Why do you play your Priest?

[muto]

Other healers have pretty static priority. Priests have such a huge spellbook that we have more decisions to make than other healers. Shaman probably being the most notable exception in that regard.

That's why it makes it a breeze healing on a Priest compared to say a Shaman for instance, because you're not bottle necked trying to find a spell you don't have, because you have every spell you could ever want.

Paladin's would be second, they too have a large toolkit.

[shanthi]

Love the mechanics and the style of the class. For some reason, shields really appeal to me (disc was first my love, though I really enjoy playing holy too now). I think Penance is a tremendously awesome-looking spell. Prayer of Mending was just fun when I first started playing a priest, though I do take it for granted now. I like the concept too, the "purest" of healers (two healing specs!), channeling Light, angelic, etc. It's hard to explain, the entire package really just feels special and engaging.

Also, I do think priests have the best-looking gear, overall.

[Deleted]

Class mechanics.

[Shoridayo]

I love my priest. Everything about her.

However, the changes in MoP have pushed me to change. I thoroughly hate everything they're doing to us. Probably roll monk to try it out. Either stick with it or jump on resto shaman or something.

[Ynna]

I love my priest. Everything about her.

However, the changes in MoP have pushed me to change. I thoroughly hate everything they're doing to us. Probably roll monk to try it out. Either stick with it or jump on resto shaman or something.

Isn't it a bit early to make that judgement?

[Deleted]

Cause I LOVE priests. I didn't make 4 without reason. They have such cool spells and I love their healing toolbox. I've played other healer classes but they're just not as fun to me as priests.

Leap of Faith and Mind Control are epic spells too.

[Deleted]

Because I love the mechanics of Disc, took a while to get over the changes from Wrath, but it's still my favourite spec for healing both PvE and PvP.

[bellaswan]

No wonder class mechanics !! its awesome

[Deleted]

Because I share the same affinity for young boys as my priest.

Wait.. no no ... not that. Class mechanics.. yes ... that.

[Kaga]

Life grip and mind control griefing.

Or at least, that's why I leveled one in the first place, i then found that holy priest was my favorite healing spec of the expansion!

[TheFakename]

I always hated priest then one night i had a dream and i had a priest next morning i made a priest and leveled asap...but probly my 3rd favorite healer but i still really love priests

[BobAwesome]

I originally rolled a priest because my warrior buddy said they had some cool shadow spec. He had actually wanted me to heal, but I was like "lolno". Now I play it because I invested so much into it. I wish I had rolled a Warlock or Shaman though.

[Darktooth]

Wand Specialization is what got me to play. It helped out a lot back when u where leveling.
OT I started in TBC with a Shadow Priest(hardcore Raiding) . Sort of stopped playing when the 2nd boss of Sunwell raped my guild apart. Bought a new account when Wrath came out and i could only play a Month of wow...so i leveled up a Priest again as Disc and it was great month. Then last year came back played again for a Month (just when Firelands came out) and Played Holy. Loved it to even though i could not raid much(since again i only had a month) but i could not see how anyone wanted to play Disc when Holy was way more Fun? The amount of times when ppl where near death and a Shield and a Prayer of Mending Saved the day is crazy.

[spontanity]

Most fun healer for pvp ;D

[Ynna]

Most fun healer for pvp ;D

Most fun healer PERIOD

[niteline]

My guild makes me....
We lack "good" healers and in our guild im appreantly the only one able to heal morchok hc alone or be the only one they trust with dual healing ultrax hc...
I'd rather play rogue, or pala (ret/prot) or even lock but they need a disc priest so im a disc priest

[Felade]

I picked Priest way back in Vanilla because they were supposed to be the best healers. I leveled as Shadow, and by the time I hit 70 they needed a hit-capped Priest to shackle undead mobs. That's me!

I have stuck with Priest because I feel Shadow is currently one of the best DPS specs in the game. Perhaps single target is a little low, but overall it seems to have the fewest annoying mechanics, and is dependent on player skill without being overly punishing.

Holy on the other hand, I've been disappointed with the entire expansion. I used to really enjoy it, but Cataclysm basically destroyed everything I liked about the spec. POH is an old, tired mechanic, Holy's mana and throughput feels weak, Lightwell is evil, Chakra feels like its locking you out of half your spells, there's no synergy in the talents, Holy Words are clunky and awkward, especially Serenity, Guardian Spirit is so much less cool on a 3 min CD-basically a weak version of PS, Renew is weak all around. 3 min DH helps our numbers in DS, but is just lipstick on a pig at this point. Disc is probably the better designed of the two specs, but you can get in real trouble as Disc if you aren't pre-casting a fair amount (absorbs don't work so hot if the target already took the damage), and Disc Priests don't stack very well in 10 mans.

