Wtf...Really Late

Reflective Shield Proc Surge of Light!

If you don't have this talent in your Smite leveling/solo/farming spec, go to your nearest trainer and learn it asap. And yes, I just found out about this today while farming */facepalm*, it's late but as Ensidia say, "better late than never".

In other news, I'm currently farming for dual spec on my main account using the seven day anniversary subscription given by Blizzard. The new looking for group system is...interesting. In general, the folks from the other servers are skilled. As for my "wtf we got two healer" spec, I received mixed reviews. Some embraced it, claiming they have no problem carrying me with their leet 5k dps. Others...well, let just say the name calling doesn't really stop. "Yo gimp dps, click on Arthus" "L2 queue noob" "Shaman, switch to element, let the disc heal" "I HATE slow runs, WTF?" "/leaveparty" etc etc etc. Surprisingly, most angry comments came from people from my own server...

I can understand the hostility, but those who are often hostile does do pretty good dps so no complains there. I haven't had a party break up so far so the badges are coming in slowly. Nor have I ever gotten kicked via vote...at least not for 5 man. The new Gear Score system pugs use to select players make it pretty hard for me to join any 10/25 at the moment. I think my GS's seating at 4400, maybe less.

Dummy DPS:
Peak: 2300
Avg: 2150

Base Stats:
25.39% Holy Crit
2081 Spellpower
8.14% Haste
(1.75 sec Smite)

Armory Link

Leveling Oom

My school session finished last Friday, so now I have two weeks of free time to do whatever I please...at least to a certain extent, my work schedule changed from one day to six days a week after my boss found out about my holiday schedule (ops...), but at least I don't have to puzzle through problem sets or write lab reports so no complains there.

I figure it's not really worth the money to resubscribe again only to play for maybe a few hours a week for the next two weeks before completely locking my account until the summer. So instead, I opened up a trial account to test out my leveling theory crafting. With no gold, no party invite privileges, no glyphs, and battling server lag due to streaming, I managed to get to level 10 on Day One. Many will do better than that, since I spend half the time enjoying the scenery. Indeed, I miss Azeroth very much.

So enter Falaris, Night Elf priest on Illidan (US, PVP).

The first 3 levels are relatively easy to get through. Smite casting time is only 1.5 seconds, and it does good damage, so a mob is usually dead within 3-4 casts. Mana and health regeneration is insane, between looking at quest logs and finding the next mushroom, an empty mana bar is usually restored back to full. No drinking required.

At level 4, Shadow Word: Pain is learned. Although it costs a good chunk of mana, this spell does do good damage. At this point, my mana regeneration can still sustain casting this spell, so I went ahead and used the following cast sequence:

Smite -> SW:P -> Smite until 5% -> Weapon damage until dead

The trick so far (due to lack of wand), is to grab a fast weapon, rather than a high damage one. This means that if a quest offers you a mace and a staff, you take the mace unless there are green stats offered by the staff. My reasoning is this: when you attack a mob a level above you (most of the times), you will miss sometimes due to lack of hit rating. It's better to fail at a short small damage then to miss on a big hit that takes forever to execute.

At level 6, Power Word: Shield is learned. This spell is expensive, and with rank 2 Smite coming to the picture, your damage spells are no longer cheap, so you need to save mana as much as possible. Comparing with Lesser Heal, PW: Shield recovers less hp but it does prevent spell pushbacks so it's worth the mana. Rank 2 Smite surpasses SW: P in damage while costing less mana. So what I recommend from here on is to stop casting SW: P and simply go with the following rotation:

PW: Shield -> Smite until 5% -> Weapon damage until dead

Note: If the mob runs, Smite it down before it aggros another mob. Weapon damage only when you feel it's safe to do so.

At around level 8 ~ 9, you will reach a point where if you fight mob one on one, there is no chance of dying from their damage. To save mana, stop casting PW: Shield and simply Smite (yes single button faceroll) until the mob is dead.

Some quests will require you to fight an Elite. In that case, your goal is to bring down the mob before it kills you, so bubble up, dot up, and Smite away.

I think I'm fuzzing too much over the early levels, but I think 1-20 is probably the most painful period in any priest's leveling experience, so I hope this helps.

Edit: Don't forget to buff Power Word: Fortitude.

The Path of Light: 1 - 80 Smite Leveling Guide [3.3]

A priest's offensive arsenal is made up of two school of spells: Holy and Shadow. This guide explores the talent build followed by those who wishes to level using the Holy school of spells. It focuses primarily on talents in the Discipline and Holy tree.

Before we get started, here are some helpful tips

• Always make sure you have the most updated wand possible. Wanding costs no mana, so it's great for finishing a mob off when it's at 10% health.
• Level first aid as you go. Bandages cost no mana and the profession is great for getting rid of those cloth scraps stuffed in your bags.
• Save up gold for glyphs.
• Carry a few stacks of food and water, a few mana and health potions for emergency.
• When you see another class on the road, cast Power Word: Fortitude and Divine Spirit on them. They will most likely return the favour and give you Mark of the Wild, Arcane Brilliance or Blessing of Wisdom. These short buffs will improve your stats temporarily, making you level faster at least for a little while.
• Make friends, party up, drop a heal on someone in danger. You are a priest, play as one.

The build we are aiming for looks like this: 41/27/3 Holy DPS Farming Build

Spell Rotation

Level 1 to 3: Smite until dead
Smite is your only offensive spell besides melee, there aren't a lot of options here.

Level 4 to 9: Smite -> SW:Pain -> Smite until dead
For in depth breakdown, please visit my Leveling Oom post

Level 10 to 19: Mind Blast -> SW:Pain -> PW: Shield -> Smite until 5% -> Wand until dead
Mind Blast does a lot more damage than Smite at this point because of rank differences. It also takes a lot less time to cast. Use this as an opener so that it will be available again for the next mob.

Level 20 to 61: PW: Shield -> Holy Fire -> Smite x 3 -> Mind Blast or Wand
You will learn Holy Fire at level 20. From now on, it is important to pre-shield to avoid interruptions when Glyph of Smite is in effect. Wand until Holy Fire cooldown is finished, then move onto the next mob.

Level 62 to 80: PW: Shield -> Holy Fire -> Smite x 3 -> SW:Death
Use Power Infusion and Inner Focus every cooldown. Don't forget to cast PW:Shield because you now have the reflective shield talent.

Fighting Elites: SW:Pain -> Devouring Plague -> PW:Shield -> Holy Fire -> Smite x3 -> Mind Blast.
Keep DoTs up, refresh shield. Rinse and Repeat.

