Holy priest leveling/dungeon/grinding build?

[gaymer77]

I'm back to WoW after taking most of SL off because I was just not interested in 90% of the story it gave. I came back this week because of the free 7 day "come back & test it out" game time they emailed me. I've been enjoying the game so I got DF and subbed. Needless to say damn near everything has changed since I stepped away from the game. I was an OG shadow priest until SoO or right before that. I went healing because I didn't like what shadow had become and honestly its not the same spec & class I loved when I first started playing the game. Now I'm just sticking with holy because I enjoy it. All that being said, I'd like some feedback on this build I put together to level up solo questing while still being able to run dungeons. I will probably go with more of a cookie cutter build if/when I get back into raiding. Until then, how does this build look and what stats should I be shooting for with this build?

HOLY BUILD

[s_bushido]

You would probably be much better served simply using the cookie cutter M+ build. There's a lot of aoe and defensive stuff in yours that isn't really relevant in solo and dungeon content. Divine Image does a decent amount of damage, and if you're taking the capstone beneath Burning Vehemence, you might as well take Miracle Worker instead of Restitution for the double Holy Words. Apotheosis instead of Salvation is the go-to for smaller content...because if nothing else it lets you pump out Chastise much more often.

[Lazy Gecko]

I play 100% holy on my priest including solo content, for the same reason you mentioned not clicking with their current vision for Shadow (they never seem to be able to make up their minds on how this spec should play). My bread and butter for extra damage is Mind Games from the priest tree for some extra burst, coupled with Empyreal Blaze and Searing Light for the standard offensive spellcasting. I've tried Divine Image before but it felt kinda more like a memey novelty to me and not that dependable with the amount of setup and RNG it requires. It sure is fun when you mix it with Apotheosis though to get as many Holy Words off as possible in a chain, and you're lucky enough to end up with an army of Naaru copying your spells. But instead I chose to spend those points elsewhere on more reliable talents.

[s_bushido]

I've tried Divine Image before but it felt kinda more like a memey novelty to me and not that dependable with the amount of setup and RNG it requires. It sure is fun when you mix it with Apotheosis though to get as many Holy Words off as possible in a chain, and you're lucky enough to end up with an army of Naaru copying your spells. But instead I chose to spend those points elsewhere on more reliable talents.

That's not how it works anymore, fyi. Every Holy Word is guaranteed to summon the Image, or buff the one that's already active. Including Chastise.

[Echeyakee]

I also use m+ build for open world and any non-raid group content. But for leveling, and as a dedicated open world/getting things done build, I would go with something more like this.

In the class tree you can safely trim the entire Holy Nova vertical line, down to improved MD. I would drop points from the bottom, going back up as you need more. Although there is not much point keeping nova without Rhapsody. You can place them anywhere really, but I would suggest Improved Fade and/or Mindgames and it's buffing talents. Or Angelic Bulwark.

In the class three you have A LOT of freedom. The only things you need are picked talents in the first tier (first 4 rows), barring Guardian Angel (but it's good), CoH (also good, even solo) and Renewed Faith. And you also need the stuff in the third tier (last 3 rows), not counting Say Your Prayers (we want to path to Burning Vehemence).

Those exceptions, the entire second tier (the rest of the rows) of talents, and the leftover 2 points are all up to you! Personally, I would drop the last points in to Light of the Naaru for even more holy words. Also, in the example I went with the PoM talents, as I find them most useful. In that they allow me to do non M+ dungeons without switching builds. I think they are better than any of the AoE talents, and I find single target healing talents to be an overkill in any leveling or solo content.

And the combination of PoM talents, Miracle Worker with holy word synergy talents, and Apotheosis for emergencies carries you through most group content.