WoW Forever Priest Leveling Guide (1-60)

In short

• Shadow is the leveling spec: your first five points go into Spirit Tap at 10.
• Shadow gives Mind Flay at 20 and Shadowform at 40.
• Discipline gets the new Penance at 30 and suits wand-heavy play.
• Shadow Word: Death is a new trainer spell at 32 with a health backlash.
• You cannot cast healing spells in Shadowform; heal before you shift.
• Dual spec at 40: Shadow for quests, Holy or Discipline for dungeons.

Level 1 to 60 at a glance

Why this spec

Shadow gets its core tools early. Spirit Tap comes first at 10: it doubles your Spirit for 15 sec after a kill and keeps half your regen going while casting. Mind Flay follows at 20 with 11 points and slows the target by 50%, and Shadow Weaving and Darkness stack damage until Shadowform at 40. Waiting until 39 to go Shadow costs you Mind Flay for 20 levels. Discipline is the wand alternative, with Wand Specialization, Twin Disciplines and the new Penance at 30, a channel that hits an enemy or heals an ally. Holy fits players who spend most of their time healing dungeons.

Level by level

1-10Smite, Shield and Shadow Word: Pain

You start with Smite, Lesser Heal and Power Word: Fortitude. Shadow Word: Pain comes at 4, Power Word: Shield at 6, Renew and Fade at 8. Shield absorbs damage and stops hits from interrupting your casts, but the target cannot be shielded again for 15 sec. Mind Blast arrives at 10 with an 8 sec cooldown and high threat. Class quests at 10 and 20 give your racial spells. Spells are no longer placed on your bars when you learn them, so set up your bars after each trainer visit. Respawns are fastest in starting zones, so keep a steady pace.

• Smite
• Shadow Word: Pain
• Power Word: Shield
• Renew
• Mind Blast

10-20Spirit Tap and the wand

Put your first five points into Spirit Tap, then Improved Shadow Word: Pain and Improved Mind Blast. A good wand matters a lot here; the Enchanting wands are the ones to get, the Lesser Magic Wand (usable from 5) and the Greater Magic Wand (from 13). Inner Fire at 12 adds armor. Psychic Scream at 14 makes two nearby enemies flee for 8 sec, three at rank 2. Alliance usually quests in Westfall, Loch Modan and Redridge Mountains, Horde in The Barrens and Silverpine Forest. Hall of Thanes (13-18) and Ruins of Lordaeron (15-20) are the new dungeons in this range.

• Spirit Tap
• Inner Fire
• Psychic Scream
• Improved Mind Blast
• Improved Shadow Word: Pain

20-30Mind Flay and Vampiric Embrace

With 11 points in Shadow, Mind Flay opens at 20. It deals Shadow damage over 3 sec and slows the target by 50%, which keeps melee mobs from reaching you. Improved Mind Flay makes each tick hit harder than the last. Flash Heal and the new Dark Sacrifice also come at 20; Dark Sacrifice turns some of your health into mana over 15 sec on a 10 min cooldown. At 25, Vampiric Embrace heals your party for 20% of your Shadow damage. Shadow Weaving stacks extra Shadow damage on the target. Alliance often moves to Duskwood and Wetlands, Horde to Ashenvale and Hillsbrad Foothills.

• Mind Flay
• Flash Heal
• Dark Sacrifice
• Vampiric Embrace
• Shadow Weaving

30-40Shadow Word: Death and the road to Shadowform

Your 21st point opens Silence, a 5 sec silence that also interrupts casters. Shadow Word: Death arrives at 32 from the trainer: a strong instant hit, but if the target survives you take damage equal to 30% of your maximum health, so use it as a finisher. Darkness at 35 adds 10% Shadow damage. Discipline players get Penance at 30 instead. The new Riverglades zone is another questing option in this range.

• Silence
• Shadow Word: Death
• Darkness
• Shadow Focus

40-50Shadowform and dual spec

At 40 the 31st point buys Shadowform: 10% more Shadow damage, half the mana cost on Shadow spells, bigger Shadow crits and 15% less physical damage taken. You cannot cast healing spells while in the form, so heal first, then shift. A 9 Nov hotfix stopped Shadowform from breaking on Fear Ward. Greater Heal comes at 40, and Holy players get Prayer of Mending. Dual spec opens at 40 and talents are changed at a class trainer in a major city, so a Holy or Discipline second spec makes dungeon groups easy. Krol'dok Stronghold (40-45) is the new dungeon here.

• Shadowform
• Greater Heal
• Early Demise
• Dark Inspiration

50-60Finishing Shadow

Fill the rest of Shadow with Blackout first, because Improved Psychic Scream needs it at 5/5, then put the last points into Twin Disciplines in Discipline for a little more damage on instant spells. Early Demise, taken earlier, adds crit to Shadow Word: Death on low-health targets. Quest in Burning Steppes and Western Plaguelands from 50, Winterspring and Eastern Plaguelands from 53, and Silithus from 55. The new dungeons are Alcaz Island Prison (48-53), Blackmaw Hold (55-60) and Shaper's Terrace (58-60). Mount Hyjal opens at 60.

• Blackout
• Twin Disciplines
• Shadow Word: Death
• Mind Flay

Class quests

Talent plan

How to fight

Stats · Gear

Tips

• Sit at a campfire for a while to get rested state; a Camp Tent gives 5% more rested XP.
• Most crafted food adds 5% XP from kills.
• Legacy has 16 points at launch. Well Rested, then Talented, starts talent points as early as level 5.
• Legacy Thrill of Adventure restores health and mana after kills outside dungeons, which suits a mana class.
• Training 1-60 costs about 206-207 gold in total; Priests have many ranks, so plan for it.
• Dungeon kill XP rose 50% on 9 Nov; a healer finds groups fast, so dungeons are worth it.
• A 9 Nov hotfix made Power Infusion stay on allies and fixed Shadowform breaking on Fear Ward.

Common mistakes

• Using Shadow Word: Death on a target that will survive and taking 30% of your health as backlash.
• Forgetting that Shadowform blocks healing spells and shifting before you top yourself up.
• Copying a Shadow build that skips Mind Flay until 40 without knowing what you lose.
• Fighting with a weak wand; it is your main damage between spells early on.
• Opening every pull with Mind Blast in a group; it causes a lot of threat.

Questions