When I heard the expansion was coming out in November I decided to get cracking on setting up list of leveling gear. The challenge with this being the competition with Warlocks/Mages for some off-set stuff, and then still more with them + Warriors, Rogues, Hunters for Oracle (I decided to go with the 3 easy pieces, Helm/Shoulders/Boots). Something I've been kind of mulling over is whether or not to keep a 3 piece Transcendence bonus. I'm not 100% sure what I'd use or even if I'd use it. My DPS chest is Necro-Knight's Garb which isn't too attractive to me for soloing due to a lack of Mp5/Spirit, and I was thinking gloves but it also seemed nifty (I doubt anyone has tried this) to use Gloves of Rapid Evolution for hilarity with Spirit Tap. I've got Leggings of the Black Blizzard, so that would leave me (hoping I get the Oracle I want) with Robes, Bracers, and Gloves to fill the Transcendence slots which I still have yet to pick up (+healing whore FTW).
Basically is that extra regen worth losing out on +damage potential? It's been a looooong time since I've used Spirit Tap, so I don't remember how often it's up or if it stacks with Meditation/three piece Trans. I've also heard some talk from a few of my guildmates about going Disc/Holy nuke spec, but that just seems kind of dumb because a) you don't get Spirit Tap, and b) the other skills in Shadow are just too good (Mind Flay/Silence for saving yourself from taking some damage vs. melee/caster mobs respectively, along with Vampiric Embrace for fun times)
When I heard the expansion was coming out in November I decided to get cracking on setting up list of leveling gear. The challenge with this being the competition with Warlocks/Mages for some off-set stuff, and then still more with them + Warriors, Rogues, Hunters for Oracle (I decided to go with the 3 easy pieces, Helm/Shoulders/Boots). Something I've been kind of mulling over is whether or not to keep a 3 piece Transcendence bonus. I'm not 100% sure what I'd use or even if I'd use it. My DPS chest is Necro-Knight's Garb which isn't too attractive to me for soloing due to a lack of Mp5/Spirit, and I was thinking gloves but it also seemed nifty (I doubt anyone has tried this) to use Gloves of Rapid Evolution for hilarity with Spirit Tap. I've got Leggings of the Black Blizzard, so that would leave me (hoping I get the Oracle I want) with Robes, Bracers, and Gloves to fill the Transcendence slots which I still have yet to pick up (+healing whore FTW).
Basically is that extra regen worth losing out on +damage potential? It's been a looooong time since I've used Spirit Tap, so I don't remember how often it's up or if it stacks with Meditation/three piece Trans. I've also heard some talk from a few of my guildmates about going Disc/Holy nuke spec, but that just seems kind of dumb because a) you don't get Spirit Tap, and b) the other skills in Shadow are just too good (Mind Flay/Silence for saving yourself from taking some damage vs. melee/caster mobs respectively, along with Vampiric Embrace for fun times)
Shadow is pretty efficient during solo play without much mp/5. Spirit tap is *always* up provided you are getting the KB, so if you''re looking at a solo grinding spec consider that you will have spirit tap up at the death of every mob.
Holy nuker wouldn't be bad if you are looking to do instances as you level up, but I'd personally go for shadow and ditch the trans 3 piece.
If you spec full shadow you'll have acess to VT at level 60 and be able to garner some mana back while you grind on top of spirit tap.
As far as stacking spirit tap with trans or meditation, I really am unsure as I've never really though about it. Last time I had spirit tap I wasn't high enough level to have most shadow talents and THEN meditation/inner focus.
I wouldn't worry about +damage gear...you can get a ton in early HFP quests.
If you do 'The Assassin' questline it ends with a 80 dam/heal staff. You can find Krug to the west of the pools of aggomar, along the southern ridge line (aka the 'Mankrik's Wife' quest).
I've been levelling up a twink priest recently and unlike my main, who I lvl'd up as stamina/intellect, I've gone spirit > * and I like the effect. Rarely have to drink. But I guess you don't at those levels.
Spirit tap DOES stack with meditation (65% whilst casting) but I doubt I'll be getting meditation back until about lvl 63 since I'll be sticking 41 in shadow, 8 or 10 in disc and 0 or 2 in Holy immediately at the expansion. I think the efficiency talents in shadow will be superior to any regen you'll get from Disc. A smart decision would be to setup a spirit equipment profile in your wardrobe mod and switch to that whilst tap is up, finishing off mobs with wanding.
However, I do think that it's worth getting gear for the expansion now because I've so far seen very little +dmg gear with spirit or mana tick.
I'd recommend getting about 6-8% spellhit from gear. Firstly because this saves you from speccing any points in Shadow Focus (more than 4% is a waste because grinding more than +1 lvl mobs is going to be a pain) and because +80 spellhit will probably last you till lvl 70.
