World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Talent Preview - Priest

July 1st by Blizzard Entertainment
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Dragonflight contains major updates to World of Warcraft classes, centering on the re-introduction of talent trees. In this preview, we take a first look at the prototype trees for the Priest class. These and all the other trees still have a lot of work to be done, but we want to share what we can to start collecting detailed feedback at this early stage.

Some of our biggest goals in a class and talent revamp are to increase player agency over your character’s progression and build, provide meaningful rewards while leveling, and reinforce your character’s connection to both their class and their spec. In addition, we felt we had to retain many features of modern World of Warcraft specializations. Specializations have many unique abilities, some of which might be central to the identity of the spec. They have a wide variety of optional bonuses that have been created at various times over the years. This all led us back to talent trees— a concept familiar to people who played WoW before the Mists of Pandaria expansion.

Visually, trees are still an intuitive way to represent the different paths one could follow while making many choices about a character. Trees also communicate dependencies and magnitude intuitively, without a lot of added rules. For example, talents higher in the tree are expected to be more commonly chosen, while talents lower in the tree are more optional and more geared towards shaping max-level builds.

Dragonflight talent trees have some significant differences from previous versions of talent trees in World of Warcraft. First, you have not one tree, but two. This is due to the combined importance of class wide and specialization-specific themes for current WoW characters. The class tree contains a core set of abilities available to all specs in a class and has a higher proportion of utility choices. It’s a place where you can, among other things, choose some abilities or passives that draw from the identity of other specializations to give your character some hybrid flavor, or simply to grab something particularly useful for certain content. The specialization tree is predominantly focused on bonuses that enhance your power in your main role. Keeping these separate is one way of ensuring that you have some choices in both areas without, for example, feeling compelled to give up all your utility or off-spec buttons in order to maximize main role performance.

Another fundamental change is that much more of your class is represented in the tree, instead of being awarded automatically while leveling up. Other than the starting abilities you obtain before you access the system at level 10, the vast majority of abilities are obtained via the tree. This gives rise to some of the most important questions and challenges of the new system. Exploring a world where many more things are optional has a lot of advantages but requires a lot of care.

Here are just some answers to questions and answers that we know you might be wondering about:

  • “Some abilities are critical to my rotation—will that mean I always have to build a certain way?”
    • No. The most basic building blocks of your rotation will tend to be either learned from levels 1-10, awarded automatically in the class tree, or placed at the top of your spec tree as a first point spent in that tree. In other cases, major abilities that we expect to be a part of most builds will be near the start of a tree, or on an easily accessible path so that they don’t constrain your other choices.
  • “A certain piece of utility is important in certain content (for example, interrupts in Mythic+), does this limit my choices?”
    • Similarly, the more likely something is to be all but required for some players, the more we must place it in the tree in an appropriate location— one that still leaves the rest of your build choices very open.
  • “Does this mean it’s possible to make very ‘bad’ builds?”
    • In short, yes. There are limits and guardrails here, such as those abilities that are automatically given. And furthermore, our goal in designing the trees is not to trap players in complicated choices in order to make a functional build; in fact, it’s the opposite—it's to set up the trees with intuitive paths that lead you to reasonable builds. But a key philosophy of this rework is to keep the player in the driver’s seat of their character’s growth within their class.
  • “Does this mean that some of my points are spent on somewhat ‘obvious’ choices, and aren’t likely to be moved?”
    • Often, yes. 61 points is drastically more than the 7 that players currently have in Shadowlands. And it would probably be a mistake if all 61 points were always heavily in play— this is part of how we maintain the balance alluded to above, where it’s not overwhelming to make and analyze builds. The tree contains a spectrum of more basic abilities all the way to comparatively advanced ones, and one of the advantages of this system is letting you draw that line.
  • “Doesn’t this all mean that I will use some of my points to re-buy some things that were baseline in Shadowlands?”
    • For all the reasons mentioned above, making a huge swath of abilities open to player decision-making requires this. We hear this feedback as primarily a concern about having much less “stuff” than you had in Shadowlands. After starting with your basic class and spending 61 points in a tree, will you feel “pruned”? Openly, our goal is that you don’t. We’ll be watching for feedback on this. Our goal is for a Dragonflight character to feel like it has a similar amount of power and complexity—which can be hard to quantify—as a Shadowlands character. The main difference is you getting to choose which active buttons and passive bonuses make up that toolset, and potentially having combinations that were previously impossible.

One other set of questions is around what abilities are still awarded automatically outside of the tree. There are few broad categories:

  • Abilities learned before 10, the most basic elements of what starts to make you into your class (Moonfire, Death Strike).
  • Buttons whose impact is primarily non-combat and non-power related (Teleport: Moonglade, Path of Holy, Revive).
  • Nonstacking group buffs or spells, where a group virtually always wants exactly one person with the ability (Raise Ally, Rebirth, Mark of the Wild).

