Disc Priest Cataclysm Gear: Levels 40 – 50

ABOUT LEVELS 40-50

At the end of your 40′s, the grind might start to get to you. If you’re hearing voices, become enraged at every tank you pug (without due cause, because certainly we are all enraged at our tanks), and begin to consider re-speccing Shadow, you may want to consider taking some time out to work on your professions. This is a good set of levels in which to do that.

We’re still maximizing:
Spirit > Intellect > Critical > Haste > Stamina

Check out our Disc Priest Leveling Guide: Levels 40 – 50

Heirloom gear is not included in this list, but is dicussed here.

ENCHANTING LEVELING GEAR

An exhaustive list of enchantments would be too exhausting to contemplate, so for each piece I simply recommend one enchantment that I think gets the job done and will serve you well for most of your ten levels. Re-enchanting leveling gear is, I think, neither time nor cost effective given the relatively small benefit you’ll enjoy.

BEST DISCIPLINE PRIEST GEAR AND ENCHANTS: LVL 40-50

CHEST

Best In Show: Coldtouch Phantom Wraps

Alternative 1: Robes of the Exalted
Alternative 2: Robes of Insight
Alternative 3: The Postmaster’s Tunic
Alternative 4: Death’s Head Vestment

Enchantment: [Enchant Chest - Greater Stats] or [Enchant Chest - Major Mana]

LEGS

Best In Show: The Postmaster’s Trousers

Alternative 1: Necropile Leggings
Alternative 2: Threadbare Trousers
Alternative 3: Frostweave Pants BEST BUY!

Enchantment: [None until Level 50]

FEET

Best In Show: Maleki’s Footwraps

Alternative 1: Boots of the Full Moon
Alternative 2: Fire Striders
Alternative 3: The Postmaster’s Treads

Enchantment: [Enchant Boots - Minor Speed] or [Heavy Armor Kit]

SHOULDERS

Best In Show: Soulstealer Mantle

Alternative 1: Thuzadin Mantle
Alternative 2: Kentic Amice
Alternative 3: Mooncloth Shoulders BEST BUY!

Enchantment: [None until Level 60]

WRIST

Best In Show: Dryad’s Wrist Bindings

Alternative 1: Sublime Wristguards
Alternative 2: Tearfall Bracers

Enchantment: Enchant Bracer – Mana Regeneration or Enchant Bracer – Greater Intellect

HANDS

Best In Show: Shadowy Laced Handwraps

Alternative 1: Jumanza Grips
Alternative 2: Gordok’s Handwraps

Enchantment: [Enchant Gloves - Minor Haste]

HEAD

Best In Show: Eye of Flame

Alternative 1: The Postmaster’s Band
Alternative 2: Bad Mojo Mask

Enchantment: [None until Level 50]

WAIST

Best In Show: Sash of the Burning Heart

Alternative 1: Deathmage Sash
Alternative 2: Grimgore Noose
Alternative 3: Thuzadin Sash

Enchantment: [None until Level 70]

BACK

Best In Show: Spritecaster Cape

Alternative 1: Heliotrope Cloak
Alternative 2: Archivist Cape
Alternative 3: Denmother’s Cloak
Alternative 4: Icy Cloak BEST BUY!

Enchantment: [Enchant Cloak - Greater Resistance] or [Enchant Cloak - Greater Defense]

NECK

Best In Show: Anastari Heirloom

Alternative 1: Horizon Choker
Alternative 2: Ruby Pendant of Fire BEST BUY!

FINGERS

Best In Show: Seal of Rivendare

Alternative 1: Murmuring Ring
Alternative 2: Brainlash
Alternative 3: Cyclopean Band
Alternative 4: Gem Studded Band BEST BUY!

Enchantment: [None until Level 70 and then enchanters only]

TRINKETS

Best In Show: Emissary’s Watch

Alternative 1: Mindtap Talisman
Alternative 2: Figurine – Ruby Serpent BEST BUY!

