Smite: Priest Cataclysm Talent Preview

Blizzard has released another preview of the priest talent tree in Cataclysm. Here is everything copy/pasted from mmo-champion. There are a lot of new Holy DPS support talents in both the discipline and the holy tree, excellent, excellent, time to get smiting!

Anyway, here's the new cata talent calculator courtesy of mmo-champion.

Discipline Talent Tree

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Unbreakable Will (5 ranks available) - Reduces the duration of stun, fear, and silence effects done to you by an additional 6/12/18/24/30%.
• Twin Disciplines (5 ranks available) - Increases the damage and healing done by your instant spells and the damage absorbed by your Power Word: Shield by 1/2/3/4/5%.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Penitence (3 ranks) - Increases the critical effect chance of your Smite and Penance spells by 5/10/15%.
• Improved Inner Fire (3 ranks available) - Increases the effect of your Inner Fire spell by 15/30/45%.
• Focused Power (2 ranks available) - Reduces the cast time of your Mind Control spell by 0.3/0.5 seconds, and your Mass Dispel cast time is reduced by 0.5/1 second.
• Martyrdom (2 ranks available) - Gives you a 50/100% chance to gain the Focused Casting effect that lasts for 6 seconds after being the victim of a melee or ranged critical strike. The Focused Casting effect reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting priest spells and decreases the duration of interrupt effects by 10/20%.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Atonement (3 ranks) - When you deal damage with Smite, you instantly heal a nearby low-health friendly target within 40 yards equal to 15/30/45% of the damage dealt.
• Inner Focus (1 rank available) - Instant - 1.5 min cooldown - When activated, reduces the mana cost of your next spell by 100% and increases its critical effect chance by 25% if it is capable of a critical effect.
• Improved Power Word: Shield (3 ranks available) - Increase the damage absorbed by your Power Word: Shield by 5/10/15%.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Evangelism (2 ranks available) - When you cast Smite you gain Evangelism, increasing the damage done by your Smite, Holy Fire, Holy Nova and Penance spells by 2/4% and reducing the mana cost of those spells by 3/6% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.
• Mental Agility (3 ranks available) - Reduces the mana cost of your instant cast spells by 4/7/10%.
• Improved Mana Burn (2 ranks available) - Reduces the cast time of your Mana Burn spell by 0.5/1 seconds.

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Archangel (1 rank available) - Consumes your Evangelism effects, instantly restoring 3% of your total mana and increasing your healing done by 3% for each stack. Also allows you to channel Penance while moving. Lasts 18 seconds.
• Enlightenment (3 ranks available) - Increases your total mana and total health by 2/4/6%.
• Power Word: Barrier (1 rank available) - Requires 2 points in Improved Power Word: Shield - 13383 Mana - 40 yd range - 0.5 sec cast - 3 min cooldown - Summons a holy barrier on the target location that absorbs 293 damage done to party or raid members within it each time they take damage. While within the barrier, spellcasting will not be interrupted by damage. The barrier lasts for 15 seconds or until it absorbs 1955 damage.

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Reflective Shield (2 ranks available) - Causes 22/45%% of the damage you absorb with Power Word: Shield to reflect back at the attacker. This damage causes no threat.
• Soul Warding (3 ranks available) - Requires 1 point in Power Word: Barrier - Reduces the cooldown of your Power Word: Shield ability by 1/2/3 seconds, and reduces the mana cost or your Power Word: Shield by 5/10/15%.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Divine Aegis (3 ranks available) - Critical heals create a protective shield on the target, absorbing 10/20/30% of the amount healed. Lasts 12 seconds.
• Power Infusion (1 rank available) - Requires 2 points in Enlightenment - 3294 Mana - 30 yd range - Instant cast - 2 min cooldown - Infuses the target with power, increasing spell casting speed by 20% and reducing the mana cost of all spells by 20%. Lasts 15 seconds.
• Improved Flash Heal (3 ranks available) - Reduces the mana cost of your Flash Heal by 5/10/15% and increases the critical effect chance of your Flash Heal by 4/7/10% on friendly targets at or below 50% health.

