Table of Contents:

• My Background
• Intro
• Starting Out
• Leveling Stat Priority and Gear
• How to Effectively Pull and Kill at Low Levels
• Spriest Leveling Build and Advice
• Disc Leveling Build and Advice

My Background:

My first character in WoW was a Protection Paladin.  It was before they were even viable.  It was bad.  Real bad.  I only made it to my mid 30s before falling in love with a Rogue alt.  It killed much, much faster and for a while, I thought I found my fit.  But I was wrong, I made it to low 40s and started to fall out of love with it.  I realized that healers were needed at 60, so I rerolled.

I thought I would take advantage of that constant spamming of “LF healer” and try out a Priest.  I hated it.  I wasn’t doing any damage and I was running out of mana all the time.  It was dreadful, but I was leveling with a friend so I stuck with it.  In the late 20s, I started realizing that I LOVED my class.  It was a perfect blend of offense and defense.  In our 30s and at 40 we did Warsong Gulch.  I dominated.  At that time, 40 was the max level for the bracket and I was literally unstoppable with shadowform.  I went all the way to 60, had my fun and took a break for a while leveling other classes.  I came back and rolled another Priest to 60 on the other faction.  I took another break and came back with the expansion.  I rerolled another Priest yet again to 70.  Then to 80.  In total I have 4 Priests: I have 2 60 Priests from vanilla WoW, 1 80 Priest, and another lowbie Priest I rolled on a different server with the intent of playing lowbie BGs.

There are two morals to this story. First, the Priest starts out rough.  Real rough.  I was so frustrated with the class, I wanted to delete it.  But I stuck with it and it is now my favorite class to play.  I liked it so much I rerolled three times just for the heck of it.  Secondly, roll a class that you find fun.  It took me two rerolls to find my favorite class and it just so happened to be the class I least expected.  So, keep an open mind when choosing a class, that one you hate at first might be your favorite.

Intro:

So, you decided to level a priest?  Congratulations, you are going to embark on a very long and rewarding leveling experience that will start out tortuously slow, but will be worth it in the end.  If you aren’t up to that and are just chasing the flavor of the month/patch/expansion, I suggest stopping before you begin.  The Priest is a dreadful class to deal with at lower levels, but if you are sure its the right class for you, hang in there, it gets better.

One great thing about Priests is that all three trees are viable.  Shadow does some pretty good damage and has been improving in PvP recently, Disc works out great as both a single target healer/mitigator and PvP class, and Holy is an amazing all around healing class.  If you like a balance of offense and defense, the Priest is probably one of the better classes that keep this balance.

Starting Out:

The priest class has two issues that exist from the start: damage output and mana issues.  They kind of go hand in hand because you need to exhaust your mana to do damage, so there will be a balancing act until you get your mana regen under control.  Two things help alleviate this and they both exist in the Shadow tree, so I would suggest leveling Shadow at least at first.  First things first, Spirit Tap is 100% absolutely essential to level.  Even if you decide to respec and level as Disc at higher levels, you NEED points in Spirit Tap.  Secondly, Mind Flay is a godsend at lower levels.  Get it as soon as possible.  It helps alleviate both the damage and mana issue.

Also, I would stay clear of Disc until higher levels.  The reason Disc is so successful end game is because it provides a lot of utility and mitigation.  In conjunction with lots of Stamina and Resilience, it is a very difficult class to kill.  As a leveling toon, Disc loses its charm because of the lack of resilience and the lack of the full spectrum of talents and abilities.  In fact, I would even be as bold to say that Holy is probably the better PvP healer until 60 or so.  Also, Disc provides little to no offensive based talents.  Most Disc Priests who PvP go into Holy for that.  So, more of a reason not to spec Disc unless you plan on PvPing exclusively.

Leveling Stat Priority and Gear:

Two quick words of advice: pick up a wand and skip out on +spellpower for INT/SPI at low levels.  I know there is a craze about stacking +spellpower, but it doesn’t work like that for leveling Spriests.  I would get as much +spellpower as possible if you are PvPing, but leveling means killing and questing with as little downtime as possible.  And a Priest doesn’t have any mana regen abilities until higher -  we rely on natural mana regen.  Remember, an OOM Priest does 0 damage.

With that said, once you are comfortable with your mana regen, consider +spellpower.  I would start balancing INT/SPI and Spellpower around low 30s and then prioritize Spellpower above all else once in Outlands.  Still, I would still opt for gear that has INT/SPI/spellpower over something like INT/STAM/spellpower or even INT/CRIT/spellpower.  Like I said before, its a constant balancing act and if you are like me, the less you have to drink, the better.

How to Effectively Pull and Kill at Low Levels:

Like I’ve said before, the Priest needs to be mana-conscious.  So, this means killing effectively.  One thing I’ve noticed with newcomers is that they love to pull with instant cast spells.  Don’t do it.  The second you cast an instant cast spell, you stop regening mana.  You also wasted the precious time you needed to cast.  At very low levels, this means pulling with a Smite and not Shadow Word: Pain.  Depending on your personal situation, I would recommend pulling with Smite, casting Pain, and then wanding down the rest of the mob.  I would throw in another Smite if things were going too slow.  At very low levels, I would even recommend against using Power Word: Shield unless necessary.  And when I say necessary, I mean if there are adds and/or you are receiving pushback on your casting.  Note, I’d like to mention that if you are in a PvP situation, DoT first if they see you.  If they don’t, cast first.  You want damage up on them ASAP if they are attacking you, but DoTing them may ruin an element of surprise if you aren’t being targetted.

Once you get Spirit Tap, make sure to let it run its duration if you need mana.  In other words, don’t cast until its done.  If you don’t need mana, cast away.

Once you get Mind Flay, work that into your rotation.  One issue that you might experience is that mobs are getting to you and caushing pushback causing you to miss out on a few Mindflay ticks.  My advice is to pull with the longest cast time spell (Smite), walk backwards (or sideways away from the mob) during your global cooldown casting Shadow Word: Pain, and once you are able to cast Mindflay, do so.  The extra few yards of maximizing your distance might help you finish the full channel.

