Shadow Priest PvE Guide — Midnight
1 311 viewsAbout the Class
This is a ranged caster whose primary attribute is Intellect. The Shadow Priest is a master of shadow and Void magic who uses the energy of the Void to crush the minds of enemies.
The signature feature of the spec is managing the Insanity resource and keeping damage-over-time (DoT) effects on multiple targets. The gameplay revolves around entering Voidform to amplify your current damage.
Strengths
- Powerful utility abilities:
Vampiric Embrace, 
Mass Dispel and 
Power Word: Fortitude. 
Dispersion lets you ignore many deadly mechanics.- High burst damage on a single target.
Weaknesses
- Low mobility: most spells require you to stand still.
- Long ramp-up time (you need to apply DoT effects first).
- Heavy reliance on proper positioning.
Stat Priority
Intellect
Haste
Mastery
Critical Strike
VersatilityTalents
Rotation (Ability Priority)
- Shadow Word: Pain to keep the DoT effect up
Vampiric Touch via Mind Spike: Insanity or by casting it directly
Shadow Word: Death if the target has an absorb shield- Void Flash if Devouring Plague is active or
Entropic Rift is about to expire - Devouring Plague if the buff is missing, about to fall off, you are near the cap, or Entropic Rift is active
- Void Torrent to activate Entropic Rift
- Mind Spike: Insanity when you do not need to refresh DoTs or move
- Shadow Word: Death if target health is below 20%
Mind Flay as filler, interrupting it when higher priority abilities come up- Mind Spike: Insanity, Shadow Word: Death or Shadow Word: Pain to generate resources and deal damage
Best in Slot (BiS)
Don't forget to explore our class pages, where not only the best items in the slot are available, but also other alternatives for any class, spec or situation:
Enchants, Gems, Consumables
Leveling
- Tactics: Start combat with Vampiric Touch. Use
Mind Blast to generate your resource and spend it on Devouring Plague. - Survival: Keep
Power Word: Shield on yourself. In critical situations, use 
Desperate Prayer. - Finisher: Use Shadow Word: Death on targets at low health to finish the fight quickly.
Mythic+ Tips
Mass Dispel — use it to remove powerful debuffs that cannot be cleansed by normal dispels.
Dispersion — your main defensive; press it to survive fatal mechanics.
Vampiric Embrace — turns your damage into group healing, invaluable during high raid damage phases.
Macros
#showtooltip Mass Dispel /cast [@cursor] Mass Dispel
#showtooltip Shadow Word: Death /cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Shadow Word: Death
#showtooltip Dispersion /stopcasting /cast Dispersion
Author
Fouren
Fouren has been playing World of Warcraft for over 15 years. He is an active player with 12 Cutting Edge achievements under his belt, and has reached the top 1% and 0.1% multiple times on various classes. His main classes are healers, particularly Holy Paladin.
Comments
0No comments yet. Be the first to comment!