Patch 3.3 (Priest Review) December 4, 2009

As you may know by now, Patch 3.3 has been on the PTR for quite some time now. I’ve dabbled on this phase of testing on various classes pvping, as well as trying the new instances and quest lines. With a rumor going around about this patch coming to live next week I’d like to go over a few things about the priest changes from my own experiences. My review won’t be too statistical or anything of that nature, just my own opinions that you may or may not agree with. (INC WALL OF TEXT)

World of Warcraft PTR Patch 3.3.0
Classes: General

• Spell Mana Costs: These costs have been reduced for almost all lower level spell ranks. In general, if a spell decreased in cost with a higher level rank in patch 3.2.0, that spell now has the decreased cost at all ranks. In addition, spells learned before level 20 with reduced cast times and/or durations have even further reduced mana costs, proportionate to their reduction in cast time or damage.

Priests

• Divine Hymn: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
• Power Word: Shield: This spell can now be cast on non-raid/party friendly targets.
• Talents:Shadow;;
• Improved Devouring Plague: This spell now deals 10/20/30% of its total periodic effect instantly, up from 5/10/15%.
• Mind Flay: The range of this ability has been increased to 30 yards, up from 20.
• Shadowform: This talent also now causes Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch to benefit from haste. Both the period length and the duration of these spells will be reduced by haste. In addition, the mana cost has been reduced from 32% to 13% of base mana.
• Vampiric Embrace: This talent now provides a 30-minute buff that cannot be dispelled, instead of a target debuff and only generates healing for single-target shadow damage spells.

• Pet
• Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.

User Interface
Buffs and Debuffs: This is a new section added to Interface Options.

• New option – Castable Debuffs: Enabling this will cause only debuffs you have cast on an enemy target to appear.
• New option – Consolidate Buffs: Enabling this adds a buff consolidation box near the mini-map. Very short term buffs (e.g. Replenishment) and very long term buffs (e.g. Prayer of Fortitude) are filtered into the buff box. The icons are stacked here, but they can still be seen by moving the mouse cursor over the buff box. Long term buffs will move out of the box when they are about to expire. Buffs such as important procs (e.g. Art of War, Maelstrom Weapon), cooldowns (e.g. Bloodlust / Heroism, Combustion) or limited in range (e.g. totems and paladin auras) are always displayed.

Professions
Enchanting

• Enchant Weapon – Black Magic: This enchantment now sometimes increases haste rating for the caster rather than inflicting the caster’s target with a damage-over-time effect. It is also now triggered by landing any harmful spell rather than inflicting damage with a spell.

Items

Priests

• Glyph of Mind Flay: This glyph now increases the damage done by Mind Flay by 10% when the target is afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain.
• Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain: The periodic damage ticks of Shadow Word: Pain now restore 1% of the priest’s base mana with this glyph.
• Glyph of Shadow: While in Shadowform, this glyph causes non-periodic spell critical strikes to increase spell power by 30%, up from 10%, of the priest’s total spirit for 10 seconds.

Bug Fixes
Priests

• Glyph of Power Word: Shield: The heal caused by this glyph will now correctly use the casting priest’s critical strike chance instead of the target’s.
• Inspiration: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it also functions with Prayer of Mending.
• Levitate: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
• Mass Dispel: Some trinkets which were not triggered properly by this spell will now work correctly when Mass Dispel is cast.
• Mind Flay: The rank 1 tooltip has been corrected to indicate the accurate damage and snare effect. In addition, this ability will now work correctly with [target=focus] and [target=mouseover] macros.
• Prayer of Mending: Inspiration and Divine Aegis can no longer be incorrectly triggered by this spell for priests who do not have those talents.
• Silence: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
• Spirit Tap: This talent can no longer be triggered by the death of the priest’s Jewelcrafter Stone Statues.

Classes:General (Update)

-Spell mana costs being reduced seems to be trying to bring back Downranking for healers. At least from what I’ve heard. I am somewhat neutral on this myself. I’ve never been a big fan of downranking, and in WOTLK it seems that sometimes as a healer I have too much mana to spare. Although on healing intensive fights i’m sure this change may prove it’s worth. So, disregard this crossed out text. The downranking is still terrible, -should make sure to test everything i post about…

Priests:
-The Divine Hymn cooldown change is nothing but nice, I don’t even have to say it =p.  Power Word: Shield being cast on non party/raid members will take some getting used too. I can’t think of many circumstances that this would be useful, only in world pvp/questing as you may see someone in danger, and as a disc priest your shields would really be helpful here.
-Seems that shadow got buffed this time around. With Improved Devouring Plague doing more damage, the range of Mind Flay being increased, Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch benefiting from haste, and Vampiric Embrace becoming a self buff rather than using up a rotation slot is all very nice for the dps priest. I’ve only been shadow for a short period of my 80 career but I must say, it is a nice change of pace from healing. Gogo Spriests, these buffs make me want to try out the spec again :p.
-Shadowfiend not dying as easily sounds nice, although I’ve never had too much trouble with this as I shield mine when I need his mana gaining. ^^

User Interface:
-Being able to see only your debuffs on the target will be nice for shadow priests as well as other classes that need to manage things such as warlocks dots and death knights diseases. Consolidate Buffs, hmm, this addition seems to be more of a matter of preference than a necessity. I personally don’t like this option and won’t be using. I’d prefer to know what buffs I have rather than just the number. In raids, I don’t have time to mouse over this box and see what I may be missing.

