Spiritual Guidance: Finishing off 75 - 80

Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder ofPlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. This week Matticus is going to look at the final 5 levels from 75 to 80!

When I finished off Grizzly Hills, I was a few bars into 75. To be fair, I did run a few normal instances to knock out the quests that were within them. In this week's post, I'll give you a quick glance of the last areas and what you can start working on once you reach 80 (such as instances and gearing for raids).

Zones of interest

Zul'Drak – Priests will have a field day in this zone. On one side, you're going up against Scourge forces trying to take over the Troll capital. On the other side, there's renegade Trolls running loose. Your Shackle Undead is going to come in great use here if find yourself getting overrun and overwhelmed.

Sholazar Basin – It seems as though no matter what you do, you just can't get rid of Nessingwary. Get ready for more exotic animals to kill. Note that flightmaster does not become available until after you do a few of the early quests. A plane can't fly until you get the parts for it to become operational again.

At level 77, you'll get access to Cold Weather Flying. In order to continue leveling, you're going to need it for certain areas in Storm Peaks and Icecrown. You won't have to complete an extensive chain in order to learn it anymore. There's a Cold Weather Flying trainer in Krasus' Landing in Dalaran who will gladly teach you this ability for a mere 1000g (depending on your reputation).

Storm Peaks – If you're not into Inscription, be sure to do this zone! The Sons of Hodir are the only faction in Northrend to offer shoulder enchants! If there's a quest chain to do in the entire game, I believe it's the one in this zone. I really loved the storyline and the Norse references and it's a big treat whether you're into the lore side of things or not.

Icecrown – Welcome to Icecrown. The lair of the Lich King is home to monstrosities that players could only dream of. He certainly does have quite the army at his disposal. The Argent Crusade have set up a camp towards the south east part of the zone and that's where most players will be starting from.

Skills

At 75, we get access to a new Shadow spell called Mind Sear. Check out Alex's post for more information on this new baseline ability.

At level 80, we also get Divine Hymn. Haven't tried it out yet extensively. It looks like a lot of fun to use in PvP.

Professions

Start working on your professions now that you're 80. You may have to resort to farming them on your own (dual spec can't come soon enough). The auction house has some ridiculous prices up there right now. 

Now what?

Congratulations on reaching level 80! For the PvE players, the next step is to run a few instances and start gearing yourself up for Naxxramas and Obsidian Sanctum! Here's a few items of interest and where to get them from:

Gloves of the Time Guardian

These gloves would be something for early Priests to look at. All you need to do is run Caverns of Time: Stratholme and complete the quest Chromie gives you (A Royal Escort). If you're lucky, a Soul Preserver might drop which will help ease any mana woes you may have.

Moonshroud Robe

Tailors can create this epic level robe (which are extremely expensive). Run Utgarde Pinnacle and accept the quest (Junk in my Trunk) to get a Bauble-Woven Gown instead if you can't afford it.

Aurora Slippers

Here's another (relatively) cheap blue you can pick up. See if you can sweet talk a tailor to craft this for you and parting with one of their Moonshrouds.

Instances?

To fresh 80s, I strongly suggest staying away from the Occulus and from Halls of Lightning for a while until you start accumulating better items. Both of those instances are no joke and aren't the most forgiving. Replace any final green pieces you have from quest rewards or crafted items and you should be in decent shape. I found heroic Gundrak to be challenging as well (that snake boss and his wraps are intensely annoying). The last boss in Old Kingdom (Ahn'kahet) is going to put many healers to the test.

Try your hand at heroic Nexus or Utgarde Keep first and gauge your ability in there.

Quick tip for Ahn'kahet

On the last boss, just before he triggers his Insanity spell, have your group stack on each other. When they become hostile, blow a Psychic Scream and run in the opposite direction. Keep your Shield and Renew up on yourself. The idea here is to not DPS the mobs on your own. It's going to punish your mana too severely. Stay alive as much as you can and kite them around the entire room. Buy the rest of your party enough time for them to kill their ads and get to yours. Conserve your mana and keep fearing when the ads get close to you.

You're going to get frustrated. You're not as geared as you'd like to be and both normal difficulty and heroic difficulty instances are going to continue to be trouble for you. My advice is to stick with it. I spent 3 hours wiping on Heroic Halls of Lightning after dinging level 80 just hours earlier. It can be done. Bring pots, use consumables, and pay attention to everything. It's harder because you're not familiar with boss abilities. Once you get the hang of that, it's one less issue to worry about. So stay with it!

Spiritual Guidance: The sweet 40 - 60

Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is now Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. For the next few weeks (unless it's something game breaking), Matt will do his best to guide you through the Priest leveling process!

By now, you'll have learned most of the spells you'll be using at end game. If you've been crafty, you might have been able to land instance runs to hone your abilities as a healer (or DPS if you're of the Shadow sort). I won't focus as much on spells here on out although I will list anything significant on the way to 60. Instead, I'll explore the various zones and instances that you can (and should) do.