Another method is to Power Word: Shield before pulling.  WAIT.  Wait until your mana starts to regen again (research the five second rule), and then cast.  The ticks of mana of waiting basically pays for the Shield and now you have a buffer to cast free of pushback.

Wait, one last method.  Another method is to use the above method(s) and Psychic Scream the mob when they get close and then IMMEDIATELY Mindflay them to keep close to you and away from aggroing other mobs.  Use this method with discretion though as you may find yourself fearing them into a group of adds.

These are just suggestions and don’t feel obligated to do them.  Use your judgment on the situation.  As you get higher in level, you can forgo these little strategies and cast like crazy.

Shadow Priest (Spriest) Leveling Build and Advice:

As you delve deeper into the Shadow Tree, you can begin to ween yourself off Holy spells.  Also, around this time you will start to see a more effective class start to emerge.  Use your judgment but I believe I began using my Holy spells less and less around late 20s and low 30s.  At a point it becomes more effective just to Mind Blast, Pain, Mind Flay until dead.

This isn’t 100% recommended, but here is how I would spec if I had to level as of 3.2:

10-12 Spirit Tap 3/3:

Like I said time and time again, necessary for all leveling builds.  This talent boosts your mana after every mob you kill.  You want to max this as soon as possible.  Improved Spirit Tap isn’t worth it since you won’t be critting much at low levels.

13-14 Darkness 2/5:

2 points for now.  It will boost your Shadow spells by 4% (In 3.2).  Don’t worry, we’ll revisit and fill it out for a full 5/5 later.

15-16 Improved Shadow Word Pain 2/2:

Every mob you fight should have Pain on it so a 6% damage increase is quite nice.  At low levels, this is more significant than Darkness since you still will be using Holy spells and will be killing mobs relatively slowly.  In other words, Pain will be running its full duration, so you will be getting a lot of bang for the buck here.

17-19 Darkness 5/5:

While Shadow Focus seems nice, at this level you have few shadow spells to save a miniscule amount of mana on (2% mana reduction is very small at this point).  It sounds hypocritical, but filling out Darkness is more worthwhile.  Reason being that your Mind Blast, Pain, and soon to be Mindflay will all be impacted by this when it is fully filled out.  Don’t worry, we will revisit Shadow Focus soon.  If you are missing a lot, you might want to put a point in Shadow Focus and fill this out later.

20 Mindflay 1/1:

Yes, Mindflay has finally arrived.  Enjoy.  Your rotation should include Mindflay.  Still pull with the longest cast time spell, immediately DoT, and either Mind Blast or Mindflay depending on the situation.  Try to avoid using Mindflay if the mob is hitting you as you will lose out on those precious ticks and making it not worth the mana.  You should be pulling in a way similar to this: Shield, regen, cast longest cast time spell, DoT, Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Mind Flay, Mind Flay, etc.

21-23 Shadow Focus 3/3:

While filling out Improved Mind Blast seems nice, Mind Blast is a big mana drain at this point.  Using it more frequently will only be detrimental to your mana pool for now.  Don’t worry, we’ll pick this up later.  Instead, for now, put points in Shadow Focus.  You will miss less often and the lowered mana cost will help a bit.

24 Improved Mind Blast 1/5:

This point won’t make a noticeable difference, but acts as a filler.  Improved Mind Blast only is noticeable at 4/5 or 5/5 really.  Besides, you need to be conservative with your mana.  I would only put more points in here this early if you plan on PvPing a lot.

25-27 Shadow Weaving 3/3:

Increases your shadow damage by 2% for each stack up to 5 times.  Potentially, you will be running around with a temporary buff of 10% damage increase to shadow.  This is where the Priest starts to feel more powerful and you can begin weening yourself off Holy Spells.  You can now Mind Blast as your casted spell, DoT, Mind Flay, Mind Flay, etc.

28-29 Shadow Reach 2/2:

This increases the range of your Shadow spells.  Most importantly, Mindflay.  You can Mindflay from a greater distance.

30-32 Focused Mind 3/3:

A 15% mana reduction in your most used spells is huge.  This will alleviate a lot of mana issues and you can begin to cast more freely.  Also, this is where you can completely forget about Holy spells and use the dirt cheap Mindflay more often.

33 Vampiric Embrace 1/1:

This will give a bit of healing back to you so you don’t have to cast a heal.  This is especially significant when you go into Shadowform at 40 and can’t heal.  As neat as it sounds, I wouldn’t put it into your rotation unless you need healing.  Its a waste of a global cooldown otherwise.  Otherwise, cast it after your DoTs as you should prioritize having those DoTs up and ticking.

34 Improved Vampiric Embrace 1/2:

Putting another point in here boosts the healing done by Vampiric Embrace as the amount healed is pretty minimal.  2/2 is a bit overkill honestly (good for PvP though), but its up to you.  Also, if you think the original Vampiric Embrace is enough, you can throw a point back up to Improved Mind Blast as your mana cost will be lower now and you can afford to Mind Blast more frequently.

35-37 Improved Devouring Plague 3/3:

Boosting Devouring Plague to be even more effective.  Worth the points.

38-39 Improved Mind Blast 3/5:

Mind Melt isn’t worth it at this point.  Your crit chance is too low to justify an extra few crit percentage points.  I rather cast a Mind Blast more often.

40 Shadowform 1/1:

Behold, the essence of being a Spriest.  Enjoy.  Also, once you get Shadowform, you have to abandon all your Holy spells if you haven’t already.  Its Shadow from here on out.  Likewise, your rotation should be something like this: Mind Blast, Pain, Vampiric Embrace (subject to change 3.3), Mind Flay until dead or throw in a Mind Blast if needed.

41-45 Shadow Power 5/5:

Here I am being a hypocrite again.  While increasing your crit chance a small amount is trivial, when it does crit, it would be nice to see some BIG numbers, right?  Especially when Shadow Word Pain can crit when you are in Shadowform.

46-48 Misery 3/3:

Increases hit chance and boosts the damage of commonly used spells.  Worth the points.  Improved Shadowform is situational and aimed towards PvP.  I would skip it until later if at all.

49 Improved Mind Blast 4/5:

Another point in Improved Mind Blast.  Slowly but surely we are going to fill this up with fillers haha.