There are a lot of case-by-case calls to be made around all of this, but by and large we are pushing ourselves to leave it to players to explore in the trees how to build out their class from levels 10 to 70.

A Few Nuts and Bolts

The experience of using the tree will be more intuitive when you play with the system in-game, but we want to provide some explanation here for those who want to analyze the current draft trees in detail. Please bear in mind, these are all subject to change as we continue development.

  • Your first class tree point is awarded at level 10, and your first specialization tree point at level 11, alternating between the two from there. At level 70, you will have 31 available class points and 30 specialization points.
  • Certain basic abilities in the class tree, are given automatically to people of particular specializations. These do not cost any points.
  • Most talents have prerequisites (these will be indicated by arrows in the final UI). If a talent has any arrows leading to it, you must have fully purchased at least one of those previous talents to access it. For clarity, arrows always point downwards or diagonally downwards in current drafts.
  • Every tree has certain rows that you can’t advance past until you’ve spent a certain number of talent points (unlike in pre-Mists of Pandaria trees, this is not the case for every row). In the prototype Priest and priest trees, you cannot buy talents in the fifth row and beyond until you’ve spent eight points in the tree, and you cannot buy talents in the eighth row and beyond until you’ve spent twenty points in the tree.
  • In octagonal “choice” nodes, you may obtain one of the two choices at a time.

Dragonflight has given us an opportunity to really break down each class and allow players to express themselves through their choices. Priest is no exception and we're excited to bring back some old favorites, some new tricks, and present them through engaging choices. The core tree presents new choices that weren't previously available for some specializations, such as: Shadowfiend, Shadowflame Prism, Holy Nova, Twins of the Sun Priestess, and more. On the specialization side of things, we've remixed some old and new spells that should reward and emphasize the choices you made throughout level-up.

Speaking of specialization, we wanted to make an important callout for Shadow Priests: Dark Thoughts has been removed from the Shadow Priest toolkit. The reasoning is Dark Thoughts placed a large emphasis on Mind Flay and made it feel mandatory to keep it always channeled to roll for a proc. That said, we'd like to make sure that Shadow retains some variety and surprise in their rotation so we're trying a new approach: Vampiric Insight (see below).

Each of these trees, and the spells that make them up, are a work in progress. We are excited to hear from you and will continue to iterate up to launch and beyond. Thank you for taking a look and we'll see you in the Dragon Isles!

Priest Talent Trees (click or tap to enlarge)

Priest Ability and Talent Tooltips

Below you'll find a list of all baseline abilities and Talents available for Priests, including class-shared and specialization-specific Talents.

Baseline Priest Abilities

All maximum level Priests will have access to these abilities. They are earned through leveling and do not require you to spend talent points to have them.

Smite: Smites an enemy for Holy damage.

Shadow Word: Pain: A word of darkness that causes a small amount of Shadow damage instantly and additional damage over 12 seconds.

Resurrection: Brings a dead ally back to life with 35% health and mana. Cannot be cast when in combat.

Power Word: Shield: Shields an ally for 15 seconds, absorbing damage. You cannot shield the target again for 7.5 seconds.

Power Word: Fortitude: Infuses the target with vitality, increasing their Stamina by 5% for 1 hour. If the target is in your party or raid, all party and raid members will be affected.

Mind Vision: Allow the caster to see through the target’s eyes for 1 minute. Will not work if the target is in another instance or another continent.

Mind Soothe: Soothes the target, reducing the range at which it will attack you by 10 yards. Only affects Humanoid and Dragonkin targets. Does not cause threat. Lasts 20 seconds.

Mind Blast: Blasts the target’s mind for Shadow damage.

Levitate: Levitates a party or raid member for 10 min, floating a few feet above the ground, granting slow fall, and allowing travel over water.

Flash Heal: A fast spell that heals an ally.

Fade: Fade out, removing all your threat and reducing enemies' attack range against you for 10 sec.

Desperate Prayer: Increases maximum health by 25% for 10 sec, and instantly heals you for that amount.

Psychic Scream: Lets out a psychic scream, causing 5 enemies within 8 yards to flee, disorienting them for 8 sec. Damage may interrupt the effect.

Dispel Magic: Dispels Magic on the enemy target, removing 1 beneficial Magic effect.

Focused Will: Melee attacks against you cause you to gain Focused Will, reducing damage you take by 15% for 8 sec.

Priest Class Talents. [NNF] denotes a talent that has a temporary, not yet final name.