WEAPON (Staves Only)

Best In Show: Glowing Brightwood Staff

Alternative 1: Moonshadow Stave
Alternative 2: Stoneflower Staff
Alternative 3: Zum’rah’s Vexing Cane

Enchantment: [Enchant 2H Weapon - Major Intellect] or [Enchant 2H Weapon - Major Spirit] (or Lesser versions of either)

Disciplinary Action Adventures: Episode #12

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Episode #12: Deathwing Weighs In

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Disciplinary Action on the WoWphiles Podcast

WoWphiles made the tactical error of inviting Liala from Disciplinary Action on to their show to discuss the changes to the Discipline Priest class in 4.0. We had a great time talking about disc healing and you can check out the podcast in its entirety at the WoWphiles site (and once and for all answer the burning question: is Liala really a burly northern Canadian woodsman or a Japanese schoolgirl?).

WoWphiles is inviting three spec experts per episode until they get through them all. This, the first of their podcast series, explores Disc Priests (with yours truly), Survival Hunters with Bliky from One Man Raid, and Protection Warriors with my personal Prot guru, Linedan from Achtung Panzercow.

If you’ve already listened to the show and would like more information on the topics I discussed, please check out:

• 4.0 Disc Priest Builds
• 4.0 Disc Priest Stats (A Cheat Sheet)
• 4.0 Disc Priest Gems and Reforging

Reforging And Gems for Discipline Priests in 4.0

Be sure to check out our Discipline Priest Builds for 4.0

The 4.0.1 pre-Cataclysm patch introduces us to the wonderful world of reforging. Blizzard describes it thusly:

Originally a magic brought to the citizens of Azeroth by the Highborne, reforging will provide a new means for players to customize their gear in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. NPCs offering reforging services will be located in all major cities, ready to assist in customizing items by altering the stats they provide. Players can use reforging to modify an item’s stat values, or to undo any previous changes and allow different customization choices.

So, how do you get all your gear in top working order as a discipline priest? By using this handy guide, of course!

GENERAL GUIDE TO STATS

Intellect > Spirit > Mastery > Haste (to 25%) > Crit
If you’re running out of mana, use: Spirit > Intellect > Crit > Mastery > Haste (to 25%)

Temporary Edit: Don’t bother with Mastery right now in 4.0.1. The return on your investment is very, very low for the time being.

You Want…
Intellect: Size of your mana pool
Spirit: Regeneration rate of your mana pool
Critical Strike: The chance a spell will provide be critical (larger than normal)
Haste: The speed at which you cast spells
Mastery: A bonus to your talent tree specialization (mana regen, healing bonus, and PW:Shield bonus for us disc priests)

You Don’t Want…
Agility
Strength
Dodge
Parry
Hit Rating
Expertise

GUIDE TO GEMS

Good Gems:
Anything ‘Brilliant’ (+intellect)
‘Energized’ (+haste, +spirit)
‘Forceful’ (PvP only; +haste, +stamina)
‘Misty’ (+crit, +spirit)
‘Nightmare Tear’ (+all stats)
‘Potent’ (+intellect, +crit)
‘Purified’ (+intellect, +spirit)
‘Quick’ (+haste)
‘Reckless’ (+haste, +intellect)
‘Smooth’ (+crit)
‘Sparkling’ (+spirit)
‘Timeless’ (PvP only; +intellect, +stamina)
‘Turbid’ (PvP only; +spirit, +resilience)
‘Wilful’ (PvP only; +intellect, +resilience)

Bad Gems:
‘Accurate’          ’Bold’                ’Champion’
‘Deadly’             ’Defender’        ’Deft’
‘Delicate’           ’Etched’            ’Fierce’
‘Flashing’          ’Glinting’           ‘Inscribed’
‘Jagged’             ’Lightning’        ’Lucent’
‘Mysterious’     ‘Nimble’            ’Polished’
‘Precise’            ’Radiant’           ‘Regal’
‘Resolute’         ‘Resplendent’   ‘Rigid’
‘Shifting’           ‘Solid’                ’Sovereign’
‘Splendid’         ‘Stalwart’          ’Steady’
‘Stormy’           ‘Subtle’             ‘Veiled’

GUIDE TO REFORGING

You can’t change the four primary stats (Stamina, Intellect, Agility, and Strength), but you can modify the eight secondary stats (Spirit, Hit Rating, Expertise Rating, Critical Strike Rating, Haste Rating, Mastery Rating, Parry Rating, and Dodge Rating).

