Priest leveling guide: Shadow 1-60
Shadow is the priest’s leveling tree, but the first five points go into 
Wand Specialization: until your spells get strong, the wand does a big share of your damage. 
Shadowform comes at 45, and the rest goes into Discipline for mana and a stronger shield. New to the class? Read the priest overview first.
The build
| Talent split | Discipline 20 / Shadow 31 |
| Weapon | The best wand you can find, plus a staff or a one-hand with a book |
| Stats | Intellect, Spirit, Stamina |
| Calculator | Open this build in the talent calculator |
The order is checked against the Forever talent trees.
Talent order
One point per level from 10.
| Levels | Talent | Tree | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-14 | Wand Specialization |
Discipline | 5/5 |
| 15-19 |  Spirit Tap |
Shadow | 5/5 |
| 20-21 |  Improved Shadow Word: Pain |
Shadow | 2/2 |
| 22-24 |  Shadow Focus |
Shadow | 3/5 |
| 25 |  Mind Flay |
Shadow | 1/1 |
| 26-29 |  Improved Mind Blast |
Shadow | 4/5 |
| 30-34 |  Shadow Weaving |
Shadow | 5/5 |
| 35 |  Vampiric Embrace |
Shadow | 1/1 |
| 36-37 |  Improved Vampiric Embrace |
Shadow | 2/2 |
| 38 | Improved Mind Blast |
Shadow | 5/5 |
| 39 | Shadow Focus |
Shadow | 4/5 |
| 40-44 |  Darkness |
Shadow | 5/5 |
| 45 | Shadowform |
Shadow | 1/1 |
| 46-48 |  Improved Power Word: Shield |
Discipline | 3/3 |
| 49-50 |  Silent Resolve |
Discipline | 2/5 |
| 51-53 |  Meditation |
Discipline | 3/3 |
| 54 |  Inner Focus |
Discipline | 1/1 |
| 55 |  Improved Power Word: Fortitude |
Discipline | 1/2 |
| 56-60 |  Mental Agility |
Discipline | 5/5 |
Why this order. Wand Specialization adds a quarter to your wand damage, which is most of your damage from 10 to 20. Spirit Tap doubles your Spirit after a kill so you regenerate mana while you loot. Improved Shadow Word: Pain and Shadow Focus make your damage over time last longer and miss less. Mind Flay is your new filler and slows the target. Improved Mind Blast lets you cast it more often. Shadow Weaving and Darkness raise all Shadow damage, Vampiric Embrace heals you from it, and Shadowform at 45 is the big step. From 46, Discipline gives a stronger shield, less threat, Meditation for mana regeneration while casting, Inner Focus and Mental Agility for cheaper spells.
Abilities by level
Levels are from the Forever client.
| Level | Ability |
|---|---|
| 1 |  Smite |
| 1 | Power Word: Fortitude |
| 1 |  Lesser Heal |
| 4 | Shadow Word: Pain |
| 6 | Power Word: Shield |
| 8 |  Renew |
| 8 |  Fade |
| 10 | Mind Blast |
| 12 |  Inner Fire |
| 14 |  Psychic Scream |
| 16 |  Heal |
| 18 |  Dispel Magic |
| 20 |  Flash Heal |
| 30 |  Prayer of Healing |
| 40 |  Greater Heal |
Level by level
1 to 10. Smite, then wand. Shadow Word: Pain on every enemy, Power Word: Shield on yourself before the pull.
10 to 20. Mind Blast at 10 opens fights. The usual rotation: Shield, Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Blast, wand. Psychic Scream at 14 when an enemy joins.
20 to 30. Mind Flay replaces most wand time. Flash Heal at 20 is your fast heal when things go wrong. Keep Inner Fire on for armor.
30 to 40. Shadow Weaving stacks with every Shadow spell. Vampiric Embrace keeps you topped up between pulls, so you drink less.
40 to 60. Shadowform at 45 cuts the mana cost of Shadow spells in half and reduces physical damage you take, but you cannot heal in it. Leave Shadowform to heal only when you have to.
Tips
- Upgrade your wand whenever you can, it matters more than most armor.
- Shield before every pull. It also prevents spell pushback.
- Spirit Tap only works on enemies that give experience, so fight enemies close to your level.
- You will be asked to heal in dungeons. Keep Heal and Flash Heal at their highest rank.
The talent order and ability levels come from the Forever client files (build 1.60.1.70790); the advice per level follows the original game and will be checked in Forever.