Shadow

Level 10: 1/3 Spirit Tap
Level 11: 2/3 Spirit Tap
Level 12: 3/3 Spirit Tap Maxed Out!

Holy

Level 13: 1/5 Holy Specialization
Level 14: 2/5 Holy Specialization
Level 15: 3/5 Holy Specialization

Major Glyph I: Glyph of Inner Fire or Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain or Glyph of Power Word: Shield.

At level 15, you will unlock your first major glyph slot. Since Smite damage at early levels are not that high until you reach Searing Light, you will need to cast Shadow Word: Pain as part of your rotation. Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain will give you some mana back. However, depending on your server's economy, this glyph might be priced higher than usual depending on player demand, so an alternative is to grab Glyph of Inner Fire instead.

Glyph of Inner Fire will reduce the physical damage taken by your priest by approximately 8%. Less damage taken means higher survivability and less downtime spent on casting healing spells.

Edit: A third alternative is to take Glyph of Power Word: Shield. The 20% healing from PW: Shield can save you a cast of healing spells here and there, thus saving mana and helping you survive better. It should also be noted that Glyph of PW: Shield can proc Surge of Light at later levels! (Courtesy of Luthvian)

Level 16: 4/5 Holy Specialization
Level 17: 5/5 Holy Specialization Maxed Out!
Level 18: 1/5 Divine Fury
Level 19: 2/5 Divine Fury
Level 20: 3/5 Divine Fury

Major Glyph I: Replace with Glyph of Smite

At level 20, you will learn a new spell called Holy Fire. Glyph of Smite will now come into effect so purchase it as soon as possible from your closest Auction House. Unfortunately, you will not get another major glyph slot until level 30 so you must destroy whatever glyph you have in your slot for now to make space for the Smite glyph.

Level 21: 4/5 Divine Fury
Level 22: 5/5 Divine Fury Maxed Out!
Level 23: 1/1 Desperate Prayer
Level 24: 1/3 Blessed Recovery
Level 25: 2/3 Blessed Recovery
Level 26: 3/3 Blessed Recovery Maxed Out!

Blessed Recovery doesn't heal for all that much but the keyword here is that it doesn't cost any mana at all. It works regardless of whether the damage you take is absorbed or not. So a small ticks here and there might just save a few casts of heals from time to time.

An alternative to Blessed Recovery is to take 3/3 in Improved Renew. Renew is instant and can be used on the run or in between pulls to fill your health up. It might be a slow heal but when you are in no danger of dying, it is your most efficient heal.

Level 27: 1/2 Healing Focus
Level 28: 1/2 Searing Light
Level 29: 2/2 Searing Light Maxed Out!
Level 30: 1/2 Holy Reach

Major Glyph II: Glyph of Holy Nova or Glyph of Inner Fire or Glyph of Power Word: Shield

At level 30, you unlock your second major glyph slot. If you are feeling a bit daredevil-ish, grab Glyph of Holy Nova and try out some aoe grinding. Cast SW:Pain and Devoured Plague on the first mob, and SW:Pain on all other consecutive mob you pull. PW: Shield yourself, and wait until all the mobs are gathered neatly around you. Holy Nova spam until everything is dead. Cast a Renew on yourself to even out some of the damage. If you accidentally pulled too many, drop a fear bomb (Psychic Scream) and heal up. Make sure you are at full health and mana before every pull. Don't try pulling too many at a time or else you will certainly die. Five is usually a nice number, but you can pull more if you think your mana pool can sustain it.

If you prefer single target steady leveling, grab Glyph of Inner Fire or Glyph of Power Word: Shield.

Level 31: 2/2 Holy Reach Maxed Out!
Level 32: 2/2 Healing Focus Maxed Out!
Level 33: 1/5 Spiritual Guidance
Level 34: 2/5 Spiritual Guidance
Level 35: 3/5 Spiritual Guidance
Level 36: 4/5 Spiritual Guidance
Level 37: 5/5 Spiritual Guidance Maxed Out!
Level 38: 1/2 Surge of Light
Level 39: 2/2 Surge of Light Maxed Out!

Discipline

Level 40: 1/5 Twin Disciplines
Level 41: 2/5 Twin Disciplines
Level 42: 3/5 Twin Disciplines
Level 43: 4/5 Twin Disciplines
Level 44: 5/5 Twin Disciplines Maxed Out!
Level 45: 1/3 Improved Inner Fire
Level 46: 2/3 Improved Inner Fire
Level 47: 3/3 Improved Inner Fire Maxed Out!
Level 48: 1/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
Level 49: 2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude Maxed Out!
Level 50: 1/1 Inner Focus

Level 51: 1/3 Meditation
Level 52: 2/3 Meditation
Level 53: 3/3 Meditation Maxed Out!
Level 54: 1/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
Level 55: 2/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
Level 56: 3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield Maxed Out!
Level 57: 1/3 Mental Agility
Level 58: 2/3 Mental Agility
Level 59: 3/3 Mental Agility Maxed Out!
Level 60: 1/1 Soul Warding

Level 61: 1/2 Reflective Shield
Level 62: 2/2 Reflective Shield Maxed Out!

At level 62, you learn a new spell called Shadow Word: Death. This spell makes a nice finishing move and it is instant. If you like using this spell, replace Glyph of Holy Nova with Glyph of Shadow Word: Death. This will increase the damage done by SW:D by 10% for mobs under 35% health.

Level 63: 1/5 Mental Strength
Level 64: 2/5 Mental Strength
Level 65: 1/2 Focused Power
Level 66: 2/2 Focused Power Maxed Out
Level 67: 3/5 Mental Strength
Level 68: 4/5 Mental Strength
Level 69: 5/5 Mental Strength Maxed Out!
Level 70: 1/1 Power Infusion

Congratulations on reaching level 70. From here on out, you have two options. If you wish to continue the path of solo leveling, follow this guide. If you are more interested in healing instances, try reading my other 70 to 80 wrath leveling guide which further breaks down the talents and explains some of logic behind it.

Level 71: 1/3 Focused Will
Level 72: 2/3 Focused Will
Level 73: 3/3 Focused Will Maxed Out!

The reason I'm recommending Focused Will before anything else here is to give you the option to start some serious aoe leveling via Holy Nova. Focused Will not only gives you extra crit, but also significantly reduce the amount of physical damage taken when you are beating on by a train of mobs.

