Stamina ??Follow

I read confusing advice on the best stats for a priest that is still leveling doing quests. There is the int-stam-spirit advice and there is the spell power-spirit-int advice. I am still low level so it likely doesn't make much difference but I really would like to be able to make informed choices when I compare gear.

Any help is much appreciated.

For almost any leveling build, pre level 60ish I'd recommend Int first, Spirit and Stamina roughly equally second. Once you get to the Outland, you'll start to see gear with Spellpower on it, and you can put that up there with Int.

If you're leveling on a PVP server, you will want to give Stamina more priority. Just bear in mind that Shield and Renew are also keys to survival, so you need enough mana to keep them rolling essentially always if you need to.

That is all the standard advice. But really as you level this is just something you do by feel. If you're feeling too squishy, you seek out more Stamina in your next few upgrades. If you're having mana issues, Int/Spi. If your heals aren't hitting for enough to keep you alive, you haven't got enough Spellpower. Etc.

Later on this is true, but at lower levels you're basically mixing Owl, Eagle, and Whale all the time, so you actually have to pay attention to that mix (as there are only 2 stats on each item). Too much Owl and not enough of the other two and you'll start feeling the pain.

On a PVE server this is mostly true. If you never ever do a battleground either. I just leveled a priest on a PVP server though, and this was not my experience at all.




I call dying to disgusting little gnomes "pain."

I do think it takes some getting used to. The classes you mention are all pretty powerful mow-things-downers, and while your priest will be as well, I think leveling in the 20's and even into the 30's is really more about defensive play. You can't three shot most things yet, but you can't take a lot of hits either, and you don't have a pet to take them for you, so you need to focus on mitigating and healing through damage. Remember to keep Renew rolling all the time, remember to use your Shield, and as you know from your warlock days, fear when used wisely can be a life saver. If you're leveling Shadow, Renew and Shield will give way to Vampiric Embrace.

Also, a common thing for people coming to play priests after other casting classes is to think of a wand as a free stat slot and not much more. You will actually use your wand while leveling your priest, a lot, so make sure you have the highest DPS one you can get. I like to start wanding when the mob is about 25%. That way Spirit Tap kicks in outside the 5 second rule, or most of it, and by the time you get into your 30's you won't even be carrying drinks anymore. Plus, at the lower levels, honestly a good wand may do more damage than your Smite.

It's true, I've never really used my wand much on other casters before. I'm leveling a priest now though (amongst a seemingly infinite amount of other alts) and at the moment - in my mid twenties - a wand works out really well. Thankfully, my warlock is an enchanter so she can spit out wands like a Slurm Queen squirting a fresh batch of Slurm drinks. Between healing myself, keeping shield up and dishing out attacks to mobs, my priest's mana pool isn't enough to fuel my every action without having frequent down time for drinking. At the moment I pretty much keep myself shielded, hit with Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, Mind Blast and then wand, wand, wand, wand, etc. Mind Blast tends to take at least a third of a mob's health away and, as long as my DoTs are up, a good wand does all I need, letting me reserve mana for shielding and any heals needed for fighting adds or whatever.