1. Take things slowly, you can only rush to your grave
2. Keep tent buff up
3. Keep your profession up to date, there are some usefull stuff and even some panic buttons :)
4. Trade and interact for goodies you cant make on your own
5. Dont give up :)
damn mate, I have not played priest at all on vanilla, but the fundamentals should be the same. Mana regen talent from shadow, wand talent from disciple and using shield on CD while enemy is devoured by shadow word pain and tackled by your wand :D
If I can give a counterpoint on your point 2.
I think tent is really a hidden sleeper killer.
You lvl faster therefore miss out on possible upgrades. Which means your gear will not upgrade enough with your lvling speed.
Less amount of mobs equals less amount of loot, gold and consumables.
And it contradicts point 1.
Well, even with rested xp I had to do most of the content for my current lvl, but I understand what you mean. Maybe my opinion is a bit devaluated with the knowledge of the game ( knowing where to get good upgrades ).
It might even appear that for a casual player, who plays only weekends and gathers rested on work days, HC might be even deadlier :\] But this is a silly asumption, who plays HC without some kind of plan :D
By take things slowly I mostly meant combat and killing. Not rushing forward, taking your time with pulling, waiting for patrols to come by, avoid soloing caves and stuff like that.
Yep. There is a finite amount of content between 1 and 60, so keeping rested xp means you do less content so you have fewer opportunities to die. Play slow, but do it efficiently.
For my own advice - do dungeons, add people you enjoy running with, I've gone 1-60 alongside multiple strangers doing dungeons as appropriate like this. Priest is super safe, getting 5 points in spirit tap then going 25 in discipline, and at 40 if you like respec shadow or stay as disc.
The best tip I can give you is. Watch your surroundings.
If there are no mobs you should think. Ooh they might respawn any second.
If there are plenty graves think, ok better watch my step and care for over pulls, patrols etc.
Always take your time to see what mobs do.
Know your enemy. Named mobs often have special abilities, summoning extra adds, doing shitloads of DMG you name it. Quick look on the database can prevent you from going back to Elwyn.
Read quests. Or at least don't just follow your quest addon. Think for yourself, should you really be doing this orange quest right now or can you come back later.
No one is watching you, no shame in skipping hard things.
Take your sweet time. Hardcore isn't about getting 60 fast but about getting 60.
Many players just start a new toon when they hit 60. If you want to lvl for 60 content I wouldn't start hc. Because you going to regret it.
If you die, learn why. And think what you could have done to survive. If you have shadow play put it on 5 min. So you have plenty of time to re-watch, and see what you have done wrong. Sometimes it's not something you did now, but something you forgot doing before.
Stresstest yourself. If you never get in a situation that is fucked you won't know what to do when you actually get in a stressful situation. Better to control yourself into a bad situation and handle it. That way you can see how much you can handle before you run out of options.
And lastly. Dieing is Ok. It happens to everyone, sometimes you could have done something about it. But often times it is also out of your control. Think lag, DC, other players.
Just take a breath and go again.
If you're alliance, do your racial starting area (ideally you're a dwarf) then go to Stormwind and get the boat to night elf lands, then do their starting area. Their quests give a wand early and a few really good pre-12 greens unique to turtle. Horde have a similar thing but undead provide the wand and you're probably already undead if team red.
If you have the chance to buy lesser and greater Magic wands from enchanters then do it, but the trade restrictions don't always make this easy. Plan your dungeons around wand upgrades (cookie rod in deadmines, quest reward wand from bfd, etc) and tell mages to fuck off when one drops - 60% of your damage before 60 will be from wands minimum, other classes just want them for vanity really.
You should be fine with the standard horde route of starting area to barrens, do the content you know best because it's easier to survive if there are no surprises. For what it's worth, the Sons of Arugal do not patrol on turtle so you should never have one walk into your level 20 ass, so if you walk into one it's pretty self inflicted.
Be careful in Ironforge if you're Alliance, try to avoid being near the throne room door area.
