Best race for priest?

[crownedwithgrace]

I've been thinking about making yet another priest. I can't tell you how many I've made, started leveling, only to end up deleting them. The highest level I think I made it to was level 11. lol After reading other comments on priests, I'm wanting to try again. >.> This time I figured I'd ask what you guys think would be the best race for a priest. I'd prefer making one on the alliance side.

So, would a human be better for the increased spirit and their ability to break out of speed altering/trap effects? A NightElf because they are harder to hit and can fade into the shadows? A draenei because their chance to hit with melee/spells is increased and they'd also have an extra heal? (Newly fond of the draenei) Decisions, decisions.

Can you guys help?

[Skippyninja]

Well... -cough- human -cough-

I read somewhere that if you're planning on soloing a priest by YOURSELF to lvl 80, that shadow specc with really high spirit is key. But, since the LFG tool had revolutionized how you get to lvl 80, I think a holy/discipline specc is better since priests are best as support.

I currently am rolling a human Priest with really high spirit and I have virtually no down time, thanks in large part to her high spirit (human bonus and lots of Spir gear) and the discipline talent Meditation (at 3/3 allows 50% of mana regen to continue while casting).

Here is what I think:

Draenei-Extra heal is good, but not essential. The increased chance to hit isn't huge, but it still helps in the overall aspect of what a Priest is made to do: support. I think their int is better than humans, but not as good as NE...

Night Elves-Harder to hit, yes... and with Shadowmeld you could be the last man standing. But, let's face it: if you move or cast while melded, you'll aggro again. Their int is high, I think... Their racial defensive abilities are pretty good, but the baddies shouldn't be attacking you, if they are the tank isn't doing a good job.

Humans-Spirit bonus, that's about all they have going toward Priests specifically, their other racials are useful to any class... Really the Spirit bonus is too, but Spirit is the bread and butter to keep a full mana pool on the priest at all times. I am very satisfied with my human Priest thus forth and I love healing as her... IRL I am attending nursing school, so that explains that

I guess we're going back to the cliche saying: "Do what makes you happy and enjoy the game the most." After all, you're paying a company to supply you with fun.

[cabby]

As Skippy points out it really depends on what path you want to take for leveling. If you plan on following the guide and questing the whole way to 80 then the human might be better for the spirit boost as you'll need it for use with the shadow tree. If you plan on sticking primarily to the LFG tool then it won't make much difference.

When it comes to the LFG tool and the 5 man dungeons/grouping in general I'd advise a discipline spec as it's more oriented toward single target healing which with most groups you'll be only having to concentrate on healing the tank. Gear priority for discipline priests is SP>MP5>Int>Haste>Crit>Spirit. For raiding if you don't want to be a main tank healer then you'd want to use the holy spec as it's more oriented toward AoE/group healing. Gearing for a holy priest is similar but Spirit plays a much bigger role: SP>Int>Spirit>MP5>Haste>Crit. The shadow spec is the dps spec and while it's still possible to help heal others, it should be the last choice when planning on grouping often. Gearing for shadow is Hit>SP & Haste>Crit>Spirit>Int.

No matter which spec you take, you should probably make getting the Meditation talent in the discipline tree your main priority, and then go after your main tree talents if other than discipline. If you do the grouping I'd also highly recommend the use of the HealBot and Decursive addons as these will make your job as healer exponentially easier.

[crownedwithgrace]

ok, thanks, guys. Human it is!

[dizzygamera]

As with all classes, you can play as any of those races. The 'best' race will depend entirely on what you intend to do in game. Each of the racial bonuses for a priest can be best utilised in a particular game role.

Draenei - have an extra heal; better, an instant cast heal-over-time. Helpful no matter what class or role you play. The one to look for here is the Hit bonus. This is best applied to a DPS role so go for Draenei if you plan on raiding in shadow spec.

Human - have that spirit bonus, which helps with the healing role. I'd recommend concentrating on the holy tree with humans and running the healer role in raids.

Night Elf - no real advantages as a priest build, but they do have Shadowmeld and that dodge bonus, both of which will find fantastic utility in PvP. Go for discipline as your primary spec if you want to go kill Hordies or heal in dungeons. A shadow build will also work well here for PvP.

Dwarf - has no racial abilities that are really appropriate for a priest. You can't use guns, you don't certainly don't want to melee with a mace. Don't choose a dwarf for racial bonuses for a priest.

Hope this helps.

[crownedwithgrace]

Yes, it all helps, thank you. At one point I was thinking about a NE because I don't currently have one but compared to the other racial benefits that are more fitting to a priest I decided to hold off and hear what you guys had to say. So, I made a NE druid, which I've already deleted since last night. lol :/ I already have a tauren druid that I've become tired of playing. But to help with that, today I switched spec to balance because I realized it was the whole feral thing I was getting tired of. I realized this playing the NE druid who doesn't have any kind of form yet. I haven't played my tauren yet but I already feel relieved and am ready to have another go with her. At this point I really don't even care if feral is more powerful or w/e, which brings me to answering your question...

Q: What do I intend to do in the game?
A: Have fun and variety.

I don't care about instances, raids, battlegrounds, gear score, DPS... none of it. My main goal is to have fun and not end up getting bored with the game.

[Skippyninja]

Gnomes, when Cataclysm comes out might be a decent race to priest...

... Oh, yeah Dwarves can be Priests too... I keep forgetting, both because I hate Dwarves and they're useless priests.

[crownedwithgrace]

lol I used to hate dwarves, too, but lately I've been really liking them. To me they seem to be a lot more...beefy than other races. I use to think they were creepy looking - like a stubby little chucky doll or something. I still think they're creepy looking but not enough to keep me from playing them. It's funny because I remember doing that WoW quiz where it told you which race would be best for you or what race most fit your personality or w/e and it chose the dwarf for me. That's when I hated dwarves, too. (I think it was just the look of them, though, that got to me).

[Skippyninja]

I don't like shorter than average things... They scare me. Funny thing too: Undead, Belfs, and Trolls are really the only horde toons I like.

I love zombies!

[ZG Support 1]

I've always been partial to Draenei Priests myself.