The Priest: PvE (player vs environment) overview

[Nystul]

My phase 2 priestess often used the "smack em down with spells and rest later" tactic, as watching her try to get an effective amount of damage from her weapon was some sort of torture. In tough battles it became an interesting balancing act though, especially if you are facing multiple foes. As long as you have sufficient mana with a priest you are practically immortal, so mana conservation was obviously a consideration in getting through such a battle. But at the same time, one of the principles of fighting multiple enemies is to reduce the number as quickly as possible before they beat you to a pulp.

My typical 1v2 battle would be something like:
1) make sure shield is up (all other buffs as well of course) and mana high
2) smite foe I want to kill fast (foe A)
3) pain foe A
4) pain foe B
5) mind blast foe A
6) melee foe A, mind blasting when cool down allows, recasting pain on both foes when it wears out (only if mana supply is holding up well enough)
7) if shield breaks, let health go down some, cast renew, reshield if I am taking damage fast
8) if mana starts to get low, adjust tactics. Use fear and run (or just bubble and run) if needed.

With the bubble up, it is easy to cast smite during close combat. But you can't melee while you are casting it, so you get less total damage output and the mana efficiency compared to mindblast is not what it seems.

I don't know if any changes to the class would effect any of these ideas, as I haven't played her in this phase.