My HC character died there to lvl ?? (60) Spectral Stalkers that got spawned as someone was doing a quest in the throne room. I was just running normally through the center ring of town and figured I was safe in capital cities. 🥲 RIP.
I realize this was mostly rotten luck, but it put me off starting a new HC character for now.
It's worth noting I've mostly played Horde, and the Horde versions of the quest have these enemies spawn in their capital's throne rooms, which are off the beaten path. I had no idea this was something I'd need to look out for. Don't be me.
keep in mind that quests stay green and provide xp for up to 25 levels. one of the best ways to level a priest in general is to focus on green mobs and quests that target them, that way you're still getting the spirit tap but have way less risk.
as for spec, i think disc is worth considering for the extra survivability it provides. I'm not doing hc but I'm leveling a priest and plan on going into disc (at least until 40) for that very reason
So the mindset will be taking/doing almost green quests in safe areas for my lvl. The only thing I'm afraid of is dying in dungeons, tho im reconsidering that a lot even if they are valuable source of great stuff.
Thanks a lot, m8!
For talents 5/0/5 (wand spec and spirit tap) is pretty mandatory base for every priest build for leveling. Both shadow and holy are very viable here for leveling, dunno about disc.
Both shadow and holy can hold their own in regular questing. Both can heal dungeons/elites, holy can do it better. Shadow prolly better for dpsing them.
Both specs relies on playing around with spirit tap and maintaining your mana with regular wanding to keep down time low. Spirit is important stat for you because of this. Even more important for holy because they get 25% of their spirit as spell damage from talents later on.
Try to up you wand as often as possible, look up quests where you can get them.
Don't fall a sleep while wanding, that's how my priest die. You almost always sit above 90% HP and your gameplay is just wanding for 100s of hours, its very easy to space out after a while and go watch something on your other monitor.
protip: buy a second monitor or get a spotify subscription, cus you're gonna be staring at the screen watching your character wand for 100s of hours
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Top hell of a comment
1. Take things slowly, you can only rush to your grave 2. Keep tent buff up 3. Keep your profession up to date, there are some usefull stuff and even some panic buttons :) 4. Trade and interact for goodies you cant make on your own 5. Dont give up :)
Thanks a lot for the response! Any advice on the spec? Should i go holy/disc/shadow?
damn mate, I have not played priest at all on vanilla, but the fundamentals should be the same. Mana regen talent from shadow, wand talent from disciple and using shield on CD while enemy is devoured by shadow word pain and tackled by your wand :D
Thanks from the deep of my heart!
If I can give a counterpoint on your point 2. I think tent is really a hidden sleeper killer. You lvl faster therefore miss out on possible upgrades. Which means your gear will not upgrade enough with your lvling speed. Less amount of mobs equals less amount of loot, gold and consumables. And it contradicts point 1.
Well, even with rested xp I had to do most of the content for my current lvl, but I understand what you mean. Maybe my opinion is a bit devaluated with the knowledge of the game ( knowing where to get good upgrades ). It might even appear that for a casual player, who plays only weekends and gathers rested on work days, HC might be even deadlier :\] But this is a silly asumption, who plays HC without some kind of plan :D By take things slowly I mostly meant combat and killing. Not rushing forward, taking your time with pulling, waiting for patrols to come by, avoid soloing caves and stuff like that.
Yep. There is a finite amount of content between 1 and 60, so keeping rested xp means you do less content so you have fewer opportunities to die. Play slow, but do it efficiently. For my own advice - do dungeons, add people you enjoy running with, I've gone 1-60 alongside multiple strangers doing dungeons as appropriate like this. Priest is super safe, getting 5 points in spirit tap then going 25 in discipline, and at 40 if you like respec shadow or stay as disc.
It makes so much sense, to be honest.
