Can Priest Leveling Be Achieved in Under 8 Days?
by Ed Sale on May.15, 2010, under Warcraft
Figuring out what you want to do with your character before you start priest leveling is never a bad idea. Do you want to be the best healer possible? Perhaps a more well rounded character good in any situation or do you want to be a lethal killer? Most players think of Priests only as healers however they bring a lot more to the table. They have the ability to shield other players making them highly desirable, no other class can bring shields these kinds of shields to the table. By far the fastest way to level a priest in the current version of WoW is to make use of the dungeon finder tool, as a healer you can be gaining experience almost non stop. The earliest you can make use of the finder tool is level 13, though some prefer to wait until their 20ies so that they have a wider palette of skills.
Holy is the go to spec for healing in PvE, it also contains some boots to holy based outgoing damage which can make soloing easier. Some players argue that the deep holy talent Lightwell is a poor choice due to the fact that to be healed by it, the wounded player must click it. However it does offer interesting utility for both PvP and certain raiding situations. Discipline on the other hand is a balanced spec, one centered on healing and endurance in equal proportions. This tree also takes the class defining trait of being able to cast power word shield and enhances its abilities with things like reflected damage, and healing the shielded target. Most people consider Discipline to be a PvP focused spec, however it can do quite well as a primary healing build as well; even boosting offensive powers via general spell casting improvements.
Shadow is the Priest damage dealing tree, unfortunately it is not really a viable option until shadow form becomes available at level 40. Shadow is best suited to soloists or to people in guilds with a surplus of healers. Once you have reached level 40 though and have Shadowform though Shadow becomes a great solo questing and grind machine, so if you get bored of healing instances after forty consider it as an alternative.
A major flaw in Priest play from levels 1-40 is the lack of mana endurance to this end if you are a soloist a wand will be your greatest asset. Start combat with a shadow word pain, move on to one of your main end attacks like smite or holy fire and then mop up with your wand to conserve mana. You can even use your wand to eliminate trivial enemies entirely on its own. For best mana conservation use damage over time abilities early and don’t re apply them to foes who are not long for this world.
Choosing stats for Priest leveling is fairly easy. At early levels you will be looking for items with Intellect, Spirit and Stamina in that order, once you pace level 60 spell power and critical hit rating become prominent stats to consider on equipment. (Though in coming versions of WoW intellect will be the basis for spell power and the old spell power on equipment will be gone.) When you are looking for green quality upgrades look for items “of the Eagle” and “of the Owl” early on and “of the Sorcerer” and “Of the Invoker” later on after level 60. The importance of Stamina grows greatly for Priests that are involved in PvP, keep this in mind before you venture into battle.
Priest Leveling via the dungeon finder while quick doesn’t provide the widest breadth of experience. Make sure to go questing at least once every ten or so levels to keep your other skills sharp. The odd battleground is also a good way to practice healing under pressure. Be careful not to neglect your defense stat, which can only be leveled by taking hits from non player hostiles. Alliance side you can achieve this by casting psychic scream on rats in the Ironforge tram. They will swarm you and attack you for 1 dmg, quickly raising your defense statistic. Unfortunately I don’t know of a horde equivalent, though if you are exceptionally brave there are no guards in the tram. As a support character the social aspect of the game becomes more important, as does finding a good guild and developing a working relationship with reliable tanks. If you want to look exceptionally skillful cast renew preemptively on allies before they are hit, giving you the time to throw around some flashy holy fire or play with a wand. A final thing to remember is that in PvP situations you can’t expect to protect you. You’ll have to live (or die) by your own wits so getting some fighting experience while you level can prevent it from being a shock to the system when you reach max level.
In less than 5 minutes you will learn how to quickly achieve priest leveling fast and power to L80 in under 8 days of in-game time. Check out Ed Sale priest leveling guide Website to discover all the hidden secrets.
