Shadow Priests: The four best things about Cataclysm

In between the fevered dreams, cough syrup benders and The Golden Girls marathons associated with my most recent cold this week, I resolved to pen the greatest Spiritual Guidance article of all time. After all, Hemingway's genius came from the bottom of a bottle. Perhaps then it would stand to reason that the true genius of Fox Van Allen would come from the bottom of a bottle of CVS Nighttime Cold and Flu.

Alas, that was not to be the case. In my hastily written Twitter screed, "The best things about Cata for spriets (sic)," I praised Blizzard for the way it made quests smell in Hyjal. The third best thing about Cataclysm was, "wait hold on no no no wait." Cold medication is serious business, kids. That's why they keep the good stuff behind the counter.

Thankfully, the cold has finally lifted (mostly). Thinking with a more sober mind, I've come to the realization that the idea of a "favorite things" list is a decent one (sup, Oprah?); it's just that my execution was a bit off earlier in the week. After the break: My real picks for the "best" changes to shadow priests (so far) in Cataclysm and a chance for you to chime in on your favorites as well.


Inner Will

While it's not technically a shadow priest talent, Inner Will is something that every shadow priest should be excited about. Not necessarily for situations where you're in battle, but for every single moment you spend outside of it.

A huge chunk of our time in World of Warcraft is spent meandering around the big cities -- buying reagents, traveling between the auction house and the mailbox, picking up trade goods and hunting down Wild Mustard. The idea that less of my time will be wasted doing the least fun thing known to man in game -- traveling -- is a blessing worthy of inclusion here.

Shadowy Apparition

Let's be honest: No list of favorite shadow priest changes in Cataclysm would be complete without a hat tip to Shadowy Apparition (also known as ghostly aspects of our shadowy hatepower). It's absolutely overloaded with "cool factor."

There are a few minor issues holding me back from proclaiming this to be the best thing about Cataclysm, at least for now. Shadowy Apparition seems to be something of a technical nightmare for Blizzard to implement. Each new beta build comes with a fix or change to the ability, but it still remains pretty bugged. The apparitions tend to chase down the wrong target, and they still hit for the wrong amount of damage (at least, I think they still do -- it's awfully hard to tell with the damage numbers turned off). That's forgivable, though. The concept behind Shadowy Apparition is sound, even if it isn't correctly implemented yet.

A few weeks ago, the talent underwent a pretty major artisitic change. The old "floating skull" Shadowy Apparition is gone; instead, the ability now procs clones of yourself (as Blizzard had originally intended). It looked a bit glitchy the first time I saw it in action on the battlefield, but when I played around with training dummies, the animation seemed to go much more smoothly. I can't help but wish my ghostly aspects of shadowy hatepower were in Shadowform, but that's a minor concern.

The more pressing concern is the tax these extra shadow priests could have on your graphics card. I play on a fairly modern desktop, but I have plenty of friends who play on more dated machines and laptops. If you're the type of player who prefers 10-man raiding to 25-man raiding simply because the former gives you better frame rates and performance, then Shadowy Apparition could severely bog down your computer on a movement-heavy fight, even if you're only running a 5-man instance. Seriously, the proc rate on these things is just that generous. We could fill a whole raid with these things.

There's still plenty of work for Blizzard to do with the talent, but what I've seen so far in the beta is promising.

Paralysis

Seriously. I'm excited about Paralysis.

When I play World of Warcraft, I try my best to be a team player. And really, when you're taking on 5-man, 10-man or 25-man content as a shadow priest, that's supposed to be your primary focus -- working as part of a team. DPS players tend to fade into the crowd as the least important aspect of any raid encounter, so anything I can do to add some more value to the team, I do. When I play my elemental shaman, I use Wind Shear every chance I get. On my shadow priest, putting two points into Improved Vampiric Embrace was an easy call.

That talent is going extinct in Cataclysm, and I've been keeping an eye out for a new talent or ability that might take its place. For a time, I figured that ability could be one we already have, Silence. But we're pretty deep into beta already, and developers are still keeping it gated behind a two-point investment in Improved Psychic Scream.

I won't give up hope that we'll someday be able to use Silence in PvE as well as PvP, but just this month, Cataclysm gifted shadow priests with an ability that I'm quite intrigued by: Paralysis. The downsides are obvious -- it's a stun snare that puts you at the total mercy of the random number generator. It's not really an interrupt, like that beautiful Silence talent Blizzard insists on us never being able to take. And of course, we have no idea how effective this will be on non-player characters -- Blizzard has a habit of making bosses totally immune to stuff like this.

But here's the upside: It's a new concept and a new ability that doesn't require me to give up a mapped keyboard key to use. As I play Cataclysm more and more, I'm starting to get button fatigue by the sheer number of choices I have. Between Mind Spike, Dark Archangel and a rekindled interest in Shadow Word: Death, managing the new abilities along with the old standards seems clunkier than ever. I can see Paralysis bringing a nice benefit to my time soloing and to my 5-man groups, and the idea that I don't even need to waste a global cooldown to use it just feels like icing on an already sweetened cake.

An understanding of how shadow priests work

Back in Ulduar and Trial of the Crusader, hybrid classes were poor, abused step children. Elemental shaman had to deal with gear loaded with useless MP5. Shadow priests had gear loaded with sub-optimal spirit. Why was that?

Um ... well, you see, cause resto needs MP5, you know, and ... uh ... and holy, holy and disc are two ... uh ... spirit ... um ...

OK, so I'm not really sure what Blizzard was thinking back in ye olden days of World of Warcraft 3.2. But you can't take a look at the way shadow priests are being designed for Cataclysm without getting a sense that shadow priests -- and in fact, most hybrids -- are finally getting an appropriate level of commonsense design. Shadow priests are the kings of the damage over time spell. It only makes sense that haste should be a powerful stat for us, right?

When Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague became haste-affected spells in Patch 3.3.0, the wall started to crumble. In 4.0, Shadow Word: Pain gets affected by haste, too. The piece that I truly appreciate, though, is the continuity of thought in the design process. Blizzard gave us something to benefit from haste, while simultaneously reworking our talent tree to highlight the stat. If you'll recall, a few weeks ago, Shadowform was changed from a 5 percent crit buff to a 5 percent haste buff. And just this past week, we saw the developers retool Darkness. What was once a static increase to shadow damage is now a 1/2/3 percent increase to spell haste.

That may not seem like a big deal to the casual observer, but this kind of coherent thinking was largely absent from the design of shadow priests throughout Wrath. It's refreshingly welcome to see it turn up in Cataclysm.

No one cares what you think, Fox

That's what my mom used to tell me, anyway. Good ol' mom.

Seriously, though, now that you know what I think about what's coming for shadow priests in Cataclysm, I'd like to hear everyone else's impressions on the beta so far. What's your favorite part about shadow priesting 4.0? Are you loving Dark Archangel? Do those silly little shadow orbs excite you way more than they excite me? Maybe you're just so darn excited about tauren priests that you can't think about anything else.

Now's your chance to sound off. As for me, I'm going to go finish off that bottle of cough medicine and watch some TV until next Wednesday. I hear Match Game's on.

Raid Rx: Is that DPS gear or healing gear?

Got an email this week from a reader. We'll call him G. I'm sure it's a question that many raid leaders or loot masters had to struggle with over the years.

[...] When cloth item A drops, our caster DPS and healers always /roll on it; the caster DPS doesn't seem to mind if it's MP5 or spirit. Let's take an example of the Cord of the Patronizing Practitioner. Our warlock says spirit is good for him and he /rolls; our priest says it's healer gear [because] of the spirit [as] regeneration for him; and our mage of course wants this also.

The healer complains the caster DPS gets to roll not only on items like this but also on cloth stuff with +hit, effectually rolling on everything cloth in ICC. I can kinda see what he means. My question is what's an easy way to differentiate "healer" gear from caster "DPS" gear, or is it all rolled into one big pot now?

Thanks for any help you can give me, I am not the guild leader but I am the full time loot master, the guild leader has given it to me to decide, as he's never played any caster at all.

Well, G, I don't have a lot of DPS toons myself, but I'll do my best to explain it. The loot system I use is loot council for my raiding guild, and this is a situation we deal with in an ongoing basis as loot drops from bosses.

• Paladin loot is self-explanatory.


• MP5 is generally a healing stat.


• Crit and haste are beneficial for both roles.

As always, whom you ultimately decide to hand loot over to is going to depend on a number of factors such as:

• attendance


• performance


• gear needs


• level of content


• seniority in guild or raid group


• spec

And there are probably more things to consider than that. If we omit the above factors, though, there are a few guidelines we can use if we base our decisions purely on stats. So here we go!

If you're deciding gear on the fly, then use the following purely as a rule of thumb.

• Hit If it has hit rating, it's generally used for DPS players. They need that hit rating to hit mobs. Contrary to whatever you may hear in trade chat, you don't need hit gear to heal people. If a healer says to you he needs the hit in order to heal, get yourself a new healer right now.


• Spirit Usually, the healers will want to claim priority on it first. But I believe mages and warlocks have abilities that convert spirit into a desirable stat, such as Molten Armor and Fel Armor.


• MP5 If you see this on gear, option it to your healers first. I can see situations where extremely undergeared DPS would want it since it could possibly be an upgrade no matter what.


• Crit It's universal for both roles. It's not necessarily wrong for a healer to take a crack at it. It's an item that will benefit either.


