Well, I think I shall start constructing a leveling guide for you my fellow priests, here. This guide will, ofc, not be a full guide, more of a touch on some good places to level, talent trees and gear to look into. This is something I promised a friend of mine for his priest a few days ago.

Talents: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#0
Talents while leveling: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#1
Builds: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#2
Gear: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#3
Strategies: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#5
Professions: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#6
Places to level: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=298893351&postId=2988477279&sid=1#7


Talents:

This the section I think I should start on first. There are some basic things most leveling priests should know, in my opinion.
1. You can heal as a shadowpriest, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, I stayed shadow from 10-70 and I can heal every instance up to shadow labs(the easiest 70 instance) and maybe 1-2 others as a shadowpriest with meager healing gear I have picked up here and there.
2. You will level fastest as a shadowpriest. This is a fact, I’m not saying you can’t level efficiently as a holy/disc priest or that shadow owns/holy/disc sucks, but the simple fact remains that you WILL level faster as a shadowpriest than any other specc(unless you mess it up badly). There are certain talents that make this the ultimate soloing specc for priests, including 4 spells that increase your spelldmg(as a shadow priest), 1 that increases you regeneration and 1 that decreases the cost of certain shadow spells.
3. There are certain talents that will differ, person to person, no matter, really. These include(but are not limited to) pvp/pve aimed talents(for example Imp. PS, Shadow Affinity).
4. Holy/disc is a very fun build and I recommend everyone try it if they can be arsed to spend the time/money respeccing and trying it out. That said, I’ll get right down to business.

To begin with I’m gonna show you how my specc looked when I hit 70 and explain it a bit to you:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=rVMhzhZfzZxGMdMtRhtVo

Disc.
Wand Specialization, this is a very underrated talent, it does wonders, really, especially with my later comment on killing mobs.
Imp. PW: F, Imp. PW: S, these are really just fillers, do not mistake me here, though, they are great talents, that extra 30% of your stamina buff and those 15% from your Fortitude can really save lives(be that yours or your members’). PW: S is also great to have when you’re killing a heavy dps mob and you’re close to loosing your shield before you finish of that cast.
Meditation, this is an awesome skill, combine this with lots of spirit and you have your mp5 almost set. This will keep you going and going and going and going and going.
Inner Focus, some people say this is a situational skill, don’t be fooled, it often is, but it is use in the direst of situations, such as when you go oom at exactly the wrong time when healing, or just need that little extra mana to finish that mob off before he kills you. But what it was most useful for me was when I was soloing, oh yes, use this every 3 minutes the CD is off, use it on the spell that costs most mana of the spells you’re casting and you have a couple of seconds longer out of FSR and a free spell.

Holy
Healing focus and Imp. Renew, those spells were useful to me in two places, 1) PvP(both world and BG), but if you don’t do PvP then this does not mean you should skip them, I recommend taking at least Healing Focus as this spell is most useful when healing groups and you will want if you plan on healing in instances. Renew is more optional, I like it because it allows me to cast a renew on people(including me) and know it’ll do alot. It does. I found I healed alot(and I mean alot) in Outland instances with only renew.
Spell warding, last point I used, just something.

Shadow
Spirit tap, one of the best spells you will EVER get, this is a must for any shadowpriest. 200% mana regen when OOC and 100% when in combat(more with Meditation). This is the reason spirit is important when grinding as shadow. This simply makes you regen faster with spirit, gold.
Shadow Affinity, I wanted to realistically be able to dps in instances, I can’t say I did alot of it, my server doesn’t have alot of available tanks/healers so I was mostly healing, but it was great when dps-ing in a group, it’s required in my opinion if you want to dps in groups; shadow priests get alot of threat with certain spells.
Imp. SW: P, this is really good, increases the dmg your SW: P does by quite a bit. It’s not always useful but in PvP, on hard solo mobs and in instances this really shines through.
Imp. PS, “Why?” you might ask, well, I’m on a PvP server and I like to PvP, this is completely optional(I recommend you get Blackout or Shadow Focus for high levels if you don’t want this).
Imp. Mind Blast, well this is, obviously, one of your main spells, it does alot of dmg(and is high threat in instances), but wtf? It’s on 8 second CD! Well, you can decrease that, and alot of people do(me included), “But why only 2 points?” Soom people ask me, “Wouldn’t 5 be better?” The answer is yes, in some cases, such as some PvP situations and perhaps heavy dmg-ing in certain places, but overall? No, this is not worth spending 5 points in, why? Let me explain, if you have reaced lvl 50(just an assumption here) you should have a setup something like this, you pull with VT(dot that returns you mana but takes time to cast, this should always be used to pull), SW: P if you think this will be a hard mob and even VE if it’s especially hard. Then there’s MB time, hit once(1.5 seconds), MF, MF, MB time, this will result in 6.5 seconds in total. If you had the full points it would be 5.5 CD. That is MB, MF... Then what? Wait for a second? “Hey there” you might say, “you only put 2 points in it, that means 7 second CD”, well true, but lets face it, your timing is not gonna be 100% accurate, I consider mine to be pretty good and yet most of the time it had no impact on me, and there were certain points I would rather have than this. It happened sometimes that I had to hit the button twice(with no time between, really), but this was rather rare and it’s not like it matters in most situations. I latter respecced and put 3 points in it for exact timing in raids/high level dungeons but that was just to be certain, and more often than not I find my CD is done 0.5 seconds before I finish casting.
Mind Flay, this will be one of your main spells, it’s channeled so it can be good to keep your shield up some times. Unless you manage to pull with two Mind Flays and the mob still not hitting you. This may not scale well as a spell in high levels due to it having a slowing effect, but this spell is still one of your most valued spells. When you’re in shadowform and your MB is on CD you’re not gonna dot again or go out of shadowform to Smite. You’re gonna Mind Flay, as simple as that. Your options are limited as a shadowpriest but if you figure them right they’re good.
Shadow Reach, some people say this is only a PvP talent, I beg to differ, I couldn’t live without this talent, it actually makes some pulls and places that would be hell otherwise, a child’s play. And when you’re in the position to MF twice without getting hit this will usually be the spell that enables you that. Also allowing you up to 2 spells before the target actually comes in range of Mind Flay(which has a rather short range).
Shadow Weaving, this didn’t appeal to me at first, I thought “Only 3 percent” which it was at the time “and stacks five times? How can that be good? Only 15% more dmg.” It’s good, it gives you alot more dmg, dots will love this spell, so will warlocks if you happen to group with them while dpsing. It also increases your wand damage if you have a wand with shadow dmg(highly recommended as a shadowpriest).
Vampiric Embrace and Imp. VE, love this spell, it’s great, if you need to heal while soloing just cast this on a mob(instant cast, 52 mana) and then keep on dps-ing you’ll get your hp back in no time, also, everyone loves this in groups, half the reason they take shadowpriests with them.
Silence, pure PvP 95% of the time, it’s good in PvP, has a couple of uses in solo but not many, you can skip this for Shadow Focus/Blackout if you wish.
Focused Mind, makes 2 of your most used spells cost less mana, hell yeah! This is great if you don’t wanna be oom all the time.
Darkness, increases your dmg by 10%(face it, you’re not gonna be smiting so yes, it really is always 10%). One of the best talents you’ll be getting.
Shadowform, if you go shadow(which I highly recommend) take this at 40. This is the talent that shadow priests are known for and makes them really worth it. The 15% less physical dmg taken is good but the 15% more dmg you do is simply amazing.
Misery, similar to Shadow Weaving but 5% less and is instant(not stacking), this is good. Does not however make the target get more wand dmg but instead your mage/shaman/destro lock/balance druid/paladin will get the buff too.

