Thread: Guide to Levelling a Priest - Post 3.1

Version 3.1 - Posted!

Sections
1. Introduction to this Guide
2. Introduction to Priest Levelling
3. Constie's Spec (with personal tweaks here and there)
4. Discipline/Holy Spec
5. Shadow Spec

1. Introduction to this Guide

With Constie's awesome priest levelling guide [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]) no longer being updated, I have decided to try my hand at writing an updated guide to complement his.

This guide is not a definite, be all and end all manifesto of any particular priest levelling spec. This guide does not place X spec above Y spec because of Z reason, rather it discusses several noteworthy levelling specs that a fledgling priest may find attractive, glyphs that may be useful, general outlines on appropriate rotations used for levelling, advice on choice of gear and miscellany.

Information contained in this guide is an amalgamation of personal experiences from others and myself, forum commentators and other guides, and as such they well may differ from your own.

Much of what is included here is to satisfy solo PvE requirements such as mana efficiency (consequently reducing downtime) and survivability, and so I will not attempt to delve deeply into PvP, healing or end-game matters (there are many fantastic guides stickied in this forum as reference for these topics).

With that in mind, this is not a guide to bash others or myself for our suggestions, to ask questions such as 'I'm bored of levelling in X zone, where else can I go?' or to harass others on unrelated matters.

Constructive comments and questions related to the content in this guide (for example, 'Why did you include X talent over Y talent?') is appreciated as this guide is a work-in-progress and will continually be updated over time as more information becomes available.

I hope you find this guide useful!


2. Introduction to Priest Levelling

Specs

An interesting aspect of levelling a priest is that specs associated with each three of the talent trees (they being Discipline, Holy and Shadow) are more-or-less viable for solo levelling. While the discipline and holy trees may initially seem as being purely for healing, effective allocation of talent points across both trees may make for a formidable levelling build. There is no single best spec or tree for levelling as each player will have their own distinctive play-style that is more receptive to one levelling spec over another.

While I have included level-by-level lists in which to allocate talent points, the choice to allocate which point to which talent first is entirely up to you. Players may feel as if a certain talent that I have postponed until later levels may be more effective in tandem with their own play style, in which case do not hesitate in speccing that particular talent first.

Glyphs

The choice of minor glyphs for your priest is constant over all different levelling specs:

Glyph of Levitate: This will remove the Light Feather reagent requirement for Levitate. This is glyphed just to make life more convenient for you as you will find yourself using Levitate quite frequently: moving over bodies of water, jumping off buildings/cliffs/high altitudes, etc.

The remaining 2 minor glyph slots aren't particularly necessary to fill due to the lacklustre glyphs available, but if you must then I would suggest Glyph of Fortitude (reduces the cost of Power Word: Fortitude and Prayer of Fortitude by 50%) and Glyph of Shadowfiend (you receive 5% of your maximum mana if the Shadowfiend dies from damage).

Major glyphs will be discussed in conjunction with their associated spec.

Gear

As a priest, the only armour available for you to equip is cloth, and for the most part cloth will contain spell power, spirit and intellect, which fortunately are your three dominant stats that you should stack. A priest begins with being able to use wands and one-handed maces, with proficiencies in daggers and staffs being able to learned later on.

With the spirit nerf in 3.1 many have been wondering and asking 'Is spirit still worth stacking?' or 'Should I stack intellect instead of spirit?'. The answer in my opinion is that it is more beneficial to stack spirit than it is not to, and when levelling you'll be hard pressed to find cloth gear that doesn't somehow contain a mix of spirit, spell power and intellect. In saying that, I suggest preference ought to be given to spell power, then spirit then intellect in that order.

Spell power should be prioritised first as it directly affects the output of your damage-dealing and healing spells. Spirit is next as it increases the level of mana regen you experience, thereby reducing downtime while levelling. Also, spirit indirectly increases your spell power through talents such as Spiritual Guidance (in the Holy tree) and Twisted Faith (in the Shadow tree). Intellect will for most cases accompany gear that has spell power and/or spirit, so no particular attention needs to be paid to stack intellect while levelling.

If you come across two particular pieces of gear that seem very similar and cannot decide which one to equip, then just do what I do and choose the prettiest as it is will hardly make a significant impact.

Rotations and General Levelling Tips

As a priest, your rotation will typically consist of an opener, a DoT and then spamming a nuke to whittle away whatever health the mob has left. The choice of abilities to use in these roles varies depending on your own play style, your level (as higher-level abilities may not be available to you) and particularly your spec. That said, the rotations I provide are merely a guide and if you feel as if you perform noticeably better by changing the rotation in whatever way, then you should stick with what makes you feel comfortable.

There are several particular abilities and observations you should take note of while levelling:

- Although obvious, it is important to remember to maintain (particularly before engaging a mob) maximum distance if allowed. After using an opener, run away from the mob until the GCD resets or if you're lazy like me, at least take a few steps back.