• Haste Like crit, haste is also beneficial. Having more haste means you can do stuff way faster, the more haste rating you have. Who doesn't want to do things faster? DPS players want haste so they can fire off more spells. Healers want more haste so they unload heals more quickly.

WOW: Gear for paladins

This is fairly straightforward. Protection- and retribution-specced paladins want nothing to do with spell power. Holy paladins can't seem to get enough of it. Your gear will have varying amounts of MP5, haste and crit depending on the level of content you're doing. Since you don't have any competition, feel free to go nuts.

For stuff like trinkets and weapons, if mana isn't a problem for you, then you'll typically want to lean toward something with haste and crit over MP5. A perfect example would be Belt of the Lonely Noble.

Don't let me catch you going after spirit weapons (until Cataclysm, at least).

Gear for shaman

Unlike paladins, there are two shaman specs that both utilize spellpower. Elemental and restoration shamans want spellpower, but the wishes of the preferred secondary specs are going to vary. Follow the same outline as above. At higher levels when mana isn't an issue, it's not uncommon for a resto shaman to want mail gear with haste and crit rating. If you're the loot master, keep in mind that both will benefit from an item like a Split Shape Belt. There's no hit rating on it, so it doesn't scream "DPS," but there is a ton of haste and crit.

An item like the Mail of Crimson Coins is going to garner more interest from a resto shaman than anyone else.

WOW: Gear for druids

While spirit isn't entirely useless for balance druids, you may wish to pass it off to a resto druid first in case they need extra regeneration. While I admit I'm not as well versed with healing druids as I should be, from what I understand, they value haste more than crit. Get that global cooldown all the way down, right?

WoW: Gear for priests

Last but not least, this is the trickiest, as there is an abundance of cloth-wearing classes. There always seems to be some type of feud going on, especially when it comes to gear drops. Follow the same rules as outlined above.

Let's use the item that was mentioned in the original question. A belt like the Cord of the Patronizing Practitioner will benefit a mage, a warlock or a priest. It does have spirit on it, and normally that would go straight to a healer. But don't forget that those DPS classes have talents which convert spirit into an offensive friendly stat.

Hope that helps with the gear resolution!

Wow priest's guide to tanks

I love tanks. Likewise, there have been many tanks who have loved me.There is nothing more beautiful than the love between a tank and a healer. It's actually a little known fact that every great love song ever written was written about a tank and healer. Every little thing she does is magic? Totally sung by a tank. Don't leave me this way: sung by a healer. Still don't believe me? Check out Heroes by David Bowie; it was actually originally written as a tank x healer duet. Just look at the lyrics:

"And you, you can be mean,And I, I'll drink all the time."See? So, if you want to find your great tank love, if you want a tank that knows how and when to blow each and every one of his cooldowns to maximize every lasting second of your epic encounters together, then you are going to have to rise up and meet him. You need to be the healer his healer could heal like (if she stopped playing hybrid-spec player classes.) Luckily, you're already a priest, the most alluring of healing classes, but don't think that's enough. You need to be more than just some healer who heals him -- you need to understand him. That is today's goal.The information in this article is meant to give you a better understanding of how each tanking class works. It won't teach you how to tank, but it will briefly explain tank cooldowns and what you can expect as a healer. While the information should be helpful to all priests, it will probably be more useful for 5-man or 10-man content, where priests of either spec (yes, I'm talking to you, holy priests!) are more likely to be wearing different hats at different points in an encounter.Warriors Just as priests used to be thought of as "the one true healer," warriors were once similarly known for being "the one true tank." (The warrior ability Shield Wall has even been adopted by other tank classes as a way to describe their own, damage mitigating cooldown ability.) Times have changed quite a lot since vanilla, but warriors are still strong, well-rounded tanks.Basics: A warrior is a "block class," meaning he can use a shield to mitigate a lot of incoming melee damage. (Warriors can also dodge and parry, so don't make the mistake of thinking all they do is block.) You can expect incoming damage on him to be consistent in size and speed. If the damage is or becomes irregular, focus your heals on him and be ready to use a cooldown on him if his health drops below 30%. A warrior should be able to handle the damage of multiple mobs due to his shield, but like all classes, if he is being hit from behind you should pay close attention to his health.Threat: Warrior threat requires a lot of maintenance to upkeep. If you find yourself running with a less seasoned warrior, be ready to use Fade; especially in pulls with multiple mobs.Priest concerns: If you read the official priest forums, there is not a week that goes by without someone asking if priest shields, like Power Word: Shield, negatively affect warrior rage generation. The answer is no. A priest's shields allow warriors to generate rage just as they always do. This has been the case since patch 3.1.Primary cooldowns:

Last Stand -- Every 3 minutes (2 minutes if glyphed) a warrior can increase his health by 30% for 20 seconds.

Shield Wall -- Every 5 minutes the tank can reduce all incoming damage by 60% for 12 seconds (4 minutes if talented; 2 minutes at 40% reduction if glyphed in addition to talents.) Additional information for overachievers: A warrior can also use Shield Block every minute (40 seconds if talented) for 10 seconds. Shield Block will increase a warrior's chance to block by 100% and double his block value. If you don't understand what that means, just know that this is a shorter but smaller cooldown for warriors to use. Warriors can also heal themselves for 30% of their health (40% if glyphed) with Enraged Regenration ever 3 minutes.PaladinsProtection paladins are a dime a dozen in numbers, but like all classes, the diamonds are harder to find. A good paladin tank is versatile and excels at AoE tanking.Basics: Paladins are similar to warriors in that they use a shield (plus dodge and parry) to mitigate damage. Also like warriors, damage taken is consistent and usually predictable once you're comfortable with a fight's mechanics. If the consistency of the incoming damage changes, have a cooldown ready while you focus your heals. A paladin can comfortably handle the damage from tanking multiple mobs at once; but again, problems will arise if he ever takes damage from behind so watch his positioning.Threat: Paladins should have no trouble generating threat.Priest concerns: On very rare occasions, usually in a 5-man dungeon, you might run into a prot paladin with mana problems, who tries to blame it on Power Word: Shield. The justification for this is that paladin tanks gain additional mana from Spiritual Attunement, which converts effective healing they receive into mana (overhealing doesn't count.) The talent returns 10% of the effective healing as mana (12% if glyphed), but it's more "icing on the cake" than a bulk of his mana regeneration. He still has Divine Plea and Guarded by the Light, and in most situations (any raid) he is always going to be taking enough damage to warrant healing him anyway. Should you ever run into this situation though, just be polite and stop shielding him.Primary cooldowns:

Ardent Defender -- This passive talent will reduce all incoming damage by 20% whenever the paladin tank is below 35% health. Also, should the paladin ever be struck with a killing blow he will immediately be healed for up to 30% of his health instead of dying. The heal effect has a 2 minute cooldown. (A note to holy priests: If the paladin has Guardian Spirit on him, it will be consumed before the heal effect of Ardent Defender procs.)

Divine Protection -- This is a paladin's Shield Wall. It mitigates all incoming damage by 50% for 12 seconds on a 3 minute cooldown. Additional information for overachievers: I mentioned earlier that paladins are comfortable handling multiple mobs at once. This is because of Holy Shield, which increases a paladins chance to block by 30%. It has 8 charges and an 8 second cooldown; the low cooldown means that a paladin is rarely without the extra 30% chance to block.A paladin may occasionally choose to use Lay on Hands on himself instead of Divine Protection. If he does this he will not be able to use Divine Protection until the 2 minute Forbearance debuff he acquires fades.DruidsAlmost the opposite of paladin tanks, feral druid tanks are unusually rare, especially in random heroic dungeons. I suspect this has to do with the many negative misconceptions that accompany druids. Do not buy into what the skeptics have to say though; druids are extremely capable tanks (even with the dodge debuff in Icecrown Citadel) and offer great raid utility when paired with a skilled priest.Basics: A druid deals with incoming damage by sporting extremely large health pools, dodging incoming attacks, and thwarting damage with defensive abilities like Survival of the Fittest and Savage Defense. The damage that druid tanks take will be much larger than that of warriors or paladins, but it is manageable because their large health pools act as a sponge. Druids will have more trouble handling the damage from multiple mobs, since Savage Defense will only go up as quickly as the tank hits its targets with critical attacks.Threat: Druids should have no trouble generating threat.Priest concerns: Just as it is with warriors, feral druids will have no problems generating rage through a Power Word: Shield. However, due to the large health pools of druids, it can sometimes (let me stress: sometimes) be difficult to keep up with the damage on him. Discipline can respond quickly to the damage, but her lower HPS makes getting the tank to full a difficult task. Holy has the raw power to heal druids up with to full, but might have trouble responding to any incoming burst since she lacks an instant cast "nuke" healing spell. Please take in mind this is not the fault or shortcoming of the druid tank, simply some challenges that priests specifically have to deal with. Generally though, healing a druid tank isn't rough and incoming damage is steady.Primary cooldowns:

Barkskin -- This is the feral druid's Shield Wall. It reduces incoming damage by 20% for 12 seconds, on a 1 minute cooldown. The short cooldown allows druid tanks to use this cooldown quite liberally.

Survival Instincts -- This is the druid's Last Stand, increasing the tank's health by 30% (45% if glyphed) for 20 seconds on a 3 minute cooldown.