Tier 8 (Left to Right)

• Renewed Hope (2 ranks available) - Increases the critical effect chance of your Flash Heal, Greater Heal and Penance (Heal) spells by 2/4% on targets afflicted by the Weakened Soul effect, and you have a 50/100% chance to reduce all damage taken by 3% for 1 minute to all friendly party and raid targets when you cast Power Word: Shield. This effect has a 15-second cooldown.
• Rapture (3 ranks available) - When your Power Word: Shield is completely absorbed or dispelled, you are instantly energized with 1.5/2/2.5% of your total mana, and you have a 33/66/100% chance to energize your shielded target with 2% total mana, 8 rage, 16 energy or 32 runic power. This effect can only occur once every 12 seconds.
• Aspiration (2 ranks available) - Reduces the cooldown of your Inner Focus, Power Infusion, Pain Suppression and Penance spells by 10/20%.

Tier 9 (Left to Right)

• Focused Will (3 ranks available) - After taking a critical hit you gain the Focused Will effect, reducing all damage taken by 2/3/4% and increasing healing effects on you by 3/4/5%. Stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 8 seconds.
• Pain Suppression (1 rank available) - 1647 Mana - 40 yd range - Instant cast - 3 min cooldown -Instantly reduces a friendly target's threat by 5%, reduces all damage taken by 40% and increases resistance to Dispel mechanics by 65% for 8 seconds.
• Grace (2 ranks available) - Your Flash Heal, Greater Heal, and Penance spells bless the target with Grace, increasing all healing received from the Priest by 2/4%. This effect will stack up to 3 times. Effect lasts 15 seconds. Grace can only be active on one target at a time.

Tier 10

• Borrowed Time (5 ranks available) - Grants 5/10/15/20/25% spell haste for your next spell after casting Power Word: Shield, and increases the amount absorbed by your Power Word: Shield equal to 4/8/12/16/20% of your spell power.

Tier 11

• Penance (1 rank available) - Enemy: 30 yd range - Friendly: 40 yd range - 3294 Mana - Channeled - 12 sec cooldown - Launches a volley of holy light at the target, causing 394 to 439 Holy damage to an enemy, or 1201 to 1354 healing to an ally instantly and every 1 second for 2 seconds.

Holy Talent Tree

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Holy Focus (2 ranks available) - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting any Holy spell by 35/70%.
• Searing Light (3 tanks available) - Increases the damage of your Smite, Holy Fire, Holy Nova and Penance spells by 4/8/12%.
• Divine Fury (5 ranks available) - Reduces the cast time of your Smite, Holy Fire, Heal and Greater Heal spells by 0.1/0.2/0.3/0.4/0.5 seconds.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Divine Accuracy (2 ranks available) - Increases the chance to hit with your Smite, Holy Fire, Holy Nova and Penance spells by 10/20%.
• Empowered Healing (5 ranks available) - Your Greater Heal spell gains an additional 6/12/18/24/30% and your Flash Heal, Heal, and Binding Heal gain an additional 3/6/9/12/15% of your bonus healing effects.
• Spell Warding (5 ranks available) - Reduces all spell damage taken by 2/4/6/8/10%.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Desperate Prayer (1 rank available) - 3706 Mana - Instant cast - 2 min cooldown - Instantly heals the caster for 4995 to 5876.
• Improved Renew (3 ranks available) - Increases the amount healed by your Renew spell by 5/10/15%.
• Inspiration (3 ranks available) - Reduces your target's physical damage taken by 3/7/10% for 15 seconds after getting a critical effect from your Flash Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, Binding Heal, Prayer of Healing, or Circle of Healing spell.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Healing Prayers (2 ranks available) - Reduces the mana cost of your Prayer of Healing and Prayer of Mending by 10/20%.
• Improved Healing (3 ranks available) - Reduces the mana cost of your Lesser Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, Divine Hymn and Penance spells by 5/10/15%.
• Blessed Recovery (3 ranks available) - Requires 1 point in Spell Warding - After being struck by a melee or ranged critical hit, Blessed Recovery heals you for 5% of the damage taken over 6 seconds. Additional critical hits taken during the effect increase the healing received.

