Note: Some information may be outdated as of Release 25.0.3

History

As one of the original five classes that were featured in the first early builds of the game, Priests have undergone some fairly decent changes. Priests used to be completely armor-less, save for the ability to equip a second ring. This direct healing class now wears Robes in addition to their old weapon, the wand. Their ability has changed as well, from spell scrolls like the Wizard's offensive variety to [Tomes](/wiki/tomes), and eventually were given lower healing strength and MP cost to allow a safer play-style to be efficient. To unlock the Priest, simply reach level 5 with the Wizard. See his stat gains, caps, and averages here.

Equipment and Stats

Priests use wands, medium-damage long-ranged weapons which compensate for the relatively limited protection given by the robes they wear. This makes the Priest unreliable offensively, but allows for a safe play style.

The Wand of Ancient Warning and the Wand of Recompense are the most powerful tiered wands. These weapons have enough damage/range to pick off monsters/gods at a distance as well as clear them off with piercing and a fast projectile. Both of the aforementioned traits are beautiful benefits gained from the 25.0.0 update, although damage caps were lowered by 5. Ever since then, the wands have fully changed the way the Priest fought.

The [Conducting Wand](/wiki/conducting-wand) is a drop from the Mad Lab's [second boss](/wiki/horrific-creation). Unlike its old self before the 25.0.0 update, its average damage is lower but has +4 DEX, +4 WIS, and a 125% fire rate. This keeps its sheer attack strength compared to Recompense, and allows it to shine among single monsters with low defense (<42 defense) or those that are armor broken. Unfortunately, the range was plummeted to 8 from 10 after update 25.0.0, making the priest fight at a staff's range. Note that this wand does not pierce.

The [Crystal Wand](/wiki/crystal-wand) is a rare drop from the [Crystal Prisoner](/wiki/crystal-prisoner). It may have relatively low damage compared to its old self before the 25.0.0 update, but it armor pierces rather than piercing. This makes it perfect against high defense monsters or armored monsters. The Crystal Wand trumps the Conducting if the monster's defense is above 42 DEF. After the update, the Crystal Wand's range was buffed from 8.45 to 9, matching that of the tiered wands.

The Wand of the Bulwark works completely differently from any other weapon in the game and is rather peculiar. If you've seen the little floating projectiles fired by the Sandsman Sorcerers and Clockwork Golems, Bulwark's projectiles are very similar. They float around lazily and last a very long time. You cannot aim the projectiles at a monster; you basically have to create a minefield with them and attract your prey into the field. This wand can be used to set up traps for mobs of enemies to walk through, and since each projectile deals 400-500 damage with a good ATK stat, they can be used to decimate mobs of enemies. The downfall of the Bulwark is that it cannot aim at one specific target, such as an event or dungeon boss, and requires much experience and practice to use effectively. Maxing out DEX is essential if you want to quickly set up with this wand, because its firing rate is reduced to 33.3%. This wand shouldn't be used regularly, but it has its uses and can be a very enjoyable weapon!

Fresh Priests

A fresh Priest is rather good compared to other classes. This is mainly due to its instant heal from tomes, which makes taking hits much easier. The long range of the wands helps Priests deal damage from afar, keeping it safe. Fresh Priests are great at farming the Godlands and various dungeons such as the Snake Pit or the Sprite World and can easily do so with the help of its tome and wand. A Priest's first priority is to max DEF, DEX, WIS, SPD, and ATK. With the Priest's long range and a decent DEX base, this can easily be achieved within a average span of 30~50 minutes per stat, excluding DEF and WIS. The max base defense of a Priest is 25, and along with robes, it allows him to absorb as much damage as a maxed Wizard, Necromancer, Mystic, or Sorcerer can. Although it will have the least defense of the 3 armor classes, it does have the tome to prolong its survivability.

