Shadow Priest Buffs Coming

Unless I’m mistaken this is the first time we’ve really seen confirmation that the idea of the “utility” class is going away. Personally I say good riddance. Utility class for always just seemed like a subtle word for “bad”. More from a design perspective than actually being a waste of space during a raid.

Assuming you are a Shadow priest, the answer is you are a dps class. We’re trying to back off the whole utility class thing, which is absolutely what you were in BC. While the mana battery functionality is still something every group is going to want, there are more ways to provide it now. The tradeoff for losing that unique niche is your dps going up.

Why are shadow priests being out performed by other classes who, in terms of functionality at this point in time, fit into the same niche as shadow priests do?
Because we’re not done.

A few weeks ago Blizzard announced vampiric touch is being reduced from 5% to 2.5%. A change which at the time left me wondering just what Blizz was thinking. Though, based upon this recent post it looks like there are still some major buffs imminent for the shadow priest.

The general feeling I get from all these changes is a complete shift in what a DPS class is. More and more these changes seem to lean towards a “leveling of the playing field“, so to speak, in the way that each PvE DPS spec seems like they are all going to do around the same damage. Prior to the Burning Crusade there was this notion that rogues always had to be the highest DPS class no matter what, since they brought zero utility to the raid. This type of thought process was still present in BC, note Sunwell geared rogues doing close to 2700 DPS while equally geared shadow priests were lucky to break the 1500 mark.

Overall I think these changes are going to make for a very interesting raiding dynamic in the Wrath of the Lich King. Each class will bring a certain degree of utility, but more than that each archtype (tank, healer, DPS) should be very similar in overall effectiveness.

Priest Racials being removed!

In an unexpected turn of events, a recent blue post informed us that the current priest racial abilities will not be making the boat ride to Northrend with the rest of us. Say goodbye to Hex of Weakness, Chastise, and other great abilities.

In an upcoming build all Priest racials have been retired, except the following:

- Desperate Prayer - This is now the 11-point talent in Holy, Holy Nova is now a base ability. Cooldown also reduced to 30 seconds.
- Devouring Plague - Now a base ability. Cooldown reduced to 30 seconds, mana cost greatly reduced.
- Symbol of Hope - Now a base ability. Now restores 5% base mana every 2 seconds for 8 seconds to your party. Renamed “Hymn of Hope.”

While this change does reduce the “uniqueness” of different Priests, we feel game balance as a whole will benefit.

Note: These new “racials” are not racials, they are trainable to all Priests.

Priest Macro Guide

These days playing a priest is rough…in PvE you have to compete with shaman’s spamming chain heal on the raid, paladin’s spamming holy light on the tank, and in PvP you’re constantly running and getting beat down but double melee gib teams.

Needless to say, it’s a rough life for priests. However, a few well placed macros can change all of that and give you an immediate edge on your opponents.

Raid Healing Priest Macros
/stopcasting
/cast Greater Heal

/stopcasting
/cast Renew

/stopcasting
/cast Flash Heal

/stopcasting
/cast Circle of Healing

I think of all the macros, this is probably the most simplistic and effective. It drives me crazy watching healer’s jump or move in order to cancel a heal. This is incredibly inefficient as you lose large amounts of overall healing time throughout the fight. Getting used to a system of stopcasting macros will allow you to turret up and let the heals fly, maximizing your available time to cast heals.

Power Word Shield Macro
/cast [target=player] Power Word: Shield

Pretty simple, just cast a PWS on your self without ever having to drop target. Nice in the heat of an arena match or a raid encounter.

Dispel Macros
/target (name of your teammate)
/cast Dispel Magic

Generic quick target defensive dispel on your teammate.

/assist (name of your teammate)
/cast Dispel Magic

Generic quick target offensive dispel, great for assisting your DPS classes to clear shields, buffs, etc.

Note: The above dispel macros were pulled from the more complete guide here, discipline priest arena strategy.

Mouse Over Healing Macros
/cast [target=mouseover] Flash Heal

/cast [target=mouseover] Greater Heal

/cast [target=mouseover] Renew

/cast [target=mouseover] Circle of Healing

Now, this method of healing may or may not work for you. For my shaman I found it ideal to manage raid healing, by using these macros in combination with a raid unit frame mod called grid (to the left is a screenshot of grid). This basically allowed me to mouse over any frame within the grid unit frame and fire on chain heals on my shaman. You could achieve the same result using the clique mod, but I prefer the macros

Rebuffing Macro
/castsequence Inner Fire, Power Word: Fortitude, Shadow Protection

Requires multiple clicks, but will allow you to put all your buffing spells onto one bar. You can simply add any additional buffs you have based on race / talent spec (divine spirit for example) at the end of the macro, each requiring an additional click.

Trinket + Inner Fire + Devouring Plague Macro
#showtooltip Devouring Plague
/use NameofYourDamageTrinket
/cast Inner Focus
/stopcasting
/cast Devouring Plague

Nice macro that further consolidates clicks and action bar use

Trinket + Healing Macro
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Greater Heal

For reference purposes 13 is top trinket, 14 is bottom trinket. These type of macros are a staple for every class and spec. Now, the trinket may determine weather or not you use this macro. Some trinkets shouldn’t be used until a given point (IE…spirit based regen trinkets shouldn’t be used the moment the fight begins). Conversely you could create a +healing trinket and circle of healing for raid spamming, since you’ll want it up as often as it can be used.

