Priest PvP (horde!) - Races and their racials

[Tivun]

Hello all,

I know there are already tons of threads, posts, blogs, etc about this matter but I'm still having the problem what race I would take to PvP as a priest. I just can't figure out all the different pro's and con's and for me its not an easy task to just pick one and go with it (its not my intention to do this).

I have already read various number of threads, blogs and such on but there is still a lot of 'fog' on what race I should take. For me, its all about racials and not about looks (or every caster would go undead and that isn't the deal), just wanted to clarify this. However some people say that racials don't matter any more, I for example don't agree with this. I think racials can offer a great benefit to certain classes and roles (as well in PvE and PvP).

Lets summarize the races you can choose as a priest:

Undead

Will of the forsaken, it only removes charm, fear and sleep effects. It also shares an 45 seconds cooldown with other similar effects (your trinket off course). So I do wonder, does this ability still does his work in PvP? I suppose in BG's it does but I'm doubting if you use this in Arena because these battles don't last that long to actually use it (the real PvP, these days).

Other racials aren't really worth mentioning except cannibalize (but do you really use it in arena? I guess not) and underwater breathing (which could be nice in Cataclysm with all the underwater action but otherwise its pretty useless in BG's and arenas).

Blood Elf

Arcane torrent is the main racial here but I can't figure out how this racial would help you out in PvP (PvE is something else). There is no reason at all why you should come close (because of the 8 yard radius) to an enemy because you're a cloth wearer and can be easily finished off by lets say a rogue or a warrior so the silence doesn't really work out or does it?

Magic resistance is also nice though but isn't a real lifesaver in PvP, however its a nice contribution.

Troll

Haste, a very important stat in PvP for a priest (or am I totally wrong here?). Berserking is therefore very good when dealing with a bad situation where you need to heal your ass off because the opponent is bashing on your skull.

Also, the voodoo shuffle can come in handy when dealing with stunlocks and similar stuff.


Good, now I've covered all different races and their most important racials I still wonder what race I should pick. Should I pick the troll for its amazing berserker racial (only lasts 10 seconds though)? Or should I go for a blood elf where I can silence my enemies but it only works when they are in an 8 yard radius. Or is the undead a better choice because of its will of the forsaken and with the upcoming expansion for its underwater breathing? I really don't know because I've never been in a PvP situation with a priest before.

Please share all your opinions about the different races and their racials. What do you think is best and most of all which race would you choose depending on the racials (not on looks!)? Also share your experience with your race and explain why your race is better then lets say any other race that you can choose.

Thanks in advance, lets hope this shines some light for others too.

[Arnasam]

Don't forget, arcane torrent gives you mana too

[Tivun]

Don't forget, arcane torrent gives you mana too

True, but I do wonder about the usability in PvP... I rather see it at work in PvE.

[Master Jakken]

True, but I do wonder about the usability in PvP... I rather see it at work in PvE.

Arcane torrent is useful in PvP, you will end up close to enemy casters quite alot.
But I would go troll.

[Kuja04]

http://www.wowhead.com/spell=20579

worth mentioning

on topic: for racials, go troll... but undead animations simply rock

[Aidsventura]

Hello all,


Arcane torrent is the main racial here but I can't figure out how this racial would help you out in PvP (PvE is something else). There is no reason at all why you should come close (because of the 8 yard radius) to an enemy because you're a cloth wearer and can be easily finished off by lets say a rogue or a warrior so the silence doesn't really work out or does it?

Why would you try to silence a warrior or a rogue? You would mostly use that ability on a caster, which can blow you off pretty easy from far away anyways.

[hiimjoe]

i just recently had this dilemma, buying a faction xfer. I ended up as a belf, as much as i dislike their appearance, i found the silence too good, sure you say u wont be close to casters enuff, but i find as a priest, if im going toe to toe with a mage, i dont want them casting their spells on me, so during my mind blast cooldowns, i try to stay close so i can fear when i need some breathing room, and essentially this extra silence helps alot for me, as i try my best to hug casters so i can fear and silence them more.

