Priest
| Classes | 
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting a | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| PvE | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| PvP | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Tactics | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Class races | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Abilities | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Trainers | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Talents | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Glyphs | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Talent builds | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Armor sets | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
| Useful macros | DK | Dr | Hu | Ma | Mo | Pa | Pr | Ro | Sh | Wl | Wr |
Contents |
- For the Warcraft III unit, see Priest (Warcraft III).
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 the most versatile 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.
Background
Priests practice a complex, organized form of spirituality built around moral philosophy, the worship of a particular deity (such as Elune) in some cases, and/or idol worship, rather than around the reverence of the elements that shamans practice, or the close divine connection with animals and the wilderness that druids maintain. Priests serve not only as influential religious figures in their respective societies, but also as powerful practitioners of divine magic, which they use to heal and protect, or harm and weaken.
Devotion to the faiths of Azeroth leads many priests to the paths of courage and heroism. In dark times, priests carry the Light of faith with them as a reminder of the powerful forces at work beyond the comprehension of the peoples who walk the land. Powerful healers with an intimate connection to the divine, priests are empowered with abilities that aid them in times of dire need.[1]
Priests comprise quite a varied group in Azeroth. A female priest is called a "priestess". Many are followers, in some manner, of the Holy Light. Some priests choose to be pyremasters or High Priest, while some of the most experienced become epic priests. There are also racial restrictions to some titles, such as witch doctor for trolls and Priestess of the Moon for night elf females.
History
The Clerics of Northshire were human priests who served the kingdom of Stormwind during the First War. The clerics served as healers on the battlefield, but were ill-prepared for the hazards of combat, and thus suffered heavy casualties. This order was largely destroyed, and the Second War saw fragile priests replaced on the battlefield by armored paladins, the Knights of the Silver Hand — established by the clerics' leader Archbishop Alonsus Faol and his apprentice Uther the Lightbringer.
During events of the Third War, despite the high elves' official departure from the Alliance, some elves still remained true to their former human and dwarven allies. The altruistic priests of Quel'Thalas refused to abandon their roles as healers and agreed to remain in Lordaeron despite the edicts from their reclusive masters in Silvermoon. The high elven priests used their Light-given powers to heal the wounded and bolster the spirits of Lordaeron’s fighting elite. A holy field medic, these padres roam the battlefield curing the wounds of fallen comrades.
Forsaken priests
Forsaken who once followed the tenets of the Holy Light altered their philosophy upon their transformation. Forsaken have abandoned religion, just as they believe it abandoned them. Lost and hurt, these priests founded a new religion based on a self-centered version of their former faith. Dubbed the Forgotten Shadow, this philosophy centers around self-empowerment and a desire to balance life with death. While they can no longer use the Holy Light, and have since learned how to use the shadow; the priests teach that there must be a balance between light and shadow, and members must learn the Light as well, but never forget they were born from the shadow.
Troll priests
The troll priesthoods are, much like the shamans and the witch doctors of the various troll tribes, spiritual advisers and caretakers. With trolls being naturally superstitious and spiritual, it allows the various troll priests to manipulate the spiritual energy of the world in order to either heal or harm their targets. The various energies that the troll priests draw can come from various sources, be it Loa spirits, voodoo magic or the target itself. Drawing upon these energies, the troll priests either mend or harm, depending on which blessing the spiritual entity bestows. Arguably, in World of Warcraft, troll priests can be considered witch doctors in a cultural perspective, in equal terms with the shamans.
Tauren priests
With the arrival of Cataclysm priests are now a playable class for the tauren. These priests are known as "seers" and use the power of An'she, the sun, in their spells just as tauren paladins, named the Sunwalkers, do. This is similar to how night elven priests use the power of the moon through their goddess, Elune, instead of through the Holy Light. There have been tauren seers before the arrival of the Cataclysm, but their path has now either been enhanced with new magic or revitalised by new blood. Tahu Sagewind has become the leading tauren priest.
