Discipline Priest leveling guide
Shield, Smite and Penance. Pick this if you heal dungeons and still want to quest without changing talents. How the Discipline talents play from level 10 to 60.
On this page7 sections
At a glanceOur pickOpinion, not confirmed by BlizzardOur reading of the Discipline talent text, not a tested rotation.
- Build at level 60
- 33/18/0 (33 Discipline, 18 Holy)
- 16-point milestone
- Soul Warding, level 25
- Last Discipline talent
- Power Infusion, level 40
- In a group
- Healing, Damage
- Our first choice for leveling a Priest
- Shadow
How Discipline plays
- Discipline levels behind Power Word: Shield. Improved Power Word: Shield adds 21% to what it absorbs, and Soul Warding, the milestone, takes 4 sec off its cooldown and 15% off its Mana cost.
- The damage is Holy: Smite and Holy Fire, made cheaper by Mental Agility, and then Penance, which hits an enemy or heals an ally at once and again every 1 sec for 2 sec.
- Power in Light ties them together: Smite and Penance deal 10% increased damage to a target afflicted with your Holy Fire.
- A wand fills the gaps. Wand Specialization adds 26% to wand damage and is the first thing the build takes.
- Meditation keeps 50% of your Mana regeneration going while you cast, and Inner Focus makes one spell cost nothing.
What to press first
Most important first. Not a rotation.
- 1
Keep Power Word: Shield on yourself
Improved Power Word: Shield raises what it absorbs, and Soul Warding brings it back sooner for less Mana.
- 2
Put Holy Fire on the target before Smite and Penance
Power in Light adds 10% to both against a target afflicted with your Holy Fire.
- 3
Finish with the wand
Wand Specialization adds 26% to its damage.
- 4
Spend Inner Focus on your most expensive spell
Inner Focus makes the next spell cost nothing and adds 25% to its critical effect chance.
- 5
Use Power Infusion on yourself alone, or on a caster in a group
Power Infusion increases the target's spell damage and healing done by 20% for 15 sec.
Talents that change how you play · 10
From Wand Specialization at level 10 to Divine Fury at 48.
The level is when our build first takes the talent.
- Levels 10–11
The wand becomes a real part of each fight.
- Levels 15–17
Power Word: Shield absorbs more.
- Levels 20–22
Half your Mana regeneration continues while you cast.
- Level 23
One free spell on a cooldown.
- Level 25
Soul Warding16-point milestone
Power Word: Shield is ready more often and costs less.
- Levels 26–29
More Intellect: 15% at five points.
- Level 30
One spell for damage and for healing.
- Levels 34–38
The order of your spells starts to matter: Holy Fire first.
- Level 40
A cooldown for you or for someone else.
- Levels 48–52
Divine FuryHoly
Smite, Holy Fire, Heal and Greater Heal all cast faster.
Gear to look for
What the talents reward on items, and items that carry it.
- A wand, from level 10: Wand Specialization is the first talent the build takes.
- Intellect, which Mental Strength raises by 15%.
- Chance to hit matters less for Holy spells than usual: Holy Precision adds 18% at three points.
Opinion, not confirmed by BlizzardItems that carry what these talents name.
Levels 10-20
The Hall of Thanes, levels 13-18 Alliance
Cloth hands · 6 Intellect, 3 Stamina
Quest: Important Heirlooms, choose 1 of 2
Wand · 18.5 DPS, 3 Intellect
Quest: Old Ironforge Incursion, choose 1 of 3
Groups and dungeons
In a group: healing and damage. New group talents before 5 dungeons.
In a group these talents support healing and damage.
- The same talents heal. Power Word: Shield, Penance on an ally, and Power Infusion on a caster all work in a group as they do alone.
- Renewed Hope and Divine Aegis, the two talents that only help healing, are not in this build. A player who mostly heals would move points into them.
New group talents by the time each dungeon opens
Strengths and trade-offs
2 strengths, 2 trade-offs.
Strengths
- Safe. A stronger, cheaper Power Word: Shield is up for most of every fight.
- No change of talents between questing and healing: Penance does both.
Trade-offs
- Kills are not quick, in our view. The damage talents are a wand, cheaper spells and Power in Light, and Power in Light starts at level 34.
- Power Infusion lasts 15 sec. The talent text gives no cooldown for it, so we do not say how often it is up.
Compare this build
Keep reading
Sources and what isn't confirmed
Unconfirmed: reported, not confirmed by Blizzard
- The Hall of Thanes being open to the Alliance only
- The items under Gear to look for, and their stats, as public coverage reports them
Not announced
- Stat weights
- A leveling talent order from Blizzard
Sources
- Beta 1.60.1 talent data: every sentence about how the tree plays is read from the Discipline talent text. Nothing here is a published guide or a tested rotation
- Warcraft Tavern, 19 Sep 2026: the items under Gear to look for, and where each comes from
- Warcraft Tavern's Forever Priest guide: which armor and weapons a Priest can use, and from what level
Updated . Talent data: beta 1.60.1. Details can change in any later build or patch.