Priests are the fundamental healer unit in World of Warcraft. However, just
because they can heal, don’t let that lull you into a false sense of confidence.
Shadow Priests are one of the hardest hitting magic dealing damage classes in
the game. Shadow Priests even have their own terminology for the slaughtering
of opponents they can dish out, “melting faces.”
A defining characteristic of the Priest is Power Word: Shield. This spell provides
the party member or Priest with a “bubble” that absorbs a certain
amount of damage from attackers before fading. This spell can be a life saver
if the Priest does not have enough time to properly cast a healing spell.
All Priests also get race specific spells to help accentuate their function.
Some of these are exceptionally powerful in the right situation, such as Fear
Ward, or incredibly useless in most situations, such as Elune’s Grace.
Knowing what Priest racials suit you and your play style is key to enjoying
your Priest character.
Another thing that makes Priests so unique is Mind Control. Mind Control is
a spell that allows the Priest to take temporary control of another humanoid
and forces that humanoid to do the Priest’s bidding. Use of Mind Control
is highly situational as it causes an amazing amount of threat, but can be used
highly effectively in certain situations.
Priests have 3 talent trees to suit their play style and functionality in a
group. The Discipline tree provides the Priest with more utility and survivability
when out in the world or in a group. The Holy tree enhances the Priest’s
ability to heal and the efficiency in which they do so. Finally, the Shadow
tree provides the Priest with very high damage output and lethality.
Heal
Heals Target
Flash Heal
Quicker Heal that uses more mana
Holy Nova
Causes an explosion of holy light around the caster
Damages enemies and heals party members
Fortitude
Buff: Increases Stamina
Shadowform
Increases Shadow damage from spells by 15%
and reduces physical damage taken by 15%
Vampiric
Embrace
Attacks enemies with shadow energy that causes
all party members to be healed for 20% of any shadow damage you deal for 1
minute
