Priest Spec Mini-Guide

[Emmalina]

Just thought I'd share some that I put together with the 2.0 talents:

Leveling - In order
5/5 Spirit Tap - Invaluable, have to have it ASAP.
5/5 Wand Specialization - Wanding mobs down helps regen mana and makes grinding easier.
2/2 Healing Focus - Useful to save your hide when you need to heal but don't want to Fear
2/2 Improved PW: Fort - More HP is always good.
5/5 Shadow Focus - Another mana saving talent, Resists ftl.
1/1 Mind Flay - Combined with Wand-ing, 90% of priest leveling.
2/2 Improved SW: Pain - You have SW:Pain on every mob you fight, might as well make it work harder.
5/5 Blackout - I found this proc'd very frequently in combination with Mind Flay.
2/2 Shadow Reach - Extra distance = more Flays before they get to you. This, with a lucky Blackout proc, can allow you to get kills without the mob ever making it to you.
1/1 Vampiric Embrace - Damage that heals for 1 point? I'll take one.
2/2 Improved Vampiric Embrace - Or three.
5/5 Shadow Weaving - Damage boosts are good, especially as fights get longer in these later levels.
2/5 Darkness - +Dmg, just to get to...
1/1 Shadowform - You know you're truly a Shadow priest the first time you "whoosh" into Shadowform. From here you'll probably have a good grasp on priesthood and should be able to effectively put points anywhere.



Raid Utility

The best buffs with Improved DS and Fort, ability to use PI when the healing needs a boost, or to pop on a mage/lock when it's time to burn a boss down. This sacrifices some pure healing ability, but not much in my opinion. Cheaper Dispel and Renew, combined with Mental Strength for an increased mana pool also makes for more versatility than just heal spam.

Shadow Raid Utility

This build gives a group the best the Shadow tree has to offer; I don't think many people see how powerful some of the new Shadow talents are for party/raid settings. Misery is a huge bonus at +5% spell damage taken by a target while one of the Priest's DoTs are on it. Shadow Weaving can increase Warlock damage by nearly 15%, and the 41pt talent Vampiric Touch would be amazing if the priest is put in a caster group. Outside of raid benefits, all the core Shadow tree stuff is there to also allow for substantial, sustainable DPS.

PVP Priest

This build is geared towards Smite spamming in the BG's. PI lets you occasionally toss out some very substantial damage. I purposely left out Pain Suppression and Reflective Shield: Pain Suppression is dispellable and has a very distinct graphic so it's apparently not overly effective, and Reflective Shield just costs too many points to get to, especially considering how a well geared DPS class can cut through a shield in 1 or 2 hits. Improved Mana Burn is awesome in PVP in my opinion.

<a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-priest/talents.html?505200213000000000000234050030300050530000000000000000000000000
">Main Tank Healer</a>

This is the best I could put together for taking care of a single target. This would really be a Greater Heal spamming build, hence the Clearcasting talent deep in Holy. Cheaper dispel is also useful for keeping debuffs off of the MT. With +4% to crit and Inspiration, downranking to Greater Heal 2 or 3 and chain casting them could be very effective.

Priest Core Talents

These are the points I think that you have to spend if you want a balanced, non-Shadow build. You could expand off into Holy and pick up Spiritual Guidance or go deeper into Discipline for Improved Divine Spirit and/or Power Infusion. You can really take it from 33/18/0, down to 26/25/0, or jump back up to 16/35/0 and have an effective build with these core talent points. The real make or break decision in it is sacrificing your ability to reach 5/5 Spiritual Healing (which now scales with gear, it didn't pre-2.0) for Improved Divine Spirit, or forgoing DS to get the major healing buffs.

I can't give up Holy Nova to save my life.....

Emma

[Lovica]

Aw Emma, thanks for the guide!  It'll be plenty useful when I decide to play a Priest

[un4]

Looks good.  I'm going to level Jhade once Dvalin's 60.  She'll be shadow

[Vengeance]

Me, if i ever decide to lvl my priest...(12)...I think im going to get holy nova first before shadowform...nice spell, healin all around yuou PLUS damage. <3 holy nova
but after that i am goin shadow, cause i get tired of getting rolled around by shadowpriests.


  Now, its my turn.