About Priest Leveling

[Nobbynobs]

Here's my take on a levelling as Priest.

http://www.wowprovider.com/?talent=11215875_5_805c2z04p

Next I am going to get either 2 or 5 points in Holy, namely in Improved Renew and Healing Focus. Only then will I work my way down into the Shadow Tree. It surely postpones my Shadow Form with yonks, but I still feel more comfortable playing it this way.

Also, do make sure you don't put more than 2 points in Shawod Focus as the hit cap is reached at 3%.

[KingBoogaloo]

Came here to ask about the same, so I am glad to see this thread already going. I play a level 20 Dwarf Priest and so far I have put all my points into Shadow. Since now comes to time of leveling on contested zones, I was wondering if I should stick with Shadow or if another build woud be better for leveling & PvP'ing since there is no chance to avoid that.

Was thinking about Disc for the Improved Shield to gain more protection going. But while 5/5 Imp Wand seems necessary to being able to level properly, 5/5 Unbreakable Will sounds much better to not be cannonfodder in low level PvP.

But looking at it I feel there is no build that will give access to proper damage for leveling and PvP surviveability at this low level.

Also depends on how good you play your class of course, which is not too good in my case I would say. At least not in PvP encounters.

[Xef]

I'm not really sure there's that many shadow talents that you really need pre lvl 40 besides spirit tap. Sure your dots lasts longer and you'll get less resists (which I'd get, I hate resists), but everything else is very situational. So, I'd probably get whatever talents you'd want to (like do you want meditation or shorter cd on MB?) and then just respec to full shadow at 40, unless you choose to go full shadow from the start.

[Lakweeta]

You'll never oom as a Shadow Priest if you know what you're doing.
People saying not to wand/don't take wand spec started in Cata and have no clue how to level as a Priest.

(EDIT: for clarification, the reason why you want to wand, once you stop casting any spell, a hidden timer starts ticking, which is referred to as Mp5. Once 5 seconds of no casting is up, you start to regenerate your mana. This is why wanding is extremely important, will allow you to survive easily, kill fast especially with the wand spec )

Generally, at level 10 you'll NEED a wand, this is not a want, it's an absolute necessity.
Lesser Magic Wands do the job until 13 (where greater becomes available with almost double DPS)

Anyways, level 10 to 20 rotation generally goes like this.
(This is what I do, and I never oom).

Mind Blast > Shadow Word: Pain > Smite x1(you can smite an additional time if you feel like a rebel) then wand to death.

At 20 it gets intense. Instead of using smite twice, try and use a Mind Flay. Just to mix things up a bit :>.
Always stack spirit gear, always. (For example, if you see an item with 5 int and 10 spirit. And an item with (5 spirit and 10 int, you'll really want the one with 10 spirit. Reason being is the 0.5% crit from the Int is far worthless compared to the superior bonus your spirit will get with Spirit Tap, trust me. You'll still kill extremely fast and you'll never, ever oom. ) and ALWAYS keep your wand up to date. This is extremely important!

All of that and you should be good! Priests really pick up once you 5/5 Spirit Tap and 5/5 Wand Spec, then continue down the Shadow Tree. ^_^

[Hansger]

Switched to a wand spec, just opening with MB and throwing SW:P and then just using the wand until they die. Put a bubble on before pulling and it's been very easy and never low on mana, definitely have made things easy along with spirit tap.

[Lakweeta]

Switched to a wand spec, just opening with MB and throwing SW:P and then just using the wand until they die. Put a bubble on before pulling and it's been very easy and never low on mana, definitely have made things easy along with spirit tap.

That's great to hear ! I usually 2/5 Spirit Tap (40% chance to proc, almost always on when I kill) and then 5/5 Wand as 5/5 Wanding is a direct increase to kill time, then go back and 5/5 Spirit Tap c:

[Gopher]

I have some questions about Priest questing/dungeons, never played Priest before this server:

I'm a lvl 20 human priest running VC quite a bit. I find myself using Lesser Heal in most fights when people drop down to 80-70%, PW:S + Flash Heal for "oh shit he's dying" moments, Heal when the tank is getting chunked hard, and not really using Renew at all. Is this more or less "correct"?

Also for general questing I went straight shadow priest talents to get Mind Flay. I see a lot of people recommending wand spec in Disc before shadow. Is wand spam better than mind flay for general questing?

[Hansger]

I have some questions about Priest questing/dungeons, never played Priest before this server:

I'm a lvl 20 human priest running VC quite a bit. I find myself using Lesser Heal in most fights when people drop down to 80-70%, PW:S + Flash Heal for "oh shit he's dying" moments, Heal when the tank is getting chunked hard, and not really using Renew at all. Is this more or less "correct"?

Also for general questing I went straight shadow priest talents to get Mind Flay. I see a lot of people recommending wand spec in Disc before shadow. Is wand spam better than mind flay for general questing?

Wand spec definitely helps and makes life easier. Basically just shield yourself, pull with MB, dot with sw:p, you can then use MF if you have it, then just start wanding them down. Very mana friendly with the spirit tap.

Healing, I basically do the same, no real reason to use renew. Just lesser heal spam, shield on bigger pulls, big heals when needed or flash heals for the oh shit moments!

[Lakweeta]

I have some questions about Priest questing/dungeons, never played Priest before this server:

I'm a lvl 20 human priest running VC quite a bit. I find myself using Lesser Heal in most fights when people drop down to 80-70%, PW:S + Flash Heal for "oh shit he's dying" moments, Heal when the tank is getting chunked hard, and not really using Renew at all. Is this more or less "correct"?

Also for general questing I went straight shadow priest talents to get Mind Flay. I see a lot of people recommending wand spec in Disc before shadow. Is wand spam better than mind flay for general questing?

you've basically got it right! . When I heal dungeons, I use rank 2 heal when targets are at 70% and they shoot back up to 100%, 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. Flash Heal = oh shit c:

Now, wand spec. Just to give you an example here.

5/5 wand spec - with a good wand (I had Skyfaller I think it's called? It's a 16 blue 21 dps).
It was hitting for 30-50s, every 1.5 seconds. Now in comparison with Mind Flay (keep in mind any cast starts the "no mana until 5 seconds of no casting"
Now, Mind Flay rank 1 does 75 damage over 3 seconds for 40 mana. Tell me which is better?
Mind Flay really becomes good at Rank 3, level 36. Until then, rarely use it. Always wand. Always always wand.

My rotation as of level 29.
Holy Fire> Sw;P> Mind Blast > Wand to death. Never oom, and killing speed is fast

[Mauda]

I remember the old days of leveling and for efficiency Improved Wands is absolutely needed. Not only does my wand hit higher than a tick of SW:P - it hits twice as fast. I never need to drink and can take on multiple mobs (Shadow is also good for healing dungeons up till late 50's). Those 5 points in Disc and the rest in Shadow will serve you very well till level 60.