50 Vampiric Touch 1/1:

This spell is another defining moment for the Spriest.  It does damage and it returns mana.  Perfect.  It also changes your rotation yet again.  Should now be something like this:  Vampiric Touch, Pain, Vampiric Embrace (subject ot change 3.3), Mind Blast, Mind Flay/Mind Blast until dead.  Vampiric Touch is also exciting because it is the beginning of the end of your mana issues.  While Spirit Tap was nice, this addition to your mana regen abilities is a nice supplement.

51 Improved Mind Blast 5/5:

Finally.

52 Psychic Horror 1/1:

We have a bit of freedom now so I decided to take this.  Its up to you if its worth it or not.  Its great for running mobs and has some utility in those PvP moments where you are caught off guard.  Its nice to cast this and get some distance between you and your attacker.  Sometimes Psychic Scream doesn’t cut it.

53-54 Pain and Suffering 2/3:

I put 2 points in here because it was either this or Mind Melt above.  Both are pretty meh.  Pain and Suffering is great for raiding, but to be honest, most things will die before Shadow Word Pain ends so its kinda pointless.  Regardless, a point or two is justifiable.  3 might be overkill, so 2 is probably good enough (66% to refresh Pain).  I personally like having at least 2 in here so when I pull multiple mobs I can keep refreshing Pain with a Mindflay rather than recasting Pain.  Feel free to throw those extra points anywhere though really.

55-59 Twisted Faith 5/5:

Even more damage.  Worth every point.

60 Dispersion 1/1:

A contraversial 51 point talent, but worth it leveling.  Boosts mana regen to unreal levels.  Never come close to having to drink again.  Also, you can now give up some mana regen priority to more spellpower!

61-65 Twin Disciplines 5/5:

Now going into the Disc tree, this will boost your DPS even more.  Might want to consider Unbreakable Will if you PvP because a 5% increase to instants is pretty meh but worth it if you don’t encounter Rogues often.

66-67 Improved Power Word Fortitude 2/2:

More stamina for you and everybody your friends with.  Yay!

68-70 Improved Inner Fire 3/3:

Boosts your armor AND your spellpower later.  Worth it.

71-73 Meditation 3/3:

More mana.  Great.  You can never have enough.

74 Inner Focus 1/1:

A free cast with an increased crit chance.  Worth the point.  Sometimes if I’m not in combat I use it to buff myself free of mana.

Hmm 6 points left.  What left to do.  Consider these:

Improved Power Word: Shield 3/3: More of a barrier between you and the enemy.  Might be nice.  Up to you.

Improved Spirit Tap 2/2: More mana regen and a slight boost to DPS with the Spirit increase.

Improved Psychic Scream 2/2 and Silence 1/1: Useful in PvP.  Silence is great against casters and the Improved Psychic Scream helps against melee.

Mind Melt 2/2: More crit chance.  Might be worth it now.

Veiled Shadows 2/2: Lowered cooldown on Shadowfiend might help boost mana if you are opting for more crit and spellpower over mana regen at higher levels.

Improved Shadowform 2/2: Might be handy in PvP situations.  I had it before and rarely used it though so its up to you.

I went with:

Improved Spirit Tap 2/2, Veiled Shadows 2/2, Mind Melt 2/2

In the end, your build should look something like this:

Spriest Leveling Build

Disc Priest Leveling Build and Advice:

I know Disc is the new cool kid on the block since they are a great PvP class, but I would be hesitant from speccing Disc from the get go… or even speccing prematurely.  The thing that makes Disc strong is their wide variety of defensive abilities, heals and mitigation in conjunction with lots of stamina and resilience.  An INT/SPI Disc Priest with little to no Resilience is not that amazing.  Also, unlike Shadow, every point in Disc helps you survive, not kill, which puts you at a disadvantage questing.  But I digress, there is an interest in it – and how can I blame you for wanting to try it out.  Would be fun strictly for battlegrounds, so here it is…

Believe it or not, if you want to level as Disc, you won’t put any points in Disc for quite some time.  And yes, believe it or not, even if you dip into Holy before Disc, I would still consider it true to a “Disc” build since most Disc Priests still spend at least 14ish points in Holy.  You will be spending 17.  This is strictly to boost your damage output so you are competitive offensively both in PvP and questing.  Feel free to skip that part though and go straight into Disc.  Its ultimately up to you.

10-12 Spirit Tap 3/3:

First things first, you need mana regen.  A priest without mana regen capabilities is a nightmare even at 80 with epic gear.  This is only if you plan on questing or killing anything at all.  If you are 100% in the battlegrounds, you can probably skip over this.

13-15 Improved Renew 3/3:

Yes, we are going into the Holy tree first.  Crit is useless at this level, so go for some more healing power to your renew.  You can reconsider Holy Specialization later.  But at this point, its not noticeable and you critting doesn’t result in anything other than extra healing… which Imp Renew grants 100% of the time.

16-17 Healing Focus 2/2:

This will help in PvP.  PvE, not so much.

18-22 Divine Fury 5/5:

Shave 0.5 seconds off Smite, Holy Fire, Heal and Greater Heal.  Helps offensively and as a healer.  This is one of the reasons why we went into the Holy tree first.

23 Desperate Prayer 1/1:

An instant cast self heal that works wonders a lot more than you think in both PvE and PvP.  Its like an extra health potion.

24-26 Inspiration 3/3:

Reduces damage taken after a crit.  A must have for Priest healers even though your crit will be low.

27 Holy Specialization 1/5:

I threw a point in here just as a filler.  You might want to max this later, but at low levels its pointless.

28-29 Searing Light 2/2:

The reason I made you come down the Holy tree first.  Increases damage of your Holy spells by 10%.  Enjoy it as this will be your only damage buff (one reason why I would suggest against leveling this way).  You might want to consider glyphing it too to boost smite even more.  You will actually be pretty well off for the 29 battlegrounds I would imagine.  In fact, with this talent and the glyph, your damage will actually be quite nice.  Some people stick to this (along with Spirit Tap) to level as a healer.

30-34 Unbreakable Will 5/5:

Now going into the Disc tree, this will help you with those pesky rogues in PvP.  Which I’m sure will be gunning for you all the time.