As for pulling style, the generic is quite simple. PW:Shield yourself, gather up the mobs, activate Power Infusion and do Holy Nova spam until everything is dead. Use the Surge of Light proc to kill off the lowest health mob to proc Spirit Tap. Also, use Surge of Light to heal yourself if your health drops too low.

An alternative is the following:

1. Grind Holy Fire/Smite style until 25% mana (but 100% health)
2. Send out Shadowfiend (Offensive) on target A, activate Shadowcrawl.
3. PW: Shield yourself and pull target B,C,D,E,F,G etc.(as many as you can handle, but no more than 10) do this quickly.
4. Gather B,C,D,E,F,G neatly around you and run to Target A.
5. Shadowfiend will now expire, you should now have 90% mana. Target A should be at near death.
6. Activate Power Infusion and start casting Holy Nova.
7. The first few casts will kill Target A, its death will grant you Spirit Tap.
8. Use Surge of Light Smite to kill off fleeing mobs or use Surge of Light Flash Heal to heal yourself
9. Spirit Tap from target A will now expire, target B,C,D,E,F,G etc will drop dead soon after, and a second Spirit Tap will kick in while you loot the bodies

Sounds complicated? Perhaps, but the whole point of this is to make sure you have Spirit Tap up for the whole duration of your Holy Nova aoe, as it will boost your in combat mana regeneration significantly.

Shadowfiend has a long 5 minutes cooldown, so you need to make sure that you take full advantage of it when it's up. For this reason, it is not recommended that you use it on the same target you are smiting, as the target will likely die before your Shadowfiend expires.

Level 74: 1/3 Enlightenment
Level 75: 1/3 Rapture

Rank 1 Rapture will essential reduce the mana cost of your PW:Shield by 50%

Level 76: 1/2 Aspiration
Level 77: 2/2 Aspiration Maxed Out!
Level 78: 2/3 Enlightenment
Level 79: 3/3 Enlightenment Maxed Out!
Level 80: 1/1 Pain Suppression

At level 80, you will unlock your final major glyph slot.

Congratulations on reaching level 80. I hope you have enjoyed Smite leveling so far, but the fun has just started.

The 41/27/3 build you now have at level 80 is actually a farming build designed specifically for doing daily quests. So use it as a dual-spec option for saving up that epic flyer or other things required for the many gold sinks Blizzard have made for us.

Major Glyphs: Glyph of Smite, Glyph of Holy Nova, and Glyph of Shadow Word: Death (single target heavy)/Glyph of Inner Fire (aoe heavy)

Minor Glyphs: Glyph of Levitate (for fun). The other two slots are completely up to you.

Designing My Own Priest Talents/Glyphs for the Next Expansion

With the announcement of the new expansion, I'm quite excited to see what the class designers have in mind for the priest class. Well...actually I just have nothing to write at the moment so I thought I'll make up my own. The idea here is to favour Holy DPS but not to the point of destroying class balance - ie. nothing too overpowered.

Glyph of Holy Fire - Reduce the cooldown of Holy Fire by 3 seconds and increase its damage over time component by 15%.

Holy Fire cooldown ruins smite rotation, so remove it.

Glyph of Surge of Light - Your Surge of Light will automatically fire a non-critical Smite at the enemy when triggered. This effect costs no mana and does not consume a global cooldown. However, your Surge of Light no longer affects your Flash Heal spell.

GCD of Surge of Light ruins smite rotation, remove it, but not let it affect Flash Heal so that healing priest won't go into god mode.
Talent Fix:

Searing Light 3/3 - Increase the damage of your Smite, Holy Fire, Holy Nova, and Penance spell by 5/10/15%

10% damage increase is not enough, let's increase it slightly.

Holy Precision 3/3 - Increase your chance to hit with offensive holy spells by 1/2/3% and reduce the mana cost of your Smite, Holy Fire, and Holy Nova spell by 5/10/15%

No one wants to carry 600 spell hit rating on their gear at level 85, don't leave us out with the heavy duty gear please.

Improved Spirit Tap 2/2 - Your harmful spells have a 3/5 % chance to grand you the effect of Spirit Tap during combat.

This will benefit our mana regeneration. It's also great for leveling and the talent is still beneficial to shadow priests. I see this as a build in mana trinket.

NEW* Martyrdom 1/1 (Replacing Lightwell) - Activate Spirit of Redemption at will. When the effect ends, the priest's health is reduced by 50%. 3 minutes cooldown.

Lightwell sucks, no one knows how to use it. Priests have been crying about it for years now. I figure it's only logical to have a talent related to Spirit of Redemption, why would you set it as the prerequisite otherwise? I added in the side effect because the talent is overpowered in pvp otherwise. But it is still useful in pvp, just pop guardian spirit after this, heal up and your guardian spirit will reset to 1 minute cooldown.

So what do you think? Feel free to post ideas on your own blog. Let me know and I will link your post back to here.

Response Posts:
Smite Priests and the Mastery System by Kourtnie McKenzie

Surge of Light vs. Non-SoL: Not So Serious Version

This is my most recent attempt at number crunching Surge of Light vs. non Surge of Light. And no this is not a well planned "serious" post, I'm doing this for two simple reasons: 1. To show that this blog is not dead, and 2. To hope that I can attract a wow math wizard somewhere to verify my calculation. (I'm very unsure about my method of calculating this) I'm incapable of developing a straightforward formulas for every possible variable combination (lack of brain I apologize) so I'm using an excel sheet to help me generalizing numbers, just so I can see the range of things.

So let's get down to business, what we are looking for is whether Surge of Light actually improves the dps output of a 37/27/7 Holy Fire Spec (I say Holy Fire because without it, Smite nuke numbers are low).

Assumptions:

• You have enough haste to enable 1.33 global cooldown and 4 x smite in every holy fire DoT duration.
• Cast duration is 272 seconds (4 and half minutes non stop approximately)
• 24 cycles: 24 Holy Fire, 96 Smite, so we have a total of 120 casts.
  
• Ignoring damage done by other spells
• Hit capped, 2000 spellpower, 37/27/7 pure holy dps build

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/2585/screenshotlc.png

Top table is with SoL, bottom table is not. Blue represents "real time", orange represents "ideal time or pure dps"

The Smite glyph has a lot of limitations, the fact that holy fire DoT runs shorter than Holy Fire cooldown creates "gaps" in between casting. During these gaps, casting Smite un-glyphed is inefficient, it also reduces the effectiveness of haste, since the primary advantage of a SoL smite is that you spend only 1.33 seconds casting it instead of 1.74.

