Shadow priest or Balance druid SL 9.1?

Community General Discussion
1

I am torn between these 2 classes. I have tried both and they seem to be fun. Because my limit time, I would like to play only one of those mentioned.

I would play only balance/resto or shadow/disc. I do not like cat and bear.

Questions

  1. Better mogs? (Your opinion)
  2. Better lore (Your opinion)
  3. Better spell animations (your opinion)
  4. What spec has more fun/better engaging rotation?
  5. Better at pvp?
  6. Better at pve?
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  1. Priest.
  2. Class specific lore is incredibly thin since Legion.
  3. Balance, but Spriest is pretty good.
  4. Probably Priest, but Balance feels really good to play even when you’re not bursting, especially in AoE situations.
  5. No idea, haven’t PvP’d seriously since Cata.
  6. Balance. Priest has it’s moments where it shines and outperforms Balance, but Balance rightnow is a pretty standout spec because even if it’s not the best at everything, it’s a consistently strong performer. Balance is probably the most well rounded spec in the game right now and is positioned pretty well going forward into 9.2.
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Druid, everything but mog.

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  1. Priests since… you know, you’d see them. But really, Druid Mogs suck.

  2. Lore? I dunno… if you play Alliance I imagine Druids are pretty hot right now with all the Ardenweald, and getting soulshapes and Tyrande and all that jazz.

  3. Im going with Spriest on this. I like 'em. Convo is gorgeous, but Druids use the same terrible Wrath animation of 10 years ago.

  4. Ugh… neither? lol… Dunno, I’ll defer to others on this.

  5. I lean HARD towards Druid.

  6. Druids at the moment, although we shall see with finalized Tier bonuses AND double Leggos.

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5

Priest has better overall, plus you need to glyph away critchicken form to see them as Balance.

I’d say Priest too. Druid has some interesting lore but I feel like Priests have more diverse lore with greater depth.

It’s pretty close, especially since they sort of normalized animations in Legion.

I’ve always preferred Priest but I don’t play much of either at the moment.

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I don’t see Balances set bonuses changing, they’re both pretty strong in any situation you care to name and even if Blizzard don’t think of something new for the Venthyr leggo (which atm is gutted), Druids are still pretty well positioned with the Kyrian leggo being incredibly strong.

Druids are probably one of the biggest winners with how 9.2 legendaries and tier sets works.

Spriest tier sets are entirely ST focused and you have to turret to get value from it. Which means that Spriest will more than likely pull ahead on pure ST, but the second you introduce multiple targets or movement, they’re going to be hit hard, which is not a small amount of scenarios.

I dunno how good Spriest covenant legendaries are though.

Overall, I’d be incredibly surprised if Boomkin does not remain an S tier spec in 9.2. Priest will probably drop down in the rankings (especially for M+) since ST turrets is probably the most niche playstyle you can really have, for ranged, cleave and mobility are pretty indisputably king and have been for a long time.

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  1. T’mog: Priest
  2. Lore: Similar. Druid has some contradictory opinions about their race though.
  3. Anim.: Balance druid. Personally.
  4. Fun: Shadow priest. It requires more dynamic decision. Balance druid DPS rotation is quite slow and rigid.
  5. PvP: Moonkins are better in BG. For 2v2 or 3v3 arena, I am not an expert but shadow priests seem better.
  6. PvE: Balance druid is a lot better in Heroic/Mythic SoD. However, this may change soon in 9.2 season. If you consider healer alt spec, then disc priest is very good, but you will not be able to play shadow because your guild will want you to play disc priest only.
8

Both are good. Except for as Druid you’re either chicken or Astral.

Always found druid lore to be superior to every other class, not to mention N’efl>rest.

Boomie all the way!

eh. never really played priest on high enough level, but Boomie can be boring af to some. I fall asleep playing boomie…But I like feral. And I love bear tanking. Shadow can be fun if you like DoT micro management.

skip as I know nothing about pvp

Bears are like top notch tanks.
Good boomies are a rare sight. But defo picked more over priests due to utility. But I feel like Holy Priests are easier to handle than Rdudu if you’re into healing fetish.

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I’d say play both in the content you like and feel out the playstyles. Spriest was a lot more fun before the dev murdered the spec and quit blizz imo.

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1.Shadow priest
2. Druid. Actually druid lore is one among the best
3. Both are equally good but balance druid is a little bit better
4. Shadow priest has more buttons and engaging rotation. Your decisions matters
5. Shadow priest no doubt
6. Balance druid as far as Logs shows

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TY for your great and helpful replies. You are awesome :slight_smile:

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MAGE >>>>>>>>>shadow priest > balance druid