Priestly Diversions

[MongoJerry]

Anyway, I was hoping to ask a question about weapon choices for priests.  I know many people use staves, but why?  Is it not possible to get a good caster dagger or mace, and have like an orb, torch, or stein in your off-hand?

You'll see most priests using staves, because staves tend to have higher dps than one-handed maces or daggers and because the stats on staves are usually better than the combined stats on similar level one-handed weapons and off-hand items. However, that doesn't mean that the staff that *you* have at the moment is better than a one-hand/off-hand combination that you own. For example, Neriad used a Dire Nail of Spirit, a dagger found in the Sunken Temple, with an off-hand item for a few levels, because the combination was better than the staff she had at the time.

Also, it's a good idea to store away some one-handed weapons and off-hand items for situational flexibility. One neat thing that happened to me was when the Onyxia raid was added, it became clear that we all needed to stock up on a *lot* of fire resistance. Looking over some gear I had in the bank, I had a Magmus Stone that I had found in Blackrock Depths, which had +15 fire resistance and some spirit. So, I switched out my staff for that and a one-handed mace that gave a bonus to healing.

So in the end, use both! But yeah, you'll probably find yourself using staves most of the time.