Our other Priest guides take you from 10 to 60: the starter guide, Shadow leveling, Holy dungeon healing and Discipline leveling and dungeons. This one covers what comes after 60: which stats each Priest spec should gear for, why fight length changes a healer's priorities, and how to plan pre-raid gear before the first raids open.
Key dates (Blizzard): name reservation and early character creation opened Oct 27 at 1:00 p.m. PDT. Launch is Nov 4, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. PST. Barrow Deeps (10 players), Hyjal Summit (20) and Onyxia's Lair (40) open Dec 9.
Read this first: the beta stopped at level 30, so nobody has geared a level 60 Priest in Forever yet. The stat weights below come from SixtySim, a community simulator running beta client data and marked "unverified until level 60 opens". Where Forever hasn't published a number (a boss's spell miss chance), it uses Classic's. Treat every number as a starting point.
What Forever changed about Priest gear
From Blizzard's Deep Dive recap:
- Hit and crit are each one stat now. Melee, ranged and spell hit are combined, and so are the three kinds of crit. So any hit or crit on an item counts for your spells.
- Bonus healing now also gives one third as much bonus damage, which helps healers while questing.
- Caster weapons now carry spell damage and healing, so casters get level-up weapons too.
- Every dungeon drop was re-examined, unique boss items are now blue (rare) quality, and set bonuses were improved.
A few Forever details SixtySim builds its Priest numbers on:
- In Shadowform, all five of your damage spells crit for double damage, Shadow Word: Death included, instead of 150%. Damage-over-time and Mind Flay ticks can crit too.
- Wands no longer gain from spell damage, so a wand only counts for the stats on it. Worth knowing if you leveled with a wand.
- Forever's low-rank rule: at 60, Heal ranks 2 and 3 get none and a quarter of your healing power, so don't plan on downranking them.
Stat priorities by spec (level 60, simulated)
From SixtySim (updated Oct 28, pre-raid gear, beta data). Healers are measured in points of healing power, and Shadow in points of spell damage (= 1.00).
| Spec | 1 boss, 1 minute | 1 boss, 3 minutes | Gear for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discipline | 1% haste 26.8, 1% crit 15.4, Intellect 2.03, MP5 1.15, Spirit 1.15 | 1% crit 13.9, 1% haste 2.12, MP5 1.73, Intellect 1.28, Spirit 1.13 | Healing power and crit, then MP5 and Intellect |
| Holy | 1% haste 24.8, 1% crit 12.8, Spirit 0.28, Intellect 0.27 | 1% crit 9.89, Intellect 2.29, Spirit 1.12, 1% haste −0.47 | Healing power and crit, then Intellect and Spirit for longer fights |
| Shadow | 1% hit 11.1, 1% crit 11.0, 1% haste 4.95, Spell Piercing 2.06, Intellect 0.22 | 1% hit 11.9, 1% crit 11.2, 1% haste 4.05, Spell Piercing 2.03, Intellect 0.22 | Spell and Shadow damage, then hit and crit, Spell Piercing |
What stands out, per SixtySim:
- Healers: fight length changes everything. On a one-minute fight you never run out of mana, so casting speed tops the list. On three minutes your mana runs out first, and haste drops to almost nothing while Intellect, MP5 and Spirit climb. Gear for the length of fight you raid. The only haste in these sets is Troll Berserking and the Minor Haste glove enchant.
- Discipline: MP5 beats Spirit. You cast almost all fight, so you live inside the five-second rule. MP5 keeps flowing in full, while Spirit regenerates only at half through Meditation. On three bosses for three minutes, a point of MP5 is worth 3.55 healing power.
- Discipline: crit is worth more than for Holy. A crit heals for 150%, and Divine Aegis adds a shield worth 15% of that, so a crit on a direct heal is worth about 72% of a heal on top. Renew crits don't leave a shield.
- Holy: Intellect and Spirit both scale. Intellect is 15 mana a point (plus 10% from Mental Strength), and 59.5 Intellect is 1% crit. Spiritual Guidance turns a quarter of your Spirit into healing power. SixtySim notes a point of MP5 outweighs a point of Spirit on long fights, though its Holy table doesn't list an MP5 number.
- Shadow: hit and crit are level. A level 63 boss resists 17% of your spells with no hit (Classic figure; Forever keeps no 1% that always misses). Shadow Focus gives 5% and the pre-raid set adds 1%, so you're far below the cap and every point counts. Against three targets, crit pulls ahead (13.1 vs 10.0 on three minutes).
- Shadow: Spell Piercing is worth twice spell damage on one boss (2.06), because the boss has no Shadow resistance and piercing past zero still adds damage. It's lower on three targets, where Shadow Word: Pain ticks get only a tenth of the bonus.
