Messaggio di vykas
Regarding this thread: The information in this thread is relevant to Shadow Priest DPS in a PVE environment. The information contained here is a compilation of contributions gleaned from various sources such as Elitist Jerks, Wowhead, and Shadowpriest.com as well as personal experience. All data presented will attempt to be empirical.
Please also note this is a work in progress, as time permits I will update this thread with all relevant information as it comes to light.
TABLE OF CONTENTS- Introduction
- General
INTRODUCTIONWarlocks
claim that they've cornered the market on evil, but I challenge that notion. Who better to be the embodiment of evil than that of a former spiritual leader consumed by shadows? Misery, pain, and death are cornerstones to the tenents of a true purveyor of the shadows. Likewise, no self-respecting evil-doer would be caught dead (or undead) serving up tasty treats to their fellow compatriots—they melt faces.
True evil thrives in the shadows!
That said, I would like to take a moment to thank those who have helped compile this information by contributing experiences, data, and other invaluable resources through the various locations where Shadow Priests gather. I will attempt to be as concise as possible in my outline of the current discussion and theory-crafting surrounding the Shadow tree of the Priest class.
The layout for this guide is based on the guides by Jmickey (Blackrock-US) for Warlocks on Elitist Jerks.
Return to ContentsGENERALFrequently Asked QuestionsQ: Is there a haste cap?
A: Shadow does not have any achievable haste caps at this time.
Q: Should I reach the hit cap?
A: Simulations demonstrate that hit rating is a DPS increase until cap, however actually achieving the cap is a matter of preference. It is important to note that while hit is important, it is highly not recommended to actually gem or enchant for it.
Q: Spirit converts to hit, should I roll for spirit gear?
A: A basic rule of thumb is that “just because you can use spirit gear that doesn’t mean that you should.” Ideally Healers should have preference to spirit gear. Remember when looking for upgrades, the best way to find out your own stat weights is to use a tool such as
SimulationCraft.
Q: Should I use the Shadow Fiend on cool down?
A: Yes. Ultimately it is a DPS increase two fold, one by actually doing damage itself and two, by returning mana to the caster to allow for continued damage output.
Q: I changed my spec, and on a training dummy my new spec gives me more DPS!
A: What you do on a training dummy is irrelevant, not only is your sample data far too small to rule out RNG, you're also missing lots of buffs/target debuffs that will change the way certain talents perform.
AbbreviationsAbbreviation Meaning Sprist Shadow Priest
VE Vampiric Embrace
VT Vampiric Touch
DP Devouring Plague
SW:P Shadow Word: Pain
SW:D Shadow Word: Death
MF Mind Flay
MB Mind Blast
iMB Improved Mind Blast
AA/DAA Archangel/ Dark Archangel
AoE Area of Effect
DPET Damage per execute time
ICD Internal Cooldown
GCD Global Cooldown
BiS Best in Slot
RNG Random Number Generator
DoTs Damage over time spells
Return to ContentsTALENTSCurrent SpecBase Talent Spec:
(8/0/31)+2Talent OverviewShadow
TierTalentNotesRecommendation
1
3% increase to Spell haste. Required.
1
Increase to SW:P Required.
1
Reduced CD on Fade and Shadowfiend.Highly Recommended.
2
Reduced CD and healing debuff.Highly Recommended.
2
Instant 30% of total damage. Required.
2
Increase to spell damage and spirit to hit conversion.Required.
3
Increased shadow damage, reduction to damage taken and 5% spell haste.Required.
3
Increased Shadow Orb generation.Required.
4
Abbraccio VampiricoHealing Aura based on single target damage.Required.
4
Mana return from damage taken including SW:D.Highly Recommended.
4
Increase SW:D damage on targets <25%, causes MS to reduce cast time of MB by 50% stacks x2.Highly Recommended.
5
Refreshes SW:P and reduces SW:D backlash damage. Required.
5
Tocco VampiricoDamage dealing spell, adds replenishment on MB casts.Required.
6
Dispell protection for VT and Shadowfiend CD reduction.Highly Recommended.
6
Shadow damage procRecommended.
7
DispersioneMana regeneration CD, also 90% damage reduction.Required.
Discipline
TierTalentNotesRecommendation
1
Increase spell damage.Required
1
Mana reduction for instant cast spells. (2/3)Highly Recommended
2
Increase shadow periodic spell damage.Highly Recommended.
