How do you define a Disc. Priest? (lore speculation)

[Kelesti]

Lorewise nearly 100% of Forsaken are Priests of the Forgotten Shadow.

Goblins are kind of iffy. They reach out to the Light to help people, because they know it helps them as well. It's a little hedonistic more than altruistic, but it fits.

Gnomes and Dwarves (and Blood Elves prior to Sunwell Plateau) from a race standpoint fit the description quite naturally, but of course individuals are always the exception never the rule.

[Arlee]

Lorewise nearly 100% of Forsaken are Priests of the Forgotten Shadow.

Lore noob alert... Does that mean that almost all of them are shadow priests, or is that just another division of priests like the one the elves have (Priest of the Moon I think) or something.

Also... yes I realize how embarrassing as a long time shadow priest this is if the answer is that yes Priests of the Forgotten Shadow are shadow priests... I just had to ask so has mercy on my nooblicious booty please

[Kelesti]

That's right, Arlee. The following of the Forgotten Shadow is the direct counterpoint to the Light, so 99.8% of Undead Priests are indeed Shadow Priests.

Should be noted though that the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow actually started as an Undead exclusive thing, lorewise. Humans and everyone else understood Darkness, but in the form of demon granted abilities, or necromancy, whereas Forsaken embraced this counterpoint, bringing it into everything they are.

As for Night Elves? Bah, those don't even count. Priests of the Moon are druids in cloth, gtfo

[Arlee]

As for Night Elves? Bah, those don't even count. Priests of the Moon are druids in cloth, gtfo

Wut??? That's like... Defamation... or libel or something... not cool druids not cool...

Thanks for the clarification though

[Noradin]

As for Night Elves? Bah, those don't even count. Priests of the Moon are druids in cloth, gtfo

I'm not sure about them being real priests in the sense of priests of the holy light or forgotten shadow, but they are not druids. From a logic point of view it's more like the other way around since the holy light and the forgotten shadow both use (narutal?) enviromental "energy" just like druids, but priests of Elune supposedly get their powers from Elune, a goddess. So either its the same or the difference between priests of Elune and druids is actually greater than between human/undead priests and druids. If you can use it or not depends on your own beliefs (see the Scarlet Crusade) and not on wheter you adhere to some ideals set by a higher being as it is supposedly the case with Elune. For the holy light and the forgotten shadows you don't need to follow any ideals, you just have to believe you do.

[Kelesti]

For the holy light and the forgotten shadows you don't need to follow any ideals, you just have to believe you do.

And that's why it's so beautiful.

But we would ask for a Priest hero, and people would point to Tyrande. A girl who calls stars down from the sky and shoots arrows while riding around on a tiger certainly is the epitome of all things Priest, right? I'm still bitter about that. Anduin better be all kinds of badass to make up for us losing Erys in-game (even if she was already dead).

[Arlee]

Supposedly there are a lot of crazy awesome things being planned for Anduin.

[Kelesti]

Supposedly there are a lot of crazy awesome things being planned for Anduin.

Did he give his life to try and save whatever was left of Stratholme after Arthas had his way with it?

No?

I'm still waiting for these "plans".

[Noradin]

And that's why it's so beautiful.

But we would ask for a Priest hero, and people would point to Tyrande. A girl who calls stars down from the sky and shoots arrows while riding around on a tiger certainly is the epitome of all things Priest, right? I'm still bitter about that. Anduin better be all kinds of badass to make up for us losing Erys in-game (even if she was already dead).

I would have loved for them to do something (good) with Benedictus or if they gave us something about Alonsus Faol (They seem to have given up on him, they even replaced his monument with yet another statue of Uther), but they just had to make him a bad guy. I'm still somewhat miffed about that. Seems like the kathedral of Stormwind is a real nice place for terrorists and bad people nowerdays, they really seem to like making events involving dark rituals take place in its crypts, maybe there is a secret entrance to ragefire down there as well? Would be fitting.

[zito]

Supposedly there are a lot of crazy awesome things being planned for Anduin.

Like most of blizzards "plans" they end up starting them, then cutting it off and never coming back to them. Lillian voss is one and Magatha grimtotem is another just off the top of my head.

[BirdLady68]

Not sure about Lore but I have always considered Disc priest to be tougher then Holy. Can take a lickin' and keep on tickin'


It's kinda funny but my priest has been Disc 95% of the time...Off spec might be Holy or Shadow but I can remember that in BC I would get whispers from people looking for a healer by asking what spec am I and most would be disappointed when i said Disc.

[Zubacz]

As many of the people had said, the holy priests are the ones striving for power from a divine source, while discipline are more like monks, trying to achieve strength in themselves.
I like how the two classes work; the niche that the discipline absorbtion healing has makes for a great game mechanic

[kombucha]

Lore noob alert... Does that mean that almost all of them are shadow priests, or is that just another division of priests like the one the elves have (Priest of the Moon I think) or something.

Also... yes I realize how embarrassing as a long time shadow priest this is if the answer is that yes Priests of the Forgotten Shadow are shadow priests... I just had to ask so has mercy on my nooblicious booty please

No, there are still priests who follow the path of light, but manipulating the light requires an immense amount of willpower for them as it literally sears through their bodies when they channel it. The Cult of The Forgotten Shadow was developed by a group of forsaken who felt the light had turned it's back on them by by not saving them from the horrors of undeath, it stresses the importance of balance in everything, especially between light and shadow and is focused on the individual and their pursuit of power (where as the Holy Light stresses selflessness and a reverence for a greater entity) First SPriests were Forsaken, and then it spread from there, but flavor/lore wise it is a very Forsaken-specific spec. This is not to say that 99% of Forsaken priests are Spriest, but they make up the majority. On a side-note, the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow also created the Shadow Stalker rogue prestige class, as they act as assassins for the Cult.

I love Spriest lore, and it's partly why I love playing my priest so much.

[Arlee]

No, there are still priests who follow the path of light, but manipulating the light requires an immense amount of willpower for them as it literally sears through their bodies when they channel it.

Aha! I have lore backing for when I tell my guild that casting heals sears my soul

[kombucha]

Aha! I have lore backing for when I tell my guild that casting heals sears my soul

It fits well when you consider the Forsaken are probably the most willful race in WoW.

[Rykin]

I would say that discipline priests are trained for combat, where holy priests are trained to heal.

I agree, disc is there to mix it up in combat in the front line, holy is there to hide behind others and be peaceful and helpful.
Disc are strong and mentally focused, holy more spirituality concentrated on prayer and such while disc is more about technique. Or something like that.

[vertigo12]

Lorewise I'd say a logical available spec for each races would be: (Race listed alphabetically)
Bloodelf - All
Dwarf - Disc, Holy
Draenei - DIsc, holy
Human - Disc, Holy, Shadow
Gnome - All
Goblin - All
Nightelf - Disc, Holy
Orc - n/a
Tauren -Disc, Holy
Troll - All
Undead Disc, Shadow
Worgen - All