35-36 Improved Power Word Fortitude 2/2:

More stamina is a good thing.  Silent Resolve is great at later levels, but early on, not many classes will be dispelling you.

37-39 Improved Inner Fire 3/3:

Boosts your armor and your spellpower at later levels.  I would consider this essential.  Possibly even glyph it to boost your armor to non-cloth levels.

40-42 Meditation 3/3:

Essential mana regen.  You will need it.

43-45 Improved Power Word Shield 3/3:

Buffs the signature Power Word Shield.  Also a prerequisite for later talents.

46 Inner Focus 1/1:

A free cast with an increased crit chance.  Very fun to use with Desperate Prayer to increase the proc chance of inspiration and later Divine Aegis.

47-49 Mental Agility 3/3:

Lowers the mana cost of your instants (renew, shield, buffs, dispels, etc).

50 Soul Warding 1/1:

Makes Power Word Shield even better.

51-52 Reflective Shield 2/2:

Although contraversial in arena use, this is a great ability to have in lower level BGs and leveling.

53-57 Mental Strength 5/5:

Boost that intellect by 15%!

58-59 Focused Power 2/2:

Boosts damage and healing by 4%.  Meh, not bad.  Either that or the lackluster Improved Mana Burn which may come in handy, but situational.

60 Power Infusion 1/1:

Nice buff and lowers mana costs.  Just don’t forget to use it!  You could respec here for Penance, but you would miss out on Spirit Tap.  Up to you if you are PvP only or if you do questing as well.

61-62 Focused Will:

A great defensive buff that bundles in some extra crit.

63 RESPEC! Sorry to cost you gold.  At this point you can let go of those points in the Holy Tree and be a full Disc Priest.

I would go with something similar to this:

3/3 Spirit Tap: Unless you are doing 100% battleground leveling, this is required.
5/5 Unbreakable Will
3/3 Improved Inner Fire
2/2 Improved Power Word: Fortitude
3/3 Meditation
1/1 Inner Focus
3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
3/3 Mental Agility
2/2 Improved Mana Burn
2/2 Reflective Shield
5/5 Mental Strength
1/1 Soul Warding
2/2 Focused Power
3/3 Focused Will
1/1 Power Infusion
1/2 Renewed Hope
3/3 Rapture
2/2 Aspiration
1/3 Divine Aegis
1/1 Pain Supression
1/2 Grace
5/5 Borrowed Time
1/1 Penance (glyph it too!)

64-65 Healing Focus 2/2:

Once again, you need that pushback reduction.  It might be a rough two levels without it, but honestly the amount of survivability gained through the Disc tree outweighs the pushback chance.

66-68 Holy Specialization 3/5:

The increase in crit may now be worth the 3 filler points.  Otherwise, throw them in renew.

69-73 Divine Fury 5/5:

Its kinda a shame that you have to be in your 70s to reduce the cast times of your common spells, but oh well – Penance is more important.

74 Desperate Prayer 1/1:

Again, a useful self heal.

75-77 Inspiration 3/3:

Some more awesomeness tied to your crits.

78-79 Divine Aegis 3/3:

Some more awesomeness tied to your crits.

80 Renewed Hope 2/2 or Grace 2/2:

You might also want to consider respecing to throw some points in Absolution.  Or just respec completely now that you are 80

Its the best I could do, sorry.  Its also heavily leaning towards PvP and not so much an instance healer.  Hopefully it gave you some good ideas of what is important to take.  Just take out the PvP talents and throw them elsewhere and you should be fine!

But on a more serious note, take a look at the population of your specific server.  You might have some insight on what is slightly underpopulated, but in the bigger picture, I wouldn’t consider a percentage point or below the average an “underpopulated” class.

Overall, I would suggest a healer – most likely Priest or Shaman.  As a healer, you will have no problems finding a group at any level.  And now with dual specialization, there is no dilemma in role while leveling.

However, there might be such a thing as an overpopulated/unneeded class, but not really.  It might be more difficult to find a group as the overpopulated Death Knight, but its not really that hard – you’ll find one eventually.  You just won’t have people whispering you to DPS some instance.

From my observation though, here is what is needed from least to most:

Death Knight
Hunter
Paladin
Warlock
Rogue
Mage
Warrior
Druid
Priest
Shaman

The longer version:

The bittersweet thing about WoW is that its an ongoing challenge for progression.  That is, once you level from 1 to max level, it becomes the challenge to get “epic” gear.  With nearly every patch, new dungeons are released and that means new and better loot.

This means there is a mini reset button every time a major patch is released.  The “best” gear becomes outdated and those who were “complete” are now back to square one trying to get the best gear.  Its an ongoing thing – just ask those who were playing back in 2004 with dungeon set blues.

As a newcomer, the first challenge is getting to max level.  Its not quick, but it is relatively easy – especially if you know what you are doing (where to quest, how to put your talent points, etc.).  Even if you don’t, don’t fret, you’ll get there eventually.  And don’t rush the process, enjoy leveling – its a ton of fun and I find that the part I miss most about the game is the nostalgia of the noobness that I once had.  The whole overwhelming game world, the mystery of what the foreign lands were like – that was the best part of the game in my opinion.

Once you hit max level, you then have to gear up to prepare yourself for PvP or raiding or both.  This means you’ll join the ranks of fresh new max level characters trying to get that entry-grade gear in an overall effort to get the best gear in the game.  IF that’s what you desire.

Some people (like myself) try not to get too caught up in that.  I had my fun raiding and PvPing, but once the expansion pack was announced, I gave up on progression and started working on leveling alts.

Here is why – every expansion pack is a HUGE reset button.  It puts you, the newcomer, in the same situation as those who have been playing the game since day 1.  Gear becomes obsolete, and everyone is back at square one – leveling to get to max level.  Players will have a large level difference advantage on you, and have better gear, but if you time it right, you could even get to max level before them.  So in essence, it doesn’t matter if you started late.

That is why I stopped raiding – because any time and effort put forth to get better gear will be short lived.  Once the expansion pack comes, it’ll all be meaningless.  So, for now, I’m focusing on gathering up my gold and leveling alts.

