**A majority of my information came from numerous posts on Elitist Jerks, Shadowpriest.com, comment feedback and personal experience raiding as a Shadowpriest in WOTLK. I encourage feedback and suggestions via comments so I can edit the post and correct errors, etc.**
EDIT – I am currently Discipline on my Priest in 3.1 as I’ve switched mains over to my Warlock. Unfortunately this puts a damper on my Shadow Priest updates. Things may change later but at this moment in time, updating this guide isn’t very high on my priority list.
What is my stat priority?
Hit (11%), Spellpower, Crit, Haste, Spirit, Intellect (IMO)
Why is Crit so important now?
-Glyph of Shadow gives a boost to spellpower on crit by an amount equal to 10% of your spirit.
-Improved Spirit Tap increases your spirit when you crit to synergize with Glyph of Shadow.
-Shadowform increases the damage of your DoTs by a % equal to your crit %. 1% crit = 1% more damage. (Remember that Blizzard rounds down, so if you have 14.99% crit, you really only have 14%)
-Mind Flay now has the ability to crit and is your #1 spell.
-The talent Shadow Power give our crits 100% bonus damage.
What is our hit cap?
All casters have to hit 17% hit cap in one way or another, either by talents, gems, gear, etc..
You get 3% from the Shadow Focus talent, taking our goal down to 14% but you can also look at Misery at another 3%. Yes, you actually have to HIT with the spell to proc Misery but once it’s up it stays up. Personally, I count Misery in my Spell Hit total and only gear for 11% but if you’re uncomfortable with that, gear for 14%. Just keep in mind that once Misery is up, you’re 3% over cap when you could be gearing for more Spellpower or Crit.
If you are in a party with a Draenei, their racial aura will increase your hit by 1%. This aura is not raid wide so they’ll need to be in your party.
Elemental Shaman provide Totem of Wrath which will increase your hit by 3%.
If you are always with one or both of these, feel free to add them to your hit total and gear for the appropriate amount, but I suggest keeping some +hit gear pieces in your bag just in case they cannot make a raid, etc.
**Gems**
Meta Gems-
- 1 – Chaotic Skyflare Diamond – +21 Crit Rating and 3% additional crit damage. Requires at least 2 blue gems.
- 2 – Ember Skyflare Diamond – +25 Spellpower and +2% Intellect. Requires at least 3 red gems.
Ember Skyflare Diamond shouldn’t even be considered after evaluating how important crit is now for Shadow Priests. Do your best to shoot for the Chaotic Skyflare Diamond.
Also worth noting for Jewelcrafters – Your JC-only Prismatic +32 Spellpower gems count toward your meta sock requirement. Since you can use up to 3 Prismatic gems, after socketing two of them you no longer need to socket 2 blues gems for the CSD meta.
For gear, unless the socket bonus is a must have, Runed Scarlet Ruby (+spellpower) is what you want to shoot for if you’re at hit cap. If you’re just trying to gem blue quality gear, Runed Bloodstone will do but try to get perfect cuts if you can.
If you’re still trying to reach hit cap, Veiled Monarch Topaz (+spellpower/+spell hit) for epics and Veiled Huge Citrine for blues. There are raw yellow +hit gems that you can use as well, but the names escape me at this time.
To make our best meta gem work, you’ll need to put at least 2 blue gems in your gear somewhere. Purified Twilight Opal/Shadow Crystal (+spellpower/+spirit) is my top choice but if you’re below hit cap or prefer crit there are some other choices out there.
If you’re not at hit cap yet, Shining Forest Emerald/Dark Jade (hit/spirit) should be your 2 blue gems of choice. If you’re hit capped but prefer to gem for crit, Misty Forest Emerald/Dark Jade (crit/spirit) would be more up your alley even though spellpower rates higher in your DPS. Finally, as a last possible choice, Intricate Forest Emerald/Dark Jade (haste/spirit) can work since you’ll benefit from both stats still.
Again, spellpower outweighs everything else when it comes to damage and you should only be using 2 of these gems. Purified Twilight Opal should be the #1 choice unless you aren’t hit capped. In that case, use Shining Forest Emerald.
**Glyphs**
Major Glyphs-
- 1 – Glyph of Shadow – While in Shadowform, spell critical strikes increase your spellpower by 10% of your spirit for 10 seconds.
- 2 – Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain – Increases the damage of Mind Flay by 10% while Shadow Word: Pain is active.
- 3 – Glyph of Mind Flay – Increases the range of your Mind Flay spell by 10 yards but reduces the slowing effect to 10%.
