Robes 8611 \ 1.0127
Robes of Transcendence 8566 \ 1.0074
Robes of Prophecy 8555 \ 1.0061
Devout Robe 8503 \ 1.0000
Mindsurge Robe 8425 \ 0.9908
Robes of the Exalted 8185 \ 0.9626
Truefaith Vestments 8162 \ 0.9599

With not much time for FR and RDC to make up the difference in starting Intellect between chest pieces those who stated with the most intellect lead the way for this short battle.

Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Name of Gear \ Total HP Healed \ Ratio

Robes of Transcendence 23965 \ 1.0290
Robes of Prophecy 23685 \ 1.0169
Magister's Robes 23593 \ 1.0130
Devout Robe 23290 \ 1.0000
Robes of the Exalted 23136 \ 0.9934
Truefaith Vestments 23120 \ 0.9927
Mindsurge Robe 23064 \ 0.9903

High intellect and +healing bonus allow the Robes of Transcendence and Prophecy to over take the Magister's robes.

Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 31845 1.0250
Robes of Prophecy 31532 1.0150
Magister's Robes 31471 1.0130
Devout Robe 31067 \ 1.0000
Mindsurge Robe 30765 \ 0.9903
Robes of the Exalted 30692 0.9879
Truefaith Vestments 30646 0.9864

The same story as seen above with FHR7.

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Robes of Transcendence 27550 \ 1.0512
Truefaith Vestments 26972 \ 1.0291
Robes of Prophecy 26941 \ 1.0279
Robes of the Exalted 26923 \ 1.0273
Magister's Robes 26540 \ 1.0127
Devout Robe 26208 \ 1.0000
Mindsurge Robe 25967 \ 0.9908

Truefaith Vestments shows off its power with RR9. RR9 really benefits from its casting cost and benefit from +healing. Assuming that we know that the Transcendence and Prophecy should beat out the Devout Robe every time, it placed 4th in 3 categories, behind the Magister's Robe every time.

Battle 2: 60s in FR and 120s RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Robes of Transcendence 11963 \ 1.0141
Robes of Prophecy 11865 \ 1.0058
Mindsurge Robe 11829 \ 1.0027
Magister's Robes 11844 \ 1.0040
Devout Robe 11796 \ 1.0000
Truefaith Vestments 11470 \ 0.9723
Robes of the Exalted 11444 \ 0.9701

Interestingly we see the benefit of the Mana Regeneration/5 seconds with the Mindsurge Robe placing 3rd.

Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 33468 \ 1.0358
Robes of Prophecy 32849 \ 1.0167
Truefaith Vestments 32489 \ 1.0055
Magister's Robes 32450 \ 1.0043
Mindsurge Robe 32382 \ 1.0022
Robes of the Exalted 32347 \ 1.0011
Devout Robe 32310 \ 1.0000

Not a good showing for the Devout Robe placing last here. Truefaith vestments show that +healing can make up for the lack starting Intellect and Spirit.

Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 44472 \ 1.0319
Robes of Prophecy 43733 \ 1.0147
Magister's Robes 43286 \ 1.0043
Mindsurge Robe 43194 \ 1.0022
Devout Robe 43099 \ 1.0000
Truefaith Vestments 43065 \ 0.9992
Robes of the Exalted 42910 \ 0.9956

Here we see the Truefaith Vestments fall near the bottom here previous from being at the top with FHR7 in the mid-length battle. This is because of the high casting cost and high hp/mana efficiency that GHR7 has.

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Robes of Transcendence 38474 \ 1.0582
Truefaith Vestments 37902 \ 1.0424
Robes of the Exalted 37641 \ 1.0353
Robes of Prophecy 37366 \ 1.0277
Magister's Robes 36504 \ 1.0040
Mindsurge Robe 36458 \ 1.0027
Devout Robe 36358 \ 1.0000

Here for the first time we see the Robes of Prophecy fall to 4th place because of RR9 low casting cost, full benefit from +healing stats, +healing gear is really able to shine here.

The Devout Robe really didn't do well here. Magister's Robe and Mindsurge Robe were able to produce more healing in each category over the Devout Robe. The Truefaith Vestments and Robes of the Exalted were able to produce more HP in FHR7 and RR9.

Battle 3: 120s in FR and 180s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Robes of Transcendence 15359 \ 1.0179
Mindsurge Robe 15232 \ 1.0095
Robes of Prophecy 15176 \ 1.0057
Devout Robe 15089 \ 1.0000
Magister's Robes 15076 \ 0.9991
Truefaith Vestments 14778 \ 0.9793
Robes of the Exalted 14702 \ 0.9744

Mindsurge robe takes 2nd place here because of the power of its mana regen/5seconds and the Devout Robe is finally able to see the benefit of higher spirit over the Magister's Robes. We should also see the Magister's Robes stay at the bottom of the list in every other category simply because its only strength was its mana pool.

Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 42971 \ 1.0397
Robes of Prophecy 42014 \ 1.0166
Truefaith Vestments 41858 \ 1.0128
Mindsurge Robe 41700 \ 1.0089
Robes of the Exalted 41557 \ 1.0055
Devout Robe 41330 \ 1.0000
Magister's Robes 41307 \ 0.9995

Magister's on the bottom but not much separating it from the Devout a mere 23HP. The deeper mana pools allow you cast more spells, the more spells you cast the more benefit you will receive from +healing.

Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 57099 \ 1.0357
Robes of Prophecy 55935 \ 1.0146
Mindsurge Robe 55624 \ 1.0089
Truefaith Vestments 55484 \ 1.0064
Devout Robe 55130 \ 1.0000
Robes of the Exalted 55129 \ 1.0000
Magister's Robes 55100 \ 0.9995

Again we see +healing based gear drops a bit because of the relationship it has with GHR7. Of course, it you didn't have talents in Spiritual Healing or Improved Healing, the relationship with GHR7 and +healing would increase.

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Robes of Transcendence 49398 \ 1.0621
Truefaith Vestments 48832 \ 1.0500
Robes of the Exalted 48359 \ 1.0398
Robes of Prophecy 47791 \ 1.0276
Mindsurge Robe 46949 \ 1.0095
Devout Robe 46508 \ 1.0000
Magister's Robes 46468 \ 0.9991

Well in this long battle, the Devout Robe was finally able to show a superiority over the Magister's Robes, but got beaten by everything else.

With that being said, if you don't have your full devout set the Robes of the Exalted or Mindsurge Robes are much easier to get and out perform the Devout. However, if wouldn't run out and spend the money on the Truefaith Vestments over of the other gear listed. While, it does have it strength can you really justify several hundred G for 0-2% benefit in most situations.

The next set of data will replace the Spiritshroud Leggings with the Devout Leggings. Now with the Devout Robe gaining +55 healing lets see how well it fairs now.
Again, the chest pieces we will be comparing are: Devout Robe, Mindsurge Robe, Robes of the Exalted, Truefaith Vestments, Robes of Prophecy, Robes of Transcendence, and Magister’s Robes.
Devout Set less the Chest Piece, 2x Seals of Rivendare, Frostweaver Cape, 2x Mindtap Talisman, Tooth Gnarr, Staff Hale Magefire, Stormrager. Enchantments: +9 Intellect to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boots.
Gear Stat Totals + stat base (does not include the chest piece): 353 Intellect, 308 Spirit, 22 Mana Regenerated/5 Seconds.

Battle 1: 60s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle (Starting mana +FR mana + RDC mana):

Magister's Robes 8519 / 1.0127
Robes of Transcendence 8475 / 1.0074
Robes of Prophecy 8463 / 1.0061
Devout Robe 8412 / 1.0000
Mindsurge Robe 8333 / 0.9906
Robes of the Exalted 8094 / 0.9621
Truefaith Vestments 8071 / 0.9594

Again, starting mana wins the day for the Magister's Robe.

Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7 (Total mana * hp/mana of the given spell):

Robes of Transcendence 23703 / 1.0024
Devout Robe 23646 / 1.0000
Robes of Prophecy 23425 / 0.9906
Magister's Robes 23336 / 0.9868
Robes of the Exalted 22871 / 0.9672
Truefaith Vestments 22855 / 0.9665
Mindsurge Robe 22807 / 0.9645

Without +healing on the Magister's Robe we see it lose place quickly.

Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 31497 / 1.0033
Devout Robe 31392 / 1.0000
Robes of Prophecy 31187 / 0.9934
Magister's Robes 31128 / 0.9916
Mindsurge Robe 30423 / 0.9691
Robes of the Exalted 30341 / 0.9665
Truefaith Vestments 30295 / 0.9650

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Devout Robe 27336 / 1.0000
Robes of Transcendence 27256 / 0.9971
Truefaith Vestments 26670 / 0.9756
Robes of Prophecy 26653 / 0.9750
Robes of the Exalted 26622 / 0.9739
Magister's Robes 26259 / 0.9606
Mindsurge Robe 25686 / 0.9396

In total HP produced we see a fully devout set really shine from its +55 healing bonus, so much so even if you got your epic tier 1,2 sets you would be better off not wearing them until you got a 2nd or 3rd piece.

