Overview
Priests are devoted to the spiritual and serve others with their faith. In battle they use strong healing magic to protect themselves and their allies, and they can also cast powerful attack spells from a distance. Their light cloth armor makes them fragile if enemies reach them, so experienced Priests balance attacking with keeping the group alive.
Priests wear cloth and use daggers, one-handed maces, staves and wands. All Priests can use Dispel Magic and Mass Dispel, while Discipline and Holy also have Purify to cleanse diseases and magic from an ally.
Specializations
| Specialization | Role | Play style |
|---|---|---|
| Discipline | Healer | Shields allies and heals them by damaging enemies through Atonement; strong at healing ahead of damage. The wiki calls it the preferred healer for PvP. |
| Holy | Healer | A flexible healer focused on reacting to damage, with heals over time, Holy Word spells and Guardian Spirit; it can even keep healing for a while after death as Spirit of Redemption. |
| Shadow | Ranged damage | Uses Shadow and Void magic in Shadowform, spreading damage-over-time spells; Insanity fuels spells such as Devouring Plague, and Void Eruption turns it into Voidform. |
Class features
- Healing: holy power restores the Priest's own health and that of allies.
- Ranged damage: Shadow magic can hit hard at once or cause pain that keeps hurting over time.
- Power Words: protective shields and holy blessings prevent damage and raise the defenses of the Priest and allies.
- Mind Control: Priests can take control of the minds of other living beings.
Hero talent trees
At high level every Priest specialization chooses between two hero talent trees. Each tree is shared by two of the class's specializations:
| Hero tree | Shared by | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Archon | Holy, Shadow | Deeply tied to Light and Shadow; can enter an ascended state. |
| Oracle | Discipline, Holy | Sees the future and blesses allies before they need it. |
| Voidweaver | Discipline, Shadow | Opens a dangerous link to the Void that consumes whatever is in its path. |
Races
The official class page lists every playable race of both factions for the Priest, including the Pandaren, Dracthyr, Earthen and Haranir, which appear on the Alliance and Horde lists alike. See Playable Races and Allied Races for each race's traits.
Sources
Game pictures: © Blizzard Entertainment · worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com
