Going Priestly in patch 2.4

With patch 2.4 live, lets take a look at what it's offering those of the more Priestly persuasion. Gear, a few talent and spell changes, and some new fun in the new instances will be a boon for your Priest.

For our Shadow brothers, you can now look forward to Fear Ward in Shadowform and a somewhat nerfed Vampiric Touch (they've fixed the bug where casting lower ranks wasn't penalized like other healing spells are).

Disc priest, like Nethaera, can look forward to a slightly buffed Inner Focus (though in reality it's not a very big buff, just Chastise, Starshards, and Shadowguard corrections in that they'll no longer trigger the Inner Focus charge). Reflective Shield will not break CC, and a penalizing effect has been added to lower ranked Power Word: Shield. Chastise is now instant cast, and will no longer dis orient the target. And of course, Power Infusion has been changed.

Holy rollers will like that Silent Resolve now affects a wider range of spells. Mass Dispel will affect 10 targets instead of 5.

There will be several pieces of gear added as well.

Most of the new gear will be between item level 141 and 156. It's really top tier gear that should last you well into Wrath of the Lich King, if not up to level 80 and then some. Think of all of this gear as the top gear in Naxx pre-bc.

For Shadow Priests (and Disc Priests pieces of gear), the key pieces of new raid and craftable gear includes:

• Bracers of Absolution

• Cord of Absolution

• Treads of Absolution

• Annihilator Holo-Gogs

• Gloves of Tyri's Power

• Helm of Arcane Purity

• Leggings of Calamity

• Pantaloons of Growing Strife

• Shoulderpads of Knowledge's Pursuit
  

For Holy Priests (and some of you Disc lovers), gear includes:

• Cuffs of Absolution

• Belt of Absolution

• Boots of Absolution

• Powerheal 9000 Lens

• Handguards of the Dawn

• Cowl of Light's Purity

• Pantaloons of Calming Strife

• Shroud of Redeemed Souls

• Shawl of Wonderment
  

Some of the notable weapons include:

• Grand Magister's Staff of Torrents

• Reign of Misery

• Heart of the Pit

• Archon's Gavel
  

There is bound to be more gear then is known right now, and the above lists are by no means exhaustive. With two bosses that still haven't been killed, we don't know for sure what all of the top and final gear will look like. Further, we don't know the drop rate on any of these. It might be as high as 20%, or as low as 3%.

What do you think of Priests in patch 2.4? Personally, I'm not seeing many reasons to be upset, and if anything, the extra gear is going to be pretty nice.

Patch 2.4 sounds great, but what's in it for you? Find out on our Sunwell Isle page where we list the impact on classes, professions, PvP, Raiders and many other playstyles and interests. Looking for more great info? Check out the WoW Insider Directory for the best of our guides and analysis.