Frenzied Regeneration -- Heals the druid for a percentage of his maximum health over 10 seconds, once every 3 minutes. Additional information for overachievers: Druids will occasionally heal themselves a small amount from Improved leader of the Pack.In order for a druid tank to cast Rebirth or Innervate while tanking, a priest cooldown (Guardian Spirit or Pain Suppression) plus Barkskin is typically required. Using voice chat, instruct your tank to call for your cooldown when he is ready to shift out of bear form. When he makes the call and you've cast it on him, immediately confirm that it's up so he can quickly change forms and do his business. This maneuver is not difficult but does require solid communication and coordination to avoid a dead tank.Death KnightsDeath knights are the kindred spirits of discipline priests. Early in Wrath of the Lich King, when gear was bad and players were still learning their class, death knights developed a stigma for being squishy tanks. At the time, death knights took "spiky" damage, meaning they would take large amounts of damage at seemingly random intervals. This was terrifying to many healers, who were not yet accustomed to the yo-yo effect that would become the signature trait of WotLK on player health pools.Fortunately, at the same time death knights appeared, so did discipline specced raiding priests; and they came conveniently equipped with all the right tools to heal the pioneer tanks. Soon a loving and symbiotic relationship formed, and to this day death knights are still my favorite tanks to heal.Basics: Despite initial troubles adapting, death knight tanks don't really take damage that is much more spiky than other tanks. Like with druid tanks, the damage received will be larger than what you see on warriors and paladins, but it will still come at a consistent pace and quantity. It's especially important to communicate your cooldowns with death knights since they have more of their own cooldowns to use.Threat: A death knight tank has no AoE taunt, but should not have trouble holding threat on mobs once he has their attention. In fights with add spawns, be ready to use Fade in order to help out the tank. Additionally, death knight tanks are excellent at tanking caster mobs with his Strangulate and Death Grip abilities.Priest concerns: There is nothing special to keep in mind when healing death knight tanks.Primary cooldowns:

Icebound Fortitude -- This is the death knight's Shield Wall, reducing all incoming damage by 41% (when defense capped) for 12 seconds (18 seconds if talented) every 2 minutes.
Anti-magic Shell -- This ability has a 5 second (7 second if glyphed) duration which will mitigate 75% of all incoming spell damage, up to 50% of the tank's health.

Death Pact -- The death knight can instantly restore 40% of their hit points, every 2 minutes, by sacrificing one of his undead minions. (Note that Raise Dead has a 3 minute cooldown, and Army of the Dead has a 10 minute cooldown. Those numbers can be reduced with talents.)
Army of the Dead -- When the death knight summons his Army of the Dead, they will temporarily distract the engaged mob or mobs. The tank will also gain additional mitigation based on his dodge and parry stats. Additional information for overachievers: Technically, all death knight specs can tank, but the majority are presently tanking in the blood spec. An additional cooldown for blood specced death knight tanks is Vampiric Blood + Rune Tap -- Since Rune Tap heals based on a percentage of health, using it just after Vampiric Blood (which increases your total health) will maximize the amount healed. (With Improved Rune Tap, you can double the amount healed and lower the cooldown by 30 seconds.) If you don't know how to identify a death knight tank, look at his buffs for an above average health pool and Frost Presence.

Basics of tank healing for priests

I've mentioned tank healing several times before but as a recap:

#Keep Inspiration up on the tank, even if you're not assigned to the tank. The only exception to this is if you have a more pressing raid role (such as bubble spamming on the Lich King.)

#Apply Prayer of Mending to your tank everytime it is off cooldown.

#Keep Power Word: Shield and Renew up on your tank as much as a possible.

#Try to hold your big, instant cast heals for larger amounts of damage a tank takes. Fill in the gaps with smaller cast heals when damage is manageable.

#Communication is key to coordinating cooldown usage. While some fights will have a predetermined point at which to use your cooldowns, there will be others where you just have to go with your gut. In those cases, a quick dialogue between you and your tank will maximize the spread of your various cooldowns.

#When a tank cooldown drops off, be ready to heal your tank harder just in case he is still taking large sums of damage.

So that covers the basics. I would encourage every priest to at least committing the cooldown sections of each tank class to memory. Even if it doesn't actively help you heal, it will improve your understanding of boss fights by understanding the tanking side of things. Ultimately, understanding the tanks will help you keep your party alive through them.And don't forget what I told you about those love songs. This one was written by a tank.

WoW ICC-25 Priests Gear Guides

As promised, today I will be discussing 25-man Icecrown Citadel loot in a special edition of Spiritual Guidance. Additionally, I will be giving my assessments on tier 10 set bonuses for those of you who are still deciding how to spend your badges. Finally, I'll be offering up the counter arguments that readers left for the 'who to gear first' debate from Sunday's column.

We have a lot of things to discuss, so let's jump right into it!

Back

• Greatcloak of the Turned Champion -- 25-man Deathbringer Saurfang -- There are two, level 264 badge vendor cloaks (Volde's Cloak of the Night Sky and Drape of the Violet Tower) that this cloak off Saurfang is comparable to. Since the drop has spirit on it, this is a better catch for holy. Disc priests will find better itemization off the Drape of the Violet Tower, however if you find yourself frequently switching between holy, or even shadow, this drop (or the other badge cloak) are good multi-purpose cloaks.


• Frostbinder's Shredded Cape -- 25-man Valithria Dreamwalker -- [Disclaimer: This item can't be confirmed as a drop until the fight goes live!] This is the throughput cloak that all the DPS are going to want. If you are good on mana regen, this will be your best in slot until hard modes. This is really one of those cases where you should try to be courteous to your fellow raiders though, as healers have 3 other great options.

Chest

• Sanguine Silk Robes -- 25-man Blood Prince Council -- First of all, the socket bonus not listed on the tool tip is 9 spellpower. There are two badge options (Ermine Coronation Robes and Meteor Chaser's Raiment) as well as tier (Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Robe) to compare these robes from Blood Prince Council to. The Sanguine Silk Robes are a good option for a holy priest who wants nothing to do with tier 10, and they are better than the level 264 badge robes (Ermine Coronation Robes). I say they're better than the badge robes because regardless of how you value crit and haste, the looted Sanguine Silk Robes have a lot more spirit. If you want spirit, then this drop is what you want, especially when you consider the high badge costs of the Ermine Coronation Robes. If you don't want spirit though, I would save up for the Meteor Chaser's Raiment. They are the non-tier robe of choice for disc priests pre-heroic ICC. If you are considering tier 10, I would say the Sanguine robes are equal once set bonuses are weighed in.

Feet

• Plague Scientist's Boots -- 25-man Festergut -- These are the boots both disc and holy priests are going to want to hold out for if you prioritize throughput. The only other non-hit option currently available for priests are the crafted Sandals of Consecration. Both are equally hard to come by, due to the cost of Primordial Saronite, and disc priests will find the itemization on the Sandals of Consecration less than favorable if they are trying to min/max one gear set.

Finger

• Ring of Maddening Whispers -- 25-man Lady Deathwhisper -- This is a nice ring for holy priests, or disc priests just looking for an upgrade.


• Incarnadine Band of Mending -- 25-man Blood Prince Council -- This is essentially the Ring of Maddening Whispers, with mp5 instead of spirit.


• Ring of Rapid Ascent -- 25-man Gunship -- This is not only the throughput ring option for priests, it appears to be the best of the available rings, due to the slightly higher crit. If you can get this one, congratulations!


• Memory of Malygos -- 25-man Sindragosa -- [Disclaimer: This item can't be confirmed as a drop until the fight goes live!] This is basically just the Ring of Maddening Whispers, with haste instead of crit. If you're a holy priest, you might like this. Unfortunately, there is no way to currently confirm the socket bonus, since the fight isn't live. Oh, by the way, this ring is a nice tribute to lore, if you're into that sort of thing. I assume if you're playing an MMORPG you are!

Hands

• San'layn Ritualist Gloves -- 25-man Blood Prince Council -- The socket bonus not on the tool tip is 7 spellpower. These gloves are comparable to both badge loot options (Gloves of Ambivalence and Gloves of False Gestures) and the tier gloves(Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Gloves). The San'layn Ritualist Gloves are worse than the Gloves of Ambivalence, so if you wanted the latter, stick with it unless no one else wants the San'layn Ritualist Gloves. The Gloves of False Gestures are the best option for disc priests and holy priests who want throughput over tier. Just take in mind that if you want a level 277 glove upgrade later, there will be no equivalent badge options.

Head

• Corp'rethar Ceremonial Crown -- 25-man Gunship -- If, for whatever reason, you're considering only getting the 2-piece tier bonus, the tier helm (Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Cowl) may be the piece you consider skipping. The Corp'rethar Ceremonial Crown has the same spellpower, slightly less crit, and more spirit than the tier helm. When most of the other tier pieces have more spellpower than their counterparts, this drop makes level 264 tier helm a bit oddly itemized. If you don't want tier, however, the toss up between the two items is 8 spirit or 8 critical strike rating.

Legs

Guess what? There are no legs that drop in 25-man ICC! If you want level 264 legs you will have to choose between tier or crafted gear. Crafted option #1 is Lightweave Leggings. With the spirit, disc priests will want to avoid these. Arguably, since so much goes into crafted gear, holy priests may also prefer to skip on the Lightweave Leggings, for crafted option #2 Leggings of Woven Death. This is because over time most healers will want throughput over regen. Finally, the tier option (Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Leggings) offers comparable but ultimately inferior stats if the set-bonuses aren't valued. However, since there are no leg drops in 25-man ICC that we know of, there might not be 277 leg drops either. This means that if you plan on raiding hard modes, you should probably get tier over crafted gear.

