Introductory guide to fighting priests, Part 2
Zach broke up this guide to fighting priests in personal-sized helpings similar to how he'd slice up a banoffee pie for your devouring convenience. But also mostly because his head felt like it had just been hit by a Mind Blast.
Yesterday we took a look at priests and their most commonly used abilities in PvP regardless of spec. Today we'll get a little more specific and break down the three basic specs and their abilities in tactics. This should answer some folks' question about why I didn't mention Penance, which is arguably the most used priest heal on the battlefield. The answer, of course, is that Penance is the last tier discipline talent and not every priest will have access to it. You see someone in Shadowform, they're not going to be using Penance. You see someone toss a Guardian Spirit -- another awesome angel wing graphic spell -- they're not going to be using Penance. Now that we've got that little detail out of the way, let's jump right into the different kinds of priests you'll be encountering in the Battlegrounds.
The cool thing about the Battlegrounds as opposed to Arenas is that there's a lot more spec flexibility. The relaxed environment allows for more freedom to play the spec you want to play as opposed to the spec you need to play in order to be optimal for competition. For priests, in particular, this means the freedom to play any of the three specs as opposed to necessarily speccing discipline in order to enjoy success in PvP. For you, the would-be priest-slayer, this means that you should expect to see priests of all kinds in play.
Discipline
Out of the three specs, discipline is arguably the most optimal for PvP purely because of it's ridiculously high survivability. In addition to heals, discipline has phenomenally high damage mitigation. Aside from stronger Power Word: Shields, they can also cast it more often. As mentioned yesterday, this isn't so critical when fighting solo as the spell applies the Weakened Soul debuff, but it makes discipline invaluable in a team scenario. Although expensive, a discipline priest can keep on casting Power Word: Shields on her teammates to keep them alive long enough to receive heals. Obviously, you won't be able to stop a priest from casting barring temporary silence effects, so the key would be to remove it.
As mentioned in the first part of this guide, the key to beating a priest lies in keeping them stripped of buffs. Warlocks can use their Felhounds to eat the buffs, hunters can use Tranquilizing Shot, shamans can use Purge, etc. This applies to discipline more than the other two specs primarily because discipline's strength lies in its buffs more than its heals. Luckily, very few priests pick up Silent Resolve for PvP, although keep in mind that all discipline priests in PvP will have Rapture, so even removing or consuming Power Word: Shield gives them a little boost. They will also always have Prayer of Mending up. It's an activated heal, so really the best time to hit a priest is when she's completely free of any of these.
A discipline priest is all about Power Word: Shield. Their strategy revolves around it. They will cast it, attempt to cast longer heals, run, cast it again. Don't let them run. Although powerful against magical snares, priests are pretty helpless against physical or poison-based snares and roots such as Hamstring or Crippling Poison. As is the case with most casters and kiting classes, hampered movement is disruptive. Keeping them on the defensive means they'll probably be unkillable for some classes, but it also also prevents them from doing their job of keeping teammates alive. On their own, you have little to worry about because discipline priests won't bother too much with offense aside from furious Mana Burns. Except when they need to turn it up, of course.
Which brings us to Penance, the 51-point talent in the discipline tree which is kind of like a channeled Holy Shock. Although used primarily for heals, discipline priests can use it for offense in a pinch, making them even more fearsome as part of a coordinated team effort. If you have an interrupt, or even better, an interrupt with a long school lockout, interrupt Penance. It's a channeled spell with a fancy graphic, making it easier to spot and interrupt than any other spell in the discipline priest's repertoire. It's a little harder to notice if they cast it on themselves, but any time they stop moving, you can be certain it's only to cast something. It can heal for a massive amount, so don't let it go off. You won't have many opportunities to lock the priest out of a school, and Penance, awesome as it is, is also your best opening to do so.
Discipline also has access to the Arena staple, Pain Suppression, and the clutch power-up, Power Infusion. PvP priests will have Pain Suppression properly glyphed, which means that not even the ever-reliable stun lock will bring down a discipline priest quick enough. Unless you play a class that can remove buffs with ease and have respectable burst, don't expect to kill a discipline priest or at least be prepared for a long, exhausting fight. At best, classes unable to kill a discipline priest can keep them out of play long enough to turn the tide in their team's favor.
Holy
There are few holy priests in PvP, primarily because if the priest wants to play a healer in a PvP environment, they're better served by speccing discipline. That said, there are few players who enjoy the spec for PvP and they have a few tools that work well in this regard -- with the sad emphasis on few. There isn't much to note here except that the tactic about removing buffs still applies. In particular, you should watch out for healing buffs such as Renew and Prayer of Mending, which work even better in the hands of a holy priest.
What works in your favor when facing a holy priest is the notion that your opponent probably isn't going to be very skilled at PvP. The mere fact that she remains holy in a PvP environment is already an indication of their disposition to heal, presumably in a PvE setting. Holy priests play even more of a support role than discipline priests and because of their lower survivability often look to other classes for 'outs'. They are susceptible to most forms of crowd control and are even primary targets because of their ability to remove cc on their allies.
The very rare PvP holy priest will have Body and Soul, which is arguably the coolest PvP talent in the holy tree. It gives priests the only way to remove poisons. Fortunately, that's all the tree has going for it, and even though they can cast Guardian Spirit, it's also a sure sign they're resigned to going down. As much as Blizzard has said that they strive for PvP viability for all trees, the priest's holy tree still needs a bit more work before it can truly be considered on par with other specs -- even other classes' tanking specs. When not healing, some holy priests enjoy casting Smite from a distance. Let them have their fun. No, really, it's the least you can do.
