About Priest Leveling

[Garfunkel]

If you don't care about optimized leveling speed, then nothing prevents you from picking up Shadowform at 45.

[flowison]

alright. i will do that =)

[Meneldir]

I have compiled the specific advice from this thread that I have decided to apply to my new Dwarf Priest in a kind of summary which I will post here for others like me who are looking for a good example of how to go about leveling their new Priest. I suppose this would be especially useful to those who don't have enough time to go through every post in detail.

Since I'm an inexperienced Priest, this summary could still contain mistakes (even though all the advice is taken directly from people in this thread), so I would greatly appreciate any corrections or additions!

[Stats]
- Prioritize spirit!
- Stack spirit and stamina gear
- All of your spells scale with "increased magic damage" items
- Intellect only increases your mana pool + chance to crit - the int to crit ratio is terrible so it's not worth it

[Speccing]
- Spec until lvl 40: http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#bVZZxMgzcto
10-12: spirit tap 3/5
13-17: wand spec 5/5
18-19: spirit tap 5/5
20+: continue down the shadow tree
At 40: respec to full shadow for shadowform (http://db.vanillagaming.org/?talent#bZZxMGt0tot)
Then from 40-44: put the 5 points back into improved wands
45-60: ?

Mind Flay really becomes good at Rank 3, level 36. Until then, rarely use it.
Don't ever take improved Mind Blast until 60 (for PvP).

[Wands & Staffs]
At level 10 get lesser magic wand (green 11.30 dps)
At level 13 get greater magic wand (green 17.5 dps)
At level 16 get Skyfaller (blue 21 dps)
At level 20 get the WC staff
At level 24 run BFD and get the quest for Gravestone Scepter (http://db.vanillagaming.org/?item=7001)

[Rotations]
10-20 rotation: (Power Word: Shield, possibly) -> pull with Mind Blast -> dot with Shadow Word: Pain -> Smite once or twice -> Wand to death
At 20 it gets intense. Instead of using smite twice, try and use a Mind Flay
Level 29 rotation: Holy Fire -> Swadow Word: Pain -> Mind Blast > Wand to death

Smite can do more damage than wands, so if you feel like using Smite that's fine,
but balance it between each kill, so you always got mana for the next rotation on the next mob.

[Healing]
// In lower level dungeons (like VC)
1. Lesser heal rank 2 spam (when targets are down at 70%, they'll shoot back up to 100%)
2. Big heals when needed (like when tank is getting chunked hard)
3. (Shield +) Flash Heal for "oh shit he's dying" moments

Priests can heal dungeons perfectly fine as shadow (until around level 50?). As long as the tank is wearing a shield, you shouldn't have problems.

Want to shield the tank on bigger pulls? Possible, but one user stated: "I never use PW:S in dungeons because it's a huge chunk of mana for a small absorb when tanks have 3 or 4 mobs on them, that shield is gone within seconds."

[PvP/honor grinding]
- Trinkets from WSG purchased with honor/marks are totally worth it

[Professions]
- First aid (there is no reason why any level 60 of any class should not have First Aid maxed)
Tailoring? Enchanting? Herbalism?
I'm not sure which are recommended.

[nosuser123]

^ Thanks for this guide, for someone who never played a priest in vanilla it's really informative. I plan to roll a priest on the PvE server so it's going to be quite helpful

[gotmilk0112]

At level 10 get lesser magic wand (green 11.30 dps)
At level 13 get greater magic wand (green 17.5 dps)
At level 16 get Skyfaller (blue 21 dps)
At level 20 get the WC staff
At level 24 run BFD and get the quest for Gravestone Scepter (http://db.vanillagaming.org/?item=7001)

Lesser Magic Wand only requires level 5, so you can get it then.

Also, Skyfaller tends to be pricy since it's used in the 19 bracket; an alternative is Cookie's Stirring Rod from VC.

^ Thanks for this guide, for someone who never played a priest in vanilla it's really informative. I plan to roll a priest on the PvE server so it's going to be quite helpful

I also wrote a guide to Shadow leveling:

https://forum.nostalrius.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=19902

[Ana]

bla bla bla

Yeah, basically

You probably want to increase your survivability (both in 1-40 and 45+ ranges) for the purpose of applying this leveling method to actual real life scenario, namely lots of enemy faction players eager to kill your sorry ass. I strongly recommend getting at the very least Healing Focus. Improved Renew, Improved PWS and Martyrdom are also kinda nice. Healing Focus is very viable in shadowform too - what you do is throw a fear (shield optional), run the other way, and drop shadowform then renew on yourself then if you still have time flash heal. Your overpowered SWP will still be ticking while you do that. Costs a lot of mana, but it's better than dying, right?

5/5 wand isn't really necessary when you get shadowform. It helps a bit, but your wanding is a very minor damage contribution compared to properly beefed up mindflay and SWP. Heck, if you pick your battles smart (= don't rush into red quests and red mobs), you'll generally kill the mobs with MF before fear ends. You can put the points from wands to 15% stun etc. resist. Again, surviving in the world is nice.

[softclocks]

Do people always avoid putting points into imp. mind blast?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for where I should level at 30? STV is absurdly crowded so I'd rather not go there.

First time levelling a priest past level 20, so I appreciate all of your advice here!

[flowison]

i just hit lvl 40!
have specced shadowform.
40-45 i spec 5/5 wands again.
what should i specc then?

[gotmilk0112]

Do people always avoid putting points into imp. mind blast?

Also, does anyone have any recommendations for where I should level at 30? STV is absurdly crowded so I'd rather not go there.

First time levelling a priest past level 20, so I appreciate all of your advice here!

You don't particularly need Imp MB, seeing as you (should) only use it once per mob, as your opener.

At 30, you can do Duskwood, Wetlands, and a couple starter quests in Southshore (hillsbrad)

Yes, avoid STV until you're at least 34-35. It's a hellhole of endless ganking, especially if you're only 30-31.

[Xef]

i just hit lvl 40!
have specced shadowform.
40-45 i spec 5/5 wands again.
what should i specc then?

I'd stick to disc to get Meditation and Inner Focus.