As you can see, in "Real Time", SoL dps is lower than non SoL dps, but that is perhaps compensated with filler spells such as SW:Death or Mind Blast, since 1.74 seconds normal smite won't allow you to squeeze those spells into your rotation (at least not as many).

However, if you were to assume "pure dps" calculated ignoring spell cooldown and waiting times, SoL spec will have higher dps output than non SoL build up to and until 80% critical strike rating.

Note: spreadsheet not done with easy understanding in mind, it's just a quick sum up of what I imagine the calculation should be, some columns should be ignored as they are used to check formulas and consistency.

Serious Blow to Holy DPS: Heartcrashing Statement from Blizzard

08/04/2009 12:17:15 AM PDT

We have no intention of majorly supporting a Smite-centric, Holy-damage-focused priest build.

Smite is there to give you something to hit at low level and give you some ability to do damage in a Holy or Disc build. But we don't expect it to do competitive dps with a Shadow build. Shadow is your dps spec.
_____________________
Ghostcrawler
Lead Systems Designer

Source: WoW US Forum

The statement is harsh but never the least unexpected. *goes back to target dummy* No I am not closing this blog. I have had too much fun frying hordes with 6k smite crit to quit at this point.

Holy Fire Damage Calculation

DD - Direct Damage
DoT - Damage over Time

DD Tooltip Dmg = (Tooltip Maximum Dmg + Tooltip Minimum Dmg)/2
Holy Fire DD Tooltip Dmg = (890 + 1130)/2 =1010

DD Base Dmg = Tooltip Dmg + (Spell Power x Spell Power Coefficient)
@ 2000 Spell Power
Holy Fire DD Base Dmg = 1010 + (2000 x 0.5711) = 2152.20

DD Total Dmg = Base Dmg x % Modifier A x % Modifier B x ... % Modifier Z
@ 2000 Spell Power w/ Talents: Searing Light (10%), Focused Power (4%)
Holy Fire DD Total Dmg = 2152.20 x 1.10 x 1.04 = 2462.12

DoT Base Dmg = Tooltip Dmg + (Spell Power x Spell Power Coefficient)
@ 2000 Spell Power
Holy Fire DoT Base Tick Dmg = 50 + (2000 x 0.024) = 98

DoT Total Dmg = Base Tick Dmg x Number of Ticks x % Modifier A x % Modifier B x ... % Modifier Z
@ 2000 Spell Power w/ Talents: Searing Light (10%), Focused Power (4%)
Holy Fire DoT Total Dmg = 98 x 7 x 1.10 x 1.04 = 784.78

Total Dmg = DD Total + DoT Total
Holy Fire Total Dmg = 2462.12 + 784.78 = 3246.89

Crit Dmg = DD Total x Crit Modifier* + DoT Total
Holy Fire Crit Dmg = 2462.12 x 1.5 + 784.78 = 4477.96

* Crit Modifier is 150% or 1.5. Only Holy Fire's direct damage (DD) component can crit. Damage done by DoT component will remain the same.

Side Post: Check Out My Chick Scratch on Deviantart

I picked up my paint brush again after so long. This is my latest piece, not the best but it's good for a laugh.

Tier II Transcendence by ~overwritten on deviantART

I think I will be drawing Faith next, probably on a Dwarf priest :D

Side Post: Thank you for your support!

I just want to take a moment to thank all my visitors for visiting my blog. Holy Fire Spec reached 10000 hits today :)

I know it seems that I went MIA for the month. The truth is I was a little busy IRL. As for the lack of posts, yes it's my fault. A good blogger can manage blog and IRL together, I guess I failed that horribly. -__-

In other news, I sort of quit wow...*pause*. Well, if you ever checked my armory profiles, I haven't logged on since March 2009. That wasn't originally my intentions, but after some careful consideration, I decided that it is for the best. Will this affect my blog? In a way yes.

You see, I feel less credible for the information I post when I don't play the game on a regular bases. I'm a theorycrafting addict, but it's rather hard to justify my opinions to my readers when my toons are all inactive. Even if I have tonnes of numbers and math of back up my claims, there will be doubts. I feel that I don't have rights to instruct people in their style of playing when I'm not subscribed myself. /mumbling

But I like venting about numbers, so I will continue to post even though I no longer play. For all the time I spend on wow forums and such, I should get something right.

And no, I'm not quitting wow permanently, it's just a temporary thing. I'm working to save up tuition and other little things, hopefully I will have a few dollars left for multi-boxing eventually.

Smite Leveling Build Lvl 70 to 80 [3.1 Edition]

If you are looking for an alternative leveling spec other than shadow to do your Wotlk grind from level 70 to 80, consider the following Smite build:

Discipline & Holy Hybrid: 31/27/3

Discipline (31 points)
5/5 Twin Disciplines damage & healing
3/3 Improved Inner Fire damage & healing via spellpower gained from buff
2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude survivability
3/3 Meditation mana conservation
1/1 Inner Focus mana conservation
3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield survivability
3/3 Mental Agility mana conservation
2/2 Reflective Shield damage
5/5 Mental Strength mana conservation
1/1 Soul Warding survivability & mana conservation
2/2 Focused Power damage & healing
1/1 Power Infusion damage & healing

Holy (27 points)
3/3 Improved Renew healing
5/5 Holy Specialization damage & healing
5/5 Divine Fury damage & healing
1/1 Desperate Prayer survivability
1/3 Inspiration filler
3/3 Improved Healing healing
2/2 Searing Light damage
5/5 Spiritual Guidance damage & healing
2/2 Surge of Light damage & healing

Shadow (3 points)
3/3 Spirit Tap mana conservation

With this build, you gain the best of both worlds. You can deal descent damage using your holy offensive spells for solo leveling or dpsing in instances. As well, you still retain your full ability to heal if you wish to take on such role.

As you level up, addition talent points can be placed to improve your leveling experience in the following order:

Level 71: 1/1 Spirit of Redemption
Level 72: 1/3 Enlightenment
Level 73: 2/3 Enlightenment
Level 74: 3/3 Enlightenment
Level 75: 1/3 Focused Will
Level 76: 2/3 Focused Will
Level 77: 3/3 Focused Will
Level 78: 1/2 Aspiration
Level 79: 2/2 Aspiration

If you prefer offensive damage dealing rather than healing, you can choose to max out Focused Will before Enlightenment for the extra critical strike ratings.

At level 79, your build should look like this: 39/28/3

A holy dps hybrid build is about maximizing your attributes and using them to your advantage. Talents are there to increase your intellect, stamina, spirit, and spellpower so that no attribute is wasted. I shall be bold and say that a holy dps hybrid build gives you the mana regeneration of a discipline priest, the healing capability of a holy priest, and damage numbers that can match a shadow priest when it comes to burst.

