Roar! Every Sunday, Spiritual Guidance will offer practical insight for priests of the holy profession. Your host is now Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus, and this week he's going to help you survive against other classes and give you a few basic PvP ideas.

Last week I wrote about talents, gear choices, and augmentations for Priests that were interested in PvP. This week I'm going to cover different techniques that can be used against other classes in the game. I'll also write a bit about basic play styles to increase your survivability and allow you to be an asset to your allies.

Basic tips

The principle of Line of Sight works like this: If you can't see it, you can't hit it. You can make this work for you, or you can let it get you killed. If the other team can't see you, they can't damage you, so make yourself scarce and unseen as much as possible. On the other hand, if you can't see your teammates, you can't heal them. Learn to dodge in and out from behind obstacles to maximize your healing ability, and minimize the amount of damage you take personally.

A good tip for any kind of engagement is to pick a Warrior and stick with him as best as you can. You, your Warrior (or whatever target you've latched on to), and your target should form a triangle. Keep a building or a tree stump in between you and your opponent.

When dealing with other healers, be aggressive. They're just as afraid of getting nuked as you are, and if you can keep them on the run, they won't be able to heal as effectively. Their mana is their team's lifeline - make them waste as much as possible.

Class specific countermeasures

As a Priest, we are able to support other classes so that they can do their jobs better. Especially as a Holy-PvP priest, our role is to keep our nukers alive and annoy the opposition as much as possible. The following are a few simple tips on how to be a big pest:

Against Shamans

Against Priests, Shamans drop a Tremor Totem. Understand that totems are delicate objects: a single tap and they will fall over. So if you need to drop a fear bomb, run in and poke the Tremor Totem first with your melee weapon or wand before dropping your Psychic Scream. Watch your buffs, and expect to be Purged often - Shamans will remove PW:Shield, Fortitude, Inner Fire, and any other magical buff from you and your teammates.

It sucks when they: Tee up Elemental Mastery and various trinkets in order to unload a critical Lightning Overload proccing a critical Chain Lightning. Ouch!

Against Warriors

Maintain your protective spells such as Power Word: Shield, Inner Fire, Prayer of Mending, and Renew as much as possible. Shield especially, since it keeps them from gaining rage. Don't forget some of your racial spells, too: Shadow Guard, Elune's Grace, and Touch of Weakness can be a big help here. If you have a druid on your team, ask for Thorns. Bait out their interrupts as much as you can by casting a heal spell and then canceling it early. With luck, they'll use their interrupts when you're not casting anything and waste their cooldown.

It sucks when they: Mortal Strike and Execute you.

Against Rogues

Thankfully, I'm a Dwarf. Once I get injected with a cocktail of poisons I like to Stoneform and run (waddle) as fast as Dwarvenly possible. Unfortunately, there are no other possible methods to remove poison yourself. Let your teammates know what's going on, and they might be able to cure you. Use the same technique for Warriors on Rogues to try and bait out their interrupts. If you have the talent point to spare, it can be worth it to use Holy Nova (rank 1) to bring them out of stealth before they're ready - and avoid some of their more dangerous attacks.

It sucks when they: Apply all sorts of stun locking moves render you useless.

Against Mages

Keep trying to get out of Line of Sight their spells. Keep your protective spells up as much as you can. If you're able to force an Ice Block, keep the Mass Dispel on standby to remove it and finish them off. Remember that you can break Polymorph with a very well-timed SW:Death.

It sucks when they: Counterspell your Inner Focus Greater Heal.

Against Warlocks

Lots of Dispel work will be required here to remove the various DoT effects on you. Try and time your Fear Ward before they can get their Fear off. If you use it too early, their Fel Hunter can just take it right off of you. If you see an opening, try to drop a few Mana Burns on them and force them to Life Tap. If their pet gets killed, keep an eye on them and save a fear or SW:Death to break their summoning spell.

It sucks when they: Chain Fear, and keep the Fel Hunter on you to eat all your buffs.

Against Hunters

Normally, I'd preach keeping your distance at all times, but in this case you might want to consider staying in close quarters. Hunters are more deadly at a distance. Keep an eye on the ground for traps and avoid them as best as you can. If a Hunter refuses to leave a certain area, it's a good bet that they've laid a trap. Keep a rank 1 Fade available - it's pretty cheap, and sometimes you can fake-out their pets into attacking something else for a second. PW:Shield will also protect you from the spell-pushback their pets cause.

It sucks when they: Nail you with a Silencing Shot and a Viper Sting.

Against Druids

Most of the Druids I've encountered are Resto. As with most healers, the trick is to get them oom as quickly as possible. Dispel their HoTs - re-casting them all the time will eat up precious mana. Pay attention to their form. If you can fake them out with a Mind Control, they may change forms - all that popping in and out can make them go oom, too. Remember that Mana Burn only works when they're in some kind of caster form: Humanoid, Tree, or Moonkin. Watch your teammates for Faerie Fire - the reduction in armor can be a pain.

It sucks when they: Constantly chain Cyclone you.

Against Priests

It pains me to write this section, but sometimes you will have to defend yourself against your brothers and sisters. Dispelling Fortitude off their teammates is effectively like dealing 1k damage. If they are Holy or Disc, this is essentially going to be an endurance race. The Priest that goes oom first loses. Keep an eye on Pain Suppression and Power Infusion buffs on any of their nearby friends, as well. A good Fear+Mana Burn combo can be very effective. Against Shadow Priests, keep their DoTs at bay, and don't be afraid to throw SW:P on them. If you can force them out of Shadowform to cast a heal, any of your melee teammates can finish them of relatively quickly.

It sucks when they: Read this post, too.

Against Paladins

Holy Paladins aren't a direct threat to you, but can make a match drag on forever. Mana Burn them into oblivion. Retribution Paladins can be a big annoyance, similar to a Rogue or Warrior. Try to keep range on them as much as you can, and squeeze in Mana Burn shots. Watch for their Divine Shield and be ready with a Mass Dispel. If you're fortunate enough to be a Troll, casting a Hex of Weakness on their teammates will reduce all healing taken by 20%. Best of all, it's a curse, so the Paladin won't be able to remove it.

It sucks when they: Line-of-Sight your Mana Burn.

Obviously this is not a comprehensive list on everything that Priests can do and what they should know. If you want to elevate your game further, I strongly suggest checking a Priests guide to PvP from DwarfPriest.com.

On a different note

I was on two podcasts this week if you're interested in getting to know a little more about the Priest behind this column. You can find me on the Twisted Nether blogcast at some point early this week as well as the WoW Insider show.

Want to find more great tips for carrying out your Priestly duties? Spiritual Guidance has you covered -- before the long hiatus, we checked out Priest racials (which are handy for PvP) and old school Priest gear. And don't forget to check the WoW Insider Directory for more priestly info -- there's lots of guides, writeups and discussions over there as well.

Filed under: Priest, Tips, Tricks, How-tos, PvP, Classes, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance, Battlegrounds, Arena