The best healing class in the World of Warcraft, the Priest brings a lot to the table – individual and group healing spells, party buffs, dispel buffs, and the ability to resurrect the fallen. Such attributes make the Priest a prized possession in every group.

While the Priest is seen and utilized as a primary healer due to his protective spells and healing powers, he can also do tons of damage with the use of either his knowledge of the Holy Light or the Shadow arts, should a Priest specialize in damage dealing. Either way, this only proves that the Priest is one of the most flexible units in the game.

Background
While the Priest, the Druid, and the Shaman have similar traits in some aspects, the Priest embraces the teachings and philosophies that are believed to be coming from the gods or deities they worship, such as Elune. Shamans on the other hand, pay their deepest reverence for the elements while the Druids maintain a strong bond with nature, the animals, and the wilderness.

But aside from being a religious figure in his or her respective society, the Priest also embraces and practices the craft of magic for whatever purposes they see fit, be it to heal and defend the weak or bring harm to those who deserve it. The Priests of Azeroth may be of different creeds, but all of them tread different paths leading to courage and heroism. There are Priests who follow the Holy Light; there are those who serve as Priestesses of the Moon (Elune); and there are others who become Epic Priests.

During trying times, the Priest acts as a beacon of faith for the people, reminding them that there exists powerful divine forces that are constantly moving, though their existence may be beyond anyone’s understanding. While the Priest is associated with healing and recovery, he or she can and will unleash destructive conjurations if the circumstances call for such actions.

History
The first Priests who experienced the grinds of war were the Clerics of Northshire. These human Priests were deployed into the battle in the First War against the Burning Legion. However, due to their lack of battle skills and lack of experience in the art of war, their order was nearly annihilated. After the Burning Legion’s first attempt to conquer Azeroth, the remaining Priests were trained in the arts of war and offensive magic and thus became the Paladins of the Knights of the Silver Hand – under the leadership of Archbishop Alonsus Faol and his apprentice Uther Lightbringer.

At the break of the Third War, the High Elves abandoned the Alliance, leaving the Humans and the Dwarves to the defense of Azeroth. However, there were still the Elven Priests of Quel’Thalas who refused to follow the command of their superiors and leave behind their comrades. They aided their allies in the Third War, treading the battlefield and healing and bolstering the fighting spirit of the Alliance’s elite warriors with the powers of the Holy Light.

Forsaken Priests
Forsaken Priests are those who were touched by Undeath yet grabbed hold of their will. Most of them often alter their religious belief, deeming that since their faith has abandoned them, they took a turn from its tenets. No longer capable of wielding the powers of the Holy Light, the Forsaken Priests learned to master magic that springs from what they call the Forgotten Shadow.

The philosophies of the Forsaken Priests are inclined towards self-improvement and finding the things that will balance life and death at an even scale. These Priests believes that in order to become a Priest of the Shadow, they must also learn from the Light.

Troll Priests
The Troll Priests function much like their Shaman and Witchdoctor counterparts in various troll tribes. Unlike traditional Priests of Azeroth who draws power from the Holy Light, the Troll Priest gets his from the spiritual energies that the Spirits are ready to give to him, be it from the Loa or even the spiritual power of his victim. The Troll Priest also uses voodoo magic. From these sources of power, the Troll Priest can heal those that need healing, or destroy those that stand in their way.

The Races
The Priest class is available to the following races:

Races	Factions
Draenei	Alliance
Dwarves	Alliance
Humans	Alliance
Night Elves	Alliance
Undead	The Horde
Trolls	The Horde
Blood Elves	The Horde

Each racial version of the Priest has a set of unique abilities that other versions do not have. Here is a list of those racially unique attributes:

Spells	Races	Spell Effects
Desperate Prayer	Dwarf, Human	Automatically replenishes the caster for X to Y. 10 minute cooldown.
Starshards	Night Elf	Unleashes a rain of starshards down on the enemy target’s head, causing X Arcane damage over 15 sec. No mana cost, 30 sec cooldown.
Touch of Weakness	Undead, Blood Elf	The next devastating melee offensive against the caster will result to X Shadow damage and reduce the damage caused by the attacker by Y for 2 min.
Hex of Weakness	Troll	Flags the target enemy, causing target to reduce its damage by X and drop the effectiveness rate of healing spells by 20% for 2 minutes.
Symbol of Hope	Draenei	Significantly boosts the morale of the Priest’s party members. Regenerates their mana for 5 secs for 15 secs. 5 min cooldown.
Chastise	Dwarf, Draenei	Punishes the target with an X to Y Holy damage and stuns them for up to 2 sec. Effective only against Humanoids.
Feedback	Human	The priest is buffed with anti-magic shield. Any successful offensive spell channeled against the priest will burn X of the aggressor’s Mana, causing 1 Shadow damage for each point of Mana burned. Lasts 15 sec.
Elune’s Grace	Night Elf	Greatly reduces the attacker’s chance to hit by melee and ranged attacks by 20% for 15 seconds
Devouring Plague	Undead	Infects the target with a disease that causes X Shadow damage for 24 seconds. Caster of the Devouring Plague is also healed.
Shadowguard	Troll	When activated, the caster is encircled by shadows. When the attacker will be struck for X Shadow damage. Attackers can only be damaged once every few seconds. 3 charges. Lasts 10 minutes.
Consume Magic	Blood Elf	Disperses one useful Magic effect from the caster and gives party members X to Y mana. 2 min cooldown.

The Skill Trees
The Priest’s skills and role in battles are determined by the type of Skill Tree a player chooses to focus for his character. There are three different Skill Trees for the Priest; each with its own unique attributes that may prove to be useful in different circumstances.

• Shadow Tree
  The Shadow Tree focuses on increasing the Priest’s damage capabilities. But aside from damage, the Shadow Tree also grants the Priest a respectable array of healing/buffing skills, making the Shadow Priest an excellent character in raids. Virtually, the Shadow Priest is built for the kill, as the tree combines Mana regeneration and Mana efficient killing spells. Essential abilities in the Shadow Tree include the Mind Flay, Vampiric Embrace, and Shadowform.
• Holy Tree
  The Holy Tree is what makes the Priest the ultimate healing machine. With a lot of healing spells in the list, the Holy Priest is the most versatile healer in the game. The Holy Priest’s healing skills can easily prevent his party from being wiped out and hold on even against the toughest enemies, rendering the character a great party member during raids and instancing. Important abilities in this particular tree are Circle of Healing, Spirit of Redemption, and Holy Nova.
• Discipline Tree
  A fusion of Holy and Shadow Trees, the Discipline Tree enables the Priest to inflict significant damage as well as the endurance to survive heavy and even concentrated attacks, and grant healing, offensive, and mana regeneration buffs for the whole party. While not as damaging as the Shadow Priest and not as versatile as its Holy counterpart, the Discipline Priest is, overall, a great party member to have around and his presence poses a real threat to all opposition, especially in PvP situations.
  Among the must-have abilities of the Holy Tree are Pain Suppression, Divine Spirit, and Power Infusion.

Limitations of the Priest
While highly desired for its large damage rate, and more particularly for its healing abilities, the Priest also presents some flaws that might pose some problems to the player. For instance, the Priest class is limited to wear cloth armor plus low hit points. Such lack makes the Priest a favorite target of enemy characters.

Another main issue is that the Priest has poor melee combat skills. If engaging in a close encounter with a powerful melee unit with anti-magic abilities like the Paladin, the Priest’s chance of survival is almost none. As for the player, quick reflexes are required and concentration should be almost paramount when casting healing spells.