Discipline Contents Discipline Talents Glyphs Disc Stats Rotations Gems Enchants Consumables Professions Races Leveling Quickly

This Discipline Priest guide is primarily intended for use at level 90. However, the principals will still apply during the leveling process. If you’re looking for advice on leveling your Priest, check out our Priest Leveling Guide. If you want the same in-game step by step leveling guide that we use to get to level 90 as fast as possible, take a look at our favorite in-game leveling guide. Other Priest Guides:  PvE: Holy Healing, Shadow DPS PvP: Shadow, Discipline Other: Priest overview, Priest leveling

 

Discipline Priest Healing Talents

1. Void Tendrils is an AoE CC.
2. Psyfiend is the living incarnation of fear spam.
3. Dominate Mind is exactly what it sounds like.

All three of these are situationally useful at best and unlikely to add much to a fight.

1. Body and Soul adds a nice speed boost to our Power Word: Shield.
2. Angelic Feather is ideal for providing on demand speed boosts to multiple players at once, my recommended choice.
3. Phantasm is more for PvP heroes than us Dragon Slayers.

1. From Darkness, Comes Light is useful, but less reliable than the other two options, which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t take it.
2. Mindbender boosts Shadowfiend, increasing our mana regeneration.
3. Power Word: Solace is another method of returning mana and adds some DPS.

This tier is unlikely to have an immense impact one way or another.

1. Desperate Prayer is an instant self-heal for a decent amount of health. This is the best choice for most situations.
2. Specral Guise is more of a PeeveePee thang.
3. Angelic Bulwark shields us when we drop to low health, an alternative method of survivability to Desperate Prayer. Angelic Bulwark might beat out Desperate Prayer on fights where you expect to drop to low health more often than Desperate Prayer can be of use.

1. Twist of Fate is a damage and healing boost that’s best taken for encounters where you expect to be throwing out emergency heals to low health targets on a frequent basis.
2. Power Infusion is a haste boost that also reduces the cost of our spells for the duration. This is the best option for most fights due to the control you in deciding when to trigger the buff.
3. Divine Insight is too random to really compete with the other two options, although the effect is quite attractive.

1. All three of these talents are quite useful and your choice should depend solely on your raid formation during an encounter.
2. Cascade operates best when your raid is somewhat spread out while…
3.   Halo is the better choice when your raid is stacked together.

 

Discipline Glyphs, Major

1. Glyph of Penance - “Cast while moving” is very nice.
2.  Glyph of Power Word: Shield
3. Glyph of Purify
4. Glyph of Fade
5. Glyph of Smite
6. Glyph of Holy Fire
7. Glyph of Levitate
8. Glyph of Prayer of Mending

Minor Glyphs: None of the minor Priest glyphs have anything other than cosmetic value, so pick any three.

 

 

 

 

Discipline Stat Priorities

1. Primary: Intellect – this is your spellpower and some crit. Int does not effect mana regen or mana pool.
2. Secondary: Spirit > Mastery > Haste > Critical
3. Weak: Hit and Expertise

Spirit affects your mana regen and will be your most important stat until you are happen with your mana usage. Once that’s Ok you can start working in the other stats.

Haste has various breakpoints where it’s really good. Outside of the breakpoints Haste is far less interesting. Totemspot has several Haste breakpoint cards for healers of all types, including Disc. See them here.

Mastery, Haste, and Crit are more or less equal, depending on your spell usage. Make note of which spells you’re actually using all the time and experiment a bit. Look at your healing meters, mana usage, and how people are surviving. Experiment a bit until you have a good plan.

Reforge to Spirit until you’re happy with your mana usage, then Mastery or Haste, depending on what you’re doing.

 

In-Depth Discipline Ability Guide

Inner Fire should be active at all times unless you need to make use of a number of instant cast spells such as Power Word: Shield and Prayer of Mending in which case Inner Will is a viable option.

One of your most mana efficient spells is Penance which should be used on cooldown unless the target is taking more damage than Penance can heal through.

Cast Power Word: Shield on cooldown. Using this ability will trigger Borrowed Time which adds 15% spell haste to our next spell cast, this buff lasts for 6 seconds.

Strength of Soul is a passive ability that reduces the time of the Weakened Soul debuff on a target by 2 seconds each time you cast Heal, Greater Heal or Flash Heal on them.

