Priest tactics Priests are ranged damage - dealers or healers , and can use a number of different tactics in various situations . A priest should always have long - term buff s , like applied on themselves and party members before entering combat . Inner Fire is essential and should be renewed regularly . Priests are generally weak when soloing against multiple opponents at lower levels , and generally have to hope their or heals holds out until they can take down attackers . At level 14 , priests obtain their main crowd control spell , which is the potentially dangerous Psychic Scream . Priests will often use this when more than one mob is engaged . Keep in mind that mobs under the influence of fear effects will draw similar mobs to you if they run near them . Running away is never a bad option since you can raise your shield and do a Heal over Time ( HoT , Renew ) while moving . General Tactics . Weapons . Priests start with the ability to use mace s , staves and wand s . They can train in dagger s for each , at the right weapon trainers . A mace or dagger should always be equipped with an off - hand item . A Staff will provide the most of a single stat , while a dagger or mace plus an offhand usually gives a more balanced range of stats . Wands are very nice to use as a ranged attack that doesn ' t cost mana . Never get a wand ! With it you can use the Shoot ability ( in your General tab of your Spells and Abilities window ) . Shoot does low dmg and it ' s only usefull for taking out near - dead opponents who are running away , or when you ' re running oom . You should never be oom ( make sure you have enough mana before you go into battles or have a high enough spirit you won ' t run out ) . Wands are currently set to autoshoot , which means that they will continue to fire until the priest intervenes , or the target dies . Key Spells . Priests are most known for their healing spells , which are the best of any class , and buff s which have good synergy with their role of healing . They also get Resurrection and have a few spells ( aka dispel s ) to remove bad effects like diseases and magic effects . Priests also get some Crowd Control spells . At higher levels , priests get some very cool and unique spells . For instance , Mind Control , granted at level 30 , is a very fun spell that lets you ' charm ' an enemy , enabling you to move it and use its auto - attack at a reduced attack speed . As a priest , you also gain access to group heals . The priest ' s most iconic skill , however , is , which envelopes individual party members in a shield that protects them for a time ( or for a specified number of points of damage , whichever comes first ) . Combat . The basic combat tactic of a priest in PvE is to begin by casting a ranged damage spell ( Holy Fire , Smite , or Mind Blast ) just within range of a single mob to pull it . Then cast and / or Devouring Plague while moving away from the mob , followed by more damage spells ( priests with Mind Flay should almost " always " use it for its 50 % slowing factor ) . It is usually better to cast " before " pulling the mob , if you plan on using it . By this time the mob is attacking you physically or from range . Use damage spells as listed above ( Mind Blast , Smite , Mind Flay while PW : S is still up ) , or do damage with a wand . Don ' t forget that you can and should heal yourself occasionally in tough fights . Basic Group Healing . In groups , a priest generally hangs back and provides a spell , heals and dispels to primary attacking group members with the occasional offensive assist . Most groups do not expect a priest to engage in a lot of direct combat , since they are often the best healers . If you have a wand and your heals and shield are not immediately needed , shooting your wand is a good way to assist doing damage without getting directly involved and allowing your mana to recharge at the same time . It ' s best to target the target of the MT as your wand target for two reasons . One , their aggro is likely firmly on the Main Tank ( MT ) ; two , concentrated damage is better than AOE ( Area of Effect , or spread out damager . When everyone focuses on one mob , the enemies die faster . Depending on group makeup and skill , dropping a Damage over Time ( DoT ) like on as many mobs as possible at the beginning of the fight makes mana - efficient sense , but be sure your group knows how to hold aggro on all of them , or you ' ll get a surprise after the first tick of damage . As the primary healer in the group , the priest should be prepared to use an array of healing spells from the instant cast heal over time Renew to Flash Heal , Lesser Heal , Heal , Greater Heal and / or Prayer of Healing . The key to group survivability for the priest is effective mana management and use of the right heal in the right situation . Casting a 3 second heal when the player has 2 ~ 2 . 5 seconds to live is a mistake many inexperienced priests make . Better to cast a quick small heal or two followed by a longer heal , than to hope you win the race casting the larger heal . Its vital that the priest continuously monitor the health bars of party members and be aware of the rate at which they are taking damage . The main tank may have the most health , but be taking damage from the entire group of mobs and require most of the priest ' s attention . On the other hand , if a mage ends up drawing the aggro of a mob , the mage may go down quickly if the priest isn ' t able to pop a quick Flash Heal and / or on them . A priest ' s situational awareness is essential to preventing a wipe . It is better to have everyone in the party finish a fight with only 10 % of their health than to lose one or more members . A player with 1 % health fights just as well as one with 100 % health , so the survival of the maximum number of party members will almost always be better than preserving just one . However , the most important person to keep alive ( if you must choose ) is the tank , as , once they die , the mobs aggro almost invariably turns to you , the healer . This usually results in a wipe . Healing generates aggro . The bigger the heal , the more aggro the priest generates increasing the chance that mobs will break away from the tank to pursue the priest . A priest must always try to maintain the delicate balance of providing the right amount of healing without generating too much aggro or wasting too much mana while ensuring group survival . Renew generates little aggro and will work to offset the damage a player is taking as it occurs . Likewise , the 1 . 