Draenei shadow priests gone wild!
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Jan 24th 2007 at 11:26AM
... over Gift of the Naaru, their heal-over-time racial that is apparently not usable in shadowform. Hiigara, a Draenei shadow priest that just hit level forty, thinks that Draenei facemelters are being discriminated against by being unable to use their racial because of shadowform's prohibition against holy spells. A very, very, VERY long and interesting conversation follows over whether Gift of the Naaru should count as a holy spell -- does it take into effect plus healing gear? What color do your hands turn when using it? Can it be counterspelled or spell locked? I haven't seen this much discussion about a racial trait since ... well, I guess Will of the Forsaken, which still gets complained about every day.
I sort of agree that if Gift of the Naaru was usable in shadowform, it would largely be a way for people to try to sneak past shadowform's prohibition on healing spells. But on the other hand, it's not like warriors and mages are classes that were intended to heal, and they can definitely use Gift of the Naaru. And priests don't have it easy in WoW (except for the stupid shadow priests that dot people, mount up and ride away, leaving only a trail of purple fire and an angry dead person.)
What do you think? Should GoTN be usable in shadowform, or should shadow priests stick to their pew-pewing?
Filed under: Priest, Analysis / Opinion, Draenei
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Twinny Jan 24th 2007 11:36AM
thats just what we need, a face melter that can heal...
why dont you just give them nuclear weapons?
Baluki Jan 24th 2007 12:20PM
Eh, not every racial ability is usable to every class. (I'm talking to YOU, Throwing Weapons skill on my shaman!) If shadow priests need that healing, they can do what they've always done: let someone else heal them, or come out of shadow form.
I think the bigger question is: why can Draenei be shadow priests to begin with? Shadow is basically Warlock Lite(TM), and they're supposed to be all super-good followers of the Light. I would think that shadow priests would've been the first ones to line up in front of Sargeras when he came around.
Katsiya Jan 24th 2007 12:14PM
Honestly, while it does stink that GoTN can't be used in Shadowform (I was kind of hoping and looking forward to it myself,) it does make sense from both a game play and a lore point of view.
First off, if Shadow Priests (AKA: Facemelters) had the ability to heal in Shadowform, then that would tilt the balance of just about every encounter even more so into their favor. They can already tear through most characters and character builds rather quickly from what I've seen, and giving them the ability to heal with out having to change out would just be over kill, or at least the ability to heal over time with out a chance at stopping it.
Secondly, from the lore side, this ability is, as the name says, a gift from the Naaru. The Naaru, while apparently tolerant of Shadow using Priests and Shaman in general, are beings of light and holy energy. It would make sense for their blessings and other abilities to be holy based. Thus, when the Priest does go into his/her Shadowform, they have to give up the use of GoTN until they change back.
Like I said, while it does stink that it can't be used in Shadowform, I do understand why it can't be.
Shawn Jan 24th 2007 11:54AM
It's a racial ability not a Holy ability so it should work in Shadowform, unless you are no longer considered a Drano when in SF.
Unkle Jan 24th 2007 12:03PM
Pew Pew, not QQ
They already heal with vampiric embrace. Quit whining.
Ragbar Jan 24th 2007 12:11PM
I can't say that I like the idea of shadow priests being able to heal, however, I'm finding it hard to argue against it.
GotN is a racial ability. I don't believe it has a type like "shadow", "fire", or "nature". So therefore, provided it is not a "holy" type spell, they should be allowed to use it.
Kahja Jan 24th 2007 12:22PM
You all talk like they can't heal in shadowform already?
They get their shield and vamipiric embrace as it is... Granted blocking a racial because of your spec is an odd thing to do I understand where it comes from.
My statement would be the same as #5 when she talks about the Naaru and holy energy.
Find me a heal that's not holy based and I'd accept this. (potions/bandaids and do-dads don't count)
Tholrom Jan 24th 2007 1:04PM
er...kahja, I don't think druid heals are holy based. :P
And I agree that the racial heal is not a shadowform ability...htey can heal already and honestly, I don't agree with it being allowed to be used.
Kryz Jan 24th 2007 12:35PM
Undead racials give shadow damage, why shouldn't this be concidered holy? Shadowform doesn't allow holy spells to be cast, this is a holy spell, so if you ar in shadow form, it won't work. If you need to heal that bad, then pop out of form, heal, pop back in.
Justin Jan 24th 2007 3:07PM
the GoTN is a racial ability that should be available to all classes of that race no matter what spec that are. saying that the shadow priests can't use their racial ability is like saying that gnome mages can't use their escape artist because they can blink or human locks can't use perception cause they have detect invisibility. at least thats my 2 copper
@ kahja any of the druid heal are nature not holy type.
jpc Jan 24th 2007 1:00PM
That sucks. I made a draenei priest for this purpose and the +resist to shadow - that seemed like an awesome combo to me.
If it's not allowed, then it should atleast recieve +healing.
If it counts as a holy spell, then hands should turn yellow.
jpc Jan 24th 2007 1:02PM
@khaja (7)
Druids and shaman use nature heals.
Kaelwryn Jan 24th 2007 2:19PM
I believe that Blizzard did a poor job of clarification here. To the best of my knowledge, the tooltip for gotn doesn't say anything about "except for shadow priests in shadow form" nor does it indicate that it is a holy spell.
I agree that it goes against the design/lore of a shadow priest to be able to use healing spells, but then again, doesn't the same ring true for warriors or mages? even hunters? They are allowed to use gotn regardless of their spec/dps/armor/time of day. Why should shadow priests get the shaft on this one?
Kahja Jan 24th 2007 1:14PM
Ok I should have said find me a priest heal that's not holy. I thought about that after I posted it but didn't bother to post a correction lol.
swhertzberg Jan 24th 2007 1:15PM
There are other racials that are blocked by class, such as the already mentioned Troll racial with throwing weapons being blocked by the Shaman class. The alliance has had to deal with the +weapons for humans being blocked in various ways by the casters. it makes sense that if someone wants to spec a certain way that they wouldn't be able to use all of their racials.
However . . . I still think that the undead model with no lower jaw shouldn't be able to cannibalize :)
Acceptable Risk Jan 24th 2007 1:17PM
Can Human and Dwarf Shadow Priests use Desperate Prayer while in Shadowform? If yes, then the Dranei should be able to heal as well.
But then, on the other hand. I'd be more interested in getting some Troll racials that don't suck balls before I worried too much about whether this should work or not.
jpc Jan 24th 2007 1:19PM
@acceptible risk
No they can't.
jpc Jan 24th 2007 1:19PM
But that's not a racial.
Sylythn Jan 24th 2007 5:26PM
Maybe I'm over-simplifying this...but, here's why I don't see a problem with it.
Shadow Priests do not have to be in Shadow Form 100% of the time. They have to come out of it to cast holy spells. Therefore Dranei Shadow Priests can indeed use their racial ability. They are simply restricted from it when in Shadow Form - just like Druids are restricted from some of their abilities when in their animal forms, or Rogues are restricted from some of their abilities while in stealth...or Warriors are restricted in some of their abilities in various stances... As you can see, this type of restriction is NOT unique to Dranei Shadow Priests.
Erich Jan 24th 2007 1:25PM
Like others have said, other racial abilities are wasted when playing a certain class/spec with that race. I don't see this as any different.