Priest Cataclysm Class Talent Changes

Don’t forget to check out the other class changes as well.

• Shaman
• Rogue
• Mage
• Druid
• Priest
• Warrior
• Paladin
• Hunter
• Death Knight
• Warlock

Cataclysm Priest Talent Preview

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we’ll be making lots of changes and additions to class talents and abilities across the board. In this preview, you’ll get an early look at some of the changes in store for the priest class, including a rundown of some of the new spells, abilities, and talents, as well as an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with the different talent specs.

New Priest Spells

Heal (available at level 16): While priests already have a spell called Heal, the existing version becomes obsolete at higher levels, which is something we intend to change in Cataclysm. Introduced at a low level, the “new” Heal spell will functionally work much like a down-ranked Greater Heal did in the past, adding more granularity to your direct-healing arsenal. If you need to heal someone a moderate amount and efficiency is an issue (making Flash Heal the incorrect spell for the job), then Heal is what you want to use. Heal is intended to be the priest’s go-to direct-healing spell unless they need something bigger (Greater Heal) or faster (Flash Heal). We will be following a similar philosophy with all the healing classes.

Mind Spike (level 81): Deals Shadowfrost damage and puts a debuff on the target that improves subsequent Mind Spike damage. The intent of Mind Spike is to fill a niche missing in Shadow DPS, though it may be occasionally useful for healers as well. Mind Spike provides a quick nuke to use in situations where the priest doesn’t have time to set up the normal rotation, such as when adds are dying too fast or you have to swap targets a lot. Spamming Mind Spike will do about as much damage as casting Mind Flay on a target afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain. The idea behind the debuff is that when you cast Mind Spike, we expect you to cast a lot of them; we don’t intend you to fit it into an already full Shadow rotation. It also provides Shadow with a spell to cast when locked out of the Shadow school. (School lockouts will no longer affect both schools for multi-school spells.) 1.5-second cast. 30-yard range. No cooldown.

Inner Will (level 83): Increases movement speed by 12% and reduces the mana cost of instant-cast spells by 10%. This buff will be exclusive with Inner Fire, meaning you can’t have both up at once. Inner Fire provides a spell power and Armor buff; Inner Will should be useful on a more situational basis.

Leap of Faith (level 85): Pull a party or raid member to your location. Leap of Faith (or “Life Grip”) is intended to give priests a tool to help rescue fellow players who have pulled aggro, are being focused on in PvP, or just can’t seem to get out of the fire in time. Instant. 30-yard range. 45-second cooldown.

Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

In addition to introducing new spells, we’re planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you’re familiar with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we intend for each spec.

• All HoTs and DoTs will benefit from Haste and Crit innately. Hasted HoTs and DoTs will not have a shorter duration, just a shorter period in between ticks (meaning they will gain extra ticks to fill in the duration as appropriate).
• We want to bring back Shadow Word: Death as an “execute” — something you do when the target is at 25% health.
• While we want to keep the priest’s role as a well-rounded healer, we also want to make sure the class is a viable tank healer, which is something priests moved away from a little in Wrath of the Lich King. Greater Heal will probably be the tank-healing spell of choice, though we’ve also discussed giving Discipline a second shield so that they have a small shield to cast on lots of different targets, and a big, more expensive shield to cast on a tank or anyone else taking a ton of damage.
• Divine Spirit and Prayer of Spirit will be removed from the game. As Spirit will be the primary mana-regeneration stat, we don’t want it to vary as much between solo, small group, and raid play. Blessing of Kings and Mark of the Wild will not boost Spirit either.
• Mana will be a bigger consideration for all healers. We aren’t trying to make healing more painful; we’re trying to make it more fun. When the cost of a spell isn’t an issue, then casting the right spell for the job is less of an issue because you might as well just use your most powerful spell all of the time. We are, however, getting rid of the five-second rule, because we don’t want to encourage standing around doing nothing. We’re also going to cut back on the benefits of buffs such as Replenishment so priests (and all healers) don’t feel as penalized when those buffs aren’t available.

New Talents and Talent Changes

• We want to improve Discipline’s single-target healing capacity. One key is to make sure shielding isn’t always a more attractive option than healing.
• We want to improve Holy for PvP healing. One way to do this is to make sure that Heal’s throughput is similar between both specs.
• We want to improve Shadow for short fights and reduce its susceptibility to school lockouts.
• Discipline will finally be getting Power Word: Barrier as a talented ability. Think of it like a group Power Word: Shield.
• We want to make Holy a little bit more interesting to play. One new talent will push the Holy priest into an improved healing state when he or she casts Prayer of Healing, Heal, or Renew three times in a row. The empowered state varies depending on the heals cast.
• Since the Shadow tree has a lot of passive damage-boosting abilities — something we’re trying to avoid in Cataclysm — we will need to replace several of the tree’s talents. One idea is to play off of the new Shadow Orbs mechanic (see Mastery section below), possibly allowing you to consume an orb to increase damage from Mind Blast or reduce Mind Spike’s cast time.
• Misery will no longer affect spell Hit chance. We want players to be able to gear themselves around a Hit cap that isn’t variable depending on group composition.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Discipline
Healing
Meditation
Absorption

Holy
Healing
Meditation
Radiance

Shadow
Spell damage
Spell Crit
Shadow Orbs

Absorption: Improves the strength of shields such as Power Word: Shield, Divine Aegis, and Power Word: Barrier.