Vampiric Touch, the first time I saw this I went “Wtf? Only 5% mana and 600 dmg?” this is good, when you’re fighting mobs with 9k hp(later on) solo you will think how you love getting 400 of that mana back(yes I know, not enough for the spell) + the extra dmg. This is good and will continue to be good, your mobs drop faster and you get some mana too, even though it costs a bit too. Pull with this.

Now, going through my build when I hit lvl 70 I was up for optimum grinding but also ready for instances and PvP, which was what I was aiming at, you can easily modify this to suit you, if you want. This is not a “YOU MUST FOLLOW THIS PATH OR DIE!” guide(as so beautifully phrased by Highlander).



The main path to follow is:
Start out with Wand Specialization, 10-14.
15-19: Spirit tap
20-21: Improved SW: P
22-24: Optional, I’d choose Blackout, probably at this point. Though Healing Focus is definitely a viable option.
25: Mind Flay, no question.
26-27: Improved Mind Blast
28-29: Can get Imp. PS if you like PvP or another point in Blackout/1(only one) other point in Imp. MB
30-34: Shadow Weaving
35-37: Focused Mind
38-39: VE+1 point in Imp. VE
40: Respecc time: Respecc something like this: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=rZZxGMdzxoht
41-44: This is where it gets a bit optional, I recommend getting the rest of your points in shadow for Misery(don’t get Shadow Power/Shadow Resilience), but some people will want Wand Specialization right away(and even Healing Focus, if you like healing).
45-49: Misery if you went with my recommendation about clearing shadow, otherwise I recommend using this to get to Misery.
50: Vampiric Touch(great talent).
51-52: This is where I decided I should get Healing Focus, because I’m on a PvP server with a low population of healers(useful in both), but you can wait with this until you hit 60 if you like(but I recommend having it in Outland instances if you plan on healing at all).
53-57: Wand Specialization
58-62: PW: S+PW: F, doesn’t really matter which comes first though I do recommend PW: S first.
63-65: Time for one of my favourites; Meditation.
66: Inner Focus.
67+: Nothing really good for killing mobs and staying alive now, you can get Imp. Renew, which is a good spell in alot of situations, as I did, or you can get something else, like Imp. Mana Burn/Imp. Inner Fire, max out Blackout, just something you like, really(Shadow Focus might actually be a good idea as it is not rare that your mobs resist spells anymore here in Outlands, especially in instances).
I later respecced to this:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMuzhMZbZxGMuMtRhtVo
For arena while still able to grind/instance very well.

Now I’m gonna explain to you some popular talents I didn’t pick and some disputed ones I did:

Unbreakable Will: This is most use in PvP and Wand Specialization far outweighs it in my opinion. True, there are some mobs in instances that Fear etc. But if we take Fear for an example they will go for the one that wasn’t feared almost all of the times and this can lead to you lying dead on the floor as often as you able to heal/dps more that particular fight.
Blackout: This spell is not something you rely on. You can spend your talent points on better things in alot of cases, unless it’s PvP you are going for, in PvP this is just gold, but outside this doesn’t happen often enough/at the right times for it to be justifiable for other talents. I had this but it simply did not procc that often when soloing for me to keep it for other(better, imo) talents. If I went heavy pvp, though, this would be one of the first talents I’d pick.
Shadow Affinity: Obviously this is only good if you group so if you don’t plan on doing that then don’t bother. This is a requirement, though, if you dps in a group.
Shadow Focus: I considered getting this after I hit Outlands and started getting resisted quite alot more, but the fact is that it’s pretty rare and tbh it isn’t that big of a deal before 70.
Imp. Mind Blast: Explained that earlier but for people’s sake that are to lazy to scroll up: Imp. Mind Blast, well this is, obviously, one of your main spells, it does alot of dmg(and is high threat in instances), but wtf? It’s on 8 second CD! Well, you can decrease that, and alot of people do(me included), “But why only 2 points?” Soom people ask me, “Wouldn’t 5 be better?” The answer is yes, in some cases, such as some PvP situations and perhaps heavy dmg-ing in certain places, but overall? No, this is not worth spending 5 points in, why? Let me explain, if you have reaced lvl 50(just an assumption here) you should have a setup something like this, you pull with VT(dot that returns you mana but takes time to cast, this should always be used to pull), SW: P if you think this will be a hard mob and even VE if it’s especially hard. Then there’s MB time, hit once(1.5 seconds), MF, MF, MB time, this will result in 6.5 seconds in total. If you had the full points it would be 5.5 CD. That is MB, MF... Then what? Wait for a second? “Hey there” you might say, “you only put 2 points in it, that means 7 second CD”, well true, but lets face it, your timing is not gonna be 100% accurate, I consider mine to be pretty good and yet most of the time it had no impact on me, and there were certain points I would rather have than this. It happened sometimes that I had to hit the button twice(with no time between, really), but this was rather rare and it’s not like it matters in most situations. I latter respecced and put 3 points in it for exact timing in raids/high level dungeons but that was just to be certain, and more often than not I find my CD is done 0.5 seconds before I finish casting.
Imp. Fade: Pretty useless, if you’re in the position that you need to use fade twice within a 30 seconds then either A) your tank is sucking, B) you’re sucking.
Shadow Reach: This is not purely PvP people, I love pulling farther than I could usually do, makes some quests/grind places just worth doing.
Shadow Power: There is only one spell you can use that crits in a normal rotation(if you’re shadow), and that’s Mind Blast. Why get +15% for one spell that is cast 1-2 times most roations? Most of the times this is just an overkill and an aweful waste of 5 talent points. If you’re going full PvP then be my guest, get this and put 5 points into Imp. Mind Blast, but until then it’s pretty useless.

Now, I realise that there are alot of people whom this build won’t suite. And I respect that, shadow takes some time getting used to, some people love healing(though that is perfectly possible even with shadow) and others like to be different/test other things out. For those peoples’ sake I will post some different builds here.

Disc/Shadow:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMhkIbdbxZZxGMdzxoht
This is heavy on neither disc or shadow but goes far into both trees. It’s not a bad specc if you want to check out shadow, and it gives you some extra mana/mana regen at the cost of Misery, VT and probably Healing Focus(though you can take 2 points out of Disc and take that). This will get you a great spirit buff that both increases your spirit(and groupmembers’) and your +dmg/healing. It’s really golden, tbh. I chose Imp. Inner Fire for the extra protection seeing as you only have 2 instant cast spells, one almost solely PvP. But if you really think SW: P is too expensive you can take full 5 in Mental Agility(or even Imp. Mana Burn, for when you’re against Shammies/Pallies). This will in some cases increase your damage a bit and possibly mana efficiency(though not by much) but it dramatically decreases how useful you are in a party, and, tbh, the loss of 1 dot is not worth it in my opinion. You also don’t have as much free room here.

Holy Grinder:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=dVghzu0dbxZfxx0cbqV

Disc/Holy Grinder:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVghzu0tbtbZfxx0cbV

Those can be tweaked if you want to but these are my suggestions for Disc/Holy people that still want to be the best healers around(or slightly outweighed if you have pure Holies/Restoes around). The pro about this is that you can easily switch between a healer and dps-er, and tbh, you will excell at healing as the 1-69 dungeons aren’t really made for Holy specced healers. But you will not, on the other hand, excell at dpsing. You can do it sure, even well enough, but people will not want you as a dpser in groups(lower dps than pretty much everyone else and no CC skills except for Shackle on undeads). But Power Infusion is great, though.

Heavy Disc:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVghzI0tbtEofLx
If you really wanna go heavy Disc, Pain suppression is the way to go. You’ll lose coun’t of how many times it saves your life and you won’t be hard up for mana 90% of the time(if not with the heavy regen abilities of a shadowpriest). You also have some useful holy talents that aid both your healing and dpsing.

Heavy Disc alternative:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=dVghzG0tbtEobZxG0d
This will lessen your healing capabilities but give you useful grinding talents such as Spirit tap. Also this gives you Mind Blast as a viable option and the almighty Mind Flay.

Holy Healer:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVghkh0zbZfxxcc0qVhc
This is a build I do not recommend to anyone who is leveling unless you plan on doing instances 24/7(not adviced, in my opinion) or be in a group constantly, at least. This specc limits your dps a whole lot. But I can guarantee you, though, if you specc this and are a decent healer you won’t find a better healer pre-heroics and not that many even in heroics. This is the classic Holy Priest raiding specc. It gives you the buff you want and others too and a whole lot of healing power. Also allows you to last forever if you choose your gear the right way(when healing). But you will get hell when trying to kill mobs. Even with the dmg from spirit bonuses some of your skills give you and decreased cast time on smite you do not dps alot.
I have to admit that this is my current build. I would never have considered it when I was leveling, but now it is viable as long as I get a grinding partner and to be honest I love it. My server is really low on healers and tanks, especially level 70, most of my guild’s tanks/healers are around 60+ atm. And I really wasn’t getting into groups as a shadow priest(this does not mean you won’t, a good shadow priest is gold in groups, especially combined with a warlock), and most of the time you simply won’t be able to go or you realize your tank/healer just suck. So I thought, hey, this is what suits my guild and myself at the moment so I’ll respecc. Like I said earlier I love this build, and this is definitely how I would go if I were to continue on as holy but that is simply not the way I want to go. So when I have geared up and we have some lvl 70 healers in our guild I will respecc back to shadow for raiding.

