Priest Guide Index
Priest Guide Main Page
Priest Guide Chapter 1 - Basics - Credits
Priest Guide Chapter 2 - Quests
Priest Guide Chapter 3 - Trainers - NPCs
Priest Guide Chapter 4 - Equipment
Priest Guide Chapter 5 - Spells - Talents
Priest Guide Chapter 6 - Roles - Tactics - Techniques
Priest Guide Appendix - Where to Hunt
6.1.4 - PvP vs. Druids
VS Any_Hybrid_Class (Pally/Hunter/Druid/etc)
The weakness of any hybrid class is Mana. This is because *half* of their effectiveness should theoretically come from this pool. Therefore, if you mana-Burn them along with Dot and Debuff, run around being a generally hard target and outlast them. (Conserve Mana!) [ Chidori of Durotan ]
VS Druid - I did not waste any mana while he was in Cat Form. I just went melee, as did he. He eventually had to change forms in order to heal... I feared flayed and blasted. Once fear ended I silenced before he could get the heal off, and finished him off with a Blast. The fight was pretty short. [ Mystarria of Magtheridon ]
6.1.4 - PvP vs. Hunters
Most important thing about fighting a hunter is that Conc. Shot can be dispelled. Dispel becomes your very best friend: dispels mark, dispels Conc. Silence isn't an option because you'll never close the 20 yard casting range before your Viper'd, and after that you might as well let him pluck at you. I typically fear the pet alone (I don't have focused casting yet) and close the distance. Two hard nukes and he's at half health. Then, the trick is to flip between melee and bow range. If you can confuse a hunter about what skills/weapons he's using, it's an advantage. However, Improved Wing Clip is HORRIBLE, and if it lands your ass is in trouble. Just keep dispelling quick and often. Very sad that it won't hit Viper shot though Sad [ Mullencamp of Mannoroth ]
VS Hunters - Wow, this is really simple. Duel starts, run up to the hunter in his face. Fear him and his pet. Shadow Word: Pain, Starshards, Mind Blast. Shield yourself, do another Starshards or Holy Smite if you have the time. Mind Blast. Dead. If you don't have Starshards, use Holy Smite or That Holy Spell. Once the initial fear starts, SW: P and Mind Blast will get him to half HP or less. All it takes is another DOT and another spell to end it. Hunters are a piece of cake. Nothing beats the fear. [ Razerwind of Bleeding Hollow ]
VS Hunters - Rush inside their bow range and melee them, they never expect it. Then when they come to their senses and start to melee back fear the hunter and his pet, and finish him with as many damage spells as possible. Which spells you use depends on your build of course. Once fear wears off, go focused casting (If you have it), if not, then run in and melee some more, maybe heal yourself once if needed, and then send him running again with another fear. Ignore the pet the whole fight, though try to catch the pet with your fear each time as well, be sure to get the hunter *and* the pet. [ Reprimir of Thunderlord ]
VS Hunters - Your DoT nullifies their speed. If a hunter takes damage while using their 30% speed boost, they're stunned. A hunter should always remove his speed before any fight or he'll get demolished. Another thing, pets are kind of buggy so they're easy to get by. They don't seem to be able to attack something until they are right next to it so the key would be to charge right past the pet and they will turn around and start chasing you without ever having landed anything. [ Stratedge of Tichondrius ]
VS Hunters - Just remember, unless you have somewhere safe to go really close, You can't run from a hunter. Hunter's love nothing more than to see someone trying to run away from them. My strat: Close range, nuke, melee, when it gets rough I fear and heal, then nuke some more. Also I try to keep the dot on them so they can't run fast. Ignore the pet and just try to kill as fast as possible. Engineering helps. [ Lilac of Feathermoon ]
VS Hunters - I am holy/disc specced however.. Shadow priests can pretty much lay waste to Hunters fairly easily if they nuke hard and fast. Problem with hunters also is.. Fear does not fear away their pet (which is kind of dumb) so you constantly have this pet biting at your butt. And at L.60 that pet biting at your butt tends to hurt especially if you have the hunter off in the distance critting you for 1700's. What I've tended to start doing is going FULL offensive.. and it's been working.. by this I mean.. I will DoT and just constantly chase them with melee attacks. Hunters love their bows and love using them.. so they try and run away from you always just to get that advantage. Try and take it away from them whenever possible and your chances increase greatly. I'd rather have him meleeing my for 200's then shooting me for 500. [ Mukkel of Laughing Skull ]
