Be gentle, it's my first clothie and I have a hard time expressing exactly what I want to say. I got tired of there being a serious shortage of healers around so I figured if you want something done, you had better do it yourself. I've only found a few priest leveling guides and almost everyone says to just spec shadow all the way up. Kind of disappointing, but I get it. But right now I'm trying to catch up to a warrior friend and we're going to level together so it will make it easier on me if I want to go holy, right?
Anyway, I've been terribly confused on where to put my talent points.
Current spec - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVZbZxM (Feel free to laugh at my confusion now.)
I've looked at the guides and I guess right now I can do this:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bZfxx
but until I catch up to my warrior I'm still going to be solo. Am I going to cry if I respec and take all my points out of Wand Spec? Will it be a huge noticeable difference? Hopefully I can just put out a message on /1 and see if anyone wants a buddy for the day and I can heal them instead of trying to kill things myself but if I have to go it alone, am I going to die more than I already do?
Also, any helpful information and macros for newbie priest instancing would be helpful. I need to grow some thicker skin because I'm terrified I'm going to group with people and I'm going to end up with Mr. "I have a 70 priest and you're the crappiest priest I have ever seen - you suck!" I know priest is hard and thankless and always to blame for wipes anyway but right now I'm afraid of pugs. So far I've been coming up with excuses not to instance like "I'm sorry, I'm under tornado watch and I might have to go hide in the bathroom in ten minutes." "Sorry friend, but you don't want a drunk priest on your hands." "I'd love to but I think I just broke my finger." "No hablo ingles."
I hope my questions made sense. Thanks in advance for all your wonderful advice. :)
Oh yeah, I'm on a PvE server so I don't have to worry about ganking or anything.
Edited, Apr 30th 2008 8:41am by Trichechus
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lvl 24 priest with spec and instance questionsFollow
For solo leveling, you defintely want points in Wand Specialization and Spirit Tap. Those are huge for allowing you to do great damage and ending a fight a full mana. Pop a quick heal and off you go to the next mob.
Take a look at this thread for some alternative to Shadow leveling and some good recommendations for wands as you level up.
My priest is currently level 66 and I went Holy/Disc the entire way. It's been great and I like leveling up a toon the way I plan to play it at the end game.
Take a look at this thread for some alternative to Shadow leveling and some good recommendations for wands as you level up.
My priest is currently level 66 and I went Holy/Disc the entire way. It's been great and I like leveling up a toon the way I plan to play it at the end game.
I'd highly recommend getting Healbot to alleviate that instance fear. It simplifies the healing role quite a bit. I used to be deathly afraid of healing a PUG as well, as I normally only group with my static party. But then I did my first ever PUG a couple of weeks ago, with my priest in WC, and it turns out that everybody else is way stupider than I am, so that made me feel better. ;)
My priest is only in her low 30's so I'm not qualified to answer your other questions. But I'll just add that I did a little running around the other night with my husband's warrior, and it's a really fun duo, so I'm sure you'll have a good time with it whichever spec you go with. I'm specced shadow and was giving him enough passive healing just from VE to handle most situations, leaving me free to DPS.
Edited, Apr 30th 2008 6:35pm by teacake
My priest is only in her low 30's so I'm not qualified to answer your other questions. But I'll just add that I did a little running around the other night with my husband's warrior, and it's a really fun duo, so I'm sure you'll have a good time with it whichever spec you go with. I'm specced shadow and was giving him enough passive healing just from VE to handle most situations, leaving me free to DPS.
Edited, Apr 30th 2008 6:35pm by teacake
And keep your First Aid skill up so that you can use bandages to heal yourself between fights instead of using mana or breaking the 5-second-rule.
i went shadow all the way up and specced holy at 70.
my reasoning was, if i can main heal an instance as shadow, why can't i as holy? =D
my reasoning was, if i can main heal an instance as shadow, why can't i as holy? =D
Thanks a bunch. KansasKyle that link really helps. Looking for "smite build" brings up a lot more information along the lines of what I was looking for. I'd just never heard the term before. Everyone in my guild has a priest and when I ask them I end up getting 15 different answers! :P
Teacake, I'll look into healbot. Thanks for the suggestion.
Zatire - I'm already up to silk cloth bandages. :)
ZANG - Er, um... not what I was looking for, but keep up the good work! :D
Teacake, I'll look into healbot. Thanks for the suggestion.
Zatire - I'm already up to silk cloth bandages. :)
ZANG - Er, um... not what I was looking for, but keep up the good work! :D
I am still going to recommend you level up shadow/disc.
The holy tree gets you mostly faster bigger heals. You will not need a single point in holy to main heal anything below level 60. I know I healed in every instance up to UBRS as a shadow priest.
Your heals without a single point in holy are good enough to keep your tank alive in any instance as you level. (Obviously don't try to run SM as a level 24 priest.)