Honestly for leveling up, getting every piece of Oracle you can get is the way to go. It has good spirit and mp/5. +hit on gear is somewhat of a luxury since you'll have at least some points in Shadow Focus.
If you get full Oracle, that would leave Trans bracers/gloves/belt left. I dont think the 15% regen while casting is worth it when you can sub in Firemaw's Clutch and Ebony Flame Gloves just to name 2. (and Dryad's Wrist Bindings, if you can get it from WSG, are very nice)
incidentally, for when the new trees come out, I'm completely dropping Meditation and instead maxing out (oh God, the name escapes me at the moment), that one talent that decreases mana costs for Mind Flay and Mind Blast by 15%. Turns out, I'll be saving far more mana using that and spam casting than I would be making back in mana regen from Meditation.
I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should chellenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.--Mark Twain
When I heard the expansion was coming out in November I decided to get cracking on setting up list of leveling gear. The challenge with this being the competition with Warlocks/Mages for some off-set stuff, and then still more with them + Warriors, Rogues, Hunters for Oracle (I decided to go with the 3 easy pieces, Helm/Shoulders/Boots). Something I've been kind of mulling over is whether or not to keep a 3 piece Transcendence bonus. I'm not 100% sure what I'd use or even if I'd use it. My DPS chest is Necro-Knight's Garb which isn't too attractive to me for soloing due to a lack of Mp5/Spirit, and I was thinking gloves but it also seemed nifty (I doubt anyone has tried this) to use Gloves of Rapid Evolution for hilarity with Spirit Tap. I've got Leggings of the Black Blizzard, so that would leave me (hoping I get the Oracle I want) with Robes, Bracers, and Gloves to fill the Transcendence slots which I still have yet to pick up (+healing whore FTW).
Basically is that extra regen worth losing out on +damage potential? It's been a looooong time since I've used Spirit Tap, so I don't remember how often it's up or if it stacks with Meditation/three piece Trans. I've also heard some talk from a few of my guildmates about going Disc/Holy nuke spec, but that just seems kind of dumb because a) you don't get Spirit Tap, and b) the other skills in Shadow are just too good (Mind Flay/Silence for saving yourself from taking some damage vs. melee/caster mobs respectively, along with Vampiric Embrace for fun times)
Having leveld to 67 already here's my thoughts.
1) If you have the ability to swap in high spirit gear for spirit tap procs only, that method comes recommended by many shadow priests. I don't do it because I'm honestly not afraid of time spent drinking water (especially the new water at 65 which is godly.)
2)I personally do not stack spirit gear or bother with the 3pc trans bonus. When wearing damage gear the actual reality of the m/5 bonus is surprisingly small compared to the kill speed increase using pure damage gear. The majority of a shadow priests mana hog problems are significantly reduced by Vampiric touch and the -mana talent. It's a whole different world mana wise in the expansion.
3) Holy dps is INCREDIBLY mana intensive. If you're afraid of drinking- that is NOT the spec for you. I was drinking every 2 mobs and kicking myself the whole time when I tried it. It's high dps, I won't lie. I can get higher dps when grinding from Holy (Just under 500 at 67 and 600ish damage) than I can from shadow (about 450 when everything goes well with 640 damage) because shadow is a slow build to the burn... but emptying out your mana pool every other mob sucks in an ugly ugly way. Even skipping out on the spirit tricks I rarely drink more than once every 5 or 6 mobs when shadow. We are insanely efficient in the expansion.
My recommendations for gear: If you have them available (my guild no longer does BWL so I make no assumptions) snap up Ebony Flame Gloves. I havn't seen an alternative with damage near them when enchanted. The +shadow stat is rare in good stuff in the expac so get your +shadow upgrades where you can. If you're in Naxx, tell the warlocks to get over it if they qq. You can pick up bracers in the first few 5 mans easy and if you find yourself still hunting, the Netherweave bracers with appropriate enchants isn't shabby. I traded in my Necro Knights at 64 or 66 (I forget) for Netherweave Tunic + 15spirit enchant. (It's a leveling encahnt so chances are you'll be able to snag it form a guild enchanter)... although I won't be doing that live as I got my Crystal Webbed Robe which, at this time, I expect to see me to 70.
Basically- skip the trans bonus. It's not worth it. The only time that crazy spirit is worth it is when spirit tap is active- if you can swap gear sets it's semi useful but that's a lot of hassle that isn't necessary imo (although other shadows disagree with me). Keep an eye on what's available crafted gear wise in the expansion and consider moderating your purchases around what you know will be coming. I have fel infused leggings, but I'm kicking them off for Infused Netherweave Leggings at 66 anyways so I'm not too worried about oracle or anything else. Bracers of arcane accuracy +regen have stood up well to the leveling curve although I have a level 68 replacement waiting.