Main-hand

• Frozen Bonespike -- 25-man Lord Marrowgar -- Nice choice for either disc or holy, and since it drops off the first boss in ICC, it shouldn't be hard to come by over time.


• Trauma -- 25-man Rotface -- Various sources report that the proc rate on this mace is not good. Players who have tested it report it healing for an average of 1-2%. One person told me his guild referred to it as "DE fodder," but if it's an upgrade, take it. The spellpower alone is decent, but in general the raw stats just aren't as good as the Frozen Bonespike. I would consider the proc a 'perk' as opposed to something you weigh into the mace's stats.

Neck

• Bone Sentinel's Amulet -- 25-man Lord Marrowgar -- A good choice for holy priests, but you may want to hold out for Blood Queen's Crimson Choker if you don't need more spirit.


• Holiday's Grace -- 25-man Festergut -- Good disc priest itemization, but again, if you're good on regen you'll get more from the neck off Queen Lana'thel. The mp5 will lower the competition for this piece though, making it easier to get, so holy priests can still look to it as an option.


• Blood Queen's Crimson Choker -- 25-man Blood-Queen Lana'thel -- This is the neck you want if you're going for throughput. Everyone else is going to want it too though.

Off-Hand

• Shadow Silk Spindle -- 25-man Blood Prince Council -- This is the only non-hit level 264 caster off-hand available until the last wing opens next week. This particular off-hand is good for disc and holy.


• Sundial of Eternal Dusk -- 25-man Sindragosa -- [Disclaimer: This item can't be confirmed as a drop until the fight goes live!] This alternative to the Shadow Silk Spindle has spirit, and is thus better for holy priests.

Shoulders

• Stiffened Corpse Shoulderpads -- Zone drop -- These shoulders drop off of ICC trash. Just like I said in my 10-man gear list, there are currently no shoulder options without spirit, so if you're looking for throughput and don't want tier, this is as good as it's going to get. The exception is if there ends up being shoulders on the Lich King's loot table. Since we can't know for sure though, I would suggest saving your tier shoulder purchase for last. If there are shoulders that drop off Arthas then you can expect a heroic version, if there aren't you can skip these dropped shoulders and go for tier so you can upgrade later.

Trinket

• Althor's Abacus -- 25-man Gunship -- Depending on your preferences, this may be an amazing trinket or just a good trinket. The spellpower bonus is absolutely fantastic to what else is available, but the proc effect will vary in its effectiveness. On heavy raid damage fights this trinket will shine, but in an alternative situation the proc effect will probably just overheal a lot. On average the proc effect is not going to do much more effective healing than the mace we mentioned earlier, but because the spellpower outshines other trinkets it's a nice choice for healers who like the concept. I personally find the effect too random, but if there is ever an extra one around I would surely take it to swap out for certain fights. This trinket is solely throughput, by the way, so if you need regen be sure to check out Purified Lunar Dust at the badge vendors.


• Bauble of True Blood -- 25-man Blood-Queen Lana'thel -- This is hailed as a PvP trinket, but if you're wanting more mana regen, and didn't get a Solace, this is an okay choice. Cooldown on the use effect is 2 minutes.

Two-Hand

• Dying Light -- 25-man Blood-Queen Lana'thel -- If you're like me, and always choose a staff, this is going to be a first choice. Lots of haste means it will be sought after by everyone who can use it though. I suspect there might be a better staff for throughput on the Lich King's loot table, but time will tell.

Waist

• Crushing Coldwraith Belt -- 25-man Lord Marrowgar -- This is the throughput belt option, and thankfully since it drops off Marrowgar, everyone should be able to have a shot at it. For this reason I don't recommend spending your badges on the vendor belt, the Circle of Ossus.


• Lingering Illness -- 25-man Festergut -- This belt is an acceptable option for holy priests who didn't nab the Crushing Coldwraith Belt. Disc priests will still find less benefits from spirit in combat.

Wand

• Corpse-Impaling Spike -- 25-man Rotface -- This is the throughput wand in 25-man ICC, so if you're disc or holy and don't need mana, grab this.


• Nightmare Ender -- 25-man Valithria Dreamwalker -- [Disclaimer: This item can't be confirmed as a drop until the fight goes live!] A wand with spirit: holy priests have at it. The tooltip says it is BoE but it may be an error. Until the fight is live, we can't confirm anything.

Wrists

• Death Surgeon's Sleeves -- 25-man Rotface -- Remember how the Unsullied Cuffs were in a league of their own for a while? Same thing here. There are no crafted or badge options currently available for bracers.

Looking at all of it, I'm actually pretty impressed with the itemization available on the level 264 gear. Between the drops, badge gear, and tier, I think there is something for everyone. I'm very curious what will drop off Arthas and how it will affect our wish lists. When we start seeing some of the Lich King's loot next week, I'll be sure to post a third follow-up story.

Pacifist Priest dings 80 on Friday

Reinisch is the pacifist Undead Priest who's aiming to make it to level 80 without killing anything at all (he's the same player as Noor, who we interviewed way back when and followed up with a while ago), and apparently this Friday, he's going to do it. He's inviting everybody out to a party on Friday afternoon, September 4th, at 6pm server over on The Venture Company. He's going to turn in a Dalaran fishing quest to do it, and he's got quick and easy directions posted on how to get to Dalaran as a level 1.

Though there might not be as much going on as other big server parties, it's probably worth going just to see him ding level 80 and the level 1 chaos in Dalaran that will ensue, but it's quite an achievement for sure, especially considering that this Priest was actually created before Noor -- he's named after a German priest who stood up to Hitler in the name of peace and was executed for it. It might be nice just to stop by and give the guy a grats as he dings -- pretty impressive to take a goal that most people would say was impossible, and do it in the game not once but twice on two different classes and factions.

Spiritual Guidance: Are 2 Discipline Priests a problem?

I received a kind email the other day from a raiding Disc Priest. Their Priest is already established within the raid. They've been Holy for many years and decided to try Discipline. Like many Holy-to-Disc Priests, they discovered they really liked it. An issue that I can see some guilds experiencing is when they have more than 1 Discipline Priest within their ranks.

Is that a good thing? Is it a bad thing?

Understand that having two Disc Priests is a sign. It's an omen that your guild is going to be crushed and destroyed because no organization can withstand the egos of two similarly specced classes.

Well, okay, maybe it can.




The role of the Disc Priest

The Disc Priest job is to heal. They can group heal but they excel under single target healing. We understand that! So what do you do when you have two Disc Priests?

Simple! Give them two separate targets!

Identifying your irritability

Is it annoying having two Disc Priests in the raid? Why is that? I'm Discipline myself. I have no problems with other Disc Priests in the raid. I've cooperated with them before in countless raids and on bosses.

But if you're a Disc Priest raiding with another Disc Priest and that fact bothers you, find out why. There have been raids in the past where I've raided with 2 other Holy Priests. I've seen raids filled with 4 Paladins. Sunwell raids were stacked with 5 Resto Shamans. There is nothing wrong with having healers that are the same class.

Look, you can't exactly go to the raiding supermarket and buy yourself the classes and specs that you need with the appropriate knowledge or experience. It just doesn't work that way. People will play the classes and specs that they want.

Here's the thing about figuring out a raid's healing load out that I've learned. Each encounter has a minimum number of healing required in order to complete it successfully. Your raid group is going to take a certain amount of damage and your raid healers have to either prevent or heal that up. The days of extremist Sunwell raids are behind us. You don't have to stack half a dozen Holy Priests on one raid and then ask players to switch to their Resto Shaman alts on another raid to beat an encounter.

Sometimes I read about such disputes on blogs or forums about how a Disc Priest despises having another Disc Priest in the group. I can't help but wonder if it's a competitive or territorial thing. I've seen this kind of behavior before in previous guilds (and in pugs). One player doesn't like the idea of another player healing their tank. Or maybe they don't like to share healing assignments with another player.

I'd just tell them to pull their head out of their ass.

That kind of animosity isn't really warranted. I honestly don't see the point. I've triple stacked healers on to one target before simply because the encounter and our raid composition required it.

The reality of class specific healing

If your server or guild is limited to a handful of healers, you just have to work with what you have. 9 times out of 10, any combination of healers is enough to get through most encounters. Yes, you're gimping the raid out of many buffs that would be nice to have. But that doesn't mean it's impossible. You might be missing a Blessing of Wisdom here or a set of totems there.

As a raid leader, I understand that I have to work with what I have. If that means one day stacking extra Paladins or having multiple Disc Priests, then so be it. The big picture and ultimate mandate of a raiding guild is to kill a boss using whatever players and assets we have at our disposal (legitimately). I know that if I don't want three Disc Priests in the raid, I'd simply put the call out and start looking for a Resto Shaman or a Holy Paladin or whatever it is that I felt I needed.

I understand that some servers or guilds may not have those kinds of resources to get the classes that are necessary. Not everyone's on a high pop server or has access to such a large pool of players.

We're pretty lucky to be able to afford a wide range of flexibility in terms of what classes we bring. Is it possible to knock out bosses with specifically one or two types of healers? Yes. Is it optimal? No. But you don't have to be optimal to be successful.

The thing about 2 Disc Priests

A key component of Disc Priest healing relies on their shields. Unlike heals, only the shield of one Priest can be active for any given time. No other shields can be applied on an already shielded player unless Weakened Soul wears off. That's when players can do it. Versus healing, it's possible for heals from different players to land simultaneously. There's no error message that says you can't heal a player because they've just been healed by someone else.

Clear communication becomes extremely important. Working with multiple Disc Priests, each one has to talk to the other and outline specifically which Priest is covering which target full time.