Thought this was over? Not by a long shot. Now I’m going to touch a bit on gear.

Pre-Outland your gear will be limited and you’ll have to look for alot of it in AH/instances. You will not get alot of +dmg but(depending on your build) that isn’t all too important pre-Outland. What you need most of here is Spirit, you may think “What about the FSR(Five Second Rule)?”, “What about int?”, well, the Five Second Rule is still a killer for all priests, but priests are the class most adept at avoiding it. We have several talents that increase our dmg/heal/mana regen from spirit, one allowing it to continue(at 15% rate) while casting. Now, depending on your build, spirit will benefit you differently well, but it’s good for every priest. The day I read this first I didn’t belive it, because of the FSR, really. When I was in outlands I suddenly realised, hey, I’m gettin Meditation now, I’ve had spirit tap for ages. Why do I have such little spirit? To be honest I’d forsaken most of my spirit for int and +dmg at lower levels. This made it so that before 66(Shadowfiend and full Meditation and Inner Focus level) I drank a whole lot of drinks. This, in turn, dcreased my grind speed. But even with my scant spirit at 66 I could still last for ages, almost
nevending. I found that every time I needed mana my shadowfiend was off CD.
My point here is, don’t forsake spirit for something you perceive as more important, when grinding spirit is THE most important stat for priests.
After you get to Outlands you will start getting alot of fancy gear with things that give stats and +dmg and mp5, etc. What you have to remember here is that spirit tap and later Meditation will make your spirit a good stat and that it should not all be forsaken for mp5(ESPECIALLY if you are one of the holy/disc speccs). Here are some more things to keep in mind:
+Dmg makes your mobs drop faster, less mana spent, often.
+Hit gives you +dmg% up to a certain point, depending on the mob. Too much is overkill, but some is recommended, or at least good.
+Crit is almost useless for priests unless you plan on speccing into heavy dps PvP.
Mp5 is really good but it does not replace your spirit, even though it is often more befetting.
Stamina is not needed when grinding, 95% of the time.

Here is some gear to look out for from instances(I’ll start this at 30):
RFK:
Death Speaker Scepter(28) - Mace: Main Hand (7.77%)
Death Speaker Mantle(25) - Cloth: Shoulders (40.42%)
Death Speaker Robes(26) - Cloth: Chest (40.49%)
Agamaggan's Clutch(31) - Miscellaneous: Finger (32.14%)
Berylline Pads - Cloth: Shoulders

Gnomeregan:
Acidic Walkers(27) - Cloth: Feet (54.04%)
Electromagnetic Gigaflux Reactivator(32) - Cloth: Head (7.66%)
Repairman's Cape - Cloth: Back
Brilliant Gold Ring - Miscellaneous: Finger
Shilly Mitts - Cloth: Hands
Civinad Robes - Cloth: Chest

SM:
Orb of the Forgotten Seer(33) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (47.04%)
Bloodmage Mantle(30) - Cloth: Shoulders (48.51%)
Illusionary Rod(34) - Staff: Two-Hand (38.43%)
Hypnotic Blade(34) - Dagger: One-Hand (39.91%)
Mantle of Doan(33) - Cloth: Shoulders (41.97%)
Robe of Doan(33) - Cloth: Chest (42.84%)
Inquisitor's Shawl(36) - Cloth: Shoulders (15.92%)
Triune Amulet(39) - Miscellaneous: Neck (33.23%)
Hand of Righteousness(39) - Mace: Main Hand (18.33%)
Whitemane's Chapeau(39) - Cloth: Head (34.02%)
Mantle of Woe - Cloth: Shoulders
Dancing Flame - Wand: Ranged
Omega Orb - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand
Explorers' League Commendation - Miscellaneous: Neck
Dragon's Blood Necklace - Miscellaneous: Neck
Prophetic Cane - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand
Orb of Lorica - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand

RFD:
Mordresh's Lifeless Skull(36) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (29.59%)
Glowing Eye of Mordresh(36) - Miscellaneous: Neck (29.10%)
Deathmage Sash(36) - Cloth: Waist (27.95%)
Silky Spider Cape(35) - Cloth: Back (28.69%)
Robes of the Lich(39) - Cloth: Chest (29.56%)
Amberglow Talisman - Miscellaneous: Neck

Uldaman:
Revelosh's Gloves(35) - Cloth: Hands (20.08%)
Grimlok's Tribal Vestments(42) - Cloth: Chest (36.49%)
Stoneweaver Leggings(35) - Cloth: Legs (31.04%)
Everlast Boots - Cloth: Feet
Explorer's League Lodestar - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand
Jarkal's Enhancing Necklace - Miscellaneous: Neck
Talvash's Enhancing Necklace - Miscellaneous: Neck

Zul’Farrak:
Desertwalker Cane(42) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (17.99%)
Zum'rah's Vexing Cane(42) - Staff: Two-Hand (11.97%)
Jumanza Grips(42) - Cloth: Hands (24.97%)
Bad Mojo Mask(44) - Cloth: Head (18.68%)
Lifeblood Amulet(43) - Miscellaneous: Neck (30.78%)
Spellshifter Rod - Staff: Two-Hand

