With Warlock A-Z out of the way, it was only a matter of time until I whipped up the Shadow Priest version. Again, full credit goes out to Steady Shot for giving me the idea and curing my partial writers block.
A is for Anathema, the be-all-end-all staff from vanilla-WoW for Shadow Priests. The staff was obtained by starting a quest chain using 2 epic items and finishing up a class specific chain. Anathema can be “used” to morph in to Benediction, it’s healing counterpart.
B is for Blackout, a 5 point tier 1 talent in Shadow. This talent will be removed in 3.1 but currently it allows your shadow spells a 10% chance to stun the target. Before the downranking nerf, spamming rank 1 of Shadow Word: Pain to proc Blackout was a staple of Shadow Priest PVP while being chased down.
C is Call Them Out, which is what you should do to anyone who is slacking on keeping up debuffs/buffs that boost your DPS. Fire Mage not keeping Scorch up? CALL THEM OUT! Then /slap them.
D is for Devouring Plague, a once Undead-only Priest racial spell but is now given to all Priests at level 20. Devouring Plague is a disease spell that deals shadow damage over time, also healing the Priest by a certain % of the damage delt. Since DP counts as a disease, this spell can be spread to multiple targets via a Death Knight’s Pestilence spell. In 3.1, with a Death Knight using Glyph of Pestilence, they can refresh the duration of Devouring Plague along with their own diseases.
E is for Ebonweave, a 3 2 piece set of BoE craftable gear in WOTLK. Unlike in TBC, the epic tailoring sets no longer require one to be a tailor to wear the gear but also no longer grant set bonuses or sockets.
F is for Faith Raiments, the former T3 set from the old vanilla-WoW Naxxramas raid. Now the T7 set in WOTLK. F is also for Face Melting which is what we do best.
G is for Glyphs. New to 3.0, glyphs boost certain abilities for all classes or add other effects, remove reagent costs, etc. Glyph of Shadow and Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain are two of the “mandatory” major glyphs for PVE Shadow Priests.
H is for Holy S&%T!, which is commonly yelled over vent during the Prince Malchezaar fight in Karazhan by Shadow Priests. Enfeeble + Shadow Word: Death = ShadOwned. Enjoy the view from the ground.
I is for Interrupt. No, not the spell kind.. but this is what you should do on vent if anyone is talking about anything you aren’t interested in. This could be anything from Arena, tanking tactics, football or Alton Brown.. interrupt them, change the subject and go about your merry way.
J is for JUMP!, what you should do whenever you see a large cliff.. as long as you have Levitate ready. Jumping is also helpful to avoid the stationary damage in the Nexus and also to not fail your group during the transition phase to Thaddius.
K is for Kel’thuzad, a fight that forces you to learn how to use your Power Word: Shield for the greater good.. to save other people instead of worrying about your DPS.
L is for LOL, which is what I currently think of Shadow Priest survivability in PVP. Sadly, its what everyone that kills you thinks too. L is also for Levitate, which is awesome when glyphed and saves lives on Thaddius.
M is for Mind Flay, the #1 spell for any Shadow Priest. This spell deals damage over 3 seconds, also slowing the targets movement speed. The short range of this spell is the bane of many Shadow Priests but with Shadow Reach and Glyph of Mind Flay, the problem is solved albeit a complete hassle. M is also for Merlot @ Misery, a fellow Shadow Priest blogger that not only has a great blog but has sent a lot of traffic my way. *shadowy high five*
N is for Necrophelia, or the act of a Druid going cat form and humping your dead corpse after ganking you in PVP. Thanks lads!
O is for Open Handed Slap, or the act of returning the favor to said cat Druid once you find them again. Bastard.
P is for Psychic Horror, the new shadow talented spell in 3.1. This spell will cause the the target to cower in fear for 3 seconds while disarming all weapons (ranged included) for 10 seconds. Recently on the PTR, the cooldown for this spell has been increased from 1 minute to 2 minutes.
Q is for QQ, see LOL.
R is for Run, which is what Shadow Priests do when they see Survival Hunters in PVP. Keep going!
S is for Shadowform, the 31 point Shadow talent. This grants the Priest Shadowform, increases shadow damage done and reducing damage taken.
T is for Timbal’s Focusing Crystal, an epic trinket dropped in Heroic Magister’s Terrace in TBC. This trinket was highly saught after by Shadow Priests and Warlocks for its stellar equip bonus – a chance to cause additional damage when any spell deals periodic damage. This trinket was also saught after by Fire Mages for the same reason (Fireball and Ignite ticks).
U is for Uni Mind Headdress, a cloth helm dropped in Karazhan by Netherspite. Before obtaining their T4 helms (or crafting a Spellstrike/Battlecast hood), this helm was a great way to reach spell hit cap in TBC. It’s lack of a meta socket didn’t allow it to last for long.
V is for Vampiric Touch & Vampiric Embrace, two staple spells for Shadow Priests. Vampiric Touch is the 41 point Shadow Talent, dealing shadow damage over time. If the Priest Mind Blasts during the duration, the party/raid will be buffed with Replenishment. Vampiric Embrace is a Shadow Talent, debuffing a target to heal the Priest and their party (not raid) by a certain % of the damage received by the Priest.
W is for Warlocks, for which Shadow Priest’s were considered to be “the poor mans Warlock”. Warlocks also help boost the Priest’s DPS with the application of Curse of Elements.
X is for X-Perl? Hell, I don’t know.
Y is for You Shouldn’t Take Mind Flay Until Level 36. Just a piece of advice that Mind Flay’s damage sucks until the rank you pick up at 36 so you’re better off spending the talent points elsewhere and just wanding instead. Srsly.
Z is for zzZ.. zzZ.. zzZ, which is what I think of Priest healing. Go respec Shadow, healboy!
OK so this wasn’t as serious as my Warlock post BUT there isn’t much to go on with Shadow Priests. Warlocks are easier because I had three talent trees to work with where Shadow is one tree on its own. It also doesn’t help that most of the spells and abilities start with P or S. Remember kids.. Warlock is a class, Shadow is a spec. Stay in school!
The letter N cracked me up. xD
[...] The Fear.Win blog gives us the A-Z Shadow Priest list. [...]
Echoing Syrana, the Letter R was also amusing. I think the letter X is the mark that all other classes get on their minimaps, notifying them that a free-kill shadow priest is in the zone. Brought to you by the letter QQ indeed
2 minor corrections:
The Ebonweave set is only a 2 piece (gloves and chest) craftable set, not 3
“Vampiric Touch is a Shadow Talent, debuffing a target to heal the Priest and their party (not raid) by a certain % of the damage received by the Priest.” – This is Vampiric Embrace
This is what I get for blogging less than an hour after waking up. Thanks for bringing this to my attention and it’ll get corrected =)
@ Khaeli – Ah, good one. This is why I let everyone do the work for me, right?
[...] The Fear.Win blog gives us the A-Z Shadow Priest list. [...]
My main is a holy/disc priest (currently full disc) and I came here from WoWInsider…very funny article, as I have spent time as a shadowy one myself…
I just wanted to applaud you for mentioning “H” aka “SWD + Enfeeble = ShadOwned” I was afraid I was the only noob who made that mistake, and though it’s over a year later, I feel better knowing I’m not alone! <3
[...] The Fear.Win blog gives us the A-Z Shadow Priest list. [...]
*High five!
Thank you for the kind plug, and gratz on the WoW Insider link, much deserved
@ Merlot – Thanks =D
Woot, grats on the linkage
Hmm Z. Disc PvP is “fun.” You get to spend a lot of time bubbling, PoMing, and healing yourself while the entire opposing faction tries to take you down.