So far, there are no Mastery gems; if you want Mastery stats on your gear, reforging is currently the only way to get it.

You can find yourself on wowarmory.com and check out your stats- they’re under your feet. Look at your overall ratings and see where you need improvement, then reforge to pick up anywhere you have low ratings.

Reforgers are located in every capital city; just ask a guard with a map icon for directions.

You Want…                               You Don’t Want…
Spirit                                              Parry
Haste                                              Hit
Critical Strike                                Dodge
Mastery                                         Expertise

Problems With the 4.0 Patch Background Downloader?

It seems that many people are having a big problem with the Blizzard Background Dowloader when trying to update to patch 4.0.0 from patch 3.5.5; I feel your pain, as I was as well. With slow download speeds placing my patch time at around 4 DAYS, I thought I’d hunt around for a solution. And lo, the solution is easy!

1. Start your background downloader by either starting your game or double-clicking ‘Background Downloader’ in (World of Warcraft folder location)> World of Warcraft.

2. Let the Background Downloader run until you’ve achieved at least 1% of the download. If your Background Downloader is hidden, double-click on the Blizzard icon in your system try (bottom right of your screen) to embiggen it. Once you’re at 1% or more, right-click on the icon to exit out of the Background Downloader.

3. Open the folder (World of Warcraft directory)>World of Warcraft>Cache and locate the BackgroundDownload.torr file. If you can’t see the “.torr” part, that’s okay.

4. Open your favorite torrent downloader. I like BitComet, myself.

5. Pull the BackgroundDownload.torr file into BitComet. Click ‘Download Now’.

6. Enjoy the lightening-fast download speeds.

7. When the file is complete, locate the BackgroundDownload file in Cache and move it to the folder labeled ‘Updates’.

8. The End.

4.0: PTR Priest Review

New Cataclysm Launcher

- MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD -

- I MEAN IT. MASSIVE. -

Disciplinary Action is in the 4.0.1 pre-Cataclysm PTR beta and here to give you the inside scoop on all the changes coming to priests dropping in the next patch. Now, on with the show!

I rolled a brand-new Liala the Priest on the EU Brill server (hey, when am I ever going to get to talk to our brethren across the pond again?). The Character Transfer is still in stasis for me, so we’re focusing this time around on all the shiny new things you get to play with from the get-go.

The new patch downloader (above) allows you to start playing, with the patch continuing to download in the background, after only a fraction of the patch has been completed. Early problems with this system seem to have been very nicely cleaned up; I jumped in when the downloader was at a tiny 5% complete, and had very little trouble accessing the areas I needed.

Blizzard’s done a great job of prioritizing the download of places you’re currently viewing. Non-downloaded content shows up as a shimmering blue smoke, which soon coalesces into the docks at Auberdine, say, or Stormwind castle. If you’re an impatient hothead like myself, you will have a brief (1-3 minute) layover in screenshot land while your starting area is loaded for the first time. The whole process is greatly improved, though, and seems to be working as intended.

THE NEW SPELLBOOK

For All Screenshots: Click to embiggen. The Spellbook has undergone a complete overhaul. Spells now increase in size automatically as you level, rather than needing to be trained at each level at a trainer. With a new look and this new scaling functionality, the Spellbook is looking pretty sharp:

Spellbook: Main Abilities Pane

Spellbook: Discipline Spells Pane, Page 1

Spellbook: Holy Spells Pane, Page 1

Spellbook: Holy Spells Pane, Page 2

Spellbook: Shadow Spells Pane, Page 1

Spellbook: Shadow Spells Pane, Page 2

For those of us with 80 priests, note that we’ll be getting back on that leveling treadmill and fast if we want to get back some of our precious spells: Inner Will is not available until level 83, and the new and exciting Leap of Faith (for you Holies) is unavailable until level 85. Mind Spike, Shadow people, is available at 81.