Maraudon:
Nature's Embrace(46) - Cloth: Chest (30.27%)
Heart of Noxxion(46) - Miscellaneous: Trinket (38.10%)
Noxious Shooter(46) - Wand: Ranged (19.05%)
Vinerot Sandals(46) - Cloth: Feet (20.63%)
Cloud Stone(48) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (20.00%)
Fist of Stone(48) - Mace: Main Hand (16.57%)
Rotgrip Mantle(48) - Cloth: Shoulders (25.73%)
Blade of Eternal Darkness(49) - Dagger: Main Hand (0.20%)
Eye of Theradras(49) - Cloth: Head (13.48%)
Charstone Dirk(49) - Dagger: Main Hand (14.23%)
Gemshard Heart(49) - Miscellaneous: Neck (15.30%)
Prodigious Shadowshard Pendant - Miscellaneous: Neck
Woodseed Hoop - Miscellaneous: Finger
Acumen Robes - Cloth: Chest
Resurgence Rod - Staff: Two-Hand

Sunken Temple(Temple of Atal’Hakkar):
Embrace of the Wind Serpent(50) - Cloth: Chest (0.14%)
Spire of Hakkar(49) - Staff: Two-Hand (16.01%)
Featherskin Cape(49) - Cloth: Back (31.11%)
Atal'ai Gloves(47) - Cloth: Hands (5.39%)
Drakestone(49) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (4.90%)
Nightfall Drape(48) - Cloth: Back (4.48%)
Dawnspire Cord(48) - Cloth: Waist (4.43%)
Drakeclaw Band(49) - Miscellaneous: Finger (4.46%)
Vestments of the Atal'ai Prophet(50) - Cloth: Chest (24.14%)
Gloves of the Atal'ai Prophet(50) - Cloth: Hands (26.73%)
Kilt of the Atal'ai Prophet(50) - Cloth: Legs (22.99%)
Dragon's Eye(51) - Miscellaneous: Neck (27.03%)
Rod of Corrosion(51) - Wand: Ranged (21.55%)
Dire Nail(51) - Dagger: One-Hand (10.92%)
Rainstrider Leggings - Cloth: Legs
Gemburst Circlet - Cloth: Head

Blackrock Depths:
Mantle of Lost Hope(48) - Cloth: Shoulders (20.43%)
Kentic Amice(47) - Cloth: Shoulders (21.44%)
Enthralled Sphere(48) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (21.42%)
Kindling Stave(48) - Staff: Two-Hand (16.55%)
Spritecaster Cape(47) - Cloth: Back (31.88%)
Senior Designer's Pantaloons(50) - Cloth: Legs (20.81%)
Chief Architect's Monocle(50) - Cloth: Head (17.05%)
Mana Shaping Handwraps(52) - Cloth: Hands (2.02%)
Flameweave Cuffs(52) - Cloth: Wrist (20.04%)
Second Wind(54) - Miscellaneous: Trinket (6.13%)
Omnicast Boots(54) - Cloth: Feet (26.49%)
Soot Encrusted Footwear(51) - Cloth: Feet (22.75%)
Circle of Flame(54) - Cloth: Head (0.91%)
Burst of Knowledge(53) - Miscellaneous: Trinket (14.85%)
Cape of the Fire Salamander(53) - Cloth: Back (25.20%)
Magmus Stone(53) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (22.00%)
Hands of the Exalted Herald(54) - Cloth: Hands (22.22%)
High Priestess Boots(54) - Cloth: Feet (27.78%)
Guiding Stave of Wisdom(54) - Staff: Two-Hand (14.97%)
Robes of the Royal Crown(55) - Cloth: Chest (15.13%)
Thaurissan's Royal Scepter(55) - Miscellaneous: Off-Hand (12.43%)
Emperor's Seal(55) - Miscellaneous: Finger (14.69%)
Silkweb Gloves(49) - Cloth: Hands (24.09%)
Cyclopean Band(49) - Miscellaneous: Finger (20.31%)
Ban'thok Sash(49) - Cloth: Waist (21.52%)
Graverot Cape(50) - Cloth: Back (23.45%)
Bloodclot Band(52) - Miscellaneous: Finger (26.25%)
The Hammer of Grace(52) - Mace: Main Hand (25.00%)
Haunting Specter Leggings(52) - Cloth: Legs (54.55%)
Shroud of Arcane Mastery(56) - Cloth: Back (60.00%)
Ironweave Mantle(56) - Cloth: Shoulders (60.00%)
Manacle Cuffs - Cloth: Wrist
Azure Moon Amice - Cloth: Shoulders
Songstone of Ironforge - Miscellaneous: Finger
Eye of Orgrimmar - Miscellaneous: Finger

*I have updated this with new instance drops(Azeroth only), this section may recieve further updates in time.*

