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Choosing a Spec PvE Healing Circle of Healing Improved Divine Spirit PvE DPS Shadow Shadow Focus and Hit Capping Leveling as Shadow Smite Notes

Choosing a Spec

For Priests in World of Warcraft, choosing a spec revolves around the role to be performed. There are two main roles for Priests: Healing and DPS, however there are several differences between different types of specs within those two roles. In general:

1. Discipline - PvP Healing
2. Holy - PvE Healing
3. Shadow - PvP and PvE DPS

Each of the different specs also will have different focuses between the three tree. For example, a Circle of Healing priest will spend their Holy points different than an Improved Divine Spirit priest. These variations may be subtle, but they are at the core of making a proper spec for the role that priest is performing.

Much like other healing classes, Priests are recommended to spec differently for PvE and PvP, even if the role remains the same.

Please note that not every player will spend their points exactly like the examples given below. These are just general designs, and often stereotypes. Many personal preferences go into exact builds, however the majority of players will fall within 2 or 3 points of some version below.

PvE Healing

While the two main healing specs for Priest do certainly look similar, the actual playing and gearing for them is quite different.

Circle of Healing

A Circle of Healing (CoH) specced priest well suited for a variety of healing roles. However, they truly shine in situations where several members of the raid are taking damage at once, and especially when those members are within the same group and general vicinity of each other. This build is usually augmented strong amounts of +healing, mana per 5, and spirit.

A typical CoH build^[1] Priest would be:

Holy

• 2/2 Healing Focus
• 3/3 Renew
• 4/5 Holy Specialization
• 5/5 Divine Fury
• 1/1 Holy Nova
• 3/3 Inspiration
• 2/2 Holy Reach
• 3/3 Improved Healing
• 2/2 Healing Prayers
• 1/1 Spirit of Redemption
• 5/5 Spiritual Guidance
• 5/5 Spiritual Healing
• 3/3 Holy Concentration
• 1/1 Lightwell - (Alternatively, this point can be spent to go 5/5 Holy Specialization.)
• 5/5 Empowered Healing
• 1/1 Circle of Healing

Discipline

• 5/5 Unbreakable Will
• 4/5 Silent Resolve
• 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
• 1/1 Inner Focus
• 3/3 Meditation

Improved Divine Spirit

Unlike the CoH spec above, an Improved Divine Spirit (IDS) specced Priest functions best when assigned a single target to heal. Through use of stopcasting macros, pre-casting techniques, and a heavy focus on Spirit, an IDS Priest can sustain tank healing almost indefinitely.

A typical IDS build would be:

Holy

• 2/2 Healing Focus
• 3/3 Renew
• 3/5 Holy Specialization
• 5/5 Divine Fury
• 1/1 Holy Nova
• 3/3 Inspiration
• 3/3 Improved Healing
• 1/2 Healing Prayers
• 1/1 Spirit of Redemption
• 5/5 Spiritual Guidance
• 5/5 Spiritual Healing
• 3/3 Holy Concentration
• 3/5 Empowered Healing

Discipline

• 5/5 Unbreakable Will
• 4/5 Silent Resolve
• 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
• 1/1 Inner Focus
• 3/3 Meditation
• 5/5 Mental Agility
• 1/1 Divine Spirit
• 2/2 Improved Divine Spirit

PvE DPS

Shadow

Shadow Priests are a unique mix of damage and utility. They are highly sought after for raid slots due to the mana return they provide through Vampiric Touch. It is also considered the best leveling spec, as the high DPS along with shortened downtime allows for efficient grinding and questing.

In general, a raiding Shadow build^[2] will look like:

Shadow

• 5/5 Spirit Tap OR Blackout (This is personal preference, as typically neither will make or break a boss encounter, however there is some call for Blackout if the priest is currently doing Lady Vashj or other similar encounters.)
• 3/3 Shadow Affinity
• 2/2 Improved Shadow Word: Pain
• 5/5 Shadow Focus - (See: the detailed section on Shadow Focus and Hit Capping below)
• 4/5 Improved Mind Blast
• 1/1 Mind Flay
• 2/2 Shadow Reach
• 4/5 Shadow Weaving
• 1/1 Vampiric Embrace
• 3/3 Focused Mind
• 5/5 Darkness
• 1/1 Shadowform
• 5/5 Shadow Power
• 5/5 Misery
• 1/1 Vampiric Touch

Discipline

• 5/5 Unbreakable Will
• 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
• 3 filler points (usually in Improved Power Word: Shield)
• 1/1 Inner Focus
• 3/3 Meditation

Shadow Focus and Hit Capping

The hit cap is the term where adding more hit rating will no longer improve a character's chance to land a successful attack or spell on the mob. Shadow Focus translates directly into hit rating at roughly 25 points per talent rank. Starting backwards with 5/5 Shadow Focus, a Shadow Priest's hit cap is 76 hit rating. Every time the priest's hit rating raises by 25, they can safely remove one point out of Shadow Focus and place it elsewhere.

Leveling as Shadow

Leveling as Shadow will give the player a different set of priorities and therefore the spec will be different. The key changes are:

Shadow

• 5/5 Spirit Tap - Reduced downtime
• 0/3 Shadow Affinity - No worries about threat capping as much before VE and VT.
• 3/5 Shadow Focus - No need to hit cap just yet, just enough to move up the tree

Discipline

• 5/5 Wand Specialization - Typical to wand more while questing. Also less likely to encounter deadly interrupt and stun effects.

It is generally recommended to move up in the Shadow tree through Mind Flay, then to pick up Wand Spec, and then to finish up in the Shadow tree.

Smite

"Smite spec" is mostly a theoretical build that many Priests have toyed with over time. The basis of it was the judicious use of Smite and Holy Fire to drive a mage style DPS. Theoretically, the pure burst DPS from this spec can be on par with or possibly greater than similarly geared "pure-DPS" classes. However, there is little to no efficiency nor is there any utility offered by this spec.

Smite speccing varies widely, however a typical one may look like:

Discipline

• 5/5 Unbreakable Will
• 5/5 Silent Resolve
• 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
• 1/1 Inner Focus
• 3/3 Meditation
• 4/5 Mental Agility
• 5/5 Mental Strength
• 2/2 Focused Power
• 5/5 Force of Will
• 1/1 Power Infusion

(Note: going to 0/2 Focused Power and 4/5 Force of Will to pick up Improved Divine Spirit will also work.)

Holy

• 5/5 Holy Specialization
• 5/5 Spell Warding - (Basically throw away points)
• 5/5 Divine Fury
• 1/1 Holy Nova
• 2/2 Holy Reach
• 2/2 Searing Light
• 1/1 Spirit of Redemption
• 5/5 Spiritual Guidance
• 2/2 Surge of Light

Notes

1. ^ This build and both images were pulled from the Holy talents page, originally authored by Khalane
2. ^ This build and associated image was pulled from the Shadow talents page, originally authored by Khalane

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