Professions:
-Black Magic’s buff is way too obvious of a good thing. I’m sure this will be the mandatory enchant for shadow priests as well as a viable pvp enchant. I’ve used this on the ptr and well I really like it ^_^, the animation is also really neat, looks like the Unholy Weapon enchant from pre-tbc. Although, it’s always had this animation. -_-”

Items:
More buffs to shadow priests via glyphs! All three sound nice, no need to repeat them. :3

In general and at a glance, this patch looks like a good one for priests. At least, in my eyes it does. I didn’t think shadow priests were in need of such buffs but then again, I myself don’t play as shadow too often so correct me if I’m wrong =p. Oh and another note, the raptor hatchling pets will no longer drop from their rare spawn correspondents but from nests, I hope these are either as rare or fairly close to the spawned mobs as I camped those for hours. D:

Enjoy the changes!

So much change. March 24, 2009

With the new Patch, 3.1.0, on the Public Test Realms, I can’t help but look into the changes for my main class. I won’t be going over every spec changes but just focusing on General/Discipline changes for now. My reviews are mostly just my opinions and what not nothing to statistical here.

Priests

• Abolish Disease: Now cleanses a disease every 3 seconds, down from 5. Duration reduced from 20 seconds down to 12 seconds.
• Devouring Plague: This spell now has a new icon.
• Divine Hymn redesigned: You recite a Holy hymn, summoning the power of the Divine to assist you in your time of need. Heals 3 nearby lowest-health friendly party or raid targets for 4960-5208 every 2 seconds for 8 seconds, and increases healing done to them by 15% for 8 seconds. Maximum of 12 heals. The Priest must channel to maintain the spell. Cooldown increased to 6 minutes, up from 5.
• Divine Spirit is now trainable at level 31.
• Holy Nova: Mana cost reduced approximately 20%.
• Improved Holy Concentration removed.
• Hymn of Hope redesigned: You recite a Holy hymn, restoring hope to those in despair. Restores 3% mana to 3 nearby low mana friendly party or raid targets every 2 seconds for 8 seconds, and temporarily increases their total maximum mana by 20% for 8 seconds. After the effect expires, the mana is lost. Maximum of 12 mana restorations. The Priest must channel to maintain the spell. Cooldown increased to 6 minutes, up from 5.
• Mental Agility, Inner Focus, Shadow Reach, Shadow Focus and Shadow Affinity now all affect Psychic Horror.
• Prayer of Healing: This spell now heals the target’s party, rather than being limited to just your direct party.
• Shadowfiend: Health scaling increased. Now receives 30% of the master’s spell power. Mana return increased to 5%, up from 4%. The Shadowfiend now returns mana when its melee attacks land, rather than when it deals damage. No longer has a 75% reduced chance to be hit by melee, ranged and spells. Movement speed normalized to player movement speed. Tooltip revised.
• Talents
  • Discipline
    • Divine Aegis: Divine Aegis effects will now stack, however the amount absorbed cannot exceed 125*level (of the target). It will also now take into account total healing including overhealing.
    • Improved Divine Spirit: This talent has been removed.
    • New Talent: Improved Flash Heal: 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.
    • Grace: This talent no longer decreases damage done to the target, but the duration has increased to 15 seconds and the healing bonus has increased from 2% to 3%. This affect now cannot be applied to more than one target at a time.
    • Improved Power Word: Fortitude: Now also increases your total stamina by 2/4%.
    • Meditation and Improved Power: Word shield have changed locations with each other.
    • Meditation: Now grants 17/33/50% of mana regeneration while casting.
    • Mental Agility: Reduced to 3 points (4/7/10%), down from 5.
    • New Talent: Soul Warding: Reduces the cooldown of your Power Word: Shield ability by 4 seconds, and reduces the mana cost of your Power Word: Shield by 30%.
    • Penance: Damage increased approximately 30%.This spell can now be cast on yourself.
    • Power Infusion: This effect now has a new spell effect.
    • Renewed Hope: This talent also now allows you to proc the Renewed Hope buff on all party/raid members every time you cast Power Word: Shield, reducing damage taken by 3%. Lasts 20 seconds.
    • Unbreakable Will:Increased from 3/6/9/12/15% to 6/12/18/24/30%.

Now i know this is a lot to go over, but hopefully i can add some insight to these changes even if they are completely biased by my own mind and thought process. I’ve italicised the changes that I’d like to express my opinion on, hopefully this won’t be to much to go over! The priest class is getting a lot of things changed and new additions which will in turn change our playing styles, even if just slightly for some (And it seems like all healers.)

