WoW SoD: Best talent builds and Runes for Priests in WoW Classic Season of Discovery

World of Warcraft Classic Season of Discovery makes old classes feel new again, and the same goes for Priests. Priests got a significant buff in SoD with stronger heals, previously unavailable spells, and even some completely new abilities. 

In this guide, I’ll dive into our two recommended Priest builds—one for healing and one for DPS and PvP. 

Holy Priest Healing Build in WoW Classic SoD

This is the build I personally use when I’m healing. Normally, it would be pretty weak in regular WoW Classic, but in SoD, you can do a lot more using a few runes. Thanks to Icy Veins for the help. So, let’s start with the runes:

• Penance – It’s still hard to believe you can have Penanace and not be a Discipline Priest. This is such a great addition for Priests, I’m not sure I could ever go back to healing without Penance.
• Prayer of Mending – Another late-game healing spell you get early on. Prayer of Mending is fantastic when you know damage is coming and want to be prepared.
• Serendipity – This rune is great because it makes your stronger and faster heals even faster. Just cast Flash Heal a few times, and you’ll be good to go.

Here’s how you should spend your talent points:

• Improved Renew (three points) – This simply increases how much you can heal with Renew. Since you’ll be casting this spell all the time, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t get it.
• Holy Specialization (two points) – You don’t need to score critical hits with your heals, but these two points let us access the second tier of the talent tree.
• Divine Fury (five points) – This reduces the casting time of many of your healing spells, which is very useful.
• Inspiration (three points) – Not only will you heal, but your critical heals will also boost the armor of your party members. Your teammates will love you.
• Spell Warding (two points) – Again, you’re only putting two points here so you can get to the next tier.
• Improved Healing (one point) – Even one point in this talent makes a huge difference because your healing spells will be more effective.

Shadow Priest DPS/PvP Build in WoW Classic SoD

If you want to do some shadow damage and practically ditch your healing spells, this is the build for you. Shadow Priests get lots fun new spells and abilities to play with. 

Here are the runes you should equip:

• Void Plague – This is similar to Shadow Word: Pain, as it causes damage over time.
• Shadow Word: Death – While I’m really glad this is in the game so early, be careful when you use it, because you will take damage. Otherwise, Shadow Word: Death is a great spell for when you need to finish an enemy off.
• Homunculi – The most innovative new spell for Priests in phase one. You summon three shadowy copies of yourself that lower your enemy’s attack speed, power, and armor. Not to mention, it looks really cool.

This is where you should spend your talent points:

• Spirit Tap (five points) – When you kill a target, this talent gives you a nice boost to your spirit and mana regeneration.
• Shadow Focus (five points) – This makes it harder for enemies to resist your shadow spells.
• Mind Flay (one point) – Mind Flay is just an amazing spell. It always has been and always will be, and that’s why you should definitely get this. I mean, who doesn’t like damaging and slowing their target simultaneously?
• Improved Shadow Word: Pain (two points) – Shadow Word: Pain will now last an extra six seconds.
• Shadow Affinity (two points) – Not exactly necessary, but we need to allocate two points somewhere so we can unlock the final talent.
• Shadow Weaving (one point) – You have a 20 percent chance to make your target vulnerable to Shadow Damage. This would be ideal at higher ranks, but even 20 percent is great at level 25.