THE NEW PRIEST TRAINERS

Here as well a new interface makes visiting your Priest trainer feel far more streamlined:

Trainer: Priest Spells, Page 1

Trainer: Priest Spells, Page 2

Trainer: Priest Spells, Page 3

Trainer: Priest Spells, Page 4

Trainer: Priest Spells, Page 5

Trainer: Priest Spells, Page 6

I sincerely doubt the cost of every spell will be, in the end, 10 coppers; however, we can make the educated assumption that the prices will be somewhat similar to the price levels we currently have in Wrath. My guess is that an endgame-level spell will run you something like 10 to 20 gold.

Looking more closely at the Priest trainer screens, we encounter our first new spell, Mysticism, at level 50. Mysticism is currently tooltipped as a passive bonus that increases Intellect by 5%. Further down the list, Mind Spike provides a Shadowfrost damage and debuff with 1.5 sec cast and no cooldown for the Shadow Priests. Leap of Faith, aka ‘Life Grip’, is available at level 85 and- in case you’ve been hiding under a rock- enables a priest to seize an errant DPS and pull him out of harm’s way. Certainly no one would abuse this privilege for the purposes of base amusement. Ahem. Onward.

Mastery, as for all classes, allows you to specialize in one field of priesting: Discipline Priest Mastery (Absorption) gives you a shield absorb bonus; Holy Priest Mastery (Radiance) places an HoT on any target that is the target of a direct heal. Shadow Mastery is a new mechanism, Shadow Orbs, a chance-cast floating ball system (I see you sniggering in the back) that fly around the caster and cause shadow damage.

MAPPING

You’re now able to select multiple tracking types on the minimap. Not specifically for priests, but for the gathering professions among us, WOOT!

Select a few...

... select 'em all!

PROFESSIONS

With the addition of Archaeology, we now have four secondary professions (First Aid, Cooking, Fishing, and Archaeology) in addition to our standard two primary professions. The professions pane is greatly cleaned up and enchanced, and profession trainers have the same streamlined look as the class trainers.

The Horde Archaeology trainer is Belloc Brightblade, in Grommash Hold, Ogrimmar (he’s a belf wearing a white hat and jacket); the Alliance Archaeology trainer is Harrison Jones in Stormwind Keep, Stormwind.

Professions Pane

Fishing Trainer. Note the 'I'm still loading' smoke in the bottom right.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this first look at the 4.0.1 priest changes. As soon as the character transfers unblock themselves, we’ll take an in-depth look at the higher-level spells and get a peek at the new Talents pane!

Patch 4.0.1 Live On Public Test Realms

Possible spoilers ahead!

Yes!

Patch 4.0.1 is live on the Public Test Realms (PTR).

Yes!

You can go copy your character and play around in there and get so excited you’re going to die.

Yes!

We will be going there directly this evening, copying our priest, and reporting back tonight.

No!

There was nothing specifically about priests in the PTR Patch Notes posted on the forums, but you can read the blue post in its entirety here. Basically, the actual Cataclysm has not yet happened- Dragonwing hasn’t spread his wings of destruction across the continents- but there are enough strange changes to keep us happy for some weeks. For now, here are the known quick-and-dirty changes for the priests:

• The Spellbook interface has changed
• Profession and class training interfaces have been upgraded
• New alerts about which new talents/abilities are available at each level
• Redesigned character pane which can be organized through click-and-drag
• New, toggle-able raid frames (!!!). Access through ‘User Interface’
• Durability has been normalized across armor types so all players pay about the same amount for repairs…
• Talent trees have been changed and all points (in both specs, if you’re dual-specced) will be cleared
• MP5 is gone
• There are now three types of glyphs, instead of two
• Spells and abilities scale with level; no more training ranks
• Talent tree overhaul
• Spells overhaul
• Professions overhaul

The Discultimate Leveling Guide: Levels 40 to 50 In Five Days

Level Forty To Fifty: Tanaris Is For Lovers!

BY LEVEL FORTY, you should have this whole healing thing well in hand. Whether you’ve taken up with a sympathetic tank and the two of you terrorize the countryside, or you’ve become a past master of the Looking For Dungeon Tool, this stretch of leveling road is an opportunity to truly hone your craft.

