The BEST priest leveling talents will surprise you (it's not shadow)

[@R-L-D]

Set speed 1.25 you're welcome.

[@CJICantLie]

More like 1.5 to counter all the umms and clearing of cottonmouth.

[@mitchellwilliam95]

you guys don't watch this stuff at 2x?

[@j4k3hxD]

1.5 man!!!

[@xIronwafflexx]

this still feels kinda slow at 1.5

[@liamhoos]

You're the man

[@ericpadilla2454]

PLaying HC, i decided to stay in Disc after 40. The survivability is insane. Sure the mobs take longer to kill but im not in a rush to hit 60 in hardcore mode.

[@WarlockWanna]

Im also leveling HC. What was your exact build do you remember?

[@feckall9118]

+ hit on shadow spells is a bit wasted, when you focus the build around smite and holy fire...

[@mikemetzgore2712]

Very helpful video. This time around I wanted to try not going into shadow (at least not early on) and ended up with a very similar build to yours. I will agree that leveling has been a breeze so far. I will change a few points now, however, because your build just makes more sense. Thx a lot!

[@abstractdaddy1384]

I was doing some theory crafting for leveling a priest and I came up with pretty much the same conclusion that you did. A lot of people reflexively say that you should level as shadow but the truth is that in regards to both damage and mana efficiency, it does not become worth speccing into until you get the bottom 2 tiers. The extra 25% damage from shadowform and darkness is HUGE. In regards to leveling, shadow goes from being virtually pointless to spec into (minus spirit tap) to the hands down best spec from just those 6 talent points.

[@zjeee]

Honestly though, 5 points into wand spec and sprit tap + a good wand will be sufficient to get you to 40 easily, regardless of which talent tree you chose.

[@abstractdaddy1384]

@@zjeee I agree. Those are bread and butter talents for any leveling spec.

[@ezcoreg759]

Its extra %30 from Darkness and Shadow Form combined. Gotta keep lv40 mount in mind. Level however you want up to 40 but at 40 better be grabbing Shadowform heal 5 man dungeons all the way to 60 as Shadow no problem.

[@suburbanTrick]

Yeah but it's not just about killing mobs... I choose shadow to lvl for pvp reasons

[@tedlogan4867]

What he's built is strictly a solo-grind build. There are far better builds to duo-grind or party grind vis a vis with a frost mage. It's much more useful imo to go with holy crit and spirit spell damage bonuses. NOTHING has holy spell resistance, no gear, no mobs, NOTHING. There is only one pot in classic to mitigate holy damage. Going smite canon/holy nova is much more fun, it puts you in great position to grind dungeons, while learning how to heal groups. His open rotation is too many spells. HF/SMITE SWP shield wand... you will never oom if you maintain spirit as a high stat, and you shouldn't need spirit tap since you'll finish mobs off with swp and wands. Spiritual guidance in the holy tree is SUPER POWERFUL for spells against which mobs and players DO NOT HAVE RESISTANCES. Keep that in mind. There is no holy resist in wow, with a few tiny situational exceptions. Also, blackout can proc on raid bosses. I'm not saying it's better than spirit tap, just sayin. Also, not taking ve/imp ve early is a mistake. Obviously I wrote this during the video playing. Dungeon questing is always faster than questing overworld.

[@connman8d617]

Bro. I am using this spec right now and it just rocks but you're missing the obvious synergy between spiritual guidance and spirit tap. Too good to pass up.

[@tedlogan4867]

@@connman8d617 if you're solo, it's great. If you're not, it's meh. A proc on kb is highly situational.

[@tedlogan4867]

@Shon East how well thought out and clever. Glad you took out time for the input. Useful and helpful.

[@danboone5672]

What if I am stuck solo tho is this still better?

[@tedlogan4867]

@@danboone5672 personally, I'd go more or less all shadow first, maybe putting 5 pts into wands, and the rest shadow. Improved swp is great for solo. Mindblast, swp, shield and wand is a great sustain rotation for solo grind that won't oom you every other pull.

[@arthurcajado8361]

why ppl never go for spiritual guidance for me thats the best talent in the priest tree

[@OrdoMallius]

Blackout is indeed NEEDED in my opinion. Saved my ass from ganks and mobs many many times. But I DID level it only when I knew I was going into highly contested zones and will be ganked. It saves lives. So around 30 I started thinking about it.