*Reserved*

Soloing Strategies:
Here are some tips so as not to spend too much mana and kill efficiently:
1. Try to always pull with a dot that takes time to cast if you have one of those(i.e. Holy Fire for non shadow, Vampiric Touch for shadow, Mind Blast for shadow without VT).
2. If you have spirit tap(which I highly recommend), try to time it so that you get out of the FSR just as you kill the mob.
3. You do not need to make spirit tap last it’s whole length, you still get 50% spirit regen in combat, even though it is 200% ooc.
4. Always make your shadowfiend last it’s whole length, it has 12 seconds to live, the more time spent hitting a mob the more mana you get. It’s better to take 5 more seconds to finish off a mob rather than let your Shadowfiend do nothing for a while.
5. Always use Inner focus just before your most costly spell.
6. Use your mana saving CD’s whenever you can, but only if you get full benefit. Do not use shadowfiend if you’re 2000 mana short and it just came off CD, wait for a fight or 2 instead and use it then. Same goes for innir focus, don’t think in the middle of the fight, “Ah, IF just came of CD, best use it now with this Mind Flay”, save it for y our next fights’(or this ones’) most costly spellcast.
7. Using a downranked shield to prevent Mind flay from being interrupted is a good idea, if you are killing hard mobs you can even use a high level version if you want.
8. As a shadowpriest your attacks should look something like this: Inner Focus, PW: S, VT, MB, MF, MF, MB(if needed), wand. Can fit a SW: P after that VT if this is a hard mob. Some priests like to fear, personally I know that is often a risk and I usually choose downranked shield instead, it’s more efficient, in most places.
9. As a holy it’s similar, IF, PW: S, Holy Fire, SW: P, MB, Smite a couple of times, Maybe another MB and rest is wand.
10. Keeping fully buffed doesn’t matter 95% of the time unless you play on a PvP server. It’s more important to have mana than be fully buffed, most of the time. If you have spirit buff, though, use it whenever you need it.

Healing tips:
I was also considered a pretty good healer, even though I was shadow(and I swear I’m better than many a holy priest as shadow), why? Well, simply because of this, I know a few basic rules:
1. Your tank doesn’t always have to have 100% hp, I’d rather have my tank at 85% hp with a renew on them and me ready to heal than have him at 100% and me with 10% mana and my shadowfiend/mana pot on CD.
2. Even though your tank may not need to have 100% hp all the time it’s good to keep him close, you never know what MIGHT happen(the possibilities are endless, really).
3. My hp is as important as the tanks’, you can’t heal when your dead. You and the tank are the 2 most important people in the group, you keep him alive and he should keep you alive. Alot of people don’t seem to understand these things and simply want to keep everyone at full HP(often spammin CoH/Holy Nova/Prayer of Healing)/ignore their hp completely if the tank has 40% hp or less... This does not last well.
4. This was the first thing I mentioned but just to make myself even more clear, overhealing is not good. Overhealing only makes you spend the same amount of mana for less results. This is in some situations unavoidable, true, but try to minimize it as much as possible, you’ll be a lot happier.

Offensive grouping tips:
Shadowpriests generate alot of threat. This is a fact, Mind Blast is a high aggro spell and Vampiric Touch and Vampiric Embrace give you lots of threat. What you should aim for is always keeping VT and VE on a target and same goes for SW: P. The rest pretty much depends on the situation, if your tank is sucking, for instance, you might be pulling aggro if try to dps alot so there might not be alot to do outside of VT, VE and SW: P, maybe some Mind Flays. If you have a solid tank, on the other hand, you can often go on an almost full dps rotation, with MB, MF, MF, MB, only stopping to recast VT and SW: P as needed. There is also another thing you have to take into consideration as a shadowpriest, and that is mana, you are not in nature a mana efficient class. This can be improved with all sorts of stuff, but you must always be mindful of your mana when dps-ing in a group, and out of mana shadowpriest does about as much as a dead shadowpriest.

Professions:
Professions are a big part of WoW. I recommend everyone takes up two main professions and all the secondary professions. Alot of professions will help you as a priest.
Tailoring is a very useful profession and it will do as much good(if not more) at 70 as at 20. To be able to make your own bags is so important if this is your main character on the server and you also get some good stuff such as the Dreamweave things at 40+. In end-game you can still get great stuff such as the Primal Mooncloth/Frozen Shadoweave sets and lots of miscellaneous things.
Jewelcrafting is useful for rings, amulets and trinkets at lower levels but becomes a bit outdated in 40+. Once you hit Outland, though, the great thing about JC is that it allows you to make gems for certain slots. There are also some good JC made things even after you start raiding. Goes best with mining.
Engineering is good for every class but not great for any, really. This is a very diverse and fun profession, but very costly and time consuming, also. It can be good in many situations and there have recently been added some recipes that make it more viable at the higher levels.
Alchemy is always useful, this can give you great potion, both while leveling and at hihg levels. It is a definite pro to be able to make your own mana potions as a priest(of which you will need a bit). Goes best with Herbalism.
Blacksmithing is one profession of almost no use to priests, I highly discourage priests from taking this, even though this may yield some money(if worked at the right way) and there are a few recipes at higher levels that may(or may not) benefit you.
Letherworking is a skill prehaps even less useful than blacksmithing, for priests. I have yet to see a good reason to take this up as a priest.
Mining this is a great profession, both as a supplement to JC and as simply a way to gather money.
Skinning is often used with LW which is, as I mentioned earlier, of no use to priests. This my still, however, yield alot of money, if you but remember to skin.
Herbalism goes really well with Alchemy for the herbs which are required. This is also a good way to gain money.
Enchanting is a rather hard profession to level, if you are new to it, but it can give you amazing enchants. This is a really good profession, but as mentioned above, can be really costly. You can get your own mats, simply by disenchanting greens you get, either by another profession or from drops. This goes very well with tailoring.

