Credits to Sharlin Q. What does discipline bring to the table? A. Discipline priests have highly efficient, but powerful single target (tank) healing with supplementary mitigation buffs on a tank. They also have some useful buffs for the raid, high mana regen, and excellent single target healing and mobility due to increased haste, and instant 'ohcrap' abilities on a low cooldown. Many people believe that holy is a superior single target spec because of spiritual healing, spiritual guidance, enlightenment, guardian spirit, and to a lesser extent, serendipity, which generally provide more sustained HPS. Holy is viable for single target direct healing, and is certainly more versatile - however in the realm of single target healing, discipline is undoubtedly also a powerful option.   Things that your discipline priest can provide : * -3% damage taken on players that the discipline priest is healing. The damage mitigation portion of this buff currently does not stack with Blessing of Sanctuary. * Inspiration will have excellent up time from a properly geared disc priest, which is + 25% armor on the tank. A properly geared priest will gain approximately +1%~ increased critical strike rating from Mental Strength - more as gear level increases - and +4% increased critical strike rating from Renewed Hope. Thus a disicpline priest has about a 5% better chance to apply inspiration, a portion of that scaling with gear and buffs. * Fast Mass Dispels for group cleansing. * Discipline priests have higher intellect than holy priests, which at level 80 translates DIRECTLY into higher mana regeneration. They also have a regeneration mechanic based off of max mana pool and effective healing. The replenishment buff from shadow priests, ret paladins, and survival hunters is also based off of max mana pool, meaning that a discipline priest gains more benefits from it than a holy priest. The main reason discipline has 'better' mana regeneration, is that addition to having obviously better character sheet mana regen from the constant int boost through mental strength, their mechanics are based on effective healing and maximum mana pool, rather than the holy style of getting a chance to proc holy concentration or surge of light to escape the FSR, and returns based on overhealing a target via serendipity. * + 80 Spirit to members of the raid. If you do not have a shaman in the group providing flametongue totem, then a discipline priest can also provide + 80 additional spellpower to members of the raid. Increased DPS for your highest DPS casters via power infusion ( -20% mana cost to spells, + 20% haste). This can also be used on a healer, or on the priest himself. With aspiration, this has a 1 minute uptime on a 5 minute fight, assuming you cast it immediately. Pain Suppression, aka second shieldwall - useable 3 times in a 5 minute fight assuming you cast it immediately. The 5% threat drop applies to threat generated only during the actual buff duration. The 'missing' threat does not return. Things that your discipline priest will not be so great at : * Group healing/Cross-group healing. If you want a discipline priest to do group healing it is best to put them in a group that they will be within 30 yards range of to cast prayer of healing, which is still inefficient at best for group healing. General FAQ for Discipline Priests Q. So i want to spec discipline. What talent points make or break the spec? A. Talents that stand alone : Twin Disciplines Meditation Mental Agility Divine Spirit (Not Improved Divine Spirit) Mental Strength Enlightenment Rapture Divine Aegis Grace Pennance Holy Specialization Inspiration Focused Power Improved PWF Improved Inner Fire Talents that support Core Discipline abilities : Improved PWS Aspiration Borrowed Time Renewed Hope Supplementary Utility options include Pain Suppression and Power Infusion. Talents that you shouldn't take : Silent Resolve Martyrdom Improved Mana Burn Focused Will Reflective Shield Talents that are currently under heavy debate : Holy Focus Improved Healing Improved Renew Q. Healing Focus - Is it useless? A. This talent is currently under heavy scrutiny - It's definitely fine to heal without it in PVE as discipline ( I do so ). Some people somehow end up losing ticks of Penance, a phenomenon i have yet to encounter, but if you ARE experiencing this then it may be in your best interest to pick it up. See above for example builds that do, and do not include healing focus.   Q. Improved DS - What's the deal? A. Improved DS does not stack with the shaman Flametongue totem buff, which provides more spellpower than Improved DS does. It is not worth taking in a raid setting where shamans are present. The standard DS talent is still worthwhile as many classes utilize the extra spirit now for damage conversions.   Q. What Glyphs Should i use? A. Glyph of PWS - This is essentially the best glyph in a discipline priests lineup. It adds 20% of your absorption effect on PWS as a heal, which is instant. Thus it essentially adds that amount of healing to your already powerful shields, and additionally makes your shields just that much more efficient. Glyph of Flash Heal - This glyph is essential if you intend to use Flash Heal at all. It brings the mana efficiency of Flash Heal ALMOST to the level of Greater Heal, and is one of the better glyphs available to us as priests. Glyph of Shadowfiend - This minor glyph that i would consider fairly major (pun intended). We all know that shadowfiend may sometimes die when we would prefer it not to. This glyph will return 5% of your maximum mana when your shadowfiend dies from damage. This is obviously good for us since our maximum mana pools are typically large, due to our focus on intellect. This can actually be beneficial in another way, as you can wait until your shadowfiend duration is almost over ANYWAYS, and then attempt to position it where it will die from something. This tactic can be extremely rewarding if you can manage to pull it off correctly.   