VS Hunters - use dot and mindblast/smite, fear pet when it get close, use fear/shield when available [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Hunters - Usually I totally ignore the pet, and charge up to the Hunter as fast as possible. Shield yourself and dot him while you're closing the gap. When you get in melee hit fear and then follow up with a nuke/mind flay if you've got it. Run and close the gap before fear wears off and keep nuking, and dotting if you need to. Just make the most of shield and fear when fighting them. Also, if you want to stay at range I'd say hit them with Mana Burn and clear out their mana bar and then take them down from range, while fearing their pet whenever you can. [ Solaric of Illidan ]
VS Hunters -The problem is, a good hunter knows not to melee you right away. Most his nasty tricks are available through his ranged weapon, even though most of his damage isn't. An early concussive shot will keep you out of melee range for a good while, and he can follow that with Viper Sting if he has it. It takes out a good chunk of your mana. Then he can keep plugging away and moving while his pet beats on you from behind, and sooner or later you are going to get Dazed from all the rear attacks. If your fear timer is resetting, he can use Wing Clip on you too, making it REALLY hard to chase him down. Thats why I don't have much luck charging right at him. I usually end up fearing off the pet right away, and then just beating on him with manaburn, DoT's and DD's. I don't even try to chase him down, unless he's stupid and tries to melee me. Then he gets fear along with his pet. But again, that's only stupid hunters. Smart ones keep you at a distance. And I have no consistent win record against that kind. [ Mertulos of Gorgonnash ]
VS Hunters - Personally I have my Mouse Button 4 set to dispel myself and retarget my last enemy, so that helps get rid of the snare without any real delay. The way I usually deal with them is to Pain, throw up a Shield, Mind Blast, then attempt to get into range to fear them. Then Mind Blast and Mind Flay as much as possible until my Shield is down, then I repeat. Beating a hunter is a matter of dishing out as much damage as you can as fast as you can, before your mana is all gone. Mana Burn doesn't work quickly enough as compared to their Viper Sting, I've found. You need to focus on damage. Use Shield to keep your spells and channeling from being interupted, but besides that, don't heal unless absolutely necessary. [ Quinsta of Azgator ]
VS Hunters - There is a sweet spot when fighting Hunters. You have to be just outside of Melee Range, and they can't use Range weapons on you either. Of course, its hard to maintain this distance, but if you know it well, and use it well, you'll own Hunters all day long. Hope this tactic works well for you. [ Mordoch of Shattered Hand ]
VS Hunters - Fear their pet, match them for the plain dps, and heal when necessary. Hunters are fairly easy. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
VS Hunters - A well played shadow priest will beat a hunter everytime unless he is melee specced at which case its close and a well played holy priest has about a 60% chance. Reason is simple. You /duel a Hunter and then just run up close to him... If he tries to run out of range, he will eventually leave the duel. So I suppose he can draw you that way but not win. Back to the get close part. As soon as the duel starts you fear so you get him and his pet. Then you dot and (depends on spec) mind flay or mana burn. You can get 3 flays off or 2 burns off. At my level 2 burns do 1300 mana which is generally good for 60-70% of a hunters mana so with a shield up that you of course casted before the battle started you should get another 1-2 off which should drain hunter of mana or if shadowspecced.. you just mind flay 3 times silence the hunter mind blast and he dies. And yes you simply ignore the pet. Since the hunter never does any realy damage to you the damage shield handle the pet just fine. [ Kelemvor of Blackhand ]
6.1.5 - PvP vs. Mages
VS Mage - I haven't run into a ton of mages but I generally take them down easily. My main thing is to get the dots/vampiric embrace on right away and then get into silence range...silence...mind blast/flay...close distance and fear...then repeat... [ Scelus of Laughing Skull ]
VS Mage -- use dot as you run at them, fear then mana burn until they are drained, use fear/shield when available. [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Mage - These classes have too much mana for you to burn, and they usually have more life then you too (Warlocks have a bunch). Again, Keep DoT up, Use silence when you see them prepping a big spell (or fear for locks). Try to Melee them!, running around them will make targeting you with LOS spells harder, and add your stick-wacking damage to your DPS. Remember to DeBuff them! [ Chidori of Durotan ]
