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Power Word: Barrier
Spell holy powerwordbarrier
  • Power Word: Barrier
  • Row 4 Discipline priest talent
  • 40 yd range
  • 4% of base mana
  • 3 min cooldown
  • Instant
  • Summons a holy barrier to protect all allies at the target location for 10 sec, reducing all damage taken by 25% and preventing damage from delaying spellcasting.
Properties
Class Priest
School Holy
Cooldown 3 minutes
Talents
Talent required Spell holy penance [Make Amends] or Spell holy blessedrecovery [Pain Transformation]/Ability racial forceshield [Protector of the Frail] or Spell shadow unholyfrenzy [Dark Indulgence]
Related buff
Spell holy powerwordbarrier
  • Power Word: Barrier
  • Reduces all damage taken by 25%, and you resist all pushback while casting spells.
  • Duration: 12 seconds
Power Word Barrier TCG

Power Word: Barrier

Power Word: Barrier is a Discipline priest talent. It is a Power Word ability that summons a barrier area on the ground, and all friendly players standing inside that area get a damage reduction effect.

It is an exclusive choice node with Spell priest burningwill [Luminous Barrier].

Notes[]

  • Power Word: Barrier affects a target location; which players it affects depends upon whether they are within the barrier. This may make PW:B far more effective in situations where the players are fairly static, and/or grouped closely together.
  • Power Word: Barrier absorbs only 25% of damage; the majority of damage taken (75%) will not be absorbed.
  • Power Word: Barrier only lasts for 10 seconds; conversely, it can 'absorb' any amount of damage in that time without consuming itself.

History[]

Power Word: Barrier was originally planned for patch 3.1.0 of Wrath,[1] but was scrapped because other revamps in the patch ended up more extensive than was planned.[2] It was later listed as one of the new Discipline talents in the Cataclysm priest preview in April 2010.[3] Initially it acted as an absorb shield shared by player units inside the area and benefitted from Discipline's original mastery effect, Spell holy powerwordshield [Mastery: Shield Discipline]. However this effect was quickly changed a month later in patch 4.0.3a. As a result, Power Word: Barrier became an effect providing damage reduction instead, which was no longer affected by mastery at all.

Patch changes[]

  • Dragonflight Patch 10.1.5 (2023-07-11): Now a choice node with Spell priest burningwill [Luminous Barrier].
  • Dragonflight Patch 10.1.0 (2023-05-02): Effectiveness increased by 100% in PvP combat.
  • Dragonflight Patch 10.0.0 (2022-10-25): Now a row 4 Discipline talent (was a level 44 Discipline ability).
  • Shadowlands Patch 9.1.0 (2021-06-29): Fixed an issue with Power Word: Barrier's damage reduction being removed earlier than intended when two Discipline Priests cast Power Word: Barrier.
  • Shadowlands Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13): Now learned at level 44 (was 70).
  • Legion Patch 7.2.5 (2017-06-13): Power Word: Barrier mana cost reduced by 37% and radius increased by 23%.
  • Legion Patch 7.1.0 (2016-10-25): Now learned at level 70 (was 65).
  • Legion Patch 7.0.3 (2016-07-19): Now learned at level 65 (was 70).
  • Mists of Pandaria Hotfix (2013-12-17): Resolved an issue that caused Power Word: Barrier's damage reduction effect to not apply properly to players under various conditions.
  • Mists of Pandaria Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28): Now a level 70 Discipline specialization ability (was a tier 7 Discipline talent).
  • Cataclysm Patch 4.1.0 (2011-04-26):
    • Cooldown has been increased to 3 minutes, up from 2, and its effect has been reduced to 25%, down from 30%.
    • Now displays different visuals for hostile and friendly players.
  • Cataclysm Patch 4.0.3a (2010-11-23): Redesigned. It no longer acts as a shared absorb shield. Instead, all affected friendly targets take 30% reduced damage for the duration of the shield, which is now 10 seconds, down from 25 seconds. Consequently, this spell no longer benefits from the Discipline Mastery Shield Discipline.
  • Cataclysm Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): Added.

References[]

 
  1. ^ Class Change Highlights (Part 1, 2 & 3) "Discipline has access to a new talent, Power Word: Barrier. (Think of it as Power Word: Shield for your whole group)."
  2. ^ GC! You promised us TWO ponys! where'r they? "We'd still like to do Barrier, but some of the revamps ended up more extensive than we planned. At this point we'd rather make what we have taste good instead of throwing new ingredients into the stew, but it's an idea we still like."
  3. ^ Cataclysm Class Preview: Priest "Discipline will finally be getting Power Word: Barrier as a talented ability."

External links[]

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