Priest Leveling Guide 1–60 for WoW Forever

Level your Priest as Shadow. It is the Priest spec built to kill things alone, and WoW Forever gives it more tools than Classic ever did. You pull with Mind Blast, let Shadow Word: Pain tick, shield yourself with Power Word: Shield, and finish with your wand or Mind Flay. Spirit Tap refills your mana after every kill, so you chain mobs where other casters sit and drink.

Forever changes Priest leveling in five ways that matter:

• Wand Specialization is two ranks for +25% wand damage, and it comes first. Wands no longer scale with your spell damage, so the talent is how your wand keeps up.
• Devouring Plague is trained by every Priest at 20. It damages for 24 seconds and heals you for the damage it deals, on a 1-minute cooldown.
• Shadow Word: Death arrives at 32 for every Priest: an instant execute on a 15-second cooldown.
• Shadowform at 42 halves the mana cost of every Shadow spell. From 42 on, mana stops being your limit.
• Fear Ward and Divine Spirit are baseline, and Renew can crit.

Power spikes on the way

• 10: Mind Blast and Wand Specialization. Your first real nuke, and a wand that hits 25% harder.
• 16: Spirit Tap reaches 5/5. From here you drink far less between pulls.
• 20: Devouring Plague, Flash Heal and Fear Ward. Bring gold to the trainer: level 20 teaches more spells than any level before it.
• 22: Mind Flay. You stop wanding healthy mobs.
• 30: Vampiric Embrace. With Devouring Plague, you heal through fights with elites.
• 32: Shadow Word: Death. Every low mob dies to one instant cast.
• 42: Shadowform. Half-cost Shadow spells, double-damage crits and 15% less Physical damage.

Shadow is the spec with Spirit Tap for mana, Devouring Plague and Vampiric Embrace for healing yourself, and Mind Flay and Shadow Word: Death to finish mobs. Every one of those keeps you questing instead of resting. Take Shadow from 10 to 60, and respec for dungeon healing when a group needs you. The Discipline and Holy guides have level 30 healing builds.

Train at every even level. Spells marked with a race are Priest racial spells: only that race learns them, and their new ranks come every 8 to 10 levels. Train those whenever the trainer offers them.

Spells marked (skip) are on the skip list at the end of this section, and spells marked (healers) matter only when you heal a dungeon. Everything else, train as soon as you can.

Levels 1–10

• 1: Smite, Lesser Heal and Power Word: Fortitude.
• 4: Shadow Word: Pain and Lesser Heal rank 2. Pain goes on every mob from here on.
• 6: Power Word: Shield and Smite rank 2.
• 8: Fade and Renew.
• 10: Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain rank 2, Lesser Heal rank 3 and Resurrection. Racial spells: Hex of Weakness (Troll), Touch of Weakness (Undead), Starshards (Night Elf), Desperate Prayer (Dwarf), Divine Grace (Human) and Confounding Flash (Gnome).

Levels 10–20

• 12: Inner Fire, and new ranks of Fortitude and Shield.
• 14: Psychic Scream, Cure Disease, Renew rank 2 and Smite rank 3. This is the last Smite rank you need.
• 16: Mind Blast rank 2, and Heal (healers).
• 18: Dispel Magic, and new ranks of Shield and Pain.
• 20: a big one. Devouring Plague, Flash Heal, Fear Ward, Shackle Undead and Mind Soothe, plus new ranks of Fade, Inner Fire and Renew. Holy Fire (skip). Racial spells: Chastise (Dwarf), Contingency Plan (Gnome), Dark Sacrifice (Undead), Elune's Grace (Night Elf), Feedback (Human) and Shadowguard (Troll).

