Help with Itemization

Hi. I have been trying to gear up my priest, but I am far from an expert with priests. I need some help from the community. I plan to make my priest a pve healer, but have so far only been grinding rep with shadow spec. I have yet to even do a single dungeon with this toon. Okay, so here's my question(s).

I'm assuming that holy is the pve healer spec, but I have noticed a lot of confusing subtlety in priest itemization. With most classes, there appears to be very distinct and obvious itemization, but I find myself a bit confused when I look at eot gear/point shop gear/etc. What stats am I really shooting for with a pve healer? There seems to be a fair amount of crossover with the specs. With the exception of perhaps hit rating, and maybe mp5, there doesn't seem to be much distinction. Take the staves in the point shop, for instance. I am at a loss to determine the best option, from those presented.

Any kindly, and knowledgeable, priests out there want to offer up some wisdom?

1)Disc can heal too though I feel holy is easier to play with lower gear level in dungeon.
2) Hit rating is for dps. Just stay away from them if you plan to heal.
3) For healers, shaman and pala will benefit from mp5 while druid and priest benefit more from spirit. All of them can use mp5 though.
4) For holy priest, just aim for those clothes with either spirit + haste or spirit + crit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jacque

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4) For holy priest, just aim for those clothes with either spirit + haste or spirit + crit.

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You see, that is what I find most interesting. Those exact stats benefit all specs equally. The only itemization difference I can tell so far is only that of hit rating, and shadow has a 3% hit buff so it doesn't even need that much. I feel like I'm missing something, but it really seems like there is almost completely interchangeability in priest gear. I've never played a class that pretty much uses the same gear for all specs. I just can't shake the feeling that "It can't be that easy; I'm missing something."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tekmansam

You see, that is what I find most interesting. Those exact stats benefit all specs equally. I've never played a class that pretty much uses the same gear for all specs.

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This is where you're mistaken. Yes, spell power/haste/crit/spirit benefit ALL specs, but not equally.

Disc priests put more focus on crit as a secondary stat because their healing "rotation" includes a lot of instant casts, and they have Borrowed Time.
Whereas Holy priests value haste more than them. Spirit is in both cases an attractive stat because as a healer you have to factor in longevity (read: not running out of mana), not just raw healing.
Shadow Priests on the other hand do not value spirit as much as they do haste and crit (and hit, up to cap).

I would recommend checking out a Holy Priest guide, and a Discipline Priest guide to get familiarized with the stat weights.
If you want to delve deep into Shadow priests, try this thread for stat weights and comparisons at different gear levels.