If you are considering it, here are some tips for a newcomer:

1.  Choose your realm carefully.  High population servers might be too crowded and there might be a queue to get in.  However, it does increase your chances of finding a group for instances and ease of finding a helpful guild.  Also, the Auction Houses might be flooded with supply – which can work in your advantage finding cheap items, but also runs the risk of not being profitable for you, the seller.  Low populations might be too sparsely populated which means pretty much the opposite of what I just said.  Finding a group might be harder, but leveling might be easier since things will be empty (no world PvP), and the Auction House might be a entrepreneur’s market.  I’m on a low pop server and I can make a small fortune selling pretty much anything.

2.  Consider playing with a friend.  This means playing on the same server as someone you know.  Ideally, play with someone who is new too.  Your noob synergy will make the game more fun.  However, playing on the same server with someone who is well established would also be beneficial.  They can give you gold, run you through instances, and help you with any hard quests you might come across.

3.  Experiment and research the classes before committing.  I always give this advice – roll each class to at least 10ish.  Okay, 5ish if you are feeling lazy.  Even if you think you’ll like a plate wearing orc with a huge two handed ax, you might end up liking that undead warlock better.  Give them all a try.  And do your research too – some classes (Druid, Shaman, Priest) might give you a false sense of boringness at first glance.  For example, when I told my noob friend my main was a priest, he thought it was lame – until he saw shadowform… then he rolled one too.

4.  Have fun.  Don’t forget it.  Its a game.  Don’t get caught up in playing the flavor of the month class or the drive to rush to max level and get the best gear.  You’ll find yourself doing a chore more than playing a game.  Take it easy, check out the atmosphere, read the quests, socialize.  I still remember the day my friend ran me through the Stockades instance and took me to the pub for a drink after.

Easiest to hardest class to level in WoW:

1. Death Knight - Death Knights are by far the easiest class to level by default – mostly because they start out at 55 which is more than halfway there!  But not only that, they start out with great starting gear/weapon, don’t rely on mana, and have enough utility to survive nearly all situations.  Blood is the most efficient leveling spec, but unlike other classes, all three trees are fairly easy and could level to 80 blindfolded.

2. Hunter/Warlock - These pet based classes, even though different in gameplay, are easy levelers.  Leveling a hunter as BM spec is a quick and easy leveling experience with little downtime.  The warlock, as Affliction, levels slower at first but ends strong – probably even stronger than the BM spec with enough spellpower.  Ironically, both of these classes also have an annoying little gameplay niche which most agree is more of a pain than novelty – arrows and soulshards.  It really has no impact on leveling, but be prepared to have a class that loses a bag slot and has to maintain an extra currency (arrows/soulshards).

3. Paladin - Paladins level fastest as Retribution, and it rivals the quickness and efficiency of the Death Knight.  However, Paladins have one main weakness and that is mana at lower levels.  Not only until they spec into Judgments of the Wise do they stop experiencing any downtime at all.  After that, its smooth sailing all the way to 80.

4. Rogue/Druid - I grouped these two classes together since Feral and Rogue gameplay are very similar.  The only difference is that the Druid’s hybrid abilities allow it to throw up a healing spell or two and get right back to its mana-less leveling experience in cat form.  Rogues on the other hand have a lot more utility which allows it to kill/cc more effectively than the Druid, but still, the leveling experience is somewhat similar in style and efficiency.  The trade off between the classes the Rogue’s inability to heal and the Druids inability to CC and the occasional mana problem.  Comparing these two classes though, the Rogue has a much easier time starting out as the Druid really struggles to get to 20.  After that, the Druid form takes off.  By Outlands, I would say that the Druid is the easier class.

— I would consider the above the “easier” leveling classes and the below would be the more challenging classes —

5. Mage - The Mage can conjure its own food and water – and can also Evocation.  Enough said – this class has downtime built into its design.  The Mage has great DPS and really has no trouble downing mobs, but you will have to eat, drink, and use Evocation often – especially at lower levels.  There is a threshold though at higher levels when you will begin to eat and drink less and Evocation on a 4 minute cooldown will be able to sustain the leveling (as Frost).

6. Priest - The Priest, similar to the Druid, really struggles at lower levels.  It also experiences mana issues until properly spec’d and geared.  Spirit tap is essential for any leveling spec.  If walking down the path of Shadow, which is extremely suggested, Mind Flay is the start of the acceleration of the leveling process.  Survivability is never an issue, but at 20 the DPS starts kicking in.  By the time 40 rolls around, Shadow’s damage is really in its prime relatively speaking, but the mana still might be an issue.  By the time the Spriest hits Outlands, mana issues will be almost non-existant with proper amounts of intellect and spirit.  Only then will this class really come to light in the leveling experience.

7. Shaman - The Shaman, similar to the Priest, really struggles at first with a lack of damage and mana issues.  Water Shield at 20 helps, but the damage really doesn’t kick in until mid 30s.  Also, while the Priest has Power Word Shield and Renew, the Shaman has long cast time heals which really deter the focus of killing/leveling.  Even the arrival of Windfury at level 30 seems lackluster at first.  However, as Enhancement, around mid to late 30s and early 40s, the class starts to shine.  The damage comes into focus, mobs go down faster, and well, that means less healing.  By the Outlands, the Shaman class starts to really feel like a DPS class.

8. Warrior - The Warrior is an oddball class to level with because it really falls into a class of its own.  Its not a DPS class and its not a hybrid class – it’s DPS, even as fury, feels similar in speed and efficiency as a hybrid class, and it lacks the ability to heal itself.  Sure, it has survivability, but only to a certain extent.  Where a Druid or Paladin can heal, the Warrior has to take it and keep dealing damage in a race to kill the mob(s) before they go down.  My experiences as a Warrior, I found Fury to be the most efficient killer, but also with the most need to stop and eat/bandage.  Protection is a bit more efficient, but also much slower.  Arms, well, it falls somewhere between.

