The Role of the Priest - Ghostcrawler

[WernerCD]

Ghostcrawler post
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...10221939&sid=1

This is an experiment.

One of the things that has confused me a little are all of the posts from players who say they don't understand the role of the priest class. It is unclear to us why there is so much confusion about this particular class, which seems to us to be fairly straightforward.

We are often reluctant to lay out our design goals very clearly, because frankly some players tend to use those statements to attempt to lawyer us into changes ("I'm supposed to be the master of AE damage") or would rather argue about the design instead of providing feedback on how the class actually works.

Nevertheless, because players have asked for it so often and in the interest of trying to foster the discussion, here is what we think of as the role of the priest class.

The Role of the Priest

The priest is a caster class that uses Holy and Shadow magic. Priests can only wear cloth armor and have a limited selection of weapons, but do most of their damage and healing from range. They make up for their low armor with spells that offer protection and healing.

Discipline -- this is a healing tree that emphasizes survival and single-target healing. Discipline specializes in damage absorption and prevention rather than restoring health, although they are very capable in that department too.

Holy -- this is a healing tree that has a spell suited for every situation. Holy priests can heal groups, heal individuals, heal tanks, or do all three in a single encounter. They are better at group healing than Discipline priests, but don't have as many damage prevention capabilities.

Shadow -- this tree sacrifices healing for damage. Shadow priests can restore health and mana to their group while casting their spells. Like the Shadow damage of warlocks, Shadow priest damage tends towards drains and damage over time spells.

Seriously good stuff.

[Deleted]

Yep, very informative post of Ghostcrawler.

[Hyperbeam]

Imo, GC said nothing that we didnt know already.

[GonzotheGreat198]

Imo, GC said nothing that we didnt know already.

I think i was for the benefit of those that whine and complain they have no idea what the role of a priest is supposed to be.

[Coulson]

the role of the priest- sit there and look pretty with ur shiny shoulders and cast the odd PWF

[choody]

Ah, good old fashioned sarcasm.

[syanid]

Can anyone notify GC that priest don't have any drains? It seems as if he forgot about it.. or never knew it to begin with

[SoulPoetry]

i really don't get this whole priest issue. why do some (holy) priests need confirmation on what their role is in the first place?

i've had this imagine of a bunch of priests running around like headless chickens in Naxx shouting "omgidon'tknowwhattodo!" but that's probably just me.

[Deleted]

Oke so.. Mind flay and Mana burn aren't drains then? lulz

[Ananan]

The healing from VE and DP sort of makes them act like leechs/drains. I wouldn't say that Mana Burn qualifies as a drain though, it doesn't give me any mana. Oh well, I don't think he meant drains in the strictest meaning of the word (I'm not sure if we could even agree on one).

[Boson]

I think that a lot of priests were confused after 3.0.8, when it became impossible to run around spamming CoH and come top of healing.

Confusion erupted when they were forced to look at the half dozen other healing spells that had been collecting dust in their spellbooks.

[Mamut]

Oke so.. Mind flay and Mana burn aren't drains then? lulz

No, coz it must be spell with name: Drain xxx like locks Drain Life, Drain Mana etc

[syanid]

Oke so.. Mind flay and Mana burn aren't drains then? lulz

What do you DRAIN with mind flay or mana burn, brainiac? Are you getting anything back from the target by using it? I'm not talking if VE is on the target, but mind flay and mana burn don't drain anyone's health or mana back to you. I'm glad I clarified this, it seems reading the spell tooltip is too hard for some.

[Xavi]

i really don't get this whole priest issue. why do some (holy) priests need confirmation on what their role is in the first place?

i've had this imagine of a bunch of priests running around like headless chickens in Naxx shouting "omgidon'tknowwhattodo!" but that's probably just me.

Holy priests were "THE" healing class back in the day, now they (we) have been relegated to doing oddjobs to fill in for the other healers, and this fact has baffled some people. Strictly speaking priests do okay-ish to fine on healing metres atm and do their job, but its not a unique or fun style of healing like the other classes have.

And Blizz agrees with the last statement and is why they are redisigning the mechanics for Holy, and 3-4 spells(Divine hymn, hymn of hope,PoH and holy nova) and implenting a new one, tbh you're totally retarded if you think they're making these changes for nothing - the priest class wasnt finished for Wrath and their doing it now, expect ppl to QQ cause every other class that did get finished still does its fair share of crying.

Xavi xx

[Sausagefan]

Summary of what happened:

Ghostcrawler grew tired of hearing people bitch about priests, so he copied/pasted a class description from the handbook you get when you buy the game.

Then he made popcorn and watched a whole thread of people take it seriously >.>

[Ermintrude]

Except, that the copy/paste from when you bought Classic went something like this :

_________________________________________________
The Priest class is the master of healing and hate control. Other classes such as the Shaman, Druid, and Paladin can heal, but not as well as the Priest. The Priest can also resurrect dead players along with the Shaman and Paladin. The Warlock also has the ability to resurrect, through the use of soul stones. The Priest has some buffs that can help party members. The Priest can even take control of humanoid monsters at higher character levels.
_________________________________________________

Priests were billed as THE healers - and they probably were back in the day of BWL / Naxx 1.

Nowadays they're not. In addition to not wearing plate / mail / fur - and/or having other things going for them.

Ermi.

[Mandible]

Disc is the the one that seems to most faithfull to the original discription I heard of them.