Leveling a Shadow Priest

[Waambulance]

I was always Holy with the full primal set, w/stacked spirit. At 70 I went Shadow for northrend, I'm loving shadow, quests are a cakewalk. However i'm having the worst time ever getting into a instance group being shadow. Seriously what gives. Today i get an invite from a DK who obviously didnt read the caption that said SHADOW-DPS, after i informed him i was shadow, and prefer to DPS, he tells me that i will need to heal too bad. Then tell the party "ok all we need now is a tank". I said i would heal if he tanked, nuff said i was removed from group. I'm not asking for flamers please, i would like to know from general population if you see a shadow priest in que do you avoid them like the plague, or invite them? Also please give reasons so i can understand what people are thinking

[Fuggle]

It's not really due to shadow priests being avoided, it's cause 99% of all people are dps spec'd for leveling, and they just see a priest/druid/shammy/pally and automatically assume you want to heal. Situation comes up a lot when leveling.

[nataku007]

It kinda depends. If people ask you to group with them, they'll always say "wanna heal?" since there's no way for them to see your spec via PSTs. If you start the group, it's easier, especially if you know a tank or a healer.

[chunx0r]

I would suggest just healing. I was resto while raiding at 70 then went boomkin for leveling and i healed every northrend dungeon as boomkin i dont know if its different for shadows but i never had any issues.

There was even a fury war that played around the same time i did and he would tank made instance grinding super easy.

[Soul Vendor]

to be honest, i think it's just a combo of stupid people and bad luck. back in BC and again with the coming of WotLK, i played a Disc Priest. I had the gear more desirable for healing while leveling, advertised i was a healer, but somehow there was always and excess of healers so i had the chance to run around lolsmite style.

it could also be the curse of Shadow, because i did respec to Shadow to try some of the new goodies and thought i would be able to fulfill a more suitable DPS role, but then all the healers disappeared.

but keep up with the Shadow! they have good DPS (i had 1800 in healing gear), and Replenishment is sexy.

[steve80]

I leveled from 1-80 as Holy and I loved it... mind you... from 1-70 I dualboxed a rogue and priest (1-60 was linked and 3x XP).

From 70-80 I played the priest as Holy and still quested but mostly did instances since it was very easy to get a group any time of day. Plus, it helped me learn the class and how to heal. There are a lot of 80 holy priests out there that spec holy at 80 for the first time, then they are very bad at healing 5mans/heroics/raids.

[Daez]

I play a shadow priest so I feel the pain. Many of them do suck and they are looked down upon because of it. I've had the hardest time getting into a good guild as a shadow priest. Many are willing to take me if I will heal. The same guilds that are recruiting warlocks, mages and boomkins while begging for caster dps have turned me down because I'm a shadow priest. One guild I apped for turned me down because the other shadow priest didn't want to roll against a priest on gear.

[Erikolol]

I play a shadow priest so I feel the pain. Many of them do suck and they are looked down upon because of it. I've had the hardest time getting into a good guild as a shadow priest. Many are willing to take me if I will heal. The same guilds that are recruiting warlocks, mages and boomkins while begging for caster dps have turned me down because I'm a shadow priest. One guild I apped for turned me down because the other shadow priest didn't want to roll against a priest on gear.

Wut, I play shadow myself and I've never had any problems finding a guild. On my server they are actually mostly recruiting shadowpriests.


As for the OP, I dont find instances worth doing before level 80 anyways.

[sirpn5]

Like some one else said. It depends on luck. When I’m shadow, I’m asked to heal. When I’m disc, I’m asked if I was shadow. It’s kind of funny how things are. With decent gears, you can heal 5 man as shadow. Once in a while, I actually get to do what I spec’d for..

Now, I play a DK and am shunned by everyone, lol.

[ItachiZaku]

I leveled 1-70 shadow with my first toon, switched factions and went 1-80 shadow. I'm usually top DPS/damage in our 10s and damn close on 25s (though I'm off for 2 boss fights - widow and instructor for MC duty). If you play shadow and bring the artillery consistantly, people will know you and will seek you out for the leet pew pews. You bring the replenish, the fort, VE isn't great, but it does help out a bit.

At 80, I don't get bothered to heal much at all. On the way up, I'd get it alot. Once in a party, I haven't been booted when asked if I would heal or not. Guilds, not a problem. I am guilded with friends and such, so that's not a bother.