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Holy Reach (2 ranks available) - Increase the range or your Smite and Holy Fire spells and the radius of your Prayer of Healing, Holy Nova, Divine Hymn and Circle of Healing by 10/20%.
• Spirit of Redemption (1 rank available) - Increases total Spirit by 5% and upon death, the priest becomes the Spirit of Redemption for 15 seconds. The Spirit of Redemption cannot move, attack, be attacked or targeted by any spells or effects. While in the form the priest can cast any healing spell free of cost. When the effect ends, the priest dies.
• Deliverance [PH] (3 ranks available) - When you heal with Binding Heal or Flash Heal, the cast time of your next Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing spell is reduced by 3/6/9%. Stacks up to 3 times. Lasts 20 seconds. **PH. Will likely need to be replaced or updated**

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Surge of Light (2 ranks available) - Your spell critical strikes have a 25% chance to cause your next Smite or Flash Heal spell to be instant cast, cost no mana but be incapable of a critical hit. This effect lasts 10 seconds.
• Holy Concentration (3 ranks available) - Your mana regeneration from spirit is increased by 16/32/50% for 8 seconds after your critically heal with Flash Heal, Greater Heal, Binding Heal or Empowered Renew.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Choir Leader [PH] (2 ranks available) - Your Divine Hymn also heals you for 10/20% of your total health during its duration, and the channel time of your Hymn of Hope is reduced by 10/20%. **PH Name. Will likely need to be replaced or updated.**
• Lightwell (1 rank available) - 6177 Mana - 40 yd range - 0.5 sec cast - 3 min cooldown - Creates a Holy Lightwell. Friendly players can click the Lightwell to restore 8634 health over 6 seconds. Attacks done to you equal to 30% of your total health will cancel the effect. Lightwell lasts for 3 min or 10 charges.
• Blessed Resilience (3 ranks available) - Critical hits made against you have a 20/40/60% chance to prevent you from being critically hit again for 6 seconds.
• Improved Holy Nova (2 ranks available) - Reduces the global cooldown of your Holy Nova spell by 0.25/0.5 sec., and increases its critical effect chance by 25/50%.

Tier 8 (Left to Right)

• Body and Soul (2 ranks available) - When you cast Power Word: Shield or Leap of Faith, you increase the targets's movement speed by 30% for 4 seconds, and you have a 50% chance when you cast Cure Disease on yourself to also cleanse 1 poison effect in addition to diseases.
• Chakra [NYI] (5 ranks available) - When you use Prayer of Healing, Renew or Heal 3 times in a row you will enter a Chakra state empowering you for 20 seconds. You can only be in one Chakra state at a time. Prayer of Healing - Increases your area-of-effect healing by 2/4/6/8/10%, and reduces the cooldown of your Circle of Healing by .5/1/1.5/2/2.5 seconds. Renew - Increases the periodic haste effect of your Renew spell by 3/6/9/12/15% and reduces the global cooldown of your Renew spell by .1/.2/.3/.4/.5 seconds. Heal - Increases the critical effect chance of your Heal spell by 1/2/3/4/5%, and your Heal has a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to refresh the duration of your Renew on the target. Smite - Increase your total damage done by Shadow and Holy spells by 4/8/12%. Starting at Rank 2 - Increases spell power by 10% of your total spirit. Rank 3 changes the talent to Spiritual Guidance - Increases spell power by 15/20/25% of your total spirit. * NYI. See the descriptions above.**
• Thriving Light [NYI] (2 ranks available) - Reduces the duration of Wound effects on you by 15/30%, and reduces the damage taken by bleed effects by 10/20%.

Tier 9 (Left to Right)

• Empowered Renew (3 ranks available) - Your Renew spell gains an additional 5/10/15% of your bonus healing effects, and your Renew will instantly heal the target for 5/10/15% of the total periodic effect.
• Circle of Healing (1 rank available) - 10706 Mana - 40 yd range - Instant cast - 10 sec cooldown - Heals up to 5 friendly party or raid members within 16 yards of the target for 1813 to 2000.
• Test of Faith (3 ranks available) - Increase healing by 4/8/12% on friendly targets at or below 50% health.

Tier 10

• Divine Providence (5 ranks available) - Increases the amount healed by Circle of Healing, Binding Heal, Holy Nova, Prayer of Healing, Divine Hymn and Prayer of Mending by 2/4/6/8/10%, and reduces the cooldown of your Prayer of Mending by 6/12/18/24/30%.

