Taking your Priest into PvP:

Quite a few players will spec Shadow for the DPS/kills, however I have found it a lot more enjoyable to go Holy, not to mention that a Holy specced Priest is a far more valuable asset to a party then a Shadow Priest. If you want to power level a priest through the PvP ranks, then you will be forced to go Shadow. However this guide is for a Holy/Disc Priest, the more difficult, but more rewarding PvP path. When you are not healing and have Mana to play with always cast a Mind Blast or SWP when you can afford it. Never sit in a battle with full mana waiting to heal.

Overhealing, this is a common mistake of pure healers, to actually throw more healing at a player then what he/she really needs. A general rule of thumb that I use (As a heal spec Priest) is a simple 2 button combo and evaluate if further healing is needed, and that is: an instant cast Renew, and a cast of Flash Heal. This 2 button combo will work on every class but a Warrior. (Give a warrior an extra Flash Heal, and spam it if necessary) As a Holy Priest you have better heals and a better chance to crit on a heal, this is normally why Priests “over-heal”. Don’t worry, in time you will know exactly how much you need and when.

Who to heal? Who do I heal first, how do I prioritize? Another Noob mistake is for a healer to heal a caster with no mana, wtf? (Ohhh wand use FTW? I don’t think so) Think of it this way, which will do the most DPS? Is there another healer getting waxed? Here is a general priority list:

1. Healer with Mana/Priest. A Druid should bear morph if he/she gets a ton of agro, and a Pally should bubble, so kind of watch out for other Priests.
2. Mage with Mana
3. Warrior with less then 25% HP left.
4. Shaman with Mana in melee. If the Shaman is not near melee peeps, he should be healing himself.
5. Rogue
6. Hunter
7. Warrior with 50% of HP left.
8. Warlock - Warlocks have a wide array of survivability tools from healing to Demon spec, so here healing will not be needed in the majority of cases.
9. Druid – A druid with little mana can morph, so give them the heal, hoping they know how to play their class.
10. Warrior with 75% of HP left.
11. Pally – Pally is last because they are always the last to die, (Even without a healer) they can bubble and heal themselves, so your services are really not needed, unless they are out of mana.

Keep in mind this is just a general list, of course there will always be other things to consider. How a class is spec’d makes a huge difference. Heal a Rest specced Druid and you will probably embarrass yourself, however healing a Druid that is specced heavy in Balance(and in Moonkin form) and you will be worshipped. Unless there are no other targets, NEVER heal a caster that is OOM, it would be much better for them to die and come back with full Mana/HP in 30 to 60 secs. Another thing to keep in mind is Dispel Magic, if you are healing someone always take half a second and look at the Debuffs, if there is any, cast DM after your Renew and Flash Heal.

Alterac Valley:
You will have a few choices to make before you start PvP’ing here. Level 51-60 can go to AV, and generally the lower the level the faster they are going to die, which means they need healed more then the 60’s. I will not waste mana on a non-60 if I can help it, my opinion is that you should not be in the end game PvP BG’s until you are 60, as you do nothing but “gimp” your side. But wait, it is your account and you can go to AV as a 51 if you want? Sure, but I am not going to waste my mana healing your ass :)

Drop the BOMB. Anytime you see your front line in a stalemate, and you have plenty of mana, go ahead and fear bomb. Buff up, shield, and run straight into the front line, AOE fear, Renew, and run back into your rear area again, with your finger on the DM button. As long as your healing duties are going fine, you can do this every 30 seconds.

MC – Mind Control in AV can be useful and hilarious. If you are going to run them into Korrack, or their guards, always use the best target you can. MC’ing a caster with no mana is a waste, MC’ing a Warrior/Pally with full HP into Korrack is very helpful. Just remember they will kill you when the MC wears off. Another way to really help is to MC an enemy and run them straight thru your line into the back, release the MC and watch him die in 2-3 secs. This is a double edged sword however, because if you are around a lot of nubs, then they will grief you for “bringing them dinner” instead understanding why you brought a solo target in the middle of 5-6 mages ?

Defending a Flag/Bunker – If you know me you know I don’t “defend”, however if you find yourself in this situation always hit a target that is capping the flag. If it is desperate and you got 10 enemies on the flag then fear bomb it on a suicide run.

Taking a Flag/Bunker – This is where your healing comes into a “power play”, I know the flag is right in front of you, but don’t cap it.(Unless solo) The person that is trying to cap will be the prime target of anyone, keep them healed and DM any effects. If someone is close to capping and you have an enemy incoming, charge them and fear them. (Or MC, but only MC if there is only 1 enemy target)

How to take a flag from the guards and an enemy defender with just you and 1 other person?
MC the enemy, run him into the guards, when he dies the guards will all come for you, and your partner caps the flag ? Remember to keep the distance between you and the guards at all times, this should not be too hard with a little experience.


WSG:
You have a spell called “Mind Vision”, this will allow you to see where your flag is anytime you want. You just need to mentally note the name of the enemy that has your flag, cast MV on him/her (Use a target macro if you wish) and WHAM you have your flag loc. Remember the name of the game here: “Capture 3 flags to win”, what they do not tell you is “Fighting in the middle is retarded”. So always defend your flag, attack the enemy flag, or run escort, and as a Priest you should be running escort.
Something to remember when running escort is that it is NOT your job to heal others, always keep your attention on the flag carrier. If the flag carrier is full health and doing fine, then you can throw a heal to someone else. Do not forget DM here, as your flag carrier will be under all kinds of Debuffs! If things get overwhelming, run to the flag carrier and fear bomb. If the flag carrier is running way ahead of you, target the closest enemy (Probably mounted trying to catch the flag) and MC him/her.

Defending the Flag: Yeah you can do this, but unless you have 4+ Priests on your side (I have seen this) leave this chore to someone else. This is almost the same as carrying the flag, let someone else do this.

MC’ing the Flag carrier? I have seen this done effectively, but only in organized groups. Basically when there is a ton of escorts on the flag carrier, an enemy Priest will MC the flag carrier and run them in the opposite direction of their base. This gives your side a lot more time to bring down the carrier or the escorting healers. Do not try this in a pug though, and never MC a solo enemy carrier with 5 of your teammates on him/her ?

AB:
The best place for you to be in AB is defending the Lumber Mill flag. Anyone that comes along just gets MC’ed off the cliff. As a Holy Priest you should never be soloing here, run with a partner or group and always hang in the back. Since you will mostly fight in small groups here I am going to encourage suicide. When you die you really help your party out by helping them with a massive heal. If you are assaulting a flag and the numbers are about even go ahead and “heal out” your team, when you are out of mana, suicide. The best way to suicide is to run into a Mage, or grab the attention of an enemy Warrior. As in other BG’s remember the strats on the flag, heal the capper and fear bomb if it gets overwhelming.