Q. What should i be casting? A. The bread and butter spells of a discipline priest are PWS & Pennance. Prayer of mending is an excellent option due to the fact that it can now crit, which will proc Divine Aegis, and that it bounces between group members which again will supplement your poor group healing abilities in situations where it's necessary. You have to cast something when your cooldowns are down usually, and there are two schools of thought on this. Many people believe that when you've glyphed Flash Heal, you can cast Flash Heal when your bread and butter abilities are on cooldown, and that it's superior to casting greater heal. Still other people believe that you should be casting Greater Heal. The debate on the matter is centralized on the following : Pro Flash Heal 1. While greater heal is slightly more mana efficient than a glyphed flash heal, Flash Heal has a smaller chance to over heal, maximizing returns from rapture. 2. In a similar window of time to casting one greater heal, you can cast 2 flash heals and have more of a chance to critically strike, proccing Divine Aegis. Pro Greater Heal 1. Greater heal is more efficient assuming you time it well and it does not overheal. Some players find this to be a fairly easy task. 2. It takes slightly longer to achieve the same amount of healing with Flash Heal, and since Divine Aegis currently overwrites itself, a second critical strike with Flash Heal may be wasted anyways. Additionally any Divine Aegis proc from Flash Heal will yield a smaller shield than a Divine Aegis proc from a Greater Heal.

Hello Matt’s Readers!  For those of you who remember me, I’m back playing WoW and writing my blog again.  For those of you who don’t, I’m Galadria and I write Galadria’s Corner (yes I renamed it… again) formerly The Light and The Dark formerly The Holy Light.  I’ve got raiding experience on 2 level 70 Priests, one Holy and one Shadow, and I’m now rolling new toons on a new server, another Priest and now a Warlock (they’re both 40ish at the moment).  Without further ado, here’s my thoughts on Professions in Wrath! Professions have taken a slightly different flavor in WotLK. Each has its own unique benefits, even the gathering professions. It seems to me that Blizz decided to balance not only classes, but professions. Tailoring was so incredibly OP for casters that I felt I didn’t have a choice but to learn Tailoring or be horribly gimped in raid.  With each profession having something special, the selection of your professions requires a little more thought (especially if you’re leveling new toons like I am!). The information included is from the Beta and WoWHead’s WotLK site. Since WotLK isn’t live yet this data isn’t set in stone there are likely to be a few changes. When the expansion goes live I’ll let you know what changed and how (over at my blog, or course, so add me to your reader if you haven’t already!  /shameless plug off). With the disclaimers out of the way, here we go! Alchemy Double duration on Flasks and Elixirs Increased effects of Flasks & Elixirs (it appears that the increased effects are 37 spellpower for flasks and 19 spellpower for Battle Elixirs, not sure about Guardian Elixirs) BoP trinket (Mercurial Alchemist Stone) that will increase effects of Pots by 40%. The highest mana potion grants 4200 to 4400 and we’ll assume that the average is in the middle. Adding 40% gives 6020 mana.  Let’s assume for simplicity’s sake that boss fights are 5 mins (I’ve heard as low a 3 and up to 8).  Over a 5 min boss fight, the unbuffed mana pot gives 71.5 MP5, the buffed is 100.3 MP5.  Using the same logic for health pots, with the largest being about 3600 plus 40% gives 5040, giving 12 HPS unbuffed and 16.8 HPS buffed (I’m not sure how meaningful that statistic is, but there you go… I did the math for you!) If PvP is your thing, there are also craftable Arena potions. The Bottom Line: Alchemy can be a great profession for anyone. The double duration will save you money and I think the Alchemy stone will be very valuable with the potion changes (my gut is telling me that this is going to be one of the more powerful profession benefits available, but nothing is set in stone yet).  It can also be a money maker if you can get your hands on some of the rare or discovered recipes.  If you are going to be an Alchemist I highly recommend Herbalism to go with it so you don’t have to purchase Herbs. Blacksmithing Extra Socket for Bracers and Gloves Entry level BoP Epic Weapon The Bottom Line: I can’t recommend Blacksmithing for any caster since we can’t use the majority of the crafted products. Enchanting Enchanter only Ring enchants that give 19 spell power or 24 stamina The Bottom Line: I think we’ll find Enchanting to be less tedious to level and make money off of than it used to be with the introduction of scrolls.  A friend told me that she was actually able to make a little money selling the enchanted scrolls that she made while leveling Enchanting.  While it’s a pain to level, Enchanting requires no gathering profession and therefore pairs well with Tailoring or any gathering profession for money making.  To me the ring enchants aren’t enough to make me level the profession, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good option for any caster (as it has always been!) Engineering Mounts Utility enchants for gloves (rocket launcher, haste) Portable Mailbox and Vendor Epic Helmets - This is a level 72 helmet, I’m sure there will be a level 80 one but I can’t anything on WoWHead right now. The Bottom Line: I’m not sure Engineering is a great choice for a caster… but I don’t think it’s a bad one either.  