Hardcore Priest Class Overview (2024)

Last updated on Jun 09, 2023 at 12:00by Sellin3 comments

If you are curious about more general Hardcore tips that apply to notjust Priest checkout our Hardcore Classic Overview that includes tips and tricks that willgreatly increase your chances of surviving.

In Classic World of Warcraft there is a large variety of races that can be Priest, and even though some arecertainly stronger than others, each has its own unique strengths.

• Human — Human is one of the recommended race for Priest due to their Desperate Prayer ability which will act as a major emergency cooldown, somethingthat Priest lacks.
• Dwarf — Dwarf provides the unique racial Stoneform, whichcauses immunity to Bleeds, Disease and Poison effects, while also granting 10% additional Armor.This is a powerful defensive cooldown and can certainly help remove some of the peskier debuffsyou will encounter in Classic. Dwarf also gets the Desperate Prayer abilitythat can act as an emergency button should you find yourself in a dangerous situation.Dwarf also provides Fear Ward, which is extremely powerful in end game content.
• Night Elf — Night Elf has the greatest chance to avoid damage due to their Elusiveness racial and the ability to stealth out of combat with Shadowmeld.There's not much else in the way of combat benefits this race offers outside of Dodgerating.

• Troll — Troll offers the strongest throughput DPS in all of Classic in the form of Berserkingand has its own strong set of complimentary racials to their main DPS cooldown. Regeneration allows youto continue to regenerate 10% of your total Health while in combat.
• Undead — Undead does not provide a ton of in the form of combat benefits other than some added Shadow Resistanceand the added Fear/Charm break ability, Will of the Forsaken.

The Stat priority that you will be following for Classic Hardcore is very similar tooriginal Classic, but with a larger emphasis on Stamina and Intellect. The additional Health and Manacan, at times, be the difference between surviving an encounter with an enemy or not, and is typicallymore reliable than gearing towards just damage. Even in a best case scenario gear wise, you still have a significantchance of missing, and leveling in Hardcore is all about removing variability.

For a more in-depth explanation of what stats you should be prioritizing and their benefits to yourleveling experience checkout our Priest leveling guide listed below, specifically the Priest Gear section.

While it may be tempting to consider leveling as Shadow, as it isthe most damage of the three possible specs, Discipline is the perfect mix of killspeed and durability, and the recommended spec. Discipline allows you to deal aconsiderable amount of damage while maintaining most of the healing benefitsas well as being extremely mana efficient comparatively to Shadow.

For a detailed route on how to spend each of your talent points while leveling check outour Discipline Priest talent build guide specifically for leveling. This page also includes an Disciplinespecifically priority list of how to deal maximum damage while leveling.

Professions are a huge part of Hardcore leveling as they can provide you withconsumables that give considerable stat increases, items that can be used in case ofemergencies or the ability to craft gear that will last you for countless levels. BelowI will go in depth about the various professions combinations available in WoWClassic and their benefits specifically in a Hardcore context for Priest.

Herbalism and Alchemy is a great pairing of professions as it will allow youto make consumable potions that not only give you a burst of health in an emergencysituation but also offer considerable stat increases and the occasionally solution toa niche situation. Priest specifically will benefit greatly from the Free Action Potionas it removes and makes you immune to all stunning/slowing effects for 30 seconds, slows beingone of the Priests greatest weaknesses. There are also countless potions that will offerbuffs to give temporary stat increases that will smooth out the leveling process by makingyou much stronger than you otherwise would be. The only downside to this profession being the timeyou must invest to harvest your own materials via Herbalism.

Engineering and Mining is a strong combo and while it offers less static increases than Alchemyand Herbalism it is still something you should consider as it offers quite a few extra buttons toget you out of a sticky situation. Target Dummy is a usable item that will instantly redirectthreat to it, causing mobs to stop attacking you for either 15 seconds or until it dies. You will also haveaccess to bombs that both deal AoE damage and incapacitate/stun whatever you are fighting which can sometimesbe the difference in surviving an encounter.

Tailoring and Enchanting is a strong pair that will allow you to not only craft your own gear to fillany possible holes you may have in your equipment but also allow you to imbue it with powerful enchantsthat give you considerable stat increases. Enchanting can be tough to keep up with while leveling soyou may have to plan around how you intend to get the needed materials to level this profession. Tailoringcan have some hefty item requirements to craft some pieces so it is typically a better idea to plan aroundthis or just use the profession as you can to fill any gaps in your gear that may have fallen behindlevel wise.

If you are curious about the most efficient way to level your professions, or would like a listof many of the useful items you can craft, make sure to check out our Classic Profession guides listed below.

Priest is one of the least gear reliant classes in the game, except for their Wand. This allows youto put a larger emphasis on maximizing your Health/Mana via Stamina and Intellect, the largest inhibitorof speed while leveling a priest is the availability of your resources.

Your ward attack does incur the global cooldown so always keep this in mind when fighting in a situation you mayneed to cast either another instant or start to cast a spell.

Priest benefits greatly from the use of macros. Due to the nature of buffs like Inner Fireand Shadow Ward (If you choose troll) refreshing them them so adding some quality of life macros can help make this less of a chore.Listed below is a guide on some of the most useful Macros that will greatly simplify using yourclasses abilities to their fullest extent.

Many people are enjoying Classic Hardcore by duo leveling. Priest is a class that shines when pairedwith another class that can deal large amounts of damage and safely pull multiple mobs. Priest is oneof the strongest single target healers in the game and will benefit greatly from playing with a low down-timedamage dealer.