What I reccommend for people either just starting their first characters, or rerolling on a new server, is to take up two gathering professions at first(obviously this is not needed if you already have an established character with some supply of gold), skinning as one and either mining or herbalism as the other. This way you will get plenty of gold to begin with. When you are around 40 you should easily have gathered up the money required for your mount and a good sum extra. Soon after hitting 40 you should drop one of the gathering professions and take up another profession. Personally my favourite is tailoring, as this gives many good items, but that is entirely up to you. At this time you should also have gathered some materials for leveling that profession(have some ore and gems if you decide on JC, herbs if alchemy, saved your cloth if it’s tailoring). Then again at 70 you should drop the other gathering profession(in my opinion) as gold comes easily at 70.
For some tips on leveling professions check out this guide by Highlander: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=13121383&sid=1

Places to level:
Places to quest, I’ll have to view this from a Horde perspective as I’ve never seriously leveled an Alliance character. Any Ally out there willing to help is welcome to do so.
1-12: Your starting race’s area.
12-20: The Barrens and maybe a bit of Stonetalon Mountains.
20-25: The Barrens, Stonetalon Mountains, Ashenvale.
25-30: Finish the Barrens, Stonetalon, Ashenvale, do Thousand Needles, a little Hillsbrad Foothills, a dabble in Arathi Hihglands and Alterac Mountains.
30-35: Some STV, Decolace and the Shimmering Flats in the Thousand Needles.
35-40: Arathi Highlands, Dustwallow Marsh, STV.
40-45: Badlands, Swamp of Sorrows, STV, a bit of Tanaris and Feralas.
45-50: Feralas, Hinterlands, Searing Gorge, Swamp of Sorrows, Tanaris.
50-55: Azshara, Hinterlands, Blasted Lands, Un’Goro, Burning Steppes, Felwood, maybe start Winterspring.
55-58: Winterspring, Silithus, Western and Eastern Plaguelands.
58+: Outland. Here is where opinions start to differ alot. Personally I did every single quest I could find in Hellfire Peninsula, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar Forest and Nagrand. By that time I was halfway through lvl 68. Then I decided I would like to get to 70 fast and went to Netherstorm(crazy xp rate there). I suppose my favourite areas were Nagrand and Netherstorm; easy quests, lots of xp. You could also skip some quests in every area and go instead through all the areas as you level, ending up in Shadowmoon Valley. I preferred to do it this way and so I had all the other quests in Blades Edge Mountains, Shadowmoon Valley and loads in Netherstorm too for getting money now that I’m 70.


When I was leveling I quested most of the time. Quests are definitely the way to go, but it’s hard to avoid grinding a bit, in Azeroth, at least. You can also hit some bad parts when you have done all the good viable quests at your current level. This can be avoided by reading up on some guides, if you want to. Some people just like grinding. I personally only grinded when I was feeling bored and didn’t feel like questing, I used this place to find grinding places, mostly: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=17702302&sid=1&pageNo=1 In my opinion this is only good for finding places for grinding. To sum it up:

Level 33-34: Arathi Highlands, Boulderfist Outpost.
Boulderfist Ogres. Stay outside the cave, going around in circles. Don't engage the trolls. You should find a rhythm soon enough, there are enough Ogres here (though at first it seems you kill too fast for the respawns)
18200-20500 XP/hour

Level 35-36: Alterac Mountains, Gallow's Corner.
Crushridge Ogres & Brutes. Do both sides of the ruined tower, plenty of Ogres here.
21500 XP/hour

Level 37-38: Badlands, Dustbowl
Lesser Rock Elementals (37-39). These are no humanoids, but they are Blizzard's gift to grinders. Nice XP, no hitpoints, no risk and very good gold/hour. There are also quests for these, pick them up for some free XP. A repair vendor can be found in the center of the Badlands.
21500-22500 XP/hour

Level 39-41: Badlands, Mirage Flats
Rock Elementals (38-40) and Greater Rock Elementals. This spot of Elementals is farmed a lot less than the other one. It can be found in the mountains in the south of the Badlands.
21500 XP/hour at level 39.
28500-29500 XP/hour at level 40-41. Level 40 is the most significant level for you. You get a new wand, new chestpiece, new gloves and shadow form, your most important ability. The rate at which you kill enemies from now on will be almost frightening, hence the almost 50% increase in XP/hour. The downside? Your XP/hour will stay pretty much the same from here till level 60, making each level increasingly tedious.

Level 42: Feralas, Gordunni Outpost.
Gordunni Ogres, Brutes and Ogre Mages (40-43). Grind in the latter part of the compound, making slight advances into the cave once you run out of Ogres outside.
29500-30000 XP/hour

Level 43-45: Feralas, Ruins of Isildien
Gordunni Brutes, Maulers and Warlocks (42-44)
30000-30500 XP/hour

Level 46-48: Tanaris (central), Dunemaul Compound
Dunemaul Brutes, Enforces, Ogres and Ogre Mages (45-48). The perfect spot is a bit hard to find. There is an area a bit north of the cave, where you can run sort of a Ogre parcour, going in a long circle (around 10- 15 minutes for one circle I think) where you can always get perfectly safe single pulls. Takes a while to figure out the route.
28500-30.000 XP/hour

Level 49-50: Tanaris, Thistleshrub Valley
Thistleshrub Rootshapers, Gnarled Thistleshrubs & Thistleshrub Dew Collectors (47-50)
32500-34000 XP/hour. You badly need the slight increase in XP here, so be glad about it. These are also great for grinding, especially for Alchemists. No HP, no damage and decent greenie drop rate.