Row 1

Prayer of Mending: Places a ward on an ally that heals them the next time they take damage, and then jumps to another ally within 20 yds. Jumps up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec after each jump.

  • Granted by default when selecting Holy or Discipline Specialization.

Shadow Word: Death: A word of dark binding that inflicts Shadow damage to the target. If the target is not killed by Shadow Word: Death, the caster takes damage equal to the damage inflicted upon the target. Damage increased by 150% to targets below 20% health.

  • Granted by default when selecting Shadow or Discipline Specialization.

Row 2

Renew: Fill the target with faith in the light, healing over 15 sec.

Focused Mending: Prayer of Mending does 45% increased healing to the initial target.

Purify Disease: Removes all Disease effects from a friendly target.

Improved Shadow Word: Death [NNF]: Shadow Word: Death's cooldown is reduced by 10 sec.

Shadow Mend: Wraps an ally in shadows which heal, but at a price. The ally will take damage every 1 sec, until they have taken a small amount of damage from all sources, or leave combat.

Row 3

Renewed Faith: Your healing is increased by [5/10] % on targets with your Renew. Two Rank Talent.

Benediction: Your Prayer of Mending has a 25% chance to leave a Renew on each target it heals.

Improved Smite: Smite deals [25/50] % increased damage. Two Rank Talent.

Choice Node:

  • Body and Soul: Power Word: Shield and Leap of Faith increase your target's movement speed by 40% for 3 sec.
  • Angelic Feather: Places a feather at the target location, granting the first ally to walk through it 40% increased movement speed for 5 sec. Only 3 feathers can be placed at one time.

Mind Restrain: Mind Blast prevents a small amount of damage dealt by the enemy. Two Rank Talent.

Masochism: When you cast Shadow Mend on yourself, its damage over time effect heals you instead, and reduces all damage you take by 10%.

Improved Mind Blast {NNF]: Mind Blast's cooldown reduced by [3/7.5] sec. Two Rank Talent.

Row 4

Say Your Prayers: Prayer of Mending has a 6% chance to not consume a charge when it jumps to a new target.

Enlightenment: You regenerate mana [5/10]% faster. Two Rank Talent.

Power Infusion: Infuses the target with power for 20 sec, increasing haste by 25%.

Twist of Fate: After healing a target below 35% health, you deal [10/20%] increased damage and [10/20]% increased healing for 10 sec. Two Rank Talent.

Taming the Shadows: Shadow Mend has a 15% chance to deal no damage.

Row 5

Holy Nova: An explosion of holy light around you deals Holy damage to enemies and healing to allies within 12 yds, reduced if there are more than 5 targets.

Leap of Faith: Pulls the spirit of a party or raid member, instantly moving them directly in front of you.

Mass Dispel: Dispels magic in a 15 yard radius, removing all harmful Magic from 5 friendly targets and 1 beneficial Magic effect from 5 enemy targets.

Mind Control: Controls a mind up to 1 level above yours for 30 sec while still controlling your own mind. Does not work versus Demonic, Mechanical, or Undead beings or players. This spell shares diminishing returns with other disorienting effects.

Shadowfiend: Summons a shadowy fiend to attack the target for 15 sec.

Row 6

Cleric's Armaments: Smite deals 10% additional damage while you are shielded.

Improved Holy Nova {NNF]: If your Holy Nova deals damage to at least 3 enemies, a second Holy Nova will be cast a moment later at 50% effectiveness at the same location.

Clear Mind: Dispel Magic, Purify, and Mass Dispel cost 20% less mana.

Angel's Mercy: Damage you take reduces the cooldown of Desperate Prayer, based on the amount of damage taken.

Dominant Mind: You may also control your own character while Mind Control is active, but Mind Control has a 2 min cooldown, and it may not be used against players.

Throes of Pain: Shadow Word: Pain deals an additional 5% damage over its duration. When an enemy dies while afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain, you gain [5/10]% Insanity and Mana. Two Rank Talent.

Improved Shadowfiend [NNF]: Your Shadowfiend now restores 1% mana/a fixed amount of Insanity to you whenever it attacks.

Row 7

Tools of the Cloth: Holy Nova deals 10% additional damage while you are shielded.

Shackle Undead: Shackles the target undead enemy for 50 seconds, preventing all actions and movement. Damage will cancel the effect. Limit 1.

Twins of the Sun Priestess: Power Infusion also grants you [50/100] % of its effects when used on an ally. Two Rank Talent.

Puppet Master: Shadowfiend and Dominant Mind increase your Mastery by [3/6]% while active. Two Rank Talent.

Row 8

Blessing of Renewal: Renew heals for an additional 5% and its mana cost is reduced by 10%.