Your Satchel of Helpful Goods these days will contain items for your shoulders and fingers; with two fingers, you’ll likely make out with three free blues in this leveling section, rather than two. Don’t forget and accidentally purchase those expensive, uber-sexy shoulders right when you ding 40.

Acquiring higher-end (read: more expensive) crafting mats should drive much of your choices about where to level. Mats for items in the 200-300 level range can be more expensive than top-tier crafting mats, and buying them on the auction house is likely going to bankrupt you (unless that tank you found happens to double as your sugar daddy). To add insult to injury, much of what you’re crafting at these levels isn’t going to sell for much, if anything. Mageweave in particular is tough on the pocketbook at this point, but can be farmed successfully in Felwood at this level. Tanaris becomes particularly profitable for miners and skinners from these levels forward, and you can quest there to boot.

And don’t forget to pick up your Journeyman riding skill and a sweet new mount when you hit 40.

QUICK FACTS

TALENTS

• 40    5/5 Mental Strength
• 41    1/2 Focused Power
• 42    2/2 Focused Power
• 43    1/3 Enlightenment
• 44    2/3 Enlightenment
• 45    3/3 Enlightenment
• 46    1/1 Power Infusion
• 47   1/3 Improved Flash Heal
• 48   1/3 Focused Will
• 49   2/3 Focused Will
• 50   3/3 Focused Will

ROTATION

• Shield/Renew tank
• Flash Heal small damage
• Greater Heal big damage
• Shield specific DPS/yourself if they’re consistently taking a lot of damage
• Spam Fade if you’re taking a lot of aggro
• Power Infusion on yourself at 25% of your mana level

QUEST AREAS

• Feralas (40-50)
• Tanaris Desert (40-50)
• Badlands (35-45)
• The Hinterlands (40-52)
• Stranglethorn Vale/Searing Gorge (43-50)
• Feralas (40-50)
• Tanaris Desert (40-50)
• The Hinterlands (40-52)
• Searing Gorge (43-50)
• Azshara (45-55)
• The Blasted Lands (45-55)
• Felwood (48-55)

LEVEL 40-50 SPELLS

40 – GREATER HEAL

A slow casting spell that heals a single target for X to Y.

Slow and big. Big and slow. Though the name couldn’t be more boring, and it is a spell geared towards Holy priests, this is a handy spell to rely on when you know your tank is about to take a massive damage hit. Also useful for topping yourself up from near-zero after a particularly nasty solo leveling run-in.

48 – PRAYER OF FORTITUDE

Power infuses all party and raid members, increasing their Stamina by X for 1.00 hour.

Prayer of Fortitude, like the later Prayer of Shadow Protection and  Prayer of Spirit, is a party-wide buff that uses one Devout Candle as its reagent. You’ll be casting all three before every raid and instance, and it’s useful not to have to stand around and hit five people individually with Power Word: Fortitude. Party-wide buffs are your responsibility as a good healer, so do stock up on the candles.

LEVEL 40-50 TALENTS

MENTAL STRENGTH

5 out of 5 points: Increases your total intellect by X%.

Continuing from last time, you’ll finish picking up these talents at 41, 42, and 43. At this point, your mana pool can handle the drain of mana that all those more powerful spells will require.

FOCUSED POWER

2 points: Increases damage and healing done by your spells by X%. In addition, your Mass Dispel cast time is reduced by Y sec.

Focused Power is a no-brainer, now that it increases your healing by 2% with the first rank and 4% with the second rank. Mass Dispel also gets a boost, but that will come in handy more in the Icecrown Citadel fights than in the earlier instances.

ENLIGHTENMENT

3 points: Increases your Spell Haste, and Spirit by X%.

It’s popular these days to pooh-pooh Spirit, but its importance to the size of your mana pool is undeniable. As mana management becomes more of an issue,  Spirit’s importance grows. As you level, mana pool size is more important than it is during raiding, when gear can pick up the mana slack, so pick up both levels here. And in no universe is more haste not a good thing!

