01-05-2005, 02:25 PM
One of the characters that I'm playing is a night elf priest. Currently she is level 16 and so far I have been putting my talent points into Improved Renew and Spiritual Healing. I figure that I will probably go ahead and finish those two off, but I am unsure what to do after that. Currently most of my time is spent soloing, but that could change if I ever get caught up to some friends on the server. So its hard to say really if I will be doing alot of solo play or alot of group play because it just depends on how things work out. I've read alot of the older threads here about priests...Mongo's thread about the healing talents and their efficiency/use and another thread where mongo and lissa debated between holy builds and shadow builds. I'm still torn though. So I'm looking for people to comment with thoughts on what to do. Oh and this is on a PvE server.
I guess I'm debating leaving holy with those 10 points and then going into the shadow tree. I just took a break from typing this and used a talent calculator... just kind of putting points where I felt drawn. So with that I ended up with the following. (cut and paste from the calculator except that I added my own notes explaining my thought behind choosing a skill).
Discipline Talents (10 points)
Silent Resolve - 5/5 points
Reduces the threat generated by your damage spells by 20%.
note: As a cloth wearing priest less threat seems like it would be a good thing for when I group with people
Improved Power Word: Shield - 3/3 points
Reduces the duration of your Power Word: Shield's Weakened Soul effect by 15 seconds.
note: Sometimes I find that I want to cast shield again and can't, so this could help. This is probably mostly due to me getting into bad situations though.
Improved Power Word: Fortitude - 2/2 points
Increases the effect of your Power Word: Fortitude spell by 30%.
note: more life is good?
Holy Talents (10 points)
Improved Renew - 5/5 points
Increases the amount healed by your Renew spell by 15%.
note: I've loved renew so far. It helps oh so much in fights and from what I read its the a very common thing to cast late game too, so seems like a good place for talents.
Spiritual Healing - 5/5 points
Increases the amount healed by your healing spells by 10%.
note: The more healed the better right? Mainly thinking that it makes renew even better, but its good for other heals as well.
Shadow Talents (31 points)
Spirit Tap - 5/5 points
Gives you a 100% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit after killing a target. For the duration, your Mana may regenerate at a 50% rate while casting. Lasts 15 seconds.
note: Basically doubles my health and mana regen for a short period and lets me regen mana at a half rate while casting? Not sure what the normal is for mana regen while casting.
Blackout - 5/5 points
Gives your Shadow damage spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
note: stun just seems like it could be useful. Both shadow affinity and shadow focus are tempting though so I am unsure which of the three (those two and blackout) should really get the points. Less threat seems nice once again for grouping and less chance for resists makes me more consistent so is nice as well. threat reduction versus resist reduction versus stun chance. Any thoughts on what way to go?
Improved Shadow Word: Pain - 2/2 points
Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 6 seconds.
note: More damage is good.
Mind Flay - 1/1 point
Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 75 damage over 3 seconds and slowing the target to 50% of their movement speed.
note: A damage spell and it slows things in case I need to cast more before they get to me or if I want to run.
Improved Mind Blast - 4/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by 2 seconds.
note: Another damage spell. I'd kind of like to find a way to get the 5th point into this, not sure what to take it from though.
Shadow Reach - 3/3 points
Increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 20%.
note: Helps for being able to pull from farther away.
Vampiric Embrace - 1/1 point
Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow damage you deal for 1 minute.
note: More healing is good right?
Shadow Weaving - 5/5 points
Your Shadow damage spells have a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Shadow damage. This vulnerability increases the Shadow damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
note: So makes for more damage being done?
Darkness - 5/5 points
Increases your Shadow spell damage by 10%.
note: More damage is good
Having done that I notice that the build is roughly like the one meantioned here except I went more shadow, less discipline and went with silent resolve instead of unbreakable will in the disciple tree. So I guess, having done all this I am looking for people's thoughts/comments about it and about my notes. Are there talent points that would be better spent elsewhere? Will the build function for what I seem to need (a combo of solo and group play)? Overall what do people think of the build?
I guess I'm debating leaving holy with those 10 points and then going into the shadow tree. I just took a break from typing this and used a talent calculator... just kind of putting points where I felt drawn. So with that I ended up with the following. (cut and paste from the calculator except that I added my own notes explaining my thought behind choosing a skill).
Discipline Talents (10 points)
Silent Resolve - 5/5 points
Reduces the threat generated by your damage spells by 20%.
note: As a cloth wearing priest less threat seems like it would be a good thing for when I group with people
Improved Power Word: Shield - 3/3 points
Reduces the duration of your Power Word: Shield's Weakened Soul effect by 15 seconds.
note: Sometimes I find that I want to cast shield again and can't, so this could help. This is probably mostly due to me getting into bad situations though.
Improved Power Word: Fortitude - 2/2 points
Increases the effect of your Power Word: Fortitude spell by 30%.
note: more life is good?
Holy Talents (10 points)
Improved Renew - 5/5 points
Increases the amount healed by your Renew spell by 15%.
note: I've loved renew so far. It helps oh so much in fights and from what I read its the a very common thing to cast late game too, so seems like a good place for talents.
Spiritual Healing - 5/5 points
Increases the amount healed by your healing spells by 10%.
note: The more healed the better right? Mainly thinking that it makes renew even better, but its good for other heals as well.
Shadow Talents (31 points)
Spirit Tap - 5/5 points
Gives you a 100% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit after killing a target. For the duration, your Mana may regenerate at a 50% rate while casting. Lasts 15 seconds.
note: Basically doubles my health and mana regen for a short period and lets me regen mana at a half rate while casting? Not sure what the normal is for mana regen while casting.
Blackout - 5/5 points
Gives your Shadow damage spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
note: stun just seems like it could be useful. Both shadow affinity and shadow focus are tempting though so I am unsure which of the three (those two and blackout) should really get the points. Less threat seems nice once again for grouping and less chance for resists makes me more consistent so is nice as well. threat reduction versus resist reduction versus stun chance. Any thoughts on what way to go?
Improved Shadow Word: Pain - 2/2 points
Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 6 seconds.
note: More damage is good.
Mind Flay - 1/1 point
Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 75 damage over 3 seconds and slowing the target to 50% of their movement speed.
note: A damage spell and it slows things in case I need to cast more before they get to me or if I want to run.
Improved Mind Blast - 4/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by 2 seconds.
note: Another damage spell. I'd kind of like to find a way to get the 5th point into this, not sure what to take it from though.
Shadow Reach - 3/3 points
Increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 20%.
note: Helps for being able to pull from farther away.
Vampiric Embrace - 1/1 point
Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow damage you deal for 1 minute.
note: More healing is good right?
Shadow Weaving - 5/5 points
Your Shadow damage spells have a 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Shadow damage. This vulnerability increases the Shadow damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
note: So makes for more damage being done?
Darkness - 5/5 points
Increases your Shadow spell damage by 10%.
note: More damage is good
Having done that I notice that the build is roughly like the one meantioned here except I went more shadow, less discipline and went with silent resolve instead of unbreakable will in the disciple tree. So I guess, having done all this I am looking for people's thoughts/comments about it and about my notes. Are there talent points that would be better spent elsewhere? Will the build function for what I seem to need (a combo of solo and group play)? Overall what do people think of the build?