[@romanferguson4032]

its not shadow. proceeds to go shadow

[@mboytek]

I love these older videos!! I will argue that lvling shadow on a fresh PvP server is probably better. Thanks for the content!

[@jasonchicago7276]

I'm leveling a priest, and I just hit lvl 41. I wish I'd seen this a bit earlier! Great content! I'd love a video on rotations 42-60 in shadow spec (or the disc hybrid spec if doing dungeons)

[@Haampus]

Great video. I'm 28 and I changed talent and rotation and I'm killing so much faster. Great video

[@johng2794]

i really don´t get why improved vampiric embrace is considered such a bad talent. it does not buff the 20% per 10% so that it gets to 22%... It actually gets you to 30% healing with your damage. This allows you to never ever again need to heal yourself. and it spares you the mana costs of your shield too in most cases. and it´s soooo good in pvp. i actually think it´s one of the best talents

[@xxMurmaiderxx]

Shield is used to reduce pushback as well as removing the need to ever heal though.

[@taylenday]

I agree OP, Improved VE has always been a staple for me. Especially in PvP it's extra nice.

[@vashisl33t]

The best leveling build is Disc with spirit tap. Put points into wand damage first then put 4 points into spirit tap thats all you take from shadow.

[@danielclow]

Can you do this for TBC? please xd

[@pauliegatto7275]

At early levels my rotation looked like hf - mb - swp - renew - shoot wand, so I better put 2 talents into improved fortitude instead of martyrdom. Good for solo leveling and in dungeons

[@shaeet]

Nice click-bait! "its not shadow" but you tell people to respec shadow at 42

[@jeremygziji9186]

Its not shadow ... ok why respec at 42??

[@connman8d617]

@@jeremygziji9186 I didn't. I went spiritual guidance/spirit tap and I have been having a blast so far. Just stacking as much int/spi gear as possible and when a mob dies and my spirit gets doubled I hit like a truck. Banging out 650 dmg smite crits at level 46 is more than viable for solo play and I'm a boss dungeon healer with improved renew, improved healing and inspiration.

[@vicchecksitout9537]

@@connman8d617 I wanna be like u when I grow up bro I'm lvl 18 mind sharing ur spec

[@Zanzikhan]

Doesn’t he suggest going some discipline/holy hybrid till 42 where he takes shadow then respects to holy at 56?

[@DifferentNow]

its a damn fine guide so shut your ie hole!

[@bradmundies425]

Fastest way to level? Get to 29 do cleave groups in SM until 42, move to ZF do the same thing, move to escort spam in brd at 52 all the way to 60.

[@thevlaka]

what an engaging and truly immersive MMORPG experience /s

[@kevinsaxox]

How many hours does it take to get 60 this way? Starting from 29

[@High_Priest_Jonko]

Wand 5 > Tap 5 > Shadow Focus 1 or > Shield 3 >Martyrdom 2 Inner Focus 1 (Use to heal yourself after killing mobs, keep mana regening via spirit) > Meditation 3 > Divine Fury 5 (Lvl 39)

[@playlist5107]

Hey Hydra!!! Big fan of your vids. Where have you been? We would love you to upload more video content.

[@youb7237]

he streams daily

[@playlist5107]

@@youb7237 what's his twitch?

[@Budaki56]

The Tier 2 discipline tree talents are all garbage for leveling. Power word Shield buff is not really useful at all early. At lvl 32 my power world shield is at 300sh without talent and would ganain about 45 more sheild per mob whic is about 1 extra hit worth of shield per mob. Which isn't taht great considering I have basically full health after I kill a mob without the talent. Also improve stamina is also bad. At lvl 32 I get 200 health from untalented fortitude. Priests really don't die to mobs; at least certainly up to the lvl I'm at currently. Ido agree that the tier 3 talents in Disc are nice but not nice enough to throw away five points when you compare them to the shadow tree. Blackout stun is actually useful in leveling because it not only reduces incoming damage but also can stop casts and give you more time to get damage off (also is great for killing elites). Improved Pain is very good because you can spend more time wanding things that dont die within the 12sh sec. Mindflay is outclassed by wands until rank 2 for sure. Imp Mind blast isnt' bad because it gives you more dps on mobs and synergizes with flay for ez rotation. Honestly not respecing to full shadow (lvl 28 at the earliest) is a mistake if you want to level faster. .5 sec off of smite is pretty bad and 5% crit would be good if we were spamming holy spells instead of shadow; but shadow is better so even if you were spamming smites, it would stillbe outclassed

[@AriesFireTiger]

Lmfao 7 ads on this video? Guess I'll watch something else

[@AvatarofNyx]

The TOP ads to watch (this will surprise you!)

