Hey. I am new to the class (and WoW in general, although I have played Pala and Rogue before) and I plan on leveling a Spriest but I've heard it's a good idea to roll with a Disc until I'm close to 70 and then respec to Shadow if I want to. Should I do that, or should I just go with the Shadow spec all the way?
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Member
shadow priest or disc priest for leveling
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Member
Just go shadow, discipline is rather healing oriented so it isn't the best for leveling. You'll do much better with shadow.
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Field Medic Moderator
First, your post is misleading as Discipline in TBC is just as much healing oriented as it is damage oriented.
Second, Discipline is an excellent choice if the person leveling the priest intends to do dungeon content while leveling, especially at level 40 and beyond. The value of having access to a player above a certain level threshold, but also below max level, who is in a spec with talents for healing is quite lucrative due to how problematic it is to heal in a healer spec.
So, with all of that said, if proper talents are chosen, a Discipline spec priest can be even more efficient than a Shadow spec. More efficient in healing, damage, sturdiness and mana. Essentially more efficient than Shadow in almost every way. It is also important to remember that Shadow is not technically classified as a "DPS" in TBC like it is in later expansions, but rather it is classified as a "mana battery". The DPS the spec can manage is decent, but that is not the role of the spec. The spec requires a bit of gear to properly out-class Discipline, and most certainly requires spells that are earned very late in the leveling process.
End note: It is important to note that there is a very large and discernible difference between WotLK Shadow and TBC Shadow. This is a point of contention considering your post history revolves primarily around WotLK.
@vkhi, leveling as Discipline is advisable, especially if you want to easily find groups for dungeons while leveling. The only real advantages Shadow has over Discipline during the leveling process is the silence talent, and the ability to learn how to play the spec while leveling. If either of these things are a must-have for you, then I would advise that you play Shadow. Otherwise, I would recommend that Discipline be the spec of choice. If you do decide to level as Discipline, make sure you get all of the talents that empower your Power Word: Shield - especially the reflective shield talent, and make sure you get all of the mana efficiency talents - including the ones in the first row of the Shadow tree (which can be obtained later).
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Member
What talents in disc improve your healing or DPS at low levels?
Holy = 5% crit, 20% smite range, -0.5 sec smite cast time, 10% smite damage, SP from spirit, Instant smite %. Seems solid to me.
Shadow = About everything increases shadow damage.
Disc = Reflective shield. 5% damage and crit chance. SP from spirit.
Going low level disc is about the dumbest thing you can do because both shadow and holy are better at that point, and going disc at higher level is dumb too, because you have shadowform and VT available at that point.
Going Healer spec to heal low level dungeons is dumb too, as those are healable without any talents at all, and gimping your questing speed to save little time in instances is NOT WORTH it.Edited: August 4, 2017
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Member
If he is planning on doing dungeons, ofcourse discipline is better because healers are always needed. But for solo question, mob clearing, shadow is better.
Edit. Discipline is also better at earlier levels because as shadow you will have mana issues. But in higher levels shadow is definitely much better.Edited: August 4, 2017
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Member
I'll mostly be solo questing because I like being on my own and I also don't want to get yelled at for being a **** healer in dungeons, lol. I'll try Disc for now and if it doesn't feel right then I'll just switch to Shadow.
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Field Medic Moderator
At very low level, that much is irrelevant. A Shadow Priest can heal dungeons up until the 30+ range. Damage is not an issue. What IS an issue is mana efficiency. Damage at such levels relies more on items, not talents.
Not a single mention of mana regeneration or efficiency talents. The only such talent worth mentioning in Shadow is in the very first row, which means you do not need to commit to Shadow in order to get it. The next mana efficiency talent for Shadow is all the way down at Focused Mind, the 5th talent row in Shadow. Holy has only three mana efficiency talents, which is Spirit of Redemption at 5th talent row (5% spirit), Surge of Light which isn't even good for leveling at the 6th talent row, and Holy Concentration at the 7th talent row which doesn't help you kill things at all.
Meanwhile, Discipline offers Wand Specialization at the 1st talent row, which is very good for a leveling Priest, because wanding costs no mana. Then the 3rd talent row, you have two more mana efficiency talents, Meditation and Inner Focus. On the 4th talent row, you have Mental Agility. On the 5th talent row, you have Mental Strength for more intellect (max mana and spell crit!) and then the Divine Spirit buff which is not only extremely useful for yourself, but extremely useful to everyone else you may run across while leveling.