Typical Spell Rotation for Soloing
PW: Shield -> Holy Fire -> Smite x 2 or 3 -> SW: Death

Use Power Infusion and Inner Focus every cooldown. For Elites, apply Devouring Plague and SW: Pain after PW: Shield but before Holy Fire.

Typical Healing Strategy (Similar to Holy Priests)

• Keep Renew on tank at all time.
• Keep Prayer of Mending on bounce.
• Use Greater Heal for large damage.
  
• Use Surge of Light triggered Flash Heal to patch up small damage. Use Renew on Life Taping warlocks or those needing patch up in between pulls.
• Cast Fade if you pull aggro. Use Binding Heal if your Fade is on cooldown and your PW: Shield broke leaving you with the Weakened Soul effect.
  
• Use Desperate Prayer on yourself when you take heavy damage. Keep yourself alive.
• Use Inner Focus with high mana costing spells such as Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing.
• For heavy aoe damage, use Power Infusion coupled with Prayer of Healing.
• Activate Power Infusion when healing heavy spike damage to increase your casting speed.
• Use PW:Shield on squishy mages or other dps who pulls aggro. Shield tank if you think he is in danger of dying before your Greater Heal lands. Your PW: Shield is cheap enough to be used when you need it but not cheap enough to spam like discipline priests.

Glyphs Choices
Before reaching level 80, you only have two major glyph slots and three minor glyph slots. For your major glyphs, Glyph of Smite is a must, followed by Glyph of Shadow Word: Death is what I personally recommend. For minor glyphs, take Glyph of Levitate (for laughs), Shadowfiend, and Fade.

What Do You Remember About Being A Newbie?

I got tagged by Luthvian over at Polymorph: Pwny on an interesting topic regarding "noobish mistakes" from when we were newbies, so here goes nothing.

• The first toon I created in WoW was a mage. Been a long time Diablo II player I thought the talent trees mechanics work the same way in WoW as that in Diablo II. That is, you can't respec after you have inputted the points. The only way to respec was to make a new toon, at least that's what I thought. Heh guess what I did when I accidentally screwed up the talent points? Let's just say I know the human starting area very well, perhaps more so than I wished.
• My first Deadmine trip was fantastic. I think I spend a good four hours in that place? Never really finished in the end.
• During my second Deadmine trip, I noticed the druid in my group not doing anything but following me around. As both a clicker and a newbie, I guess I had some heavy tunnel vision. Been the aggro monster mage that I was, I didn't realize the druid was a healer until he offered to battle rez me after a wipe. Good thing I kept my mouth shut about him not doing any dps. "Ah so the green ribbon stuff you put on me were heals?" /facepalm
• I didn't know what a wand does until well into my late 20 levels.
• I thought you have to empty a bag completely in order to replace it with a bigger bag, so I vendored all my stuff every time I got a new bag.
• In my early levels, I avoided duals because I thought I'll lose all my equipment and gold. (I blame Diablo II)
• I didn't know about rest experience until I entered Outland.
• I thought getting killed by opposite faction members will destroy your experience points and turn your armor all red.
• As a priest, I healed by clicking on my party's portrait then click on the spell in my cast bar. I healed like this from level 1 to 60 as shadow. It was not until I entered level 70 heroic dungeons did I start to remotely use keybinding. I suppose all that mouse exercise from Diablo II made me a really fast clicker, as no one ever really complained about my healing. Think back, I don't really understand how I managed that. /finger flex
• I didn't know what a Battleground is until level 30 something.
• I thought you can only play on one realm with a single account.
• I rolled a Night Elf priest before making my current one which is a human. I think I spend a good half hour searching for the "Star Shard" spell in my spell book. I died a little inside when I found out that I was not suppose to have it due to priest racials. I always loved Desperate Prayer though.
• Going into battleground in a wedding dress and a white staff. I figure I won't be targeted as much...
• I had Warlock phobia for the longest time. See?
  
• I didn't know what DPS means, I thought it was another code name for mage.
• I didn't know what QQ means for the longest time.
• I once vowed I would always stay shadow on my priest...thought it was authentic or something.
  
• I'm a slacker when it comes to dailies, so saving gold for flying mounts is very difficult for me. I didn't have enough gold to buy cold weather flight skill for Woltk for the longest time. The first time I went to Naxx was with a pug. Someone was looking for one more dps in the trade channel. I offered my shadow priest, joined the raid, then realized that I only had 6oo gold in my bag. I told them "brb", and went off to all my alts, shipped all the gold from my bank mule, vendored all items I can find on my alts, and mailed everything to my priest. After 15 minutes, after clearing out half of my bank and vendoring all my TBC epics, I managed to gather 1000 gold with a few extra copper for repair. It was very silly. I was going to keep my TBC stuff for nostalgic reasons, but after a smooth Naxx clear in less than four hours, I guess my last minute effort at gathering gold was not in vain after all. Although I did feel like a newbie all over again, I still am.

Obvious Things to Know When Playing A Priest

1. Haste effect from Power Infusion does not stack with Heroism / Bloodlust.
2. Power Infusion can be used on others.
3. Twin Discipline affects Smite and Flash Heal triggered by Surge of Light. It also affects Mind Flay and Penance as an exception. It also increases Power Word: Shield (PW:S) absorption amount as well as healing done from Glyph of PW:S
4. Inner Focus + Divine Hymn = ZOMG!
5. Improved Inner Fire not only increases armor value granted by Inner Fire (IF), it also increases the total spellpower gained from IF by 54, giving you a total of 174 spellpower from the IF buff.
6. Aspiration reduces the cooldown of your Power Infusion, Pain Suppression, Inner Focus, and Penance spells on a percentage base. This means the shorter the cooldown, the smaller the reduction. For example, if Penance has a 10 secs cooldown, it will be reduced to 8 secs by Aspiration. If Penance has a 8 secs cooldown from Glyph of Penance, it will be reduced to 6.4 secs, -1.6 secs by Aspiration.
7. Pain Suppression is not bullet proof. It only reduces damage taken by 40%. You can still die when under the effect of PS so heal yourself!
8. Spell Warding reduces all magical damage taken. This includes curses, spells, fire/frost/nature/arcane/holy/shadow boss damage.
9. Desperate Prayer can saves raids. Dead priests can't heal. So spend a point for your own good.
10. Spirit of Redemption doesn't last that long. Evil GCD! You can cancel the effect by right click on the SoR icon on your buff bar.
11. Warlocks love Lightwell, doesn't mean you will spec into it, but still, warlocks love it so spread some love.
12. Guardian Spirit + Your Faction Leader = Angry Opposite Faction Raiders
13. Power Infusion + Prayer of Healing = ZOMG! And you think discipline sucks at aoe healing? (well, they do comparing with holy, but they don't suck as much as you think they do)
14. Dispersion is not bullet proof if you cast it at 5% health
15. You have a buff called Shadow Protection. It's one of those things you can use to not die on a certain Voidwalker in Violet Hold.
16. You have a spell called Power Word: Shield. It prevents spell pushbacks, it can be cast on others. It doesn't matter if you are discipline, holy, or shadow. Use it, love it, it saves lives.
17. Mind Control + Opposite Faction Players + Arathi Basin Lumber Mill = Death
18. Levitate + High Grounds = Soft Landing
19. Levitate can be used on others
20. Spirit Tap and Improved Spirit Tap do not stack
21. Spirit Tap is great for leveling.
    