2
Consumes Evangelism stacks, returns mana, increases damage to MF, SW:D, MS and MB.Highly Recommended.
This leaves 2 points free to be used elsewhere. It is recommended to finish out Mental Agility, though not necessary. Points could be used to pick up some more utility spells such as Psychic Horror but again, not necessary.
GlyphsPrime:
Glifo CarbonizzatoGlifo CarbonizzatoGlifo CarbonizzatoMajor:
Minor:
- Individual’s Choice
- Individual’s Choice
- Individual’s Choice
Return to ContentsSTATS & GEARINGStatsIntellect:- Intellect provides spell power at a 1:1 ratio prior to bonuses and 0.00154% crit, as well as increases mana by 17.53 per point.
Hit Rating:- Hit increases the chance that a spell will land on its intended target. 102.45 hit rating gives 1% to hit with spells. Hit cap is 17% or 1742 Rating. Once the cap has been reached, hit’s value greatly diminishes.
- In addition Shadow Priests (along with other healing hybrids) receive hit from spirit through talents (Twisted Faith). Same rules apply, once the hit cap has been reached, spirit becomes useless.
Haste Rating:- 128.05 haste rating gives 1% spell haste. Haste rating scales multiplicatively with other sources of haste—and cannot reduce the duration of the global cool down below 1.0 second.
Critical Strike Rating:- 179.49 crit rating gives 1% to crit.
Mastery Rating:- 179.12 mastery rating adds 1 point to mastery which increases the damage of Shadow Orb Power by 1.45% which once consumed by a Mind Blast or Mind Spike provides the buff Empowered Shadow.
Stat PrioritiesIt is recommended you download
SimulationCraft or similar tools and base your decisions around your individual character. However, the below order should be correct in most situations.
Int >> Hit (to cap) > Haste > Mastery > Crit
The above should basically be true at most gear levels.
Stat WeightsTier 12 Normal profile forthcoming.
StatWeightNormalized
Int3.51051.0000
SP2.69550.7678
Haste1.85080.5272
Mastery1.74020.4957
Hit1.61180.4591
Spirit1.60200.4563
Crit1.58360.4511
ReforgingHow you reforge will be based on the following rules:
- Are you hit capped?
Yes: Reforge any extra hit/spirit to haste where possible.
No: Reforge mastery/crit to hit/spirit. - Does it have haste on it?
Yes: Go to the next rule.
No: Reforge mastery/crit to haste, leave hit/spirit as is. - Reforge mastery to crit if the above has been done.
GemmingMeta:
Diamante Spirito Tenebroso ArdenteRed:
Rubino Infernale BrillanteYellow:
Topazio Ardente SprezzanteBlue:
Occhio Demoniaco Velato or
Occhio Demoniaco PurificatoWhen to ignore the socket bonus:As a general rule of thumb if the socket bonus is less than 20 Int, or 30 of any rating stat, then it would be better to ignore the bonus and gem
Rubino Infernale Brillante. However, to be more accurate you would need to find the relevant scale factors for your individual gear setup (Using
SimulationCraft)and multiply those scale factors by the stats you would gain with either gem.
Set BonusesRegalia of the Cleansing FlameEnchantingSlotRegular enchantProfession specificHead
Arcanum del Monte Hyjal-
Shoulders
Iscrizione Superiore della Magnetite EnergizzataIscrizione del VilfuocoBack
Intelletto SuperioreChest
Attributi Impareggiabili-
Wrist
Intelletto Vigoroso/
Hands
CeleritàBelt
Fibbia d'Ebanacciaio-
Legs
Ornamento Magico Spettrale PotenteOrnamento Magico ConsacratoBoots
Calcalava -
Finger-
Weapon
Torrente di Potere-
Off-Hand
Intelletto Pregevole-
ProfessionsMain profession benefits:
Alchemy:MescologiaBlacksmithing: and
Enchanting:x2
Engineering:Herbalism:Inscription:Iscrizione del VilfuocoJewelcrafting:Occhio di Chimera Brillantex3
Leatherworking:Mining:Skinning:Tailoring:ConsumablesFlask:
Tonico della Mente Draconica or
Tonico da BattagliaFood:
Testa di Pescesalvia ai Ferri or
Brodetto Imperiale di PescePotion:
Pozione della Potenza Vulcanica (Pre-pot and use during bloodlust/heroism)
Return to ContentsSPELL ROTATIONSpell PriorityAs a Shadow Priest, your primary concern is managing the
buff. That being said, how you manage that is for the most part up to you. Since, unlike other classes, Shadow Priests do not have to apply debuffs to function at their fullest potential, there really is no set rotation as it were.