VS Mage - Easy target. Shield/renew, dot, mind blast, flay, and silence when necessary. Becareful of fire mage with sheep/combustion/pryo/silence combo, they can dish out 3-4k dmg before you can react. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
6.1.6 - PvP vs. Paladins
Versus Paladin - use dot as you run at them, fear then mana burn until they are drained, use fear/shield when available. [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Paladin - Paladins, get a holy defense potion and pop it. After that the paladin is a Joke. Remember though, when the Pally's hands glow, silence it. [ Axecleaver of Blackhand ]
VS Paladin - Basically the same as shaman. But this time cast silence toward the end of the fight to prevent them from using shield/heal combo. Try to time the silence at about 1/3 of their life. You can also try to time your silence with the 2nd fear so you get 13 seconds of no casting effect. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
6.1.7 - PvP vs. Rogues
If you want to kill a good rogue, you may have to use items to do it. It's just that simple. Items that I have used in the past:
Sprint Potion - This negates his sprint skill to some extent. It is possible that he also has a Sprint Potion, but not all rogues do, and if he uses it then he cannot use a healing potion.
The Net - Either a Gnomish Net-o-matic or the ones you get off the Murlocs in Westfall (I do not know the Horde equivalent). Very useful to give yourself minimal distance to heal or attempt an escape.
Free Action Potion - Immunity to stun/snare for 15 seconds.
Anti-Venom/Jungle Remedy - Cures poison on you. Not tied to your potion timer, you can use as many of these as necessary.
Talents that help against Rogues:
Improved Flash Heal
Mental Agility
Improved Shadow Word: Pain
Vampiric Embrace
Focused Casting
Unbreakable Will (not really though, it seems broken)
Blackout
Fighting a rogue is mostly about knowing what he is capable of. For instance, if the rogue has no daggers, then always put your back to the rogue. Gouge is a front only attack, and backstab is a dagger only skill. If he has daggers, then face him as often as possible.
The typical rogue combo works like this:
Cheap Shot - You are stunned
Hemorrhage/Sinister Strike
Gouge - You are stunned
Cold Blood Eviscerate - Critical hit, ouch
Blind - You are stunned
Vanish - He is stealthed
Premeditation - All his skills are available
Repeat combo starting with Cheap Shot
As the priest, you need to interrupt that combo. The easiest if Psychic Scream. You have a very small window to hit it, but it buys you a lot of time to get yourself back in the fight. However, If it is resisted or you are fighting an Undead Rogue or he has items that grant fear immunity, then you need to prevent the Gouge. This is done be turning your back on the Rogue. Although you may take a backstab, it's better than the Cold Blood Eviscerate you're going to take. The Rogue is now forced to Sinister Strike you for that last combo point, or use a Kidney Shot or weaker Eviscerate. Good!
So if you get out of being ganked and find yourself in some kind of "even" matchup,
DoT the Rogue (And Vampiric Embrace if you have it), Shield and Renew yourself. In order of importance:
Shadow Word: Pain (most important)
Power Word: Shield
Vampiric Embrace
Renew (least important)
Do not rely on any spells with a casting time greater than instant! The rogue still has the Kick skill that he hasn't used on you, and it nullifies your entire school of magic in addition to interrupting your spell. If you're going to need a Flash Heal, then make him waste his kick by using Mana Burn or Mind Blast. Mana Burn is a gamble, he may let you try and actually cast it, which is bad. Mind Blast is better, but you lose the ability to cast shadow spells for a bit. Good Priests can beat good Rogues most of the time. You need to know the Rogues' strengths and shut them down.
Shadow Word: Pain prevents stealth
Anti-Venom: Prevents poisons, no cooldown, not tied to potion timer
Against Gouge: Turning your back on him prevents Gouge, but not advisable against a dagger Rogue.
Against Kick: Make him waste it on a Mind Blast.
Only use instant spells
[ Scarpa of Warsong ]
VS Rogues - The best system I've come up with is to throw a Fear right off the bat (starting off close enough for Fear to land, but far enough so that he cannot attack me). As he is feared, and a fair distance away, hit him with a Mind Blast plus an immediate Pain (to prevent stealth). Back up while he runs toward you, throwing up Shield and turning on melee. At this point, it's all up for whatever happens next.
