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Holy vs Shadow Priest

FreeBeta 1.60.1 data, 20 Sep

Two level 60 Priest builds side by side: 30 talents differ and 5 are the same.

The two builds

Build A: Holy Priest

Our pick — opinionHoly leveling build

18/33/0

Level: 60
Points: 51 of 51

16-point milestones

Binding Heal

Build B: Shadow Priest

Our pick — opinionShadow leveling build

17/0/34

Level: 60
Points: 51 of 51

16-point milestones

Soul Warding
Vampiric Embrace

Open the full comparison Open A in the calculator Open B in the calculator

https://foreverguide.app/b/1i2btu4dus7900q963dre/vs/1i2lzr03ru7oi0000000001o991mre

Both builds are our leveling picks: opinion, not confirmed by Blizzard. Why we picked them: Priest leveling guide

Differences: 30 talents

Discipline5 differences · 18 points in A, 17 in B

Talent	Rank	Rank	What the extra ranks give
Holy Precision. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 3/3	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 3: Increases your chance to hit with Holy spells by 18%.
Improved Power Word: Shield. Both take it, at different ranks.	Build A: 2/3	Build B: 3/3	Build A, rank 2: Increases the damage absorbed by your Power Word: Shield by 14%. Build B, rank 3: Increases the damage absorbed by your Power Word: Shield by 21%.
Martyrdom. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 2/2	Build B, rank 2: Gives you a 100% chance to gain Focused Casting for 6 sec after being the victim of a melee or ranged critical strike. The Focused Casting effect prevents you from losing casting time when taking damage and increases your resistance to Interrupt effects by 20%.
Mental Strength. Both take it, at different ranks.	Build A: 3/5	Build B: 1/5	Build B, rank 1: Increases your total Intellect by 3%. Build A, rank 3: Increases your total Intellect by 9%.
Soul Warding16-point milestone. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 1/1	Build B, rank 1: Reduces the cooldown on your Power Word: Shield spell by 4 sec and reduces its mana cost by 15%.

Holy13 differences · 33 points in A, 0 in B

Talent	Rank	Rank	What the extra ranks give
Twilight Focus. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 3/3	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 3: Gives you a 70% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting any spell.
Holy Specialization. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 5/5	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 5: Increases the critical effect chance of your Holy spells by 5%.
Divine Fury. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 5/5	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 5: Reduces the casting time of your Smite, Holy Fire, Heal, and Greater Heal spells by 0.5 sec.
Holy Nova. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 1/1	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 1: Causes an explosion of holy light around the caster, causing 30 to 35 Holy damage to all enemy targets within 10 yards and healing all party members within 10 yards for 64 to 73. These effects cause no threat.
Blessed Recovery. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 1/3	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 1: After being struck by a melee or ranged critical hit, or suffering more than 30% of your maximum Health from a single attack, heal 8% of the damage taken over 6 sec. Refreshing this effect carries over any remaining healing.
Holy Reach. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 2/2	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 2: Increases the range of your Smite and Holy Fire spells and the radius of your Prayer of Healing and Holy Nova spells by 20%.
Improved Healing. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 3/3	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 3: Reduces the Mana cost of your Lesser Heal, Heal, Greater Heal, Penance, and Prayer of Mending spells by 15%.
Searing Light. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 2/2	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 2: Increases your Holy damage done by 4%, and gives a 10% chance each time your Holy Fire spell deals periodic damage for your next Holy Nova to cost no Mana.
Binding Heal16-point milestone. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 1/1	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 1: Heals a friendly target and the caster for 330 to 387. Low threat.
Spirit of Redemption. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 1/1	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 1: Upon death, the priest becomes the Spirit of Redemption for 15 sec. The Spirit of Redemption cannot move, attack, be attacked or targeted by any spells or effects. While in this form the priest can cast any healing spell free of cost. When the effect ends, the priest dies.
Spiritual Guidance. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 5/5	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 5: Increases your spell healing by up to 25% of your total Spirit and your spell damage by up to 5% of your total Spirit.
Spiritual Healing. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 3/3	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 3: Increases the amount healed by your spells by 9%.
Prayer of Mending. Only build A takes it.	Build A: 1/1	Build B: not taken	Build A, rank 1: Places a spell on the target that heals them for 231 the next time they take damage or receive non-periodic healing. When the heal occurs, Prayer of Mending jumps to a party or raid member within 20 yards. Jumps up to 5 times and lasts 30 sec after each jump. This spell can only be placed on one target at a time per caster.

Shadow12 differences · 0 points in A, 34 in B

Talent	Rank	Rank	What the extra ranks give
Shadow Focus. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 5/5	Build B, rank 5: Increases your chance to hit with your Shadow spells by 5%.
Spirit Tap. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 5/5	Build B, rank 5: Gives you a 100% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit for 15 sec after killing a non-trivial target. For the duration, your Mana will regenerate at a 50% of normal rate while casting.
Improved Shadow Word: Pain. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 2/2	Build B, rank 2: Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 6 sec.
Shadow Reach. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 2/2	Build B, rank 2: Increases the range of your offensive Shadow spells by 20%.
Improved Mind Blast. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 5/5	Build B, rank 5: Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by 2.5 sec.
Mind Flay. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 1/1	Build B, rank 1: Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 119 Shadow damage over 3 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%.
Improved Mind Flay. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 2/2	Build B, rank 2: Your Mind Flay now deals 20% more damage, gains 10 yards increased range, but slows the target's movement speed by 20%.
Vampiric Embrace16-point milestone. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 1/1	Build B, rank 1: Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow spell damage you deal for 30 sec. Vampiric Embrace also grants a chance for your Spirit Tap talent to trigger when enemies afflicted by it die.
Shadow Weaving. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 3/3	Build B, rank 3: Your Shadow damage spells have a 100% chance to increase the Shadow damage you deal by 2% for 15 sec, stacking up to 5 times.
Devouring Contagion. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 2/2	Build B, rank 2: Reduces the mana cost of your Devouring Plague by 50%. Targets that die while Devouring Plague is active spreads it, jumping to a nearby enemy within 5 yards for the remaining duration.
Darkness. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 5/5	Build B, rank 5: Increases your Shadow damage done by 10%.
Shadowform. Only build B takes it.	Build A: not taken	Build B: 1/1	Build B, rank 1: Assume Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 10%, reducing the Mana cost of all Shadow spells by 50%, increasing the critical strike damage bonus of your Shadow spells by 100%, and reducing Physical damage taken by you by 15%. However, you may not cast healing spells while in this form.