Tier 11

• Guardian Spirit (1 rank available) - 1235 Mana - 40 yd range - Instant cast - 3 min cooldown - Calls upon a guardian spirit to watch over the friendly target. The spirit increases the healing received by the target by 40%, and also prevents the target from dying by sacrificing itself. This sacrifice terminates the effect but heals the target of for 50% of their maximum health. Lasts 10 seconds.

Shadow Talent Tree

Tier 1 (Left to Right)

• Dark Thoughts (2 ranks available) - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting any Shadow spell by 35/70%.
• Improved Spirit Tap (2 ranks available) - Requires 3 points in Spirit Tap - Your Mind Blast and Shadow Word: Death critical strikes have a 100% chance, and your Mind Flay critical strikes have a 50/100% chance to increase your total spirit by 5/10%. For the duration, your mana will regenerate at a 17/33% rate while casting. Lasts 8 seconds.
• Darkness (5 ranks available) - Increases your Shadow spell damage by 2/4/6/8/10%.

Tier 2 (Left to Right)

• Shadow Affinity (3 ranks available) - Reduces the threat generated by your Shadow spells by 8/16/25%, and you receive 5/10/15% of your base mana when your Shadow Word: Pain or Vampiric Touch spells are dispelled.
• Improved Shadow Word: Pain (2 ranks available) - Increased the damage of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 3/6%.
• Shadow Weaving (3 ranks available) - Your Shadow damage spells have a 33/66/100% chance to increase the Shadow damage you deal by 2% for 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.

Tier 3 (Left to Right)

• Improved Psychic Scream (2 ranks available) - Reduces the cooldown of your Psychic Scream spell by 2/4 seconds.
• Improved Mind Blast (5 ranks available) - Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by 0.5/1/1.5/2/2.5 seconds, and while in Shadowform your Mind Blast also has a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to reduce all healing done to the target by 25% for 10 seconds.
• Mind Flay (1 rank available) - 1853 Mana - 30 yd range - Channeled - Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 501 Shadow damage over 3 seconds and slowing their movement speed by 50%.

Tier 4 (Left to Right)

• Veiled Shadows (2 ranks available) - Decreases the cooldown of your Fade ability by 3/6 seconds and reduces the cooldown of your Shadowfiend ability by 1/2 minutes.
• Shadow Reach (2 ranks available) - Increase the range of your offensive Shadow spells by 10/20%.
• Empowered Shadow Orbs [PH] [NYI] (3 ranks available) - Increases the damage done by your Shadow Orbs by 2/4/6%, and you have a h/h/h% chance to gain a Shadow Orb when critically hit by any attack. **PH & NYI. Will likely need to be replaced or updated**

Tier 5 (Left to Right)

• Silence (1 rank available) - Requires 2 points in Improved Psychic Scream - 225 Mana - 33 yd range - Instant cast - 45 sec cooldown - Silences the target, preventing them from casting spells for 5 seconds. Non-player victim spellcasting is also interrupted for 3 seconds.
• Vampiric Embrace (1 rank available) - Instant - Fills you with the embrace of Shadow energy, causing you to be healed for 15% and other party members to be healed for 3% for any single-target Shadow spell damage you deal for 30 minutes.
• Improved Vampiric Embrace (2 ranks available) - Requires 1 point in Vampiric Embrace - Increase the healing received from Vampiric Embrace by 33/67%.
• Focused Mind (3 ranks available) - Reduces the mana cost of your Mind Blast, Mind Control, Mind Flay and Mind Sear spells by 5/10/15%.

Tier 6 (Left to Right)

• Mind Melt [NYI] (2 ranks available) - Increases the additional damage done with your Shadow Word: Death by 5/10% on targets at or below 25% health, and and when you deal damage with Mind Spike, the cast time of your next Mind Blast is reduced by 11/33% lasting 6 seconds. Mind Melt can stack up to 3 times. **NYI. Will likely need to be replaced or updated. Also removed duplicate word**
• Improved Devouring Plague (3 ranks available) - Increase the periodic damage done by your Devouring Plague by 5/10/15%, and when you cast Devouring Plague you instantly deal damage equal to 10/20/30% of its total periodic effect.