- 4 – Glyph of Shadow Word: Death – Targets below 35% health take an additional 10% damage from your Shadow Word: Death spell.
Minor Glyphs-
- 1 – Glyph of Shadowfiend – Receive 5% of your maximum mana if your Shadowfiend dies from damage.
- 2 – Glyph of Shadow Protection – Increases the duration of your Shadow Protection and Prayer of Shadow Protection by 10 minutes.
- 3 – Glyph of Fading – Reduces the mana cost of Fade by 30%.
- 4 – Glyph of Levitate – Your Levitate spell no longer costs a reagent.
There are generally 2 glyphs that are must haves with the final glyph being a matter of choice.
For Majors, my final glyph choice was Glyph of Mind Flay. I liked the damage boost of the Shadow Word: Death glyph but I found it more annoying to adjust my range from mobs/bosses to accomodate the horrible range for Mind Flay. Most raiding Shadow Priests tend to leave SW:D out of their rotations now since the Shadow Weaving bug was fixed anyway. Again, it’s personal choice.
For minors, I prefer Glyph of Levitate. I don’t Fade often at all in PVE but with the new ability to apply Levitate to other players, it helps a little bit more in raids like Naxx (people having issues making the jump on Thaddius) or Malygos (to save yourself from taking Vortex fall damage) and not having to worry about running out of reagents.
What is the BEST spec?
There is never a “best” spec, just the best talents. You’ll always end up with a few leftover points to put wherever you’d like. It ends up to being personal preference.
This is the spec I use. It comes down to having 6 points left over and I chose to get Improved Shadowform, Veiled Shadows and Improved Vampiric Embrace.
Why Improved Shadowform?
The interruption mechanic sucks IMHO. If Mind flay is even 0.1 second interrupted then you lose your final tick and you’ll be channeling for nothing. The only spell that would really get the benefit from this would be Mind Sear seeing as how Mind Blast and Vampiric Touch have faster cast times. I took this talent for the ability to negate any movement imparing effect with Fade. It’s situational, yeah, but it’s nice to know it’s there and there really isn’t another good place to put 2 points. It works nice on fights like Sapphiron (Blizzard chill effect on the way to an Ice Block) where it’s do or die.
Why Improved Vampiric Embrace?
On boss encounters VE will always be up so you might as well have it heal more. The tooltip is a tad misleading as it increases the amount healed by 67% more than it would be healing using an unimproved VE. It doesn’t heal for 67% of your damage. The boost is pretty minimal and even with 2100 spellpower I can barely get it to tick for much, but every little bit counts in boss encounters.
Why Veiled Shadows?
Not so much the cooldown reduction for Fade but for Shadowfiend. Some of the raid encounters last long enough to use it twice with this talent. For longer encounters like Kel’Thuzad, it’s priceless.
Why not the other Shadow talents?
Tanks have zero problems generating threat now so 3 points in Shadow Affinity is worthless, especially since Shadowform comes with a passive 30% threat reduction. Blackout doesn’t proc on raid bosses (but works on the Sparks in Malygos if your guild doesn’t have a DK). It’s a trash-only talent but there are better places for 5 points. Improved Psychic Scream, Psychic Horror and Silence are PVP talents IMO (Silence is ok for 5-mans/heroics but that really makes it a 3 point talent since Imp Psychic Scream is still worthless in PVE and is required to obtain it.).
Spell “Rotation”?
Shadowpriests don’t have a rotation, perse. Certain spells have a higher priority and you’ll spend your time watching your DoT timer and refreshing them accordingly.
On a raid boss -
MB, VE, DP, VT, MF (you will be at 5 Shadow Weaving at this point), SW:P
Mind Blast every cooldown. Use it first to start the cooldown early.
Use Mind Flay as filler when you aren’t refreshing DoTs.
Mind Flay applies 2 Shadow Weaving buffs and you want 5 up BEFORE you cast SW:P. Merlot over @ Misery: A Shadowpriest Blog suggests starting off with MF x3 to get a full Shadow Weaving stack and then going in to your rotation.
With Pain & Suffering talented, you’ll only cast SW:P once the entire encounter and you want the full boost in damage before you put it up. Waiting to cast it also allows other damage increasing debuffs to hit the boss thus increasing it’s damage for the entire duration since the damage coefficient will never change due to refreshing the duration. It’s win/win.
