CIHC
That One OG
I am working on updatting this guide, due to the new forum layout we are experiencing problems with the old [item] tags, rest assured I'll get this updated. Until then, I advise having wowhead open to view items in this guide.
Glossary
A) Introduction
i) The Priest
ii) Your Trees
i) Horde
ii) Alliance
C) Gear
i) Top to Bottom (enchants too)
ii) Weapons (2 handed)
iii) Weapons (MH / OH)
D) Professions
i) Skinning
ii) Herb
iii) Mining
iv) Engineering
E) Misc...
i) Do I need Hit Rating?!
ii) Gear setups / Armories
iii) Last Moment Thoughts
F) Macros
G) Useful Links!
H) Giving Credit
Introduction
The Priest
The priest is the master of healing and preservation, restoring his wounded allies, shielding them in battle and even resurrecting his fallen comrades from death. While he has a variety of protective and enhancement spells to bolster his allies, the priest can also wreak terrible vengeance on his enemies, using the grand powers of the Holy Light to smite and purge them or the devastating powers of the shadow to decimate their minds. The priest is a diverse and powerful class, highly desirable in any group and capable of fulfilling multiple roles.
The priest is perhaps the best healing class in the game with a surprisingly strong damage potential as well (should the player choose to enhance this aspect of the class). Their ability to heal and buff allies, avoid aggro, dispel buffs on enemies, dispel debuffs on their allies, and resurrect fallen comrades makes them an important member of any group, whether it's PvP or PvE. Due to this, priests are one of the most highly sought after classes for any group.
Your Trees and Specs
Now with the introduction of Cata, all three trees have been divided into a more simple, easier to handle spec setup. You get 6 talent points, use them to your advantage.
Holy
If you plan on being a good healer. I advise using this holy spec or this one. The first spec listed basically will pump out as much healing as you can possibly due no matter what your gear is, all while keeping the survivability of your sexy self up by having Desperate Prayer, which will instantly give you 30% of you max health back with a two minute cool-down. The second spec I have listed allows one to cast heals as fast as possibly while maintaining the same survivability as the first spec. As a Holy Priest, you get to Chastise you enemies, disorienting them for 3 while doing minor damage to them. You also get two passive abilities, one being Spiritual Healing, which increases all healing done by you by 15%, and Meditation which allows you to Regenerate more mana (50% to be exact) during combat.
All and All; I find this -the best- spec for survivability and healing while playing a priest.
Disc
Now onto Disc... Some priests like to run around in Disc. I do not suggest this because; it limits your survivability abilities... Nevertheless; I highly advise using either this or, this. The first one isn't the best, because it reduces all spell damage taken by you by 2% while Inner Fire is active. The second one reduces the CD of your Power Word Shield by 2 seconds, which is nice for spamming bubble around. As a Disc priest, you get Penance, which allows you to send 3 or so balls of healing light at your ally to heal them, or to damage your enemy. You also get Enlightenment which increases your Intellect by 15%, and Meditation which allows you to Regenerate more mana (50% to be exact) during combat. Another spec I see disc priests running around with is this. notoriousthf has also posted a good spec for when running around as a disc priest.
All and All; I find this to be a good runner up for being a healing priest. My personal preference is Holy though.
Shadow
Now, in all honesty Shadow -is complete shit- and Disc would be more viable due to the burst damage, healing, support and just all around survivability it provides you as a priest with. If you do choose shadow, you almost completely remove yourself from healing just do to straight DPS. When using Shadow, I highly suggest This spec because it gives you as much haste as possible, your DoT as much bang for your buck, and your half of your spirit becomes hit rating... Not to bad for a shadow priest. You also get abilities such as Mind Flay, which slows you enemy as you hit them with it, and shadow orbs, which double the damage done by crits. However; some other notable specs to take a look at are this and this. The first one reduces the CD of your fear my 2 seconds while the other reduces the cast time of your mind blast by .5 seconds.
All and All; this is a interesting tree to try out, but I wouldn't use it for anything more than testing or some kicks.
Races
As always, you have two main factions, horde and alliance, and these main factions have certain races which makes them unique and powerful in their own way. Let me start explaining with the Alliance.
:Alliance: The Alliance :Alliance:
I'm just going to make this very short and sweet to save everyone from a long read.