For example, when I was working with other Disc Priests, I stated that I would specifically be covering the Warrior tank. I instructed the other Priest to look after the bear tank. Every other player within the raid was fair game for our shields. But we would not deviate from our assignments and hit the other Priest's target no matter what (unless a Priest died or something). I have raid frames set up in such a way to show which players had Weakened Soul. I knew I wouldn't have to worry about that player for a few seconds if they just gained the debuff as they had either been shielded by myself or by the other Priest.

Anyways, it's possible for two or more Disc Priests to work together in a raid. In a 10 man, it may not be the most ideal, but it is what it is and if that's what you have to work with, then it's best to try or to convince the leaders to come up with a different solution.

Patch 3.2 PTR: Priest changes in build 10072

A new build for patch 3.2 hit the PTR recently, and all of the related Shadow Priest changes are things that the recent Q&A hinted toward or straight out told us to expect. Let's not waste any time here and dig right into the changes.

Vampiric Touch now deals more damage when dispelled. (Max rank deals 1360 damage, previously 680) Definitely not a surprise here. I've been saying for a long time that this component of the spell needed a significant buff, Ghostcrawler agreed, and doubling its base damage can probably be considered that. We'll still need to see it in action to determine if it's enough. If it's not enough, at least it's closer, and that's something.

Devouring Plague cooldown removed, can now only be applied to one target at a time. This is a change I long expected, and despite Ghostcrawler initially seeming iffy on it in the Shadow Priest Q&A, the simple fact that it was mentioned made me more hopeful that it would happen. And it is happening! So I'm pretty happy about that. There isn't much more to say. It'll make playing a Shadow Priest much less frustrating when it comes to encounters where you're swapping targets a lot. Yogg-Saron, I'm looking at you.
Dispersion's cooldown has been lowered to 2 minutes. This is a good change for the arena, and probably PvP in general. For all of our grievances with it, it does do its job in the arena. Buying you time while your partner heals or peels, stopping an assist train dead. It doesn't do anything for our grievances with it in PvE, though, which is unfortunate.

Improved Mind Blast now has a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to reduce healing done to the target by 20% for 10 seconds when used in Shadowform. Eh. Eh. It's a buff, a pretty useful one, but I'm pretty... unexcited about it. I mean, really? Another MS effect? And they gave one to Frost Mages in this build, too. The same one Shadow Priests get, but built into Permafrost. Whatever happened to, 'If we give everyone MS, we might as well put a healing debuff aura on everyone when they enter the arena.' We're getting pretty close to saying screw it and putting up that aura, aren't we?

Is Mortal Strike the mechanic they default to when they notice a class has PvP problems? Mortal Strike, Aimed Shot, Wound Poison, then they tried it out on Flametongue (which didn't make it live), and now they're spreading the debuff to Shadow Priests and Frost Mages? Of course, they're probably not spreading the debuff around because people need MS as a class, but rather because arena teams need the debuff. They're enforcing the "bring the player" mantra that I've grown so tired of hearing* on PvP now, rather than just PvE. Still, 'throw MS at it until we have another idea' is pretty old at this point. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm complaining about an undeniable buff and something likely needed for arena balance. I shouldn't be, but come on now. Whatever happened to creativity?

*I don't hate the design philosophy, it's a good one that I appreciate. I hate the phrase being used ad nauseum for whatever agenda someone is pushing at that particular moment.

WoW, Casually: Rating the classes for casuals

In my experience, the best class to play as a casual player is one that is easily soloable, with little downtime, but also able to find groups quickly when necessary, particularly at max level. Following is how I rate each class according to those criteria.

Rogue: Sneaking past mobs you don't want to mess with and stunning your enemies so they can't fight back make the Rogue a fun character to solo. They are extremely gear dependent, however, and self-healing is limited to profession-related skills. While rogues make a fight go quickly, there are many of them and you'll have a hard time finding groups while leveling and in the endgame. (Edited to add note: Many readers have pointed out that there aren't as many rogues as there used to be. Perhaps there are more leveling on PvP servers. Ganking me. Like just now. Regardless, there are many DPS classes vying for group spots and rogues still have a harder time finding groups than all tanks, healers and DPS classes who can also heal as necessary.)

Warlock: Warlocks are extremely easy to solo. They have pets, they have self-heals and they have nasty damage. Their spells make downtime pretty non-existent and they can often solo group quests. A skilled Warlock can find groups at max level, but they are not in high demand at this time.

Warrior: Warriors have become much more fun to solo, but are still hampered by a lack of class specific self-heals and therefore require some downtime. If you do make it to the endgame, however, you will find that tanks are in high demand and that a skilled DPS Warrior can also get work.

Shaman: Leveling a Shaman is not difficult. You can blast, melee and heal. If you want to hang out with the big boys in the endgame, however, expect to keep one of your specs Resto, because non-healing Shamans just aren't in very high demand.

Priest: It takes a while to pick up speed when leveling a Priest without a lot of grouping. Shadow Priest soloing is the fastest and gets much easier when you get Shadowform. If you take one to the endgame, you'll be the belle of the ball. They'll want you for your heals and Shadow Priests can even get spots in raids these days.

Mage: Mages are definitely soloable and are very fun to play, but they tend to have a lot of down time for healing and mana regeneration. With no non-profession-related self-heals and nothing but comfy clothes to wear, you really need to be on your toes with your spells and abilities to battle alone. To partially make up for your downtime, your travel time is greatly reduced by the ability to teleport to major cities any time you like (as soon as you're high enough in level, of course). In groups, Mages are in demand for their DPS and crowd control. Don't discount the utility spells as well. The buffs, food and drink and making convenient portals at the end are all highly valued by groupies.

Druid: I've been playing a Druid since open beta. I love the class and have Night Elf droods abandoned across multiple servers -- once I went Horde, I never rarely go back. Druids are great for soloing as either Balance or Feral spec and are usually welcome in any group while leveling. Because of their multiple forms, Druids rarely get boring and make traveling speedy even at low levels. Druids are also extremely versatile at max level. Groups will want you as a healer, tank or DPS. The only drawback to playing a Druid is that they are not easy to just pick up and play (unlike DKs and Pallies). You really need to learn the nuances of all of your options and it can be hard to go back to after a long absence from the game or playing another class. Many don't consider this a negative thing about the class, however, and enjoy the extra brainpower involved in playing.

Death Knight: Death Knights are cake to solo. Not only do they start at level 55, but they are practically indestructible and mow through mobs speedily. They pair up nicely with any other class for those lucky enough to have a quest buddy. DKs also rock the endgame. They make great tanks and are awesome melee DPS. Their main drawback is that they are a dime a dozen. Once you make it to max level, you'll find many others like you competing for instance and raid spots both in your guild and in PuGs. I highly recommend a DK to every casual player as an alt, but you may find getting groups too time consuming for your busy schedule.

Hunter: The Hunter is one of two classes that I have never played past level 11. It's just not my bag. They are, however, arguably the easiest class to solo. The fact that they have no non-profession-related healing abilities is countered by the fact that their pets take most of the damage and the mobs drop quickly due to massive DPS. Hunters are so easy to solo that they tend to be the class of choice for gold-farmers (do they exist anymore or do they just hack and steal now?) as well as children and players new to MMOs. Because their damage dealing skills are so powerful, they are definitely wanted in the endgame. But you have to have the spec, gear and skills to be able to function in groups and raids and 80 levels of soloing isn't going to get you these. Expect to have to work hard on your gear and grouping skills before being invited to the good PvE group activities.

Paladin: Before Blizzard "fixed" Retribution, leveling a Paladin was easy, but kinda boring and with a lot of downtime for mana regeneration. Now that Ret Pallies are OP (which I think is pretty much an uncontroversial statement), leveling is a breeze and a ton of fun. With barely any downtime and usually multiple mobs at once, I tear through content on my formerly boring, previously mana-challenged paladin. Also, when I have to make sudden AFKs due to my main job of taking care of The Spawn, I rarely come back to a dead Blood Elf. (Though I run the risk of being run off cliffs ever since I taught her how to run around in game. "Oops!", she says.) And once you get to the endgame, the world is your oyster. You'll be wanted as either a tank or a healer by everyone and be favored for (though not guaranteed) DPS spots as Retribution.

When making your decision as to what class to play, think about what role you want to fill when you are ready to participate in the harder group activities. Regardless of how you like to play, you are more likely to get into PuGs and scheduled raids if you are speced in a group-friendly way. So if you are unwilling to play certain roles, choose a class accordingly. Are you against both healing and tanking? Then pick a Hunter or other class that is completely unable to do either. Are you willing to tank, but find playing the whack-a-mole heal game a chore? Then choose a Warrior or Death Knight. But if you are happy to be flexible until you are able to get into a group that allows you to play your favorite spec, then a Paladin or Druid is for you. Taking either class to the endgame will allow you more opportunities and faster grouping than any of the other classes. And for the first few encounters, you will probably want to try healing. Groups are much more likely to be lenient on your mistakes (which you will definitely make) and poor gear if you are a healer, more than any other group role.

When it comes right down to it, no one can tell you what your favorite classes are to play. So if you pick a class that is tougher to level, but you enjoy it more then you have made the right decision. If you are torn like me, however, the above guidelines should help. What did I decide? Well, like I said, I'm a proud altaholic, so I picked two. My Pally is working her way through Outland and my Druid is thoroughly enjoying the quests in Northrend. My guild leader has promised me a healing spot in the second string 10 man raids once I hit 80. Of course, the fact that I'm married to him may have biased his decision a bit. But the healing gap helped too. Anyway, I'm off to play with a rejuvenated sense of purpose after my (kinda) decision. May you have as much fun as I'm having.

