style="width: 590px; height: 128px; background-image: url('http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/76953');">
style="float: right; width: 148px; background-image: url('http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/75834');">
style="margin: 0pt; width: 148px; height: 93px; background-image: url('http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/75832');">
style="margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;">
  • style="font-weight: bold;"> href="#holy">Holy
  • href="#disc">Discipline
  • href="#shadow">Shadow
style="margin: 0pt; width: 148px; height: 103px; background-image: url('http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/75833');">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/basics">Basics
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/combat">Combat
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/talents">Talents
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/leveling-guide">Leveling
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest">Main
Page

Priest
Talents

Each class in World of Warcraft
has access to three distinct Talent Trees. Here players will have the
chance (starting at level 10) to place talent points that are earned as
they level into
various class-specific abilities known as talents. At
one time picking talents could be a difficult and daunting task, but
thanks to a few changes in Patch 4.0.1 by Blizzard, picking talents has
become less of a headache.

Once a player has decided on a
talent tree and placed their first point in it they must place all
future points in that specific talent tree until they have spent a
total of 31 point, unless a total respec is done. After the 31 point
limit is reached, the player may then place their points in any talent
tree they wish.

Each talent tree provides the
player with a distinct play experience and you should choose the one
that appeals most to you, even if it is a little off the beaten path.
For Priests these talent trees are Holy, Discipline, and Shadow. Learn
more about the Priest talent trees below:

style="font-style: italic; text-align: center;">(Remember,
the following is only a suggestion based on tried and true methods, how
you ultimately choose to spec is entirely
up to you.)

Holy

Blizzard describes the
Holy
Priest: 

  • style="font-style: italic;">“A versatile
    healer who can reverse damage on individuals or groups and even heal
    from beyond the grave.”

Holy Priests are considered to
be one of the most versatile healers in the game, easily able to heal
large groups and single targets with ease. The talents in the Holy tree
focus around this, providing vast improvements to their Holy spells,
making their already epic heals even more awesome.

Players who choose the Holy
tree will automatically gain access to Holy Word: Chastise, which is to
say the least, seems like a

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/101325"
alt="Guardian Spirit Icon" height="75" width="75">

disappointment for this healing based
tree.
However,
don’t be fooled by first appearances. Holy Word:
Chastise is but the tip of the Iceburg. When combined with the Chakra
and Revelations talents, Holy Word: Chastise becomes a powerful tool
indeed. Put these talents on your “must have” list.

Other must have spells for the
Priests include: Guardian Spirit,
Surge of Light, Inspiration, Circle
of Healing, and Lightwell if you think you have a group of people that
are capable of actually clicking on the stupid thing.

Players will want to deposit
most of their talent points inside the Holy tree, however, while most
the talents here are excellent, some should be avoided such as: Rapid
Renewal, and State of Mind. While seemingly useful, these talents are
currently not worth putting talent points into. Any remaining talent
points can be placed in the Holy tree. Here you will find Twin
Disciplines and Mental Agility, both excellent additions to the Holy
Priest’s arsenal.


Discipline

Blizzard describes the
Discipline Priest: 

  • style="font-style: italic;">“Uses magic to
    shield allies from taking damage as well as heal their
    wounds.”

Players who choose the
Discipline tree will find the talents here focus on strengthening the
Priest’s already awesome abilities as well as damage
mitigation. Discipline Priests are usually found taking up the role of
healing in groups and raids. Here they excel, especially in single
target healing.

Upon choosing the Discipline
tree Priests will automatically gain access to Penance, a very useful
spell indeed. Not only is

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/101326"
alt="Guardian Spirit Icon" height="75" width="75">

Penance one of the best single healing spells
in the game, but it can also be used against the player’s
enemies to do damage. This will be one of your primary healing spells,
as well as damage spells if needed. Access to Penance is free, which
means no talent points are required for this spell.

Thankfully speccing in the
Discipline tree is fairly easy as almost all the talents here are
useful in some way, however you will want to steer clear of a few
including: Focused Will and Reflective Shield. Both of these talents
are really only useful if you are soloing.

Some must have talents include:
Devine Aegis, Power Infusion, Pain Suppression (great for tanks!), and
Power Word: Barrier. Any extra points you may have should be placed in
the Holy tree where talents like Empowered Healing, Divine Fury, and
Inspiration compliment the Discipline tree nicely.


Shadow

Blizzard describes the Shadow
Priest: 

  • “Uses sinister
    Shadow magic, especially damage-over-time spells, to eradicate
    enemies.”.

Embracing the dark side of the
Priest, this talent tree, and all the talents in it are made for one
thing; pure uninhibited damage. This talent tree is vastly different
from the others, yet strikingly similar in that even when a Priest is
doing damage they rely solely on spells to do the damage for them. It
is highly doubtful we will be seeing any melee Priests anytime in the
near future. Priests who wish to heal; this is not the tree for you!

Upon speccing into the Shadow
tree Priests will gain Mind Flay, a powerful channeled spell that will
become part of any good

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/101327"
alt="Guardian Spirit Icon" height="75" width="75">

Shadow Priest’s basic damage
rotation. Mind Flay is a freebie, so no talent points will be required
to gain this spell. Other awesome spells that are considered must haves
in the Priest talent tree are spells such as: Improved Shadow Word:
Pain, Twisted Faith, Shadowform, Harnessed Shadows, Vampiric Embrace,
Dispersion, and any other spell that will increase the
Priest’s damage and usefulness.

All the talents in this tree
look pretty amazing, but despite appearances, some talents should be
avoided. These include: Improved Psychic Scream, Phantasm, Paralysis,
and Psychic Horror all of which are only really useful in PvP or solo
situations.

Any extra talent points you may
have should be placed in the Discipline tree where the Shadow Priest
will find useful talents such as: Twin Disciplines, Mental Agility,
Evangelism, and Archangel, all excellent choices to round out your
Shadow based spec.


Want to test the talents
available in all the trees for yourself? Check out Blizzard’s
handy dandy href="http://us.battle.net/wow/en/tool/talent-calculator"
target="_blank">talent calculator.
Or head back to our href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest"
target="_blank">Priest Guide main page
to find more useful information!


href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/basics">Basics
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/combat">Combat
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/talents">Talents
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest/leveling-guide">Leveling
- href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/priest">Main
Page


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

Comments

Related Content

Patch 5.4 Profession Changes