Zones of interest

At the early 40's, you should be wrapping up quests in Dustwallow Marsh andStranglethorn Vale. STV's considered one of the worse places to level (on a PvP server) due to players roaming around looking for low level characters like you to take out. Be on your guard or see if you can enlist the assistance of higher level guildies. Alternatively, you can always level early in the morning or late at night when the zone isn't as populated.

Hope over to Theramore and catch a gryphon to Tanaris. This desert wasteland will boast gankers as well. You will find the goblins to be most hospitable while you spend your time out there taking out pirates. Don't forget about the quest hub due straight east fromGadgetzan.

When you're finished, get ready for the long trek towards Feralas. You can either approach it from the north via Desolace of from the east via Thousand Needles. The drawback to coming from the east is that you might run into a minor Alliance camp or a larger Horde stronghold. Maneuver around them accordingly. For the Alliance, the major quest hub is located to the west off the coast of Feralas and there is a boat that will ferry you there (Feathermoon Stronghold).

Once you're done, consider taking the boat from Theramore back to the Eastern Kingdoms. I don't think you've reached the level where you can comfortably start Un'Goro. Start working your way up towards Southshore and head over behind Durnholde Keep. You'll find a path leading north and you'll eventually run into Aerie Peak! Check outBurning Steppes and Searing Gorge and by now you ought to be pushing level 50.

Un'Goro Crater: Ready for one of the most loaded video game pop culture reference zones ever? Be sure to bring yourself a Mithril Casing before you fly down here!

Azshara awaits! You'll run into the quest area and flight path as you run in from Ashenvale. Memory's a bit rusty on this one but I do think there's a set of quests you can do towards the north once you've exhausted this area. Otherwise, there isn't much to do here. If you see a big giant dragon named Azuregos, be sure to run in the opposite direction really fast.

Make your way towards Felwood and the Emerald Sanctuary. Make friends with the Furbolgs and be sure to get the second flight path on the north end of the zone. Head on through the tunnel while stopping briefly at Moonglade. When you get the path there, carry on towardsWinterspring and Everlook. You may need to alternate between these areas, Silithus,Western and Eastern Plaguelands. That should be more than enough to tip you over to level 58 if not 60. 

Now you can set foot through the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands.

Instances

Scarlet Monastary: If I were to hazard a guess, Scarlet Monastary would be the highest run instance for mid level players. It drops decent loot and doesn't take much time to do at all. Having 70's to go with you makes the run all that much faster. Scarlet Monastary actually consists of 4 different wings you can do: Graveyard, Library, Armory, Cathedral. The SM Graveyard doesn't have a whole lot for you to do in terms of bosses. Most players typically run Cathedral the most (judging from trade chat requests, at least).

Zul'Farrak: Welcome to Troll town! After killing several million basilisks and fighting a massive gauntlet and summoning a really large monster, you'll come out with some phatter loots and hopefully another level of experience out of the way.

Temple of Atal'Hakkar: Also known as Sunken Temple. Each class has their own level 50 quest to do here that involves feathers.

Dire Maul: Sadly, I rarely see players run this particular set of instances anymore. I believe it consists of a north, west, and east wing respectively. Ogres have made their home here. Watch out for the arena in the middle of the area.

Blackrock Depths: Personally, I'd avoid this area. But that's just me. Still, it's another option for you and Molten Core attunements are inside as well as Onyxia (for Alliance anyway).

Spells and abilities

I won't bother detailing some of the Priest racials as they will be phased out and removed. Most of the new spells you learn will be from talents. Everything else will be new ranks of the old and I won't bother listing those either.

Discipline Tree

Power Infusion: The earliest level you can get this talent is at level 40. It allows you (or anyone else) to cast spells faster and at a reduced mana cost. Use it often as it only has a 2 minute cooldown and lasts 8 seconds. Obtainable at level 40.

Pain Suppression: Reduces damage taken by a friendly player by 40% and drops their threat instantly. Not only that, it increases resistance to dispels by 65%. Like Power Infusion, it can be used every 2 minutes. Useful in a pinch if you accidentally over pull or come across something larger than life. Obtainable at level 50.

Holy Tree

Lightwell: The effectiveness of Lightwell is dependant on the abilities of other players to take advantage of them. When they right click on it, they gain a buff that restores health over a period of time. Obtainable at level 40.

Circle of Healing: This is an AoE heal that heals your target and your targets party provided they're within a certain range. Virtually useless at the lower levels. Prayer of Healing will perform what you need. Very valuable when you arrive at the upper levels of end game raiding. Obtainable at level 50.

Shadow Tree

Vampiric Embrace: Applies a debuff on the target. Anytime you deal shadow damage, your party is healed for 15% of any shadow damage that you deal. Picking up Improved Vampiric Embrace will double the amount healed to 30%. Obtainable at level 30.

Shadowform: Ready to give in to the dark side? With this, you'll turn into a more sinister version of yourself increase your damage output by 15% and reduces physical damage done by the same amount. Drawback? You can't cast Holy spells so healing is virtually out of the question. Well, no, Vampiric Embrace is an exception.