22. Cure Disease, Abolish Disease, Fear Ward, Shackle Undead are all castable in Shadowform
23. First Aid does not cost mana, so learn it, use it, and love it. Especially if you play shadow.
24. You have a spell called Mind Vision. It can be used on friends or foes. It cannot be dispelled. Rank two does not require Line of Sight. Cast Mind Vision on rogue or druid before a duel will prevent them from going into stealth. You can also target flag carriers using Mind Vision, a wonderful spy glass. (Just keep an eye on your own health, while your mind is away in another's, your body is still in a war zone.)
    
25. You can break Polymorph by timing your Shadow Word: Death to land at the same time as Polymorph to break cc.
26. You can Dispel.
27. You have a spell called Binding Heal, it heals both yourself and your target for an amount equal to a Flash Heal. Consider it as a double Flash Heal that takes less time to cast and cost less mana with a lot less threat.
28. You have a spell called Mind Soothe, it's great to use on targets before Mind Controlling them. But be careful as it can be resisted. When that happens, be prepared to run as you will pull a whole pack of mobs. Also, Mind Soothe animation look exactly like Sap, so toss this around in battleground to cause some serious confusion, enough to keep your target starring at the screen for a fraction of a second or so. It might just be enough to get you out of a tough spot.
29. As a priest, half of your spellbook is filled with healing spells, so use them. Even if you are shadow, you can still heal in emergency situations.
30. If you apply Shadow Word: Pain before x5 stacks of Shadow Weaving, you need to reapply it yourself after reaching the 5 stacks. SW:P refreshed by Mind Flay will not carry on the characteristics of the new 5 stack SW, causing you to lose a good chunk of your dps.
31. Glyph of Smite is excellent for leveling.

The list goes on and on, there's probably a lot more obvious things but I just cannot remember them at the moment. o.O"

Holy DPS Talent Builds 3.1

version 3 - updated to include a solo farming build

Smite is a holy dps build for priests. It is a discipline and holy hybrid build with two backbone talents:

Holy: Surge of Light
Discipline: Power Infusion

The above are the absolute standard for any Smite build, due to the nature of our holy dps spells. Additional essentials to a Smite build include but are not limited to the following:

Holy: Searing Light, Holy Specialization, Divine Fury, Spiritual Guidance
Discipline: Improved Inner Fire, Inner Focus, Meditation, Mental Strength, Focused Power

Allocation of all other talent points may vary based on personal preference and role. In this post, I will explain some of these variations and their uses. Each build is followed by a short description with highlighted talents explaining the reason behind the spec.

I. Raid DPS - Maximum Damage Build (37/27/7)

This build is designed for 10/25 man raid instances. It is designed to maximize your damage output.

2/2 Aspiration
This talent reduces the cooldown of your Power Infusion by 24 seconds and your Inner Focus by 36 seconds. Using PI and IF every cooldown will save you mana as well as increase your dps. Also, it is important that you know when your shamans will pop Heroism/Bloodlust because haste effect from PI does not stack with Heroism/Bloodlust.

5/5 Darkness
Half of the spells you will cast in a raid setting will be shadow. These include Shadow Word: Pain, Shadow Word: Death, Devouring Plague, and Mind Sear. Darkness will effectively boost you damage output from all these spells by 10%.

2/2 Improved Shadow Word: Pain
Increases the damage of your SW:Pain by 6%.

5/5 Spell Warding
This filler talent will increase your overall raid survivability by reducing all magical damage taken by 10%. Magical damage include fire in OS 3 Drakes, frost from Sapphiron, and arcane from Malygos.

1/1 Soul Warding
Inexpensive shield is useful because it prevents spell pushbacks.

0/1 Spirit of Redemption
SoR is usually taken from a pure utility point of view. If you accidentally fall to your demise, you can at least help out the raid by Flash Heal spamming for a few seconds. The spirit and spellpower boost that comes with it are rather trivial, a mere 13 spellpower and 50 spirit with a stats of 1000 spirit. So for this build, we will avoid this talent.

II. Raid DPS - Mana Craving Build (34/27/10)

An alternative of I, this build contains mana conservation talents that will improve your dps longevity.

3/3 Spirit Tap
A prerequisite for Improved Spirit Tap. This talent will benefit you during trash pulls.

2/2 Improved Spirit Tap
If you cast Shadow Word: Death every cooldown, this talent will grant you an amount of mana equivalent to 2/3 of a Runic Mana Potion every 10 minutes. Result may vary based on gear.

0/2 Improved Shadow Word: Pain
0/2 Aspiration

III. Solo Farming Build (41/27/3)

This build is designed for solo farming. It contains talents that will increase your solo survivability, longevity, and efficiency.

3/3 Spirit Tap
This will improve your mana regeneration significantly.

1/1 Soul Warding
Reduces the cost of your PW: Shield by 15%.

2/2 Reflective Shield
At 2000 spell power, this talent will do approximately 2250 damage per shield on average, enough to save you a cast of SW: Death.

1/3 Rapture
Rank 1 Rapture returns mana equal to 1.5% of your total mana pool. In other word, if you have a 20k mana pool, you have just reduced the mana cost of your PW: Shield by half! Not a bad filler at all.

1/1 Pain Supression
This talent will save your life. Fighting an elite bigger than your size? PS yourself for less incoming damage. Accidently pulled a whole village of murlocs? PS yourself and aoe them down. Random players trying to gank you? PS yourself and laugh in their face.

Smite: Nuke Damage Numbers

Q. How much damage does Smite do?
A. Enough to nuke your face off.

/end late crappy April Fools' attempt, I don't have the gene sorry.