Gnome priests
|
This article or section includes speculation, observations or opinions possibly supported by lore or by Blizzard officials. It should not be taken as representing official lore.
|
The gnomes have had an interest in the Light since they joined the Alliance, but they were so focused on technology and, later, the retaking of Gnomeregan that studying the Light didn't feel necessary to them; the dwarven priests and paladins of Ironforge served as the only connection to the Light they needed. Now that the gnomes have reclaimed a foothold in Gnomeregan and begun rebuilding their culture outside of Ironforge, however, they've recognized the importance of having followers of the Light in their own ranks. In addition, researching new methods of purifying irradiated gnomes has led to radical advances in Light-based technology![2]
Notably, following the examples prior to Cataclysm, gnome priests seem to focus heavily on the divine's ability of healing, though more with the intention of practicing medicine rather than sorcery. Their usage of it is actually very similar to first aid, and gnome priests refer to themselves as doctors, medics, and surgeons[3][4]. As a result, although not confirmed, it is likely that they pay less attention to a priest's capability to control darker powers.
Notable priests
- Main article: List of priests
| Name | Role | Status | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
  Anduin Wrynn
|
Prince of Stormwind | Alive | Stormwind Keep,Stormwind City |
 Archbishop Alonsus Faol
|
Former Leader of the Church of Light | Deceased | Faol's Rest, Tirisfal Glades |
 Archbishop Benedictus
|
Former Leader of the Church of Light | Deceased | Dragon Soul |
  Zabra Hexx
|
Priest | Alive | Unknown |
 Iridi
|
Priestess | Deceased | Buried in Outland |
  High Priestess Ishanah
|
Leader of the Aldor | Alive | Shrine of Unending Light, Shattrath City |
| Sen'jin
|
Former leader of the Darkspear tribe | Deceased | Unknown |
 Velen
|
Prophet of the Draenei | Alive | Vault of Lights, The Exodar |
 Tyrande Whisperwind
|
High priestess of Elune, Co-ruler of the Night Elves | Alive | Temple of the Moon, Darnassus |
Overview
Abilities
- Main article: Priest abilities
Priests bring a wide range of abilities to any party. Depending on their spec, priests may specialize in healing and protecting their allies, or dealing powerful shadow damage to their enemies. However, a priest's capabilities extend far beyond these roles. Priests can provide powerful health and Shadow resistance buffs, ward against fear, restore mana to their party and even dispel magical debuffs and diseases from their allies. They can crowd control and silence enemies, burn their opponents' mana and remove some of their most powerful buffs and immunities. They can defer aggro, soothe sentries and even pull heedless teammates out of the fire. Priests' innate power in manipulating others can allow them to see through the eyes of a distant target, or even dominate an opponent's mind, turning a foe into a friend, or sending them to their death at the bottom of a precipice.
Healing
Priests have a range of healing abilities. Discipline and Holy priests are natural masters of healing and protection, and have additional capabilities in these areas. While Shadow priests excel at wreaking havoc, they can still provide significant healing should the need arise, and can contribute a significant amount of passive healing to both themselves and their party.
Priests also have some unique options for combining healing and damage-dealing. Discipline priests with 
[Atonement] can heal through dealing damage with 
[Smite] and 
[Holy Fire], while Shadow priests' 
[Vampiric Embrace] allows them to effortlessly heal their entire raid for a percentage of their damage done.
Damage mitigation
As well as an array of healing options, priests can choose to shield their allies from damage. This pre-emptive approach to damage prevention allows for rapid and lifesaving intervention, but can require skill to correctly anticipate incoming damage. 
[Power Word: Shield] is the priest's signature shield, absorbing attacks directed at the target and preventing pushback. It can also be improved with numerous talents to offer many additional effects. While Discipline priests are the masters of damage absorption, Holy and Shadow priests are also capable of shielding themselves and their allies. Each spec also has a powerful damage-reduction cooldown.
Damage dealing
Priests have access to two schools of magic - Holy and Shadow - and can deal substantial amounts of damage from either. Priests have a number of direct damage options, as well as a few DoTs and specialties. Shadow priests are without doubt the most damage-oriented of priests, but Discipline priests with [Atonement] come a respectable second. Even healing priests can contribute some damage by summoning their temporary pet - the 
[Shadowfiend] - to attack enemies. Discipline priests can also use [Power Word: Shield] to reflect damage back upon their attackers with 
[Reflective Shield].