Levels 20–30

• 22: Mind Blast rank 3, Mind Vision, Resurrection rank 2, Heal rank 2 (healers) and Smite rank 4 (skip).
• 24: new ranks of Fortitude and Shield. Mana Burn (skip) and Holy Fire rank 2 (skip).
• 26: new ranks of Pain, Renew and Flash Heal.
• 28: Mind Flay rank 2, Devouring Plague rank 2, Mind Blast rank 4, Psychic Scream rank 2 and Heal rank 3 (healers).
• 30: Divine Spirit, Mind Control, Shadow Protection, and new ranks of Shield, Inner Fire and Fade. Prayer of Healing (healers), Holy Fire rank 3 and Smite rank 5 (skip).

Levels 30–40

• 32: Shadow Word: Death and Abolish Disease, plus new ranks of Flash Heal and Renew. Mana Burn rank 2 (skip).
• 34: Levitate, and new ranks of Mind Blast, Pain and Resurrection. Heal rank 4 (healers).
• 36: new ranks of Devouring Plague, Mind Flay, Fortitude, Shield, Dispel Magic and Mind Soothe. Holy Fire rank 4 (skip).
• 38: new ranks of Flash Heal and Renew. Smite rank 6 (skip).
• 40: new ranks of Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Death, Divine Spirit, Inner Fire, Fade and Shackle Undead. Greater Heal, Lightwell and Prayer of Healing rank 2 (healers). Mana Burn rank 3 (skip).

Levels 40–50

• 42: new ranks of Pain, Shield, Psychic Scream and Shadow Protection. Holy Fire rank 5 (skip).
• 44: new ranks of Devouring Plague, Mind Flay, Mind Control, Flash Heal and Renew. Mind Vision rank 2 (skip).
• 46: new ranks of Mind Blast and Resurrection. Greater Heal rank 2 (healers) and Smite rank 7 (skip).
• 48: Prayer of Fortitude, and new ranks of Shadow Word: Death, Fortitude and Shield. Holy Fire rank 6 and Mana Burn rank 4 (skip).
• 50: new ranks of Pain, Flash Heal, Renew, Divine Spirit, Inner Fire and Fade. Prayer of Healing rank 3 and Lightwell rank 2 (healers).

Levels 50–60

• 52: new ranks of Devouring Plague, Mind Blast, Mind Flay and Mind Soothe. Greater Heal rank 3 (healers).
• 54: Shield rank 9. Smite rank 8 and Holy Fire rank 7 (skip).
• 56: Prayer of Shadow Protection, and new ranks of Shadow Word: Death, Psychic Scream, Shadow Protection, Flash Heal and Renew. Mana Burn rank 5 (skip).
• 58: new ranks of Pain, Mind Blast, Mind Control and Resurrection. Greater Heal rank 4 (healers).
• 60: Prayer of Spirit, and the top ranks of Devouring Plague, Mind Flay, Fortitude, Prayer of Fortitude, Divine Spirit, Shield, Renew, Inner Fire, Fade and Shackle Undead. Greater Heal, Prayer of Healing and Lightwell (healers). Holy Fire rank 8 (skip).

What to skip

• Smite after rank 3 at 14, and Holy Fire at every rank from 20. Mind Blast and Pain do their job for less mana, and Shadowform's rotation has no Holy spells.
• Mana Burn at every rank. It is a PvP tool.
• Mind Vision rank 2. Rank 1 does the job.
• The healers' spells (Heal, Greater Heal, Prayer of Healing and Lightwell) unless you heal dungeons. Keep Renew and Flash Heal current for the fights you drop Shadowform to finish.

Alliance: Night Elf. Night Elf Priests learn Starshards at 10: a 6-second Arcane channel on a 30-second cooldown that hits hard at every rank. That is a second nuke from level 10 to 60. Shadowmeld discourages enemies from attacking you, Elune's Grace halves the chance melee and ranged attacks hit you for 15 seconds or until you're missed 3 times, and Quickness adds 2% movement speed.

Alliance, runner-up: Gnome. Gnome Priests are new in Forever. Eureka! makes your next three spells cost 10% less and hit 10% harder every 2 minutes, Expansive Mind adds 5% mana, Escape Artist breaks every snare, and Confounding Flash confuses up to five enemies around you for 3 seconds.

