Ana wrote:INB4 "this is a leveling guide yadda yadda": I noticed. I would like to point out that if you're on the PvP realm (like 90% of Nost population), then yes, world PvP considerations ARE relevant to leveling. Because, you know, people will attack you during leveling. You can bend down and take it in the rear every time some angsty UD rogue decides to have some fun but that isn't very efficient leveling tbh.
As a pre-post note, the reason I don't want to talk about PvP in this guide is not because PvP doesn't happen while leveling, but because things like general PvP strategy, when to use what, etc, are things that ONLY relate to PvP; And, for that reason, they are excluded from my guide. But, I'll go ahead and cover each subject in relation to PvE
and PvP, since you seem so focused on it.
Ana wrote:...Should this translate to actual faster leveling depends on whether you have forced breaks between mobs (in which case a wanding priest will sit on full mana for no purpose while you simply kill shit faster) or you chain pull like crazy (in which case a wanding priest will never get exhausted from his turtle pace while you will need to drink sometimes).
Because you are casting spells like Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Flay, you'll never be at full mana. As long as you remain above 50%, and are hovering at around the same percentage of mana after each fight, it's fine. The point of not spamming spells is not to be
full mana, but to not be losing mana, i.e., never having to drink. Having to stop to drink is downtime, and the idea is to balance doing more DPS without having to sacrifice time by drinking.
Also, since you're so worried about PvP, having more mana is always beneficial. Can't do DPS if you have no mana. Dispelling, using Power Word: Shield on cooldown, and spamming Mind Flay non-stop in between Mind Blasting on cooldown... that all costs mana. No way you'll be able to do it if you're at 20% mana because you wanted to do more DPS while leveling.
Finally, since you were bringing up the idea of not having money to buy wands and a mount, maybe you could save some money by
not having to buy water. Unless you're sitting around in Orgrimmar asking a mage for some water every time you log in, you're going to spend a lot of money (and time) drinking every 2-3 mobs.
Ana wrote:Btw a good idea of a balance between cheap-but-tricky fearing and PWS may be to use PWS but downrank it like crazy. You only need to make sure the mob doesn't hit you for most of the fight.
This might actually be a good idea, as long as it doesn't break too soon. Reapplying Inner Fire costs mana, and taking damage means having to heal with Vampiric Embrace. If you only take enough damage for Spirit Tap to take care of, and don't have to reapply Inner Fire too often, it might be worth doing. However, I am still against the idea of using Psychic Scream as a form of damage reduction while leveling, and if making sure Power Word: Shield doesn't break by using Psychic Scream is the plan, then I'd rather just keep my Power Word: Shield at max rank and use that exclusively.
In regards to PvP, I'd imagine you'd be more open to the idea of saving Psychic Scream for when it's needed, e.g., when a player ganks you. Sure, most people can break it, but usually only once per fight, and a priest can either kill someone quick enough to not need it twice, or can survive long enough to use it more than once. While leveling, a rogue won't have the gear to do the insane burst you're likely imagining. Not because it's unlikely they'll have it, but because it's literally impossible to do that kind of damage without the gear (or spell ranks) only a level 60 can use. Even while leveling in Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes, level 60 rogues weren't able to kill me because they didn't do enough damage to even get through Power Word: Shield, unless they had Tier 2 or equivalent.
Maybe I fought bad rogues. Maybe I'm just really good. Maybe I was overgeared and they underestimated me, so I surprised them. Whatever the case, it happened consistently, and I wouldn't get very far if I didn't have my Psychic Scream ready.
Ana wrote:About factions. Well, I figured you were Horde when you said something along the lines of "if you need to heal in PvP, you're already dead"
That has nothing to do with my faction. I say that because most people will instantly break your Psychic Scream with a trinket, an ability, or their Undead racial. You shouldn't be casting healing spells while a player is hitting you, you should control them and heal without risking of being interrupted or knocked back; So when you Psychic Scream to heal, you're probably dead, because they'll break it, then interrupt you (if they can) and kill you; Or, you'll endlessly spend mana trying to heal the damage they deal instead of just killing them to stop the damage completely. Either way, you usually don't have time to be casting heals.
Power Word: Shield, although expensive, is very effective in PvP. Only against other priests and shamans does its usefulness fade, and even then, a global cooldown spent purging it from you is a global cooldown you get to spend killing them. At that point, it becomes a matter of whom is casting the right spells sooner.
Ana wrote:I'm not sure if you're aware, but should you play Alliance, then 90% of the gankers are going to be immune to the only form of CC you have (for the first minute of the fight anyway). If you really think you can take a pounding from some dps class for a minute without healing, think again. If you think you can outdps them without healing... think again.
Immune for a minute? If you're talking about Will of the Forsaken, its immunity only lasts 5 seconds, and no player is going to risk trying to pre-WotF a Psychic Scream. If you meant warriors using Berserker Rage, it only lasts 10 seconds, can only be used in Berserker Stance (enjoy doing more damage to them in exchange for their 3% crit chance), and no warrior is going to preemptively Berserker Rage a Psychic Scream. Any player dumb enough to use either of these abilities
before you Psychic Scream will be a corpse by the end of the fight. If you meant warriors' Death Wish, it only lasts 30 seconds, and reduces their resistances by 20%, meaning more damage (I assume this goes into negative resistances, like Curse of Elements does). If you meant a shaman's Tremor Totem, just wand it before you Psychic Scream. If you meant a mage's Ice Block, they aren't doing any damage to you while blocked. If you meant the PvP trinket, it only breaks CC, and has a 5 minute cooldown in comparison to your Psychic Scream's 30 (or 26) second cooldown.
In addition, there is no way 90% of the Horde player base is Undead, and I doubt even all of the classes with some sort of fear break/immunity make up 90% of the Horde player base. If you meant that while playing Alliance, you get ganked by players with fear breaks/immunity 90% of the time, I think you have a bit of confirmation bias. If the number was an exaggeration, then the statement doesn't exactly hold a lot of merit, does it?
I don't want to go too into detail about how to counter each and every class, but my general philosophy is that the best form of crowd control is death. Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Blast, Mind Flay x2-3, Mind Blast, they're dead. They have heals? Silence them. They have heals over time, absorbs, or buffs? Dispel them. Are they hitting you? Power Word: Shield. They didn't break Psychic Scream instantly? Wand or swap out of Shadow Form and Renew or Greater Heal, depending on the class and damage you've taken. You're out of mana? Wand them down with that awesome BiS wand you should have.
From what I've experienced, the only time you'll get ganked is when they expect it to be impossible to win, i.e., when a mob (or several) is on you, they are in a group, or they are 6+ levels higher than you. Otherwise, everyone will run away from a 1v1. Anyone who doesn't will be shown the unexpected power of vanilla Shadow priests.