Priest Concern Summary

[Lissa]

Priests are finally getting their love in 1.10.  Of course, looking at the displeasure Paladins are having with 1.9, the Priest community is a little...unsettled.

On the WoW Europe boards, Aeus wrote a fantastic summary detailing the decline of Priests over the last year, as other classes have had their buffs and Priests have been just...doing nothing, really.  :)  If you're wondering what it is I've been complaining about lately, give it a read.

An especially striking note is this one:
I feel that in 40-player raid environments, Priests have been passed up by Druids.  Unless aggro is a concern, like in the Razorgore encounter, the Druids' superior massive healing abilities have pushed them above the Priests.  I don't like it, but I do accept it - that's why I begrudgingly recommended we use Druids as the primary healers for tanks in our Avarice raids.  I doubt those Druids who would rather go feral (and I hear talk of letting some of them try bear-tanking) really like that role, either.  And there lies the rub...

...many people who roll Priests do it because they want to be the best healers.  Those who roll Druids do so because they want the versatility.  And yet, due to their awesome healing powers, Druids wind up being just as critical to 40-player healing as Priests, if not MORE so.  Both class players would be happier if the roles were reversed, I would expect - if Druids weren't as good healing, there wouldn't be as much pressure on them to spec for healing and heal all night like there is now.  They could afford to spec all-out for damage or for tanking, and enjoy those other roles.  Priests would be happier because their primary role wasn't being usurped while Blizzard ignores them.

Let's see what patch 1.10 brings...I'm anxiously waiting.

-Bolty
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This has been an issue since Beta. I remember this issue being brought up in the Priest beta forums sometime in August or September '04. I know I had suggested then some changes to talents like making the Master Healer effect all healing spells, but instead of being a direct time drop as it is now, make it percentage based, say 5% per talent point which would make Greater Heal a 3 second spell when fully speced and Flash Heal 1.20s to 1.25s cast (although with the global cool down, you would still have to wait .3 to .25s before casting again).

Something I would have also liked to have seen as a talent in Discipline that would become the lv 31 talent is something that removed the 5 second regen penalty or make it so that the priest regens more than 15% of their mana while casting (say 30% to 50% while casting). Because mana regen is such an issue for the priest in end game raiding, x mana/5 seconds is far more useful than spirit in the middle of a fight. Every point of mana regened is equal to 4 spirit for the priest (5 for druid) while out of combat, but when in combat it's equal to 26.67 spirit for a priest. So, in order to make Spirit more useful in comparison, Discipline really needs a talent that boosts regen during the 5 second rule higher so that x mana/5 seconds isn't hugely more useful than straight spirit.

One other thing that I would like, and I'm not sure how priests would take it, is to remove some of the damage spells the priest has and take them back to the original vision, that being Healer/CCer. Those that played the priest in Beta 2 or earlier probably remember Sleep and some of the other factors. Give priests spells that can make mobs temporary pets (not Mind Control, but an actual pet like Hunters and Warlocks) so that the priest can continue to cast spells. A spell that can root. Ultimately though, Blizzard should relook at their original vision again and give the Priest more options for CC as they were initially intended.