[@strikerj1339]

no adblocker in 2019?

[@AvatarofNyx]

Mobile my sir.

[@Aryan-gp7sh]

Mans needs to eat yo

[@AverageGaming1]

Or get an adblocker? LUL

[@Sixi_]

Hey @Hydra, this evenig is a new privat server launch and I love to play with your classic guide. Sadly all images are down. Can you re-upload them maybe? :s would made my day! thanks in advance

[@PaleMist]

Sir, thank you for the advice! I will definitely consider it.

[@vellcounty213]

I have played a shadow Priest from the beginning and leveled with no problems. This time I’ll lvl as a shadow Priest. Thanks for your opinion

[@leespiderpod]

velldorayme full shadow?

[@thevlaka]

lmfao

[@rowbaught1218]

Why does it matter if your opening spells are faster? I’d rather have IMP fort and renew than Devine fury.

[@purephocus444]

Also for new people following along with their build shadow is the way to go he switches up halfway through the video fyi lol

[@GamingDualities]

what about the best dungeon spec? holy nova, shadow weaving, vampiric embrace, spiritual guidance?

[@Madskillphil]

@hydramist Your deathblind link is broken, do you know if its moved?

[@LorriLuring]

Will use this guide thanks mate

[@Daminz]

Any updates for tbc or just the same?

[@mr.hostility8970]

Title states NOT SHADOW...proceeds to make Shadow build. Good info...shadow is still the way to go from 40+. Below 40 you can literally put points anywhere as long as you go wand 5 and spirit regen 5. Those two talents are all that matter. Maybe improved shield if you need it based on gear. Click bait title...

[@danielskrivan6921]

Points in healing talents are not wasted if you're also doing dungeons, or even grouping with folks. Imp Shadow Word Pain is a huge boon for multiple mobs.

[@jdee3093]

Great job man ty for your time 🤘

[@ahetzel9054]

You said "holyfire into smite into mindblast?" Shouldn't you mind blast before smite to trigger Cd allowing you to use it again more quickly?!?! Doesn't sound efficient to use it third?

[@vintagerealityvr]

Smite has a longer casting time so you cast it while the mob is running to you so you don't get hit. You can then fire off a quick mind blast usually before the mob even hits you, And then follow up with shadowward pain directly after mind blast because you can get it off for free

[@ahetzel9054]

@@vintagerealityvr yea I guess you could do that. I typically holyfire and swp at end while kiting away and then casting MB to get it on cool down and usually skip the smite part but I'm not even level 40 yet so by that point most things only have 1/3 health left at which point I can just wand Some thing down

[@vintagerealityvr]

@@ahetzel9054 interesting but I'm not sure kiting is the most efficient way to kill mobs. I do holy fire, mindblast, SWP, wand and I can go from mob to mob fairly quickly with no downtime. ( I will throw in a smite before the mind blast, or after the SWP if I want more DPS). Cheers!

[@ahetzel9054]

@@vintagerealityvr probably not but I enjoy playing that way lol. I come from a pvp background so if I can make pve feel remotely like pvp I'll do it to add some spice ya know lol

[@adip6476]

@@vintagerealityvr you bubble yourself and no pushback!

[@xrhdin]

Bro the swallowing every 5 seconds makes me feel so uncomfortable LMAO

[@carvascheung3871]

I'm 58now..haha a bit too late for the guide. I love u hydra

[@thomaslescot1838]

Hello Can you send talents by talents to Choose since the start please from level 10 to max please in priority please

[@SumGuy-fs8sy]

The best leveling spec is 100% shadow. After level 40

[@GamingDualities]

what about the best dungeon spec? holy nova, shadow weaving, vampiric embrace, spiritual guidance?