Horde: Undead. Cannibalize restores 7% of your health and mana every 2 seconds for 10 seconds from a Humanoid or Undead corpse. Touch of the Grave gives your spells a 10% chance to drain health, Will of the Forsaken breaks fears, and Dark Sacrifice trades health for mana every 10 minutes.

Horde, runner-up: Troll. Beast Slaying adds 5% damage against Beasts, which you kill a lot of from 1 to 60. Rapid Regeneration restores half your health over 6 seconds if nothing interrupts it, and Berserking gives 10% casting speed for a hard fight.

Humans (The Human Spirit for 5% more Spirit) and Dwarves (Stoneform and Desperate Prayer) are solid picks too. Pick the race you want to play at 60.

Spirit comes first because Spirit Tap doubles it after every kill, so every point counts twice while you chain pulls. Intellect gives you a bigger mana pool to start each pull. Spell Power adds damage to every tick, and healing gear counts too: it grants spell damage at one third of its healing value.

From 42, Shadowform halves your costs and Spell Power climbs to second. Stamina is last: Shield, Devouring Plague and Vampiric Embrace heal you back while you fight.

Wands

Your wand does most of your damage from 5 to 20, and Wand Specialization adds 25%. Wands don't scale with Spell Power, so buy on damage per second alone. Enchanters craft the four you want:

• Lesser Magic Wand at level 5: 11.3 damage per second.
• Greater Magic Wand at level 13: 17.5 damage per second.
• Lesser Mystic Wand at level 26: 25.4 damage per second and +4 Intellect.
• Greater Mystic Wand at level 30: 29 damage per second and +5 Spell Power.

After 30, take any wand with higher damage per second from quests and dungeons. Past 42, your spells cost half and the wand becomes a tool for low mobs, not your main damage.

Weapons

A staff with Spirit and Intellect, or a one-hand mace or dagger with an off-hand. Take the one with more Spirit and Spell Power.

Armor

Cloth with Spirit and Intellect first, then Spell Power. Quest rewards beat vendor gear at every level. Replace a piece as soon as a quest offers Spirit or Spell Power.

Gear by level band

• Levels 1–20: your wand is your weapon. Upgrade it before anything else, and take Spirit on every other slot so Spirit Tap has more to double.
• Levels 20–30: Mind Flay and Devouring Plague arrive, and Spell Power starts to show on every tick. Take a Spell Power piece over a small Spirit upgrade.
• Levels 30–42: Vampiric Embrace and Shadow Word: Death join the kit. Spirit and Intellect still carry your mana; Stamina helps on elite quests, where a mob hits hard for a long time.
• Levels 42–60: in Shadowform your spells cost half, so Spell Power moves ahead of Intellect. Keep Spirit for the time between pulls, and take Critical Strike when you see it: your Shadow crits deal double damage.

Keep Inner Fire on yourself at every level. It adds armor that lasts until melee and ranged hits use up its charges, and it costs you one global every 10 minutes.

Level with Herbalism and Skinning or Herbalism and Mining. Gathering pays while you level, and you pass herbs and nodes on your way to every quest.

If you want to craft your own gear, Tailoring and Enchanting is the Priest pair. Tailoring makes cloth and bags from 1 to 60, and Enchanting makes all four leveling wands.

Take Cooking too. Nightfin Soup and Runn Tum Tuber Surprise at 35 give 5% more experience from kills while you're well fed, on top of their stats. Every player can build a Basic Campfire, so you eat wherever you stop.

Dungeons give great gear for a Priest, and every group wants one. Respec to Discipline or Holy for a dungeon run, or go in as Shadow when your group has a healer.

Levels below are each dungeon's level range, as listed on our dungeons page. Run them at or a little above the low end.

