Leveling a Priest to 20

A beginner's guide to leveling a Priest to the level 20 beta cap in WoW Forever: the race-only Priest spells, every ability by level, the Shadow, Discipline and Holy leveling builds, what to press, saving Mana with shields and wands, class quests and what Forever changed.

The Forever beta is capped at level 20, and level 30 is expected around mid-October 2026. Ability levels and tooltips in this guide come from the Forever beta client. Anything marked Classic comes from the original game's data and may be different in Forever.

The Priest in a nutshell

A Priest is a caster who can both heal and deal damage. In a group you're usually the healer, the player who keeps everyone alive. Alone, you're a ranged damage dealer who shields and heals yourself. You fight from a distance with Holy and Shadow spells, and you finish enemies off with a wand.

• Resource: Mana. Every spell costs it, and it comes back slowly, mostly while you aren't casting. Managing Mana is the main skill of leveling a Priest.
• Armor: cloth only.
• Weapons: staves, one-handed maces and daggers, plus a wand in the ranged slot.
• Good at: healing yourself and others, soaking damage with Power Word: Shield, and fighting from range. Dungeon groups always need a healer, so a Priest is welcome in them.
• Weak at: taking hits (cloth armor and low Health), killing quickly in the early levels, and running out of Mana. Until you have a wand and Mind Blast, kills take a while.

Tip: New to WoW? A mob is any computer-controlled enemy, a pull is starting a fight with one, and threat (or aggro) decides which player a mob attacks. Healing and big damage spells both create threat.

Choosing a race

Six races can be Priests in Forever: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and Gnome for the Alliance, and Undead and Troll for the Horde. Orcs, Tauren and the Skyborne can't. Gnome Priests are new in Forever.

Race matters more for a Priest than for most classes, because the Forever client gives each Priest race two spells that only it learns from the trainer, one at level 10 and one at level 20. None of them makes one race the right answer: they're extras on top of the same core kit, so choose the race and faction you want to play.

Race-only Priest spells from the Forever client's trainer data (level learned in brackets), and racial tooltips from the client. Blizzard is still tuning both during the beta.

Two spells stopped being race spells. In Classic's quest data, Fear Ward was a Dwarf spell and Devouring Plague an Undead one, but the Forever client teaches both to every Priest at level 20. The reverse happened to Desperate Prayer: Classic offered it to Humans and Dwarves, while in Forever only Dwarves learn it and Humans get Divine Grace instead.

For every race and racial in one place, see Races, classes and racials.

How a Priest levels: Mana, shields and wands

Mana

Every spell costs Mana, and your Mana mostly comes back while you aren't casting. Leveling a Priest well means spending as little Mana per kill as you can, so you rest less between fights. A few habits do most of the work:

• Let damage over time do its work: Shadow Word: Pain is cheap and keeps hurting the mob while you do other things.
• Finish mobs with your wand instead of spells (see below).
• Don't overheal. A Renew or a low rank of Lesser Heal tops you up for less than a big heal.
• Sit down and drink when you're low. Food brings back Health and drinks bring back Mana, and you can use both at once.
• Keep Power Word: Fortitude and, from level 12, Inner Fire on yourself. They last a long time and make every fight safer.

Tip: Spirit on gear speeds up your Mana regeneration, and the Discipline talent Meditation keeps 50% of it going even while you cast.

Power Word: Shield

Power Word: Shield absorbs damage, and while it holds, damage can't interrupt your spellcasting. It also puts Weakened Soul on its target. Power Word: Shield can't be cast on a target with Weakened Soul, which lasts 15 sec.

Solo, the pattern is simple: shield yourself, then pull. The shield soaks the first hits while you cast, and a mob hitting you can't stop your spells until it breaks.

Power Word: Shield can now always overwrite an existing Power Word: Shield on a target that does not have Weakened Soul. Blizzard, WoW Forever Beta Development Notes – Updated September 24

Your wand

A wand is a ranged weapon that shoots magic. Firing it with Shoot costs no Mana, so the standard Priest habit is to open with spells, then let the wand finish the enemy and save your Mana for the next fight.