The key is getting your
buff up as soon as possible through the generation of shadow orbs (via SW:P and MF). The amount of orbs generated prior to casting Mind Blast has no bearing on
, so best case would be to cast a Mind Blast as soon as an orb is generated, reapply DoTs and continue with the rest of the spell priorities.
Since Mind Blast’s DPET increases with the number of shadow orbs available it is optimal to cast it when orbs are present, however, a Mind Blast with no shadow orbs still has a higher DPET than Mind Flay and should be used cool downs permitting.
While the Shadowfiend has a low DPET, it has the added benefit of returning mana to the caster thus enabling more damage throughput. It is wise to use it as often as possible (unless you find yourself struggling to manage your mana—mainly newer raiders whom may undergear certain content—then you would want to save it for times of need).
Shadow Word: Death is an interesting spell to consider in your DPS rotation. It functions in two ways; One, it is considered an execute phase spell—talented (
)—when the target is <25% health (and with Glyph of Shadow Word: Death you can hit it twice); and two, it is a mana regeneration talent (
) much in the same vein as a Warlocks Life Tap however SW:D has the added ability to cause damage while regenerating mana.
Optimal OpenerFor the most part there really isn’t a “set-in-stone” opener for Shadow Priests. With
in mind, you will want to cast the spells that are likely to generate shadow orbs on your target as quickly as possible. For the most part a “safe” opening rotation would be to follow (loosely) the spell priorities listed above, such as:
Parola d'Ombra: Dolore ►
Tocco Vampirico ►
►
Detonazione Mentale ►
Flagello Mentale until Dark Evangelism.
Then continue to follow the priority above.
By the time you run thought that initial sequence (unless you are pristinely unlucky) you should have generated at least one orb by the time Mind Blast is off cool down and thus can start your
rolling.
AoE and Multiple TargetsShadow Priest AoE damage (in the form of
) has had a rollercoaster ride of effectiveness for the past few patches.
has gone from extremely powerful, to beating a mob with a wet noodle, to being fairly decent compared to most other classes. Aside from a buff to damage, one new feature to this lovely spell is that it can now be cast on friendly targets (such as a tank or other melee) to allow for you to channel without interruption.
Multi-target encounters provide the ability to apply several of your main DoTs (mana providing) to each target thus gaining a substantial increase to overall damage output.
Return to ContentsOTHERMacrosSeveral macros for multi-target situations:
#showtooltip
/cast Vampiric Touch; Vampiric Touch
#showtooltip
/cast Shadow Word: Pain; Shadow Word: Pain
#showtooltip
/cast Mind Flay; Mind Flay
Although I don't use this last one myself, I felt it could be helpful to some. Generally speaking "nochanneling" macros are a DPS loss due to latency.
Tools and AddonsSimulationCraftOne of the best tools currently at our disposial is SimulationCraft:
SimulationCraft is a tool to explore combat mechanics in the popular MMO RPG World of Warcraft. It is a multi-player event-driven simulator written in C++ that models raid damage. Increasing class synergy and the prevalence of proc-based combat modifiers have eroded the accuracy of traditional calculators that rely upon closed-form approximations to model very complex mechanics. The goal of this simulator is to close the accuracy gap while maintaining a performance level high enough to calculate relative stat weights to aid gear selection.
As such there are two sites assiciated with this tool. One is the actual project home found
here. The site includes the client download (for both Mac and WIndows) as well as a basic "how to."
In addition to that site there is also
SimulationCraft.org which offers sample analysis generated by SimulationCraft. Basically giving easy access to simulation results of all classes and specs at various gear levels (and patches).
World of LogsAnother excelent tool for any raider is
World of Logs (WoL).
World of Logs combat log analyzer which allows gamers to save, share and analyze their raiding experiences conveniently and thoroughly in World of Warcraft.
There is a steep learning curve to effectively utilize this tool, however the rewards are fairly apparent (especially if you are a raid leader or class leader for your guild) as you can get a far more detailed and accurate accounting of nearly every aspect of any encounter you have uploaded. And for those who swear by the DPS meter, this is a far more accurate gauge of performance.
There is a very brief "help" section (found
here) on the site that will give you the basics of how to go from setting up your account to uploading your log and analyzing the data. As well as a forum available to ask any questions that may arise.
Return to Contents