POWER INFUSION

1 point: Infuses the target with power, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and reducing the mana cost of all spells by 20%. Lasts 15 sec.

Though I hesitate to add anything to your casting bar so early on, I go for Power Infusion this early in the game to give every aspiring Disco priest an opportunity to remember to use it. Power Infusion is a fantastic ability, but with its long cooldown and slightly obscure usage, its easy to forget to mash it when needed. Part of the reason you’re leveling as a Disco is to really learn to use your spells to their best effect: picking up Power Infusion early will hopefully increase your use of this, the most underutilized of utility spells.

IMPROVED FLASH HEAL

1 out of 5: Reduces the mana cost of your Flash Heal by X% and increases the critical effect chance of your Flash Heal by Y% on friendly targets at or below 50% health.

Start pushing points into a very unexciting but useful talent that improves your Flash Heal substantially by the time you take all five points (which you will, in the end). Though unsexy, you’ll be glad you did.

FOCUSED WILL

3 points: After taking a critical hit you gain the Focused Will effect, reducing all damage taken by X% and increasing healing effects on you by Y%. Stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 8 sec.

Finish out your talent tree to 50 by picking up all three ranks of Focused Will. Though ostensibly a PvP talent, if you find yourself running a lot of PUGs with tanks who can’t hold aggro, or solo/duo leveling, you’ll be glad you did. This makes it onto my list of essential talents in the as you finish up towards fifty solely because when you hit level 60, the Outlands instances you’ll be running introduces you to a massive influx of Death Knight tanks who have little to no experience tanking. There are exceptions of course, but chances are enormous that you’ll be on the receiving end of a larger number of hits than ever before. It’s nice to roll with the punches.

LEVEL 40-50 TALENT TREE

By level 50, then, your talent tree will look like this:

Discipline Priest Talent Tree, Level 40 to 50

The Discultimate Leveling Guide: Levels 30 to 40 In Five Hours

Levels Thirty To Forty: Alterac Mountains? But I'm Squishy!

IT SEEMS LIKE just yesterday you were languishing for your mount, navigating the troublesome world of the Dungeon Finder for the first time, and exalting in your first Satchel of Helpful Goods. Now the feeling of excitement is waning, perhaps (Tumultuous Cloak of the Bandit AGAIN?), but the 30 to 40 grind actually has quite a bit to recommend it.

From levels 20 to 30, your Satchel of Helpful Goods contained back and waist items, so you could safely ignore spending money on those upgrades. From levels 30 to 40, however, your bag will give you items for your neck and hands. Whatever else you do, don’t bother getting that snazzy, expensive necklace upgrade right when you hit 30!

This stretch of leveling road is an absolutely excellent time to get serious about your trade skills, particularly cooking, which will pay off with real money in the long run, and fishing, which will make cooking even more profitable. Selling high-end buff foods before raid nights- Firecracker Salmons, Giant Feasts- will pad your pocket most comfortably.

At level 30, you’re high enough level to breeze through the primary gathering skill spots (you do have one gathering skill, right?) with ease.  This is the perfect time to visit them. You should also keep your hands on all the wool and silk you’re accumulating to turn in to capital city Quartermasters for increased faction reps.

QUICK FACTS

TALENTS

• 30    1/1 Soul Warding
• 31    1/5 Holy Specialization
• 32    2/5 Holy Specialization
• 33    3/5 Holy Specialization
• 34    4/5 Holy Specialization
• 35    5/5 Holy Specialization
• 36    1/5 Mental Strength
• 37    2/5 Mental Strength
• 38    3/5 Mental Strength
• 39    4/5 Mental Strength
• 40    5/5 Mental Strength

ROTATION

• Shield/Renew tank
• Flash Heal small damage
• Greater Heal big damage
• Shield specific DPS/yourself if they’re consistently taking a lot of damage
• Spam Fade if you’re taking a lot of aggro
• Inner Focus at 25% of your base mana

QUEST AREAS

• Arathi Highlands (30-40)
• Desolace (30-40)
• Thousand Needles (30+)
• Stranglethorn Vale (30-45)
• Hillsbrad Foothills (20-30)
• Arathi Highlands (30-40)
• Desolace (30-40)
• Badlands (35-45)
• Stranglethorn Vale (30-45)
• Dustwallow Marsh (35-45)

LEVEL 30-40 SPELLS

30 – MIND CONTROL

Controls a humanoid mind up to level X, but increases the time between attacks by 25%. Lasts up to 1 min.

