#0 - July 2, 2007, 5:55 p.m.
Please note that it is speculated that in the new expansion Wrath of the Lich King, Priest racials will be "spread around". Until it is known exactly what this entails, I won't edit this post.
Alliance:
Draenei
Priest racials:
Symbol of Hope - Learnt at level 10.
15 Mana
Instant cast 5 min cooldown
Greatly increases the morale of party members, giving them 33 mana every 5 sec. Effect lasts 15 sec.
This spell scales with level with the following formula: mp5 granted = ( Level - 10 ) * 5 + 33. A level 70 priest casting Symbol of Hope will return 999 mana to all group members over 15 seconds (3 ticks of 333). It has a rather large cooldown, but used fairly early on in a boss fight will mean you can use it again towards the end of the fight, giving 10,000 mana back in total to your party over the fight (classes in your group depending). This spell ONLY affects people in your party, not your entire raid.
Fear Ward - Learnt at level 20.
100 Mana 30 yd range
Instant cast 30 sec cooldown
Wards the friendly target against Fear. The next Fear effect used against the target will fail, using up the ward. Lasts 10 min.
This spell is very good in PvP and to some extent PvE. Bosses or mobs which have a fear spell (eg, Bellowing Roar, Intimidating Shout) will require the tank to either stance dance, or be caught out and have to rely on dispelling, or a tremor totem from a shaman, unless there is a fear ward available. For this reason, fear warders (draenei or dwarf) can be sought after and preferred to other races, although a skilled warrior tank when no fear ward is available should be just as good. It can be cast on any friendly player, whether they are in your group or not.
Generic Draenei racials:
Gift of the Naaru Racial
40 yd range
1.5 sec cast 3 min cooldown
Heals the target of 1085 damage over 15 sec.
This being when you are level 70, as this also scales with level to the following formula: Amount healed = Level * 15 + 35.
This ability DOES scale with healing gear, but not from healing talents. It is NOT castable in shadow form. This ability is classed as a Holy Spell (as in, it is in the holy school, meaning if you get kicked or counterspelled while casting another healing spell, Gift of the Naaru will also be uncastable. This is a neat little HoT spell for all draenei, mana free, but has a casting time, so in certain situations it's not really worth casting as you will lose time for something that's not quite as good as Renew. However, the fact that it doesn't cost any mana is what makes it so great, and you can put GotN AND renew on the same target.
Inspiring Presence Racial Passive
Increases chance to hit with spells by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.
A very nice passive ability, especially so for shadow priests or holy smiters. If you're in a caster heavy group this is great. One thing to note is that when you are grouped, you will notice that they will have it show up as a buff, whereas you do not, this is because it's passive to you. You do still get the 1% spell hit benefit. Also it's worth noting that if you have two draeneis with Inspiring Presence in a group, the bonus does NOT stack.
Dwarf
Priest Racials:
Desperate Prayer Rank 1 - Learnt at level 10.
Instant 10 min cooldown
Instantly heals the caster for 134 to 170.
The highest rank, attained at level 66, heals for 1601 to 1887. This spell gains 42.86% of +healing benefits, and from what I have gathered from research, it does benefit from a few talents, namely Holy Specialization, Silent Resolve and Spiritual Healing. Now while the average level 70 priest has around 5500-7000 HP unbuffed, the amount healed from this spell may not seem like a lot, but I've read from various people how often this spell has saved their life, and could be quite good in PvP as well.
Fear Ward - see the comments above in the Draenei section. - Learnt at level 20.
Generic Dwarf Racials:
Stoneform Racial
Instant 3 min cooldown
While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increased by 10%. Lasts 8 sec.
This can be a powerful tool in PvP, and also against some PvE boss encounters, for example, Moroes in Karazhan, who Garrotes random players for a very large amount of HP over 5 minutes - total I believe is around 50,000 HP over 5 minutes. Stoneform can remove this debuff as it is a bleed, and as such is also invaluable against rogues or warriors in pvp. It also removes bleed/poison/diseases when activated.