Summary: The Priest is an interesting class mostly because it provides two strong healing trees (Holy and Discipline) and a viable DPS tree (Shadow).  Once considered to be the best healer and most formidable PvP class as Shadow, the class’ glory days are at an end.  However, that does not make them a weak class – they just have been caught up by other classes (except Shadow which has been subpar in both PvE and PvP).  Holy is still a great all around healing class – and in my opinion, the most true blue healing class in the game.  Although a Druid can heal just as well as a Holy Priest, the Holy Priest just has so much more options on type of spells and utility.  Discipline also found a niche as a great single target healer and mitigator.  A very interesting/different type of experience that one wouldn’t expect.  Also, it has incredible PvP survivability making them one of the better PvP classes.  Shadow went from a strong PvP class with no potential at PvE (due to threat issues) to a mana restoring class to a full out DPS class.  This identity crisis and assimilation into a DPS role left it a very efficient, average DPS class with a focus on PvE.  Still, the Priest is at a decent spot right now and is aligned to receive more attention in the future.

Playstyle: The Priest is a healer class with options to forgo healing power for damaging abilities.  It is completely viable to level and PvP as a Disc/Holy hybrid, but most of the raw damage output lies in the Shadow tree which is primarily used to level and PvE.  One could also pursue a raw healing build in the Holy tree, but the class loses nearly all ability to effectively level and take down mobs.  In my opinion, the Priest is one of few classes that truly benefit from dual specialization.  They can keep a “pure” build whether for healing or PvP and they can preserve a leveling/PvE/grinding build.

Population: Low – the population for priest has always been low but has been rising slightly.  I honestly think that a lot of people are interested in playing the Priest class whether for PvE or PvP – but can’t seem to find the willpower to level them.  It’s one of those classes that are an absolute nightmare if you don’t do it right.

Fun Factor: Medium – I gave this a medium even though it can vary from low to high depending on the player.  There are people out there who just LOVE the Priest whether they love how fun it is to heal as a priest, live forever as Discipline in PvP, or just like to drool over the cool looking Shadowform.  The priest has a few treats that make their difficulty worth it.  You people know what I’m talking about.  Some others, they just don’t see the same class as they do.  They either find healing boring, or its too support-like and not enough in your face overpowered action that many find enjoyable on their Death Knights.

Leveling Difficulty:  High – if you manage to keep leveling your Priest as Shadow, you will find the result very rewarding starting around late 20s, low 30s and exponentially until around 60 where the fun plateaus.  Leveling as Shadow is not THAT hard – you will find yourself facing mana issues from time to time, but there is a threshold where mana regen no longer becomes an issue and its not stop casting and killing with great efficiency.  Disc/Holy hybrid is also viable albeit slower than Shadow.  And Holy, well… don’t even try it unless you are masochistic.

Overall Difficulty:  High – the Priest class is honestly a gem in the rough and many priests will swear by their class as being a great challenge and that’s part of the fun.  Leveling feels rewarding because you go from zero to hero and you literally see the transformation through leveling moreso than any other class.  But only in time will the Priest’s novelty start to show.

PvE viability:  High – great heals, mediocre DPS

PvP viability: High – Disc is one of the best classes, Holy is not really viable, and Shadow is mediocre.

So, are you thinking about it?  Might want to check out my Priest leveling guide for more information.

Summary: The Paladin experienced a rollercoaster of class and role changes over the year.  Once an alliance exclusive class thought to be the counter of shaman by basically being a class that never kills, never dies, the Paladin was a joke of the WoW community.  Their main purpose was to cleanse, buff and revive in raids.  They have come a long way now being viable healers in all situations, viable tanks in all situations, and a viable DPS class – all while being one of the strongest PvP classes around.  If you want an example of a 180, the Paladin is it.

Playstyle: The Paladin is similar to that of a Druid in which it can take on multiple roles, but not to the extent of the druid.  The Paladin can heal as Holy, Tank as Protection, and DPS as Retribution.  Also, all 3 classes do exceptionally well in PvP (please refrain from being a Protection healer though – its cheap).  They wear plate armor, can use a sword/mace and shield or 2H weapon.  They are a holy based melee class.

Population: High – the Paladin class is as high if not higher than the Death Knight population – essentially doubling the average for other classes.  Don’t let this fool you though – similar to the Druid, the Paladin can take on multiple roles such as tanking, healing, and DPS so the population might be dispersed throughout these 3 specialties – or that might be a blatant lie since many take on and have epic loot for two if not all three roles.

Fun Factor: Medium – the Paladin is fun, but overly simple.  All of its roles.  Tanking is a simple rotation and can hold multiple mob’s aggro with ease.  Retribution has very few attacks/spells compared to other classes.  And same goes with Holy.  With that said, its not that the class isn’t fun – its a simple and solid class that performs all its roles well.  If the Paladin wasn’t capable of healing, tanking, and DPSing as well as it does, it would be a boring class – which it was at one point in time.

Leveling Difficulty: Low – it is probably the easiest melee class to level next to Death Knight.  Only for the simple fact that the Death Knight does not use mana and that mana is an issue for Retribution Paladins up until level 40ish.

Overall Difficulty:  Low – the class is pretty clear cut.  There isn’t a lot of spells to fumble over.  With that said, there is also a few tricks up the Paladin’s sleeve to give the player an even easier time such as Divine Shield and Lay on Hands.  Honestly, Paladin is easy mode and a great introductory class.

PvE viability:  High – like other hybrid classes, the multiple roles you can perform puts you at an advantage against pure classes like the Mage who can only DPS.  More good news, the Paladin is capable of doing all 3 roles very well with DPS falling a bit short, but still at decent levels.  The only thing holding you back is the number of Paladins running around in the world.

PvP viability: High – most healers’ primary weakness is that they are vulnerable to classes like rogues and being focused fired by multiple classes.  The Paladin overcomes this weakness by wearing plate and having a few spells such as Divine Shield and Lay on Hands (invincibility bubble and full health).  However, they still an achilles heal – they are susceptible to silence/counterspell and mana burning.  With that said, they still have a one up on the other healing classes so they are still quite strong.  Also, their other trees are quite strong as well making the Paladin a good choice at the time being.  They have been closely watched by Blizzard and I would suspect that they won’t be getting any stronger in the near future – nor will they get any weaker.