Our basic healing spell is Heal which has a very low mana cost but a moderate cast time and healing effect. Use this as much as possible to conserve mana.

1. Prayer of Mending should be applied to a target at all times as it will jump to other players as they take damage.
2. Apply Renew to your target if Prayer of Mending is unavailable and they have Weakened Soul and therefore cannot have Power Word: Shield cast on them.
3. Greater Heal is a slower, higher mana cost heal used for periods of heavy damage.
4. Flash Heal is quick and heals for a large amount but costs an exorbitant amount of mana and should be avoided unless a target requires an emergency heal.
5. Binding Heal heals both you and the target and should be used in the event that you need to heal yourself at the same time as someone else.

Atonement healing requires that you damage enemy targets to heal your allies as Holy Fire, Smite and Penance will heal a nearby friendly target within 15 yards for 100% of the damage dealt. You, the caster, will only be healed for 50% as much.

Evangelism stacks build up when you deal direct damage with Penance, Smite or Holy Fire, stacking up to a maximum of 5 times. Each stack increases the amount of damage done by your Penance, Smite and Holy Fire spells by 4% and reduces their mana cost by 6%.

Archangel consumes all your stacks of Evangelism, increasing the effectiveness of your healing by 5% for each stack consumed for 18 seconds.

When AoE healing you will primarily be using Prayer of Mending, Power Word: Shield, and Prayer of Healing.

• Prayer of Healing applies the Divine Aegis effect to everyone you heal with it, granting them additional survivability and should be cast as often as is necessary as well as perhaps prior to a period of heavy damage to build up the absorption effect of Divine Aegis.

Cooldowns

1. Spirit Shell should be used to build up an absorption effect on your target if you anticipate them suffering a heavy amount of damage.
2. Inner Focus should be cast on cooldown.
3. Power Word: Barrier is a raid defensive cooldown best used when your raid is stacked together so they can all benefit from the damage reduction effect.
4. Pain Suppression is another survivability cooldown you should generally save for use on a tank in advance of heavy damage although it can also be used in emergency to save anyone who requires high damage mitigation.
5. Shadowfiend should be used on cooldown for extra mana regeneration and a minor amount of DPS.
6. Hymn of Hope is an important cooldown used to boost mana regeneration raid wide. This spell is channeled and therefore will prevent you from casting any other spells for the duration of the effect unless you choose to cancel it early.

Tier 3 Talented Abilities:

1. From Darkness, Comes Light procs will allow you to instantly cast Flash Heal with no mana cost. The charges of this proc stack up to a maximum of 2 times and so should be used as often as possible to avoid wasting charges.
2. Mindbender simply enhances your Shadowfiend.
3. Power Word: Solace can be used for extra mana regeneration.

Tier 5 Talented Abilities:

1. Twist of Fate is a passive effect that grants 15% increased healing and damage for 10 seconds after you damage or heal a target below 20% health.
2. Power Infusion is a cooldown you should save for when immense healing is required, it also reduces the mana cost of your spells making them more efficient.
3. Divine Insight procs allow us to cast Power Word: Shield without Weakened Soul being applied or on a target already affect by Weakened Soul.

 

Discipline Priest Gems

Note that in Mists of Pandaria gems with secondary stats have twice the value of this with primary stats, 320 Spirit Vs 160 Int, for example. You will want to match socket bonuses, usually. The hybrid gems (those with two stats) are a good choice for socket matching. The orange and purple gems are good picks for matching yellow and blue sockets.

Your Priest bonus adds to any Int gem bonuses, making them worth 5% more Int, that bonus does not add to other stats.

Whether you pick Haste or another stat will depend in part on whether you’re able to hit a Haste breakpoint (see stats, above.)

Gem Priorities
Meta		Burning Primal Diamond: +216 Int & 3% Increased Crit Effect
Red		Brilliant Serpent’s Eye: 320 Int, self-only Jewelcrafting gem Brilliant Primordial Ruby: 160 Int
Yellow		Quick Sun’s Radiance: +320 Haste Fractured Sun’s Radiance: +320 Mastery Smooth Sun’s Radiance: +320 Crit
Blue		Sparkling River’s Heart: +320 Spirit
Orange		Reckless Vermilion Onyx: 80 Int, 160 Haste Artful Vermilion Onyx: +80 Int & +160 Mastery
Green		Energized Wild Jade: +160 Haste, +160 Spirit Zen Wild Jade: +160 Mastery, +160 Spirit
Purple		Purified Imperial Amethyst: +80 Int, +160 Spirit
Prismatic		Brilliant Primordial Ruby: 160 Int
Cogwheel		Sparkling Tinker’s Gear: 600 Spirit – requires an engie helm, such as this. Quick Tinker’s Gear: 600 Haste Fractured Tinker’s Gear: 600 Mastery

 

Discipline Enchantments:

Short on gold? If you want to buy the best enchants, fund all of your alts, donate to the guild, etc., but don’t have the cash, then see what the Tycoon Addon can do about about fixing your poverty.