Humans - Your possibly the best Offensive and Defensive race for the Alliance as a priest. As a human, you have two main abilities that separate you from the rest. You have Every Man For Himself, which is your ability to get out of -every- snare and loss of control imaginable, with only a 2 minute cooldown (beating every Insignia by 3 minutes). In Addition, you have The Human Spirit, which gives you 3% more spirit than every other race, further boosting your mana regeneration in and outside of combat.
Night Elves - Not necessarily the best, but certainly not the worst race to be for a healer. Shadowmeld allows you to drop out of sight, this interrupts your enemies casting if they have you targeted. This is also a great way to get focus off of you and onto another near by player, or to get them to avoid you completely. Nature Resistance allows you to be immune to Druid's abilities and Snares, very good for when chasing down an EFC while playing the roll as an Offensive Healer.
Dwarfs - Not what I'd call best, but when you run into those pesky Frost Mages, your Frost Resistance racial will come in handy, reducing damage and even resisting those snares like no tomorrow! You also have Stoneform which removes all poison, disease and bleed effects and reduces all damage taken by 10% for 8 sec. Very nice indeed for when you want to take a little less damage when being the Energency FC.
Gnomes - Being short really isn't a downfall when some people might actually over-look you. Not to mention, some players even find it hard to target smaller players. In addition to being short; you have Arcane Resistance which protects you from those pesky Arcane Mages and some Druid Abilities. Who hasn't been polymorphed at a bad time? Engineering Specialization which increases engineering by an additional 15, this allows you to create items such as [item]Discombobulator Ray[/item] which is -extremely- helpful in a lot of situations! Escape Artist is a weaker version of Every Man For Himself. Escaping from those nasty immobilization or movement speed reduction effects. And last but not least; Expansive Mind to give yourself 5% more intellect, which in-turn allows you to have a bigger mana pool to spam heals, bubbles and DoTs until you hit 0.
Draenei - Being a tall looking squid-thing with hooves for feet isn't always a bad thing! Gift of the Naaru heals you over-time much like Renew does with a 3 minute cool-down. Heroic Presence gives 1% bonus hit rating to yourself, so you don't need to fully worry about missing , and finally your own Shadow Resistance to upset the masses of Warlocks by making their DoTs hit like a feather and making their Fear go away.
Worgen - Once again, arguably the best race for Offensive and Defensive Priest. Aberration gives you a taste of both worlds when it comes to resistance. Druids and Warlocks a-like will have to think twice before casting fear or a snare on you because; you just might be immune to it. Darkflight is like a Rogue's Sprint, enough said... And Viciousness to give your heals a 1% more chance to crit for a bigger heal on your allies!
All and All - Humans and Worgens are generally thought of as Best races for playing a Priest. However; its all a matter of how you look at it. No one is forcing you to be either of those races
:Horde: The Horde! :Horde:
Like Above, I'm going to try to keep this relatively short...
Troll - No, not an internet troll, the good kind of troll that has Berserking. Berserking allows you to cast you heals 20% faster. Da Voodoo Shuffle is not just a dance, but a passive ability you get that reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15% and of course Regeneration to keep yourself alive by regenerating 10% more of your health out of combat, and 10% in combat.
Undead - Ever get hungry during the middle of a battle while your health was low? Just find a near by corpse and Cannibalize that dead man! By Cannibalizing you regenerate 7% of total health and mana every 2 sec for 10 sec. Only works on Humanoid or Undead corpses within 5 yds. Sadly movement, action, or damage taken while Cannibalizing will cancel the effect. You also get Shadow Resistance to upset and cause a fuss with the Warlocks by being immune to their fear and reducing their damage done by DoTs. And then Will of The Forsaken, some say its the horde counter-part of Every Man For Himself, this ability when used removes any Charm, Fear and Sleep effect. Unfortunately, this shares a 30 sec cooldown with other similar effects.
Tauren - Being a tall drink of water isn't really a down-fall. As a Tauren you get Endurance which gives you 5% more health, great for when being on O or on D. Nature Resistance to say good bye and so long to those druid snares and of course War Stomp to put a small damper in your enemies step by stunning them for 2 seconds.
Blood Elf - Arguably the best Offensive and Defensive race for the horde as a priest. Arcane Torrent restores 6% of your mana, while silencing anyone within 8 yards of you for 2 seconds and Arcane Resistance to upset those pesky Arcane Mages with their silly Polymorph!