[@zion5637]

Level 40 Respec at 21:35

[@enzime]

A mostly shadow hybrid spec with improved disc bubble and holy renew has worked great for me on a pvp server, i mostly heal dungeons all day after hitting lvl 32

[@kylefletcher7924]

Viable for lvling ?? I really like the healer aspect of priest.

[@sticcvonhaugen7913]

Quality info. Thanks man

[@sadlogic]

Still waiting on that PreBiS Guide.

[@Roxxigaro]

Props to saying get wand talents first. people who say to get spirit tap first have poor critical thinking skills. simple as that.

[@wowzockasuc]

like a real american that thumbnail

[@NatSmish]

Hey Hydra, i would love to see a video about downranking healing spells and which ranks to use for dungeons and raiding

[@Hydramist]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKKcY4CprbyHeck

[@NatSmish]

@@Hydramist Hey hydra, i was watching your stream and i noticed your healing fames show incoming healing, how did you get that to show?

[@MaryJane-tm5ee]

Before 40 you want as much damage talents as possible, once you have spirit tap and at least half your items with spirit on them you don't need more regen for quests, inner focus and meditation is overkill at 20 something (inner focus can be ok for undead priest for devouring plague, but still spirit tap regens so much mana). Blackout, imp SWP and mind flay are great, I've seen a priest being top dps just spamming mind flay it was ridiculous, if mana is an issue just down rank it and use it for CC and blackout procs.

[@sinrock85]

Ramble, ramble, ramble.... Lol good video bro 👌

[@bodazaphfa]

Great video. Thanks for it!

[@liquidcooled1]

Hey hydra, How different are your talent specs 40+ ?

[@larissabaiter7749]

Hi Hydra Can you tell me why you heal a lot with the normal "heal" spell in raids instead of greater heal? Thanks :)

[@ShawReck]

Its mana efficiency. Its common to use lower ranks of heal for the same reason too.

[@larissabaiter7749]

Thanks for your answer. But if I didn't miss calculate heal and greater heal have the same mana/heal outcome and the same casting time. I understand that you downrank but I am wondering why Hydra choose heal over greater heal :) maybe the intention is to reduce overheal in a 40 man raid.. Hmm..

[@ShawReck]

@@larissabaiter7749 yea thats one thing. Another is you dont really want your tank to be below 50%, which is usually around where greater heal would top them off. Youd much rather have a regular heal going off at 75% to keep em nice n safe.

[@MazaniWastaken]

Is shadow damage better than spirit ?

[@paulwalther5237]

I wonder how much of an impact he new fresh servers will have on these older videos.

[@deatheater10879]

can this be used in dungeons

[@zylle1993]

Really Nice video man, you explain everything and it makes sense. Im thinking about doing a priest as an alt 😁

[@paumas3795]

great video thanks! let me ask, ons question, shadow wand is been affected by Darkness and shadowform? some people told me is not been affected. is it right? Thanks in advance

[@onioncultistlordoftheonion8315]

iirc shadow weaving is the only thing in the shadow tree that can buff shadow wands

[@lerchomat]

It doesn't really matter which talents you take until 40 but shadow is the way to go afterwards in my opinion

[@Frozenpizza1175]

are u the old hydra from WOTLK? u got rank1 or glad season 7 or 8.. u were named hydra back then I think... DISC priest @hydramist

[@johng2794]

yes he is

[@innerparty1]

He was rank 1 in pretty much every season since TBC to Cata.

[@borisxbg]

Plot twist => it's shadow priest :D

[@Zanzikhan]

Doesn’t he suggest going some discipline/holy hybrid till 42 where he takes shadow then respects to holy at 56?

[@pierg5257]

Master Hydra.. You are a legend.. I am so happy to see you are back. I use same spec for level.. It is nice alone, in group, and pretty solid also in world pvp for kick bad boys.. 😂

[@bobd8978]

OK....I just specced this exact way, but did not respec at 42 I stayed as Disc and it's working perfectly ;) ....But I'm 60 now and playing TBC which goes up to level 70....How do I grind now??

[@CSSX80]

Go holy till you get holy nova. Rest shadow till Vampiric touch. Tag mobs with st and swap I can do 8 put ve on one of them. Then holy nova till low then psychic scream and watch them run away and die.