Utility
As well as their obvious capabilities in healing and dealing damage, priests also have access to a range of utility spells, many of which are unique to the priest class. Priest utility spells range from buffs and dispels to aggro management and mana restoration, as well some other more unusual abilities.
Buffs
Priests can supply their allies with two powerful raid-wide buffs - 
[Power Word: Fortitude] and 
[Shadow Protection] - as well as limited fear protection through 
[Fear Ward]. Shadow priests can grant 
[Replenishment] and haste buffs to their party, while Holy and Discipline priests have a number of temporary buffs to grant to themselves or their allies.
Dispels
Priests are significantly capable dispellers. They can remove diseases and magical debuffs from themselves and their allies, and strip magical buffs and even immunities from their enemies. Holy priests with the 
[Body and Soul] talent can also self-cure poison effects. Discipline and Holy priests can generally consider dispelling to be their most important duty after healing, while Shadow priests are also capable of contributing if necessary, although limited by the lack of 
[Absolution].
Crowd control
Discipline and Holy priests have limited crowd control capabilities, while Shadow priests gain a number of powerful options. 
[Psychic Scream] is the priest's signature CC, instantly fearing up to 5 targets for 8 sec, while 
[Shackle Undead] offers a longer effect, mostly useful for PvE. Holy priests can use their 
[Holy Word: Chastise] to disorient or simply interrupt casters, while Shadow priests can silence, snare, paralyse and horrify their targets through a variety of spells.
Stats, weapons, and armor
- The most important stats for a priest are (depending on specialization): intellect, spirit, mastery, stamina, spell haste and spell crit.
- The priest can wield staffs, one-handed maces, wands, and daggers.
- The priest can only wear cloth armor. For details on set items that are useful for priests, see priest sets.
- Priest recommended enchantments
Races
- Main article: Priest races
The priest class can be played by the following races:
| Race | Strength | Agility | Stamina | Intellect | Spirit | Armor | Health | Mana | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
  Draenei 
|
21 | 17 | 20 | 22 | 25 | 34 | 52 | 160 |
| |
  Dwarf
|
25 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 32 | 62 | 145 |
| |
  Gnome 
|
15 | 23 | 19 | 25 | 23 | 51 | 51 | 205 |
| |
  Human
|
20 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 40 | 52 | 160 |
| |
  Night elf
|
16 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 48 | 52 | 160 |
| |
  Worgen
|
23 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 22 | 46 | 52 | 128 |
| / |
  Pandaren 
|
20 | 18 | 21 | 21 | 25 | 37 | 113 | 45 |
| |
  Blood elf
|
17 | 22 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 44 | 52 | 205 |
| |
  Undead
|
19 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 28 | 38 | 52 | 130 |
| |
  Goblin
|
17 | 22 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 33 | 52 | 205 |
| |
  Tauren
|
25 | 15 | 22 | 17 | 25 | 35 | 72 | 127 |
| |
  Troll
|
21 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 24 | 44 | 52 | 128 |
Specializations
- Main articles: Priest talents and Priest builds.
Discipline
The Discipline tree primarily focuses on damage mitigation through [Power Word: Shield], 
[Divine Aegis], and 
[Power Word: Barrier], with the mastery bonus, [Shield Discipline], improving [Power Word: Shield] and [Divine Aegis]. The priest receives 
[Penance] when choosing Discipline as their specialization, which is one of the fastest and most efficient single target heal spells in the game, with the bonus of being able to damage foes. The tree has strong cooldowns for emergency situations: 
[Pain Suppression] and 
[Power Infusion]. Discipline is the preferred spec for PvP, with the many absorption abilities giving the priest some "breathing room" when under attack. [Atonement] gives Discipline priests the unique ability to heal through the damaging spells [Smite] and [Holy Fire].
Holy
Holy priests are some of the most versatile healers, with a variety of tools to sustain their group. In comparison to the Discipline priest, the Holy priest focuses primarily on reactive healing rather than damage prevention, with their mastery giving healed targets a heal over time effect based on the initial heal. The priest receives [Holy Word: Chastise] when choosing Holy as their specialization. Holy priests have an instant area of effect 'smart' heal, 
[Circle of Healing], as well as bonuses to 
[Prayer of Healing] and 
[Renew]. 