5 sec cast Flash Heal can quickly restore some health giving the priest the additional needed casting time to cast a bigger heal like a 3 second cast Heal or Greater Heal . Use Fade when you pull aggro , to allow the tank to regain control of the mobs . It is important to note that casting Renew on the main tank before ranged pulls , or pulls which include mobiles that trail behind the initial pack , can be a bad idea . If threat has not been established on the entire group by either the main tank or main assist ( which is very hard to do in line of sight pulls ) the first tick of Renew will have the uninitiated mobiles heading your way . Leather and cloth wearers may need a quick followed by Renew to allow the group to regain the aggro of their attackers . Also , don ' t forget to use Dispel Magic on party members . Many DoTs , poly , fear , stun or other effects ( but not effects like curses or poisons ) cast on your party members can be removed by DM and preserve your mana for other healing tasks . DoTs like and Immolate for example can be quickly dispelled before the party member takes significant damage . Likewise , remove disease effects if possible during a fight to prevent unnecessary healing and mana usage , although many attacks may result in the disease effect being replaced quickly , so use discretion . Gear Choice . A priest may well need a selection of items in his backpack , especially as the levels progress . For damage dealing , Hit Rating may be necessary . For healing , mp5 and int may dominate over spell power . Priests can only wear cloth armor , which makes them fragile in melee combat . Getting armor patches from a leatherworker or an armor enchant for your cloak can be a huge boost to your survivability . Tailoring is not necessary for a priest . Although cloth is generally what priests wear , most equipment will be from instance drops or quests . However , taking two professions , " any " two professions , will provide you with some kind useful bonus . Tactics in Specific Scenarios . Preface : This Guide was written before the mana regen mechanic was changed . References to the five second rule are null and void , as mana regen is different in and out of combat , rather than during and after casting . There are a few different scenarios you ' ll want to consider for your priest , and they all play differently . These scenarios include : PvE Solo Tactics . A solo priest is somewhat vulnerable , but because of their combination of healing , DD , DOT and shielding spells , a well played priest can take on several mobs of the same level . Against a single mob you should begin just at the edge of the range of your best DD spell , preferably a long - cast spell . Cast that , then lay on a to get some DOT going . You should then continue casting DD spells , with a chance that the mob will be dead before it reaches you . Another technique is to Vampiric Embrace , SW : P , then Mind Blast , THEN PW : S , then Mind Flay , then wand them down , refreshing SW : P as needed . Against multiple mobs , especially quick attacking ones , it is very difficult to get off very many spells . Lay down on each of them , and Devouring Plague on one , to get DOT going on them all , then Shield yourself to save time lost while casting or channeling . It may be necessary to use Psychic Scream to ward off your attackers mid - fight . Use this interval to heal / bandage if necessary , to recast SW : P on all your targets , and to reshield . From here on in you ' ll likely have to wand them to death since your mana will be low , and conserve remaining mana to survive . Be aware that against multiple mobs , your shield goes down quickly . If the situation goes wrong , or if you don ' t think you ' ll last , shield - renew - run / fear - run . Remember the basics : In some cases , the is your friend . If possible , apply Inner Fire and Renew on yourself to keep your health up , while putting SW : P on the mob . Continue to use your wand until your health becomes low . By this time , you will probably regenerate enough mana to cast a big heal . Even if the mob is hitting you quickly , you should get your health almost back to full before it takes you into the danger zone . At this point , your five second timer will reset , so take advantage of this by recasting IF , Renew , and SW : P as necessary . If you continue this cycle , you should be able to keep your health up indefinitely against any similar - level mobs . PvE Group Healing Tactics . " " And then there ' s aggro to worry about . " " What ' s ' aggro ' ? " " Well , it ' s complicated . But loosely translated , it means ' the priest dies . ' " " As a healing priest , you are the glue that holds groups together . Adjust your conduct accordingly . Little else can ruin an otherwise good group as quickly or as sourly as a healer that isn ' t concentrating on the task at hand . There are three things you must do before starting any instance : Additionally , once you get to the instance , there are things any priest learns to