[morechezzez]

Hello all,


Blood Elf

Arcane torrent is the main racial here but I can't figure out how this racial would help you out in PvP (PvE is something else). There is no reason at all why you should come close (because of the 8 yard radius) to an enemy because you're a cloth wearer and can be easily finished off by lets say a rogue or a warrior so the silence doesn't really work out or does it?

Magic resistance is also nice though but isn't a real lifesaver in PvP, however its a nice contribution.

You greatly under estimate the value of arcane torrent. The interrupt and silence that this provides can be game breaking. For example, you can use it to interrupt a healer coming out of a fear or another cc to give your team a little more time to score kill. You can also use it defensively to stop a big cast (EX. lavaburst, chaosbolt) from a dps to give your teammates a little more time to survive.

On a side note as a priest you do have a reason to stand next to people in pvp, and thats your only cc, fear.

[jkfremin]

Why would you try to silence a warrior or a rogue? You would mostly use that ability on a caster, which can blow you off pretty easy from far away anyways.

Arcane Torrent can be used to pull a rogue out of stealth if they just used Vanish, a very handy counter if they aren't expecting it. And you can also silence a warrior with Arcane Torrent to keep them from using Intimidating Shout or Piercing Howl, to help stay out of melee range. Albeit they are quite situational, they can be very useful when used correctly.

[Ryme]

It's also worth noting that Arcane Torrent is off the GCD, making it exceptionally useful to stop those fast cast fears.

[kelevandros]

Arcane torrent is very dangerous if played correctly. If not dangerous at least very pesky. So far undead got the shaft in pvp when blizzard made WotF share CD with the trinket, leaving the belfs and trolls getting more benefit from their racials in pvp.

[Suggardaddy]

Goblins have rocket boots, so there

[GrieverXIII]

Troll for a Shadow Priest considering haste is the casters ''arp'' equivalent. Heroic DFO wielding Engineer (+300 haste on gloves) Berserking troll spriest is just totally insane. But they are fugly.

Blood Elves racial are pretty awesome for a disc priest, resistance to most school of magics and arcane torrent can be very usefull both to help in a ''mana war'' arena game and to silence. They look decent as priests but their animations blows tho.

Undead Racials are crap atm, specialy for a priest, but they have a +badass racial from general look and animations is awesome =).

[gaymer77]

Why would you try to silence a warrior or a rogue? You would mostly use that ability on a caster, which can blow you off pretty easy from far away anyways.

Why? Because during that silenced time the only thing they can do is autoattack or devastate if they're prot. Its a very powerful tool vs melee too but leaves melee wondering why the hell you silenced them without realizing you just stopped them from killing you. You can't trinket out of a silence (but who would if you could).

@Kuja04, my main of 5+ years is my UD shadow priest (yes played 95% of the time as shadow too) & have to say that the shadow resistance UD got with the revamping of racials was pure crap. Draenai got 3% shadow while we got 2% & the BE got resist to ALL magic in addition to their other racials.

@Zergal Just because haste is this great thing for shadow priests does not make berserking a great racial for pvp since we don't have true burst. Why berserking is great for pve shadow priests is because you can time your casting of dots when you have berserking available and have the full benefit of those hasted dots while in pvp you will undoubfully have all your dots up on someone while you mindblast and mindflay them to death (or spam DP/SW: death on them as they are running away like I tend to do)

On topic, I'd prefer having my WotF over an extra silence any day. Yeah it shares a small CD with your pvp trinket but its not the full 2 minute CD like humans get (damn OP racial that I'll be glad to see gone in Cata). I can not tell you how many times I've been on my BE/Troll/NE toons and hated getting feared in pve or pvp and not being able to pop WotF like I can with my priest & lock. To me UD is the only way to go if you're talking current racials for pvp and BE comes in a not too distant second and far behind them is trolls. For overall pvp priest racials I'd go human > UD > BE > dwarf > troll > draenai.