Goblin - Being a short, mean little green thing isn't as bad as you think. Pack Hobgoblin can be quite handy when you run out of a certain consumable in your bags, just summon him when your in a safe spot. Take out what you need and be on your marry way! Rocket Barrage for dealing a little bit more damage, but as a Priest, you'd be more interested in the Rocket Jump. This launches you from one spot, to a few yards in front of you. This can be quite handy when getting out of a tight squeeze. Finally, you get an additional 1% haste with your Time is Money racial ability, good for getting that last minute heal off!
All and All - Blood Elves, Undead and Goblins are generally considered Best for Priests. Once again, no one is forcing you to roll any of these races, feel free to pick one you like.
Armor (BiS to Decent)
Head
-----
[item]Tattered Dreadmist Mask[/item] >[item]Lucky Fishing Hat[/item] >[item]Green Tinted Goggles[/item] / [item]Shadow Goggles[/item] > [item]Keeshan's Bandana[/item] :Alliance:
Enchants - None
Neck
------
[item]Thick Bronze Necklace[/item] / [item]Voice Amplification Modulator[/item]
Enchants - None
Shoulder
--------
[item]Tattered Dreadmist Mantle[/item] > [item]Exquisite Sunderseer Mantle[/item] >[item]Feline Mantle[/item]
Enchants - None
Cloak
--------
[item]Spidersilk Drape[/item] >[item]Tumultuous Cloak[/item] of the Sorcerer > [item]Tumultuous Cloak[/item] of the Elder >[item]Tumultuous Cloak[/item] of Stamina
Enchants - I personally believe +5 all resistances is best. However; people will argue that 10 Shadow Resistance trumps +5 all. A notable enchantment is +70 armor.
Chest
--------
[item]Tattered Dreadmist Robe[/item] > [item]Anacondra's Robe[/item > [Robes of Arugal]
Enchants - +4 to all stats is recommended, however if your lacking a little health slap +100 hp on it.
Bracers
--------
[item]Mindthrust Bracer[/item] > [item]Crystalline Cuffs[/item]
Enchants - Its advised you go with +15 SP, if needed, go with +9 stamina if you have more than 200 SP with BoAs, if you have less than 150 without, use +15 sp. Another enchantment that could be useful could be mp5. Another notable enchantment is +7 intellect.
Trinkets
---------
[item]Arena Grand Master[/item] > [item]Insignia of the Alliance[/item] (Horde and BoA Equivalent) > [item]Minor Recombobulator[/item] (Engineering Only) > [item]Swift Hand of Justice[/item] / [item]Discerning Eye of the Beast[/item]
Rings
---------
[item]Seal of Argas[/item] > [item]Garrosh's Pardon[/item] > [item]Lorekeeper's Ring[/item] / [item]Advisor's Ring[/item] [Lavishly Jeweled Ring] > [item]Bronze Band of Force[/item]
Boots
---------
[item]Spidersilk Boots[/item] > [item]Merger Boots[/item]
Enchant - Minor Speed, period. Other notable enchants are +7 stamina.
Pants
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[item]Tattered Dreadmist Leggings[/item] > [item]Godfrey's Britches[/item] > [item]Darkweave Breeches[/item]
Enchant - 24 Leg Armor.
Belt
-------
[item]Enumerated Wrap[/item] of the Sorcerer > [item]Enumerated Wrap[/item] of Vision > [item]Enumerated Wrap[/item] of Stamina >[item]Keller's Girdle[/item]
Gloves
-------
[item]Serpent Gloves[/item] > [item]Gold-flecked Gloves[/item]
Enchant - +16 spell power or minor haste. Once again, if your over 200 SP with BoAs I advise minor haste. If your under 150 SP without BoAs I suggest +16 SP. Another considerable enchantment for your gloves as a Shadow Priest would be +20 Shadow Power.
Weapons (Staffs / MH + OH / Wands)
Staffs
------
[item]Grand Staff of Jordan[/item] /[item]Dignified Headmaster's Charge[/item] > [item]Twisted Chanter's Staff[/item] > [item]Emberstone Staff[/item] > [item]Advisor's Gnarled Staff[/item] / [item]Lorekeeper's Staff[/item]
Enchants - +22 int, period.