Levels 13–30

• Ragefire Chasm (13–18), in Orgrimmar.
• Hall of Thanes (13–18), Forever's new dungeon beneath Ironforge.
• Ruins of Lordaeron (15–20), Forever's new dungeon in Tirisfal Glades.
• The Deadmines (17–26) and Wailing Caverns (17–24).
• Shadowfang Keep (22–30).
• Blackfathom Deeps (24–32) and The Stockade (24–32).
• Excavation Site: Wetlands (24–29), Forever's new dungeon at Whelgar's Excavation Site. Not open yet.
• City of Dalaran (28–33), Forever's new dungeon in Alterac Mountains. Not open yet.
• Gnomeregan (29–38) and Razorfen Kraul (29–38).
• Scarlet Monastery (30–46).

Level 20 is the healer's turning point: Flash Heal arrives with Fear Ward and Devouring Plague. Before 20, a Priest heals a dungeon with Lesser Heal, Heal from 16, Renew and Shield.

Levels 30–45

• The Drowned City (35–40), Forever's new dungeon on the Stranglethorn coast. Not open yet.
• Razorfen Downs (37–46) and Uldaman (41–51).
• Zul'Farrak (44–54).

Greater Heal and Lightwell arrive at 40. If you heal dungeons in this band, train them and keep them current.

Levels 45–60

• Maraudon (46–55) and Sunken Temple (50–60).
• Blackrock Depths (52–60) and Dire Maul (54–60).
• Lower Blackrock Spire (55–60) and Upper Blackrock Spire (59–60).
• Scholomance (58–60) and Stratholme (58–60).

Four more new dungeons are announced but not open yet, and we have no level ranges for them: Krol'dok Stronghold in Riverglades, Alcaz Prison on Alcaz Island in Dustwallow Marsh, Blackmaw Hold in northern Azshara and Shaper's Terrace in Un'Goro Crater.

A Shadow Priest in Shadowform brings damage, Vampiric Embrace for the party, Silence, Shackle Undead, Psychic Scream and every Priest buff. Open on Pain rather than Mind Blast, and let the tank build threat first.

Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Undead and Troll Priests have a class quest from a local Priest trainer, listed below. It sends you to heal a wounded guard with Lesser Heal (Rank 2), buff them with Power Word: Fortitude, and report back.

• Human: Garments of the Light in Goldshire.
• Dwarf: Garments of the Light in Kharanos.
• Night Elf: Garments of the Moon in Dolanaar.
• Undead: Garments of Darkness in Brill.
• Troll: Garments of Spirituality at Razor Hill.

It is a short quest built around the two spells every Priest uses all the way to 60.

Shield before the hit, not after. A shield up before the mob arrives means your first Mind Flay never gets pushed back.

Devouring Plague is a heal. On a mob that hits hard, open with Plague, and from 30 with Vampiric Embrace first, and you heal through the fight.

Fear Ward is yours at 20. Put it on yourself before fighting anything that fears. It lasts 3 minutes on a 3-minute cooldown.

Wand the last sliver. A mob with a sliver of health left dies to your wand without costing any mana. Save the mana for the next pull, and let Spirit Tap refill it after the kill. Wand Specialization makes every one of those shots hit 25% harder.

Train at every even level. Your damage is your spell ranks. Levels 20, 32 and 42 are the big ones: Devouring Plague, Shadow Word: Death and Shadowform.

Drop Shadowform to heal a group. In a dungeon with a struggling healer, leave form, heal, and come back in when the fight is safe.

Wand macro: starts wanding and doesn't cancel it when you press it twice.

#showtooltip Shoot
/cast !Shoot

Shield yourself without losing your target.

#showtooltip Power Word: Shield
/cast [@player] Power Word: Shield

Leave Shadowform and cast Renew on yourself in one press.

#showtooltip Renew
/cancelaura Shadowform
/cast [@player] Renew

Inner Focus into Mind Blast.

#showtooltip Mind Blast
/cast Inner Focus
/cast Mind Blast

Silence your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

#showtooltip Silence
/stopcasting
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Silence