Shadow Priest WotLK Guide
Shadow Priest DPS guide for WotLK 3.3.5a: rotation, cooldowns, the 14/0/57 talent build, glyphs, stat priority and BiS gear for ICC and Ruby Sanctum.
Shadow is the damage-over-time Priest. It applies three damage over time effects, fills the gaps with Mind Flay, and brings real mana to the raid: Vampiric Touch returns mana to the group when the raid hurts the target. It is a ranged damage spec with a lot of steady damage, and it rewards a player who never clips a damage over time.
This guide covers the rotation, the cooldowns, the talents and glyphs we run, the stats to reach and the mistakes that cost the most. It is written for Icecrown Citadel 25 and Ruby Sanctum on 3.3.5a. The short overview is in the class guide.
1.How the Shadow Priest plays
Shadow is about three damage over time effects and the timing of your refreshes. You open with Vampiric Touch, Devouring Plague and Mind Blast, add Mind Flay as your filler, and keep Shadow Word: Pain up. Shadow Word: Death is for the execute phase.
The most important rule is not to clip a damage over time. Refresh it after its last tick, not before, because a clipped damage over time is a loss of damage and mana. Your damage over time effects also snapshot your stats when you cast them, so when a haste cooldown is active, refresh them.
2.Rotation and priorities
- Vampiric TouchOpens the fight, and gives mana to the raid. If it ends together with Devouring Plague, refresh Vampiric Touch first.
- Devouring PlagueKeep it on the target. It also heals you.
- Mind BlastOn cooldown.
- Shadow Word: PainKeep it up, and do not clip it.
- Mind FlayYour filler when nothing else is ready.
- Shadow Word: DeathIn the execute phase, and when you need a quick burst of damage.
Do not spam the Mind Flay macro unless your latency is close to perfect, at about a hundred milliseconds or less. If your latency is higher, you will lose more than you gain.
3.Cooldowns and raid utility
Shadow has a small toolbox, and each button has a job.
Gives you mana back from its attacks. Use it at the start of the fight for mana recovery.
Reduces the damage you take and restores mana. Your survival button, and also a mana tool.
Increases your shadow damage, and it is the form you play in. Stay in it.
Not a cooldown, but the most important buff you bring to the raid: it gives mana back to the group.
Your main direct damage on a short cooldown. Do not let it sit.
An area channel for add phases and for fights with many small targets. Use it when Mind Flay on one target is not the best use of your time.
4.Talents and glyphs
Our recommended Shadow build is the 14/0/57 in the calculator, and there are two more: an Enlightenment build and a Smite hybrid. The talents that define the spec are Shadowform, Vampiric Touch, Misery, Improved Devouring Plague, Twisted Faith and Dispersion.
The major glyphs are Shadow, Mind Flay and Dispersion. There are two talent builds in the guides we read: a standard one and one built for the four-piece Tier 10 bonus.
Assume a Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 15%, reducing all damage done to you by 15% and threat generated by 30%. However, you may not cast Holy spells while in this form except Cure Disease and Abolish Disease. Grants the periodic damage from your Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch spells the ability to critically hit for 100% increased damage and grants Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch the ability to benefit from haste.
Causes 450 Shadow damage over 15 sec to your target and causes up to 10 party or raid members to gain 1% of their maximum mana per 5 sec when you deal damage from Mind Blast. In addition, if the Vampiric Touch is dispelled it will cause 720 damage to the afflicted target.
Your Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Flay and Vampiric Touch spells also increase the chance for harmful spells to hit by 3% lasting 24 sec, and increases the benefit from spell power gained by your Mind Blast, Mind Flay and Mind Sear spells by 15%.
Increases the periodic damage done by your Devouring Plague by 15%, and when you cast Devouring Plague you instantly deal damage equal to 30% of its total periodic effect.
Increases your spell power by 20% of your total Spirit, and your damage done by your Mind Flay and Mind Blast is increased by 10% if your target is afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain.
You disperse into pure Shadow energy, reducing all damage taken by 90%. You are unable to attack or cast spells, but you regenerate 6% mana every 1 sec for 6 sec. Dispersion can be cast while stunned, feared or silenced and clears all snare and movement impairing effects when cast, and makes you immune to them while dispersed.
While in Shadowform, your non-periodic spell critical strikes increase your spell power by 30% of your Spirit for 10 sec.
Increases the damage done by your Mind Flay spell by 10% when your target is afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain.
Reduces the cooldown on Dispersion by 45 sec.
Swap options if the fight asks for them: Glyph of Mind Sear.
5.Stats, gems and gear
The priority is hit until you are capped, then spell power, then haste until you are capped, then critical strike, then spirit, then intellect. Haste has a cap where your damage over time gets an extra tick, and that is the first thing to look for.
Best-in-slot gear comes from Icecrown Citadel 25 heroic and Ruby Sanctum. The best items are in the BiS list below.
- Hit
- Spell Power
- Haste
- Critical Strike
~289 rating (263 with Draenei) · 446 absolute cap
17% spell cap minus 3% Shadow Focus minus 3% Misery raid debuff = 11% needed from gear.
Berserking haste helps Shadow damage and Holy / Discipline throughput alike. Undead brings Will of the Forsaken (fear immunity, big on some fights); Blood Elf brings Arcane Torrent mana return.
Gift of the Naaru is a free extra heal-over-time for healers, and Heroic Presence gives Shadow priests the party a +1% hit boost. Night Elf’s Shadowmeld is a niche threat-drop tool.
Royal Scepter of Terenas II
Shadow Silk Spindle
Corpse-Impaling Spike
Phylactery of the Nameless Lich
Charred Twilight Scale
Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Cowl
Sanctified Crimson Acolyte Raiments
6.Common mistakes
• Clipping a damage over time and losing damage and mana.
• Refreshing your damage over time effects before a haste cooldown is active, so they miss the bonus.
• Using the Mind Flay macro with poor latency.
• Forgetting Shadowfiend at the start of the fight.
• Staying in the fire because you are afraid to lose a tick, and not using Dispersion.
7.On the bosses
Shadow Priests are strong on long single-target fights, and the mana they give matters. A few notes:
Use Mind Sear or your damage over time effects on the add waves as the raid leader plans.
Stay mobile and keep your damage over time effects going on the target you are assigned.
A long single-target fight. Keep your damage over time effects up, and use Dispersion for the breaths if the raid asks.
Keep your damage over time effects going, and kill the Spirits in the last phase. See the Lich King guide.
8.Questions people ask
Yes. It is a steady ranged damage spec, and it gives mana to the raid through Vampiric Touch.
Only if your latency is very low, about a hundred milliseconds or less.
After the last tick, not before, and again when a haste cooldown becomes active.
Shadow, Mind Flay and Dispersion.