Sure instancing will be a little easier as a holy/disc priest. But is that all you want to do? Most people and small groups do a number of quests as you level. As a shadow priest your added DPS will allow your group to blow through these quests in a hurry. And when your tank friend takes some damage you will switch to throw some heals his way.
You will quickly find that your group won’t have to stop for much of anything. Not eating, not drinking, not healing ... nothing.
The holy tree gets you mostly faster bigger heals. You will not need a single point in holy to main heal anything below level 60. I know I healed in every instance up to UBRS as a shadow priest.
Your heals without a single point in holy are good enough to keep your tank alive in any instance as you level. (Obviously don't try to run SM as a level 24 priest.)
Sure instancing will be a little easier as a holy/disc priest. But is that all you want to do? Most people and small groups do a number of quests as you level. As a shadow priest your added DPS will allow your group to blow through these quests in a hurry. And when your tank friend takes some damage you will switch to throw some heals his way.
You will quickly find that your group won’t have to stop for much of anything. Not eating, not drinking, not healing ... nothing.
I'm going to add my voice to those recommending that you level as Shadow. I was in a similar position as you in that I teamed up my Holy/Disc priest with my brother's enhancement shammy. I found that I wasn't really pulling my weight on damage during normal quests. Then I main healed Uldaman and found that I didn't need to use many of my big heals. My renew was what I stuck with 90% of the run. Having a holy-spec priest along for that run was just overkill.
I swithced to Shadow and now I can main heal when needed AND deal some good dps. I also find that I don't need to rely on my wand as much as when I was Holy. I'm going to stick with Shadow until Outland and then go back to Holy/Disc.
I swithced to Shadow and now I can main heal when needed AND deal some good dps. I also find that I don't need to rely on my wand as much as when I was Holy. I'm going to stick with Shadow until Outland and then go back to Holy/Disc.
I say follow your feelings. You can level well as both shadow or smiter build. If you choose the Smiter path, make sure to grab the essentials Discipline talents first: Meditation and Inner Focus. Then you can start putting points in the Holy tree.
Like people mentioned you can heal any instance pre-Outland as a shadow priest. I've done it and never had any problems.
As for the wand spec keep it. You get the most benefit from it the lower lvl you are. Wand spec and spirit tap are two of the greatest solo-ing talents early on. They're also on the first tier of the talent trees.
I would keep leveling up as shadow until at least 60. The holy tree will increase your heals but pre-BC those really aren't necessary. The dps from shadow will help tremendously for soloing and even adding dps in groups when healing is far and in between.
As for the fear of instances the best thing is to just jump right in. I guarantee you'll get people who will blame you for wipes. That's just part of the game. People are quick to blame others and most of the time they didn't actually see everything that was going on. Ignore it and move on. Every once in a while you'll get some good advice. The best thing to learn is experience. Ask questions about things you don't understand. If a warlock keeps dropping health then ask them why. Some players will try to make you feel stupid but by asking you'll get a better understanding of what's going on and that will make you a better healer/player.
Just like Nike says 'Just do it'.
As for the wand spec keep it. You get the most benefit from it the lower lvl you are. Wand spec and spirit tap are two of the greatest solo-ing talents early on. They're also on the first tier of the talent trees.
I would keep leveling up as shadow until at least 60. The holy tree will increase your heals but pre-BC those really aren't necessary. The dps from shadow will help tremendously for soloing and even adding dps in groups when healing is far and in between.
As for the fear of instances the best thing is to just jump right in. I guarantee you'll get people who will blame you for wipes. That's just part of the game. People are quick to blame others and most of the time they didn't actually see everything that was going on. Ignore it and move on. Every once in a while you'll get some good advice. The best thing to learn is experience. Ask questions about things you don't understand. If a warlock keeps dropping health then ask them why. Some players will try to make you feel stupid but by asking you'll get a better understanding of what's going on and that will make you a better healer/player.
Just like Nike says 'Just do it'.
I stayed Shadow until 66 before I switched to Holy. When I got to Outlands I focussed on healing gear knowing I was going to switch anyway. I main-healed through all instances as Shadow until I got to Sethekk Halls where I just couldn't keep up, but I was probably just too low a level in conjunction with being Shadow. Most pugs I was with didn't even know I was Shadow until after we got done and I popped into Shadow form, mounted up and rode off into the sunset in glorious shadow glory.
Thanks all. If you all insist I can still be a good healer as shadow then I will give it a go. After all, you would know better than I do, right?
Thanks for the suggestions. Cross your fingers that I don't suck.
Thanks for the suggestions. Cross your fingers that I don't suck.