However, to properly answer the above question, I did prepare a data table for easy understanding. Here's the math:

Sample Calculations

Tooltip Dmg = (Tooltip Maximum Dmg + Tooltip Minimum Dmg)/2
Smite Tooltip Dmg = (707 + 793)/2 = 750

Base Dmg = Tooltip Dmg + (Spell Power x Spell Power Coefficient)
@ 500 Spell Power
Smite Base Dmg = 750 + (500 x 0.7143) = 1107.15

Total Dmg = Base Dmg x % Modifier A x % Modifier B x ... % Modifier Z
@ 500 Spell Power w/ Talents: Searing Light (10%), Focused Power (4%)
Smite Total Dmg = 1107.15 x 1.10 x 1.04 = 1266.58

% Modifiers

Searing Light: 10%, 1.10
Focused Power: 4%, 1.04
Twin Discipline (Surge of Light Only): 5%, 1.05
Glyph of Smite: 20%, 1.20
Critical: 150%, 1.50

Note: Critical Sum is the sum of SoL Smite and Critical Smite. However, because SoL Smite uses up an additional Global Cooldown, it should not be compared with other spell criticals.





Although Smite damage numbers are not in the "omfg nukage ownz" category, the introduction of the new Glyph of Smite is a much welcomed improvement of what we had before. I'm glad we are finally reaching the 6k critical mark, now is the moment to wish for more Sundial proc :)

Upcoming:
- Holy DPS spell comparison

Smite 101: Spell Hit Cap

Spell hit ratings increase your chance to hit with your spells and reduces the chance your spells will be missed by a mob. At level 80, you have a 100% chance to hit mobs that are four levels lower than you (level 76) and a 83% chance to hit mobs that are three levels higher than you (level 83 = raid boss).

As of Patch 3.0, it is possible to stack spell hit ratings to a certain point to obtain 100% chance to hit on a level 83 raid boss. This point is known as the "hit cap". To reach the hit cap, you are required to have 17% hit. Every 26.23 spell hit ratings will grand you 1% hit. In other word, you will need a total of 446 spell hit ratings to reach the hit cap (17% hit). That's a lot of spell hit ratings to stack, but -

Almost all offensive caster classes have + 3 % hit talents in their talent trees. Shadow priests gain 6% hit with Misery and Shadow Focus so they only need 289 spell hit rating to reach hit cap. Moonkins gain 7% hit with Balance of Power and Improved Faerie Fire so they only need 263 spell hit rating to reach hit cap. Shamans, mages, and warlocks all have basic +3% hit talents in their respective talent trees (+6% for certain schools of spells) so they only need at most 368 spell hit ratings to reach hit cap.

Overall, reaching the hit cap is not difficult with talent specializations, except for Smite priests.

The priest talent trees do not have talents that increase your chance to hit with holy spells, so by default, you are required to have 446 spell hit ratings to reach hit cap for wotlk raids.

446 SPELL HIT RATINGS?!

Unfortunately, this is the sad dilemma that every wotlk smite priest have to deal with today. The rule of thumb for every offensive caster is to honor the hit cap beyond all other stats. But the game's itemization at this point is not designed to provide a caster with this much spell hit ratings while still support all other stats the caster needs. Stacking spell hit rating to 446 will almost certainly force you to neglecting other important attributes needed for a smite priest to be successful. What you can do however is to find the right balance based on your raid make up. So just how much spell hit rating do you really need to play a smite priest?

25 Man Raids - Alliance: 341 , Horde: 368

A shadow priest's Misery debuff (+3% hit) or a moonkin's Improved Faerie Fire debuff (+3% hit) can increase your chance to hit on the debuffed target by 3%. If you have a draenei in your group, you gain an additional 1% to hit. Since Misery and IFF do not stack, in a perfect raid setting, the most hit you will gain from raid buff is 4%. This means you still need 13% hit or 341 spell hit rating to reach hit cap. 14% or 368 spell hit rating if you are horde due to lack of Heroic Presence.

The chance of not having a draenei in your raid is non-existent on the alliance side. So be sure to kindly ask your raid leader to place you in a draenei's group so you can get Heroic Presences. If you do not a shadow priest or moonkin in a 25 men raid group, you are in the wrong raid. :/

Note: Draenei's Heroic Presence is a group only buff and has a limited 30 yard range. So during raids, you do need to pay attention to the distance between you and your draenei buddy. Unless of course you are draenei yourself. Happy stalking. (Courtesy of Luthvian)

10 Man Raid - 401 spell hit rating

It is recommended that you carry two sets of gear for 10 man raids. One set with a total of 401 spell hit ratings and another with 368 spell hit ratings. If you have a shadow priest or moonkin in your raid, switch to use the 368 set. If you don't have neither of them in your raid, switch to your 401 set and just use Elixir of Accuracy (45) every hour for the duration of your raid.

5 Man Heroics - 158 spell hit rating

Bosses in 5 man heroics are level capped at 82, so you only need 6% hit rating to reach the 5 man hit cap. 6 x 26.23 = 158 spell hit rating.

List of Pre-Raid Spell Hit Gear

Staves

Chilly Slobberknocker - Quest: The Champion of Anguish, Zul'Drak
Stave of Youthful Sorrow - Quest: Tirion's Gambit, Icecrown
Zebra's Misplaced Staff - BOE Drop
Frostbite Warstaff - Quest: Conversing With the Depths, Dragonblight

Dagger

Flameheart Spell Scalpel - Kirin Tor - Revered, Alvareaux, Dalaran
Ritualist's Bloodletter - Quest: Time to Hide, Icecrown

Wand

Ancient Measuring Rod - Loken, Halls of Lightning (Normal)
Wand of the San'layn - Prince Keleseth, Utgarde Keep (Heroic)
Frail Bone Wand - Quest: The Rider of the Unholy, Icecrown
Wand of Blinding Light - Quest: The Cleansing of Jintha'kalar, Dragonblight

Off Hand

Ward of the Violet Citadel - 25 Emblem of Heroism
Telestra's Journal - Grand Magus Telestra, The Nexus (Heroic)

Chest

Ebonweave Robe - BOE Tailoring
Heroes' Raiments of Faith - 80 Emblem of Heroism
Water-Drenched Robe - Ichoron, The Violet Hold (Heroic)
Robes of Lightning - Quest: Whatever It Takes!, Halls of Lightning
Turtle-Minders Robe - The Kalu'ak - Honored, Sairuk (Dragonblight) or Tanaika (Howling Fjord)
Wastewind Garments - Quest: The Noble's Crypt (A)/Torture the Torturer (H), Dragonblight