- Shadow: skip Spirit, MP5 and haste. Shadowform's half-price spells keep your mana up, and haste only speeds up Mind Blast and your global cooldown, not Mind Flay ticks.
Vestments of the Devout: the Priest dungeon set
Forever reworked the bonuses on the eight-piece Priest dungeon set. Per the beta client (builds 1.60.1.70532 and 70658), as listed on ForeverDB and ForeverDiff:
| Pieces | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 2 | +8 all resistances |
| 3 | Up to +18 spell damage and healing |
| 4 | When struck, 2% chance of a shield that absorbs 488 damage (once every 60 sec) |
| 5 | Your spellcasts have a 5% chance to give you 200 mana |
| 6 | +8 mana per 5 sec |
In Classic it was +200 armor (2), up to +23 spell damage and healing (4), a 350-damage shield proc (6) and +8 all resistances (8). Forever turned it into a healer's mana set that tops out at six pieces.
Does it make the cut? For Holy on one boss for two minutes, SixtySim's set wears six Devout pieces (head, shoulders, chest, waist, legs, and bracers or sandals). Most other sets skip it. Sources SixtySim lists: Devout Skirt from Baron Rivendare (Stratholme), Devout Belt in Blackrock Spire, Devout Bracers in Stratholme. Blizzard hasn't confirmed Forever's drop sources, so treat these as Classic-based.
Pre-raid planning, spec by spec
SixtySim builds each set from items whose Forever stats are published. wow4ever builds its own lists from items with a known source and says many numbers are still Classic ones until launch, so the two disagree in places. wow4ever has Holy and Shadow pages, but no Discipline page yet.
Both healing specs (SixtySim):
- Glowing Brightwood Staff, a level 49 world drop that binds on equip, so you can buy it. Forever's caster-weapon formula gives it 150 healing and 50 spell damage. No vendor, quest or reputation staff comes close: Ironbark Staff costs Holy 20.1 HPS and Discipline 35.4 HPS in its place.
- Trinkets: Serenity Field (Pix Xizzix, Stranglethorn Vale: 42 healing, and 72 Spirit for 15 seconds every 90) and Talisman of Ascendance (Eastern Plaguelands quest: your next five heals each add a stack of 75 healing).
- Truefaith Vestments is a Priest-only Tailoring chest that binds on pickup, so only tailors can wear it. Without it, Devout Robe costs Holy 3.0 HPS on three minutes.
- Hide of the Wild (Leatherworking, binds on equip) is in every healing set. The next cloak costs Discipline 12.5 HPS.
- Crafts you can buy: Mooncloth Circlet, Gloves of Spell Mastery and Swarmtender's Footpads (Tailoring) in both sets; Mooncloth Shoulders and Wisdom of the Timbermaw for Holy, Mantle of the Timbermaw and Belt of the Archmage for Discipline.
- Legs: Senior Designer's Pantaloons (Fineous Darkvire, Blackrock Depths), or the Warsong Gulch legs (Outrider's Silk Leggings for the Horde, Sentinel's Silk Leggings for the Alliance) on longer fights.
- Reputation: Vigilant Watcher's Signet (The Watchers, Exalted; the Revered version is about as good). For Discipline, the Barrens gloves at Exalted: Raider Handwraps (Darkspear Raiders, Horde) or Theramore Handwraps (Theramore Expeditionary Force, Alliance). SixtySim says start reputations first, since they take the longest.
- wow4ever's Holy list is different: Incandescent Mooncloth Circlet, Animated Chain Necklace (Ramstein, Stratholme), Hands of the Exalted Herald (Princess Moira, Blackrock Depths), Band of Mending (Balnazzar, Stratholme), Briarwood Reed and Second Wind trinkets, and Royal Diplomatic Scepter with Brightly Glowing Stone. Both agree on Mooncloth Shoulders, Hide of the Wild, Truefaith Vestments and Swarmtender's Footpads.
Shadow (SixtySim):
- Ironbark Staff, the Arathi Basin reward at Exalted (The Defilers for the Horde, The League of Arathor for the Alliance), with 2% crit. Every set holds it. Until then, Alliance Priests can buy Crackling Staff from the Stormpike Supply Officers in Alterac Valley (5.4 DPS less); the Horde's next is Mindfang (6.9 DPS less).
- Six Tailoring crafts, all bind on equip: Felcloth Hood, Mantle of the Timbermaw, Robe of Winter Night, Gloves of Spell Mastery, Belt of the Archmage and Earthen Silk Slippers (Omnicast Boots from Blackrock Depths is just as good). Robe of Winter Night is the hardest to replace: the next chest costs 9.4 DPS.