There are no head enchants, shoulder enchants are all created by the Inscription profession.

Disc. Enchantments
Weapon	Enchant Weapon – Jade Spirit: Sometimes increases Int by 1650, might increase Spirit by 750 if mana is low.
Shoulders	Secret Crane Wing Inscription: – 520 Int and 100 Crit rating, Requires Inscription 550. Greater Crane Wing Inscription: +200 Int and 100 Crit
Cloak	Enchant Cloak – Superior Intellect: +180 Int Lightweave Embroidery – attacks can give 2k Int for 15 sec, requires tailoring
Chest	Enchant Chest – Glorious Stats: +80 to all stats Enchant Chest – Mighty Spirit: +200 Spirit
Bracers	Enchant Bracer – Super Intellect: +170 Int Fur Lining increases Int by 500, requires leatherworking. Socket Bracer – Pop in a gem, requires Blacksmithing 400
Gloves	Enchant Gloves – Greater Haste: +170-Haste Socket Gloves – Pop in a gem, requires Blacksmithing 400
Belt	Livingsteel Belt Buckle: Gem slot for a nice Int gem
Leggings	Greater Pearlescent Spellthread: +285 Int and +165 Spirit Greater Cerulean Spellthread: +285 Int and +165 Crit
Boots	Enchant Boots – Greater Precison: +175 Hit rating Enchant Boots – Pandaren’s Step: +140 Mastery, slight run speed increase.
Rings	Enchant Ring – Greater Intellect: +160 Int, Requires Enchanting 550

 

Consumables

Note that Pandarens get twice the food buff. All food buffs last one hour.

• Mogu Fish Stew: 300 Int
• Braised Turtle: 275 Int
• Flask of the Warm Sun: 1,000 Int for an hour, Alchemists get 1,320 and 2 hours.
• Potion of the Jade Serpent: 4k Int for 25 seconds. If you pop one immediately before combat you will be able to pop another during combat.
• Master Healing Potion: Heals 60k HP
• Master Mana Potion: About 30k Mana

 

Professions for Discipline Priests

All of the professions provide some benefit for Priests of any spec, though clearly some are better than others. Even the gathering professions have some value, though you might be better served by using those to build a larger gold stash.

If you’re looking for the buffs then Blacksmithing might be the best choice wince you can slot two gems and gems with secondary stats have twice the value of those with primary stats, 320 Mastery Vs 160 Int, per gem, for example. It also gives you a bit more versatility with gem slotting, though you’ll most likely want to stick Int gems in those slots anyway.

Your Priest bonus adds to any profession bonuses.

Discipline Professions
Tailoring	Cloak enchant sometimes adds 2k Int.
Leatherworking	Bracer enchant adds 500 int.
Jewelcrafting	Make nicer gems for your own use.
Enchanting	Enchant both rings, for a total +320 Int gain.
Inscription	Shoulder enchant adds 520 Int and 100 crit.
Alchemy	More effect from your own potions. Adds 320 Int and an extra hour to your main flask.
Engineering	has lots of interesting toys, some of which have situational use, and Synapse Springs, which increases Int by 1940 for a short time. If you take this use a macro to activate it along with other short term buffs.
Blacksmithing	gives two extra gems slots for 640 Spirit Vs 320 Int.
Skinning	provides 480 crit rating
Herbalism	Small heal and 2880 Haste for 20 seconds
Mining	480 Stamina

 

Race Choice for Priests

Since Cataclysm all of the WoW races can be Priests, except Orcs. Yes, even Pandarens can be Priests.

Most of the racial abilities will make very little difference in the end-game. If a Gnome or Goblin works for you, then go for it. If you want some extra burst then go Orc, if you want that escape ability for PvP then go Human. Want to just look gnarly? Undead or Worgen.

Blood Elf: You have the best hair, does that count?