PTR loot and hymns that will never be seen in game

Have you checked out some of the drops from the PTR yet? There's a great staff from Iron Council that I'm definitely eyeing. I know a lot of spellcasters favour main hands and off hands. I always had a soft spot for staves (because of their looks). But most staves just could not compete with their main hand and off hand counterparts. Rapture will be an upgrade I'll be eyeing. There's also the Ironmender which is an offhand complement for Priests. I haven't seen any spellpower main hands yet but I'm sure there will be some popping up soon enough.

From the armor side of things, the Robes of the Umbral Brute smells largely of Discipline Priest fashion. This is an item that drops off of Kologarn which I had the pleasure of trying out. Tailors have access to a boots recipe called Savior's Slippers. It's a BoE pair of boots that requires 20 Moonshroud and 6 Runed Orb. I'm taking a stab in the dark in thinking that the Orbs will drop inside Ulduar. They would be similar crafting reagents to what Nether Vortexes were back during Burning Crusade for Tempest Keep and Serpentshrine Cavern. Holy Priests looking for a new pair of gloves and shoulders may like the Handwraps of Plentiful Recovery and Mantle of the Unknowing (Kologarn 25 and General Vezax).

For accessories, there's a neck piece that you can upgrade into called the Unblinking Eye (drops from Iron Council 25). That'll be heavily favoured by Holy Priests. In the ring section, there's the Radiant Seal (also from Iron Council 25) which has haste and MP5 with no Spirit at all.

But what about the badge gear? The new Emblems of Conquest offer another route for Priests looking to augment their characters further. Check out the Sash of Potent Incantations for 23 emblems if you're looking to upgrade that. For those that may wish to break out of their tier sets, give Legwraps of the Master Conjurer a try. It will only set you back a cool 32 emblems. Healing Priests may wish to stay away from the Touch of the Occult since it seems to increase damage only (Shadow Priests by contrast will love it).

There's a couple of emblem necks that will appeal to all Priests:

Evoker's Charm: Haste and Spirit Frozen Tear of Elune: Crit and MP5 The necks require 16 emblems each. The Charm looks catered towards Holy Priests whereas the Frozen Tear is of more value to Discipline Priests.

Val'anyr's secondary ability has been leaked. I wrote about it briefly before but my current stance is that it appears to favor Paladins and Disc Priests.

Val'anyr Hammer of Ancient Kings - Equip Effect -- Your healing spells have a chance to cause Blessing of Ancient Kings for 15 seconds allowing your heals to shield the target absorbing damage equal to 15% of the amount healed.

Ghostcrawler mentioned that the dev team is still working on hymns for the future. Last year on April first, they introduced the "bard" class. Seems like Priests are taking a slight deviation towards being a singing class. I've never thought of my class as a singer. But hey, anything can happen! I can see Hymns being a new subset of skills for Priests that are accessible by every spec. It wouldn't be anything more than specialized spells or buffs. So with that in mind, here's a list of Hymns I'd like to see introduced for Priests that will never ever happen.

Hymn of Terror: You recite a Hymn really off key sending up to 3 nearby enemies into opposite directions of you.

Hymn of Serenity: You recite a Hymn that causes 6 nearby targets to fall asleep (friends or enemies). They are invulnerable for 3 seconds and cannot take any actions or move.

Hymn of Kings: You recite a Hymn that increases stats of friendly targets by 10% within 80 yards. This effect wears off after 15 minutes. Does not stack with Kings.

Hymn of Power: You recite a Holy Hymn that sends a destructive shockwave directly in front of the Priest deal 800-950 damage. The force of this Hymn is enough to knock players to the ground.

Hymn of Recall: You recite a Hymn that brings memories of home. Returns you to your home location. Speak to an Innkeepers in a different place to change your home location. (1 hour cooldown)

Hymn of Protection: You recite a Hymn that reduces all incoming damage to you and your party by 45% for 10 seconds or until the Priest takes damage.

What hymns would you like to see added to the game for the Priest class? What do you think of the spellpower gear that's currently available (and what will you be gunning for)?

WoW Patch 3.1 PTR build 9658 Priest changes

WoW Patch 3.1 PTR build 9658 Priest changes
As I'm sure many of you have heard already, another build has hit the PTR this afternoon. Information on what's contained within is still slowly filtering in, but many of the class changes are already known thanks to Boubouille. Most of the Priest changes are just number tweaks, but there's some good stuff in there for potential Holy Priest PvP viability. Yes, Holy PvP! Let's dig into what we've got.

Shadow

• Shadowform now gives the the periodic damage from your Shadow Word: Pain , Devouring Plague , and Vampiric Touch spells the ability to critically hit for 100% increased damage.

This is a result of the change that came through awhile ago that allowed DoTs to crit via Shadowform. It was actually a DPS loss , so this is just a numbers thing so we should scale properly with crit again, back to where we were or potentially a little higher in some situations.

• Mind Melt now also increases the periodic critical strike chance of your Vampiric Touch, Devouring Plague and Shadow Word: Pain spells by 3/6%.

Again, this seems like just a numbers thing to get our DPS up to where it should be with all of these patch 3.1 changes. Sure, I'll take an extra 6% crit on my DoTs. Why not?

Discipline

• Mental Agility changed from 5 to 3 Ranks. Now Reduces the mana cost of your instant cast spells by 4/7/10%. (Old - 2/4/6/8/10%)

This looks like it's just streamlining the Discipline tree a little bit, freeing up a couple of talent points. It also brings the talent a little closer to being in line with similar talents. Again, not a huge world-breaking change, but it's pretty nice!

Holy

• Serendipity now reduces the cast time of your next Greater Heal or Prayer of Healing spell by 4/8/12%. (Down from 6/12/20%)

Serendipity is still heavily in flux, its mechanic has changed completely from what it is on live realms. Now the numbers are being tinkered with to get things balanced properly. This heal-haste nerf is hitting more than just Priests, too. Infusion of Light s haste on Holy Light is getting hit with a nerfbat for Paladins. I think Serendipity will come out alright in the end, once all of the numbers are where the developers think they should be.

• New talent: Body and Soul - When you cast Power Word: Shield , you increase the target's movement speed by 30/60% for 4 sec, and you have a 50% chance when you cast Abolish Disease on yourself to also cleanse 1 poison effect in addition to diseases.

Here's the possible PvP viability tweak I mentioned. Power Word: Shield becomes not only a defense, but also an escape. 4 seconds is a pretty short duration, but it's enough to get a little space between you and whatever melee is currently rocking your face.

The Poison removal component is... well, it's something. It doesn't look like dropping the second point into this talent brings that up to a 100% chance, it stays at 50%, so I suspect many Priests won't be fond of this talent due to the RNG nature. If you're trying to remove a Rogue's poison from yourself, the last thing you want is to get an unlucky streak of Abolish Disease not removing the Poison at all. You'd probably rather be trying to heal yourself or escape with your GCDs. If the second point does make it a 100% chance to remove the poison, well, then it's pretty awesome. Note that the Poison removal only works on yourself, so this won't be a must-have talent in PvE.

And that's all that this build (WoW Patch 3.1 PTR build 9658 Priest changes) brings us. I think that Holy is the only spec of the three that might be a little unhappy due to that Serendipity nerf, but it's all pretty good and simple stuff beyond that.

Patch 3.1 PTR Priest glyph changes

One of the things Patch 3.1 is supplying in spades is glyphs and glyph changes. Every class is getting a ton of them, and it's really hard to keep up with them there are so many. Priests are coming out alright so far through the whole process, with a lot of our current glyphs being improved and our new glyphs being legitimately useful, if situational. Let's see what's new, shall we?

Glyph of Fade - Reduces the cooldown of your Fade spell by 9 sec. (Old: Increases the duration and cooldown of your Fade spell by 50%.)

This is massively better than what it was previously, and I suspect that this will become a popular Shadow Priest glyph in PvP. Two points in Veiled Shadows plus this glyph means a 15 second cooldown on Fade. Every 15 seconds, a Shadow Priest will be able to clear all movement impairing effects, assuming they have Improved Shadowform. That's pretty friggin' sweet.

Glyph of Psychic Scream - Increases the duration of your Psychic Scream by 2 sec. and increases its cooldown by 8 sec. (Old: Increases the duration of your Psychic Scream by 1 sec.)

I don't think anybody used this glyph previously, and I don't expect that'll change any. The previous version is arguably better because it doesn't increase the cooldown on one of your primary escape tools, even if the increase is smaller. Bad glyph remains bad.

Glyph of Fear Ward - Reduces cooldown and duration of Fear Ward by 60 sec. (Old: 30 sec.)

This is a glyph that I imagine we'll see used, if only situationally. One of those glyphs you'll slot in just for a single boss encounter in a raid setting. Typically you'll use Fear Ward right before you want it to Ward a Fear, so the duration hardly matters. Reducing the cooldown is the good part. This would bring the cooldown to 2 minutes rather than 3. Maybe Ulduar will have a Fear-heavy encounter? Tremor Totems definitely trump Fear Ward in a raid setting through, so we may not actually see any use out of this Glyph anyway. Still, it's a straight buff that makes the glyph a little stronger for what it is.