Low on health? Shield, and do a FULL heal. The trick is to keep turning away from him, and hope he doesn't have a kidney shot waiting for you. I often timed my big heals to be after he hits me with Gouge or Kidney shot. You can turn remarkably quickly while casting a long spell (just be sure not to take a step in any direction), and interestingly enough, Fade makes it a bit difficult to tell what direction you're facing. Keep regen on yourself as often as possible. I also tried to stay BEHIND the rogue by running through him, circle strafing, etc. I doubt it worked well against my friend, but he did say that it made it a bit harder to pull off orientation-specific attacks (don't even think about mind blast or smite - gouge will shut that down far too quickly). If you can hold out until Fear recharges, Fear him again and take the time to heal yourself, then nuke + Dot. I really only got nukes off when I had him feared - he was too canny otherwise, always had a gouge or kidney shot waiting. So my strategy turned into survival and efficiency while waiting for Psychic Scream. Played correctly, you should always be able to keep them out of stealth. Gouge is just plain rough - try to time your important heals and nukes when you know he's just expended his Gouge or Kidney Shot. Talents make it easier - Shadow spec if this is important to you. =) Lower the time of Weakened Soul, grab Silence and Vampiric Embrace, blackout stuns can really make your day, lower the downtime of Fear, increase Pain's duration, and grab the improved renew. [ Rejuvyn of Doomhammer ]
VS Rogues - The foundation of my strategy against a rogue is making maximum use of our fear (psychic scream), it's basically our only weapon. The truth is, after we got nerfed last patch and our fear almost always breaks early, it's hardly evern enough time to cast a couple instants let alone a real spell. In order to maximize your fear, immediately run in the opposite direction they go and cast your DoT(s) and your shield/renew on yourself. If they didn't break at this point, stop and try to position yourself for a MB... however I think the prime objective here is to ensure you maximize a MF so that you stall as much as you can to create a chance for your next fear. Then you have to hold on to your underwear and hope the rogue doesn't cut through your shield and you like butter. The best technique for dodging is to run through the attacker, turn around, and repeat. Melee attacks won't be disrupted by this, but other kinds of attacks might (not really sure about the rogue). At some point here you are going to get stunned and torn apart. It's all about the fear. If you manage to last long enough for a second fear, start thinking about throwing yourself a heal AFTER you have created space between you (running away). [ Stratedge of Tichondrius ]
VS Rogues - I actually beat a lvl 29 NE Rogue last night... being level 25 I was so happy! This is how I did it, I used pshycic scream than i dotted him w/ SW:P and than Devouring Plague, than I hit him w/ a mind blast than a smite, he cam back at me so I ran while running I put up my shield than I blasted him w/ SW:P than pysicic scream, rinse repeat [ Nafai of Thunderlord ]
VS Rogues - Best tactic vs rogues is instas, if you're shadow specced and got silence, silence his ass after you get free of his stun (Silence actually not only silences casts, it also silences specials). Toss up shield + renew, fear his ass, dot him. Most importantly, keep running around him and meleeing him when you can, harder for him to stun you. (Play his own LOS game) Dont wast time on heals, unless he's feared running off somewhere... MB and MF him when he comes back. Always keep a dot running so he cant vanish. [Jivebunny of Mannoroth]
VS Rogues - use dot followed by mindblast/smite until they get in melee range, then fear and repeat with mindblast/smite, use shield when they get in melee range again, use fear/shield when available. [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Rogues - These classes have either lot of Hp, or ways of avoiding your strikes. Stay away from them (duh). Use Fear as often as possible, Keep DoT up, and outlast. Run around (and spin for rogue battles). The more erratic, the better Smile
VS Rogues - They are a challenge, but not impossible. Who wins depend on luck - whether they can score multiple critical hits. First thing you must do is precast PW:Shield and renew. Almost always rogues will stun you and try to dish out as much dmg as possible. Usually, stun is followed by silence. Once you get out of the stun/silence, fear immediately and then dot them to prevent them from stealthing. Then Mind Blast, Flay and renew/heal as necessary. Once they break fear, either finish them off if they have low hp or kite them until fear cooldown wears off. The rest is pretty easy. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
