Priest Priests are masters of healing and preservation . Infused with the Light , they can restore their wounded allies , shield them in battle , and even resurrect them . While they have a variety of protective and enhancement spells to bolster their allies , they can also wreak terrible vengeance on their enemies , using the grand powers of the Holy Light to smite and purge , or the devastating powers of the shadow to decimate their minds . The priest is a diverse and powerful class , highly desirable in any group and capable of fulfilling multiple roles . The priest is perhaps the best healing class in the game with a surprisingly strong damage potential . Their ability to heal and buff allies , avoid aggro , dispel buff s on enemies , dispel debuff s on their allies , and resurrect fallen comrades makes them an important member of any group , whether PvP or PvE . Priests are limited to cloth armor and the following weapons : daggers , one - handed maces , staves , and wands . Background . Priests practice a complex , organized form of spirituality . It can be built around moral philosophy , the worship of a particular deity ( such as Elune ) , and / or idol worship . This is in contrast to the reverence of the elements that shaman s practice or the close divine connection with animals and the wilderness that druid s maintain . Priests serve not only as influential religious figures in their respective societies , but also as powerful practitioners of divine magic . They use this to heal and protect , or harm and weaken . Devotion to the faiths of Azeroth leads many priests to the paths of courage and heroism . In dark times , priests carry the Light of faith with them as a reminder of the powerful forces at work beyond the comprehension of the peoples who walk the land . Powerful healer s with an intimate connection to the divine , priests are empowered with abilities that aid them in times of dire need . Priests comprise quite a varied group in Azeroth . Many are followers , in some manner , of the Holy Light . Some priests choose to be pyremaster s or High Priests , while some of the most experienced become epic priests . There are also racial restrictions to some titles , such as witch doctor for trolls and Priestess of the Moon for night elf females . Races . < tabber > Playable races = The priest class can be played by the following races : Racial overview = The Clerics of Northshire were human priests who served the kingdom of Stormwind during the First War . The cleric s served as healers on the battlefield , but were ill - prepared for the hazards of combat , thus suffering heavy casualties . This order was largely destroyed , and the Second War saw fragile priests replaced on the battlefield by armored paladin s , the Knights of the Silver Hand , established by the clerics ' leader Archbishop Alonsus Faol and his apprentice , Uther the Lightbringer . During events of the Third War , despite the high elves ' official departure from the Alliance , some elves still remained true to their former human and dwarven allies . The altruistic priests of Quel ' Thalas refused to abandon their roles as healers and agreed to remain in Lordaeron , despite the edicts from their reclusive masters in Silvermoon . The high elven priests used their Light - given powers to heal the wounded and bolster the spirits of Lordaeron ' s fighting elite . A holy field medic , these padres roam the battlefield curing the wounds of fallen comrades . The Draenei have been worshipers of the Light for at least as long as they have known the Naaru , and draw their wisdom and power from them . Forsaken who once followed the tenets of the Holy Light altered their philosophy upon their transformation . Most Forsaken have abandoned religion , just as they believe it abandoned them . Some still adhere to their old faiths , such as the Holy Light . Priests of the Holy Light in particular struggle to reconcile the philosophy that guided their life with their unfortunate new condition . Some balance their old beliefs with their new forms , but most Forsaken priests belong to The Cult of Forgotten Shadow . Lost and hurt , these priests founded a new religion based on a self - centered version of their former faith . This philosophy centers around self - empowerment and a desire to balance life with death . They can no longer use the Holy Light and have since learned how to use the shadow . The troll priesthoods , much like the shamans and witch doctor s of the troll tribes , are comprised of spiritual advisers and caretakers . With trolls being naturally superstitious and spiritual , it allows the various troll priests to manipulate the spiritual energy of the world in order to either heal or harm their targets . The energies the troll priests draw can come from various sources , be it Loa spirits , voodoo magic , or the target itself . Drawing upon these energies , troll priests either mend or harm , depending on which blessing the spiritual entity bestows . Arguably , in " World of Warcraft " , troll priests can be considered witch doctors in a cultural perspective , in equal terms with the shamans . In Cataclysm , the Tauren gained the ability to become priests . It is possible they use the light of the Sun in their spells , as opposed to the Holy Light . This is similar to how the night elves use the power of the Moon , their goddess Elune , instead of the Holy Light . With the announcement of the Cataclysm expansion , gnome healers finally became playable . Gnome priest NPCs have existed in Azeroth for some time , but the destruction brought on by Deathwing likely inspired many more gnomes to turn to their allies and adopt devotion to The Light . TCG images = < / tabber > Tactics . Priests are generally regarded as a tough class to play in PvP , but they are highly desired in battleground s . They are arguably one of the best healers in the game and a great utility class . While the discipline and holy specializations focus on making very strong healers , the shadow specialization focuses on damage dealing while restoring the party ' s health and mana at the same time . Many players regard healing priests as being the jack - of - all - trades healing class due to the great diversity of healing spells at their disposal . This includes Direct Heal , Heal over time , Area of Effect healing , and the ability to shield targets from damage . Due to this great diversity , a healing priest can heal any encounter while other healing classes may find it more difficult . Healing priest tactics generally involve conserving mana while choosing the ideal time to heal . Priests must decide which spell to use and at what time . While Flash Heal and may be very mana - intensive , they are excellent methods to quickly rescue someone from death . Many priests use a tactic known as stopcasting . In this method , the priest will constantly use Heal ; however , if in the 2 . 5 - second cast time the target never takes sufficient damage , the priest will cancel the heal before it goes off and begin recasting . The goal of a shadow priest is to keep a series of spells with unique cooldowns and durations going constantly . They must cycle through several direct damage , channeled , and damage over time spells . A shadow priest is unique in that Vampiric Embrace restores health to the priest ' s entire party , which is based upon the damage the priest deals . End - game expectations . Though many priests found themselves originally pigeonholed into a single role in classic " World of Warcraft " , many are experiencing greater freedom in a post - " Burning Crusade " raiding environment . Priests are capable of filling both healing and damage - dealing roles , depending on the priest ' s spec and the need of the raid . This flexibility is further aided by the increased debuff cap , making it easier to allow multiple shadow priests to contribute without being detrimental to a raid . End game healing . Proficient and skilled healers are highly valued , capable of utilizing a variety of heals and numerous buffs that benefit raiders such as . Considered by some to be mana - inefficient when compared with other healing classes , the introduction of the Shadowfiend in the " Burning Crusade " allowed a healing priest to regain a significant amount of mana used to continue healing while providing negligible damage against one target . Spirit of Redemption allows holy priests to continue casting healing spells on a raid for 15 seconds beyond death with no mana expense . For Discipline priests , their strength lies in preventing damage . They cannot put out as much raw healing as holy priests can . They prefer to strengthen allies and prevent damage from happening by shielding others . Discipline priests are capable of healing multiple targets , but in a large group their role will usually be to keep the main tank alive . Their specialization focuses on protection . While healing priests do not possess the raid healing output of a druid or the tank healing capabilities of a holy paladin , priests are incredibly proficient at both of theses roles , earning them the name " The jack of all trades , master of none " . End - game damage dealing . Shadow priests are a very dangerous encounter for their enemies . Players should not lose concentration while fighting a shadow priest as they ' re able to CC their targets , damage them , and have a Mana / HP recovery - everything at once . The strength and versatility of a shadow priest has been recognized as an invaluable asset in both five - mans and raids . A shadow priest is capable of contributing significant damage as well as providing a variety of buffs and debuffs that benefit the group as a whole . Vampiric Embrace gives a portion of the shadow priest ' s single - target shadow damage as a group - wide heal that can aid in keeping the health of group members up ; this can be especially helpful when grouped with a tank and warlock s who Life Tap frequently , as well as rogue s and Feral druids performing melee damage . In addition to providing significant damage and buffs , shadow priests have the flexibility to drop out of Shadowform and provide backup healing if the situation warrants , though they typically suffer from reduced bonus healing .