Feel like being a DPS for a hot minute? Healing failPUGs got you down? Why not mind control a nearby enemy and use him to bash the brains out of his companions! Fun for the whole family! … Except, you know, if you need to, say, heal someone. Absolutely a Shadow-only spell unless you’re just having a larf or solo leveling.

30 – PRAYER OF HEALING

A powerful prayer heals party members within 30 yards for X to Y.

Finally, something useful. When you hit 30, the long slog of no new spells you’ve endured since 20 is finally broken. PoH is worth waiting for. It’s pretty great in 5-man PUGs when all of your party members take damage at once from some AoE, but it really shines in raids. You can target any raid member and heal their entire party, wether or not you’re in it. Hit your ‘Inner Focus’ cooldown just before using PoH to obliterate its long-ass casting time and staggering 48% of base mana cost.

30 – SHADOW PROTECTION (Buff)

Increases the target’s resistance to Shadow spells by X for 10 min.

Until level 56 and 60, when you pick up Prayer of Shadow Protection and Prayer of Spirit, respectively (which buffs the entire party at once), you’ll have to individually cast this buff on every member of your party (including yourself, natch). But there’s a lot of shadow damage out there and SP comes in handy, as do all your buffs. Don’t skimp on buffing, as you’re the one who’ll pay the price for people taking more damage.

30 – DIVINE SPIRIT (Buff)

Holy power infuses the target, increasing their Spirit by X for 30 min.

See Shadow Protection.

32 – ABOLISH DISEASE

Attempts to cure 1 disease effect on the target, and 1 more disease effect every 3 seconds for 12 sec.

Pre-Cataclysm, casting Abolish Disease didn’t cost you mana unless there was actually a disease to dispel, meaning you could smack it down any time someone looked peakish (just in case). In Cataclysm, however, you pay the price for casting even if you have no diseases to dispel. Sadly, you’ll have to learn what icons stand for disease and what icons stand for poisons to make this an effective, mana efficient spell.

34 – LEVITATE

Allows the target to levitate, floating a few feet above the ground. While levitating, the target will fall at a reduced speed and travel over water. Any damage will cancel the effect. Lasts 2 min.

Though I thought of this as a ‘slow fall’ spell for years, its greater utility is actually the ability to travel over water. This can save you vast swathes of time while leveling through Outland, and with a minor glyph- Glyph of Levitate- you can eliminate the Light Feather it normally costs to cast. An under-appreciated but very useful little trick!

40 – GREATER HEAL

A slow casting spell that heals a single target for X to Y.

Slow and big. Big and slow. Though the name couldn’t be more boring, and it is a spell geared towards Holy priests, this is a handy spell to rely on when you know your tank is about to take a massive damage hit. Also useful for topping yourself up from near-zero after a particularly nasty solo leveling run-in.

LEVEL 30-40 TALENTS

SOUL WARDING

1 point: Reduces the cooldown of your Power Word: Shield ability by 4 sec. and reduces the mana cost of your Power Word: Shield by 15%.

Nothing says happiness to a disco priest like shielding more and harder. If you use this spell and Rapture, a later talent, together, you’ll be returning truly unseemly amounts of mana to yourself.

HOLY SPECIALIZATION

5 points: Increases the critical effect chance of your Holy spells by X%.

Yeah, yeah, yeah- we’re not Holy. I get it. But think about all the Holy spells you use that could benefit from going all the way into Holy Specialization: Lesser Heal, Smite, Heal, Flash Heal, Greater Heal, Binding Heal, Holy Fire, Prayer of Healing, Circle of Healing, and Holy Nova. So there.

MENTAL STRENGTH

2 out of 5 points: Increases your total intellect by X%.