• Arcane Torrent restores some mana and silences casters, but you won’t be close to those casters.
• B’elves are good with Enchanting.

Goblin: Two goblins were shipwrecked and stranded on a small island. When rescued they had both become rich by trading their boots back and forth.

• Increased Haste is a decent stat for you.
• Rocket Jump is a nice escape for when things get close.
• Vendor discounts will make things a bit easier on the good supply, especially if you’re poor (and why would you be poor?)

Tauren: Besides being cute, cuddly, and well horned, they can do a…

• War Stomp stuns nearby opponents. This is an occasionally useful ability, to stun things allowing you to escape.
• The increased health is nice at mid-levels, but doesn’t scale well at very high levels.
• Good with Herbalism.

Troll: Best tusks, laid back, but make pretty good Priests.

• Berserking is a good emergency ability, increasing your casting speed for a few seconds.
• Increased damage Vs Beasts won’t help much since you, generally, don’t do damage.
• Resistance to movement impariing effects, like the Orc ability, has its uses in PvP, but less so elsewhere.
• Ranged expertise has zero value for you.

Undead: You’re Undead because the Gods didn’t want you and now you’re a Priest?

• Canibalism can reduce downtime and means that you don’t have to carry food along while leveling. If you do PvP you can eat your opponents after you kill them.
• Will of the Forsaken is a very nice PvP ability, but you’ll find little use for it elsewhere.
• Touch of the Grave drains life and heals you for the same amount. This means that your name will appear on the DPS charts, but not much more.

 

Draenei: Your (male) shoulders make a human look puny.

• +1 to Hit racial is not an important stat for you.
• The self-heal would be nice if you didn’t already have a few of your own.

Dwarf: So Runt, Ya wanna be a Priest, eh?

• Your Stoneform washes away bleeds and reduces damage, which will only be rarely useful to you.
• Expertise with Maces would be nice if you had any use for the things.
• Ranged weapon Expertise is useless to you.
• Good with Archeology.

Human: You look good in the right armor.

• Your escape ability is nice for PvP and it allows you to use two DPS trinkets, or grab more Resilience, but the ability is pretty situational when raiding.
• Diplomacy if great is you have any interest in building Rep with any of the bazillion WoW factions.
• Expertise with Sword/Mace might have some end-game value, if you had any use for Swords or Maces.

Gnome: Besides being the butt of “short jokes” your size does have PvP value in that some people click on their targets. As a tank your size makes you a bit hard to find in a crowd.

• Expertise with daggers and small swords is good for Rogues, but not for you.
• Escaping from Speed Altering Effects (slows) has its uses in PvE (rare) and PvP.
• Increased Mana pool will be of some use.
• Good with Engineering, a pretty useful skill.

Night Elf: You look good in armor and you know it.

• Shadowmeld will let you drop out of combat and drops aggro, so is handy for those times when things get tight.
• 2% increased dodge is nice while tanking, but healers will have little use for it.

Worgen: One word: Snuffling. Other than that…

• Increased crit chance is an Ok stat.
• moving quickly is definitely a useful ability.
• Worgen are good with skinning (which also adds to your Crit rating.)

 

How to Get your Priest to the Level Cap, ASAP

Priest leveling is easy, especially for Shadow. Holy and Disc. can level in PvP or Dungeons and Shadow can do all of that and quest effectively. Then you hit the tops and the game changes. And then you have those other alts you want to level though those 90 levels.

With the thousands of quests to 90 and a bazillion mobs to kill (not to mention other players, but they don’t count here) sorting out which quests are best and which series of quests will get you to 90 the fastest is important, which is why we highly recommend Zygor’s Guide.

Zygor’s is an in-game guide and it nearly automates the whole leveling process: you just pick your starting point, at any level, and the guide tracks which quest you’re on, tracks the quest objectives, and automatically advances and updates as you complete your tasks and quests. In addition, a waypoint arrow is set automatically, so you never have to wonder where to go. All of the important quest info is included in the guide so you never have to wonder what to do. You’ll find that it’s vastly superior to the in-game questing help.

Playing with Heirlooms and/or Recruit a friend? Gaining a few levels in the dungeons or in PvP? Zygor has your back. The guide knows what level you are and will correctly suggest where to go next and will let you dump all of your obsolete quests. You will probably never need to look at your quest log again.

Grab your copy here and get to 90 as fast as possible, or read our review, first.

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