Cataclysm Classic Holy Priest Stat Priority

The stat priority for Holy Priest is as follows:

1. Intellect
2. Spirit
3. Haste Rating
4. Mastery Rating
5. Critical Strike Rating

Intellect is the new main stat for all casters, including Holy Priests, replacing Spell Power on every gear slot except for your weapon. Intellect increases your maximum Mana, which increases your Mana regeneration as spells such as Hymn of Hope and talents like Replenishment restore maximum Mana, meaning the more Mana you have, the more gets restored. Every 1 point of Intellect gives 1 Spell Power, making it by far the best stat for Holy. Your Intellect gets further increased by buffs such as Blessing of Kings. This makes Intellect your best stat by far, meaning you should prioritize it over all other stats whenever possible.

Spirit has been changed to Cataclysm to be only found on healer gear. This is primarily a healer stat that grants increased Mana regeneration while not casting. As Holy you get Meditation and Holy Concentration, allowing 80% of your Spirit Mana regeneration to continue even while casting. This is your main way of regenerating Mana during combat, and all of your gear should have Spirit on it as Holy is a very Mana heavy specialization. Your Spirit gets further increased by buffs such as Blessing of Kings, or the Human racial, The Human Spirit.

Haste Rating is the best secondary stat for Holy as it allows you to quickly push out heals when and where they are needed. The main downside of Haste is the added Mana cost during a fight of casting more frequently. Make sure you have enough Spirit to support the amount of Haste you have so you are not often running out of Mana before a fight has ended.

At Level 85:

• 128.05 Haste Rating = 1% Haste

In Cataclysm, Haste adds additional ticks to damage over time and healing over time spells if you reach certain breakpoint numbers. This increases the potency of your healing spells such as Renew by giving them more healing in the same HoT duration. The breakpoints will vary depending on what buffs or racial you have such as the Dark Intent Haste buff, if you are a Goblin with Time is Money, or are under the effect of something like Bloodlust. Hitting these Haste breakpoints is very important as Holy. Compare the Haste percentages on the chart below to your in-game character sheet.

Ticks Gained	Renew	Divine Hymn	Hymn of Hope
1 Extra Tick	12.51%	12.52%	12.52%
2 Extra Ticks	37.52%	37.51%	37.51%
3 Extra Ticks	62.47%	62.54%	62.54%
4 Extra Ticks	87.45%	87.53%	87.53%

Mastery is the new stat added in during Cataclysm and provides a different, unique benefit for every single specialization in the game. For Holy Priests, Mastery gives Echo of Light, adding a heal-over-time to all of your direct healing spells. This applies to nearly all of your heals, excluding Renews HoT and Lightwell, essentially giving you an exta 10% healing on all of your spells. The main downside of this is that generally the raid will quickly get topped up, meaning a decent portion of this healing will be overhealing. Nonetheless, this is a great mastery and only falls slightly behind Haste Rating in terms of raw healing output.

At Level 85:

• 179.28 Mastery Rating = 1% Mastery

While Crit Rating is your worst stat, it isn't bad at all, just worse when compared to both Haste and Mastery. Critting with heals will proc Inspiration on the target, reducing their Physical damage taken by 10%. This is a very important buff to keep applied to your tanks as much as possible. Generally, you should be Reforging Crit into higher priority stats.

At Level 85:

• 179.28 Crit Rating = 1% Crit