Priest leveling in WoW Forever: wands, spells by level and rotation

The short answer

Level with damage spells and the wand, not as a healer: a healing spec kills slowly. Before level 40 the usual path is a Discipline build that keeps your shield and mana up, with the first Shadow points for Mind Flay at level 20. At level 40 move to Shadow, where Shadowform halves your mana costs and doubles crit damage, and keep healing for dungeons.

Cloth is risky on a bad pull, so shield yourself before every fight and use Psychic Scream when two enemies reach you.

• Mind Flay
• Shadowform
• Psychic Scream

Weapons to level with

The wand is the key slot until level 40, because you finish most enemies with it when your spells run out. Priests start with the wand skill, so upgrade it whenever you can: there are Enchanting wands at levels 5 and 13, and quest and dungeon wands after that. The melee weapon only matters for its stats, and Priests can use one-handed maces, daggers and staves. They cannot dual wield.

A staff gives more stats than a mace and off-hand, and it is what most Priests carry; swap to a mace only if the mace has clearly better stats. Look at the dungeon guide for wands and staves that drop.

Spells by level

These levels come from the game data. 1: Smite and Lesser Heal. 4: Shadow Word: Pain. 6: Power Word: Shield. 8: Renew and Fade. 10: Mind Blast, Desperate Prayer and Resurrection. 12: Inner Fire. 14: Psychic Scream and Cure Disease. 16: Heal. 18: Dispel Magic.

20: Flash Heal, Holy Fire, Devouring Plague and Mind Flay. 30: Penance, Divine Spirit, Vampiric Embrace and Mind Control. 40: Shadowform, Power Infusion, Prayer of Mending, Greater Heal and dual talent specialization.

• Smite
• Lesser Heal
• Shadow Word: Pain
• Power Word: Shield
• Renew
• Fade

Rotation and mana

Levels 1 to 3: Smite, then melee. From level 4: Smite, Shadow Word: Pain, Smite and melee. From 6, put Power Word: Shield on yourself before the pull, because it also reduces how much damage interrupts your casts. From 10 the order is Shield, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, wand and melee. DoTs now tag a monster instantly, so Shadow Word: Pain can claim a target before Smite lands.

At 20 Mind Flay becomes your filler, and at 40 the Shadow rotation is Shield, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, then Mind Flay. Keep Inner Fire and Power Word: Fortitude up when you are alone. Spirit and the Discipline talent Meditation are your mana sustain, and when you are dry, wand and melee to finish. Stock water for dungeons and rest when the bar is low.

The full level 60 talent split is in the talents guide and on the Priest page; for races see the race guide.

• Smite
• Shadow Word: Pain
• Power Word: Shield
• Mind Blast
• Mind Flay
• Inner Fire