06-04-2005, 07:23 AM
savaughn,Jun 3 2005, 03:48 PM Wrote:End game, shadow priests easily rectify the problem and do a lot of damage. If you group you can take advantage of the fact that you have the best healing in the entire game and that makes up for the subpar damage. Aside from that, you'll just have to accept that low level priests, especially ones that are not going shadow heavy, are going to level very slowly. I can't imagine how slow it has to be if you're trying to solo as a holy priest where the lackluster Smite is your only alternative to Mind Blast.
Even when I played pure holy/disc, I never used Holy Smite. The cast time was way too long and the small dps boost above just whacking things with my staff wasn't worth the mana that the spell costs, especially when the Smite gets stuttered and takes even longer to cast. PW:Pain, Mind Blast, and whacking with my staff (and/or shooting with my wand) were and are my primary damage dealing attacks. In between casts of Mind Blast, I cast renews on myself, possibly a psychic scream on the mob if the area is reasonably clear, and maybe a flash heal and/or PW:Shield if it's warrented.
A priest *can* solo in WoW, and if played well, there are lots of mobs that priest can kill that other classes can't kill due to their staying power. (e.g. the field day priests had solo killing the Princess in Mauradan). However, in general, they kill much slower than other classes when soloing. The priest is by nature a social class, though. Their power increases dramatically as they partner up with other players. When you think about playing a priest, you shouldn't think in terms of soloing ability. You should be thinking about how to maximize the power of the group you are in, whether you're with a single partner or in a party of five -- or even 40.