Charitable Soul: Casting Power Word: Shield on an ally also shields you for [5/10]% of the amount for 10 sec. Two Rank Talent.

Translucent Image: For the first 5 sec of Fade, you take [5/10]% reduced damage. Two Rank Talent.

Mindbender: Summons a Mindbender to attack the target for 12 sec. You regenerate 0.5% of maximum mana/a fixed amount of Insanity each time the Mindbender attacks.

Row 9

Unwavering Will: While above 75% health, the cast times of your Flash Heal, Heal, Prayer of Healing, and Smite are reduced by [10/20]%. Two Rank Talent.

Light's Inspiration: Desperate Prayer heals you for an additional [5/10]% of your maximum health over 5 sec. Two Rank Talent.

Tithe Evasion: Shadow Word: Death deals [10/20]% less damage to the caster. Two Rank Talent.

Rabid Shadows: Your Shadowfiend's attack speed is increased by [5/10]%. Two Rank Talent.

Row 10

Holy Word: Life: A word of holy power that heals the target. If the target is not below 20% health, the caster takes damage equal to the amount healed. Healing is increased by 150% to targets below 20% health. Instant Cast, 30 second cooldown.

Crystalline Reflection: Power Word: Shield instantly heals the target for 514 and reflects 20% of damage absorbed.

Mindgames: Assault an enemy's mind, dealing Shadow damage and briefly reversing their perception of reality. For 5 sec, a small amount of damage they deal will heal their target, and a small amount of healing healing they deal will damage their target . Reversed damage and healing restore up to 4% mana.

Shadowflame Prism: Mind Blast and Shadow Word: Death cause your Shadowfiend to teleport behind your target, slashing up to 5 nearby enemies for Shadowflame damage. Each time a rift is triggered, the duration of Shadowfiend is increased by 1.0 sec.

Discipline Priest Talents. [NNF] denotes a talent that has a temporary, not yet final name.

Discipline Priest Baseline Abilities

Purify: Dispels harmful effects on the target, removing all Magic effects. Combines with Purify Disease if known.

  • Developer Note: Purify is currently a talent on the Discipline tree, but will be moved to be a baseline Discipline ability at a later time. A talent will be moved to its current position to keep the overall tree structure intact.

Discipline Row 1

Atonement: Power Word: Shield, Shadow Mend, and Power Word: Radiance apply Atonement to your target for 15 sec. Your spell damage heals all targets affected by Atonement for 50% of the damage done.

Discipline Row 2

Penance: Launches a volley of holy light at the target, causing Holy damage to an enemy or healing to an ally over 1.7 sec. Castable while moving.

Inner Light and Shadow:

  • Inner Light: Healing spells cost 15% less mana.
  • Inner Shadow: Spell damage and Atonement healing increased by 10%.
  • Activate to swap from one effect to the other, incurring a 6 sec cooldown.

Purify: Dispels harmful effects on the target, removing all Magic effects. Combines with Purify Disease if known.

  • Developer Note: Purify is currently a talent on the Discipline tree, but will be moved to be a baseline Discipline ability at a later time. A talent will be moved to its current position to keep the overall tree structure intact.

Discipline Row 3

Power Word: Radiance: A burst of light heals the target and 4 injured allies within 30 yards and applies Atonement for 60% of its normal duration.

Choice Node:

  • Power Word: Solace: Strikes an enemy with heavenly power, dealing Holy damage and restoring 1% of your maximum mana.
  • Shield Discipline: When your Power Word: Shield is completely absorbed, you restore 0.5% of your maximum mana.

Power of the Dark Side: Shadow Word: Pain has a chance to empower your next Penance with Shadow, increasing its effectiveness by 50%.

Discipline Row 4

Shining Radiance: Power Word: Radiance's healing is increased by [10/20]%. Two Rank Talent.

Improved Power Word: Radiance [NNF]: Power Word: Radiance has an additional cooldown charge.

Pain Suppression: Reduces all damage taken by a friendly target by 40% for 8 sec. Castable while stunned.

Schism: Attack the enemy's soul with a surge of Shadow energy, dealing Shadow damage and increasing your spell damage to the target by 25% for 9 sec.

Discipline Row 5

Contrition: When you heal with Penance, everyone with your Atonement is healed for a small amount.

Shining Force: Creates a burst of light around a friendly target, knocking away nearby enemies and slowing their movement speed by 70% for 3 sec.

Protector of the Frail: Power Word: Shield reduces the cooldown of Pain Suppression by [2/4] sec. Two Rank Talent.

Psychic Voice: Reduces the cooldown of Psychic Scream by 30 sec.

Dark Indulgence: Power of the Dark Side increases the effectiveness of Penance by an additional 10%.

Malicious Scission: The duration of Schism is increased by 50%.