Vampiric Touch: Deals a minor amount of damage to the target. More importantly, it restores mana equal to 5% of any Shadow spell damage you dish out. Very handy.

Spiritual Guidance: The 20 - 40 grind

Every Sunday (usually), Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is now Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of PlusHeal, a new healing community for all restorative classes. For the next few weeks (unless it's something game breaking), Matt will do his best to guide you through the Priest leveling process!

Congratulations! You've made it past the initial hump of the first 20 levels in the game! Great job getting this far. I personally know of a few players who gave on the way to 20 because it was "too hard". If you're on a PvP server, break out the stress ball. Be prepared to get rocked on the road to end game (especially as a Priest).

Location, location, location!

Where do you level at this point? When I finished wrapping up Loch Modan and Westfall, it made sense for me to hoof it all the way to Redridge Mountains and start all the quests in Lakeshire (as Alliance). Horde Priests will probably want to visit Stonetalon and Ashenvale before bouncing to Hillsbrad and Arathi Highlands. After that, I hopped down to Duskwood and bounced back and forth between that and Wetlands in order to push 30.

After that, a zone of interest is the race track in Thousand Noodles Needles. You can start leveling up with Nesingwary's quests in Stranglethorn. Arathi, Desolace, Hillsbrad and Alterac Mountains will be other level 30+ zones that you can cut through.

Highlights

And when you do push 30, look what you have access to! You can pick yourself a brand spankin' new mount to play with. Remember, as this is your first mount, don't expect to be kicking up dust and smoke and leaving opposing faction players in your dust.

Leveling Toys

Level 22: Perhaps the first fun spell Priests get is Mind Vision. Honestly, you're not going to get a whole lot of practical use. It does have near-unlimited range and it's great for finding the flag carrier in Warsong Gulch. Shadow also awards a new rank of Mind Blast whereas Holy offers more with new ranks of Smite, Resurrection, and Heal.

Level 24: We get access to Mana Burn! This is one of our staple PvP spells against casters at the end game level. For now, it won't serve much of a purpose as it's useless against mobs without mana. Even then, against mobs with mana, you're better off brute forcing them with Smite and other such spells. Holy Fire rank 2 is up for training from the Holy Tree. Won't useful yet until the expansion.

Level 26: Nothing special aside from new ranks for Flash Heal, Renew, and Shadow Word: Pain.

Level 28: A spell I failed to highlight is Mind Flay. Great spell for Shadow Priests everywhere. It's a channeling spell so you have to sit still while you use it. I suspect it's a primary form of DPS for our leveling Shadowy brethren. Regardless, rank 2 is right here for you to snap up.

Level 30: You get to buy a new mount! Whoo hoo! You also get your first AoE heal in the form of Prayer of Healing. It's a great spell to use if your entire party took a large hit. Expect to use it frequently in certain end game situations. Talents like Holy Reach and Healing Prayers will will affect both the range and the cost of the spell.

The Shadow tree gives you two new spells in the form of Mind Control certain mobs and even players. Although you can't use their spells and abilities, you can still throw them off of cliffs (very handy in Arathi Basin). The second spell you get is a protective ward called Shadow Protection which grants you the ability to partially or outright resist incoming Shadow based damage and effects.

Depending on how you talent, you can also snap up Divine Spirit which will help your mana regeneration rate slightly. It's not worth getting at this point, however.

Level 32: Abolish Disease another tool in our restorative arsenal. We can use it to get rid of certain diseases from players. Coupled with Dispel, the only types of debuffs we can't remove are curses and poisons.

Level 34: This level marks the last time we get to train Heal. It also marks the first time we get access to Levitate: A fun spell that lets us float off the ground.

Level 36: Your Dispel just got a whole lot more uber. Instead of removing 1 effect, now it will remove 2 effects at the same time. Otherwise, your Power Word: Fortitude and Shield gets a slight boost. Shadow side sees an increase to Mind Flay.

Level 38: Nothing flashy at level 38 except for updated versions of Flash Heal, Renew, and Smite.

Level 40: You've finally graduated to level 40. Now you can start using the big boy heal in the form of Greater Heal. Get ready to used this spell often as you progress throughout the game. Inner Fire, Mana Burn, and Shackle Undead get slightly stronger (and you are remembering to hit yourself with Inner Fire, right?). Mind Blast, Fade, and Prayer of Healing round out the rest of your upgrades (I guess there's Divine Spirit rank 2).

You're a little over the halfway mark. I've found the 40 – 60 grind to be the worse. Just hang in there. You're almost at the end.

Shameless blog plug

There's not a whole lot of Priest blogs out there and I pay a lot of close attention to the ones that are just starting out. With that, I wanted to point Priests to World of Snarkcraft. It's run by a pair of Blood Elf Priests (Joveta and Seri). For some quick highlights, read Jov's post on Priests and Wrath where she reassures everyone that it's not going to be that bad. Seri offersa lesson on Raid Guild Apping 101.