The Repair Bot brings a lot of utility to raid and there’s no denying the mounts are really cool.  If Engineering is your thing I can’t knock you for it. Herbalism Lifeblood: a self HoT that scales with Herbalism level, costs no mana, and does not trigger the GCD. At it’s current incarnation Rank 6, available at 450 Herbalism grants 2000 health over 5 seconds with a 3 min cooldown. If used every time it’s available it averages out to 11 HPS. Fire Seed: increases spellpower by 200 for 10 seconds with a 1 min cooldown. It also increases damage taken by 10% and reduces all resistances to zero. Shares a cooldown with other crafted consumables (Drums and Grenades but not Pots, Healthstones, or Mana Gems) Herbalism provides the raw materials for the crafting professions of Alchemy and Inscription The Bottom Line: As far as gathering professions go, Herbalism is my favorite and the 2 crafting professions Herbalism benefits are both useful to a caster. If you need a profession to make money for you Herbalism can be a good choice, especially since there are now 2 crafting professions that benefit from it and therefore more demand.  Also, Lifeblood has saved my tail more than once!! Inscription Scroll of Recall - consumable hearthstone with a 20 min cooldown that is separate from regular hearthstone BoP Off-Hands - There’s a PvP oriented one (or Lock tank) and a general caster one.  Both look to be pretty good. Scribe only Shoulder enchants - these are MUCH better than the reputation versions Crag (spell power and MP5) - Craftable and Reputation Storm (spell power and crit) - Craftable and Reputation The extra Glyph slot was taken out. The Bottom Line: I can tell you from personal experience that the Scroll of Recall is HIGHLY useful, but it’s not a raid benefit.  The shoulder enchants are much better than the reputation versions and don’t require a rep grind on top of it. I’m leveling Inscription on my Priest and really liking it!  If you are going to have Inscription for a profession I recommend Herbalism to go with it so you will have easy access to the raw materials for Milling. Jewelcrafting Slightly better epic gems - you can equip up to 3 and they are prismatic to match any socket color.  The JC only gems have 7 crit, haste, or hit, 3 MP5, 11 sta, or 9 sp more than their counterparts.  These are epic gems so to see this benefit you’ll need gear you’re willing to put epic gems in! Entry level BoP trinkets - Healer, or Caster DPS The Bottom Line: Jewelcrafting can be a money maker if you can get the high-end patterns, though it is very expensive to level (second only to Blacksmithing).  If you are going to have this as a profession I would recommend Mining to go with it so you have easy access to the ore for Prospecting. Leatherworking Bracer enchants that are substantially better than other options Drums appear to be removed. The Bottom Line: Leatherworking is like Blacksmithing, I can’t recommend it for a caster Mining Health bonus that scales with mining level Mining provides the raw materials for the crafting professions of Blacksmithing and Jewlecrafting and is recommended for Engineering. The Bottom Line: If you are a Jewelcrafter, Mining is a good choice for your second profession.  Also not a bad idea to accompany Engineering.  I also know several people that have paired it with Enchanting to make money Skinning Bonus to Crit rating (now that Crit is a uniform stat this will benefit melee as well as casters) Skinning provides the raw materials for the crafting profession Leatherworking. The Bottom Line: If you need money Mining or Herbalism will make you a lot more money and Leatherworking just doesn’t benefit us.  However, if you are going to have 2 gathering professions for leveling or on an alt skinning pairs well with the others since you can’t track herbs and mineral nodes at the same time. Tailoring Tailor only Leg enchants with cheaper mats. Tailor only Cloak enchants Bonus cloth drops BoP Flying Carpet Mount Entry level raiding gear The Bottom Line: It appears that Tailoring won’t be practically necessary for clothies this time around. Yay! I have never really liked Tailoring, the only reason I had it was to get the gear. That said, Tailoring is nice because it requires no gathering profession and can be easy to level while you level your toon since you are always picking up cloth. Bags can be a money maker on some servers (my experience is that it will be more profitable on low-pop servers). There you have it!  You can look at the BOP benefits of each and see which suits your playstyle best.  I think we’ll see a lot more variety in professions this time around.  I’m really looking forward to seeing where the expansion takes us.

 Credits to Adrenaline SL _________________       Firstly, thanks for checking out the FAQ.  Second, welcome (though I think I should've said those in the reverse order).  This Priest Epic Quest FAQ was conceived with one purpose: to help new and old level 60 priests alike who are interested in wielding their very own glittery Benediction/Anathema by providing information on quest prerequisites, preparation tips and strategies on the quest itself.  With this in mind, I can only assume that you as the reader know everything that I'm talking about or am about to discuss herein.  Of course, I will elaborate on the more obscure points.  Be aware that I will be using a lot of online gaming terms that you may or may not have heard of, out of habit.  I'll save you from my usual verbose ramblings and cut this intro unfortunately short. ;) *****************************************************************************                               IMPORTANT NOTE!       All information contained within this document has been proven to work for this quest as of Patch 1.10 (unless otherwise specified).  