Discipline Row 6

Purge the Wicked: Cleanses the target with fire, dealing a small amount Fire damage and additional Fire damage over 20 sec. Spreads to an additional nearby enemy when you cast Penance on the target. Replaces Shadow Word: Pain.

Pain Transformation: Pain Suppression also heals your target for [5/10]% of their maximum health. Two Rank Talent.

Sins of the Many: Your damage is increased by up to [6/12]%, diminishing for each ally affected by your Atonement. Two Rank Talent.

Shadow Covenant: Make a shadowy pact, healing the target and 4 other injured allies within 30 yds. For 7 sec, your Shadow spells deal 25% increased damage and healing, but your Holy spells deal 50% decreased damage and healing.

Discipline Row 7

Revel in Purity: Purge the Wicked deals [10/20]% additional damage and spreads to 1 additional targets. Two Rank Talent.

Castigation: Penance fires one additional bolt of holy light over its duration.

Rapture: Immediately Power Word: Shield your target, and for the next 8 sec, Power Word: Shield absorbs an additional 200% and may be cast on targets with Weakened Soul.

Swift Penitence: The damage or healing of your first bolt of Penance is increased by [10/20]%. Two Rank Talent.

Embrace Shadow: Shadow Covenant lasts an additional 4 sec.

Discipline Row 8

Choice Node:

  • Spirit Shell: For 10 sec, Penance, Power Word: Radiance, and Atonement create absorb shields for 80% of their value, instead of healing.
  • Evangelism: Extends the duration of all of your active Atonements by 6 sec.

Exaltation: Rapture's duration is increased by 1.0 sec, and its Power Word: Shield enhancement is increased by 7.5%.

Power Word: Barrier: Summons a holy barrier to protect all allies at the target location for 10 sec, reducing all damage taken by 25% and preventing damage from delaying spellcasting.

Choice Node:

  • Divine Star: Throw a Divine Star forward 24 yds, healing allies in its path and dealing Holy damage to enemies. After reaching its destination, the Divine Star returns to you, healing allies and damaging enemies in its path again. Healing reduced beyond 6 targets.
  • Halo: Creates a ring of Holy energy around you that quickly expands to a 30 yd radius, healing allies and dealing Holy damage to enemies. Healing reduced beyond 6 targets.

Twilight Corruption: While Shadow Covenant is active, Penance becomes Dark Reprimand, dealing Shadow damage over 1.7 sec. Castable while moving.

Discipline Row 9

Evenfall: Power Word: Radiance has a [30/60]% chance to grant Power of the Dark Side. Two Rank Talent.

Lesson in Humility: Smite deals [10/20]% additional damage if you have at least 3 Atonements active. Two Rank Talent.

Lenience: Atonement reduces damage taken by 3%.

Stolen Psyche: Atonement heals for [10/20]% more when activated by Mind Blast. Two Rank Talent.

Twilight Empowerment: Shadow Word: Death's damage triggers Atonement when used on targets below 20% health.

Discipline Row 10

Harsh Discipline: When Atonement has healed a total of 100 times, your next Penance is free and fires 3 additional bolts.

Indemnity: Atonements granted by Power Word: Shield last an additional 2 sec.

Light's Wrath: Invoke the Light's wrath, dealing Radiant damage to the target, increased by 10% per ally affected by your Atonement.

Solatium: Atonements granted by Shadow Mend last an additional 2 sec.

Wickedness:Divine Star and Halo now deal Shadow damage and gain an additional effect:

  • Wicked Star: Divine Star deals additional Shadow damage over 6 seconds to enemies in its path. Enemies hit by Divine Star are silenced for 2 seconds.
  • Wicked Halo: Enemies damaged by Halo are dealt additional Shadow damage over 6 seconds. Each enemy hit by Halo reduces its cooldown by 3 seconds, up to 15 seconds.

Holy Priest Talents. [NNF] denotes a talent that has a temporary, not yet final name.

Holy Priest Baseline Abilities

Purify: Dispels harmful effects on the target, removing all Magic effects. Combines with Purify Disease if known.

Holy Words:

  • When you cast Flash Heal or Heal, the remaining cooldown on Holy Word: Serenity is reduced by 6 sec.
  • When you cast Prayer of Healing, the remaining cooldown on Holy Word: Sanctify is reduced by 6 sec and by 2 sec when you cast Renew.
  • When you cast Smite, the remaining cooldown on Holy Word: Chastise is reduced by 4 sec.

Holy Row 1

Heal: An efficient spell that heals an ally.

Holy Row 2

Prayer of Healing: A powerful prayer that heals the target and the 4 nearest allies within 40 yards.

