Priests are S-tier for roleplay. I played through PoE1 with a Priest of Eothas, and can't image a more interesting character to import into Deadfire.
Holy Radiance, for my money, is the most fun and interesting skill in the entire game. The interaction with the disposition system, and how it encourages the unity of story and mechanics, is something I wish every class could enjoy. And I love how it transforms from a utility heal to tactical nuke depending on the encounter. If being a skeleton is a crime, then Holy Radiance is Batman.
That said, I agree that the the remainder of the Priest's features don't the same high standard. The core problem is, most Priest spells don't feel impactful. The slow cast times, the dry descriptions, and complexity of buff mechanics all contribute to this problem.
Interdiction is a good example:
Compared to 1st-level spells from other classes, it looks weak and uninteresting. The animation isn't very flashy, and the description isn't any better. At this level, Wizards are already unleashing torrents of flame, Druids are summoning fields of stinging vines, Ciphers are controlling minds - and the Priest is just pointing his wagging his finger at people. Menacing.
So it's gotta be a weak spell, right? Turns out, Dazed is a pretty potent condition, it's just very difficult for players to appreciate. -4 Penetration is the big one, reducing the target's damage by up to 75%! Plus it stops engagement, subtract 5 Might (-15% damage and -10 Fortitude), stops engagement, and strips away positive Might buffs.
Still, there's Arkemyr's Dazzling Lights. This 1st-level Wizard spell has the same cast time, recovery, range, and accuracy, applies Dazed for 9.0 seconds instead of 7.0, and adds -10 Will on top. Why would anyone use Interdiction? Well, Interdiction has a much larger radius - 2.5 meters vs. 1.5 - which translates to about 3x the AoE.
And if that all sounds great, those details are still hidden under many layers of game mechanics. To evaluate this one spell, you've got to consider about a dozen different stats. And even once you do all that, and decide it's worthwhile, you're going to have a hard time appreciating the impact in the heat of combat. And even then, it still takes 3 seconds to cast.
And the Madlib spell descriptions and animations don't make this any easier. "Applies the _____ (Inspiration/Affliction) to all ____ (Allies/Enemies) in rage", cue animation of an ambiguous glowing rune and/or beam of light.
Priest isn't completely without interesting spells: Suppress Affliction, Withdraw, the Seal and Pillar series. Anything themed around a specific deity is great, Spiritual Weapon in particular. Given infinite time and resources, I have no doubt Obsidian could bring the same touch to the rest of Priest's repertoire.
A few suggestions:
Proactive support is core to the Priest's identity. They need a way to access party-wide buffs quickly at the start of the encounter, before the usual 3s cast time. It's fine if it costs a talent or per-rest resource, but it should be accessible to every player from an early level. The Prayer/Litany buffs were a good start.
Spiritual Weapon should be part of the core class progression. It's already the 2nd bonus spell for Magranites, do the same for the other subclasses.
Fewer spells with more identifiable effects. Consolidate the junior/senior versions into one.
Speaking of, refocus the spell keywords. I honestly wouldn't even know these were a thing, if it weren't called out on Xoti's lantern. There's no appreciable difference between "Condemnation" and "Punishment", and there are like two spells total with the "Cleansing" tag. Use these as riders to otherwise generic talents: "+15% healing" becomes "+10% and +1 PL with Restoration", etc.
Finally, the spell selection system is... great! The ability to specialize through spell selection actually alleviates many of the points above. Overall, I'm very happy with the class as it is, and hope we can see it grow even further.