If there has been any changes in succeeding patches, please notify me to help make addendums.  As the quest is not repeatable by the same character, it is not possible for me to go back and double check on everything myself.  Thanks! :) *****************************************************************************  Contents ~~~~~~~~~~     I.  What Is It?    II.  Getting Started           A.  Prerequisites           B.  Talent Build           C.  Gear                a. My Personal Gear Setup           D.  Items & Buffs                a. Items You Should Have                b. Recommended Items                c. Buffs & Food                d. Item/Buff Checklist   III.  The Encounter           A.  Quest Location           B.  Quest Description           C.  Tips & Strategies           D.  The Final Reward    IV.  Section You Ignore           A.  Version History           B.  Credits           C.  Contact Info           D.  Legal Junk           E.  Closing Statement   =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=                                - I. What Is It? - =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=       If you've come to this FAQ, more likely than not you are actively seeking the knowledge in preparing for and overcoming the encounter.  Fear not, we will get to that later.  Let's first address the question: What is it?  What is this so-called epic priest quest?  What exactly is so "epic" about it?  The quest itself isn't so much as a task of epic proportions.  However, the reward you get is what you would call in World of Warcraft (hereon referred to as WoW) terms "epic."  The reward is the Priest only weapon, Benediction, which can be transformed into Anathema.  Benediction and Anathema are two different forms of the same weapon with different passive abilities to accommodate Holy and Shadow priests, respectively.       Besides having really cool graphics, Benediction/Anathema is, perhaps, the definitive priest weapon.  You won't need to upgrade it for a long while. Possessing this fairly elusive epic weapon is a tell-tale sign of your skills as a priest...well, kind of.  Obtaining it is not easy.  It calls for a bit of patience in preparing for it (details on why later), hence the need for this guide. =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=                             - II. Getting Started - =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=       This section will equip you with all the information you need to prepare for the quest. +----+ | A. |  Prerequisites +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       As with many great challenges in the World of Warcraft, there are a few prerequisites that you must meet in order for you to be able to trigger the event.        First and foremost, you have to be a Priest--a no-brainer obviously but you'd be surprised by how many people have asked me where my Benediction/Anathema (hereon after referred to as just "Benny") dropped.  The quest and the weapon itself require that you be level 60.  Once those two conditions are easily fulfilled, your level 60 priest must find a raid group that is capable of defeating Major Domo Executus from Molten Core.  He drops the Eye of Divinity, the first of two required pieces to acquiring the ultimate quest reward.  The Eye has a 50% drop rate, with the Ancient Petrified Leaf (the hunter epic quest initiator) being the other drop.       The second required piece is the Eye of Shadow, which, unlike the Eye of Divinity, is Bind on Equip.  This means that it can be found on the Auction House for generally about 200 - 800g depending on the economy of your server and its rarity.  Lord Kazzak from the Blasted Lands also has a chance to drop the Eye, but being a world raid boss, he is often camped by high-end raiding guilds.  Your third option is to farm (to kill things repeatedly for hours on end until desired item(s) is obtained -- normally a practice performed by paid Chinese players) the elite demons in Dark Whisper Gorge at the southern edge of Winterspring.  Specifically, you want to kill the Hederine Slayers and Hederine Initiates (doom guard and succubus-like demons).  This process may take 45 mins or it may take hours or even days.  Just be patient and farm with dogged perseverance.       It is entirely possible to solo these elite demons if you have access to a Druid, Hunter or Paladin.  Other classes may have a very slim chance, but it's usually recommended to have two others with you for a guaranteed kill and more efficient farming.  There's also a chance that other people may be farming for exactly what you want, so competition for mobs is unavoidable.                                               +----+ | B. |  Talent Build +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       It is generally encouraged that your priest be Holy specced.  However, it is not a necessity to be a more heal-friendly build.  I myself was able to complete the quest with minimal problems on my first try with a heavy Shadow build.  Of course, having Holy Nova will greatly facilitate the encounter (details on why that is when I discuss the actual encounter), but completely do-able without.  If respeccing is a pain for you, it means that being well- prepared in gear and items is all the more important for your success. +----+ | C. |  Gear +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       Since this is after all an epic quest, a common misconception is that your gear needs to also be epic.  This is garbage.  What you need is the right kind of gear.  Having a good balance of intellect, +healing and mana regen gear is key.  A high base mana regeneration rate is ideal because the encounter can be both long and very exhausting on your mana pool.  