Patch 3.3 PTR: Slight leveling Priest buffs
So we got some patch 3.3 PTR notes and information on our hands. Let's talk about these buffs. Do they help us do our job in some way? Well, no not really. We're not getting any spell power buffs or mana buffs or anything remotely useful. Instead, we get this:
Glancing Blows: The mage, warlock, and priest classes no longer have an increased chance for their melee attacks to be glancing blows; and the damage penalty due to their glancing blows is the same as for other classes.
How's that, eh? This was a much needed buff for the Priest class. Now I can finally become a battle priest and not be completely handicapped if I have to resort to hand to hand combat!
All sarcasm aside, this patch introduced a number of features to further ease the leveling process. Priests have one of the challenging experiences going from 1-20 and it is refreshing to see some help for the newer clerics.
Health and Mana Regeneration: These regeneration rates have been increased by up to 200% for low level characters. As a player's level increases, the regeneration rates gradually reduce, returning to normal rates at level 15.
From 1-15, the accelerated regeneration rates mean less downtime while we're leveling. In other words, we won't have to sit and drink as much.
Not only that, our mana costs on lower ranked spells have been cut. Any spells learned before 20 that have lowered cast times and durations become even cheaper to cast depending on cast time and damage.
Dwarf priests continue to rock since they will begin with an extra point of stamina. That could be the difference between beating back a Gnoll or getting wrecked by a Kobold. Aside from that, all the races are going to be equal in attributes.
Our Shadowfiend gets a nice buff. Sparky here will take less AoE damage from bosses but will proceed to get slaughtered by players in PvP settings. It's a cool change for the raiders, at least!
The Black Magic enchant gets changed. The current iteration has it causing a damage over time curse on a target. It's being revised to increase the caster's haste rating. Sorry healing Priests, Black magic only activates when harmful spells impact the boss. Shadow Priests may wish to give this a look on the PTR and see how viable it may be.
