Hey, i'm only new to this game and my first character is a Dwarf Preist. I have no idea how to start building my Preist or anything. So if anyone can explain everything about Priests including; what a Preist does & can do, how to build them up and what all the talk is about chosing Holy or Shadow?!?!?!?!? I'm confused after reading all of the posts in this forum.

Much Appreciated!   :SMILE:

My first char was a dwarf priest also. With any character you just start by doing quests and killin stuff, using the weapons and special attacks your class has. You don't have to worry about talent points till you are level 10 and start earning one point per level from there. What you will want to do is visit the priest trainer every even level to learn new spells.

Priests are a support class. They are always in demand for groups and guilds. Your role in a group will primarily be to follow behind the group as they make their way through dungeons. You will keep the tank (leader and agro focal point for group) and other group members alive by healing them as they fight. You will rez group members that die along the way. This keeps them from having to run all the way back from the start of the dungeon. Your buffs like power word fortitude will up the groups armor. Spells like renew will let group members gain health even while fighting. Your healing spells will come in varying strengths, using up more mana for the more potent spells. A popular tactic is to repeatedly cast lower level heals on various group members so as to not draw as much agro yourself, then hit them with the more powerful heals if needed. Some cool talents allow you to heal the entire group at once, or even heal and do damage to any enemy within range. You can put a protective shield on group members, but use it sparingly since it draws agro when you cast it. Either shield someone before they start to fight, or use it to buy some time while you heal someone who is almost dead. It is annoying to see a priest who doesn't know when to use shield (shields the ranged hunter who is taking no damage while his pet is almost dead, etc).

As a priest, mana is your friend. You want to boost Intellect (amount of mana) and Spirit (rate of mana regeneration) on any gear or weapons you use. Since your wand can be used ranged or close up, your melee weapon won't be used much, other than the intellect and spirit stats it may have. Some great staffs drop in some dungeons like Blackfathom Deeps (lvl 24 Rod of the Sleepwalker) and Scarlet Monestary (lvl 34 Illusionary Rod) which have good stats. You will want to carry plenty of drink with you so that you can replenish your mana faster between fights.

Talent points begin at lvl 10 and allow you to customize your charactor. You will hear alot about what you should do, but remember that this is your character and you can choose the talents you like. Often you will hear people say go shadow (use your talent points in the shadow talent tab) for the lower levels, and switch to holy for end game. The idea is that you can solo better as you level up with shadow because you can deal a lot more damage. It's up to you. I focused on disc/holy and have been happy with that. You can unlearn talents and respec, but it gets more expensive to do each time you do it. Here is a great website where you can model different builds and get an idea where you would like to go with your talents: http://www.wowhead.com/talent

For all these activities like learning spells from your trainer you are going to need some cash. As soon as possible visit a profession trainer and get a gathering skill like skinning, herbalism, or mining (heck you can even get 2 of them). Gather stuff along the way and sell the things you gather at the auction house for cash. At higher levels gathering can pay off big. You can unlearn professions any time you like, so don't worry that later you may want to focus on a different skill like alchemy, enchanting, tailoring, etc. Also you can put different professions on other characters (alts) you may create.

Lastly, you get a huge boost from the buffs you can cast on yourself. Some last longer than others. Keep yourself buffed up. If you feel like experimenting with some addons I highly recommend autobuff to make it easier for you to stay buffed. There are also others. I also like an addon called groupbuttons. One of the things it can do is automatically scale back the rank of your spell to work on a lower level character you are casting on (low levels cant be cast on with your most powerful rank spells).

Hope some of the info above is helpful. I'm sure others have additional advice. All the classes are fun. Enjoy your priest. Also, don't be afraid to experiment with other classes as well.

Thanks so much for you useful advice! This has helped me understand the principles of the game and what direction i want to take my Preist!

Cheers.