Holy Word: Serenity: Perform a miracle, healing an ally. Cooldown reduced by 6 sec when you cast Flash Heal.

Holy Fire: Consumes the enemy in Holy flames that cause immediate Holy damage and additional Holy damage over 7 sec.

Holy Row 3

Holy Word: Sanctify: Releases miraculous light at a target location, healing up to 6 allies within 10 yds for 3,001. Cooldown reduced by 6 sec when you cast Prayer of Healing and by 2 sec when you cast Renew.

Holy Word: Chastise: Chastises the target for 1,715 Holy damage and incapacitates them for 4 sec. Cooldown reduced by 4 sec when you cast Smite.

Holy Row 4

Spirit of Redemption: Upon death, you become the Spirit of Redemption for 15 sec. You cannot move, attack, be attacked, or be targeted by any spells or effects, and your healing spells cost no mana. When the effect ends, you die.

Trail of Light: When you cast Heal or Flash Heal, 35% of the healing is replicated to the previous target you healed with Heal or Flash Heal.

Censure: Holy Word: Chastise stuns the target for 4 sec and is not broken by damage.

Guardian Spirit: Calls upon a guardian spirit to watch over the friendly target for 10 sec, increasing healing received by 60%. If the target would die, the Spirit sacrifices itself and restores the target to 40% health. Castable while stunned. Cannot save the target from massive damage.

Holy Row 5

Afterlife: Increases the duration of Spirit of Redemption by 50% and the range of its spells by 50%. As a Spirit of Redemption, you may sacrifice your spirit to Resurrect an ally, putting yourself to rest.

Cosmic Ripple: When Holy Word: Serenity or Holy Word: Sanctify finish their cooldown, you emit a burst of light that heals up to 5 injured targets

Circle of Healing: Heals the target and 4 injured allies within 30 yards of the target.

Choice Node:

  • Divine Star: Throw a Divine Star forward 24 yds, healing allies in its path and dealing Holy damage to enemies. After reaching its destination, the Divine Star returns to you, healing allies and damaging enemies in its path again. Healing reduced beyond 6 targets.
  • Halo: Creates a ring of Holy energy around you that quickly expands to a 30 yd radius, healing allies and dealing Holy damage to enemies. Healing reduced beyond 6 targets.

Binding Heal: Heals you, your target, and another friendly target within 20. Reduces the remaining cooldown on both Holy Word: Serenity and Holy Word: Sanctify by 3 sec.

Surge of Light: Your healing spells and Smite have an 8% chance to make your next Flash Heal instant and cost no mana. Stacks to 2.

Guardian Angel: When Guardian Spirit saves the target from death, it does not expire. When Guardian Spirit expires without saving the target from death, reduce its remaining cooldown to 60 seconds.

Holy Row 6

Prayer Circle: Using Circle of Healing reduces the cast time and cost of your Prayer of Healing by 25% for 8 sec.

Choice Node:

  • Shining Force: Creates a burst of light around a friendly target, knocking away nearby enemies and slowing their movement speed by 70% for 3 sec.
  • Psychic Voice: Reduces the cooldown of Psychic Scream by 30 sec.

Holy Conductor: Surge of Light has an additional [6/12]% chance to occur if the target is affected by Renew or Holy Fire. Two Rank Talent.

Holy Row 7

Divine Hymn: Heals all party or raid members within 40 yards over 8 sec. Each heal increases all targets' healing taken by 4% for 15 sec, stacking. Healing increased by 100% when not in a raid.

Light of the Naaru: The cooldowns of your Holy Words are reduced by an additional 33% when you cast the relevant spells.

Symbol of Hope: Bolster the morale of raid members within 40 yds. They each recover 60 sec of cooldown of a major defensive ability, and regain 15% of their missing mana, over 4 sec.

Holy Row 8

Piety of Mana: Cosmic Ripple heals 15% more and restores [1.5/3]% of your mana. Two Rank Talent.

Choice Node:

  • Holy Word: Salvation: Heals all allies within 40 yards and applies Renew and 2 stacks of Prayer of Mending to each of them. Cooldown reduced by 30 sec when you cast Holy Word: Serenity or Holy Word: Sanctify.
  • Apotheosis: Reset the cooldowns of your Holy Words, and enter a pure Holy form for 20 sec, increasing the cooldown reductions to your Holy Words by 300% and reducing their cost by 100%.

Burning Vehemence: Reduces the cast time of Holy Fire by [25/50]% and reduces its cooldown by [20/40]%. Two Rank Talent.

Holy Row 9

Gales of Song: Divine Hymn heals for [10/20]% more. Stacks of Divine Hymn increase healing received by an additional [2/4]%. Two Rank Talent.