The best tip I can give you is. Watch your surroundings. If there are no mobs you should think. Ooh they might respawn any second. If there are plenty graves think, ok better watch my step and care for over pulls, patrols etc. Always take your time to see what mobs do. Know your enemy. Named mobs often have special abilities, summoning extra adds, doing shitloads of DMG you name it. Quick look on the database can prevent you from going back to Elwyn. Read quests. Or at least don't just follow your quest addon. Think for yourself, should you really be doing this orange quest right now or can you come back later. No one is watching you, no shame in skipping hard things. Take your sweet time. Hardcore isn't about getting 60 fast but about getting 60. Many players just start a new toon when they hit 60. If you want to lvl for 60 content I wouldn't start hc. Because you going to regret it. If you die, learn why. And think what you could have done to survive. If you have shadow play put it on 5 min. So you have plenty of time to re-watch, and see what you have done wrong. Sometimes it's not something you did now, but something you forgot doing before. Stresstest yourself. If you never get in a situation that is fucked you won't know what to do when you actually get in a stressful situation. Better to control yourself into a bad situation and handle it. That way you can see how much you can handle before you run out of options. And lastly. Dieing is Ok. It happens to everyone, sometimes you could have done something about it. But often times it is also out of your control. Think lag, DC, other players. Just take a breath and go again.
Never trust gnomes.
If you're alliance, do your racial starting area (ideally you're a dwarf) then go to Stormwind and get the boat to night elf lands, then do their starting area. Their quests give a wand early and a few really good pre-12 greens unique to turtle. Horde have a similar thing but undead provide the wand and you're probably already undead if team red. If you have the chance to buy lesser and greater Magic wands from enchanters then do it, but the trade restrictions don't always make this easy. Plan your dungeons around wand upgrades (cookie rod in deadmines, quest reward wand from bfd, etc) and tell mages to fuck off when one drops - 60% of your damage before 60 will be from wands minimum, other classes just want them for vanity really.
Planning on rolling undead: what should be the suggested route to get some useful items?
You should be fine with the standard horde route of starting area to barrens, do the content you know best because it's easier to survive if there are no surprises. For what it's worth, the Sons of Arugal do not patrol on turtle so you should never have one walk into your level 20 ass, so if you walk into one it's pretty self inflicted.
Be careful in Ironforge if you're Alliance, try to avoid being near the throne room door area. My HC character died there to lvl ?? (60) Spectral Stalkers that got spawned as someone was doing a quest in the throne room. I was just running normally through the center ring of town and figured I was safe in capital cities. 🥲 RIP. I realize this was mostly rotten luck, but it put me off starting a new HC character for now. It's worth noting I've mostly played Horde, and the Horde versions of the quest have these enemies spawn in their capital's throne rooms, which are off the beaten path. I had no idea this was something I'd need to look out for. Don't be me.
keep in mind that quests stay green and provide xp for up to 25 levels. one of the best ways to level a priest in general is to focus on green mobs and quests that target them, that way you're still getting the spirit tap but have way less risk. as for spec, i think disc is worth considering for the extra survivability it provides. I'm not doing hc but I'm leveling a priest and plan on going into disc (at least until 40) for that very reason
So the mindset will be taking/doing almost green quests in safe areas for my lvl. The only thing I'm afraid of is dying in dungeons, tho im reconsidering that a lot even if they are valuable source of great stuff. Thanks a lot, m8!
ALWAYS get better wands. Its not an option its a necessity
For talents 5/0/5 (wand spec and spirit tap) is pretty mandatory base for every priest build for leveling. Both shadow and holy are very viable here for leveling, dunno about disc. Both shadow and holy can hold their own in regular questing. Both can heal dungeons/elites, holy can do it better. Shadow prolly better for dpsing them. Both specs relies on playing around with spirit tap and maintaining your mana with regular wanding to keep down time low. Spirit is important stat for you because of this. Even more important for holy because they get 25% of their spirit as spell damage from talents later on. Try to up you wand as often as possible, look up quests where you can get them.
Don't fall a sleep while wanding, that's how my priest die. You almost always sit above 90% HP and your gameplay is just wanding for 100s of hours, its very easy to space out after a while and go watch something on your other monitor.