Radiance: Your direct heals add a small heal-over-time component to the target.

Shadow Orbs: Casting spells grants a chance for Shadow Orbs to be created that fly around you and increase your shadow damage. This will help lower-level characters feel more like “Shadow priests” before they obtain Shadowform.

We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we’re looking forward to hearing your initial thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues.

Cataclysm Priest Talent Clarification

A few quick clarifications:

Neither Inner Fire nor Inner Will has charges. The decision is on which armor you want up at the time.

Preventing dot clipping is something we want to do in general. It obviously benefits Shadow priests just as much as warlocks.

The idea behind Mind Spike is that you can’t always settle into your normal, and high-ramp up rotation. It’s also useful when you have to move or get school locked.

The closest analogue to PW:B is the DK Anti-Magic Zone, but it has some important differences, such as a way to counter it in PvP (since it absorbs all damage, not just magical damage).

The idea behind the Holy “cast three in a row” talent (it’s called “Chakra”) is that we’ve always positioned Holy as a versatile healer. This talent lets you shift into different modes. If you need to be a tank healer, cast three single target heals and your single-target healing is now better. Cast three area heals, and you can be a temporarily specialized group healer. We’re going to try to play this mechanic up with a cool UI to try to get that “I’m almost in the zone” feel. We’ll let it apply to as many types of spells as we can, perhaps even Smite for those times when nobody’s taking damage.

We pulled Misery because we are pulling every group benefit that improves hit. It’s annoying to have to swap your gear in and out depending on who shows up for your group. In general we’re going to push even harder in Cataclysm for bringing people you like to play with, not bringing people who have awesome buffs. The answer to almost every question of “But why would they bring me?” should be “Because you know what the hell you’re doing.”

Source

Priest Talent Builds

ZugGaming has all the Priest talent builds you need. Fortunately, priest utilize all their specs in end game wow so whatever your preference is you can spec it! Priest is a class where their talents are more precise for the class, so most Priest talent builds have very little differences for each bracket.

Priest PvP Talent Builds

Priest are a very strong class in pvp and can play two different specs. Disc spec priest dominate 3v3 bracket with the famous MPR comp while shadow priest are good in 2s and 5s. All priest specs are good because they have a lot of controlled burst and great healing output.

• Disc PvP 60/11/0 – Disc pvp spec with reflective shield
• Disc PvP 60/11/0 – This spec is a variation of the first, better for 3v3 and 5v5
• Shadow PvP 17/0/54 – Shadow priest pvp spec

Priest PvE Talent Builds

For raiding, most priest spec holy for healing. Priest can raid as any talent spec though, because disc provides great main tank healing. Shadow spec priests are great for raid with one of the highest output of any classes on aoe packs and still maintain high damage on single target mobs.

• Holy PvE 14/57/0 – Holy pve, strong for raid aoe healing
• Disc PvE 57/14/0 - Disc spec designed for tank healing and shields on raid
• Shadow PvE 14/0/57 -Shadow pve spec

Priest Leveling Talent Builds

Most priest spec shadow for leveling. Shadow has high damage output with replenishment and talents to increase mana regen after killing mobs. Fortunately for priest who like to instance level, most talent builds also give you enough dps to solo outside of instances.

• Shadow leveling 14/0/57 – Basic shadow leveling spec
• Hybrid levling 32/28/11 - Hybrid leveling spec great for instances with dual roles

Priest Focus Macros

Playing a priest in WoW is no easy task, but a few simple priest focus macros and traditional priest macros can dramatically improve your overall game play. Using these priest focus macros we’ll be able to consolidate and optimize multiple spells and abilities, once you have these mastered you should see a vast improvement in the fluidity of your game play.

If you’re looking for standard priest macros make sure to check out my compiled priest macro guide. Additionally, if you aren’t familiar with how to use / setup priest focus macros you should check out my complete focus macro guide.

Focus Silence Macro

/cast [target=focus] Silence

Will cast silence on your focus target. An absolute must for PvP shadow priests.

Focus Silence Macro, Advanced 1

/cast [target=focus] Silence; Silence

Will cast silence on your focus target if you have a focus, if you don’t it will cast silence on your target like normally.

