Priest-shadow or holy?

Dcully

Hi folks,need some advice please.
Im looking to lvl my priest to 70,just entered Outland at lvl 58.
All along ive been shadow for levelling but wonder what route to take now,i quite enjoy healing and am considering going full holy.
Im wondering how priests are these days in holy spec for levelling?
Should i go holy now and heal instances in outland or just stick to shadow and dps my way to 70 and spec holy then?
Ive had a bit of a break from the game but really enjoying trying to get my 4th 70 hence why im asking about holy priests.

ZorbaTehZ

Omgz I just leveled my priest to 57 earlier....:)

I was thinking about this myself and I plan to spec into Discipline now. I've already got 47 points in shadow and I put my last in Disc speccing to the imp PWF etc. I can already main heal parties grand, so I think I should be good.

Kenny_D

Stay shadow. Trying to kill stuff as a holy priest is ****. My main is a lvl 70 holy priest. I was shadow all the way to 70 then respec'd so I could get a decent spot in kara. The way it is now though I'd just stay shadow even at 70. Shadow priests come in handy for raids. You'll have a much easier time grinding for the gold you need for your epic mount and also for any gold you need for materials for epic weapons/armor. You'll also be able to do your daily quests a lot easier. Trust me, stay shadow. I have to level up a warlock now so I have a decent dps to farm gold for my priest

nix

GStormcrow wrote: »

Stay shadow. Trying to kill stuff as a holy priest is ****. My main is a lvl 70 holy priest. I was shadow all the way to 70 then respec'd so I could get a decent spot in kara. The way it is now though I'd just stay shadow even at 70. Shadow priests come in handy for raids. You'll have a much easier time grinding for the gold you need for your epic mount and also for any gold you need for materials for epic weapons/armor. You'll also be able to do your daily quests a lot easier. Trust me, stay shadow. I have to level up a warlock now so I have a decent dps to farm gold for my priest

Or if your in a active guild that likes doing instances you can respecc to holy and just heal in instances till you ding 70. Its a good way for xp and to gear up for your first kara run. i entered kara with my priest in full hollowed set and other blue items i gained from leveling 60-70 in instances. if you get bored of doing instances i strongly recommend you respecc back to shadow to solo quest. Or stay holy if you have a leveling buddy.

sunzz

stay shadow and grind till 60, spec holy and farm ramps/bf till 62, back to shadow to the grind till 70, its what i did on my loladin, went quck enough!

Ivan

I'm going to have to echo the comments of the majority here, stay shadow. Unless you are in a guild with a good few people around your level or you are grouping with a bunch of friends on a regular basis, it will be very difficult to get a solid group together to do instances. As a result, you're main efforts to level will be from grinding/questing which is where shadow is king.

If you are in a guild with a decent bunch of people or have some level 70 friends, you can always get one or two to pull you through an instance so you can pick up some gear

At 70, the choice is yours but in the meantime, I'd stick with shadow.

smellslikeshoes

Gonna go against the grain here and say that you should spec holy and do lots of instances and do some quests between finding groups. Yes it will be slightly harder when doing quests so will take you slightly longer to get to level 70, but in my opinion its worth it. As has already been mentioned its good for getting gear, but its also good for another thing that is often forgotten,
HEALING SKILL!

I'm personally sick of all the useless priests who respec to holy at level 70 after leveling from 1-70 as shadow and expect to jump into Kara without ever having healed an instance and run around like headless chickens when things go pear shaped. I went from 1-70 as holy and don't regret it one bit. Yes it was slower and yes I had to heal some useless PUGs with some terrible players but its made me a much better healer. Its also taught me a few things that aren't directly to do with healing but help me when I'm healing, like being able to control a group and keep it on its toes, keeping a level head when all around me are loosing theirs and the ability to take control of bad situations.

If you want to be a good healer who "does the job" stay shadow to 70 but if you want to be a healer that makes the difference in raids spec holy now.

Ivan

You'll have plenty of time grinding level 70 gear before Karazhan to learn how to heal properly and pick up the skills you need. Lets face it, healing as a priest isnt exactly super difficult... not like healing as a paladin anyway

Its just not practical leveling as holy these days when there are so few going from 60 to 70. Those that are left will either be leveling their second/third/fourth alt or completely scrub players that will make you want to pull your hair out. Its just not worth the hassle. And you can still group as dps or even as a healer, as shadow. Lets face it, 5 man non-heroics arent difficult. I have tanked as a holy paladin and as an arms warrior, all the way up to 70 and a little bit after 70...