If you are Shadow specced, it is imperative that you have all the mana regen gear you can get, especially since you most likely have less mana than Holy priests.  A good place to get such gear is in Dire Maul.  In fact, most, if not all, of my gear is from Dire Maul.   ____ | a. | My Personal Gear Setup |___// Crown of the Ogre Magi    (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35859) Elder Magus Pendant   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35769) Devout Mantle   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=20469) Mindsurge Robe   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35959) Sublime Wristguards   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35879) Shadowy Laced Handwraps   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=37195) Whipvine Cord   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35651) Padre's Trousers   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35781) Boots of the Full Moon   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35634) Emerald Flame Ring   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35701) Seal of Rivendare   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=14960) Mindtap Talisman   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35819) Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=38410) Quel'dorai Channeling Rod   (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=35686)       Take note that NONE of this gear is epic and is therefore easily attainable if you just put in the time.  You don't NEED the exact same gear, but having the majority of or better gear would most certainly help.  I understand that it isn't probable to be able to acquire most of this gear in a timely fashion, so just do your best to imitate this setup if you want.       +----+ | D. |  Items & Buffs +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------             Even if you are sporting a full set of Prophecy and have 9000 mana, it may still not be enough for you to complete the quest successfully.  In addition to the gear, you will need to bring with you a variety of consumables.  It would also be a major benefit to you if had some buffs.       Instead of bunching all the items into one or two enormous paragraphs, here's a list of things you should have and why they are useful.   ____ | a. | Items You Should Have |___//       No if's and but's about it.  These are the items you need to have with you.    Oil of Immolation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       If you've looked around the internet for resources on preparing for this quest prior to viewing this FAQ, you'll notice that 99.9% of all guides recommend bringing this.  This FAQ is no different.  Oil of Immolation is a must!  It is highly touted because not only will it kill off the things trying to hinder you relatively quickly, there is no cooldown on its usage.  Quantity: At least 10 Materials: Firebloom x1, Goldthorn x1, Crystal Vial x1     Found: Made by Alchemists    Major Mana Potion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       There shouldn't even be any discussion about this.  As I've mentioned previously, the encounter will drain your mana like crazy.  A quick recharge goes a long way.  Getting this should not be a problem.  I recommend running Dire Maul North tribute runs multiple times to stock up on these potions.  Quantity: At least 2 Materials: Dreamfoil x3, Icecap x2, Crystal Vial x1     Found: Made by Alchemists and dropped by mobs level 56 and up    Night Dragon's Breath ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       a.k.a. plant of uberness.  This baby restores a fairly small amount of both your health AND mana (approx. 400 of each).  It may not seem like much, but the cooldown is two minutes and does not share a cooldown with any of your other consumables.  That is always a win!       Picking these plants is quite a bit of work.  First, you need to have a decent stock of Cenarion Plant Salve (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=2948).  Next, you need to find the spawn points of this plant.  There are resources on the internet for this.  Once found, using 4 Cenarion Plant Salve you must cleanse the corrupted Night Dragon's Breath.  Only after it is cleansed can you pluck the fruits of your efforts.  Sometimes you may stumble across a bugged plant that will not allow you to pick it even after it's been cleansed.  Don't worry, it's broken as intended.  (There's really nothing you can do about it when this happens.  Trust me, I've contacted a GM about it before.)  Quantity: At least 5     Found: In Felwood    Whipper Root Tuber ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       Along the same botanical properties as its sister plant, Whipper Root Tubers restore 700 to 900 health.  This is important because during the encounter you will not have the time nor luxury to heal yourself, so the Whipper Root plays an important role in keeping you up.  Read above for some info on how to procure this plant.  Quantity: At least 5     Found: In Felwood    Lesser Mana Oil ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       This item falls on the thin veil between necessity and optional.  The need for this is kind of dependent upon your current gear setup, but it goes along with my strong advocacy for mana regen gear.  It doesn't hurt to have it anyway.  Rubbing some of this fine oil on your weapon enchants it with the passive effect: restores 8 mana every 5 seconds.  Each application lasts for 30 minutes.  Quantity: 1 (Each one has 5 uses) Materials: Dream Dust x3, Purple Lotus x2, Crystal Vial x1     Found: Made by Enchanters  ____ | b. | Recommended Items |___//       These are recommended and are therefore optional.  Totally nice to have though.    