Priests can use wands from level 1 in the Forever client, so get one early and replace it often. Wands come from quests, drops and Enchanting: the Forever client has Enchanting recipes for Lesser Magic Wand (needs level 5) and Greater Magic Wand (needs level 13), plus the new Novice's Practice Wand.

Watch out: Blizzard's September 24 notes say wands no longer gain damage from your spell damage. Spell power on gear makes your spells stronger, not your wand, so compare wands by their own damage.

Tip: The Discipline talent Wand Specialization adds 25% wand damage at rank 1, which is why the Discipline leveling build is built around the wand.

Your abilities, level by level

The table lists everything the Priest trainer teaches up to level 20, straight from the Forever client. It includes every race's special spells, but you only learn your own race's. Visit your trainer whenever you reach a new even level.

Everything the Priest trainer teaches up to level 20, from the Forever client. Race-only spells are included; you learn only your own race's.

The ones that matter most while leveling, in the order you get them:

• Level 1: Smite is your first damage spell and Lesser Heal your first heal. Power Word: Fortitude raises Stamina, and so your Health, for 1 hour; cast it on yourself and on players you meet.
• Level 4: Shadow Word: Pain deals 30 Shadow damage over 18 sec at rank 1, costs little and needs no cast time. Put it on every enemy.
• Level 6: Power Word: Shield absorbs 44 damage at rank 1 and protects your casting while it holds.
• Level 8: Renew heals over 15 sec with no cast time. Fade lowers your threat for 10 sec, which matters in groups.
• Level 10: Mind Blast hits hard, but it has a cooldown and causes a high amount of threat. Resurrection brings a dead player back to life out of combat. Your race's first special spell arrives too.
• Level 12: Inner Fire adds 315 armor at rank 1, for 10 min or 20 hits.
• Level 14: Psychic Scream makes 2 enemies within 8 yards flee for 8 sec. Cure Disease removes a disease.
• Level 16: Heal heals 270 to 312 at rank 1. It's slow but efficient, the heal to use when you can see damage coming.
• Level 18: Dispel Magic removes a harmful spell from a friend or a helpful one from an enemy.
• Level 20: a big level. Flash Heal is a fast heal, Holy Fire a strong opener, Devouring Plague a damage-over-time spell that heals you, Fear Ward protects someone from the next Fear, and Shackle Undead holds one undead enemy out of a fight. Your race's second special spell arrives too.
• After the cap: Binding Heal comes at level 25, and Penance, Prayer of Healing and Mind Control at level 30.

Talents: which spec to level with

Your first talent point comes at level 10 and you get one more each level, so you have 11 by level 20. The three trees are Discipline (shields, Mana and your wand), Holy (healing and Holy damage) and Shadow (Shadow damage), and each opens a new row for every 5 points you put in it. ForeverDB publishes a level 20 leveling build for each on the Priest builds page, with the reason for every point:

The published level 20 leveling builds. See the builds page for the full reasoning and the dungeon healing and PvP versions.

For a first Priest, Shadow is the simplest way to level: Mind Flay's slow keeps melee enemies from reaching you, and Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Blast do the rest. Pick Discipline if you hate stopping to drink, or if you also want to heal dungeons. The Holy Smite build suits players who like Smite; Forever raised how much Smite gains from spell damage, so it grows with your gear.

Only rank 1 of many talents has text in the Forever client, so what the extra ranks add isn't known yet. Blizzard's September 24 notes say that during the beta, resetting your talents costs 1 silver if you haven't changed them recently, so trying another spec is cheap.

The published level 30 builds carry on into Vampiric Embrace for Shadow, Inner Focus for Discipline and Searing Light for Holy.

What to press

This is the Shadow leveling rotation from the builds page, in plain steps, with notes for the other two builds.