Summary:  Druids are an interesting hybrid class that provides gameplay like no other class.  Well, kinda.  You see, a druid is a shapeshifter that is basically a warrior in bear form, a rogue in cat form, a healer in tree form, and a caster in boomkin form… not to mention a few other forms for land speed, swimming speed, and flying.  While all of these forms will feel familiar if you’ve ever played one of their originals, they still feel suprisingly fresh and exciting.  Also, this gives the player a wide variety of roles and drastic gameplay differences to really give them an advantage over other classes.  Where a DPS class would have to reroll 1-80 to heal, a druid would just have to regear.  Druids started out with being one of the most underpowered classes in the game.  Since then, they’ve undergone many gamechanging buffs to put them on par if not better than the classes they mimic.  Druids are arguably the best PvE and PvP healer, and viable as a melee and caster dps class in both PvP and PvE (moreso as feral than balance pvp) and have seem to be nerf-proof over the years due to the intricacies of their class mechanics.  They are a solid class that provides a solid gameplay experience for both newcomers and those interested in rolling in what I would consider the epitome of a hybrid class.

Playstyle: Druids have it all.  Jack of all trades, master of, well, some.  Like healing.  They can heal, tank, and dps as both melee and range.  A good class to sample the different playstyles if you are into the shapeshifting thing.  They wear leather and can wield staffs, maces, or a one hand weapon plus offhand combination – but for the most part you won’t even notice.  You will be spending majority of your time in a shapeshifted form which can either be exciting or boring depending the player’s preferences.

Population: Medium – druids used to be underpopulated, but their effectiveness and utility have drawn a large crowd.  Some love the shapeshifting gameplay and have loved it from the start.  Others, weren’t that interested until they realized at how diverse this class can be at high levels.  They rerolled and loved it.  I think I may have underestimated the druid population by saying medium though.  Its probably somewhere between Medium and High in reality.

Fun Factor: Medium – druids have it all, and that creates a very unique and diverse gameplay experience.  Unfortunately, the hybrid tax must be paid as they are on all hybrid classes.  This means that even though they can mimic the roles of other classes, that they will never have the full spectrum that these other classes get to enjoy.  The scope of possibilities that a feral cat druid has is drastically less than the scope of a true blue rogue.  All hybrids suffer this issue since its the cost to have multiple roles, but on druids, its exemplified to the fullest extent due to the shapeshifting.  In other words, they have all the roles but with watered down options.  With that said, it depends on personal preference.  Some love it.  I liked it, but I’m not in love with the class to be honest.

Leveling Difficulty:  Medium – druids really struggle in the lower levels.  Its one of those classes that are an absolute nightmare to play until a certain point.  And that certain point is cat form at level 20.  Once the ball starts rolling however, the druid is one of the easiest and fastest since the reliance on mana is alleviated.  Kill, give yourself a heal over time, shapeshift back, and keep going.

Overall Difficulty:  Medium – I really wanted to make this low, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it since I have to look past how easy this class plays as cat form and how easy it is to heal as resto.  Boomkin is not easy and can be tricky compared to other pure dps casting classes like the warlock.  Also, tanking in general requires a level of knowledge that I wouldn’t consider low difficulty.  Additionally, it is not easy to juggle between all the different forms and use what seems like the most available spells of any class.  So, medium difficulty it is – although it could be considered low depending on how you want to play this class.

PvE viability:  High – probably one of the most solid PvE classes around.  They have 4 options which are all viable.  Boomkin is a legitimate DPS class, Feral is a legitimate DPS class, Feral is a legitimate tanking class, and Resto might be the best healing class in the game.  Don’t expect to top the DPS charts – but they are far from being considered gimp specs.

PvP viability: High – resto druids are probably the best PvP healing class in the game due to their unreal survivability.  Also, Feral is in a pretty good spot right now, but not incredibly great.  Balance, on the other hand, is a bit on the lower side of things unfortunately.

Other: Druids are a great class whose all around viability shows in their medium high population.  Also, druids are in for the long haul and have been in a great spot for quite some time resting somewhere slightly below an overpowered title.  I don’t foresee many buffs or nerfs happening to the druid class, but I do see a slightly growing population.  Also, I know it sounds lame, but the shapeshifting thing might not be for everyone.

Summary: Death Knights are the newest class to WoW.  They are only available if you have a toon higher than level 55 and own the Wraith of the Lich King expansion.  When they were first introduced, they were extremely overpowered and since then, Blizzard has been tweaking (in other words, nerfing) the class to appropriate levels.  While they are still a fun to play, viable class in all aspects, they are still a very overpopulated class… and for good reason, they are still fun to play even though the novelty of their dominance has somewhat faded into commonality.

Playstyle: Death Knights are a plate wearing Melee DPS class with the ability to spec into talents to make them a viable tank.  They have many short cooldowns which are useful in PvP and keep the fun factor going.  They also have the option to use a summonable pets such as the ghoul and gargoyle but do not rely on them like the Warlock and Hunter do.  They use a new Runic System that feels a bit like the Warrior’s Rage and the inverse of the Rogue’s combo point system (you start with runes and use them on attacks).  It has a bit of a learning curve, but its very intuitive.  They work mostly with Damage over Time debuffs and attacks that coordinate with them.  In essence, a magic based melee class.

Population: High – the number of Death Knights are many but have been dropping.  Most likely, they will return to appropriate levels on par with the other classes eventually.  Probably by the next expansion.  This could be due to a few reasons such recent nerfs and the number of people just experimenting with the new class returning to their original main classes/alts.

Fun Factor: High – over the years, Blizzard turned class functionality into a science.  Creating a new class let them explore a more creative side and from what they’ve learned over the years from tweaking and exploring character roles.  They did a great job coming up with something new and fresh.  Even if you aren’t interested in playing a Death Knight, I would recommend playing one just for the Death Knights’ starting zone.

Leveling Difficulty: Low – no mana, strong defense, lots of in combat utility, high damage output… starts out at level 55.  It doesn’t get much easier.

Overall Difficulty: Medium – despite the fact that any person could pick up a Death Knight class with ease and level all the way to 80 doesn’t necessarily mean its an easy class to play.  There are a lot of functional parts at work playing the Death Knight class and almost makes other classes seem a bit bland in their mechanics.  There is a lot to learn and master in this class, so its earned a modest medium difficulty… because despite its intricacies, its a very forgiving class to play.