/ramble off.
Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news.
Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men.
Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts. BSG Quick Reference
if you can't get the dryad's wrist bindings from lack of rep, Ossirian in AQ20 drops comparable/better bracers, Shackles of the unscarred.
Bekah - What spec are you using in terms of BC / grinding. Did you put points into Focused Mind (the MB/MF etc mana cost reduction talent).
It seems like b/w new water rank, shadowfiend, vamperic touch, focused mind, spirit tap, shadow has a lot of ways to keep it's mana up outside of trans/meditation.
No honestly I am dumb. Most of the I'm playing smart.
On PvP servers you might be underestimating how much ganking will slow you down - working in an instance may still be fast leveling.
To quote every wow forum about shadowmages ever:
As a Shadow Priest you will melt faces in PvP
I'm not too terribly worried about that.
But anyway, good suggestions. I do have Bracers of Arcane Accuracy and I've got a Will of Arlokk(20 spirit obv) ready for tapping yay! So Vampiric Touch is better than Meditation? I have a feeling I'll end up taking it anyway (along with Healing Focus) because I'm sure there will be plenty of gimps that won't be able to pvp their way out of a paper bag that will have to run instances, and guess who's gonna have to heal them :P.
As a side note, I had no problem soloing as fast as my hunter on my priest with 120+dmg gear. Most of my gear was healer oriented, it's a pretty new char, so I only had a few blues from zg for dps, and a staff of dominance I picked up before my eye of divinity. I replaced like 7pieces of gear just doing the hellfire quests(rings cloak trinket necklace shoulders and I forgot the rest).
Getting GOOD dps gear will help, but in their current state shadow priests are definitely easy to level whatever your gear is. As for the 3pc trans, I used it because I didn't have a choice anyway, but when I broke it to replace one part with a blue I found in an instance, I didn't really notice any difference, I was drinking every 40mins when I would get 2-3adds in a row.
Just get a good wand, that's all that matters imo ^^
if you can't get the dryad's wrist bindings from lack of rep, Ossirian in AQ20 drops comparable/better bracers, Shackles of the unscarred.
Bekah - What spec are you using in terms of BC / grinding. Did you put points into Focused Mind (the MB/MF etc mana cost reduction talent).
It seems like b/w new water rank, shadowfiend, vamperic touch, focused mind, spirit tap, shadow has a lot of ways to keep it's mana up outside of trans/meditation.
o.0 Yes I took the mana reduction talent... and VT. If you'll double check my post I said I had no problem with the grind lacking 3pc trans =P I bought back meditation as I leveled- VT more than made up for it at the start.
Those of you who volunteered to be injected with praying mantis DNA, I've got some good news and some bad news.
Bad news is we're postponing those tests indefinitely. Good news is we've got a much better test for you: fighting an army of mantis men.
Pick up a rifle and follow the yellow line. You'll know when the test starts. BSG Quick Reference
I went with as much +dmg, and disregarded spirit while leveling to 67. Most of my quest/drop items had only stamina and intellect on them (allthough this has already been changed to some degree), and spirit tap became worthless. At one point I had zero spirit added from gear, and with the new water drinking isn't really an issue. I would generally kill 5-6 mobs in aboub 90-120 seconds, then spend 20-30 seconds drinking to full.
Personally when leveling to 60 I ended up dropping Spirit Tap fairly early, and followed the school of thought of "burn things down fast, then drink". In beta, I did basically the same thing, but this time with a smite build instead of shadow: load up on health/mana/+damage, burn the hell out of things, then drink. Water is easy to find and restores mana extremely fast, so why worry about Spirit Tap and FSR when drinking every ~3 pulls (varying somewhat by mob density and just how annoying the mobs were) works just as well?
There was a point for the first couple of weeks of beta where none of the cloth caster +damage items had any spirit whatsoever on them, and so except for DS I was running around with base spirit. This is no longer the case, since they changed a couple of the items to include some spirit. But if you only have ~240 spirit, 3/8 Transcendence isn't doing you a whole lot of good.
One thing that annoys me is that Blizzard took their new spell crit rating and literally put it on everything. Even as a disc/holy build, having a crit rate of 12%, plus 10% from talents, is a little much. This also explains why Rockfury Bracers, Cloak of Consumption, and Firemaw's Clutch are still in my damage set at 67, and why if I ever get a Lok'amir I'll probably be using it for a very long time (since the best caster DPS weapon I'm aware of in the current beta build is essentially a Staff of the Shadow Flame with more stamina).
The problem with holy grinding is you can only do it on one mob at a time. You can usually pull 2-3 mobs at a time with shadow and just keep pain up on them.
11/08/06, 8:45 AM
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