This isn't even to mention that a Disc Priest is far more sturdy (added sturdiness also due to mana efficiency) than any other spec for Priest. Which makes the spec more capable of soloing tougher mobs.
Claiming Discipline is weaker than Holy and Shadow because they have better damage or healing is the dumbest (see, two can play this game) mistake you can make. If you were wearing heirlooms and survivability and mana efficiency weren't an issue, then sure I'd agree. However when a Priest is hard-pressed to kill more than one mob at a time, and needs to drink after every few pulls, I think you have your head in the wrong place. Shadow isn't hardly viable for leveling at all UNTIL you can reach Vampiric Touch and Shadowform - but at that point, why waste gold on changing the spec? If you want to drop some gold on changing spec, then by all means, go for it. But you shouldn't touch Shadow beyond Spirit Tap before that point.
Discipline isn't classified as a "healer spec". In Wrath, SURE. But this guy isn't asking about Wrath. He's asking about TBC. You claim playing a "healer spec" gimps your leveling speed (despite the fact that TBC Discipline is a HYBRID damage/heal spec), while the truth is that having to drink every 2-3 mobs gimps your leveling speed more than having to drink every 10 mobs. You should probably try leveling a Priest before you try to insult someone over having a different opinion than your own.
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Field Medic Moderator
That's fine. You'll find Discipline has an easier time at soloing things too. Once you can get Shadowform and Vampiric Touch, then you can consider burning gold to switch to Shadow, but I wouldn't recommend it otherwise.
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Member
I am playing, and have played many priests. Disc leveling is nonsense. Its garbage and saying its not, is wrong. I'm not insulting you, I'm saying that putting points into disc for leveling (most points, that is) is not a good idea.
Disc has very few actually good leveling talents. You COULD make usable leveling spec out of combining all 3 specs. Disc for mana regen and stats, holy for boost of smite/holy fire, and shadow for spirit tap, swp
Which would look something like this:
http://calculators.iradei.eu/talents...00000000000000
Going Shadow for spirit tap > Disc for meditation > Depending on needs, but imo, Holy for Surge of Light > Back to Disc
That's hybrid spec, not disc spec though.
Also:
Damage is efficiency. Whether you kill 2 mobs in a minute and are at full mana, or kill 2 mobs in 50 seconds and drink for 10 sec, is of no major difference really.
Shadow can still be mana efficient. You dont spam spells mindlessly as a low level shadow. By doing rotation of Mind blast > SWP > Strafe for 2 sec > Mind flay X2 > Wand, you do oki'sh damage, while not losing that much mana.Edited: August 7, 2017
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Member
I have recently level a priest in vanilla and tbc and both times I have gone down holy (for the extra damage to smite) and some into disc. Eventually switching to shadow later. but it really doesnt matter what spec you go since you will be using a wand to kill **** anyway. Unless you want to drink every 2 pulls.
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Member
I've leveled priests before a few times on retail and on private servers. It can be hard to heal in shadow spec but for the most part you should be fine with group members with a hint of game understanding. I would suggest going shadow and stack up on drinks if you plan to heal in dungeons.
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Member
Go shadow. Don't cripple yourself. Dungeons while leveling are not worth the time it takes to gather all the quests, searching for a group and then traveling there. Until Level 40 you can easily heal as shadow, if you decide to run dungeons anyways. Shadow has better damage, better sustain in both mana and hp, you can actually defend yourself in wpvp. There's really no logical reason to level as Disc. If you like holy spells than sure go ahead but don't cry about having to drink after every mob, and dying when pulling more than 1.
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Field Medic Moderator
Not easily at all.
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Member
Forgot the link but I can't edit my post cause it says a mod needs to review. But here's the spec I use. You'll even have enough mana to mind blast.
http://calculators.iradei.eu/talents...100010000#none
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Member
The best way to level is 5/5 Wand Spec first, get lesser magic wand and greater magic wand from enchanter / AH at level 5 and 13 and use that until 19 when you should have someone run you through BFD for Gravestone Scepter (seriously OP). Second talent you should get is Spirit Tap and use your wand until 40. Its by far the best DPS with no mana cost. Don't get mind flay until 40 because its terrible until then. At 40 respec shadow and start using your spells. I promise this is the fastest and easiest way to level. You can test other methods if you want or trust me, up to you.
Edited: October 30, 2017
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