One enemy

1. Before you pull, check that Power Word: Fortitude and Inner Fire are on you.
2. Shield yourself with Power Word: Shield.
3. Open with Mind Blast from range, then put Shadow Word: Pain on the enemy right away so it ticks while you cast.
4. Night Elves: add Starshards here. It's usually your biggest hit.
5. Fill the gaps with Mind Flay, the level 20 Shadow talent, until Mind Blast is ready again. Before you have it, use Smite as the filler.
6. When the enemy is low, switch to your wand to finish it and save Mana.
7. Tough enemy? Devouring Plague deals damage over time and heals you, but it's expensive, so keep it for fights that last.

Until you learn Mind Blast at level 10, open with Shadow Word: Pain, cast Smite and let the wand finish. Discipline plays like the Shadow rotation with fewer spells: shield, open with Holy Fire or Mind Blast, add Shadow Word: Pain, and let the wand do the rest. Holy opens with Holy Fire, adds Shadow Word: Pain and uses Smite as its main spell.

Two or more enemies

1. Shield yourself as soon as a second enemy joins.
2. Put Shadow Word: Pain on each enemy.
3. When two are on you, Psychic Scream sends them running for up to 8 sec. Damage may break it early, so use the time to kill one or heal.
4. Slow and finish whichever enemy comes back first with Mind Flay.
5. Gnomes can use Confounding Flash in an emergency, but any damage breaks it, including your own Shadow Word: Pain ticking.
6. If your Health drops, heal while your shield holds, because damage can't interrupt your casts then.

Watch out: Fleeing enemies can run into other mobs and bring them back with them. Use Psychic Scream only where there's room for them to run without pulling more.

Class quests up to 20

Class quests are only offered to your class. The Forever client has the Priest quests below, but the givers and places come from Classic's data, so Forever may have moved or changed them.

Priest class quests the Forever client has, up to level 20. Levels, givers and places are Classic data. There are no Gnome entries, since Gnome Priests are new in Forever.

Speculation: In Classic, the level 5 Garments quests asked you to heal and buff a wounded guard nearby with Lesser Heal and Power Word: Fortitude, and the level 10 and 20 quests were named after each race's special Priest spell. Forever's client lists those spells as trainer spells, and some changed hands: Classic's Desperate Prayer quest was for Humans and Dwarves, but in Forever only Dwarves learn Desperate Prayer and Humans get Divine Grace. Expect the race quests to work differently in Forever.

Gear, wands and professions

Priests wear cloth only. Early on, anything with Intellect (a bigger Mana pool), Spirit (faster Mana regeneration) or Stamina (more Health) helps. Spell damage and healing on gear make your spells stronger, and Forever raised how much many Priest spells gain from them: Smite rank 1 went from 0.123 to 0.429 of your spell damage, and Heal rank 1 from 0.729 to 0.857 of your healing.

• Weapon: a staff, or a one-handed mace or dagger with an off-hand item. Choose it for its stats, not its damage, since you'll rarely hit anything with it. Dwarves get their mace critical strike bonus on spells too.
• Wand: upgrade it often, because it does much of your finishing. In Classic's data, Sable Wand is a reward from the Alliance quest Underground Assault and Sizzle Stick from the quest Deviate Eradication; Forever may have changed them.
• Crafted cloth: Forever adds new Tailoring recipes such as Filigreed Shadow Gown and Filigreed Pristine Gown (level 15) and Filigreed Shadow Leggings (level 20).

The Priest dungeon guide lists the best items for each slot at 20 and 30 and where they come from, and the gear planner lets you try combinations.

Any profession works, and Professions explains them all. Priest-friendly picks:

• Tailoring: cloth drops from the Humanoids you kill anyway, and Tailoring turns it into armor you can wear.
• Enchanting: makes wands such as Lesser Magic Wand and Greater Magic Wand, and pairs well with Tailoring.
• Herbalism and Alchemy: Alchemy makes Mana potions such as Minor Mana Potion (level 5), which restores 140 to 180 mana, and Lesser Mana Potion (level 14).