Tier 7 (Left to Right)

• Shadowform (1 rank available) - 2676 Mana - Instant cast - 1.5 sec cooldown -Assume a Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 15%, reducing all damage done to you by 15%. However, you may not cast Holy spells while in this form.
• Shadow Power (5 ranks available) - Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Mind Blast, Mind Flay, and Shadow Word: Death spells by 20/40/60/80/100%.

Tier 8 (Left to Right)

• Improved Shadowform (2 ranks available) - Requires 1 point in Shadowform - Your Fade ability now has a 50/100% chance to remove all movement impairing effects when used while in Shadowform, and reduces casting or channeling time lost when damaged by 35/70% when casting any Shadow spell while in Shadowform. In addition, spell haste for all nearby party and raid members is increased by 5%.
• Shadowy Apparition [PH] [NYI] (3 ranks available) - While moving or dealing damage with your Shadow Word: Pain, you will sometimes summon a Shadow version of yourself which will slowly move towards a target which is afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain. Once reaching that target, it will instantly deal damage equal to 15/30/45% of your Mind Blast’s damage. **PH & NYI. Will likely need to be replaced or updated**

Tier 9 (Left to Right)

• Psychic Horror (1 rank available) - 3294 Mana - 33 yd range - Instant cast - 2 min cooldown - You terrify the target, causing them to tremble in horror for 3 seconds and drop their main hand and ranged weapons for 10 seconds.
• Vampiric Touch (1 rank available) - Requires 1 point in Shadowform - 3294 Mana - 33 yd range - 1.5 sec cast - Causes 1000 Shadow damage over 15 seconds to your target and causes up to 10 party or raid members to gain 1% of their maximum mana per 5 seconds when you deal damage from Mind Blast. In addition, if the Vampiric Touch is dispelled it will cause 1600 damage to the afflicted target.
• Pain and Suffering (3 ranks available) - Your Mind Flay has a 33/66/100% chance to refresh the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain on the target, and reduces the damage you take from your own Shadow Word: Death by 10/20/30%.

Tier 10

• Twisted Faith (5 ranks available) - Your damage done by your Mind Flay and Mind Blast is increased by 2/4/6/8/10% if your target is afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain, and increases your spell hit rating by an additional amount equal to 4/8/12/16/20% of your spirit.

Tier 11

• Dispersion (1 rank available) - Requires 1 point in Vampiric Touch - Instant - 2 min cooldown - You disperse into pure Shadow energy, reducing all damage taken by 90%. You are unable to attack or cast spells, but you regenerate 6% mana every 1 second for 6 seconds. Dispersion can be cast while stunned, feared or silenced and clears all snare and movement impairing effects when cast, and makes you immune to them while dispersed.

The first build I came up with after seeing the talent trees is this: 35/41/0

The idea here is that you are a primary damage dealer but has the ability to immediately switch to healing when entering a particular damage heavy boss phase or some unfortunate nuke phase where healers suddenly drop dead, I call it the First-Aid spec.

The tools you have are:

PW: Barrier, No-cooldown PW: Shield, Circle of Healing, Power Infusion, Light Well, Chakra, and Archangel.

You need 3/3 in Divine Aegis because your smite will crit a lot when you deal damage. If 45% of your damage is converted to healing, that healing will similarly be critical hits, you will have tons of DA stacking on multiple targets when you deal damage, further enhancing your "healing on damage" utility.

Archangel from a smite perspective is very interesting. It's similar to a spirit tap button when you dps. You do not use it when you dps, only after everything's dead, then you "tap" it and get some mana back, as re-stacking the mana reduction buff is inefficient. It is also the first button you press when you go into first aid mode. You lose your dps buff, but gains a healing buff and some mana back, very useful.

I could just imagine this spec go insane in a raid situation. Oh shit moment? No worries, just drop PW: Barrier, activate power infusion, CoH + PoH spam, after PI finish, you use your no-cooldown PW: Shield and bubble everyone up. If there's AOE opportunity, you start spamming holy nova, not only does it do damage with 50% more crit, but it also heals AND proc divine aegis. O__O

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.

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.

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