Battle 2: 60s in FR and 120s RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Robes of Transcendence 11932 / 1.0141
Robes of Prophecy 11834 / 1.0058
Magister's Robes 11812 / 1.0040
Mindsurge Robe 11797 / 1.0027
Devout Robe 11765 / 1.0000
Truefaith Vestments 11439 / 0.9722
Robes of the Exalted 11413 / 0.9700

Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 33372 / 1.0090
Devout Robe 33073 / 1.0000
Robes of Prophecy 32755 / 0.9903
Truefaith Vestments 32392 / 0.9794
Magister's Robes 32356 / 0.9783
Mindsurge Robe 32288 / 0.9762
Robes of the Exalted 32250 / 0.9751

Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 44345 / 1.0099
Devout Robe 43906 / 1.0000
Robes of Prophecy 43607 / 0.9931
Magister's Robes 43161 / 0.9830
Mindsurge Robe 43069 / 0.9809
Truefaith Vestments 42937 / 0.9779
Robes of the Exalted 42783 / 0.9744

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Robes of Transcendence 38375 / 1.0037
Devout Robe 38233 / 1.0000
Truefaith Vestments 37800 / 0.9886
Robes of the Exalted 37539 / 0.9818
Robes of Prophecy 37268 / 0.9747
Magister's Robes 36409 / 0.9522
Mindsurge Robe 36363 / 0.9510

With HP being produced in the mid-length battles the devout produces the 2nd most every time.

Battle 3: 120s in FR and 180s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Robes of Transcendence 15389 / 1.0178
Mindsurge Robe 15261 / 1.0094
Robes of Prophecy 15205 / 1.0057
Devout Robe 15119 / 1.0000
Magister's Robes 15105 / 0.9991
Truefaith Vestments 14807 / 0.9793
Robes of the Exalted 14732 / 0.9744

Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 43041 / 1.0127
Devout Robe 42500 / 1.0000
Robes of Prophecy 42084 / 0.9902
Truefaith Vestments 41930 / 0.9865
Mindsurge Robe 41769 / 0.9827
Robes of the Exalted 41629 / 0.9794
Magister's Robes 41376 / 0.9735

Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Robes of Transcendence 57192 / 1.0136
Devout Robe 56421 / 1.0000
Robes of Prophecy 56028 / 0.9930
Mindsurge Robe 55716 / 0.9875
Truefaith Vestments 55579 / 0.9850
Robes of the Exalted 55224 / 0.9787
Magister's Robes 55193 / 0.9782

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Robes of Transcendence 49493 / 1.0073
Devout Robe 49131 / 1.0000
Truefaith Vestments 48929 / 0.9959
Robes of the Exalted 48456 / 0.9862
Robes of Prophecy 47883 / 0.9746
Mindsurge Robe 47040 / 0.9574
Magister's Robes 46559 / 0.9476

Again the Devout produces the 2nd most every time here for HP output. So those of you who have a piece of prophecy and full devout, you may want to hold off on equipping it right away and losing you +55 healing set bonus.

We will now compare 4 gear sets to see how much the difference there is between them.

Devout Set: Devout Set, 2x Seals of Rivendare, Frostweaver Cape, 2x Mindtap Talisman, Tooth Gnarr, Staff Hale Magefire, Stormrager. Enchantments: +9 Intellect to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boots
Gear Stats + Base Stats: 377 Intellect, 308 Spirit, 22 mana regenerated/5 seconds, +Healing 55.


Prophecy Set: Prophecy Set, 2x Seals of Rivendare, Frostweaver Cape, 2x Mindtap Talisman, Tooth Gnarr, Amberseal Keeper, Stormrager. Enchantments: +55 Healing to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boots.

Gear Stats + Base Stats: 397 Intellect, 281 Spirit, 52 mana regenerated/5 seconds, +Healing 251.


Transcendence set: Transcendence set, Seal of the Archmagus, Seal of Rivendare, Sapphiron Drape, 2x Shard of the Scale, Choker of Enlightenment, Benediction, Stormrager. Enchantments: +55 Healing to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boots.

Gear Stats + Base Stats: 410 Intellect, 335 Spirit, 35 mana regenerated/5 seconds, +Healing 520.

Magister's Set: Magister's Set, 2x Seals of Rivendare, Frostweaver Cape, 2x Mindtap Talisman, Tooth Gnarr, Staff Hale Magefire, Stormrager. Enchantments: +9 Intellect to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boots.

Gear Stats + Base Stats: 420 Intellect, 267 Spirit, 30 mana regenerated/5 seconds, +Healing 0.

Mana Regen Set: Crown of the Penitent, Stormpike Sage Pendant, Diabolic Mantle, Archivist Cape of Owl, Mindsurge Robe, Whipvine Cord, Padres Trousers, Flarecore Wraps, Shadowy Laced Handwraps, Ring of Demonic Guile x 2, Mindtap Talisman x 2, Quel'dorai Channeling Rod, Mana Channeling Wand +4mana/5s.     Enchant: +9 Intellect to Staff, +8 Intellect to Head and Leggings, +7 Intellect to Bracer, +5 Spirit to Boot.