- Using your wand to finish off a mob with very little HP left is more mana efficient than using any of your mana-consuming abilities (this being particularly noticeable during the levels early levels of 1-20), so don't waste your mana by refreshing a DoT on a mob that is nigh meeting its creator, or using a mana-intensive ability either.

- With Psychic Scream, please do remind yourself that a feared mob may potentially attract adds so carefully consider your surrounding environment when using this, that is, if there are many mobs packed close together do not use Psychic Scream. This is particularly true for lower level (1-20) priests as often an additional add or two may result in an irritating corpse run.

- It seems that quite a number of players levelling a priest post-3.1 have noticed excruciating downtimes (having to drink after downing a single mob generally), noticeably decreased survivability and low damage capabilities in their low levels (1-30), much more than other classes. I am levelling this character as my second priest in an attempt to substantiate and develop a reasonable solution for this issue, however for the moment it seems that the primary solution is to use your wand as your primary damage tool until you feel that mana efficiency/survivability have improved.

3. Constie's Spec (with personal tweaks)

The spec posted by Constie in her guide is still a very much viable spec despite the changes to priests implemented in 3.1. With this particular spec, Constie has suggested investing your initial talent points into the Holy tree, with your level 40-49 talents being allocated to the Discipline, and upon dinging level 50 the player ought to respec into the Shadow tree.

For levels 1-49 your talent build will resemble: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Levels 10-12: 3/3 Spirit Tap - Irrespective of whatever spec you elect, Spirit Tap will be, and always will be, the talent in which you invest your first three talent points as the mana regen offered is invaluable in the levelling setting.

13-17: 5/5 Holy Specialization
18-22: 5/5 Divine Fury
23-24: 2/2 Healing Focus
25-27: 3/3 Improved Renew
28-29: 2/2 Searing Light
30-31: 2/2 Holy Reach
32: 1/1 Desperate Prayer
33: 1/1 Spirit of Redemption - The 5% increase in Spirit is a boon for mana efficiency, particularly when you're in your lower levels.
34-38: 5/5 Spiritual Guidance - This, coupled with Spirit of Redemption, noticeably improves your spell power and damage output.
39-40: 2/2 Surge of Light


41-45: 5/5 Twin Disciplines
46-47: 3/3 Improved Inner Fire
48-49: 1/3 Improved Power Word: Fortitude

After reaching level 50, it is suggested for this spec that you pay a visit to your Priest trainer and respec and allocate your talent points into the Shadow tree accordingly: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

50: 1/1 Vampiric Touch
51-53: 3/3 Pain and Suffering
54: 3/3 Misery
55-59: 5/5 Twisted Faith - Particularly important given the spirit-stacking as a priest.
60: 1/1 Dispersion - A very effective form of quick and accessible mana regen.

At this point after speccing into the 51-point talent Dispersion, there are several investment alternatives for your next 20 talent points however I believe the Discipline tree would be most appropriate given the lack of particularly useful talents in the Holy tree accessible with only 20 talent points:

61-65: 5/5 Twin Disciplines
66: 1/3 Improved Inner Fire
67-68: 2/2 Veiled Shadows (back in the Shadow tree)
69-70: 3/3 Improved Inner Fire
71-72: 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
73-75: 3/3 Meditation
76: 1/1 Inner Focus
77-79: 3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
80: 1/3 Mental Agility


Glyphs

For Constie's spec the choice of minor glyphs are as described above (Glyph of Levitate, Fortitude and Shadowfiend).

For major glyphs, it is suggested to apply a Glyph of Smite for your first available major glyph slot, then Glyph of Power Word: Shield for your second slot, then replace Glyph of Smite with Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain at level 50 (once you have switched to the Shadow tree). For your final slot, you may either choose Glyph of Shadow or Glyph of Inner Fire, the choice if yours though personally I would prefer Glyph of Inner Fire as the 50% increase in armor from Inner Fire is always nice.

Rotations

Before level 50, Constie suggests opening with Holy Fire, Shadow Word: Pain then spamming Smite until the mob is finished. If Holy Fire is unavailable at your level, then it is preferable to spam either Smite or Mind Blast (which may be undesirable given the current mana inefficiency of low-level priests post 3.1). If you find that spamming Smite/Mind Blast leaves you OoM after 1-2 mobs, then I suggest purely using your wand until you find that your mana issues have been mostly resolved.

After level 50, and having gained access to Shadowform you may open with Vampiric Touch, Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague (this is entirely up to you, if you find this is effective then include Devouring Plague in your rotation), Mind Blast and then Mind Flay away. If Vampiric Touch has not yet been talented into, then opening with Mind Blast, then Shadow Word: Pain and finishing with Mind Flay.

4. Discipline/Holy Spec [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

This particular spec is primarily based in the Discipline/Holy trees, and is essentially identical to Constie's spec from levels 10 to 49 after which further talent points are invested into the Discipline tree.