VS Rogues - Also, if you get attacked by a Rogue, NEVER run away from them. This will just open your back for them to rip you apart. In PvP if you happen to get a rogue on you, always strafe sideways or simple back up. This will keep your back away from the rogue for the most part. [ Tau of Archimonde ]
VS Rogues - First thing is first... when your stunned your first instinct is to spam the fear button but it should be the Power Word: Shield macro you have to shield yourself. Then you make sure the rogue is in range of your fear and you cast it. Some rogues know priests are spamming fear button and back up when they know your about to come out of stun. Then you dot them and mind blast and heal if your low then mind flay them on the way back. By the time they cut down your shield it will be cooled down and ready to shield again. Then you just wait for your last fear and finish. Works everytime. Enjoy. [ Cael ]
VS Rogues - Most Rogues aren't very good at moving in and out of Line of Sight, so just Shield, DoT, Mind Blast, Fear, Flay, Flay, Mind Blast and they're done. But some of them are REALLY good at preventing you from ever casting Mind Blast, in which case your best bet is to just run away and let your DoT work them. And only use Flay. Flay doesn't have LoS issues. [ Aug of Burning Blade ]
6.1.8 - PvP vs. Shaman
VS Shaman - use dot as you run at them, fear then mana burn until they are drained, use fear/shield when available. [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Shaman - Shield/Renew if they are still out of range. DISPEL THEM IMMEDIATELY. If you let them proc windfury, consider yourself dead. After dispel, proceed to silence them and manaburn, dot, fear, mana burn x2. Cast dispel on yourself/shaman when necessary. Once you got them to 0 mana, they are worse than a paladin without sheild and heal. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
VS Shaman - Shaman have a few more hp than most casters, but normally fearing them and using dispel magic work. I just do as much dmg quickly. They also have a hard time with longer fights. and staying 20+yds makes their earthshock unuseable. [ Baka of Stormreaver ]
VS Shaman - I think the reason why people think shamans and paladins are overpowered (shaman if you're alliance, paladin if you're horde) is because they don't have enough experience fighting against them. You pretty much have to mana burn. Make sure there's no grounding totem or kill it first, then fear and mana burn. Sneak a renew on yourself while he's feared. If you're in big trouble, shield yourself and immediately follow up with flash heal. The shaman can either purge your shield (good) or interrupt your flash heal with earth shock (worse). The shaman can't stop both but it will buy you some time until the next fear. Keep mana burning, healing yourself to full and topping off with renew every 30 sec. When the shaman is weak, finish it with your nukes. [ Dagam of Archimonde ]
6.1.9 - PvP vs. Warlocks
VS Warlock - use dot as you run at them, fear then mana burn until they are drained, use fear/shield when available. [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Warlock - These classes have too much mana for you to burn, and they usually have more life then you too (Warlocks have a bunch). Again, Keep DoT up, Use silence when you see them prepping a big spell (or fear for locks). Try to Melee them!, running around them will make targeting you with LOS spells harder, and add your stick-wacking damage to your DPS. Remember to DeBuff them! [ Chidori of Durotan ]
VS Warlock - Shield, dot, flay, fear, and dispel when necessary. They don't present a challenge except for curse of doom + chain fear and drain mana. In that case, put on renew and try to out last them until you gain fear immunity. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
6.1.10 - PvP vs. Warriors
VS Warrior - use dot followed by mindblast/smite until they get in melee range, then fear and repeat with mindblast/smite, use shield when they get in melee range again, use fear/shield when available. [Thanks Zealz of Burning Blade from the official forums. ]
VS Warrior - These classes have either lot of Hp, or ways of avoiding your strikes. Stay away from them (duh). Use Fear as often as possible, Keep DoT up, and outlast. Run around (and spin for rogue battles). The more erratic, the better Smile
VS Warrior - They present a challenge, especially the UD verison. Their #1 weapon against a priest is mortal strike. Against them, use shield as much as possible and fear/dot as necessary. [ Sirius of Kil'Jaeden ]
Have comments or suggestions? Thought of something that has been missed? Found an error? I would love to hear from you! Please post in our Priest Class guide forum or email me at messiah@tentonhammer.com