Ability

The Priest is a long ranged healing class. Unlike the Paladin, the heal is instant--perfect for sticky situations--but lacks the 150% attack boost of the Paladin. His tome can heal many people if they are in the vicinity of the priest when cast. You'll find that, after maxing defense, you'll be able to solo almost anything because tomes cost little MP, tomes heal a generous amount, and the Priest's naturally high wisdom stat allows him to recover quickly. The Priest's ability is what makes him such an amazing support class and a long-lasting soloing class, even with robes. His ability can turn the tide of the battle and help out players who are taking large sums of damage and even prevent them from dying. Although healing others is not necessary, often you'll find that fellow adventurers will appreciate and respect you for doing so. Tomes are also affected by your character's wisdom, so the more wisdom your priest has, the stronger the heal is and the longer the healing lasts.

The [Tome of Divine Favor](/wiki/tome-of-divine-favor) and the [Tome of Holy Guidance](/wiki/tome-of-holy-guidance) are the most powerful tiered tomes as they heal the most HP and with the 25.0.0 update, they receive healing, a trait that the pally also has. Additionally, Holy Guidance grants speedy to the Priest. All of this costs only 80-85 MP.

![Book of Geb](//static.drips.pw/rotmg/wiki/Untiered/Book%20of%20Geb.png "Book of Geb") The [Tome of Purification](/wiki/tome-of-purification) has the same heal as the top-tier tomes with greater range and removes negative status effects at the cost of 120 MP. Unlike the tiered tomes, it neither grants healing nor speedy, but does give a useful +7 VIT and +7 WIS. The [Book of Geb](/wiki/book-of-geb) is very similar, removing negative status effects at 120 MP while receiving a range nerf. The Book of Geb retains the speedy and healing, however, and gives +5 DEF, +3 VIT, and +3 WIS. These tomes have their uses in certain situations, such as when groups of players and/or the Priest are stuck with a status condition that can incapacitate them during a boss fight. It is recommended to carry this along with Divine/Holy, because they both have their own uses, and using the wrong tome doesn't have far-reaching consequences (although it can make things slightly harder for the Priest and his teammates)

The Tome of Holy Protection is a unique untiered tome that heals the same as the top tier tomes at a cost of 120 MP. just like the Purification/Geb, but instead of removing negative status effects, it gives an Armored status to the user for 4 seconds. Armored status double's the target's defense, so this tome turns the Priest into a tank potentially stronger than the Knight for 4 seconds, and it heals HP. The Priest can eat walls of shotguns and walk through mobs of enemies with this tome without even much concern, because of his high wisdom and MP stat, and bringing MP potions or a high level pet only makes things easier. The Priest becomes resistant to almost all forms of damage this way, and using this tome every 4 seconds makes things easier.

Ring

Many offensive priests opt to choose a health ring, such as the Ring of Unbound Health or the Ring of Decades. Pure health rings benefit a priest by allowing them to absorb more damage, before instantly restoring it again with a simple press of the spacebar. The Forgotten Crown or the Ring of the Pyramid can be used instead of a pure health ring because along with a health boost, the supply a priest with a much needed damage boost.

For more defensive or support based priests, one may choose a more wisdom/mana based ring. The Twilight Gemstone is a rare and very useful ring for the priest, supplying one with an extra ability cast, along with a defense and speed boost. The Ring of the Sphinx is like the Twilight Gemstone, but only gives +100 mp, and +4 to both dexterity and wisdom instead. Geb's Ring of Wisdom supplies a hefty boost of wisdom (+10 wis), which is surprisingly greater than the Ring of Unbound Wisdom. Along with that, it also gives +25 to both health and mana, and +5 vitality. The Ring of the Covetous Heart gives the priest a damage boost with its +5 atk, and supplies the priest with +8 wisdom. It also gives +15 health and +50 mana, creating a balanced ring for offensive play and support.

Some priests that want to have a balanced approach may want to consider the Bracer of the Guardian, Ring of the Nile, or the Experimental Ring. Each of these rings provide a balanced +60 to both health and mana. The Bracer of the Guardian also gives +6 to defense and attack, suited for balanced gameplay. The Ring of the Nile provides a more faster paced support, giving +4 to both speed and dexterity. The Experimental Ring gives a priest increased survivability with its +4 to defense and vitality.