[@CSSX80]

VT and swp

[@salviserious7502]

i like the title of the video (its no shadow)

[@HunterLee11313]

Yeah I prefer Lezonta’s take on priest leveling. Works well for me, but I like to see different ideas I guess

[@Blernster]

What was that guys idea?

[@thevlaka]

lmfao @ tipsout. that fuckwit has ZERO clue about anything wow related. piggybacks off of knowledged players. FRAUD

[@regor2081]

Title needs a big IF in it

[@koltgaming9548]

What’s best spec for priest while duo Leveling with warrior.

[@dickhands]

heavy disc/10holy for divine fury/5spirit tap and have your warrior let you last hit

[@koltgaming9548]

david wieland ok thanks

[@ogSucio]

Sites Down :( Love the guide please come back asap

[@Hydramist]

Classic.deathblind.com

[@Demic25]

Great video thank you!

[@wichito8736]

Martyrdom vs Imp fortitude?

[@lbb2rfarangkiinok]

you forgot to include a link to deathblind or whatever it was you mentioned.

[@Shadowfex]

Ya this is a little clickbait. But it’s youtube. What can you do. TLDR, to Disc until 42 the. Respec into full shadow. You CAN stay Disc all the way to 60 if you like the playstyle. Pick up PI and grab the basic ones from the early Shadow tree. Your kill times will be longer this way, but it can be a more favorable playstyle to those who want a more traditional caster style. Nice video though. Definitely carried on too much on some points, but I understand why.

[@aaronshadowhunter656]

Ya shadow ain't the best leveling spec. Just go holy and heal dungeons till 60

[@thevlaka]

yeah shame that strat doesnt work now with fuckheads just paying to get carried to lvl 60

[@aaronshadowhunter656]

@@thevlaka well i did say that when people where still leveling lol, but ya it really sucks, tryna level a rogue and would be fun to do a dung every once and a while

[@m3thisse]

God has spoken

[@adz4u28]

Are you serious with the adverts on this? :o

[@Ven_de_Thiel]

Heyo. I found a mage to carry me. Does it matter what I really take? How should I help him?

[@Hydramist]

get holy nova early after wand spec and spirit tap if you guys are planning to aoe clear packs (the most efficient way to duo with a mage), then continue down disc to PI

[@Hydramist]

pull mobs with rank 1 pain and wand while he pulls stuff too and meet in the middle. then let him set up his usual aoe with cone of cold,nova and blizzard. once he has threat you can safely spam holy nova as it creates no threat and help him kill the mobs faster.

[@matthewkeating-od6rl]

Great vid

[@elvismujkic6602]

Why does youtube promote illegal power leveling services?

[@joshuaroe1402]

Elvis Mujkic They don’t care about that. They only care about people having the “wrong” political opinions and will deplatform somebody immediately for wrong think.

[@Subxenox15]

@@joshuaroe1402 Yuuuup

[@DifferentNow]

Thx for the informative guide my man!

[@bobd8978]

I just hit level 60 and my spirit with my gear is 285 UNBUFFED. But for TBC I'm lost about all the gear changes now, especially for priest

[@OGEETOMO]

thanx mate hail hydra

[@epicscoreCS2]

I go half shadow half disc and gett as high shadow dmg as possible, mind blast - swp - shield + Vamp if i need hp - wand..works fine (swp getts 100% shadow dmg + a good wand).

[@SincereDoper]