As Tedv mentioned on Elitist Jerks, wait for these:
- Shadow Weaving 5: +10%
Earth and Moon (Moonkin): 13%
-or- Curse of Elements (Affliction Warlock w/ Malediction): +13%
-or- Ebon Plaguebringer (Unholy Death Knight): +13%
Improved Scorch or Winters Chill (Mage): +10%
Elemental Oath: +3% - “I also want to stress the importance of waiting for the full set of crit increasing debuffs before casting Shadow Word: Pain. While the spell damage modifying pain will change with your spell damage (like lifebloom does now), the crit modifier and shadow weaving stack are locked in (like lifebloom used to work). This works out to 40.8% more damage on your shadow word pain. Or inversely (1 / 1.408), your pain will deal 71% of the damage it could be dealing. If pain accounts for even 20% of your total DPS, you’ve taken a overall 6% DPS loss by casting Shadow Word: Pain initially. It’s well worth waiting even 10 seconds just to make sure your Shadow Word: Pain gets all the buffs applied.”
Where can I find a list of the best pre-Naxx gear?
I wont beat a dead horse and compose a giant list, but here is a really good post over at Shadowpriest.com. The same link also covers the best-in-slot enchants.
What food buff is best?
Firecracker Salmon or Tender Shoveltusk Steak – same boosts of +46 spellpower/stam.
What flask should I be using?
Flask of the Frost Wyrm – +125 spellpower for 2 hours. 4 hours if you’re an Alchemist.
Flasks are ESSPENSIVE!! What pots/elixirs?
For pots I recommend Potion of Wild Magic to get a +180 spellpower and +60 crit rating for 15 seconds but honestly pots are a waste.
For elixir, the only guardian elixir for casters is the Elixir of Mighty Mageblood for pretty unstellar 24 MP5. For Battle, I’d go for the Spellpower Elixir for +58 spellpower. Elixir of Deadly Strikes for +45 crit rating is a good 2nd alternative.
**This post will be continously edited as the information will change depending on how future patches effect us as a class. Due to a majority of the big sites being restricted from my work computer, anything left blank or unlinked will eventually be fixed from home.**
I’m so cheap — my hood currently has a meta gem socket, but the only meta gems I’ve ever acquired since hitting 70 have been the ones that you use shards (in Outlands, those Spirit Shards for the Allerian Stronghold vendor in Terrokkar Forest .. and now in Northrend, there’s that Wintergrasp one with the +spellpower and slight run increase purchasable with Stone Keeper’s Shards) to buy.
But that crit one looks yummy. Mmm, crit. Crit is great for healing (they actually recommend 25% crit, hahahahahahahaha!!!) and wonderful for face-melting. I might have to bite the bullet and get my hands on that one — the other one is nice for spellpower, but intellect? BAH! Good thing my boyfriend is a transmutation master alchemist – I don’t understand how those diamonds and transmutes and all that crap works, but surely, I’ll be able to grab one of those Chaotic Skyflare Diamonds for cheaper than just grabbing one off the AH.
Thanks for this!
Since the expansion is still kind of new, the price for uncut meta’s is still kind of high. The reason being is that they’re the only way JC’ers can skillup without making their BoP trinkets once you get to a certain level. Like you, my significant other is also a transmute spec Alchemist so that was the easy part for me. I don’t have the gems to make the Chaotic meta work so I’m using the spellpower one at the moment.
Want to talk about cheap? I’m still using the T4 helm.. I just put new northrend gems, meta and enchant on it and it stands up pretty well to the new stuff. It’ll do until I get a major upgrade but I won’t go out of my way for one since I need others more.
I’m convinced that I need to get a Titansteel Guardian made even with the incoming nerf. It’s ranked #1 on Shadowpriest.com and I’d rather have the crit than get the mp5 mace from Heroic Nexus (which dropped but I passed to a healer).
Oh.. and run heroic Halls of Stone for the ghetto version of the Sundial. I think having both trinkets will be a continuous stream of face melting uberness.
[...] February 19, 2009 · No Comments Back in December, I started collecting a bunch of different information from raiding Shadowpriests, Elitist Jerks, Shadowpriest.com, and my own personal experiences to write “Crit is the New Black? A Shadowpriest Raiding Compendium“. [...]
“Shadow Word: Death every cooldown.”
Use it if you want to lower your overall DPS. For the minimal damage it does and the GC it triggers you will do more damage with a MF then a SWD.
Only time to consider using SWD is if your glyphed for it and the boss is below 35% (even then it’s suspect) or if you are moving from A–>B and may as well avail of the instant cast on the way.
I’ve tried leaving it out and keeping it my rotation and my DPS was always higher using it. With 4 pieces of T7 you get a higher crit chance with it and mine crits at least 50% of the time as it is. That triggers Glyph of Shadows and Improved Spirit Tap. The boost in damage wasn’t game breaking but higher DPS is higher DPS, IMO.
