Priest Must-Haves for Midnight: Defensives, Mobility & Hero Talent Gameplay

Posted 2026/01/13 at 11:30 AM by Wowhead

Class Wishlists for Midnight
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For a brief breakdown of the changes coming to each specialization in Midnight, check out our Midnight Class Survival Guide.
Midnight Class Survival Guide

Priest Wishlists for Midnight Discipline Priest Midnight Wishlist

Top 5 Midnight Wishlist

Wishlist
1.	Better Defensive/Mobility Options
2.	Continued Talent Tree Optimizations
3.	More Atonement!
4.	Party/Raid Frame Improvements
5.	Hero Talent Balance

The Kit

Discipline (and Holy) have long been plagued with some of the worst mobility/survivability in the game and they still seem to be in that position going into Midnight. While upgraded shields from your next Apex talent Master the Darkness provide for some stronger shielding they also produce a huge amount of your overall healing which has an interesting side effect of making your Atonement healing feel weaker. Another change in Midnight is where Blizzard is causing all healers to top players off more slowly and for Discipline this makes it feel like your Atonement is relatively weak, especially when a large chunk of your overall healing kit is tied to your apex talent. Potentially taking some power from void shields could mean that more power is put into your Atonement output, making Penance and Smite feel more powerful.

Spec Tree

The spec tree and routing to your desired build has been steadily improving throughout Beta but some major concerns I have are on routing to talents you desire and how expensive it can be to do so. Borrowed Time and Abyssal Reverie "gate" the left and right sides of the bottom of the spec tree both costing 2 points to go further down the tree. The "middle" tier of talents has gotten a lot stronger with Castigation moving up here and flat output increases like Purge the Wicked and Occultist being added in Midnight. This can make it fairly difficult to route to your preferred tree and some end-tier node options also having some issues. Divine Procession for example, gets put on the capstone tier of talents and gates Greater Smite. Other talents just feel fairly undertuned, Shadowfiend for instance, has been changed to be the old "Depth of Shadows" talent from Voidweaver and it feels fairly lackluster for its position.

Hero Talents/Conclusion

Given that Atonement feels weaker it also feels like Voidweaver is undertuned compared to Oracle. Given that healing has slowed down Oracle also has to burn a decent chunk of mana in Mythic+ to keep up with the incoming damage, making mana matter a considerable amount more than it used to in The War Within. A huge positive is the revamp Evangelism massively accelerating your ramp up time from ~16 seconds to basically 5 seconds with the new talent immediately casting a Power Word: Radiance and making your next two instant cast you can incredibly quickly get your ramp rolling in raid, cutting out so much extra time that was spent on applying single Atonements. Raid frames are also a major concern for many Disc players who like to color their entire raid frame when a player has Atonement on them. At present this does not seem possible for the default UI or raid frame addons and it would go quite far in improving raid frame visibility for Disc mains.

Holy Priest Midnight Wishlist

Top 5 Midnight Wishlist

Wishlist
1.	Better Defensive/Mobility Options
2.	Continued Mythic+ Talent Iteration
3.	Adjust Apex Talents
4.	Better Defined Builds
5.	Hero Talent Balance

Defensive Toolkit

Holy (and Discipline) have long been plagued with some of the worst mobility/survivability in the game and they still seem to be in that position going into Midnight. Unlike Discipline, Holy does not have the powerful shields that can be self-cast in advance of incoming damage for an additional tool. The class tree has improved the route you take to get all of your output increasing talents quite well but has not done much to make our survivability any better. Mobility is more of a concern in Midnight as the quantity of instant casts is getting reduced with spells like Renew and Premonition being removed. Survivability is a crucial liability for the spec, especially in a Mythic+ environment where Discipline's shields outclass it easily.

Cosmic Ripple and Direct Healing

Cosmic Ripple is a major focus with our Apex talents in the Midnight expansion. This effect is a "puff" of healing, spread out over 5 targets at levels barely perceptible on the raid frames. Blizzard has already nerfed this effect and buffed direct healing to compensate once and I think they should continue this path on putting more power into direct healing. Apex talents like Benediction where your Flash Heal produces a Ripple are exactly what I would want redesigned as you're not even seeing or "feeling" the ripple that your Flash Heal produces but instead you're more focused on the target of your heal, producing these extra "puffs" is not satisfying gameplay.

I would rather that talents like Benediction where your Divine Hymn is producing ripples would be more powerful and the Flash Heal ones less powerful. When you are channeling Divine Hymn it will simply have the effect of you feeling more powerful while channeling your major healing cooldown which I think is an ideal way to make an apex talent feel special for healers. Producing more ripples during Apotheosis on the other hand just does not feel as satisfying since you're focusing on Flash Heals to produce those ripples which means you're getting more Holy Word: Serenitys and focusing on more single-target healing so you will know on the meters that getting those Ripples is good for HPS but you don't "feel" those Ripples affecting health bars in the spells you are casting, you "feel" the buffed Flash Heal (which was unfortunately bugged in December and doing LESS healing than it was supposed to).