[Guardian Spirit] is a very strong cooldown, being able to save someone from certain death. 
[Chakra] is what gives Holy priests their incredible versatility, allowing the priest to choose between substantial buffs to their direct healing, HoT and aoe healing, or even damage, while 
[Revelations] morphs Holy Word: Chastise into a different spell to complement the state the user is in. Holy priests can even heal from beyond the grave with 
[Spirit of Redemption] - for a limited time.
Shadow
The Shadow tree primarily enhances a priest's damage and gives the ability to enter 
[Shadowform], making the user purple and transparent. The priest receives 
[Mind Flay] when choosing Shadow as their specialization, a channeled spell that causes damage and slows the target to 50% of its movement speed. Shadow priests focus on using damage over time spells on their target, much like an Affliction warlock, with 
[Shadow Word: Death] functioning as an execute once the target is below 25%. Shadow Priests also have a chance to receive 
[Shadow Orbs] when dealing damage through 
[Shadow Word: Pain] or Mind Flay, increasing the damage caused by their 
[Mind Blast], 
[Mind Spike] and DoTs. [Vampiric Embrace] heals the priest and his group for a percentage of damage done. Apart from this heal, the priest will give other useful buffs to the raid, with 
[Vampiric Touch] providing [Replenishment] and Shadowform giving raid members a 5% haste increase. Between 
[Dispersion] and [Shadowfiend], Shadow priests have very good mana throughput, with the former doubling as a defensive cooldown and the latter as an offensive one. The PvP talents in the Shadow tree, such as 
[Silence], 
[Paralysis], [Improved Psychic Scream] and 
[Psychic Horror] increase survivability and crowd control capability.
Tactics
- Main article: Priest tactics
Priests are generally regarded as a tough class to play in PvP, but they are highly desired in groups as the best healer in the game and as a great utility class. They are very dependent on how their talent points are spent. Discipline priests are considered better off in PvP, while holy and shadow priests are highly desired for instancing and raiding. While the discipline and holy talent trees focus on making very strong healers, the shadow tree focuses on damage dealing, while restoring the party's health and mana at the same time.
Many players regard healing priests as being the jack-of-all-trades healing class due to the great diversity of healing spells at their disposal. This includes direct healing, healing over time, area of effect healing, and the ability to shield targets from damage. Due to this great diversity, a healing priest can heal any encounter, while the other healing classes may find it more difficult.
Healing priest tactics generally involve conserving mana while deciding the ideal time to heal. The player must decide which spell to use and at what time. Many priests use a tactic known as stopcasting. In this method, the priest will constantly use Greater Heal; however, if in the 2.5-second cast time the target never takes sufficient damage, the priest will cancel the heal before it goes off and begin recasting.
The goal of a shadow priest is to keep a series of spells with unique cool-downs and durations going constantly. A shadow priest must cycle through several direct damage, channeled, and damage over time spells. A shadow priest is unique in that [Vampiric Embrace] restores health to the priest's entire party, which is based upon the damage the priest deals. They can also help restore mana to up to 10 party or raid members through [Replenishment], which they trigger by using [Vampiric Touch] in conjunction with [Mind Blast]. A shadow priest, if talented, will also increase the effectiveness of all spell casters attacking the same target as the priest. These abilities make the shadow priest a great utility class while in instances and in raids.
End-game expectations
Though many priests found themselves originally pigeonholed into a single role in classic World of Warcraft, many are experiencing greater freedom in a post-Burning Crusade raiding environment. Priests are capable of filling both healing and damage dealing roles, depending on the priest's spec and the need of the raid. This flexibility is further aided by the increased debuff cap making it easier to allow multiple shadow priests to contribute without being detrimental to a raid.