Focus Silence Macro, Advanced 2

/cast [target=focus,modifier: shift] Silence; Silence

Will cast silence on your focus when you hold shift down or cast a regular targeted silence when no modifier is used.

Focus Shackle Macro

/cast [target=focus] Shackle

Will cast shackle on your focus target. Useful for shackling death knight ghouls in addition to PvE application.

Focus Dispel Macro

/cast [target=focus] Dispel Magic

Will cast dispel magic on your focus target.  Useful for dispeling future switch targets while still healing.

Focus Dispel Macro, Advanced

/cast [target=focus,modifier:shift] Dispel Magic; Dispel Magic

Will cast dispel magic on your focus target if you are holding shift down, will cast a regular targeted dispel with no modifier engaged.

Dispel Macro on Party Member by Number

/cast [target=party1] Dispel Magic

Will cast dispel on a specified party member. Simply change the numerical value for each party member. Note, I know this macro isn’t focus specific, but it is still along the same lines.

Dispel Macro on Target by Name

/cast [target=NAME] Dispel Magic

Will cast dispel on specified target. Change “NAME” to the name of the target you’d like to dispel, generally a team mate. Note, I know this macro isn’t focus specific, but it is still along the same lines.

Focus Damage Bomb with Mind Blast

/castsequence [target=focus] Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Death

Ideal for quick switches, particularly in arena, allowing you to continue to heal and switch to drop a bomb on a focus target with a single button click.

Focus Damage Bomb with Smite

/castsequence [target=focus] Smite, Shadow Word: Death

Ideal for quick switches, particularly in arena, allowing you to continue to heal and switch to drop a bomb on a focus target with a single button click.

Focus Mana Burn Macro

/cast [target=focus] Mana Burn

Simple focus mana burn macro.

Focus Mana Burn Macro, Advanced

/cast [target=focus,modifier:shift] Mana Burn; Mana Burn

Will cast mana burn on your focus target when you hold shift down or cast a regular targeted mana burn with no modifier.

Mutilate Rogue / Shadow Priest 2v2 Video – Tuska 4

My initial impression of this video was just wow…I’ve been playing World of Warcraft and watching PvP videos for years now and in all that time I’ve never seen a 2v2 video that even comes close to this. This video features a mutilate rogue / shadow priest 2v2 combo from Doom Squad on EU. It’s filmed in the 2100-2350 bracket and features some of Europe’s best teams and players.

The video offers a strategy break down for each different match up they fight and points out some of the subtle strategic decisions they make throughout the fight in order to secure a win. All the strategies are sound and executed to perfection.

On top of being an excellent tutorial video it’s also an incredibly entertaining and enjoyable movie. The editing and music fit very nicely together and the whole package just comes out looking beautifully. 5 / 5 stars.

Talent Specs
Rogue – 54/0/7
Priest – 20/0/41

Music used:
P.O.D. – The Messenjah
Papa Roach – Getting away with murder
Static-X – Burn to burn
The Offspring – Hammerhead
P.O.D. – Satellite

Addons:
Xperl Unitframes
Morganti’s Buffbars
Telo’s Bottom Bar
Second Bottom Bar

Rogue / Priest Strategy: Position Discussion Audio

One of the most important, yet most overlooked aspect of playing rogue / priest 2v2…or for that matter any arena team comp, is without a doubt positioning. Too often I think players and teams get so caught up in the ideas 100 other factors that they completely forget about their positioning.

Being in the right place at the right time isn’t an accident, in many ways it’s the only true strategy in arena. Knowing the type of strategy your opponents are going to attempt will allow you to develop a strategy to appropriately counter your opponents.

This is the very essence of arena position strategies, but believe me, learning how to do this is no easy task. It takes a lot of experience and practice, but by simply being aware you’ll have a keen eye for areas where you can exploit your opponents position and quickly take advantage of their mistakes.

I say all of this in preparation for the very first Zug Gaming audio strategy discussion. A few weeks ago I had a brief conversion (relatively speaking!) with a member of the Zug Gaming community. He had a some questions regarding different strategic aspects of rogue / priest as well as overall positional awareness factors in arena.

The following recording includes:

• Priest / Rogue strategy discussion
• Positional strategy points
• Healer / DPS movement factors of arena
• Among other points

Rogue / Priest Strategy: Audio Discussion

I’ll try to get an actual player up later this evening.

Rogue / Rogue vs. Priest / Rogue 2v2 Arena Strategy

This match-up is usually longer than most other combos. You can play it like Priest/Warlock, but it’s hard if you don’t get the sap off the rogue. If you’re sapped that can possibly work in your advantage, but usually it’s a bad thing(depending how far apart the priest and rogue are.)