Silence / Arcane Torrent Macro
/castsequence reset=45 Silence, Arcane Torrent

A good friend of mine used this a ton when I played with him season 3. Once again, it won’t make or break you, but it’s certainly a nice way to free up some action bar space.

The DoT Bomb
/cast Inner Fire
/stopcasting
/cast Devouring Plague / Star Shards (if you have it either)
/stopcasting
/cast Shadow Word Pain

Smart Shadowfiend
#showtooltip Shadowfiend
/cast [harm,nodead][target=targettarget,harm,nodead] Shadowfiend

This macro will send your shadowfiend to attack your target if it’s hostile. If you do not have a hostile target currently targeted then it will send it after your target’s target if it is hostile.

If you’re looking for shadow priest specific macros, check out this guide, shadow priest macros.

Priest Arena Talent Specs

18/0/43 Shadow Spec

Prior to the release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, shadow priests were seen in both PvP and PvE as being useless. Their damage was lacking, their survivability was limited, and they offered little utility. All this changed with the release of resilience and 41-point talents, and shadow priests are now staples on arena teams of all sizes.

The premise of the spec is fairly obvious, it’s a spec that allows the priest to not only do considerable amounts of burst damage, but also sustain said damage over long fights. In addition, with the proper gear setup and itemization you’ll have the ability to literally tank an entire DPS assist train you. The true utility of the class, and gray area where good shadow priests are separated from the poor ones, comes in the ability to make quick decisions. Very early in the match the shadow priest needs to decide, is this a team I can DoT, throw a couple mindblast + shadow word: death combos, silence the healer, and get the kill? Or is it a team I need to play more defensively, relying more on shielding to survive while mana burning the opposing teams healers to win the mana battle? All of these factors will depend on both your own team’s composition and your opponents setup. However, the spec allows you to take a wide variety of roads to victory, as the shadow priest it’s now your responsibility to make the correct decision for yourself and your team that allows you to take full advantage of the many bonuses the shadow spec offers you.

41/20/0 Discipline Spec
41/20/0 Discipline (offensive disc, ideal for rogue/priest)

Though disc sat in the shadow of holy (no pun intended!) until Burning Crusade it finally made it’s big debut in patch 2.2. The changes and additions of many talents have finally made the spec a big contender for PvP healing, and certainly the dominant spec currently.

Though disc doesn’t have quite the healing power of holy it exceeds holy’s versatility by adding many offensive capabilities. This makes the disc priest ideal in many arena setups.

Depending on how you choose to customize your spec you can have the ability to throw out a lot of extra damage, or have greater defensive capabilities. Talents like searing light, reflective shield and power infusion allow the priest to take on a whole different hybrid role in certain team compositions.

28/33/0 Holy Spec

Though holy is no longer the dominant healing spec for arena it still offers great utility and viability if it fits well with your play style and team’s composition. With improved mana burn you are still able to fill the “tank the enemy and mana burn” role. In addition you have a wide range of insta-cast heals you can throw as you kite the opposing team.

The big talent from holy is without a doubt the blessed resilience talent. The talent is the only saving grace for priests when it comes to fending off warriors and rogues. Blessed resilience combined with a solid set of resilience gear, the correct itemization and gems allows you to quite simply tank the other team. Though the ability to tank the opposition is great, the spec truly shines in the hands of an player who understands the intricacies to the kiting aspect of the game. Just as much as your gear plays into your ability to execute this talent spec, so does understand of kiting. Between prayer of mending, renew, and shield, you can quite simply run the other direction of your enemies (assuming they are attacking you) and continually heal yourself without ever having to stop.

Needless to say, this is certainly going to be mana inefficient, though if it’s the difference between you dying and not dying, or the difference between your teammates being able to kill the enemy in time, well it’s a necessary evil then. 28/33/0 is going to be your bread and butter when it comes to maximum efficient PvP healing, it allows for great survivability, lots of insta-cast healing, the ability to tank many opposing players and offers a great deal of utility if you understand the benefits of the kiting game.

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

Ah..the dreaded mirror match. Truly a battle of wills here, it basically comes down to 2 1 vs. 1 matches going on at the same time. The rogues are going to be fighting each other and the priests are going to be duking it out.

From the priest’s perspective you want to do everything you can to win the mana burn battle. It’s much better to go out firing these early than to try and play catch up later. Ideally you want to be burning when the other priest is trying to heal. Just going out and mana burning each other at the same time is a pretty weak strategy and not one which I would rely on.

From the rogue’s perspective, well, do what you know how to do best, 1v1. Do everything you can take maximize your damage on the rogue, mean while be aware of the priests position. A well timed drive by kick or gouge can be devastating. In addition, always be on the look out for when the priest uses his trinket. The blind / sap combo is always a strong move.

Can’t get enough arena strategy? Check out the complete priest / rogue 2v2 arena guide!