Main Hand
-----------
[item]Devout Aurastone Hammer[/item] > [item]The Blessed Hammer of Grace[/item] >[item]Dawnblade[/item]
Enchants - +30 SP or +22 Intellect depending on how much mana and spell power you have. Generally as a priest you need a good 2,000 mana and anywhere from 160 - 200 SP with BoAs, 150 - 160 SP without.
Off-Hands
-----------
[item]Furbolg Medicine Pouch[/item] > [item]Eerie Stable Lantern[/item] > [item]Mystic Tome[/item] > [item]Pulsating Hydra Heart[/item] > [item]Antipodean Rod[/item] > [item]Grayson's Torch[/item]
Wands
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[item]Wind Rider Wand[/item] > [item]Firebelcher[/item] > [item]Durak's Wand[/item] :Horde: > [item]Banshee Rod[/item] of the Sun > [item]Banshee Rod[/item] of the Moon
For wands, if your horde its all a matter of "Gee, do I -really- need to sacrifice one stamina and one intellect for +2 hit rating? For me; the answer is yes if you aren't atleast around 4 - 8 for hit rating as a holy or disc priest, and if your not capped as a shadow priest. For the Alliance, its a matter of "Do I want 3 stam and 3 int, or do I want +1 spirit or +1 crit." The better choice in my opinion is the 3/3 wand because 1 crit rating really isn't worth the lack of mana and health you receive from the Firebelcher
Professions
Skinning - This will basically give you 3% additional crit, I can see a shadow priest picking this up for the extra oomph that your passive abilities give you. But as a holy priest... I really don't see it to much of a viable profession... Maybe a disc priest could find this handy due to the extra 15% int which they recieve from specing in disc.... But thats maybe....
All and all, skinning should be ranked 3 or 4 on priority for healing priests and possibly 2 - 3 as a shadow priest.
Herb - Being a hippie will give you access to a small heal, along with 55 haste rating. This is an extremely useful and helpful profession no matter what class you are, and "The Best" twinkers will tell you that. This profession as a healing priest will send your heals like a firework into the air during the 4th of July. As a Shadow Priest, this significantly increases the cast time of your Mind Blast, Smite, Holy Fire, and Mind Flay abilities, you can't go wrong with this profession.
All and all, Herb should be ranked 1 - 2 as a healing and a shadow priest
Mining - Mining will give you access to an additional 7 stamina, which in-turn gives you 70 more health points. Some people may turn this away at first because; its a situational profession. In all honesty, if you have 4 hunters pumping arrows into you, 70 health really won't make much of a difference. However; if your fighting against a rogue, you may like the additional stamina.
All and All, mining should be ranked 2 - 4 as a healing and a shadow priest
Engineering - This is perhaps one of the most unique and interesting professions you as a twink can have. You can create bombs and such to stun your enemies for a few seconds. This could make or break the game, depending on the situation. In example; if your on defense healing your FC and you need just a few seconds for O to return the flag. Lob one of these and then cast fear. That should give you roughly 5 or so seconds to do whatever you need. The same goes for a shadow priest. If your being raped by a rogue, lob one of these, get some distance and cast Mind Flay, if they get to close again, cast fear and go to down throwing down DPS.
All and All, Engineering should be ranked 1 - 3 for a healing priest as well as a shadow priest
Misc...
So, one of the main questions that Holy Priests have is do I need hit rating... And obviously the answer is yes. With Bind on Account gear, you should have no problem getting close enough to the cap where your Chastise ability will not miss with the GSoJ. If you don't feel like running around with a staff and have the need to Chastise things without gimping your stats. Minor Accuracy potions are always there for a reason. However; if one feels the need to "get close to the hit cap". Here are a few items to assist you without using BoAs.
[Lavishly Jeweled Ring]
[item]Hovel Digger Bands[/item]
[item]Slippers of Unturned Loyalties[/item]
[item]Ablution Slippers[/item]
[item]Joanna's Sash[/item]
[item]Elixir of Minor Accuracy[/item]
This next paragraph will show you the most effective way to get to hit cap (or really close to it) without using GSoJ and gimping your stats to hell would be using the [item]Spidersilk Drape[/item] and [Lavishly Jeweled Ring] togeather with the [item]Wind Rider Wand[/item] or [item]Suppressor's Wand[/item]. To get roughly 10 or 11 hit rating.