PvE viability: Medium – When Blizzard designed this class, they obviously knew what they were doing.  Its viable as DPS and as a tank, although their overpoweredness as a tank has diminished slightly over the months due to nerfs.  I wanted to say High – it once was – but I opted to go for Medium instead at their current state.  The main issue is that there is an abundance of DKs available to DPS and DPS plate gear and 2H weapons are highly sought after.

PvP viability: High – even though their glory days are nearing an end if not already, they are still a very viable PvP class.  Main reasoning is that they are extremely self sufficient.  They have DPS, they have utility, they have survivability.  They have their weaknesses, but every class does – but still, DKs are a pain for any class.

Other: There is no denying that the Death Knight is a fun and gratifying class to play.  If you are interested in rolling one, I would highly recommend it.  Honestly, Blizzard did such a good job designing the class that other classic classes feel a bit bland.  After playing a Death Knight and spending some time checking out their talent trees, returning to a class like an Arms Warrior or Retribution Paladin might feel a bit old fashioned and simple.  However, there are a few considerable cons to this class.  One big demotivating factor to me is the fact that everyone – yes, nearly everyone – has a Death Knight.  Its too tempting to NOT check out the new class and hey, it even starts out at level 55.  Secondly, they started out with a huge advantage over the existing classes when things first started.  Blizzard didn’t know exactly where the DK would stand among its peers and it turned out to be overpowered.  This was not Blizzard’s intentions – don’t let the hero class title fool you – so things were tweaked.  And tweaked some more.  While the DK is still in a good position right now, don’t expect it to be overpowered anytime soon.

This is a big decision to be made.  You will pour a lot of time and effort in this class so make sure you are making the right decision.  Hopefully some points below will summarize the classes in a way which will assist your decision.  Despite that, I suggest rolling all classes to at least level 10 to get a general idea of what the class is like and your personal preferences.  And remember, take my advice, but the number one thing you should be considering is play a class that you WANT to play.  All classes experience a roller coaster of buffs and nerfs, so avoid picking what is awesome at this current point in time.  What is strong today will be weak tomorrow – and what is weak today will be strong tomorrow.  Just make sure you are enjoying what you are playing.

Here is a checklist that might help you decide:

Playstyle: What kind of playstyle are you looking for?  This is important to consider but I don’t think you should base your judgment completely off this unless you are for certain.  You might be pleasantly surprised – some people hate range DPS who wear cloth, but ended up loving it after they try a certain class.  So, in summary, think about what playstyle you want to play, but keep an open mind.

With that said, here are some categories of playstyle you should consider: DPS (do you want to top it, or just DPS), Range or Melee, Pet or no pet, Healer (single target, group, utility?), tank (1H+shield, 2H, bear), etc.  Instead of looking for what you want, maybe think about what you DON’T want.  That way you can eliminate classes that you don’t like right off the bat – and then experiment with those classes you MIGHT enjoy and see what you like.

Population: This might not be important to some, but for others, it is – including me.  I personally don’t enjoy a class that is a dime a dozen.  It has several implications – you might be competing against others for group spots, for gear, you won’t bring utility to a PvP, and sometimes it highlights a trend of that particular class being in a good spot… which sometimes leads to nerfs and/or lack of buffs in a future patch (in other words, flavor of the month/patch).  You might want to take in consideration the class specs as well.  Paladins are overpopulated, but they can tank, heal or DPS, which might make the population misleading (slightly – not entirely).  I would refer to WoW Census for your realm and faction’s population details.

Fun Factor: This is probably one of the most significant things to consider.  The trump card is your preference though.  I believe some classes are generally more fun that others – like the Death Knight and Mage – but I personally had more fun with a Disc Priest.  So be cautious to roll a “fun” class because other people tell you so.  Like I said, the best way to know is to roll all classes to about 10 or so and then use your imagination on how they will be later in the game.  Generally, all classes will play the same but be a hundred times more beastly (with the exception of resto and holy specs haha).

Leveling Difficulty: Now, some people might not think this is a big deal, but I think it is.  Of course play a class that you enjoy, but it might be a worthy investment to play an easier class to level first.  It will familiarize you with the game and give you an advantage leveling a second class – perhaps in style.  There are many Bind to Account items that can make your second character’s leveling experience much easier.  Or, even something as simple as affording mounts and gear to make that “hard” class level more smoothly.  Now, I wouldn’t consider this a priority, but it is something to slightly consider.  My first class to 60, 70 and 80 was a priest – one of the harder classes to level.  So I’m a hypocrite, but still, I’m glad I have that 80 because it made leveling other potentially hard classes much easier (Shaman and Warrior for example).

Overall Difficulty: Similar to the leveling difficulty issue, the overall difficulty of the class is something that should be considered.  Some more complicated classes aren’t very noob friendly and that might be something to consider.  Some classes can still be leveled to 80 with a person who has no idea how to play their class and wind up in over their head when trying to raid or PvP.  Likewise, this can also be a good thing depending on the player.  Maybe you want a harder class.  Paladin is a pretty fool proof class and I would highly recommend it to a newcomer.  Low maintenance, high survivability, not a lot of buttons, etc – but I would stay clear of tanking until you get more comfortable with the game.  A class like Shaman are more complicated – but that is also what is appealing to them.  Just consider what you are comfortable with.

End Game viability: This includes PvE and PvP.  Some classes are better for PvE and PvP than others.  While all are viable, some are more viable than others and that’s something to consider.  Blizzard did a good job making the game viable for all classes and specs (almost), but some will have more difficulty than others.  For example, if you decide to roll a Death Knight, you might encounter some issues finding a group in PvE.  It won’t be that big of a deal, but prepare to be turned down for a ranged DPS class at some point.  Its going to happen sometime.  Or if you have your heart set on being a Shadow Priest, be prepared to be substituted for a Warlock or Mage if there are already is a Spriest or two.  Some classes have a better situation end game than others do as well.  If a rogue is getting frustrated at end game PvP – well, they can try to respec, gear up, and hope for the best.  A Feral Druid on the other hand can regear and try Resto if they wanted.  In summary, be prepared to deal with what you invested your time in – or learn to like alts.