Leveling speed compared to HunterFollow

To begin with, it's a far harder class to level. Just stick with it and bring alot of water. Once you're past the worst of it (first thirty or so levels) you'll find that you have less and less downtime and higher and higher killspeed. It takes a bit longer than for Hunters, but it's a fairly easy class to level anyway.

Protips:

Spirit Tap is Godly during leveling.
Wand is your highest priority on the AH and loot tables.
Spellpower and Spirit. These are the things you need more than anything else.

Thank you both for the insight.

I understand that my hunter leveled faster than any other toon will. I mainly leveled it to learn the game (Played ffxi for 4 1/2 years) and to be able to support other toons I make.

I am looking forward to the challenge and will continue to read all the post in this forum to hopefully be the best Priest that I can.

I want to start to play in groups and just feel that a Priest will have a better chance at group play than a Hunter.

Lately Since Ive started questing in STV on my Spriest ive started using a rotation that goes sumthing like Holy Fire,SWP Mind Blast,Wand until Mind Blast comes back up,Mind Blast again,then Mind Flay/wand them down and it seems to work pretty well,spirit tap ftw.Id like to here what spell rotations you guys are using?

With my experience, playing moderately (about 20 hours a week) I leveled a priest (disc/holy then full disc) to 70 in about a month and a half. Not to mention I was running BG's with my warrior simultaneously so 10-15 hours a week maybe. I did make sure that I ran every instance at least once and healed every one. So most of my exp came from dungeons. As far as world goes, there where alot of times I ran around screaming "Oh ****!" but I rarely ever died. In fact as far as pvp goes, I didn't lose a single duel till lvl 66 (against another priest) so keep that in mind.

Personally, (at 70) I go VT -> SW:P -> MB -> MF -> Wand until dead.
If the target still have 40-30% left after MF, I add an MF to the rotation before wanding. SW:D is weaved in between if it is a hard target that needs a bit of dps to take down fast, and DP is added after SW:P on those targets. The reason I start with VT is the cast-time. I'd rather have that outside of combat so I'm done stacking DoTs long before the target closes in. I'll even get MF off before the target is in melee range. Starting off with SW:P/DP would mean the target has two Global Cooldowns + VT cast time to close the distance. Doing it the other way basically removes the VT and SW:P cast from that distance equation.

You should never start out a rotation with an instant cast spell.

Mind Blast or VT should always come first.

He has an irrational fear of using the Shield. It doesn't cost much mana, and it doesn't pull aggro, so there's nothing wrong with getting it up. However, he's got this technique about using Fear almost exclusively in combat to avoid being hit on. It's not a bad technique at all, but he's a little too hellbent on using it.

Not at all. I just have no fear in using fear kiting. I just like to try to get others to overcome their fears with using 'outside the box' techniques.

I use shield all the time actually. It's extremely useful. The point really is that most players tend to think one way of doing something. For example a shield that prevents damage decreases healing. Thinking of it in a different light then doing damage also decreases healing. Now imagine if you combine the two. That's right woah, Sally!

Most players learn to use the shield early. They get used to it and it becomes a crutch. It's not necessarily a bad thing. But by using all your tools, and not just using them but knowing how and when to use them, and becoming efficient you can adjust to many different situations, some of which are the do or die emergency crap hits the fan situations in a group.



I might seem too hellbent on using it but that's because I'm trying to balance more people towards the middle of the spectrum;

shield                                 fear 
|--------------------0--------------------| 
 
^most players        ^ideal

btw I also use PW:Death a lot. Most players tend to use it and the end of a mob's HP. It can add some very nice dps if played right. Again it's just like fear. It needs to be learned when and how it should and shouldn't be used. Outside the box people! Come on!

It's not as big of a deal now then it used to be. Prior to the recent changes it was more mana inefficient. I do use it more often after the changes than before.

Edited, Nov 18th 2008 7:03pm by MentalFrog

It's more like learning to do without when needed. Like your example a warrior who relies too much on their weapon loses out to their advantages of their other gear, shield, chest, etc. What happens when that warrior is disarmed?

Just like in the case of a priest. Relying too heavily on a shield can turn it into a crutch. There will be times when you can't use your shield. By learning your other abilities you can stretch your possibilities farther.




Fear is not meant to replace the shield. In some situations the two are interchangeable. Those are the situations are when someone who relies on a shield should be learning to use fear. Then when the time comes that shield doesn't work but a fear will then the player will be trained and better prepared in using their other tools, ie fear.

There will be times when fear isn't a good tool. There will be times when shield isn't a good tool. There could be times when using both provide some incredible results. While soloing I've done some amazingly large mob pulls using a combination of fears, shields, and other abilities. I'm was actually surprised with my shadow priest. I also heard that priest are hard to level and that they're so squishy. My priest has been one of my best soloers and levelers. I can take on things some of my other toons wouldn't even think about.




And that's my whole point. They're both awesome when worked in together. The problem is players have a fear of using fears. They tend to focus too much on the cons and not see the pros. It is a double edged sword and should be used knowledgeably. How does one gain that knowledge? By forcing themselves to overcome their fears by dropping their crutches. :D

Why do you only discuss about shadow priests? My priest is doing just fine with disc/holy spec. Spirit tap is all that matters for leveling a priest. A priest with Spirit Tap CANNOT run out of mana while killing mobs. Not even in instances (been playing dps in instances also as a smiter :p). At level 72, my holy fire crits for 3k. I normally do (spirit tap is always on) 1,8-1,9k damage with smite. You don't even have to wand for mana regen. I only wand if the mob is less than 1200 hp (sw:d hit).

But sure.. this is for higher levels, when i assume you have some gear to support this endless killing.

I don't agree with any of the points you mentioned. If we talk about efficiency and downtime... The shadow priests needs to do damage to get back mana. The disc/holy priest gets mana from meditation. If you add in spirit tap, that buffs SPIRIT, then a holy priest has even more advantage, from Spiritual Guidance. Surge of Light increases your dps and mana efficiency a lot. I often do 3k holy fire crits and then 1,7k free smite. That's almost 5k damage in 1,5 seconds.

I played DPS(holy) and healer in instances. I NEVER HAVE TO DRINK! Maybe just before bosses, but then i usually get a well fed buff also. And I even use holy nova in instances. I grinded netherwing rep. Spirit tap was always on, mana was always > 90%. I get adds? I put a renew that ticks for 1k on me. I soloed quests that were for 3 ppl.

The days when holy priests were hard to level are gone. There is little difference between shadow and holy in terms of dps. The main difference is that a shadow priest brings utility to the group, and the holy priest can save a wipe in case something wrong happens :P

p.s. i played only priest, it's my only level 70 char, and i played it for about 3 years...