Levels 10-12: 3/3 Spirit Tap
13-17: 5/5 Holy Specialization
18-22: 5/5 Divine Fury
23-24: 2/2 Healing Focus
25-27: 3/3 Improved Renew
28-29: 2/2 Searing Light
30-31: 2/2 Holy Reach
32: 1/1 Desperate Prayer
33: 1/1 Spirit of Redemption
34-38: Spiritual Guidance
39-40: Surge of Light
41-45: 5/5 Twin Disciplines
46-48: 3/3 Improved Inner Fire
49-50: 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
51-53: 3/3 Meditation
54: 1/1 Inner Focus
55: 1/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
56-58: 3/3 Mental Agility
59-60: 3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
61-62: 2/2 Reflective Shield
63-67: 5/5 Mental Strength
68-69: 2/2 Focused Power
70: 1/1 Soul Warding
71: 1/1 Power Infusion
72-74: 3/3 Enlightenment
75: 1/3 Focused Will
76-77: 2/2 Aspiration
78-80: 3/3 Rapture

Glyphs

Minor glyphs are the same as initially stated in the guide (Glyph of Levitate, Power Word: Shield and Shadowfiend).

Concerning major glyphs, it would be appropriate to use a Glyph of Smite for your first major slot, a Glyph of Power Word: Shield for your second slot, and for your third and final slot either Glyph of Inner Fire/Flash Heal would be appropriate (though not essential by any means).

Rotations

For a Disc/Holy specced priest prior to engaging a mob you would ensure that Power Word: Shield is up, Holy Fire then spam Smite until the mob is dead (remembering that it may be more mana efficient to use your wand if the mob has little HP left).

However, prior to gaining Holy Fire (priests level 19 and under) it is difficult to spam Smite as it is rather mana intensive in the early levels. Unfortunately, the only available option is to solely use your wand (perhaps applying Shadow Word: Pain beforehand).

5. Shadow Spec [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Shadow-specced priests have a devoted following and this guide would not be complete without describing a variation. The following talent build is identical to the final Shadow build achieved in Constie's Spec, with the primary difference being that following this spec, you continue allocating points into the Shadow tree after speccing for Spirit Tap.

Levels 10-12: 3/3 Spirit Tap
13-14: 2/2 Improved Spirit Tap
15-19: 5/5 Darkness
20: 1/1 Mind Flay
21-23: 3/3 Shadow Focus
24: 1/2 Improved Shadow Word: Pain
25-27: 3/3 Shadow Weaving
28-29: 2/2 Shadow Reach
30: 1/1 Vampiric Embrace
31-33: 3/3 Focused Mind
34: 2/2 Improved Shadow Word: Pain
35-36: 2/2 Mind Melt
37-39: Improved Devouring Plague
40: 1/1 Shadowform
42-44: 4/5 Shadow Power
45-46: 2/2 Improved Shadowform
47-49: 3/3 Misery
50: 1/1 Vampiric Touch
51-53: 3/3 Pain and Suffering
54: 5/5 Shadow Power
55-59: 5/5 Twisted Faith
60: 1/1 Dispersion

Afterwards, we begin allocating all further talent points into the Discipline tree as follows:

61-65: 5/5 Twin Disciplines
66: 1/3 Improved Inner Fire
67-68: 2/2 Veiled Shadows
69-70: 3/3 Improved Inner Fire
71-72: 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
73-75: 3/3 Meditation
76: 1/1 Inner Focus
77-79: 3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
80: 1/3 Mental Agility

Glyphs

Minor glyphs, as for all precious specs, are the same: Glyph of Levitate, Power Word: Shield and Shadowfiend.

As for major glyphs, Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain would ideally be your first, followed by Glyph of Power Word: Shield and for your third major glyph slot either Glyph of Shadow/Inner Fire would be appropriate.

Rotations

As this build is essentially identical to post-50 Constie's Spec, both will use identical rotations. You may open with Vampiric Touch, Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague (this is entirely up to you, if you find this is effective then include Devouring Plague in your rotation), Mind Blast and then Mind Flay away. If Vampiric Touch has not yet been talented into, then opening with Mind Blast, then Shadow Word: Pain and finishing with Mind Flay.

As I have mentioned numerous times in this guide, apparently (though I cannot vouch for this based on personal experience yet) priest levelling post-3.1 in your lower levels has become notoriously difficult due to lack of mana regen available. If you seem to feel this applies to you, then unfortunately you will have to beat the mob to death primarily with your wand until your mana regen/survivability becomes more adequate.


Q&A

You've talked about a lot of different levelling specs for a priest, but which is the best one?
This question stirs up a lot of passionate opinions and spitting between posters which I would prefer to avoid. I think of there as being no single best levelling spec as each has their own advantages and pitfalls. But if you insist, I prefer the variation on Constie's spec because I wrote about it first, and clearly the numerically first spec has to be the best spec, right?


Why are you posting on a level 1?
I've recently come back from a hiatus from WoW, have been made to create a new account and have decided to re-level a priest.


I think you know nothing about priests and that your guide is rubbish.
That's not a question.

Nice, thanks.