Hero Talents

Hero Talents and the spec tree feel like they should have some better ways to differentiate your healing output and "feel". In Midnight it seems like the angle is to make Prayer of Healing more of a focus with spells like Spiritwell. Unfortunately the Apex talents encouraging Flash Heals during Apotheosis and a lack of focus in the spec tree take away from the potential for Archon and Oracle to feel like more distinct sub-specs. Oracle places a bit more emphasis on Prayer of Mending/passive output and Archon on Halo and somewhat on direct healing output. Halo was also nerfed recently and Empowered Surges was nerfed making your direct healing from Archon slightly less noticeable.

I believe they should work to make each Hero Talent more distinct in their healing sources, like adding some life to the Prayer of Healing supporting talents to encourage them more for Archon. What does feel good are cross-synergies where Ultimate Serenity's cleave healing works with Lasting Words to spread Renews to all allies in Mythic+ content. This grants a healing taken buff from Renewed Faith and while slight, is noticeable. There is certainly a fine line on having too many of these potential stacking modifiers as we saw in The War Within so I think encouraging different modifiers for different Hero Talents could be an interesting way to produce more unique builds.

Shadow Priest Midnight Wishlist

Top 5 Midnight Wishlist

Wishlist
1.	Voidform Damage Bonus
2.	Archon Gameplay Improvements
3.	Less Niche Utility
4.	Fix Tentacle Slam Bugs
5.	Stronger Shadow Word: Death

Voidorm Damage Bonus
Voidform has a problem. On paper it provides a 10% damage bonus when it is active but this damage bonus is counteracted by the fact that Voidform replaces Shadowform. Currently the value of talenting into and using Shadow's defining major cooldown is roughly 3%. Voidform needs something, be that a direct damage bonus, or more indirect value to increase its strength and make it feel like a real damage cooldown (Even if it doesn't need to be an especially strong one).
Archon Gameplay Improvements
While Voidweaver has largely seen improvements with the changes Shadow has gotten in Midnight, Archon feels lacking. The loss of Void Bolt has left its rotation feeling stagnant and having a hero talent based on Voidform doesn't land when its such a weak part of the spec. Focused Outburst, a new talent for Archon, tries to bring back some of the feel of TWW Archon Shadow but needs to reduce the cooldown of Void Volley much more.
Less Niche Utility
Shadow has utility in Mass Dispel, Leap of Faith, and Vampiric Embrace but encounter design has heavily downplayed them in recent years. Shackle Horror being changed to include abberations is a small thing, but it'd be nice to see Shadow get to a place where we're brought for more than just damage.

Fix Tentacle Slam Bugs
Shadow's new AoE spell Tentacle Slam has a number of irritating bugs, chief among which being that it won't always DoT your primary target if there are more than 6 targets hit. It's extremely disappointing to see Tentacle Slam be this buggy, as the spell it's replacing was largely disliked because of the number of bugs associated with it. The spec needs a thorough bug fixing pass before it reaches live servers.

Stronger Shadow Word: Death
Shadow has a number of spells that feel disproportionately weak within its overall damage breakdown, but the one that feels worst is Shadow Word: Death. The spell needs some oomph behind it as its currently only barely worth using in execute, even with the new Shadowfiend and Mindbender.

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Comment by UnknowiiiYes please fix Shadow bugs tysmComment by PteddyI'll be honest reading this makes me want to abandon my current priest main that I've had for years and years.Comment by ZeldaloneAs well as the above, Shadow Priest needs a visual update pass as well. It would be nice to see the light visuals replaced with a shadow counterpart (i.e. Power Word: Shield, Levitate) and we should be able to customise Shadowform in the Barber Shop with new variations, as well as the old additions too (ravens). I was hopeful that they would do it this expansion given it seemed fitting, until the new DH spec appeared.

Something just feels off at the minute thematically with Shadow Priest. Maybe it's just me. I could just be losing interest in the spec now. I'm sure many others still love it.Comment by Raybeze#1 for me SINCE LEGION has been asking for a new shadowform.

i beg and plead every single expansion and i'm ignored, its very frustrating.

ALL i want is the ability to use the older shadowforms that are STILL IN GAME as a glyph. (or better yet barber option like druids)

i'm so tired of being stuck between barely any shadowform (with the current glyph) or having to use the fart cloud form we currently have. (no glyph)

this expansion is literally tied to shadow magic so if we don't see a visual overhaul this expansion itd be a crazy missed opportunity.Comment by RaybezeAs well as the above, Shadow Priest needs a visual update pass as well. It would be nice to see the light visuals replaced with a shadow counterpart (i.e. Power Word: Shield, Levitate) and we should be able to customise Shadowform in the Barber Shop with new variations, as well as the old additions too (ravens). I was hopeful that they would do it this expansion given it seemed fitting, until the new DH spec appeared.