oof... where to even begin... almost this entire video is incorrect, too many wasted talents just to take inner focus which won't even play a part before level 40 if you have a decent rotation, by the time inner focus might matter you end up going shadow anyways. shadow focus is very important early because unlike the fantasy world he described here where you are fighting same level mobs it's very common to fight mobs 2-3 levels higher than you. imp sw:p is also incredibly valuable as you get 2 free dot ticks, again, you wont need inner focus to recover mana if you're taking the correct talents to begin with because you're needing to use sw:p twice per kill. this is a case of trying to be so smart that you end up being very stupid, and the talents for smite and holy fire are pointless because you should never press those while leveling outside of smiting for your first 5 levels. setting up a pull with a 2.5 second cast might help the combat time decrease very slightly, but it also adds 2.5 second onto every kill which is incredibly inefficient over time. you can cut a full second off by opening with a mind blast into a pain then wand spamming and you fill with flay depending on how much mana you have. basically mind flay is what you choose to spend mana on or not, it will help you kill faster but will also oom you over time, so it's a balance you will naturally find and will change as the levels go on. this entire video is incorrect outside of picking wand over spirit tap early and going shadow to finish leveling. the middle part where he wastes talents on things that PURELY SLOW HIM DOWN... and this is a real shocker here... aren't good for leveling quickly or efficiently. so ignore this nonsensical video please, get wand talents then you are racing down to mind flay which will be a game changer and the talents shadow gets are all worth it in terms of extra damage and efficiency, then you swap to shadow as soon as you can and then go back into wands asap after that. if you're a fan of hydra be my guest and waste 10+ talents points just to get some talents that are worse than the shadow talents in terms of damage and efficiency... but it will slow you down. and for the love of fuck, never touch smite or holy fire while leveling, i know if feels good to open with a big cast and the combat time is slightly lower, but in reality it's barely faster and when you add on the extra time spent casting before each pull it's actually slower. these tests have all been done years ago, just use common sense, you are giving up legitimate damage/efficiency talents for things like imp shield and crit to holy spells... you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work this stuff out. so this video is nothing more than misinformation from a player who tried being so smart that he ended up making a really dumb talent guide. y'welc

[@thomasmcdonough7867]

WRONG. mind flay is worse than smite and holy fire until 40ish, he's correct on the holyfire,smite,mind blast & dot into wand spam rotation until 40

[@thevlaka]

what the op is saying is that the video is full of shit from the get go. There are a number of other better presented guides from years ago basically telling you to go Shadow. You WILL inevitably go Shadow so all he's done is chuck points in wishy washy talents then gets you to respec at 40. PONTLESS Shadow is the way to go for solo leveling end of discussion. IT's been discussed numerous times, from back in vanilla, to pservers and now in the abomination known as classic. Stop fanboying.

[@purephocus444]

Well I fucked up folowing along the video thinking shadow wasn’t the way to go only for him to switch it up halfway through….

[@imppaco]

you talked about the re-spec back to holy at 56, but never showed it.

[@Kelsonmassif]

This spec only works for a PVE server, you need all the CC for PVP servers, and will depend if you are group questing or not, shadow is much better for a PVP server

[@Pathowatch]

Well put out and indepth

[@ianrees3932]

Thank you! Great video.

[@sjoerdketelaar6830]

I can t find the music with: Epidemicsounds anyone can help?

[@Nelorose]

I don't agree with this guide at all. Hie's saying shadow isn't the best spec for leveling except for half of the experience lol. You can heal all of the dungeon content as shadow like he said and says the only downside is you have to be on top of your healing. No new information in this video at all IMO.

[@LionidasL10]

Thank you Hydra

[@kingragnork]

90% of priests disagree, they all see one streamer do it and copy it, just like the mages.

[@renragged]

So mana regen > damage output?

[@ethanackerman6881]

Yes, if leveling as quickly as possible is your main goal. The less time you spend drinking means you spend more time grinding mobs, quicker dungeons, etc. Damage output may help kill mobs quicker, but not by a factor of 20-30 seconds (sitting and drinking).

[@piperar2014]

My main objective in leveling is not dying. To that end, my first points are wand mastery, then improved shield. I don't notice mana problems in the extra levels getting to spirit tap. Besides I'd rather stop to drink a soy milk than have to corpse run.

[@PULAG]

I use 2 hand sword and go pure Shadow and do Shadow Knight build. Its actually where they came up with DK

[@zylle1993]

Disc is fucking insane. You will fuck anyone up and be extremely tanky.

[@szymonolszewski4778]

Great video looord

[@NY-qb5bq]

LOL just get 5 wand and go shadow. Holy smite/MB dot then just wand. Simple but boring slow gameplay.

[@SimplySpiritsong]

WARNING 0:45 is hydra being passive aggressive.

[@AidanArentz]

Basically - take wand spec and spirit tap early on. Then do whatever the fuck you want.

[@wagner55]

I’m lvl 15 and this has worked greatly on my leveling 👍

[@Qaelnalas]

Dude relax on the adds. Not liked not subscribed and not completed.

[@abc4free]

Just move the timer thingy to the end and press replay and no more ads.

[@Qaelnalas]

That sounds so good I need to try it next time.

[@lbb2rfarangkiinok]

Could just try Adblock :)