Rune of Healing: Circle of Healing reduces the cooldown of Holy Word: Sanctify by 4 sec.

Resonant Words: Casting a Holy Word spell increases the healing of your next Heal or Flash Heal by [25/50]%. Two Rank Talent.

Rune of Mending: Prayer of Mending reduces the cooldown of Holy Word: Serenity by 4 sec.

Holy Oration: Spells that reduce the cooldowns of your Holy Words reduce them by [10/20]% more. Two Rank Talent.

Rune of Fire: Holy Fire reduces the cooldown of Holy Word: Chastise by 4 sec.

Searing Light: Smite deals [15/30]% additional damage to targets affected by Holy Fire. Holy Nova deals [15/30]% additional damage to targets affected by Holy Fire. Two Rank Talent.

Holy Row 10

Lightwell: Creates a Holy Lightwell. Every 1 sec the Lightwell will attempt to heal party and raid members within 10 yards that are lower than 50% health over 6 sec. Lightwell lasts for 3 min or until 15 heals are expended. 3 minute cooldown.

Divine Words: The effectiveness of your next Holy Word: Serenity, Sanctify, or Chastise is increased by 50% and grants a corresponding Divine Favor for 15 sec. 1 minute cooldown.

  • Serenity: Flash Heal, Heal, and Renew heal for more, critically strike more often, and cost less to cast.
  • Sanctify: Sanctify blesses the area where it was cast, healing allies.
  • Chastise: Increased damage and Smite has a chance to apply Holy Fire.

Empyreal Blaze: Refreshes Holy Fire. Your next 3 casts of Holy Fire cost no mana, incur no cooldown, and cast instantly. 30 second cooldown. Passive: Whenever Holy Fire is reapplied, its duration is now extended instead.

Shadow Priest Talents. [NNF] denotes a talent that has a temporary, not yet final name.

Shadow Priest Baseline Abilities

Shadowform: Assume a Shadowform, increasing your spell damage dealt by 10%.

Shadow Row 1

Mind Flay: Assaults the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing Shadow damage over 4.5 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%. Generates 18 Insanity over its duration.

Shadow Row 2

Vampiric Touch: A touch of darkness that causes Shadow damage over 21 sec and heals you for 50% of damage dealt. Generates 5 Insanity.

Devouring Plague: Afflicts the target with a disease that instantly causes Shadow damage plus additional Shadow damage over 6 sec. Heals you for 50% of damage dealt. If this effect is reapplied, any remaining damage will be added to the new Devouring Plague. Costs 50 Insanity.

Mind Sear: Corrosive shadow energy radiates from the target, dealing Shadow damage over 4.5 sec to all enemies within 10 yards of the target.

Shadow Row 3

Death and Madness: If a target dies within 7 sec after being struck by your Shadow Word: Death, you gain 40 Insanity over 4 sec and the cooldown of your Shadow Word: Death is reset.

Choice Node:

  • Mind Bomb: Inflicts the target with a Mind Bomb. After 2 sec or if the target dies, it unleashes a psychic explosion, disorienting all enemies within 8 yds of the target for 6 sec.
  • Psychic Voice: Reduces the cooldown of Psychic Scream by 30 sec.

Choice Node:

  • Misery: Vampiric Touch also applies Shadow Word: Pain to the target. Shadow Word: Pain lasts an additional 5 sec.
  • Searing Nightmare: Instantly deals Shadow damage to enemies around the target and afflicts them with Shadow Word: Pain. If the enemy is already afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain, Searing Nightmare's damage is increased by 100%. Only usable while channeling Mind Sear.

Silence: Silences the target, preventing them from casting spells for 4 sec. Against non-players, also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.

Fortress of the Mind: Mind Flay and Mind Blast deal [5/10]% more damage and generate [10/20]% more Insanity. Two Rank Talent.

Shadow Row 4

Vampiric Embrace: Fills you with the embrace of Shadow energy for 15 sec, causing you to heal a nearby ally for 50% of any single-target Shadow spell damage you deal.

Unfurling Darkness: After casting Vampiric Touch on a target, your next Vampiric Touch within 8 sec is instant cast and deals 1,291 Shadow damage immediately. This effect cannot occur more than once every 15 sec.

Vampiric Insight: Vampiric Touch periodic damage has a chance to reset the remaining cooldown on Mind Blast and cause your next Mind Blast to be instant.

Last Word: Reduces the cooldown of Silence by 15 sec.

Dispersion: Disperse into pure shadow energy, reducing all damage taken by 75% for 6 sec, but you are unable to attack or cast spells. Castable while stunned, feared, or silenced.

Shadow Row 5

San'layn: Reduces the cooldown of Vampiric Embrace by 45 sec and increases its healing done by 25%.

