Bolshka's Thoughts on Specs and Purpose

The topic of Priest specs came up recently. Since I play occasionally play one and often group with the class, I thought I'd toss around a few "alternative" specs that involve deeper use of the enigmatic Discipline tree.

Chocolate Discipline 23/00/36
Vanilla Discipline 30/31/00
Dominatrix 34/00/27
Disciplinarion 34/27/00

In retrospect, that final 34/27/00 spec looks dangerously potent - granting the user +10% crit to Holy spells and a potential 45% damage boost when Divine Spirit and Power Infusion are activated. Talk about pulling aggro!

While it does not have huge boosts or mana cost reductions for healing spells, it still makes for a viable healing spec. I might consider this for Aristeed… hrm!

Some considerations on alternate Shadow-oriented specs:

More Yin than Yang 00/30/31
More Yang than Yin 00/36/25

Aside from the all-out DPS Shadow offers, the main points of Shadow to keep in mind are:
• Shadow Weaving for increased damage from Shadow (IE: Warlocks)
• Vampiric Embrace for supplemental healing!
• Vampiric Touch for supplemental mana regeneration!
• Silence for... well, silencing!
• Shadowform for increased damage and additional soaking ability!

Shadow is not just a guilty pleasure, this spec has taken a viable hold in 5-man and raids alike. Though the specs above don't include Vampiric Touch, the mana regeneration it provides can rival that of a Mana Tide Totem.

One consideration might be to rearrange points into a 5/5 Shadow Focus. This will reduce the chance of resisting your Shadow spells (IE: Mind Control).

Some thoughts on Holy specs:
Goody Two-Shoes 16/45/00
Cheerleader (You've got SPIRIT!) 24/37/00

These are healing-oriented specs, mind you. The Holy tree can make your healing pure easymode. Coupled with Discipline it can do some serious damage.

Surge of Light makes for a wonderful insta-clearcast for your next Smite - perfect for sprinkling some DPS on.

So last night I decided to jump the gorge and respec. For healing, it worked great, if only for the sake of gaining some reach. I tested it in combat some this morning and didn't do too badly - spent alot more mana than anticipated, but it doesn't suck.

I didn't put points where I needed, so here's what I'll re-respec into once I decide to toss another lump of gold at it.

Final Decision Spec