src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/63195">
The Priest is a great class to solo at the mid and higher
levels, but it can be hard early on. What spells should you be casting
and when? What stats do you want to look for early on, and where should
you be leveling at? That's some of the questions that we will attempt
to answer here. In this article we will look at playing a Priest from
level 1 to 40 which is the hardest levels for a Priest to solo. This is
not a step by step leveling guide, but a play guide. I'm not going to
tell you every mission to do and in what order. I am going to try to
help you figure out how to best play and level the Priest.
Some people will tell you that everyone has their own play style and
that there is no right or wrong way to play your Priest. I am here to
tell you that they are liars! They just don't want you to level as fast
as they did. They are trying to keep you down! Don't listen to them,
listen to me. Now you might be asking yourself why you should listen to
me... The answer is simple; I wrote an article and posted it on the
internet! Not just anyone can do that. You have to have credentials,
you have to be somebody... ok, so you really just need a computer, an
internet connection and no life; and I qualify in spades on all three
of those so listen up.
So, you have made your character and are ready to begin your new career
as a Priest. Let me begin by giving you a couple of very basic tips.
1) Always
have href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Power_Word:_Fortitude"
target="_blank">Power Word: Fortitude running (you
get this at level 1, and it increases your health).
2) Download
and use href="http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/quest-helper.aspx"
target="_blank">Questhelper (it will save you a
ton of time finding where you should be going for your quests).
3) Go for
Quests instead of Grinding (you can level much faster and enjoy an
actual game with a story and everything instead of just grinding mobs;
I know I couldn't believe it either).
As you start out down your path to uberness, keep in mind that the
first 20 levels are the hardest for the Priest. Many players quit early
on, thinking the class is too fragile and slow in leveling. Don't be a
quitter! Stick it out, I promise you that it gets better.
Once you get up to level 10, your routine should go something like, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Smite"
target="_blank">Smite, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Mind_Blast"
target="_blank">Mind Blast, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Shadow_Word:_Pain"
target="_blank">Shadow Word: Pain, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Power_Word:_Shield"
target="_blank">Power Word: Shield and then repeat
until the mob is dead. You are going to have a lot of down time right
now. In between almost every fight, you will find yourself sitting on
your ass drinking Sparkleberry juice, or whatever they want to call it,
to restore your mana. I know it sucks, but just keep telling yourself
it won't last long.
Blast
Word: Pain
Word: Shield
10 to 20
As you move up from level 10 to level 20 put all of your
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/talents"
target="_blank">Talent points into the Shadow
tree. I don't care if you want to be a healing Priest, you can always
respec later when it's easier to find groups. Right now you are almost
always on your own, and Shadow will make leveling much easier and
faster. Start by putting your points into Spirit Tap and Improved
Spirit Tap. This will help your Mana regeneration immensely. Let's face
it, the less time spent being emasculated by having to sit around
drinking Foo Foo juice the better (the fact that it means you will be
able to kill more mobs faster is also a nice side effect). From there
put your point into Improved Shadow Word: Pain, and Shadow Focus. Your
spell combination will pretty much stay the same until 20 when you can
throw a Devouring Plague in the mix to take mobs down faster. Also use
Renew if you find yourself taking too much damage, and Psychic Scream
if you pull more than one mob at a time. You should notice by level 20
that your survivability is much better now, and your down time is
greatly reduced. Keep your eyes open for any gear that gives you
+Intellect and +Stamina. Intellect will give you more Mana so you can
fight longer between down time, and Stamina gives you Health to keep
you alive.
Blast
Word: Pain
Word: Shield
Plague
20 to 30
As you level from 20 to 30, continue putting your Talent points into
Shadow. Start with Improved Mind Blast and Mind Flay, and then move to
Shadow Reach (put only 1 point here) and Shadow Weaving. As you put
points into Improved Mind Blast, you will be using this spell more and
more because the Talent reduces the cooldown of the spell. You will
start picking up a lot of new spells from 20 to 30, spells like
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Shackle_Undead"
target="_blank">Shackle Undead,
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Mana_Burn"
target="_blank">Mana Burn, and
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/spells1-40#Mind_Vision"
target="_blank">Mind Vision. These can be kind of
cool and useful in certain situations, but your standard rotation won't
change much. Stick with Smite, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain,
Power Word: Shield, and Devouring Plague. If they don't die with that,
just go back and forth between Mind Flay and Mind Blast. Mind Flay will
seem really weak right now, but it gets better over time and uses very
little mana. You can also switch to your wand if you want while waiting
for your two DOTs, Devouring Plague, and Shadow Word: Pain to finish
them off. Again, use Renew if you need to, and Psychic Scream if you
pull more than one mob. Continue to keep your eyes open for any gear
that gives you +Intellect and +Stamina, and start looking for some
+Spirit. You should be feeling a lot better about being a Priest at
this point. You are able to kill most mobs easily, with little to no
down time, and if they bring a friend or two you should still be able
to take them without too much worry. You should be dying a
lot less than before. No more Foo Foo juice for you! (OK maybe a little
still, but you drink a lot less).
Blast
Word: Pain
Word: Shield
Plague
30 to 40
As you level from 30 to 40, continue putting your Talent points into
Shadow. Start with Vampiric Embrace, then Improved Vampiric Embrace,
Focused Mind, and finally go to Darkness. Vampiric Embrace is a great
spell that will really push you towards the killing machine a Shadow
Priest can be. Every time you use it on a mob, 25% of all shadow damage
you cause to that mob will be returned as Health to you. With this, you
will find yourself using less and less heals and Renew. As you move
towards being a true Shadow Priest, you will find yourself using Smite
less and less. With the Talents you have picked up, your Shadow spells
hit harder, cost less, and heals you with Vampiric Touch. Eventually
you will all but drop Smite going more with Mind Blast, Mind Flay,
Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, Power Word: Shield, and repeat.
Start looking to at replacing some of that Stamina gear with +Spirit.
You shouldn't have a problem with staying alive now, and don't really
need the Health as much. Fights should be a breeze to you right now,
with the only down time coming if you pull too many. Keep an eye on
your DOTs; if your target is almost dead, and the DOTs are still
ticking, use your wand or Mind Flay instead of a high Mana cost spell
to finish them off.
Blast
Flay
Word: Pain
Word: Shield
Plague
This should give you a good idea of how to start playing a Priest.
Stick to the Shadow build, and remember to keep your eyes on your DOTs;
you can save a lot of mana by not going for overkill. Just keep in mind
that the hardest part is now over. Your first 20 to 30 levels are the
hardest, from 40 on it just gets better, but we will save that for
another time. For now get out there and start kicking ass.
Where to Level
Forest
starting area
Woods
Elf starting area
Morogh
and Gnome starting area
Glades
starting area
towards Blood Elf
Modan
towards Dwarf and Gnome
Forest
towards Undead
towards Human
Mountains
towards Alliance
towards Alliance
Foothills
towards Alliance
Mountains
Highlands
Vale
of Sorrows
towards Horde
Isle
starting area
and Troll starting area
starting area
Elf starting area
Isle
towards Daenei
towards Night Elf
Barrens
Mountains
towards Horde
towards Alliance
Needles
towards Horde
towards Horde
Marsh
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