I much prefer how a Resto Druid heals - all about keeping up buffs and managing HOTs. I don't miss the burst or lack of a CD, everyone keeps going on about how bad Tranq is, when really Divine Hymn is pretty much the same thing, maybe slightly more bursty. And Resto Druids can pop Tree Form and a clicky trinket along with Tranq if you really need the burst.

I am worried about MoP - if they change Shadow in some way that ruins the spec for me in the way that they ruined Holy I'll be pretty bummed.

At this time, if I could somehow respec into my Resto Druid (especially since I hate kitty DPS, can barely stand Balance, and Bears feel like "diet Prot Warrior" still) when I am not playing Shadow, my WOW life would be perfect.

Edit: Voted "class mechanics".

[Ynna]

Holy on the other hand, I've been disappointed with the entire expansion. I used to really enjoy it, but Cataclysm basically destroyed everything I liked about the spec. POH is an old, tired mechanic, Holy's mana and throughput feels weak, Lightwell is evil, Chakra feels like its locking you out of half your spells, there's no synergy in the talents, Holy Words are clunky and awkward, especially Serenity, Guardian Spirit is so much less cool on a 3 min CD-basically a weak version of PS, Renew is weak all around. 3 min DH helps our numbers in DS, but is just lipstick on a pig at this point. Disc is probably the better designed of the two specs, but you can get in real trouble as Disc if you aren't pre-casting a fair amount (absorbs don't work so hot if the target already took the damage), and Disc Priests don't stack very well in 10 mans.

I won't say Holy was or is perfect, but I still have to disagree with this. Until I stopped playing I was still very much the Holy spec.
It felt very skill-dependent, with the tight mana-requirements. Lightwell was buffed sufficiently so that it became a useful spell. Chakra (during the 30/30 iteration) was fun to play around with and added depth to the class. Guardian Spirit is a good spell when used correctly. If you use it just the same as Pain Suppression, you're doing it wrong.

[Felade]

I won't say Holy was or is perfect, but I still have to disagree with this.

Its pretty much just my opinion. Personally, I like how a Resto Druid heals much better, but I'm sure there's lots of folks who enjoy holy right now. They are just not me.

Until I stopped playing I was still very much the Holy spec.
It felt very skill-dependent, with the tight mana-requirements.

Just feels weak to me, especially since there are more situations now where you just don't have a good spell choice for (say 3 people take big damage, but they are in different groups, POH isn't really going to help you, COH isn't going to heal them up completely and is probably wasting your mana, Renew is just too weak, Flash Heal costs too much, Greater Heal isn't benefiting from your Chakra most of the time). One of the things I enjoyed about Holy was always having the right spell for the job, and I feel like that is less true now.

I think Holy suffers a little bit from the Warlock problem: complexity that only rewards you with moderate performance compared to classes who do better and have easier mechanics isn't fun.

Lightwell was buffed sufficiently so that it became a useful spell.

I just don't like the mechanic. I don't like having my effectiveness be tied to another player's ability to click, no matter how much they buff the spell or how well I train my raid. Again, my opinion. In Wrath, if you didn't like it you didn't really need it, but in Cata Holy seems balanced around it.

Guardian Spirit is a good spell when used correctly.

Agreed, but it is much less fun now than it was in Wrath. Perhaps the Wrath version was OP, but I liked being encouraged to use this spell proactively and get the 1 min cooldown. Now, it feels more like any other 3 minute cooldown (PS, HoSac, etc). Again, just my opinion. In terms of balance, its probably fine as is.

Chakra (during the 30/30 iteration) was fun to play around with and added depth to the class.

I've never felt rewarded for playing smart with my Chakra except in very few situations. I try it almost every time we do a new encounter, and usually my conclusion is "I'll do just as well just sticking to Sanctuary". Not always, but fairly often. I tried it on Madness while corruptions were mashing the raid, for instance, and Serenity just seemed to burn my mana more and I was SOL if the corruption managed to hit more than, say, 3 players.

Mostly, I think this is because Serenity doesn't feel very powerful, and HW:Serenity is hard to get the benefit out of. You cast it on someone then wind up a Gheal, or do a 2xFlash-->greater, and some holy pally or disc priest snipes that heal right out from under you. The renew roll is ok but I've just found most situations I can do just as well staying in Sanctuary and using Renews and a Flash Heal now and then.

Again, its all just my opinion, Holy is fine. But then, that's what this thread is about; people's opinion's about the Priest class. I like Shadow's mechanics, I don't like Holy's, and I'm not too fond of Disc's either. It feels like they pulled the rug out from under me a little with this class.

[Purpleisbetter]

Shadowform.
Rest is for teenagers.


And...i've got all the healers. All boring and way too easy to play.
Discipline is almost no brainer as Rest druid/shams.