Major Rejuvenation Potion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       This nifty potion instantly restores 1440 to 1760 health and mana.  It's a great potion to have, but the recipe itself is not easy to come by.  As such not too many alchemists have it.  Those who do will probably charge a fee to make it.  Quantity: 1 is usually enough Materials: Heart of the Wild x1, Dreamfoil x4, Golden Sansam x4, Imbued Vial            x1     Found: Made by Alchemists  Demonic Runes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       Demonic Runes restore 600 to 900 mana at the expense of 600 to 1000 health.  If you cast Power Word: Shield on yourself before consuming one, the damage should be absorbed.  The damage used to be affected by the amount of +shadow damage you wear and could potentially kill you in one consumption, but that has changed.  For the better, thankfully.   Quantity: 5     Found: Dropped by mainly Satyrs and any high level demons  ____ | c. | Buffs & Foods |___//       Besides having your own Power Word: Fortitude, I recommend that you enlist the help of other fellow players, such as Druids, Mages and buff bitches -- oops, I mean Paladins -- for their sexy buffs.  If you are on Horde, I have heard that Shaman may drop totems without it constituting as outside aid (someone please confirm), but I am unsure about this.       Let me mention in advance that these buffs are not completely necessary, but they will help tremendously.        ***** Note: You can have only one food induced buff active at any given time.  Being the mana regen whore that I am, I highly recommend the Nightfin Soup. ;) *****    Class Buffs ~~~~~~~~~~~~~       These are buffs special to certain classes.  They should not be hard to get unless you are a social outcast who is hated by everyone...which is a sad thing when a Priest is scorned.  If you also do not know who to turn to for these buffs, I can only stare at you in disbelief, wondering how you even got to 60 in the first place.   Divine Spirit       * Shadow specced priests do not have this.  They will have to find a          Discipline/Holy priest who is willing to help a sister out.   Mark of the Wild   Thorns   Arcane Intellect   Blessing of Wisdom   Blessing of Kings   Concentration/Retribution Aura       * Again, I cannot confirm this, but I believe you can be in the same            group as a paladin with impunity.  Night Fin Soup ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      Effect: Restores 8 mana every 5 seconds for 10 mins.    Quantity: 1 for each attempt    Requires: 250 Cooking Ingredients: Raw Nightfin Snapper x1, Refreshing Spring Water x1    Runn Tum Tuber Surprise ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      Effect: Increases Intellect by 10 for 10 mins.    Quantity: 1 for each attempt    Requires: 275 Cooking Ingredients: Runn Tum Tuber x1 (from Dire Maul), Soothing Spices x1    Cerebral Cortex Compound ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~      Effect: Increases Intellect by 25 for 60 mins.    Quantity: 1 (Unique)    Requires: Basilisk Brain x10, Vulture Gizzard x2    Comments: This is received as a "quest reward" from Blasted Lands.  Near              the entrance coming from Swamp of Sorrows are a couple of High              Elves who give out these quests.  You must kill the mobs around              Blasted Lands and bring them the required number of organs they              request.  Only one Blasted Lands buff may be active at any given               time.    Gizzard Gum ~~~~~~~~~~~~~      Effect: Increases Spirit by 25 for 60 mins.    Quantity: 1 (Unique)    Requires: Vulture Gizzard x10, Snickerfang Jowl    Comments: Another Blasted Lands buff.   ____ | d. | Item/Buff Checklist: |___//       Here's a handy checklist to make sure you've got everything you need to handle this encounter.   Quest items:     __ Eye of Divinity   Consumables/Potions:     __ Oil of Immolation x10     __ Night Dragon's Breath x5     __ Whipper Root Tuber x5     __ Major Mana Potion x2     __ Lesser Mana Oil     __ Major Rejuvenation Potion     __ Demonic Runes   Buffs:     __ Nightfin Soup     __ Runn Tum Tuber Surprise     __ Cerebral Cortex Compound     __ Gizzard Gum     __ Mark of the Wild     __ Thorns     __ Arcane Intellect     __ Power Word: Fortitude     __ Divine Spirit     __ Blessing of Wisdom     __ Blessing of Kings   =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=                              - III. The Encounter - =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=       So you think you've done everything you could to prepare for the quest.  Yes, preparing for this quest was very time-consuming and required a lot of work on your part, and here's why.  The quest giver is on a global two hour cooldown.  This means that if ANYONE (on both Alliance and on Horde) on the server has spoken to the NPC and has attempted the quest (whether succeeded or failed) the NPC despawns and will not appear until two hours later.  So, if you are ill-prepared for the quest and happen to fail, this means you have to wait two hours to try again, and this wait time does not calculate the possibility that there are probably twenty other priests trying the same quest.       The other reason is that during the duration of the encounter, you may NOT receive ANY outside help whether from guild members, friends or people passing by.  Any hints of assistance will deactivate the entire event and cause an automatic failure.  Therefore, all those buffs and items will be your only aid.       It is probably useful to note that you do NOT need the Eye of Shadow to initiate the quest.  You simply need it to complete and create Benny.  In other words, once you've acquired the Eye of Divinity, you may attempt this quest.  