do instinctively : Remember that spells cast before the mobs are pulled do not count towards your threat tally . It is useful to cast a on the main tank shortly before the pull to get a head start on healing . Renew is mana - efficient , so keep it on the tank at all times while he ' s taking damage . Do not feel it is necessary to assist in DPS . The Assist button ( ' F ' by default ) is your friend . Click on your tank ' s character portrait and hit ' F ' to target their target ( or , better yet , if the group has a Main Assist , assist him instead ) . Lay a on it to help the tank kill the main mob as quickly as possible . And when you have the main mob targeted , use ' F ' again to select its target , so you can pop a quick heal on the group member currently being attacked . Prayer of Healing becomes a very nice spell to use when three or more people require a Flash Heal sized spell . Why three ? The mana cost is equivalent to between two and three flash heals , so if you just need to heal two , then cast two Flash Heals . This can be useful when your group is being hit by AoE attacks . A good rule of thumb for when to use this spell is " do I have enough time to cast that many Flash Heals ? " If you have enough time to do that , try it instead . A max - rank prayer costs in excess of a thousand mana . Remember to keep your mana up . If the party pulls when you are OOM , then you will likely wipe . Be sure to say " drinking " or " oom " when you are out of mana , but also try to shape your healing style and gear to ensure that your downtime is minimized . One thing to remember while healing is that Priests can gain quite a lot of mana regenerated outside of the Five Second Rule . One of the best ways to regenerate mana as a priest is to have a trinket which temporarily increases your spirit , and wait for the Clearcasting proc . When the proc occurs , use the trinket to boost your spirit , and feel free to cast a heal spell . Because the spell does not cost mana , you stay outside of the Five Second Rule . Using Inner Focus after this is a great way to continue your mana regeneration as the same rules apply . Using this tactic , a massive amount of mana can be regained in a short period of time . PvE as Shadow Spec . See Priest builds for talent suggestions for leveling . Shadow is not very popular in early levels , until you have access to Shadowform at level 40 . Always have your shield up before you begin the attack . There are two reasons for this . First , the shield will last for 30 seconds , but you will not be able to cast it again for 15 seconds . If you pull too many mobs , you will likely lose your shield in the middle of battle and not be able to recast it immediately . If you cast it before the fight begins , chances are it will be available to recast when you need it . Second , casting after the fight begins lowers your DPS and allows more time for the enemy to attack you while you are not doing damage . Now that your shield is up , use a damage spell with a long cast time , such as Vampiric Touch or Mind Blast . Since you have not yet initiated the battle , the casting time is basically free . Next , you want to throw the DoT because it is an instant cast and because it deals damage over time . The sooner you apply it , the more chance it will have to deal damage . Until you get Shadowform , your wand is your best friend . Buy a good wand from the auction house , and upgrade it as often as possible . Coupled with Spirit Tap , you will never need to stop for mana . You may not put down a single mob as quickly , but you will put down 20 mobs faster . Once you reach level 40 , spec to get Shadowform . You will still use your wand , but much less now . Again , use the beginning three action strategy mentioned above . Shadowform fights will look like this : , Mind Blast , , Mind Flay , Mind Blast , Mind Flay , Mind Flay , Mind Blast . Keep repeating Mind Flay , Mind Flay , Mind Blast until either the enemy is dead or you need to conserve mana . If you need to conserve mana , use your wand once the enemy approaches about 30 % health to finish it off . Make sure you ' re not wasting time getting Mind Flay interrupted when your shield goes down ; if so , you will not channel for the entire time of the cast . When you reach level 50 , you will get Vampiric Touch . Always use Vampiric Touch ; unless a mob has very little HP , it ' s worth it . On multiple - mob pulls , use VT liberally . To maximize the benefit you get , you should start every fight with it . Raid Groups . In a raid group you need to understand your role . If you are doing high - end raiding , you will require a lot of communication with the people in your raid . Note : With proper talents and gear , a shadow priest , if placed in a tank group , provides damage mitigation in the form of healing to the tank . PvP Tactics . The priest plays a unique role in PvP . He / she is often the first target , but the priest has tools available to avoid being taken out as quickly as many classes . Shadow . There are a few things that have to be remembered when one is PvPing as a shadow priest , especially when you are in a group : Discipline . Discipline is generally considered to be the only PvP healing spec as holy can cause a priest to be too weak to survive a longer PvP fight . Here are some tips on playing this to the fullest to benefit your team : Battlegrounds . A priest in tandem with any other class make a great flag stealing combo . The partner makes the run , the priest stays right behind shielding , dispelling and healing , fearing enemies and generally making the most of their partner ' s HP . Most enemies will be so crazed and frantic to get the flag back they will ignore you , as there are not many players who manage to stay calm in certain situations .