Other options or swapout rings for the priest include the Ring of Unbound Attack, to improve the priest's low dps (damage per second), or the Ring of Unbound Defense, to increase the priest's low defense. The Ring of Unbound Attack is not recommended because a priest would benefit more from a pure health ring. The Ring of Unbound Defense is an option for those who want to boost the priest's relatively low defense or maximize it's tanking ability by complimenting it with the Tome of Holy Protection, but is unnecessary because of the priest's instant heal.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Some of the strengths of the Priest is that he is a necessary class character for fighting event bosses in groups and he can solo event bosses when maxed out pretty easily. His ability can be considered to be one of the best in the game and is what turns him from a frail robe class to a class with a lot of survivability. One of the Priest's biggest weaknesses is that his MP is much more crucial to his function than any other class, which makes the Quiet status from specific enemies like the Sprite God and Septavius more feared. Another weakness of the Priest is that it has a very low DPS due to their low ATK and DEX stats and the low DPS of wands in general. Another weakness is that the Priest is much more prone to shotguns than any other class. Tomes work best when the Priest takes small damage multiple times or so, not taking large amounts of damage at the same time, especially considering the Priest's low defense and robes. This is why the Priest needs to fight from a distance--not considerably close like a Dagger or Sword class.

Group Role

Most of the time this type of character is a support class, but once you maximize its stats, it is a strong solo type of character that has decent defense, long range and an instant healing ability. The Priest's purpose in this case is to support its teammates, and should be used as such. While the Priest is not obligated to heal teammates, a good Priest generously heals others during event and dungeon bosses because it helps take down the boss faster. The Priest is a catalyst to speeding up the progress of farming the godlands, taking down bosses, or anything else because his ability makes things easier for others all around.

Event and Dungeon Bosses

Priests are very useful in Event and Dungeon Bosses. They play mostly as a support class but can also become a strong solo class. They use wands sacrifice low damage for longer range and piercing. Their ability, the tome, provides an instant heal--perfect for sticky situations. However, they also wear robes, which don't provide as much defense as leather or heavy armor, making it necessary to watch out for shotguns. The priest isn't typically used for getting soulbound damage (since it has the lowest dps in the game), so the priest often finds itself not getting loot. However, once maxed, they can become one of the strongest solo classes in the game and can still find itself attaining soulbound easily in smaller groups.

Strategies

There are two main strategies that can be used with the priest: offensive and defensive. -Offensive: The priest can use his amazing ability to absorb a lot of damage and then heal back his HP. Using this strategy, the priest tanks damage and stands right up near the boss to ensure soulbound, healing repetitively every time his health drops below half. Many players find this strategy more exciting, but it doesn't make a whole lot of difference in terms of getting soulbound damage as long as you have good aim. It is recommended to not tank big damage unless you have at least maxed def. A tome of holy protection is very useful with this strategy. This strategy can also be used to rush relatively well, especially with a speedy granting tome. -Defensive: This is the safer and more commonly used strategy for the priest. It involves staying back from the enemy you are fighting and using your long range to your advantage. It is safer and easier, but it might not get you soulbound as easily. Because you are shooting from far relatively far away from the enemy you are fighting, it may be hard to hit them. You should either make your character off-center so you can see farther ahead of you or move up until he enemy is just barely at the top of your screen. You will not have to heal as often using this strategy, so be prepared to give a heal to someone if you are in a group. It is recommended to use this strategy if you are not maxed or are simply afraid of dying. These are only suggestions though, get out there and play the priest however it best suits you!

Summary

The Priest: a support class by excellence. Even though he has the worst DPS in the game he is capable to do anything by his own and do things that other classes can't do (like walking towards a huge wall of gods or lava-walking). Used for supporting or attacking, the Priest is almost unbeatable with the correct use of the tome and wand, and almost invincible, once maxed. Priest is an amazing class, capable of doing things that any other robe class cannot. Just watch out for those quiet shots!

No navigation