End game healing
Healing priests are valued by many as proficient and skilled healers, capable of utilizing a variety of heals and numerous buffs that benefit raiders such as [Power Word: Fortitude], [Shadow Protection] and [Power Word: Shield]. [Power Word: Shield] can be further improved by spending points in the discipline tree for [Improved Power Word: Shield]. While sometimes considered by some to be mana inefficient when compared with other healing classes, the introduction of the [Shadowfiend] in the Burning Crusade allows a healing priest to regain a significant amount of mana used to continue healing while providing negligible damage against one target. The use of the talent 
[Lightwell] can allow raiders to regain health by accessing the conjured well, while [Spirit of Redemption] allows holy priests to continue casting healing spells on a raid for 15 seconds beyond death (21 seconds with 
[Glyph of Spirit of Redemption]) with no expense to mana.
Discipline priests' main strength lies in preventing damage. They cannot put out as much raw healing as holy priests can, however the strategy for discipline priests is quite different; they prefer to prevent damage where possible by shielding their allies from harm. Discipline priests are capable of healing multiple targets, but in a large group their role will usually be to keep the main tank alive. While healing priests do not possess the raid healing output of a druid or the tank healing capabilities of a holy paladin, priests are in fact incredibly proficient at both of these roles.
While holy priests collect spirit and haste stats, many discipline priests focus on high spell critical as well as haste.
End-game damage dealing
The strength and versatility of a shadow-specced priest has been recognized as an invaluable asset in both five mans and raids. A shadow priest is capable of contributing significant damage as well as providing a variety of buffs and debuffs that benefit the group as a whole. The [Vampiric Embrace] talent gives a portion of the shadow priest's single-target shadow damage as a group-wide heal that can aid in keeping the health of group members up; this can be especially helpful when grouped with a tank and warlocks who 
[Life Tap] frequently, as well as rogues and Feral druids performing melee damage.
Most importantly, [Vampiric Touch] benefits a caster or healer group by providing mana over the course of the fight. This is the primary reason to have a shadow priest in raids; to either provide the mana to healers during a healing-intensive fight, or to damage dealing casters in fights which focus on burst or constant area of effect damage, as well as to Paladin tanks who must use mana for their threat generating abilities.
These debuffs are an addition to the base priest [Power Word: Fortitude], [Shadow Protection], and [Power Word: Shield] buffs and can be improved by delving into the discipline tree for [Improved Power Word: Shield] and 
[Twin Disciplines]. In addition to providing significant damage and buffs, shadow priests have the flexibility to drop out of [Shadowform] and provide backup healing if the situation warrants it, though they typically suffer from the lack of points spent in the holy tree and reduced bonus healing from damage-oriented gear.
On the other hand, some DPS priests will go more into discipline and put some in either shadow, or holy to increase their damage even more. A DPS priest with discipline and shadow doesn't have the damage potential of a shadow priest with most talents into shadow, however, they will receive the boost to their group buffs, have a threat reducing move for others, and also have the potential to heal slightly to assist the healer when necessary.
A DPS priest with discipline and holy is much more versatile than one with shadow, the holy hybrid has a few key moves that can benefit him/herself and even make things a little easier (little in a rather small sense) for the healer. With the talents in holy, usually a priest will spend points in 
[Divine Fury] to reduce cast time of some of your offensive spells, and 
[Desperate Prayer]. The discipline DPS class isn't for everyone and can take a long time to master, but it is a fun and challenging class to play and some will enjoy it more than others.
Note
The priest prestige class was eliminated from the World of Warcraft RPG and replaced with the priest core class.[5]
Videos
!| Cataclysm Priest by TGN on YouTube | |
|---|---|
| Class Changes | DPS Rundown: Shadow |
See also
- Epic priest (lore)
- Starting a priest
- Priest quests
- Priest PvE guide
- Priest PvP guide
- Useful macros for priests
- Getting your first wand
References
- ^ World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, 70
- ^ Ask CDev - Round 1
- ^ "Doc" Cogspin
- ^ Chief Surgeon Gashweld
- ^ World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game Conversion Document, 1-2
External links
ShadowPriest.com A forum-based community of endgame players. The Holy Priest All interesting items, addons and tips for the priest The University of Michigan Press My Life as a Night Elf Priest, a book on Warcraft and the priest class. WoW Forums Official WoW Forums
WowInsider Spiritual Guidance — Priest weekly feature at WoW Insider. WowInsider Priest guides at WoW Insider.
Icy Veins Discipline, Holy, and Shadow Priest Raiding Guides (Cataclysm)
| |||||||||||