–The ‘Hymn’ changes are something I don’t quite understand why they are getting such a mechanic change. Divine hymn for example if I wanted to help out with healing the tank, I’d have to run up to them and channel this. Not every encounter would allow me to freely do this and not sure if it’d be all that worth it. I haven’t been able to get onto the PTR and test this spell out thoroughly but I personally like the current state of having the in capitation available. The only thing concerning me with Hymn of Hope is..what do they consider “Low” mana? And would this happen to me if I were to be “Low” on mana?..I’m sure it would but would that also cut off from the 3 players it would affect? I need to test these before giving opinions on them../sigh

–I love the new Prayer of Healing change as to how it can now affect my targets party instead of just limited to my current party members. As a discipline priest raid healing isn’t our strong point, but it is do-able! Within a heroic, group healing is rather easy. Since all I have to worry about is us 5 + pets. In a raid setting, I have been asked to raid heal and have done it effectively. This usually involves lots of spamming flash heal and requesting certain group make ups to make prayer of healing more efficient, but now it actually has potential outside of just my group! Crazy talk..heh. Shadowfiend has some odd changes coming to it, I get quite a bit of mana now back from the way it works hopefully will still be the same. His lower chance of being hit being removed concerns me..hopefully it will last longer in pve as well as pvp.

–Improved Divine Spirit being removed is understandable but I’d still like that Spell power bonus to be elsewhere. Not only did I bring a spirit buff to a raid but as well as a small boost to caster’s spell power. I will miss this little perk of the buff /sniff. Grace only being able to be applied to one target at a time is a ‘nerf’ to disc healing in my eyes. Since holy has much larger heals than us, Grace helps us keep up. If this is only limited to one target our healing targets will have to be prioritized a lot more than they are now.

–The new talent, Soul Warding gives our ‘Overpowered’ shields a lot more viability in a raid setting, granted the targets will be taking damage. Since this spell was never to low on the mana costing side, lowering the cost will help incredibly. I know for one I use my shield as often as I an combined with Glyph of Power Word Shield and Borrowed Time talents, plus with the new patch Serendipity is being changed as well to affect the shield differently, I forsee lots of bubbles in my future!

–Penance now castable on myself?! Finally!!, In pvp I hate not being able to use one of my most effective heals on myself, made no sense to me from the begining. Although the animation seems to have issues, Light trying to fly out of my hands and back to me at the same time /cringe. Power infusions new animation is also delightful on the eyes (: I’ll let you see it for yourself come the new patch.

– I don’t think I have to explain “Renewed Hope” (See above ) It will clearly be amazing. =)

That’s all for my views on things, hopefully nothing to controversial lies within this post! Now time to go watch a movie, -Poofs away in a puff of green smoke- (:

Unnecessary Change? February 10, 2009

Inner Fire

After downloading the patch today, I couldn’t help but notice the one and only priest change that hardly affects the class at all. –

Priests

Inner Fire duration has been increased to 30 minutes and can no longer be dispelled.

Now I know a lot of priests are happy about this change, but is it really something we needed that much for them to implement it alone while other classes had multiple changes? (Yes, I’m being selfish.) I have heard that for some people, this is annoying to remember to cast every 10 minutes or when the charges fade. In my opinion, this isn’t that difficult to do, if you really want that extra spell power this spell won’t be slipping your mind. The time change isn’t needed..I think it’s just something to keep the priests quiet until the big changes come into play.

Although I do agree with the non-dispellable change to Inner Fire,  I recall blizzard being against this change in the past. I’m curious as to why they changed their minds. Was the increased time priests really needed or just something to feed us with until we get our bigger changes? I guess this minor patch for priests has it’s pros and cons, I’m probably just to cynical to see all the pros.

The Start of It. February 10, 2009

Here are the beginning foot steps to what one of this day and age would call a blog. Now I am only creating this to let my thoughts spill out into something that’s more formal than just…into space. I hope that if you take the time to read this one of you might find it somewhat entertaining. And if not, a critique is always welcome! This post is to just more or less identify my blogs existence as well as to preserve the placeholder for my rants/unimportant thoughts/etc.

I would like to introduce Snug, my level 80 priest.

/wave

I have always been a fan of the priest class, ever since starting this game. But it has not been until recently that I have actually pushed myself into creating this toon and leveling past level 30 to obtain a new main. I have many “Alts” and my highest priest before this was only level 44. I must say that I do enjoy healing and do enjoy being whispered and feeling needed at times. This also comes with a price, but I won’t be explaining that here. I guess one thing to mention, this blog isn’t going to be an elitist priest gathering, mostly just my own thoughts on priestly related things as well as general warcraft information.

I will be trying to post every Tuesday ~ As well as random times that I feel the need to, we shall see how well this schedule upholds. Anyways, I encourage anyone and everyone to disagree with my opinions, post your own opinions or just let me know what you thought of the overall post. I don’t claim to be an amazing writer or anything of that nature, just a person who felt the need to create a Blog, and here I am.