Spiritual Guidance: Priests, lies, and transmogrification
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Spiritual Guidance for discipline, holy and shadow priests. Dawn Moore covers the healing side of things for discipline and holy priests. She also writes for LearnToRaid.com and produces the Circle of Healing Podcast.
Unless you've been living under the most remote rock in all the world, you've probably heard about transmogrification by now. It's the talk of the town, and even I (who lives under a somewhat remote rock) have already had five people ask me, "So Dawn, what are you going to have your priest wear?"
Without thinking too much about the question, I've continually responded, "the white tier 6 from Black Temple." Don't know it? It's one of the most iconic and coveted tier sets priests have ever had, and I've talked about it a couple of times, both in my Benediction article and my story of Baba. For me, the set is actually the primary reason that I started PVPing in The Burning Crusade, and without which I'm absolutely certain I'd have never started raiding at all. In that regard, I owe a lot to tier 6 and was looking forward to wearing it again.
That was, until while telling the fifth friend my wardrobe plans, I had the dawning realization that ... won't everyone else want to wear that, too?
The tier 6 predicament
Suddenly, the idea that transmogrification was a fix to the "everyone looks the same!" problem didn't seem particularly valid -- at least, not with priests. After all, in the history of priest tier, never has there been a set that has received so much praise or attention as tier 6. An expansion and a half later, players constantly refer back to it when criticizing the look of upcoming gear, and even the most unsentimental players keep the set stored away in their banks. And who's to blame them, really? Crossed somewhere between angelic and gothic, the dark beauty of the outfit complements each one of our specs in a way that tells our allies and our enemies we are the true masters life and death. OK, so maybe it doesn't say that, but it does say, "I'm a badass priest," and I'm certain that's enough reason for everyone to wear it as soon as they're able.
... which is the big problem. There aren't that many tier sets for priests that have provoked such a strong reaction as tier 6. Many of the well-known sets are aesthetically pleasing, but none of them are so striking. It's quite the predicament we're in. Do we go with what we like and look like everyone else, or do we travel off the beaten path and try something different? Fortunately, there are a lot of other options, some of which are currently being overlooked.
Tier sets over the ages
The most obvious place to look for alternative gear sets will be in old raid dungeons, but seeing as a couple of others have already gone over that information, I don't want to waste time rehashing things. So first, please check out Juvenate's post over at WTS Heals on raiding tier sets from vanilla and The Burning Crusade. Though the post doesn't outline how to get gear, it has lots of pictures and serves as a great visual guide to quickly thumb through all the sets and cross off anything you don't think you'll want. For information on actually obtaining the sets, I recommend reading World of Wardrobe, a new column WoW Insider's Anne Stickney launched this past week.
That all said, I haven't seen many players talk about tier sets from Wrath yet, so I'd like to quickly remind you of that.
Tier 7 The new Naxxramas featured a beautiful recolor of priest tier 3. It came in two color schemes, the copper 10-man version and the blue 25-man version. If you didn't ever finish your set during Wrath, now is a great time to do it. Remember, this one has glowing wings and a halo.
Tier 8 Priest gear from Ulduar had a sort of ninja priest thing going for it that many people liked. I personally hated it for a long time until I tried pairing it with a white cape, and then I immediately fell in love with the snowy scheme it had going for it.
Tier 9 Trial of the Crusader had two vastly different versions of gear for Horde and Alliance. Horde players got a dark, sleek, leather-looking set that friends of mine continually cite as one of the most attractive tier sets for Forsaken priests to wear. The Alliance version of tier 9, on the other hand, was a watercolor-like mix of blues on cloth that looked striking on Draenei and Night Elves.
Tier 10 The gear you got from Icecrown Citadel wasn't necessarily something to write home about because so many players were mismatching pieces from the three different versions of the gear. When a player managed to get one entire set, however, it could be a sight to behold, particularly in the white 277 version or the dark purple 251 version.
The lesser-known PVP sets
Perhaps it's that I associate mostly with raiders, but it seems like no one remembers that we PVPers sometimes have our own unique gear. Most of that gear can still be obtained from vendors speckled about Azeroth using honor points or conquest points, and much of it is unique.
Level 60 rare and epic PVP gear Just as Trial of the Crusader had two different sets of gear for Horde and Alliance, these old level 60 gear sets have two versions as well. The Horde version has a sort of warlock, cultist feel to it, while the Alliance version has lots of draped fabric and spindly pauldrons. Both factions have two varieties to distinguish the rares from the epics and can be found at legacy quartermasters in Stormwind or Orgrimmar.
Mooncloth Battlegear This was once an introductory PVP set at level 70 with a somewhat distinctive look. The cranberry says, "I'm a professional" (OK, again, not really). To obtain it now, you'll have to visit several The Burning Crusade faction quartermasters.
Season 4 Brutal Gladiator gear This is the outfit I eventually decided I'd be wearing most of the time, since I value it both aesthetically and sentimentally. To get it nowadays, you'll need to head down to the sewers of Dalaran and talk to Blazik Fireclaw.
Season 8 Wrathful Gladiator gear Though there were several arena sets during Wrath, none were as beautiful as the one that was introduced for Season 8. Something about how all the previous Wrath sets culminated into one gorgeous arrangement of color just grabbed me when I saw it. To buy it now, you'll need to visit a legacy quartermaster in either Stormwind or Orgrimmar.
Share your outfit
Are there any sets that I or Juvenate missed in our posts that you think needs some attention? Leave a comment and let me know.
Also, if you're willing to give away your plans, tell us what you're wearing. Will it be a tier set or something custom made? My Sanguine Sandals are really hoping to make it onto the approved transmog list.
Spiritual Guidance has the inside line on pre-raid, valor point and raid gear for patch 4.2, as well as priest healing guides for the early and final bosses of The Firelands. Newcomer to the priest class? Look into leveling a healing priest, plus our guides to Discipline Priest 101 and Holy Priest 101.