Hallucinations: Your successful Dispel Magic, Mass Dispel, Purify Disease, Vampiric Embrace, and Power Word: Shield casts generate 6 Insanity during combat.

Shadowy Apparitions: When you use Mind Blast, Devouring Plague or Void Bolt you also create a shadowy version of yourself that floats towards all targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch dealing Shadow damage. Critical strikes will cause two Apparitions to be created.

Void Eruption: Releases an explosive blast of pure void energy, activating Voidform and causing Shadow damage to all enemies within 10 yds of your target. During Voidform, this ability is replaced by Void Bolt.

Monomania: While channeling Mind Flay or Mind Sear, the periodic rate of your Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain on your current target is increased by 100%. Mind Blast gains 1 additional charge.

Psychic Horror: Terrifies the target in place, stunning them for 4 sec.

Intangibility: Dispersion heals for 50% of your maximum health over its duration and has 30 sec reduced cooldown.

Shadow Row 6

Psychic Link: Mind Blast deals [30/60]% of its damage to all other targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch within 40 yards. Two Rank Talent.

Auspicious Spirits: Your Shadowy Apparitions now deal 15% increased damage and generate 2 Insanity.

Choice Node:

  • Hungering Void: Void Bolt causes the target to become vulnerable to the void, increasing their damage taken from you by 10% for 6 sec. This effect may only be active on one target at a time. Casting Void Bolt on an enemy that is already vulnerable extends the duration of your Voidform by 1 sec, or 2 sec if Void Bolt critically strikes.
  • Surrender to Madness: Deals Shadow damage to the target and activates Voidform. For the next 30 sec, your Insanity-generating abilities generate 100% more Insanity and you can cast while moving. If the target does not die within 30 sec of using Surrender to Madness, you die.

Damnation: Instantly afflicts the target with Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague.

Void Touched: While not in Void Form, Mind Flay has a [5/10]% chance to allow you to cast Void Bolt. Two Rank Talent.

Shadow Row 7

Shadow Crash: Hurl a bolt of slow-moving Shadow energy at the destination, dealing Shadow damage to all targets within 8 yards. Generates 15 Insanity.

Ancient Madness: Voidform increases your critical strike chance by 30% for 15 sec, reducing by 2% every sec.

Malediction: Reduces the cooldown of Damnation by 15 sec.

Void Torrent: Channel a torrent of void energy into the target, dealing Shadow damage over 3 sec. Generates 60 Insanity over the duration.

Shadow Row 8

Mental Fortitude: Healing from Vampiric Touch when you are at maximum health will shield you for the same amount. Shield cannot exceed a certain value, based on Talent Rank. Two Rank Talent.

Insidious Ire: While you have Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch active on the same target, your Mind Blast deals [20/40]% more damage. Two Rank Talent.

Mind Devourer: Mind Blast deals [5/10]% increased damage and has a [10/20]% chance to make your next Devouring Plague cost no insanity. Two Rank Talent.

Shadow Row 9

Sanguine Teachings: While shielded, Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague deal [5/10/15]% additional damage. Three Rank Talent.

Unleash the Shadows: Vampiric Touch critical strikes have a [5/10]% chance to create a Shadowy Apparition. Two Rank Talent.

Rot and Wither: Mind Flay and Mind Sear damage has a 5% chance to extend Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain by [2/4] sec. Two Rank Talent.

Abyssal Knowledge: Monomania also increases the critical strike chance of Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch by [5/10/15]%. Three Rank Talent.

Shadow Row 10

Choice Node:

  • Idol of N'Zoth: Damage dealt by Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Devouring Plague has a 20% chance to apply Echoing Void. Each time Echoing Void is applied, it has a chance to collapse, dealing Shadow damage to all nearby enemies until no stacks remain.
  • Idol of Y'Shaarj: Shadowfiend causes you to gain a benefit based on your target's current emotional state.

Void Apparitions: Shadowy Apparitions have a 10% chance to become infused with the Void, dealing 20% additional damage.

Living Shadow: Consuming Vampiric Insight causes your shadow to animate after a moment. For 10 sec, whenever you cast a spell, your shadow will cast a similar spell.

Eidolic Intuition: Vampiric Insight has a greater chance to occur.

Choice Node:

  • Idol of C'Thun: Mind Flay and Mind Sear have a chance to spawn a Void Tendril or Void Lasher that channels at your target for 15 sec, generating 3 insanity every 1 sec.
  • Idol of Yogg-Saron: After conjuring 50 Shadowy Apparitions, you summon a Thing from Beyond that serves you for 20 sec. The Thing from Beyond blasts enemies for Shadow damage.

Thank you for reading, and we look forward to hearing your impressions of what we have so far.