Priests For Dummies

Healing for Dummies: A Priests Guide

Since we have a few players who seem new to WOW and have decided to take up the dreaded mantel of priest (which btw is one of the hardest characters to play IMO), I will write a few things to help all of you get started.

My experience with priests is very extensive. I was a level 70 undead priest in an end game dungeon raiding guild. I was the main healer in our guild runs.

First off, if you don’t like healing drop your character and reroll a hunter or warlock or something. Even if you stay shadow specced to level 70 you will be expected to heal period. You will be the primary healer.

That was the bad, now the good is that you will never have a problem finding groups to go to instances, unless you are just completely awful.

First off lets start with gear and what to look for.
-The first thing about gear you need to look for is Intelligence; this is your primary stat. It increases your mana pool and also governs your critical hit rate.
-The second stat you want is Spirit. Spirit governs how fast you recover mana and life. Many will choose stamina over spirit but you have a stamina buff and spirit will help you kill more things faster with less down time between. High spirit is especially nice because of spirit tap a first tier priest talent that all beginning priests should have. Also spirit will come in handy later on when you get Divine spirit and improved divine spirit which increase your spirit and damage according to your spirit respectively.
-The next stat is stamina which governs how many hit points you have.
- Later on you will get gear that has plus to healing and mana per second recovery. While these 2 are nice in the beginning you should be concerned primarily with intell, and spirit.
- You want the best combination that you can get, priests can use wands, staffs, daggers, off hand items and one handed maces, do not be afraid to put away that staff if you got a dagger or mace and offhand that are better
-intell enchants to bracers and mana to chest are 2 of the best enchants to get but don’t waste you money on them, see if a guild mate is trying to work on his skill and toss you one or 2 for free.

Talent build, where to put your talent points:

Now different people will do different things but this is way I did my priest.
BTW you will respect later on as most people do in any class probably into your 60’s. 1g is not a lot and the second time is just 2g so no big thing.
I will list the skills and the order you should get them. This build should last you until the late 50’s to 60 (Unless you are a masochist and level as a holy/Discipline priest).

Shadow: You should go into this tree first.
#1- Spirit tap – 5 points into this, it helps you kill more things faster because when you kill your mana regenerates faster.
#2- Shadow word pain – 2 points into this the longer lasting DOT (Damage over time) will give you more bang for your buck.

#3- Shadow focus – 3 points, no need for more, you are just trying to get to the next tier.

#4- Mind Flay – 1 point, a one point wonder, great spell highly mana effiecnt and an added bonus is that it slows the target, great for mobs that run away.

#5- Improved mind blast- 5 points - Mind blast along with shadow word pain and mind flay will be your basic damage spells, you will need the reduced cool down time.

#6- Improved Psychic Scream – 2 points-Great for crowd control and a get away, also a prerequisite to silence.

#7- Shadow reach-2 points - the added distance is very helpful

#8 – Silence – 1 point -Cuts those pesky casters down to size.

#9- Vampiric Embrace- 1 point -Heals you and your party for shadow damage done to the target. Don’t waste your points on improved verson this is all you need and it is a prerequisite to Shadow form.

#10 - Shadow affinity – 3 points - reduces the costs of your shadow spells and lets you kill more efficiently with less time drinking.

#11 – Shadow form – this is what you are aiming or by level 40, reduced damage to you and increased damage output. YOU NEED THIS SPELL IF YOU SOLO AT ALL. Only problem is that you cannot cast holy spells, so do not use it in a party if you are the healer.

How to play.
-The largest part of your early gaming experience will be solo, by yourself. You will be able to figure out things quick. By the time I got mind flay and Improved Mind Blast, my sequence of cast was Mind blast, Shadow Word pain, Mind flay, Shield if nessecary, Mind blast, Mind Flay, dead mob.
-Once you get Improved Mind blast don’t use any more holy damge spells.
-Shield only when Necessary, this goes for solo and group play, Power word shield is a very mana inefficient spell.
-Use Vampiric Embrace only when necessary.
-Once you get silence, you will find that killing casting mobs is a whole lot easier.
-If the mob has little life left, don’t be afraid to wand them down, it will conserve your mana and allow you to get the full effect of spirit tap.
-Carry at least 2 full stacks of drinks, always stock up on the best drinks before you leave town or have a friendly mage make you some. If you are in an instance group 3 stacks just to be safe, drinking cuts the down time due to mana regeneration.
-If you are a healer in a group, DO NOT attack the target, you are there to heal let others do the killing for you.
-Keep power word fortitude and Inner fire up at all times, you are a squishy meaning light armor and low hit points, these two spells make you more survivable.
-If you use psychic scream watch the feared mobs, they may run near another mob and now you have more coming at you, do not be afraid to retreat and regroup (That is run for life and say ”Feet don’t fail me now”). If you are in an instance, you will rarely if ever use psychic scream because instance mobs will chase you to the beginning of the instance. There is a golden rule “DO NOT FEAR IN INSTANCES”, until you understand more about the game don’t try it.
-When you are group healing be aware of all the players, rogues and other DPS classes will need less healing than the tank, unless of course they draw agro, then they need a shield and the fastest heals you can give.
-Do not let the group tank DIE because you were trying to save a DPS class who could not control himself. Let the mage take a dirt nap a few times and maybe he will learn.
-If you get agro, the best first line of defense is to fade and stand still. Instinct will tell you to run, but if you are running around it will be harder for the tank or off tank to pull the mob off you. Shield yourself if you have to.
- Do not wait for the tank to be at 50% health to start healing him, a renew goes a long way.
-The best mana efficient healing spell you have is greater heal. It is a 3 sec so gage how fast your tank is taking damage and start your spell accordingly.
-Shield other characters only when absolutely necessary to conserve mana.


Hope this little bit helps out all you new healers.
See you in Azeroth

Game on
Roshambo
Druid Class Lead