Priest Help

[Perga]

Hey everyone. Sorry not been on lately but been working on finishing my Priest on another server. Since she was there thought I might as well finish. Anyway, don't laugh, but I have played this Priest to 76 and have never grouped or have done any dungeons. I need some help on what I need to do or where I can go to find out about playing a priest in a group. I have duel talented her in Shadow and Discipline. Shadow to level and Disc to start learning to be on the healing end, which also is not bad for dealing out some damage. Of course I have just your everyday armor and weapons. I have went through some Hellfire dungeons but with a level 80 to see if I could get a few things for upgrades and its just not the same as being in a group. So I need help! Thanks

[Ryno]

Basic Disc Build for 80.
Basic Shadow Build for 80.

As for healing in groups, use Power Word: Shield as your main staple. Flash heal only in emergencies. Heal will be your average healing spell, Greater Heal when they need a big boost but it can wait for the cast time. Power Word: Barrier when there's AoE's flying around to douse some damage. And always remember mana drinks!

Glyphs are just my personal preference, nothing's written in stone.

[Mockingbird]

Also, I would add to use Penance on cooldown, it's a great heal with nifty effects (and it shows people you're paying attention).

[Sarayana]

Don't forget about Atonement. It's in the build, you should use it.

The way I heal (when the group is handling things well enough) is to shield the tank and then do a Holy Fire/Smite rotation. The reason for Holy Fire is Glyph of Smite, which increases the damage (and thus the healing) of Smite by 20% when there's Holy Fire ticking on the target. Glyph of Divine Accuracy is a must, it increases your chance to hit with Smite by 18%.

This way of healing gets better with gear, but if you're keeping an eye on people's health so you can use Penance/Flash Heal/Heal as needed.

If I find this isn't keeping people up, I go back to doing what Mockingbird described, with the added touch of slapping Prayer of Mending on the tank at the beginning (after shielding him) - when his shield drops it'll jump and give him a nice post-shield heal in case I can't reshield him right away.

[Perga]

Thanks all for the help. Now all I have to do is try it out in a dungeon. Wish me luck or maybe wish the groups I get luck. To bad I don't have you peeps on my server. Your very helpful. Thanks again and hope to see you all soon on Nesingwary.

[Sarayana]

Hehe. Good luck!

I'll add a quick note on healing dungeons: When you first start, it feels very daunting. Most new healers tend to blame themselves if things go wrong, mostly because they become slightly overwhelmed with information and can't keep track of what everyone is doing. It's only compounded by the instant blame that often gets tossed around if the group wipes.

Don't let it get to you if that happens. Soon, you'll be comfortable with your spells and what you can do, and that's when you'll start to realise when the problem rests with the tank (say, because he has no defense rating or is a paladin running around without Righteous Fury up :lol) or the dps (pulling aggro, targeting mobs that weren't engaged, warlocks using that self-damaging spell... Hellfire? Whatever it's called). At that point, healing becomes a lot of fun!

I hope you have a blast with it.

[Bellatryx]

Thanks all for the help. Now all I have to do is try it out in a dungeon. Wish me luck or maybe wish the groups I get luck. To bad I don't have you peeps on my server. Your very helpful. Thanks again and hope to see you all soon on Nesingwary.

I just want to add a disclaimer to the wonderful advice given in the posts above.

Healing in dungeons.. it's addicting. I have found it so addicting that I have 3 max level healers who i enjoy playing.. Be forewarned. You might end up with one of every healing class. =x

[Sarayana]

Thanks all for the help. Now all I have to do is try it out in a dungeon. Wish me luck or maybe wish the groups I get luck. To bad I don't have you peeps on my server. Your very helpful. Thanks again and hope to see you all soon on Nesingwary.

I just want to add a disclaimer to the wonderful advice given in the posts above.

Healing in dungeons.. it's addicting. I have found it so addicting that I have 3 max level healers who i enjoy playing.. Be forewarned. You might end up with one of every healing class. =x

Thanks for catching that, Bella! I should have mentioned it, seeing as I have a resto druid, a disc priest, and a resto shaman at 80 and am working on a holy pally at the moment (this fourth one doesn't even have a second spec, I just heal dungeons on her ). Serious oversight on my part.