Glyph of Inner Fire - Increases the armor from your Inner Fire spell by 50%. (Old: Increases the charges on your Inner Fire spell by 20.)

This glyph would supply an extra 1220 Armor while Inner Fire is up, which is a pretty substantial buff to the spell. It does mean that you need to continue to babysit Inner Fire again, but players have been doing that successfully for a long time already. I'll take the armor bonus, thanks! This is going to be great for all specs in PvP, because Inner Fire is just a massive part of our defense, and this makes it even better. Fantastic.

Glyph of Mind Control -- Reduces the chance targets will resist or break your Mind Control spell by an additional 17%. (Old - Increases the duration of your Mind Control spell by 30 sec.)

Glyph of Mind Control? More like Glyph of Healing Priests Fighting Razuvious. This is another situational glyph like the new Glyph of Fear Ward. A Holy or Disc Priest will toss it on when they're doing something that requires Mind Control, but it will otherwise see very little use. I'm a pretty big fan of this glyph, actually. It would've been nice if it were there at launch, but better late than never, gith?

Glyph of Smite -- Your Smite spell inflicts an additional 20% damage against targets afflicted by Holy Fire. (Old - Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Smite by 100%.)

I'm not sure the new version of this glyph will see much use considering the addition of Dual Specs. I suppose that there's a portion of the Priest playerbase that likes leveling as Holy or Discipline, but that's pretty niche. I guess we'll see those few diehard Holy players who absolutely will not spec Shadow to quest or level using this, but that's the extent of it.

Glyph of Dispersion - Your Dispersion ability now also clears movement impairing effects and makes you immune to them for its duration.

This is a baseline component of the spell now (as of patch 3.1), so this glyph is probably going to change sometime soon. Maybe it even has changed already and I haven't seen that yet. Boy, wouldn't I look silly?

Glyph of Guardian Spirit (new) - If you Guardian Spirit lasts its entire duration without being triggered, your Guardian Spirit cooldown is reset to 60 sec.

Hmm. I like the idea of this glyph, but I don't know how many people will actually use it. It's a solid concept, but will Priests glyph an ability that's on a 3 minute cooldown? I don't think they will, even if it will guarantee getting more use out of something as powerful as Guardian Spirit. More likely they'd prefer to glyph their bread and butter abilities, rather than the toaster.

I don't think that made sense, but let's pretend it did.

Glyph of Penance (new) - Reduces the cooldown of Penance by 2 sec.

Anything that lets a Discipline Priest cast Penance more completely rules, in my opinion. It's such a great spell. Even if a lower cooldown messes up some wonky rotation that some Priests think they've worked out, having Penance off cooldown more often is a beautiful thing. Even if you don't use it every single cooldown, having it available is fantastic. I think we're going to see a lot of Discipline Priests with this glyph.

Glyph of Mind Sear (new) - Increases the radius of effect on Mind Sear by 5 yards.

This is another situational one, I'll bet. Mind Sear is a powerhouse spell on its own, but only in situations where there is heavy AOE, obviously. Shadow Priests will use this on AOE/add based boss fights, but I don't think you'll see it as part of their usual arsenal. They'll stock up on them, switch it in for a boss, then afterwards go back to their usual glyphs. Really though, only min-maxing Priests will do that, because it's like burning money. Stocking up on all sorts of different glyphs just for one or two encounters is crazy crazy crazy. We may not see very widespread use of these situational glyphs.

Glyph of Pain Suppression (new) - Allows Pain Suppression to be cast while stunned.

This will see a lot of use in PvP, but none in PvE, for obvious reasons. This is actually probably one of those glyphs that will see a lot of use in early arena seasons, but will slowly taper off in the higher seasons when the Priest can easily survive a stunlock without it. Only time will tell.

Glyph of Mass Dispel -- Reduces the mana cost of Mass Dispel by 50%.

If this were a Minor Glyph, I could see every Priest using it. Since it's a Major Glyph, very few Priests will use it. Pretty simple to see, I think. It just doesn't have enough kick to be worth a Major slot with all of the other options out there.

Glyph of Scourge Imprisonment -- Reduces the cast time of your Shackle Undead by 0.5 sec. (Old - Increases the chance of success for your Shackle Undead spell by 8%.)

Cool concept, but I don't foresee it being used at all until the next big Undead-centric raid zone. Icecrown, probably. It also needs to be a minor glyph, not a major glyph. Making it a Major glyph just guarantees it won't get used, because its only real use is for CCing trash in a dungeon or a Death Knight who thinks they're slick. That doesn't justify using a Major slot for this glyph. Not at all. It needs to be a minor glyph, or made way, way more awesome.

And that's most of them... for now. There's potentially a few I missed, and many of these will likely change in future iterations of the patch on the PTR. Glyphs are one of those things that are changing constantly over the course of a Test Realm period, so don't get your heart set on any of these, and don't rage out either. We'll try to keep up with the changes as best we can, but holy cow are there a lot of changes.

Patch 3.1 PTR Patch Notes update

The official patch notes have been updated for the Patch 3.1 PTR. You can see a complete list of changes after the break, or take a look at the fully updated notes.

This update is much more substantial than the one we posted a couple nights ago. Nonetheless, it has been added to our Patch 3.1 patch notes archive. Via the archive you can also view other iterations of the patch notes to see how things have changed.

As always, these notes should be considered incomplete (it's in bold because we can't say it enough). A number of things that are on the PTR are not reflected in the patch notes, and several things that will eventually be on the PTR aren't in the notes either (many of the class changes, for example).

General

• New high-resolution player textures for Northrend armor sets have been added. Players can enable this feature by setting Player Textures to High in the Effects Panel of the Video Options.


• Players can now return items purchased with an alternate currency back to the original vendor within 2 hours of the purchase time for the original cost of the item. Stackable items (such as Frozen Orbs and gems) and charged items that can be purchased with an alternate currency are not eligible.


• Confirmation boxes have been added to purchases over 150 gold.


• Copied Test Realm characters will no longer be copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.

Death Knight

Blood

• Abomination's Might: This effect can now also be caused by Death Strike.
  
• Magic Suppression: Now has 3 ranks (down from 5) for 2/4/6% magic damage reduction.


• New talent: Improved Death Strike. Increases Death Strike damage by 10/20.


• Outbreak: Increases the damage of Plague Strike by 15/30/45% and Scourge Strike by 10/20/30%. Scourge Strike: Damage increased.

Druid

• Lifebloom: Mana cost of all ranks doubled. When Lifebloom blooms or is dispelled, it now refunds half the base mana cost of the spell per application of Lifebloom, and the heal effect is multiplied by the number of applications.


• Maim: This ability is now considered a stun, and shares a diminish category with all other stuns. It no longer has a chance to break from the target taking damage. Duration lowered to 1 sec. per combo point.
  
• Heart of the Wild: Stamina bonus changed to 2/4/6/8/10%.
  
• Intensity: Now grants 17/33/50% of mana regeneration while casting.

Hunters

• Ammunition: All types of gun and bow ammunition now stack to 1000. All quivers and ammo pouches no longer provide haste. 15% ranged haste is now built in to Hunter Autoshot.


• Call Stabled Pet: This new ability lets the hunter remotely access the stable. 30 min cooldown.


• Cunning, Ferocity and Tenacity pets now all have +5% damage, +5% armor and +5% health bonuses. This should make more pet families feel viable, while additional talents have been added to distinguish a pet's abilities based on its specializations.


• Disengage: Cooldown increased by 5 sec.


• Pets now inherit more spell hit from the hunter. Pets with magic attacks should not require a player to stack additional hit compared to pets with physical attacks.


• Viper Sting re-designed: Stings the target, draining 4% of mana over 8 sec (up to a maximum of 8% of the caster's maximum mana), and energizing the Hunter equal to 300% of the amount drained. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on any one target.


• Explosive Shot: Base damage lowered by 10%. Attack power scaling reduced by 12.5%.

Hunter Pets

• Bullheaded now adds 20% damage reduction for 12 sec along with its current CC-removal effect.


• Cornered: The crit reduction when this ability is active has been increased.


• Feeding Frenzy increased to 8/16% damage up from 6/12%.


• Furious Howl (wolf special ability) now stacks with Battle Shout and Blessing of Might, however, it only affects the wolf and hunter. Its effect and cooldown have been doubled so that it provides the same benefit but isn't up 100% of the time.


• Gorillas now have a new family ability, Pummel, which works like the warrior ability and has a single rank.


• Grace of the Mantis and Roar of Sacrifice are now also available to Cunning pets.


• New Talent: Shark Attack: This new two-rank talent is available to Ferocity pets. It increases pet damage.


• New Talent: Silverback: This new two-rank talent is available to Tenacity pets. It heals the pet when Growl is used.


• New Talent: Wild Hunt: This new two-rank talent is available to all 3 pet trees. It increases the stamina and attack power inherited from the hunter.


• Roar of Recovery cooldown decreased to 3 min, down from 6 min.


• Thunderstomp is no longer a gorilla-specific family ability and is now available to all Tenacity pets. It has been reduced to one rank.

Mage

• Mage Armor: Now grants 50% of mana regeneration while casting.
  
• Arcane Meditation: Now grants 17/33/50% of mana regeneration while casting.


• Pyromaniac: Now grants 17/33/50% of mana regeneration while casting.

Paladin

• Improved Concentration Aura: The resistance to silence and interrupt granted by this talent now becomes active when any Aura is used, not just Concentration Aura.
  


• Improved Devotion Aura: The additional healing granted by this talent now becomes active when any Aura is used, not just Devotion Aura.