Foot

Titan-forged Slippers of Dominance - 15 Wintergrasp Mark of Honour
Leiah's Footpads - Quest: The Air Stands Still, Icecrown

Hands

Ebonweave Gloves - BOE tailoring
Lava Burn Gloves - Lavanthor, The Violet Hold (Normal)

Head

Titan-forged Hood of Dominance - 40 Wintergrasp Mark of Honor
Hate of Wintry Doom - BOE tailoring
The Argent Skullcap - Quest: The Crusader's Pinnacle, Icecrown
Chitin-Reinforced Hood - Quest: The Sapphire Queen, Sholazar Basin
Mildred's Cowl - Quest: Discipline, The Storm Peaks

Leg

none :(

Shoulder
Mantle of the Underhalls - Quest: Revenge for the Vargul, Icecrown
Spaulders of the Runeseeker - Quest: The Activation Rune, Un'Goro Crater
Bell-Ringer's Shoulderpads - Quest: Drak'aguul's Mallet, Grizzly Hills

Waist

Girdle of Bane - King Ymiron, Utgarde Pinnacle (Heroic)
Plush Sash of Guzbah - 40 Emblem of Heroism, Dalaran
Belt of Unified Souls - Meathook, The Culling of Stratholme (Heroic)
Flowing Sash of Order - Loken, Halls of Lightning (Heroic)
Sash of the Wizened Wyrm - The Wyrmrest Accord - Honored, Cielstrasza, Dragonblight
Lithe Stalker's Cord - Quest: The Vile Hold, Icecrown
Braided Bat Sinew - Quest: Clipping Their Wings, Zul'Drak

Wrist

Fleshwerk Shackles - Quest: Killing Two Scourge With One Skeleton, Icecrown
Southsayer's Wristwrap - Quest: Hell Hath a Fury, Zul'Drak
Highseas Wristwrap - Quest: A Righteous Sermon (A)/Fire Upon the Waters (H), Dragonblight

Cloaks

Hateful Gladiator's Cloak of Ascendancy - PVP reward: 38000 honor
Cape of Seething Steam - Volkhan, Halls of Lightning (Normal)
Dark Soldier Cape - Knights of the Ebon Blade - Honored, Duchess Mynx, Icecrown
Shroud of Akali - Gal'darah, Gundrak (Normal)

Neck

Encircling Burnished Gold Chains - 25 Emblem of Heroism, Dalaran
Hateful Gladiator's Pendant of Ascendancy - PVP reward: 38000 honor
Necklace of Taldaram - Prince Taldaram, Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom (Heroic)
Emeline's Locket - Quest: The Admiral Revealed, Icecrown
Amulet of the Malefic Necromancer - Quest: Poke and Prod, Icecrown

Rings

Amberglow Signet - Quest: The Brothers Bronzebeard (A)/Forging the Keystone (H), The Storm Peaks
Bat-Wool Signet - Quest: Basic Chemistry, Icecrown
Ring of Northern Tears - BOE Jewelcrafting
The Prospector's Prize - Krystallus, Halls of Stone (Heroic)
Voodoo Signet - Quest: For Posterity, Gundrak
Brunnhildar Runed Ring - Quest: Making a Harness, The Storm Peaks
Rancid Signet - Quest: Doing Your Duty, Grizzly Hills
Ring of Devoted Promises - Quest: It Could Be Anywhere!, Sholazar Basin
Oath Signet - Quest: Leaving Nothing to Chance (A) / All Hail Roanauk! (H), Dragonblight

Trinket

Figurine - Twilight Serpent - BOP Requires Jewelcrafting (400)
Mark of the War Prisoner - Cyanigosa, The Violet Hold (Heroic)
Rune of Infinite Power - Quest: Mystery of the Infinite, Redux, Dragonblight

Consumables: Food/Pots

Snapper Extreme - Cooking
Worg Tartare - Cooking
Spicy Hot Talbuk - Cooking
Elixir of Accuracy - Alchemy, Battle Elixir

Armor/Weapon Enhancement

Scroll of Enchant Boots - Icewalker, Boot
Scroll of enchant Boots - Surefooted, Boot
Scroll of Enchant Gloves - Precision, Gloves
Scroll of Enchant Gloves - Precision Strikes, Gloves
Scroll of Enchant Weapon - Accuracy, Weapon
Arcanum of Power - The Sha'tar - Revered, Almaador, Shattrath City

Note: As of Patch 3.01, hit rating on all consumables and item enhancement applies to Spell Hit Rating, Hit Rating (Melee), and Ranged Hit Rating.

Upcoming:
- Gems
- Raiding Spell Hit Gear

Welcome

Holy Fire Spec is a World of Warcraft blog dedicated to the fine art of Holy Priest Dps. While some folks in the priest community consider this spec as a joke, I believe it is important to keep an open mind in the subject and have fun.

Content Highlights

Guides
Holy DPS Talent Builds
Holy DPS Spell Hit Cap
Smite Leveling Build [1-80]
Smite Leveling Build Alternative [70-80]
Obvious Things to Know When Playing A Priest

Number Crunching & Theorycrafting
Smite Damage Numbers Calculation
Holy Fire Damage Numbers Calculation
Surge of Light vs. Non Surge of Light

Randomness
My Chicken Scratch: Tier II Transcendence
Designing My Own Priest Talent/Glyphs for the Next Expansion

About Me

My name is Xel (pronounced "Zel"), I'm a casual wow addict. I was introduced to World of Warcraft in December of 2007 and have been hopelessly addicted to it ever since. However, due to school and various other factors, I find myself spending more time theorycrafting than actually playing the game itself. My main is a human priest on the US PVP server called Stormreaver, alliance side. I enjoy priesting as a whole because of the flexibility of my class. I like playing with all the priest specs - discipline, holy, shadow, and of course smite. When not on my priest, I enjoy playing my tri-spec bear-chicken-tree druid.

Main

In Real Life

I'm just your average twenty something years old college student. I'm currently doing my masters degree in engineering, while trying to balance life, school, and wow. I'm not doing a very good job at it but I am trying :)

PS. I'm a grammar disaster, even though I do proofread my writing, I'm still terrible. I apologize for the mistakes. Please feel free to point out any errors. As this is the best way for me to learn. Thanks in advance.

Contact

If you have any questions, suggestions, or is interested in link exchange please do not hesitate to contact me at
You can also reach my by simply commenting on one of my posts.