You can learn your valuable skills healing as an off spec, just as easily as healing for a bunch of nabs, but quest/solo alot more effectively.

smellslikeshoes

Ivan wrote: »

You'll have plenty of time grinding level 70 gear before Karazhan to learn how to heal properly and pick up the skills you need. Lets face it, healing as a priest isnt exactly super difficult... not like healing as a paladin anyway

Although I will be the first to admit that I'm not overly experienced with paladins I think you have to thread a finer line with a priest, cloth armor is basically a glorified bath robe and is very very unforgiving, if you go over the tank in threat you very rarely get a second chance. Which brings us back to my original point about healing skill and being able to manage your threat efficiently. (trying not go too deep into the Paladin/priest discussion because I fear it might spiral out of control )

Ivan wrote: »

Its just not practical leveling as holy these days when there are so few going from 60 to 70. Those that are left will either be leveling their second/third/fourth alt or completely scrub players that will make you want to pull your hair out. Its just not worth the hassle. And you can still group as dps or even as a healer, as shadow. Lets face it, 5 man non-heroics arent difficult. I have tanked as a holy paladin and as an arms warrior, all the way up to 70 and a little bit after 70...

You certainly do make a valid point and I somewhat agree with you, it can be very difficult sometimes, I think that it depends a lot on what server you use and the general level range of the server but its not impossible.

You can learn your valuable skills healing as an off spec, just as easily as healing for a bunch of nabs, but quest/solo alot more effectively.

Although you can learn a lot from healing as an off spec, you're still going to be just that an off spec. Generally nobody likes having an off spec healer doing the healing just the same as it's generally not favorable having a healing speced paladin or druid tanking.
Not only that but as a shadow priest you are very rarely going to be using holy spells questing because of shadow form. You are always learning your class even when questing and having an excellent command of your class's healing ability's is essential for serious endgame progress.

I won't try and definitively say that Holy is the only way people should get to 70 because it does have plenty of weaknesses, just like leveling as shadow has plenty of weaknesses. I think holy is a very viable and useful way to level and is generally dismissed too lightly. To OP, you should weigh up the pro's and con's of both directions and decide which suits you better, neither way is wrong they are just different.

Dcully

Thanks guys,interesting discussion.
I should of said ill be playing solo mostly or instances with pugs.
This priest is not on my mains realm [although i do have my 70 rogue there] so im not in any guild atm.
Ive mostly just levelled this guy up over the last 2 years or so when i wasnt on other chars but i do very much enjoy him.

I have healed instances up to early 50s with no problems but havent healed an instance in many many months so i see the point about practicing healing.
I really cant decide what to do lol.
I like the responsibility of healing when in good group and all is well,i hate it when in bad group and fingers point at me lol.

A few weeks ago i done BRD as dps and totally enjoyed the experience,its the only instance i wasnt main healer.
All those green and blue numbers are very nice doing 5 mans as shadow i must say but there is this challenge of healing that draws me to it too.
It possibly sounds ridiculous but gear looks so much better on holy priests than in shadowform

Decisions decisions

Dustaz

Smellslikeshoes, your making my head hurt. Shut up :P

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

I won't try and definitively say that Holy is the only way people should get to 70 because it does have plenty of weaknesses, just like leveling as shadow has plenty of weaknesses.

Levelling as shadow has no weaknesses at all. You can heal perfectly well and grind/quest ten times better than idiots who stay holy spec.

I levelled 1-60 shadow, respecced holy and played endgame as a holy priest. When tbc came out and my mage hit 70,. i respecced shadow and levelled to 70 and then respecced again. I actually dont like shadow, i much prefer being holy and healing in instances/raids instead of being dps (shadow in raids is boring imo), but there is NO COMPARISON in levelling between shadow and holy.

Saying that you wont learn the priest class by staying shadow and you wont be equipped to heal raids is utter and complete bollòcks. If anything, youll learn to heal a little better since you wont actually be healing for as much when your specced shadow.

Let me make this perfectly clear - Before level 70, it is NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER to heal ANY instance as a shadow specced priest.

Trust me, go shadow. Youll gouge your eyeballs out with your mouse cable after 20 minutes of killing the same mob if you spec holy.

BadCharlie

I played with a Shadow Priest yesterday in Kara. All the time we got back health and mana. It was great and I think our guild should use shadow players more. It was the first time in kara for me with a shadow player and it went very well.

So just cause there is a big demand on Holy players " you don’t have to change ". There is always a place in a guild for Shadow players ( all though it might be limited kara run's compared to if you were holy ).

NotMe

What I did was I specced disc/holy at 62 and just ran instances til 65. Then I decided I wanted to quest again and questing as holy spec is not fun so I went back to shadow. The funny thing is when I was shadow groups were always looking for a healer... when I specced holy I kept grouping with holy paladins and resto druids and I ended up doing backup healing and smite dps (lol).

Anyway it's only a few gold to respec so I'd say go holy for a few levels and try it out.

smellslikeshoes

Dustaz wrote: »

Levelling as shadow has no weaknesses at all. You can heal perfectly well and grind/quest ten times better than idiots who stay holy spec.

Staying holy FORCES you to adapt to it and get good at your class and know the ins and outs of your class. Yes its harder and yes you can die more but the command of your class that you have when you hit 70 is not to be taken lightly. Once you get used to leveling as holy and know what you are doing it is maybe 10-20% slower at leveling than shadow.

Saying that you wont learn the priest class by staying shadow and you wont be equipped to heal raids is utter and complete bollòcks. If anything, youll learn to heal a little better since you wont actually be healing for as much when your specced shadow.