Rogue 1

Get on the priest, burn your first set of cooldowns on him. The opposing rogue will likely counter open on you, but continue to wail on the priest. If you’re dotted think of them as a comfort zone to trinket. Your ultimate goal is to force the priest to trinket.

Rogue 2

Counter open the counter opening rogue. Use everything you’ve got on him, and lock him down as much as possible. You and your partner together have to pressure heals from the priest. Meaning you have to pump out damage to panic the priest into having to desperately heal his partner, while your partner forces the priest to have to heal themselves. Try to avoid dotting the rogue as you might have to keep him fresh for a blind.

Once either target trinkets simply blind them and train their partner. If both are resilient and neither decide to trinket they will likely die within the same time, as one can only survive so long on instants. To simplify the strategy in one phrase: Split dps, until one slips up.

OR

You can play this out like priest/Warlock

Rogue 1

Hop on the priest, hit the rogue with a blind once he comes out and continue to dps the priest. If the priest lives through your onslaught and your partner is under pressure peel the rogue off him to let him bandage.

Rogue 2

Get on the priest as well, hit the rogue with a second blind. You both now have 5 seconds to kill the priest, or vanish sap the rogue. If the priest lives through your damage and the rogue is pressuring your partner peel him off to give your partner a chance to bandage.

I personally prefer strategy number one, but everyone has a preference. This is kind of a hard match-up so don’t take it too hard.

Looking for more rogue / rogue action? Check out Scyth’s the full strategy guide, rogue / rogue 2v2 arena strategy!

Rogue / Rogue Vs. Priest / Rogue 2v2 Arena Strategy

This Strategy is no  longer valid and has been completly rewritten, click the link to view the updated strategy. Rogue / Rogue vs. Priest / Rogue 2v2 Strategy.

Playing rogue / rogue vs. priest / rogue 2v2 is no easy task. This team is easily one of your hardest match-ups being Undead or a Human would really help here, but hey who knew racials would play a factor 4 years ago??? Moving on this match will be about medium length, so not quite as fast as the others.

Rogue #1

If you or your partner finds the opposing rogue call it out, sap him, /laugh at him. Now get on the priest with a CS==>Expose Armor combo and wail on him. Blind the rogue to force his trinket, call it out to your partner and do everything in your power to down the priest asap.

Rogue #2

If you found the rogue and are done /laughing at him, then go help out your partner, duh. Use a garrote opener going into a KS Lockdown. Once your partner forces the rogue’s trinket hit him with another blind(again due to DR you have 5 sec to down the priest or before you have to vanish/sap him) Do everything in your power to kill that priest. The blind orders can be interchangeable depending on who’s closer to who.

“The rogue isn’t Shadowstep, and decided to do what’s best for his combo?! SAY WHAT?!!!”

If the rogue isn’t Shadowstep(thus having no cheat death) he or she could also be a viable kill target. Toss a few bleed effects, lockdowns, and 2-4 openers on him he’s done.

I’ll say it again, it’s a hard match-up guys, so don’t let it bring you down if you lose.

Looking for more rogue / rogue action? Check out Scyth’s the full strategy guide, rogue / rogue 2v2 arena strategy!

WoW Class Guides

Hey guys, I’m currently in the process of compiling all of the class guides now. As soon as I finish the each of the associated classes I’ll be posting them here. Thanks for your understanding.

WoW Class Guides

• Rogue
• Mage
• Priest
• Warrior
• Druid
• Shaman

Rogue / Rogue vs. Warlock / Priest 2v2 Arena Strategy

This combo can be a very tricky one, if you save your Cloak of LOLspellsdon’thitme, then you victory will be much more easily guaranteed(a good time to use it is when the lock is lighting you up with about 4-6 DoTs.)

Rogue 1

Immediately get on the priest CS=>Expose Armor, blind the lock(or wait for your partner to force the trinket with their blind) and down the priest. Sorry you can’t vanish sap a lock unless the pet’s down and the energy use isn’t worth it.

Rogue 2

Sap the lock and garrote the priest going into a kidney shot. Blind the lock(or again wait for your partner to force the trinket with theirs) and continue to down the priest.

Fast match, if you can avoid ridiculous chain fears and being eaten <50% by DoTs you’ve won.

Looking for more rogue / rogue action? Check out Scyth’s the full strategy guide, rogue / rogue 2v2 arena strategy!

Arena Team Strategies (Compiled)

Below you’ll find a complete listing of all of the arena team strategies that Zug Gaming currently has to offer. Keep in mind this list is always growing as a new need presents itself. If you would like to suggest a strategy please post a comment here, or over on the Zug Gaming forums.

2v2 Arena Team Strategies
Rogue / Priest
Rogue / Warlock
Rogue / Rogue
Rogue / Druid
Rogue / Shadow Priest

Warrior / Druid

3v3 Arena Team Strategies
Rogue / Mage / Priest
Rogue / Warrior / Druid

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