Fab post, why didn’t I know about this sooner!?
Leigh beat me to it. I’ve dropped sw:d out of my rotation on bosses. I don’t know empirically if that lowers my dps – last data I read said it boots dps by a very, very small amount in *theory* – but I find having one less cooldown to watch actually helps me out. A better player would take it in their stride of course
Can I ask about your list of buffs to wait for before casting sw:p? My understand is that sw:p damage is recalculated every time you cast mind flay (via pain and suffering) according to the buffs active at that time, which clearly makes it impossible to micro-manage. The refresh mechanic ignores shadow weaving, which is why we need to get that up first. But are you saying it ignores these buffs too? Or are you just assuming you need all buffs up for casting to get a super-charged sw:p? Because I don’t *think* it works like that.
On a similar point, I current spam mind flay three times at the start of a fight, to get 5 stacks up straight away (might as well enjoy the bug while it lasts, right?) That way VT and DP get the 10% boost too.
I really took Leigh’s comment to heart this weekend in Naxx and tested it without using SW:D in my rotation on the standard “tank and spank” fights – Razuvious and Patchwerk. My DPS was only slightly lower than what it normally was. I looked at WWS for our most recent Naxx clear and SWD only accounted for 3% of my total DPS when it’s in my rotation fully. It’s not gamebreaking, but like you said.. it’s one less cooldown you have to worry about.
So, IMO, if you leave it out or use it.. it’s not going to be game breaking.. but already having enough to manage in a raid encounter I’d say glyph it or drop it from the rotation. And like Leigh said, use it when you’re mobile since it’s instant and you might as well blow the cooldown.
The buff list information was taking from a post on Elitist Jerks. From what they’ve said, SW:P’s damage is recalculated from damage bonus buffs like shadow weaving, earth and moon, and anything that just boosts spell damage by X amount. What doesn’t change is the damage boosts it receives based on your crit % from the time you use the spell since Shadowform boosts DoTs by you crti %. So Elemental Oath or Totem of Wrath, Winters Chill, Moonkin Aura, Improved Scorch and the likes will continue to boost SW:P from the moment the spell is put up, if that makes sense. So in essence, yes, you want to wait until all the buffs are up and going before using SW:P so you get the most damage possible and you continue to refresh it at max damage. If you put up SWP at 18% crit and then Improved Scorch gets stacked, it’s not going to gain the 10% additional damage unless you reapply it so you might as well wait and put this up last.
Again, this is all based off of EJ theorycrafting but once I started waiting to post it up, it’s damage has jumped a ton and I did notice a huge difference in it’s overall damage. I dunno if it’s just a bug in the game mechanic or what but waiting paid off for my DPS.
I had ran it through my head to pop MF 3 times in a row every global since it’s low mana and would give me a full shadow weaving stack but I haven’t tried it. This weekend I’ll try it out and see how it works. =)
@ Merlot – I just wanted to post the link where I found the information about the crit modifier, etc., for SW:P
http://elitistjerks.com/f77/t37074-shadowpriest_raiding_basics_specs_glyphs/
“I also want to stress the importance of waiting for the full set of crit increasing debuffs before casting Shadow Word: Pain. While the spell damage modifying pain will change with your spell damage (like lifebloom does now), the crit modifier and shadow weaving stack are locked in (like lifebloom used to work).”
It was posted in November but I read in a few pages and checked the last few pages but didn’t see anyone disagreeing with it at all.
I did find some pretty interesting information on SW:D and how it should now only be used if you have less than 2 seconds before refreshing anything. If it’s 2+ seconds, using a clipped MF and only getting 2 ticks is worth more damage than SW:D.. but if it’s less than SW:D will provide more damage. Seems too micromanagement for me =\
Ah, that explains it, thanks. If you ask me, this whole pain and suffering thing is buggy as hell and we should start kicking up a fuss. I really wish they’d just come out and say it’s working as intended or broken and be done with it. But now at least I know how to deal with it in a raid
Thanks also for looking into the sw:d thing a bit more. I’m glad to know it’s probably not hurting my dps too much by ignoring it, but it’s also useful to know there are times when I can and should be throwing it into the mix.
NP at all. I think it was more mandatory to at least use SWD in your starting rotation when it used to bug and give 2 Shadow Weavings and probably a lot better with the glyph but I used Mind Flay as my last major because I hate adjusting my positioning all the time.
Looks like we’ll be having some more changes in 3.1 that could change glyph and spec choices, etc.