Leveling as a priestFollow

Is it viable to level solo as a priest or is it just to slow and difficult. I know once you get the shadow form it is easier, but I know you dont get that until mid-game. So during levels 1-20 will it just be too much of a hassle to level it up to a level where you dont necessarily need others to help you level?

Ive played other spellcasters and since a priest is a less offensive fighter I was just wondering if it was plausible to go it solo.

Edited, Jul 16th 2008 12:01pm by OrigamiSamurai

No. It sucks. Roll hunter.

I kid. It's not completely horrible. Just make sure you level your first aid and cooking and it's not a bad idea to bring all the extra goodies with you when you level - scrolls and elixirs and such.

As the FAQ would tell you:

Priests can level solo as effectively as any class, with little downtime. The secret before level 40 is to take 5/5 Spirit Tap talent as quickly as possible, followed by Wand Specialization. Obtain the best wands you can spare the cash for.

At level 40, respec to Shadow form.

My priest is 62 now. I had levelled to 61 as shadow but have just recently changed to one of the Holy/Disc specs listed in the FAQ. This is because ultimately I wanted this toon to be a healer and thought I should try to heal all of the OL instances at least once before I hit 70.

I was dreading how I would go solo'ing as Holy/Disc but I actually haven't found it too bad. I never die, except when I get lag and it really hasn't been taking me that long to kill things.

In short, if you are above 40, a shadow spec will be awesome for levelling but Holy/Disc is still viable in my opinion.

I've been leveling as disc/holy since the beginning and aye, I agree you never die. The only times I've died is when I massively overaggro'd while being OOM, and the times where I'm not watching my health, then suddently notice I'm low, try to finish up the 10% hp mob with SW:D leaving it stuck on 1% and then owning myself.

Working for me great.

Race is not that big a deal. Pick whatever you like. It is a nice bonus, but so is the Dreine (Spelling? I'm horde) +Hit rating. So is Shadowmeld, well not all THAT useful. Bottom line, pick what you want.

You could almost double your efficiency. Whatever though, if you don't want to improve that's not my problem.



If you plan on going Shadow Priest for end-game then Draenei are the best. I can't comment on healing priests because I don't play one.

Just wanted to throw in my experience. Started a priest on Friday... well, started him long ago, but never logged on him until Friday... anyway.. lol

From 1-6 or so, it was a breeze, just like all classes, but I kind of hit a bump from 6-10 it seemed.

I mean, mobs a level below me were still a fight, and every class I've leveled so far, mobs your level or below are pretty easy, and you can usually whip 'em a couple levels higher than you, 3 if you have to.


So logged on my warlock, spend a few gold on some gear/wand/weapons, and wa-lah! IT was a tremendous difference.

I did get a couple new damage dealing spells at 10, but I was having trouble downing mobs, staying alive, and with mana generation.


Only have him to level 11 right now, but the gear has made a huge difference in playing him.. Read up on the priest forums, and I guess it's one class that benefits from +spirit gear, so I added a bit of spirit, with stam as a 2nd.. int 3rd, and really, so much different an experience.

Mobs my level are hardly a challenge, and a quick fight, couple levels higher I can handle with ease.



I say this, because everything I've leveled up so far, I've not really worried about gear until 20 and later... I've been known to have my toon to 30 and still be wearing level 8 gear. it's just never seemed to make as much a difference as it has with a priest.

Link your armory.

Mozared what Disc/Holy build did you use when leveling?

I just made a Priest and wanted to level Disc/holy so i could heal and solo effectivly.

Thanks

The thing with leveling is you want as many disc as you can before bothering with holy... specially in the lower levels disc enhances your stats while holy enhances only your healing (which is useless while soloing). Furthermore I went with Unbreakable Will for some PvP, though for pure leveling wand spec is a better idea. Same thing with focused power.

The way I did it (though a bit optimized) would be like this;
Level 23 - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMhzh
Level 34 - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMhzhZf0t
Level 51 - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMuzhgtb0oZf0t (I'll get back to you about Imp Mana Burn)
Level 69 - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMuzhgtb0oZfxtcf0om
Or level 69 - http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMuzhgtbxoofhtcf0o (If you're having no trouble whatsoever with healing)

I usually open up with Holy Fire and SW:P, then turn around and run from the mob while shielding myself... Turn back to cast Mind Blast and start running again. When the Holy Fire debuff is at 3/4 of its duration, start casting holy fire again - while doing so the mob should finaly reach you. Once Holy Fire's launched go for another Mind Blast. Then the average mob should be at 20% with the final DOT ticks coming in and you can wand it down. Come to think of it, Spirit Tap would make a nice addition to the spec... Getting this before moving in on the Holy tree doesn't seem a bad idea. Alternatively you could fear instead of Power Word: Shield... Main problem with it is that feared mobs LOS you or run out of your spell range - a lot.

Imp mana burn is there (aside from PvP) because I've found myself toe to toe with a lot of casting mobs. Since running from them is useless you're better off casting mana burn. Lastly, you'll face plenty of mobs that will be bashing away on you regardless. When the holy fire debuff is before 3/4th of it's duration, SW:P is running and Mind Blast is on cooldown, thén use a Smite. In a disc/holy "dps" rotation I've always viewed Smite as 'melee hits' or 'wanding'; it's got the last priority. You don't use it unless you would have to stand around doing nothing if you didn't.

Edited, Aug 6th 2008 4:15pm by Mozared

I have made a small Guide and video of how to solo grind priest at very low levels, you can see it here:

http://www.wow-guides-now.com/wow-academy/14-priests-academy/73-low-level-priest-grind

Or check it out on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lQukjp1ICk&feature=user

But you won't be able to read the commentery on YouTube.

I hope this helps! :)

It's worked perfectly for me, and I leveled to 20 in 13 hours :)