Level 51-53: Un'Goro crater
Tar Lords & Lurkers (lvl 50-54) & Un'GoroQuests.
The Tar Lords drop Living Essences, making them worth it for cash and the Hide of the Wild, which you will want if you go PvE.
At this level you should also start doing some quests. Especially the Un'Goro ones have ridiculous XP awards for very little effort. Avoid the Pterrordax quest and some of the other more tedious ones.
An alternative are the Firegut Ogres in the Burning Steppes (50-52 iirc), plus the quests for them.
35000-37000 XP/hour

Level 54-55: Western Plaguelands & Eastern Plaguelands
Fordring questline starting quests, Cauldron quests, grinding on the first Cauldron field. Also Felwood quests.
34000-35000 XP/hour.

Level 55-56: Winterspring
Yetis. Nuff said. Also several worthwile quests here.
Around 34000 XP/hour

I personally recommend Owlbeasts in Winterspring for 57-58. At 58 you should go to Outland. Believe me, there are alot of people that disagree and I respect their opinions. I was lvl 59 when I went to Outlands, you might have a bit of a rough start out there, but the quests are so plentiful and the levels go so much faster.

Thank you for reading this guide, it is now finally done, if you have any questions ask at will. I will try to keep this updated and maybe add a FAQ later on.

*Reserved*

Great Guide!! :) if i ever level a priest I'm sure it'll help a lot

Wow! Very nice guide, I`m going to try the ogres for level 33 - 34 tommorow!

A great Guide i will be trying Level 46-48: Tanaris (central), Dunemaul Compound
later today thnx. Monman

Awesome guide, reported for sticky.

Although, i have a few issues;
I'm currently levelling this shadow priest, and i find improved mind blast a complete waste, as my routine mostly goes as this;
Shield: Mind Blast, Shadow Word Pain, Mind Flay, Mind Flay, Wand - works great for mana conservation.
Add another Mind Flay if it's a bit harder than the regular mob ;)

And if you look at my talent build and think, why not VT on mobs? 450 mana cost, i can not, in anyway, regain that much mana on 1 mob at my level.

It is however, insanely useful when doing instances :)

Also.. Living Essences for Hide of the Wild? Is that really worth the trouble to get crafted? Aren't there equal options available in Outland? I seem to recall some very nice dmg/heal cloaks when levelling my hunter.

A little note for them who drops some profession in Outlands for enchanting. Level enchanting at least to Master level before you get Friendly with Aldor. :)

Edit. At least on the Alliance side.

---

Q u o t e:
Although, i have a few issues;
I'm currently levelling this shadow priest, and i find improved mind blast a complete waste, as my routine mostly goes as this;
Shield: Mind Blast, Shadow Word Pain, Mind Flay, Mind Flay, Wand - works great for mana conservation.
Add another Mind Flay if it's a bit harder than the regular mob ;)

And if you look at my talent build and think, why not VT on mobs? 450 mana cost, i can not, in anyway, regain that much mana on 1 mob at my level.

---

Well, those are both connected to level and places, tbh, you will most likely hit mobs where the extra mind blast is required, and it's very useful in instances, but yes, on alot of mobs you won't need one. And as to the VT question, first it only takes 325 mana ;) And it's also an extra dot, useful in many ways and can save you a mind flay or mind blast. But this is situational before Outlands, I used it constantly in Outlands, you may still not get all your mana back before you hit 70 outside of instances but you will get an almost free dot, which is very useful.

---

Q u o t e:
Also.. Living Essences for Hide of the Wild? Is that really worth the trouble to get crafted? Aren't there equal options available in Outland? I seem to recall some very nice dmg/heal cloaks when levelling my hunter.

---

And no, in my opinion Hide of the Wild isn't really worth all the mats it takes. There are some really nice +dmg and also +heal cloaks in Outlands, though it may take a couple of levels to get one. There is, for example, one in Slave Pens, Spore-Soaked Vaneer, I believe. It's not a bad dps cloak, and there are probably plenty in quests too. And Cloak of the Healing Rays in the Underbog, for healing, which is at least as good, probably better than Hide of the Wild.

---

Q u o t e:
2/5 Improved MB is enough.

---

2/5 is bad.
Only possibly configurations are 0/5, 1/5, 4/5 and 5/5, with a high preference for 0/5 or 1/5 in raids, 5/5 in PvP.
4/5 might be ok for 5man instances, or PvE with an ultra good gear that allows you to use mind blast at every CD with 4/5 in imp MB.

Nice guide. I dissagree with your talents, but so does everyone else. <3

( And first page. )



< This is really a lvl 34 priest. Shh. >

*Reserved*
first page


Really nice guide!

I find it really useful, while leveling my Shadow Priest on another realm of my main 70 Hunter...

The information is perfect for leveling/grinding/making money/questing!


I wouldn't agree with some of the talent builds though. However, a lot of people like a lot of different things.

Note - the Shadow Weaving has been nerfed to 10%, instead of 15% it used to be.

Still pretty fine though... Come to think about it - 10% from it, 15% from shadow form, 5% from Misery. Well... 30% more shadow damage sound damn fine to me!
Especially considering, that until level 50 - the Shadow Priest has only 3 spells to use for attack - SW:P, MB and MF.

Thus - I read a discussion on the talents and spells of the priests... I read, that putting points on Shadow Power (15% more crit chance to SW:D and MB) - I will totally invest my points there... SW:D and MB are the only direct damage shadow spells a Shadow Priest uses. They are both used over some time, and you need them both to do the max of what you want - killing your opponent fast.

And, well... there is no other talent to help the Shadow Priest for its critical strike on Shadow Spells, but - except for these to - there are no other spells that need %crit improvement.

Nicely done by Blizzard, instead of another talent -> "5/5 = +5% crit on Shadow Spells" - (would you have invested a single point in it lol) :-)