Armories / WoWHead Profiles
Now, as listed below I was going to post some armories of good Holy, Disc and Shadow Priests... Please realize that in no way shape or form am I saying these characters or players are better than any other priest. I just happened to pull them out of a hat and posted them here so new players who wanted to roll a priest could get an idea of how to gear their priest.
Holy
--------------
Draenei Priest
Undead
Goblin
Troll
Disc
--------------
Human
Nelf
Belf
Belf 2
Shadow
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Blood Elf
Night Elf
Last Minute Thoughts on Comments
As for last moment thoughts and comments I have for anyone wanting to roll a priest with or without BoAs. You are the life-line for your team. They are heavily dependent on you for heals and support. If you feel that a roll of just running around, following your team mates on O or D while casting heals, trying to avoid getting Counter-Spelled by Mages is your cup of tea then feel free to roll any other class. However; I always try something once and seem to like it. With that in mind, priests are heavily sought after for premades and even in PuGs. Keep in mind though, that if your play defense and your FC dies, your likely to get yelled at even if you didn't do anything wrong. Keep in mind that the opposing faction will try to target you and take you down first, seeing as your the one who can mean the difference between a successful zerg and a unsuccessful one. This is playing the roll of a healer of course.
If your playing the roll of a shadow priest, keep in mind that you still may be targeted first; out of the simple mind set of "Its a healer if its a priest!". However; this isn't quite the case anymore with the new shadow tree's talents and abilities. I do highly suggest you get as close to hit capped as possible and stack either haste or crit to your liking. A shadow priest as a passive ability that doubles normal crit-strike damage. If you can get off a few consecutive crits like a hunter can. You can kill someone fairly fast. Crit Rating would be seen more of a glass cannon stat while as Haste would be seen more as a survivability stat. Also as stated above. If your a priest, shadow or not. You should have around 1.4k hp, 2k mana, and 200 SP with BoAs or 150 SP without BoAs at bare minimum. Thats why I do not suggest Shadow as a viable spec without the GSoJ. Try to pick up haste rating satchel gear (i.e - belt and cloak) if you are going to roll a shadow priest. Your DoTs will tick faster, giving other players a smaller time frame to get a heal from a bandage.
A fun little fact for you - If you are any other race but human, I highly advise keeping either a second AGM or a BoA Trinket when your Insignia is on cool-down. It beats having a useless trinket for 5 minutes. I personally do not see either Shadow or Disc as a viable PvP spec, however in this guide I have not shied away from the fact that it is there and players do use these specs. If you feel the need to use these specs, feel free too.
If you are still wondering how much HP and MP you need, let me break it down really simple for you.
HP: 1.3k - 1.4k unbuffed, fully geared
MP: 1.9 - 2.1k unbuffed, fully geared
SP: 150 - 160 no BoAs, 190 - 210 BoAs, fully geared
Hit Rating: Holy Priest - 4 - 8, Shadow - Capped, Disc - 4 - 8.
These stats above will provide the best all around stats for everything, without really gimping anything.
Macros Macros Macros!
Mouseover SWP
/cast [target=mouseover] Shadow Word: Pain; Shadow Word: Pain
Mouseover Chastise
/cast [target=mouseover] Holy Word: Chastise; Holy Word: Chastise
Mouseover Minor Recombobulator
/use [target=mouseover] 14(2nd trinket slot)
Focus Chastise
/cast [target=focus] Holy Word: Chastise
Focus Bubble / Renew
/Cast Sequence
/cast [Target=focus] Power Word: Shield
/cast Renew
Insignia CD Replacement Trinket
/equip (name of trinket) 14(2nd trinket slot)
Useful Links
In this last section, I plan on posting several links, to several off and other topics, to further boost and benefit you playing a healer / dps while being a Priest. Sort of a "I know you might need this, here it is encase you want it", type of bit.
The list of level 19 Consumables
The -Main Topic- of Hit Rating
The "Twink Dictionary"
note - more links will be added and I will attempt to keep this post as up to date as I can.
Giving Credit
1) WoWWiki For "The Priest" Details
2) WoWHead For the several item links
3) Previous Threads made about Priests that weren't complete or fully together
4) You the Reader
special thanks to tryiapriest3 and Penicillin for giving me some more information on details on the ways of the shadow priest. As well as some extra items to throw into the hit rating section. Also wanted to give thanks to the twinkinfo staff and community for the wsg consumables, hit rating and the twink dictionary links.