Increasing your Intellect grows the power of your spells. I don’t go straight for this talent in all five points yet because having too much Intellect can make your spells so powerful that they drain your mana pool too quickly; give it until levels 41 and 42 to take the next two levels, when your mana catches up to your power.

LEVEL 30-40 TALENT TREE

By level 40, then, your talent tree will look like this:

Discipline Priest Talent Tree, Levels 30 to 40

Head Games: An Introduction

As some of you may know, I had the extreme misfortune to chop off (or very nearly) my finger whilst cheerfully, obliviously hacking a tomato to pieces a few weeks ago.

It hurt.

Like hell.

I’ve never actually injured myself on that kind of scale, and for the first week or so I pretty much existed in a drugged haze of the most entertaining (to others) variety. Despite my twice- or thrice-weekly guild raid schedule, my Excel spreadsheeted alt leveling program, and an Auction House addiction that Goldcapped alone could understand, my WoW playing came to a screeching and immediate halt.

Once the fog started to lift (hey, drugs that good are in seriously limited supply) and I could think anything beyond, “OWIE OWIE OWIE OWWWW!”, a new problem became apparent: my right hand, encased in Borg-like apparatus and then wrapped like a mummy, was essentially unusable.

I’m right-handed.

(Don’t ask why I was slicing tomatoes with my left hand. That takes us down a bleak road filled with recrimination, regret, and possibly a sad story about showing off my mad knife skillz to sincerely bad effect).

At one point, about three weeks P.D. (Post Digit) I logged into my hunter alt just to say hello to my guildmates.

They were in ICC, pwning, I have no doubt, and were as delighted to see me as I to see them. I excitedly typed replies to all the welcomes left-handedly- not too bad, I thought, just a little clumsy! But a few seconds later, I realized how fast I was falling behind:

Them:
“How’s the hand?!”
“I can’t believe that happened, how are you feeling??”
“Yayy, you’re back! Ouch, yay!”

Me: “T…h…a…-”

Them:
“That was so crazy.”
“It’s so nice to see you! Ouch, ouch!”"
“Ew, is your hand all gnarly and funky now? Please say yes.”

Me: “…n…k…s…!”

And they weren’t in any way going fast, mind you. But it was depressingly obvious that I wasn’t going to be using chat for a while, and a much larger problem had just become obvious:

I couldn’t use my mouse.

My clicker finger had been decapitated and reborn, and I was under strict instructions- from both doctors and internal urgings- not to do a damned thing with it until it recovered from its trying ordeal.

Typing was a bitch, but clicking…? Out of the question!

Luckily the guildies were still safely on Vent, but non-playing? Not being a PRIEST?! Inconceivable! I needed an outlet and needed it bad.

My first thought was that I simply had to become sufficient at left-handed mousing. I secretly started a warrior (less finesse, more faceroll, I figured) and commenced to experiment.

It was ugly.

After quietly burying my warrior in an unmarked grave, my second thought was that I could just not play or think about WoW- hey, everyone’s on pre-Cata vacation! I can hit the beach with the best of ‘em!

That lasted approximately three days and I was practically barking for a glimpse of Dalaran.

Finally, I realized that I could still read about playing, get into the Cataclysm changes, and really explore some of the more complex aspects of priesting that I’ve blown off in the past for being too complicated (like Haste), too boring (ie underused abilities), or too weird (exploring super non-standard disc builds).

With the help of Word, which has a built-in voice recognition writing system (who knew?!), I could theorize, blabber, and cool my heals (typo and it stays) until the mummy wraps came off and right-handedness returned to my repertoire.

This post kicks off a series of articles I’m going to focus on involving the theories behind our priestly behaviors now and in Cataclysm, a journey I hope we’ll all enjoy and (heaven forfend) learn from. With my discovery of the voice-to-type thing, regularly scheduled leveling and gear posts should resume, as well.

For those who have offered their condolences, you have my most sincere gratitude for not only your words, but your readership. Thanks for sticking by my finger, even when it didn’t stick with us!

PS- If it’s not too horrifying when the wraps come off, I’ll post a picture of the offending digit!