Groups and dungeons

Groups always want a healer. The builds page has level 20 dungeon healing builds for Discipline (Shield Healer for Dungeons) and Holy (Renew and Heal Dungeon Healer), and a low-threat Shadow build if you'd rather deal damage. Healing basics:

• Shield the tank (the player who holds the mobs' attention) with Power Word: Shield as each pull starts, then keep Renew on them.
• Heal with Heal when you can see damage coming, and save Flash Heal for sudden drops: at rank 1, Heal restores 270 to 312 for 155 mana and Flash Heal 174 to 214 for 125 mana.
• Top up small damage with Lesser Heal or Renew.
• Buff everyone with Power Word: Fortitude before the first pull, and put Fear Ward on the tank before an enemy that fears.
• If a mob turns on you, use Fade and step toward the tank so they can take it back.
• Remove harmful magic with Dispel Magic and diseases with Cure Disease, and use Resurrection on anyone who dies once the fight is over.
• Shackle Undead keeps one undead enemy out of a fight.
• You have no interrupt at 20, so leave interrupts to others.

Dungeons within reach by 20 include Ragefire Chasm, the Deadmines, Wailing Caverns and Shadowfang Keep; each page lists its level, bosses and quests. The Priest dungeon guide goes deeper on healing, and Your first dungeon covers finding a group and what to expect.

Common beginner mistakes

• Casting Smite until you're out of Mana. Use Shadow Word: Pain and your wand, and drink before the next pull.
• Forgetting your shield. A Power Word: Shield before every pull prevents most interrupted casts.
• Opening with Mind Blast in a group. It causes a lot of threat; give the tank a few seconds first.
• Using your biggest heal for everything. Small damage needs Renew or a low rank of Lesser Heal, not Heal.
• Using Psychic Scream next to other mobs. Fleeing enemies can bring friends back.
• Letting buffs drop. Power Word: Fortitude lasts 1 hour and Inner Fire 10 min or 20 hits, so check both before each pull.
• Fighting in melee range. You're a caster: pull from range and let the mob come to you.
• Expecting spell power gear to boost your wand. In Forever it no longer does.
• Leaving race spells off your bars. Your race's two special spells cover situations the rest of your kit can't.

What Forever changed for Priests

• Each Priest race has two spells of its own, taught by the trainer at 10 and 20. Five of them are new: Confounding Flash and Contingency Plan (Gnome), Divine Grace (Human), Chastise (Dwarf) and Dark Sacrifice (Undead).
• Gnome Priests are a new race and class combination.
• Fear Ward and Devouring Plague are no longer race spells: every Priest learns them at level 20.
• Former Season of Discovery abilities become trainer spells after the cap: Binding Heal at level 25 and Penance at level 30.
• Litany of Light, a new passive that returns Mana when your heal is a different spell from your previous one, is in the client but isn't taught by the trainer. How you get it isn't known.
• Many spells gain more from spell damage and healing but start lower: Holy Fire rank 1 deals 51 to 65 instead of Classic's 78 to 98, and Heal rank 1 heals 270 to 312 instead of 295 to 341.
• Some buffs changed length. Power Word: Fortitude lasts 1 hour instead of Classic's 30 min, and Fear Ward lasts 3 min instead of 10.
• Blizzard's September 24 notes: Renew can now land critical heals, Power Word: Shield can overwrite an existing shield on a target without Weakened Soul, Starshards now resists pushback from Twilight Focus, Contingency Plan can land critical heals, Dark Sacrifice no longer breaks crowd control, and wands no longer gain damage from spell damage.
• Undead Priests: Blizzard's notes say Touch of the Grave now triggers when you cast Shadow Word: Pain, but not from its damage over time.
• The new Cooldown Manager can be tested on Priests. Blizzard lists a known issue where it tracks every Priest spell by default.

The full list of Priest differences from Classic is on the Priest changes page, and our Priest outlook looks ahead to levels 21 to 40.

Checked against WoW Forever beta build 1.60.1.70009.