Keep in mind that you will need to have the Eye of Divinity equipped during the entire encounter or you will not be able to see any of what's going on.       ***** As an unconfirmed note, I had a friend of mine, who's also a priest, try this quest using the Spectral Essence (http://www.thottbot.com/?i=18570) without having the Eye of Divinity.  I saw her do the quest with my own eyes.  It may have been a system oversight.  I cautiously mention this because I have no other grounds on which to base this. ***** +----+ | A. |  Quest Location +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       The quest NPC's name is Erin Havenfire and can be found atop a mound to the west of the main Stratholme entrance.  There is a short tunnel, at the end of which eventually leads to Terrordale.  If you've reached Terrordale, you've already gone too far.  If you have an add-on that allows you to view coordinates on your World Map, the (x,y) coordinates are (20, 18).  You must have the Eye of Divinity equipped to see her.  If you cannot find her, then it's likely that someone has initiated the quest before you and you must now wait for her to respawn. +----+ | B. |  Quest Description +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       Up until this point, I have been pretty vague and discreet about revealing the details of the quest.  There isn't really a reason for it, just that I wanted to save all the juicy details for this section.  After you've spoken to Erin Havenfire, you will need to read through her personal tragedy that explains why you must do what you are about to do.  In essence, she hopes that you will succeed in doing what she has failed.  When you accept to perform the quest, The Balance of Light and Shadow (http://www.thottbot.com/?qu=7622), the event will begin.  From the cave entrance a plethora of peasants will spawn, some of whom are diseased.  Help them escape unharmed as they flee from the Scourge.  They will slowly walk from the cave entrance toward the quest giver.  Strangely enough they seem pretty casual about it when their lives are in jeopardy.       You just have to do everything in your power to keep them healthy.  Easy enough.  However, while they are skipping along to home base, enemy skeletal archers from unreachable distances are popping arrows into their sides and constant waves of ground troops are also collaborating to bring death to these poor peasants.  The archers cannot be killed.  The skeletal footmen, however, can be.  This is where the Oil of Immolation becomes a crucial element to your success.  More on that in Tips & Strategies.       The quest begins slow, but the peasants don't come in just one wave.  There are at least five or six waves before the quest is finished.  You'll find that this event will quickly elevate to a frantic game of whack-a-mole except instead of a mallet you have Holy spells, all the while keeping yourself alive. +----+ | C. |  Tips & Strategies +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       The very first thing you need to do as you're standing in front of the quest giver is arrange all your consumables on your action bars, where they can easily be accessed without too much searching.  Second, open up your spell book and bring out the following three spells: Abolish Disease, Renew (rank 6) and Flash Heal (rank 4 or 5).  Assign these three spells to easy hotkeys (such as 1, 2, 3) side-by-side for easy access.  Third, press V to display an NPC's health over their heads.  This will save worlds of pain and help you keep tabs on the peasants' health for when they begin spawning in a frenzy.       When you are about ready, start popping all your food buffs.  Hopefully when you requested for class buffs, you got the hour long durations or you have the players themselves along with you.  Now you should be fully prepared to undertake this task.  It is not easy.       I cannot tell you how to do this step-by-step, but here are some valuable tips that will bring you one step closer to victory.  Watch Your Health! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       This may seem like a laughable tip, but you'd be surprised by how many priests I've seen die simply because they did not keep track of their own health because they were too immersed in watching other life bars.  A Power Word: Shield here and there, plus a renew or potions on yourself should do the trick.   Handling The Skellies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       Those skeleton footmen can be a real pain.  Not only do they slowly dwindle away your health and the peasants' health if they have aggro, but they can interrupt your heals.  Pop an Oil of Immolation every chance you get.  The skellies have very low health and die in a matter of seconds with the immolation effect active.  Just remember to consume them when you can.  Also unleash a full rank Psychic Scream every now and then if you can spare it.  Again, a Shield usually protects you for the full duration it is up.  If you have Holy Nova, a low rank (2 or 3 is fine) will do away with them instantly.  The Peasants ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       At the beginning of each wave, you'll notice a couple peasants glowing a sickly green or purple.  These specifics must be targeted right away and cleansed with Abolish Disease. (Abolish Disease is much more effective because there's a slight chance the same peasant may be diseased again. :))  As the peasants sustain damage from the archers, throw a Renew on the more healthy ones and Flash heal the more endangered ones.        Keep a sharp eye out 'til the current wave reaches the back.  However, do not wait for them to despawn completely.  Once the current wave of peasants are nearly safe at the end point, quickly head to the cave entrance to escort the fresh batch of peasants with no delay.  