• Divine Protection: Cooldown reduced to 3 min.


• Sanctified Retribution: The bonus to damage done granted by this talent now becomes active when any Aura is used, not just Retribution Aura.

Priest

• Meditation and Improved Power: Word shield have changed locations with each other.


• Meditation: Now grants 17/33/50% of mana regeneration while casting


• Renewed Hope: This talent also now allows you to proc the Renewed Hope buff on all party/raid members every time you cast Power Word: Shield, reducing damage taken by 3%. Lasts 20 sec.
  


• Psychic Horror: Has been redesigned and is now a 1-pt talent. You terrify the target, causing them to tremble in horror for 3 sec. and drop all weapons (disarm effect: including bows) for 10 sec. 1 minute cooldown. Instant cast. The horror effect can be dispelled, but the disarm cannot.


• Improved Spirit Tap: Now grants 17/33% of mana regeneration while casting.


• Spirit Tap: Now grants 83% of mana regeneration while casting.

Rogue

• Shiv: This ability can no longer generate a critical strike, and the poisons it applies cannot be critical strikes either.

Shaman

Enhancement

• Unleashed Rage: Reduced to 3 points, down from 5. Each point now also increases your total Expertise by 3/6/9%.

Warlock

• Drain Soul: Each time Drain Soul deals damage to a target which can grant experience, it now has a chance to generate a Soul Shard.


• Soul Shard: This item now has a maximum count of 32 in inventory.

Warrior

• Charge: Duration of stun effect now lasts 1.5 sec. This effect no longer has diminishing returns.
• Last Stand: Cooldown reduced to 3 min.
  

User Interface

• Spell Effect Level setting has been split into Particle Density and Projected Textures. Previously, Spell Effect Level controlled both of these features.


• Added new Video Mode Ultra (should only be used on the highest-end systems).

Items

• Hearthstone: Cooldown has been reduced to 30 min. down from 60 min.

Glyphs


Death Knight

• Glyph of Blood Boil: Now only applies a snare to diseased targets.


• Glyph of Dancing Rune Weapon: Increases the duration of Dancing Rune Weapon by 10 sec.


• Glyph of Death Coil: Reduces the cost of Death Coil by 8 runic power.


• Glyph of Disease: Your Pestilence ability now refreshes disease durations on your primary target back to their maximum duration.


• Glyph of Howling Blast: Your Howling Blast ability now infects your targets with Frost Fever.


• Glyph of Hungering Cold: Reduces the cost of Hungering Cold by 10 runic power.


• Glyph of Plague Strike: Bonus lowered to 20%.


• Glyph of Unholy Blight: Increases the duration of Unholy Blight by 10 sec.

Druid

• Glyph of Berserk: Increases the duration of Berserk by 5 sec


• Monsoon Glyph: Reduces the cooldown of your Typhoon spell by 3 sec.


• Glyph of Nourish: Your Nourish heals an additional 6% for each of your heal over time effects present on the target.


• Glyph of Savage Roar: Your Savage Roar ability grants an additional 6% bonus damage done.


• Glyph of Wild Growth: Wild Growth now affects up to 6 targets.


• Glyph of Shred: Now increases remaining duration on Rip by 2 sec. each time it is used, up to a maximum of 6 sec.

Hunter

• Glyph of Chimera Shot: Reduces the cooldown of Chimera Shot by 1 sec.


• Glyph of Explosive Shot: Increases the critical strike chance of Explosive Shot by 4%.


• Glyph of Explosive Trap: The periodic damage from your Explosive Trap can now be critical strikes.


• Glyph of Kill Shot: Reduces the cooldown of Kill Shot by 6 sec.


• Glyph of Raptor Strike: For 3 sec. after using Raptor Strike, you take 20% less damage.


• Glyph of Scatter Shot: Increases the range of Scatter Shot by 3 yards.

Mage

• Glyph of Arcane Barrage: Reduces the mana cost of Arcane Barrage by 20%.


• Glyph of Deep Freeze: Increases the range of Deep Freeze by 10 yards.


• Glyph of Ice Barrier: Increases the amount of damage absorbed by your Ice Barrier by 30%.


• Glyph of Living Bomb: The periodic damage from your Living Bomb can now be critical strikes.


• Glyph of Mirror Image: Your Mirror Images gain the Winter's Chill talent, granting their Frostbolt spell a 100% chance to apply the Winter's Chill effect, which increases the chance spells will critically hit the target by 1% for 15 sec. Stacks up to 5 times.

Paladin

• Glyph of Beacon of Light: Increases the duration of Beacon of Light by 30 sec.


• Glyph of Divine Plea: While Divine Plea is active, you take 3% reduced damage from all sources.


• Glyph of Divine Storm: Your Divine Storm now heals for an additional 15% of the damage it causes.


• Glyph of Hammer of the Righteous: Your Hammer of the Righteous hits 1 additional target.


• Glyph of Hand of Salvation: When you cast Hand of Salvation on yourself, it also reduces damage taken by 20%.


• Glyph of Holy Shock: Reduces the cooldown of Holy Shock by 1 sec.


• Glyph of Shield of Righteousness: Reduces the mana cost of Shield of Righteousness by 80%.

Priest

• Glyph of Dispersion: Reduces the cooldown on Dispersion by 45 sec.


• Glyph of Fade: Now reduces cooldown by 9 sec.


• Glyph of Guardian Spirit: If you Guardian Spirit lasts its entire duration without being triggered, your Guardian Spirit cooldown is reset to 60 sec.


• Glyph of Holy Light: Can no longer crit and has had its range updated.


• Glyph of Hymn of Hope: Your Hymn of hope provides 2 times the normal amount of mana per time, but its duration is 50% shorter.


• Glyph of Mind Sear: Increases the radius of effect on Mind Sear by 5 yards.


• Glyph of Pain Suppression: Allows Pain Suppression to be cast while stunned.


• Glyph of Penance: Reduces the cooldown of Penance by 2 sec.

Rogue

• Glyph of Backstab: Now increases remaining duration on Rupture by 2 sec. each time it is used, up to a maximum of 6 sec.


• Glyph of Cloak of Shadows: While Cloak of Shadows is active, you take 40% less physical damage.


• Glyph of Fan of Knives: Increases the damage done by Fan of Knives by 20%.


• Glyph of Hunger for Blood: Increases the bonus damage from Hunger For Blood by 3%.


• Glyph of Killing Spree: Reduces the cooldown on Killing Spree by 45 sec.


• Glyph of Mutilate: Reduces the cost of Mutilate by 5 energy.


• Glyph of Shadow Dance: Increases the duration of Shadow Dance by 4 sec.


• Glyph of Sprint: No longer reduces the duration.


• Glyph of Tricks of the Trade: Your Tricks of the Trade grants an additional 10% bonus damage to your target.

Shaman

• Glyph of Earth Shield: Increases the amount healed by your Earth Shield by 20%.


• Glyph of Feral Spirit: Your spirit wolves gain an additional 30% of your attack power.


• Glyph of Hex: Increases the damage your Hex target can take before the Hex effect is removed by 20%.


• Glyph of Riptide: Increases the duration of Riptide by 3 sec.


• Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem: Your Stoneclaw Totem also places a damage absorb shield on you, equal to 4 times the strength of the shield it places on your totems.


• Glyph of Thunder: Reduces the cooldown on Thunderstorm by 7 sec.


• Glyph of Totem of Wrath: When you cast Totem of Wrath, you gain 30% of the totem's bonus spell power for 5 min.

Warlock

• Glyph of Chaos Bolt: Reduces the cooldown on Chaos Bolt by 2 sec.


• Glyph of Demonic Circle: Reduces the cooldown on Demonic Circle by 4 sec.


• Glyph of Haunt: The bonus damage granted by your Haunt spell is increased by an additional 3%.


• Glyph of Life Tap: When you use Life Tap, you gain 20% of your spirit as spell power for 20 sec.


• Glyph of Metamorphosis: Increases the duration of your Metamorphosis by 6 sec.


• Glyph of Shadowflame: Your Shadowflame also applies a 70% movement speed slow on its victims.


• Glyph of Soul Link: Increases the percentage of damage shared via your Soul Link by an additional 5%.

Warrior

• Glyph of Bladestorm: Reduces the cooldown on Bladestorm by 15 sec.


• Glyph of Enraged Regeneration: Your Enraged Regeneration ability heals for an additional 10% of your health over its duration.


• Glyph of Last Stand: Now reduces the cooldown of Last Stand by 90 sec.


• Glyph of Shield Wall: Reduces the cooldown on Shield Wall by 3 min, but Shield Wall now only reduces damage taken by 40%.


• Glyph of Shockwave: Reduces the cooldown on Shockwave by 3 sec.


• Glyph of Spell Reflection: Reduces the cooldown on Spell Reflection by 1 sec.


• Glyph of Vigilance: Your Vigilance ability transfers an additional 5% of your target's threat to you.

Bug Fixes

• Leaving a group while in an instance will now port you to the nearest graveyard rather than your Hearthstone location.


• Mace of Unending Life is correctly a 2H weapon.

Death Knight

• Dancing Rune Weapon: Fixed a bug making it trigger an unusual number of effects from the weapon equipped by the Death Knight. In addition, it will now only echo Death Knight spells whose primary purpose is dealing damage. Also corrected a bug making the effect last 8 seconds longer than intended.

Hunter

• Savage Rend (raptor special ability): Fixed a tooltip error to correctly note this ability boosts damage rather than attack power.