Gear Stats + Base Stats: 282 Intellect, 18 Spirit, 88 mana regenerated/5 seconds, +Healing 73.


Battle 1: 60s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Mana Regen Set 7887 / 0.9375
Devout Set 8412 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 9163 / 1.0892
Prophecy Set 9108 / 1.0827
Transcendence Set 9558 / 1.1362

No surprises here. Intellect shows it strength in the short battles. But we will not see any position juggling between Prophecy and Transcendence. They will always remain the 2nd and 1st best from here forward. The important thing to watch for is just how much better it is.


Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Mana Regen Set 22274 / 0.9419
Devout Set 23646 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 25142 / 1.0632
Prophecy Set 28257 / 1.1950
Transcendence Set 33267 / 1.4068

In the short battle we see the Prophecy has a 20% advantage and the Transcendence has double that at 40%. Here we see the Magister's set out perform the Devout Set simply from sheer intellect advantage.


Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Mana Regen Set 29525 / 0.9405
Devout Set 31392 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 33537 / 1.0683
Prophecy Set 36941 / 1.1767
Transcendence Set 42732 / 1.3612

Similar results from above.


Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Mana Regen Set 26063 / 0.9534
Devout Set 27336 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 28243 / 1.0331
Prophecy Set 35035 / 1.2816
Transcendence Set 44594 / 1.6313

The order remains consistent here. Magister's Set is superior during 60s RDC battles. This will mostly occur in 5 man instances exclusively. However, the extra mana would be useful in PvP duels.


Battle 2: 60s in FR and 120s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Mana Regen Set 11631 / 0.9886
Devout Set 11765 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 12295 / 1.0450
Prophecy Set 12874 / 1.0942
Transcendence Set 13760 / 1.1695

Again, no order change. The Magister's Set is able to hold position. The Prophecy and Transcendence Sets are able to increase their variance here as well.


Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Mana Regen Set 32846 / 0.9931
Devout Set 33073 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 33734 / 1.0199
Prophecy Set 39938 / 1.2075
Transcendence Set 47890 / 1.4480

Again, the variance is increasing with the Prophecy Set and Transcendence Set. In general the more mana one has, the more times a spell can benefit from +healing stats and this is why the variance continues to increase. It will be interesting to see how large the gap becomes with RR9 due to the strong relationship with +healing it has.


Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Mana Regen Set 43539 / 0.9916
Devout Set 43906 / 1.0000
Magister's Set 44998 / 1.0248
Prophecy Set 52211 / 1.2115
Transcendence Set 61516 / 1.4010


Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Mana Regen Set 38434 / 1.0142
Magister's Set 37895 / 0.9911
Devout Set 38233 / 1.0000
Prophecy Set 49517 / 1.2951
Transcendence Set 64196 / 1.6790

Finally, the mana pool was deep enough that the Devout set could pull ahead of the Magister's Set. Wow, look at the gap the Transcendence set has made 67%.


Battle 3: 120s in FR and 180s in RDC

Total mana available to the cast during the battle:

Devout Set 15119 / 1.0000
Mana Regen Set 15374 / 1.0168
Magister's Set 15426 / 1.0203
Prophecy Set 16639 / 1.1005
Transcendence Set 17962 / 1.1701


Total HP Available to be produced from FHR7:

Magister's Set 42326 / 0.9959
Devout Set 42500 / 1.0000
Mana Regen Set 43419 / 1.0216
Prophecy Set 51618 / 1.2145
Transcendence Set 62514 / 1.4709

The Devout Set over takes the Magister's Set but by a very small margin.


Total HP available to be produced from GHR7:

Devout Set 56421 / 1.0000
Mana Regen Set 57553 / 1.0200
Magister's Set 56459 / 1.0006
Prophecy Set 67480 / 1.1960
Transcendence Set 80300 / 1.4232

Here we see first hand that because of GHR7 superb hp/mana ratio that the Magister's Set is able to over take the Devout Set again but by a very small margin.

Total HP available to be produced from RR9:

Magister's Set 47547 / 0.9677
Devout Set 49131 / 1.0000
Mana Regen Set 50805 / 1.034
Prophecy Set 63999 / 1.3026
Transcendence Set 83798 / 1.7056

70%... now someone has to develop an actual strategy to abuse RR9 to its fullest. However, finding a situation where someone(s) simply renews the entire raid/party would be difficult.


Well, depending on how hard or long the battles are in Blackwing Lair we show the need for complete Prophecy Sets or not.

I'll be the first to say this. This isn't 100% right. It’s just to give a bit of insight to what the different gear can produce. There are various elements that I was too lazy to produce a formula for.

Resources used: http://wow.allakhazam.com/ (Gear information), http://www.thotbott.com/ (Gear information), http://www.wowhealers.com/content/view/167/50/ (Excellent Spirit vs. Intellect Article).