Human
Priest Racials:
Desperate Prayer - see the comments above in the Dwarf section. - Learnt at level 10.
Feedback Rank 1 - Learnt at level 20
140 Mana
Instant cast 3 min cooldown
The priest becomes surrounded with anti-magic energy. Any successful spell cast against the priest will burn 18 of the attacker's Mana, causing 1 Shadow damage for each point of Mana burned. Lasts 15 sec.
Highest rank costs 705 mana, and burns 165 mana from attackers.
Quite an expensive spell, and the general concensus from the priest community is that this spell isn't very good, although it might be of limited use in PvP. Whether it is worth the 705 mana to cast it though is another matter. Recent patches made it so that the effect would proc when the priest was sitting down, presumably a bug that finally got fixed. This spell does not scale with +damage gear, receiving 0% bonus damage from +damage.
Generic Human Racials:
Perception Racial
Instant 3 min cooldown
Dramatically increases stealth detection for 20 sec.
Has uses in PvP, and limited usefulness in PvE (finding assassins in Blood Furnace or Shattered Halls for example).
Diplomacy Racial Passive
Reputation gains increased by 10%.
Very nice for the rep grind, especially since the Burning Crusade reputations give very nice rewards at 70, it makes the whole thing quicker.
The Human Spirit Racial Passive
Spirit increased by 10%.
Very nice for the Spirit based healing priest. With the Spirit of Redemption talent that brings you to 15% extra spirit, and if you have improved Divine Spirit and Spiritual Guidance talents, 35% of your spirit will equate to extra damage and healing.
Night Elf
Priest Racials:
Starshards Rank 1 - Learnt at level 10.
50 Mana 30 yd range
Channeled
Rains starshards down on the enemy target's head, causing 84 Arcane damage over 6 sec.
Highest rank causes 1128 Arcane damage over 6 sec. This spell gains an awesome 171.43% bonus from damage gear. This is an Arcane school ability, which means it can be cast in Shadow Form, and a lot of healing priests like this spell because it does good damage which is useful for grinding which can be extremely painful when specced for healing. Also, if you cast this first on a mob which absorbs attacks, it means you are free to use your arsenal of Holy or Shadow Spells against it. Having this spell counterspelled/kicked also means you are still able to do some damage with your other schools while it is cooling down.
Elune's Grace Rank 1 - Learnt at level 20.
60 Mana
Instant cast 5 min cooldown
Reduces ranged damage taken by 21 and increases chance to dodge by 10% for 15 sec.
Highest rank reduces ranged damage taken by 167 and increases chance to dodge by 10%. This spell has limited use since it can only be used against physical attacks, and the reduction in damage and the increased dodge chance isn't enough to be of practical use in PvP or against stray mobs. The general concensus from the priest community is that this spell isn't very good.
Generic Night Elf Racials:
Quickness Racial Passive
Dodge chance increased by 1%.
Not very useful for a priest, since they shouldn't be getting hit a lot, but while soloing, or coupled with Elune's Grace to provide 11% dodge total, it could be worse. :)
Shadowmeld Racial
Instant 10 sec cooldown
Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Night Elf Rogues and Druids with Shadowmeld are more difficult to detect while stealthed or prowling.
Good for PvP, afk-ing while somewhere populated by mobs, again, limited use, but can be good fun.
General concensus about Alliance races
Generally, for PvE, people prefer to roll a draenei, followed quickly by dwarf and then human. All three have good racials for healing, and fear ward is a nice bonus on draenei and dwarf, and the 10% spirit is the clincher for humans. Sadly, Night Elves seem to have been given the raw deal on abilities, the most popular racials for them being Shadowmeld and Starshards, which are good for pvp and also to help grinding abilities. Neither of their priest racial spells have any real use for a raiding healing priest. Some people joke that their racial is "prettiness". ;)
Thanks to Killdare for providing bonus spell damage/healing co-efficients.
Horde to follow in next post.