4 posts
I have a 25 SPriest right now, and i love healing instances with him. All I do is try to wait as long as i can between heals for the 5 second rule to kick in for a bit than hit tanky with my biggest heal..... than i wait with my mouse on mind blast for the mob to turn and run when low on health.... i have gotten pretty good at timing it so i am the last one to hit him and i get spirit tap ftw ^_^
I never run outta mana and i help a lil in the dps and keeping runners from aggroing more mobs. Easier than healing with any other class so far at this lvl, (Had a pally and drood too)
Anywho hope this technique works out for you too ^_^
oh yeah, and soloing is rediculous, i literally just grinded a lvl on those skellies in darkshire and didnt stop once for a drink, just mindblast, SWP, wand (Shielding ahead of time) of course having all that great gear from healing those instances helps a load too.
Im in love with my Spriest ^_^
P.S. there is that quest you get in BFD, and the reward is this AMAZING wand, if you dont got it yet check it out.
I never run outta mana and i help a lil in the dps and keeping runners from aggroing more mobs. Easier than healing with any other class so far at this lvl, (Had a pally and drood too)
Anywho hope this technique works out for you too ^_^
oh yeah, and soloing is rediculous, i literally just grinded a lvl on those skellies in darkshire and didnt stop once for a drink, just mindblast, SWP, wand (Shielding ahead of time) of course having all that great gear from healing those instances helps a load too.
Im in love with my Spriest ^_^
P.S. there is that quest you get in BFD, and the reward is this AMAZING wand, if you dont got it yet check it out.
Scholar
46 posts
I just wanted to lend (yet another) assurance that shadow priests can heal exceptionally well, especially at the lower levels.
Some people are saying that a shadow priest can heal up to Outland instances. I'll take that a step further and say that I healed every instance up to Shattered Halls as a shadow spec.
The answer to your question really depends on whether or not you are going to be duo'ing with your warrior-pet 100% of the time. If you are, you could go holy and be quite viable. Don't let anyone kid you; spec'ing holy will make instance healing a bit easier, but it is far from necessary. Spec'ing shadow would enable you to tear through quests and trash mobs much, much more quickly, and you could still heal instances.
Here is how I would spec for a warrior-duo build:
5/5 Spirit Tap (Tell your friend to let you get the killing blow to trigger this. It's huge in reducing dowtime.)
2/2 Imp. SW:Pain
3/3 Shadow Affinity (Ordinarily, I would not take this in a leveling build, but if you are duo'ing all the time, it will help the warrior keep aggro.)
1/1 Mind Flay
4/5 Shadow Focus
2/2 Shadow Reach
3/5 Shadow Weaving
1/1 Vampiric Embrace
2/2 Imp Vampiric Embrace (Now, you will usually be able to heal your friend without any direct-heal spells.)
2/5 Shadow Weaving (Closes the talent at 5/5.)
5/5 Darkness
1/1 Shadowform
1/5 Shadow Focus (Closes the talent at 5/5.)
3/3 Focused Mind (Or alternatively, 2/2 Imp Psy Scream and 1/1 Silence, if you think you need Silence.)
5/5 Misery
1/1 Vampiric Touch
Final Spec; time to start putting points in the Discipline tree.
And yes, I would eschew Wand Spec in favor of reaching the more favorable shadow talents 5 levels earlier.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you ever have any questions.
Some people are saying that a shadow priest can heal up to Outland instances. I'll take that a step further and say that I healed every instance up to Shattered Halls as a shadow spec.
The answer to your question really depends on whether or not you are going to be duo'ing with your warrior-pet 100% of the time. If you are, you could go holy and be quite viable. Don't let anyone kid you; spec'ing holy will make instance healing a bit easier, but it is far from necessary. Spec'ing shadow would enable you to tear through quests and trash mobs much, much more quickly, and you could still heal instances.
Here is how I would spec for a warrior-duo build:
5/5 Spirit Tap (Tell your friend to let you get the killing blow to trigger this. It's huge in reducing dowtime.)
2/2 Imp. SW:Pain
3/3 Shadow Affinity (Ordinarily, I would not take this in a leveling build, but if you are duo'ing all the time, it will help the warrior keep aggro.)
1/1 Mind Flay
4/5 Shadow Focus
2/2 Shadow Reach
3/5 Shadow Weaving
1/1 Vampiric Embrace
2/2 Imp Vampiric Embrace (Now, you will usually be able to heal your friend without any direct-heal spells.)
2/5 Shadow Weaving (Closes the talent at 5/5.)
5/5 Darkness
1/1 Shadowform
1/5 Shadow Focus (Closes the talent at 5/5.)
3/3 Focused Mind (Or alternatively, 2/2 Imp Psy Scream and 1/1 Silence, if you think you need Silence.)
5/5 Misery
1/1 Vampiric Touch
Final Spec; time to start putting points in the Discipline tree.
And yes, I would eschew Wand Spec in favor of reaching the more favorable shadow talents 5 levels earlier.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you ever have any questions.
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