To get good as a healer you have to practice. Generally you aren't going to be healing very much as a shadow priest especially past 58 as the OP is. If you want to be an amazing healer you need to know the healing part of your class inside out. Questing doing instance runs and just generally playing as holy will teach you how to be a good healer with the skill to stay alive and keep your group alive.

People overlook the skill and knowledge required to be good end game for favour of getting to 70 asap. If you want to get to 70 quick spec shadow but don't dismiss holy just because its not as quick.

BadCharlie wrote: »

I played with a Shadow Priest yesterday in Kara. All the time we got back health and mana. It was great and I think our guild should use shadow players more. It was the first time in kara for me with a shadow player and it went very well.

So just cause there is a big demand on Holy players " you don’t have to change ". There is always a place in a guild for Shadow players ( all though it might be limited kara run's compared to if you were holy ).

Very much agree there

Kenny_D

Dcully wrote: »

ill be playing solo mostly or instances with pugs.

Stay shadow. Or spec holy and try some solo quests and see how much of a pain it is then switch back to shadow

Staying shadow also leaves you in a better place for PVP if you get bored with PVE. The main thing though is you can farm primals easily if you need mats or gold. Dailies will be a lot quicker too

Splinter

i raid ssc/tk and others as a shadowpriest and its by no means boring, i leveled from 1-70 as shadow and i could heal perfectly in most instances, i imagine with good enough gear i could heal a heroic in the gear too. i did respec holy for a while before the healing/spell damage change and it was a nightmare grinding...

good luck

Dustaz

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Staying holy FORCES you to adapt to it and get good at your class and know the ins and outs of your class. Yes its harder and yes you can die more but the command of your class that you have when you hit 70 is not to be taken lightly.

What are you talking about? Give me an example how levelling (and i assume you man actually questing) holy teaches you the ins and outs of your class? Its the same thing except you use slightly different spells.

Generally you aren't going to be healing very much as a shadow priest especially past 58 as the OP is.

If he wants to run instances then hell more than likely be healing as shadow spec. If theres already a healer in the group he gets to dps as shadow. win-win.

If you want to be an amazing healer you need to know the healing part of your class inside out.

Im still confused as to what the difference between doing slave pens or mana-tombs is as holy or as a shadowpriest healing? You have basically the same spells, just less mana regen and less mana pool (and obviously less +healing). Things like Spirit of redemption and CoH are hardly rocket science to master once you learn them when you respec at 70. Unless you think you can give us 3 pages on the uses of Holy Nova.

Questing doing instance runs and just generally playing as holy will teach you how to be a good healer with the skill to stay alive and keep your group alive.

How will questing solo as holy teach you how to keep your group alive? How will grinding anything as holy teach you the finer points of playing a priest?

Funky

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

People overlook the skill and knowledge required to be good end game for favour of getting to 70 asap. If you want to get to 70 quick spec shadow but don't dismiss holy just because its not as quick.

Or, you could get to 70 asap and then do instances where you'll learn 100 times more on how to heal then you would have leveling up doing instances where most of the time you'll be with idiots or level 70s running you through. Level as shadow, there is no other sane way.

rainbow kirby

Have decided I'm not playing a healer main again. Pally's prot now, priest (lvl 45 now) is and always will be shadow.

I will say though, that the best healers at 70 are the ones who levelled in a healing spec, at least at the Outland stage. Though I'd rather spork my eyes out than level a holy paladin again.

smellslikeshoes

Dustaz wrote: »

What are you talking about? Give me an example how levelling (and i assume you man actually questing) holy teaches you the ins and outs of your class? Its the same thing except you use slightly different spells.

You hit the nail on the head there, As shadow you are very rarely going to use holy spells. If you can't understand that using healing spells makes you a better healer then theres not much point in me trying to explain it to you.

If he wants to run instances then hell more than likely be healing as shadow spec. If theres already a healer in the group he gets to dps as shadow. win-win.

Like I already said people don't like off spec healers especially after 58. You don't see the irony in arguing that shadow can heal well in instances while arguing that holy can't level well.

How will questing solo as holy teach you how to keep your group alive? How will grinding anything as holy teach you the finer points of playing a priest?

You have to use your healing ability's to keep yourself alive while killing mobs and questing rather than point click dead point click dead.

Ivan

Ah thats awesome, welcome to the prot pala club

I'll be your waiter

Whats your paladin called?

And I honestly would have no issues having any other class that can heal, as a full time spec'd healer. Its somewhat enjoyable at least, but paladin healing is mind numbingly boring to say the least.

Heck, even tanking can get tiresome too ;p

I am certain that I will drop my paladin like a bad habit in WotLK and instead play a death knight. Some kind of crazy combination of a druid/warrior, yes please!

rainbow kirby

My pally's Lakirby, on Kilrogg. Gear's not great yet, got some Kara pieces but Curator and Nightbane hate me. Should get my badge chest after Kara tonight - happy tankadin! I'm uncrit/uncrush at 12.7k unbuffed HP now, should break 13k later. Hoping to get rid of some of the blues soon!

Was holy for a year, just got so incredibly fed up of 2 button ezmode.