- Pix Xizzix sells the cloak (Arcanoweave Cloak, 1% hit) and the Weakness Analyzer trinket (22 spell damage; on use, +5% crit until your next crit, every 90 seconds). Every set wears both.
- Talisman of Ascendance again: each spell you land adds 40 spell damage, up to five stacks, and it lifts your damage-over-time ticks too.
- Others: Chains of the Lich (Balzaphon, Stratholme), Dryad's Wrist Bindings (vendor), Outrider's or Sentinel's Silk Leggings (Warsong Gulch), Brilliant Watcher's Signet (The Watchers), Don Rodrigo's Band (1% crit, 5 Spell Piercing) or Blessed Band of Light (1% hit), and Greater Eternal Wand (Enchanting).
- wow4ever's Shadow list leans on dungeon drops: Spellweaver's Turban (General Drakkisath), Dark Advisor's Pendant (Vectus), Skyshroud Leggings (Highlord Omokk), Maleki's Footwraps, Burst of Knowledge and Radiant Staff. Both agree on Robe of Winter Night, Mantle of the Timbermaw, Gloves of Spell Mastery and Belt of the Archmage.
Enchants and consumables worth planning for (SixtySim):
- Forever lets you enchant necklaces (Healing Power or Spell Power).
- Healers: Arcanum of Focus on head and legs, Healing Power on neck and bracers, Mighty Healing Power on the staff (a Forever two-hand enchant), and the new Mystic Rugged Armor Kit (adds healing) on feet. Minor Haste on gloves for Holy.
- Shadow: Revelation on the weapon beats Spellblasting on one boss (a Mind Flay that starts with its certain crit keeps it for all three ticks; SixtySim's proc rate comes from public logs, not client data). Arcanum of Focus on head and legs, Spell Power on the neck, Greater Spellpower bracers, and the Mystic Rugged Armor Kit (6 spell damage) on chest and feet.
- Healers run on mana: Flask of Distilled Wisdom (11.8% Holy, 11.2% Discipline), Major Mana Potion (7.9% / 10.0%) and Demonic Rune (3.9% / 8.5%). Potions and runes have separate cooldowns, so use both.
- Shadow: Flask of Supreme Power (9.5%), Brilliant Wizard Oil (3.0%), Elixir of Shadow Power (2.5%), Greater Arcane Elixir (2.2%) and Lobster Stew (1.8%). Mana potions measure as zero for Shadow on most fights.
Remember the catch: per Blizzard's interviews (as reported by WoW Classic Forever), there's no Dungeon Journal, and you can't see an item's stats until it has dropped for you or on your server. Use these lists to plan where to go, not as a final shopping list.
Where to farm at 55–60
Blizzard's new endgame dungeons are Blackmaw Hold (55–60) and Shaper's Terrace (58–60), and Icy Veins still lists their loot as "Coming Soon". The Classic endgame dungeons are also in Forever: Blackrock Depths, Lower and Upper Blackrock Spire, Dire Maul, Scholomance and Stratholme (Icy Veins dungeon overview).
Side note: where Priests rank
On SixtySim's Oct 28 rankings (one boss, one minute, pre-raid), Holy is #3 and Discipline #4 of 5 single-target healers, Shadow is #17 of 25 damage specs and a Smite build is #22. That's simulated on beta data, so treat it as a curiosity until real logs exist.
Still unclear
- A raid boss's spell miss chance in Forever (the 17% figure is Classic's).
- Whether Talisman of Ascendance counts each Penance bolt as a heal (SixtySim assumes yes; untested).
- How often Revelation procs in Forever (not in the client data).
- Real item stats and drop sources, especially from the new dungeons, and where Devout pieces drop.
- Whether the Minor Haste glove formula can be learned at launch.
Sources
- Blizzard: Deep Dive panel recap (combined hit and crit, bonus healing, caster weapons, set bonuses), name reservation, pre-purchase and launch (Nov 4), raid overview (Dec 9)
- SixtySim stat weights (updated Oct 28): Discipline, Holy, Shadow
- SixtySim pre-raid gear, enchants and consumables: Discipline, Holy, Shadow
- Vestments of the Devout set bonuses: ForeverDB, ForeverDiff
- WoW Classic Forever: dungeons (no Dungeon Journal, item stats hidden until they drop)
Fan community guide by Systematic. World of Warcraft © Blizzard Entertainment; we're not affiliated with Blizzard.
Images: header and gearing cheat-sheet by Systematic, using the Systematic wallpaper and brand colours. Ability and item icons on the card © Blizzard Entertainment via Wowhead (Classic icons used as stand-ins; Forever's may differ). Stat weights on the card from SixtySim; set bonuses from ForeverDB/ForeverDiff.