Something just feels off at the minute thematically with Shadow Priest. Maybe it's just me. I could just be losing interest in the spec now. I'm sure many others still love it.Comment by Fatcow38I also absolutely hate proc based gameplay for healers, and for disc our void shield is the bulk of our power on beta at the moment. But we need to fish for procs of it via penance. I want agency over when I can do powerful healing, not rely on procs. Sure it's a 50% chance, but there are moments where you could really need one and not get it.Comment by VampyralBeen a priest main for 17 years and I have finally reached the point where I can't do it anymore. We have the worst mobility in the game by far, all of our utility is so niche that it almost never sees use and when it does it's so strong it gets nerfed, and our defensives are terrible. Feedback falls on deaf ears every single cycle and there have been multiple things that Blizzard has said will come to priest that never comes (like Shadowform changes in barber shop or reworking Dark Ascension).

It's unacceptable and I wish content creators that don't main Priest would stop glazing the class because it's in a horrible design state regardless of its damage or healing.Comment by Setsuna665As well as the above, Shadow Priest needs a visual update pass as well. It would be nice to see the light visuals replaced with a shadow counterpart (i.e. Power Word: Shield, Levitate) and we should be able to customise Shadowform in the Barber Shop with new variations, as well as the old additions too (ravens). I was hopeful that they would do it this expansion given it seemed fitting, until the new DH spec appeared.

Something just feels off at the minute thematically with Shadow Priest. Maybe it's just me. I could just be losing interest in the spec now. I'm sure many others still love it.Comment by ZeldaloneAs well as the above, Shadow Priest needs a visual update pass as well. It would be nice to see the light visuals replaced with a shadow counterpart (i.e. Power Word: Shield, Levitate) and we should be able to customise Shadowform in the Barber Shop with new variations, as well as the old additions too (ravens). I was hopeful that they would do it this expansion given it seemed fitting, until the new DH spec appeared.

Something just feels off at the minute thematically with Shadow Priest. Maybe it's just me. I could just be losing interest in the spec now. I'm sure many others still love it.Comment by ScaryfoxNo mention of how the game is supposed to give you a basic build for the beta only to not give all the necessary talent points? And this doesn't seem to apply to any other class I've tried. More importantly, the replacement spell for Devouring Plague just feels so unsastifying.Comment by WarouzPlaying Archon is honestly very boring. Also, why does Tentacle Slam apply its DoT to only 6 targets? Even though Tentacle Slam has 2 charges, a 15-second cooldown is far too long. When multiple enemy packs are pulled back-to-back, we cannot apply DoTs properly, which means our damage completely falls off. The entire rotation ends up being desperately dependent on this single ability coming off cooldown, and that feels very poorly designed.

Voidweaver is more enjoyable to play, but it has its own issues as well, mainly that the DoTs expire far too quickly. Shadow Priest clearly needs improvement and should be turned into a more stable and reliable DPS spec.Comment by RexnoctI still can't believe the state they're putting holy priests in. it feels like the spec is completely useless, boring, and bland. There's no uniqueness to the spec.
idk what it is with blizzard and making every single healing spec into a half healing half damage spec. It's stupid and make absolutely no sense. What's the point of a healing spec if half the spec is damage? It's incredibly stupid and seriously needs to stop. Healing specs are healing focused for a reason. Holy priest and resto druid were the last 2 specs that kept the true healing theme to them, now it's down to just Resto. it's disgusting and I genuinely f'ing hate it.Comment by PheldonBeen a priest main for 17 years and I have finally reached the point where I can't do it anymore. We have the worst mobility in the game by far, all of our utility is so niche that it almost never sees use and when it does it's so strong it gets nerfed, and our defensives are terrible. Feedback falls on deaf ears every single cycle and there have been multiple things that Blizzard has said will come to priest that never comes (like Shadowform changes in barber shop or reworking Dark Ascension).

It's unacceptable and I wish content creators that don't main Priest would stop glazing the class because it's in a horrible design state regardless of its damage or healing.Comment by PheldonSince automaticjak started to play other classes I thought he would consider better things to priest (healing focused) but I don't know, everything is fine, everything is good, how come? Hpriest sucked a whole expansion in m+, priests in general are terrible in dispel profile, how's that possible that a priest, a nun doesn't known how to patch a bleeding? that's just outrageous, how a person bound in light and holy spirits can't break a curse? Disease? Really? Most of it is pointless and you don't need to focus dispel it.
Mobility wise disc can walk great distances with penance talented, but hpriest is a pain and suffering.
And removing SW:P from holy makes questing and world content even slower.
Even with all kick pruned, how's being possible for 20 years not having a SW:Silence HW:Quiet or anything to stop ppl to cast? Religious people are disciplined, rigid, severe etc.

I really do think, there's no priest dev in bliz and they just don't care, I didn't play much on beta, but my predictions is OOM in 3 pulls in a m+ with all those nerfs in procs mana wise.