That's just my feelings on the issue

[nwo]

Why? Because during that silenced time the only thing they can do is autoattack or devastate if they're prot. Its a very powerful tool vs melee too but leaves melee wondering why the hell you silenced them without realizing you just stopped them from killing you. You can't trinket out of a silence (but who would if you could).

Don't have a rogue so I can't speak from their point of view but I do have a warrior and I have gotten silenced lots of times. I still get to use just about all of my abilities with the exception of thunder clap and shouts.

[Underskilled]

You can't deny Kamehamepenance.


But seriously, all racial's are being changed for cataclysm, and tauren's will be able to be priests, so right now I'd just pick the race you think looks the best

[Tivun]

Arcane torrent is useful in PvP, you will end up close to enemy casters quite alot.
But I would go troll.

Just because of the berserking racial then? Or is there another reason?

You greatly under estimate the value of arcane torrent. The interrupt and silence that this provides can be game breaking. For example, you can use it to interrupt a healer coming out of a fear or another cc to give your team a little more time to score kill. You can also use it defensively to stop a big cast (EX. lavaburst, chaosbolt) from a dps to give your teammates a little more time to survive.

On a side note as a priest you do have a reason to stand next to people in pvp, and that's your only cc, fear.

Good point but when your cc is on cooldown i tend to stay away (like 20 yards or so) from the dps (especially melee). So its only useful when you use your arcane torrent in combination with your cc? Or you can always run to them to use your silence ability but that seems rather weird or not? (you gotta keep moving though)

On topic, I'd prefer having my WotF over an extra silence any day. Yeah it shares a small CD with your pvp trinket but its not the full 2 minute CD like humans get (damn OP racial that I'll be glad to see gone in Cata). I can not tell you how many times I've been on my BE/Troll/NE toons and hated getting feared in pve or pvp and not being able to pop WotF like I can with my priest & lock. To me UD is the only way to go if you're talking current racials for pvp and BE comes in a not too distant second and far behind them is trolls. For overall pvp priest racials I'd go human > UD > BE > dwarf > troll > draenai.

That's just my feelings on the issue

In BG's i do think it has a nice outcome but i don't know if its used that much compared to other racials like berserking and arcane torrent in Arena... You want to spare your trinket and this also goes for will of the forsaken, please share your experience with this.

You can't deny Kamehamepenance.

But seriously, all racial's are being changed for cataclysm, and tauren's will be able to be priests, so right now I'd just pick the race you think looks the best

We don't know what exactly will change. I can't believe that they will completely change the racials, the basics will stay the same in my opinion but this is just guessing.

Another question: underwater breathing is something that will be very useful in Cataclysm because of the underwater zones... How will this affect the pvp in it? Do we get unlimited underwater breathing trough a potion, buff or? Otherwise undead would have a great advantage compared to other races and this may (and will) affect the pvp (pve also btw).

[Crackleslap]

Troll for a Shadow Priest considering haste is the casters ''arp'' equivalent. Heroic DFO wielding Engineer (+300 haste on gloves) Berserking troll spriest is just totally insane. But they are fugly.

Blood Elves racial are pretty awesome for a disc priest, resistance to most school of magics and arcane torrent can be very usefull both to help in a ''mana war'' arena game and to silence. They look decent as priests but their animations blows tho.

Undead Racials are crap atm, specialy for a priest, but they have a +badass racial from general look and animations is awesome =).

female trolls rnt fugly i hit 80 on my priest yesterday and i can tell you.. bererking and BL = mega pew pew! as shadow or disc/holy when you wanna heal your ass off >.>

[Elessa]

If you time Berserking with bloodlust, haste pot and engineering gloves your dots will pretty much instagib someone.

[Honen]

I went bloodelf for the animations and racial of arcane torrent. As said above... you end up close regardless if it's on purpose or not.

I was only horde for a short time and went back Human for the spirit, any man for himself, and rep bonus for my rep grinds.