Cleanse accordingly and keep everyone as healthy as possible.  If a peasant stops to battle a skeleton, keep a Renew on him or her and help melee the skeleton.       As the quest suggests, do not allow more than 15 peasants slip away or you will fail the quest.  Possible Outside Help ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~       This tactic bends the rules just slightly, as they are technically helping but are not really doing anything per se.  As far as I know (from friends' experience), you simply have a Warrior, Paladin or Druid (in bear form) all with the Thorns buff stand a little bit to the right of the cave entrance, or even better spread them along the entrance.        When the skellies spawn, they will aggro your Thorned friends.  Your friends will not see what is hitting them, but are for sure taking damage.  As long as they refrain from moving a muscle, the skeletons will slowly die due to the Thorns effect and take some of the burden of the skellies from you.  I do not know if Blizzard has changed the encounter so that this tactic does not work in recent patches, so let me know. +----+ | D. |  The Final Reward +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       In all the chaos, you won't be able to keep track of the number of peasants you've saved, but when you complete the quest successfully you'll get the standard yellow text splashed across your screen: The Balance of Light and Shadow (Complete).  Perfect!       Now speak with Havenfire to receive your ultimate reward...the Splinter of Nordrassil!  What do you mean you don't get Benny?  Of course, you do!  This is where you need to have both the Eye of Divinity and Eye of Shadow.  Combine all three to create Benediction!  Simply right-click on the Splinter when all three are in your inventory.       Congratulations, my epic staffed friend.  You can transform the staff in and out of Benediction or Anathema with a 30 minute cooldown between each transformation.         Okay, well I've told you all that I know to equip you with the know-how to carry out this task.  The only thing now is to rely on yourself and your skills.  Just stay calm and focus.  If you fail, fret not.  Persistence is a powerful force and will help you accomplish anything.  And Godspeed to you if you are on a PvP server.  (Go eat poopy and choke on it, you griefers.) =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=                             - IV. Section You Ignore - =~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=~-~=       You can ignore this, you know... +----+ | A. |  Version History +----+----------------------------------------------------------------------- Version 1.0a | Released July 2, 2006       Just corrected a few little things here and there.  Also added that "Important Note" at the top. Version 1.0  | Released June 30, 2006       The first public release of the FAQ.  Everything that I've planned for the FAQ is done.  If anything needs to be added, I will. +----+ | B. |  Credits +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       Much of the information was based off of memory, but some of it could not have been compiled without the help of a few people or sources...Thanks and love go to: Blizzard - For creating this highly addictive game, which I've just recently   gotten off of.  No thanks to you for stealing a year of my life away. :( Thottbot - Without which this FAQ would have been 50 times harder to create.  Lots of tidbits of info were gleaned from the vaults within. CJayC - For maintaining still the best video game website on the net.  Please   have my babies! Raymond - For helping me with some things I had to test out.  Love you.  You    can have my babies as well...I suppose. ^_~ ShdwR1m3 - His Samurai Legends FAQ inspired me with his awesome formatting  and overall awesomeness. +----+ | C. |  Contact Info +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------         If for any reason you don't understand what I've written in this FAQ because you are an illiterate ninnyhammer, you may contact me and ask a question which has not already been covered in this FAQ.  Anything directed to me via electronic mail that I deem worthless or not worthy of my attention, I will simply ignore or delete.  Because I am the author of this FAQ, I have the power to do such a thing and you cannot faze me.       Anyway, if there's something you'd like to add or correct, feel free to contact me at: tofuninj4 [at] gmail [dot] com.  I accept all kinds of e-mail.  Really. +----+ | D. |  Legal Junk +----+----------------------------------------------------------------------- All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole and in part in any form.  World of Warcraft is a registered trademark of Blizzard Entertainment.  The author of this document is in no way affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.  You may not place this document on your website or reproduce it in any way without the author's consent. You may download the file through a web browser onto a single computer for your personal, non-commercial use only.  You may not permit anyone else to modify the file or use it for any commercial purpose, display, performance, sale or rental.  It absolutely cannot be decompiled, disassembled, modified, or create derivative works based on the documentation in whole or in part.  Do not remove any copyrights. DISCLAIMER: World of Warcraft, the World of Warcraft logo and all related characters are copyright and property of Blizzard Entertainment. +----+ | E. |  Closing Statement +----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------       And here I go, disappearing again for a year without a trace!  Hope this FAQ helped, entertained or groped you.  NINJA VANISH! *smoke bomb* Thanks for reading!!!