Jump to content
FORUMS
Sign in to follow this  
Vlad

Shadow Priest: Mists of Pandaria Rotation Changes, Talents, and Glyphs (Patch 5.0.4)

Recommended Posts

This article is no longer being updated. Please check our Shadow Priest guide, which is fully compatible with Mists of Pandaria, and is being constantly updated. Thank you.

In preparation for the updates to our guides for Mists of Pandaria Patch 5.0.4, we are releasing articles such as this one, explaining what has changed for a particular class and spec, and what the new rotation is likely to be.

Keep in mind that this is still a work in progress (both from Blizzard's side and from our own) and that this article assumes you are at least somewhat familiar with the Cataclysm version of the Shadow Priest rotation and playstyle (such as from reading our guide).

We will first list the most important changes to the Shadow Priest Cataclysm abilities, and then we will proceed to explaining the (likely to be) optimal rotation. Keep in mind that we do not document every single change or new ability, only those that impact the rotation.

Finally, we will give you some information about the most useful talents and glyphs you should choose.

New Abilities

  • spell_shadow_mindflay.jpgShadow Word: Insanity or spell_shadow_soulleech_3.jpgMindbender (they are mutually exclusive Tier 3 talents). Shadow Word: Insanity allows you to consume your spell_shadow_shadowwordpain.jpgShadow Word: Pain, if there are 6 or fewer seconds left on its duration, dealing damage to the target. Mindbender replaces spell_shadow_shadowfiend.jpgShadowfiend, its lower cooldown making it more efficient both at dealing damage as well as at regenerating mana. They both increase your DPS but it is premature to determine which of the two is a greater increase.
  • spell_priest_voidshift.jpgVoid Shift is a spell that swaps your health percentage with the health percentage of the targeted raid member. If one you has a health percentage of less than 25%, then it is increased to 25%. This is a cooldown that enables you to save raid members who reach very low health (and are still taking damage). You can use spell_shadow_dispersion.jpgDispersion immediately afterwards, in order to give your healers enough time to heal you.
  • spell_holy_powerinfusion.jpgPower Infusion, which increases your casting speed by 20% and reduces the mana cost of your spells by 20%. This spell was previously only available to Discipline Priests. It can be cast on players other than the Priest. It is a talent (Tier 5), the alternatives to which are spell_shadow_mindtwisting.jpgTwist of Fate and spell_priest_burningwill.jpgDivine Insight. It is unclear which of these three talents will provide the greatest DPS gain, but Power Infusion certainly has the added benefit of being able to be cast on other players.
  • One of ability_priest_cascade.jpgCascade, spell_priest_divinestar.jpgDivine Star, or ability_priest_halo.jpgHalo. Again, it is unclear which one will be the most beneficial, but as they are all multiple target spells, they are unlikely to affect the single target rotation very much.

Changes to Existing Mechanics

  • Shadow Orbs are generated each time you deal damage with spell_shadow_unholyfrenzy.jpgMind Blast or spell_shadow_demonicfortitude.jpgShadow Word: Death. Shadow Word: Death generates 2 Shadow Orbs if it turns out to be a killing blow on the target. Shadow Orbs are used for casting Devouring Plague (see below).
  • spell_shadow_devouringplague.jpgDevouring Plague has been redesigned. It now costs Shadow Orbs instead of mana. It deals Shadow damage over time and also heals you over time. Its damage (and healing) is based on the amount of Shadow Orbs you have when casting it. Casting it consumes all of your Shadow Orbs.
  • The new Mastery, inv_chaos_orb.jpgMastery: Shadowy Recall, gives each tick of your DoTs a chance to deal its damage twice.
  • spell_holy_innerfire.jpgInner Fire now increases your spell power by 10%, instead of by a fixed value.
  • spell_shadow_unholyfrenzy.jpgMind Blast has an 8 second cooldown and generates a Shadow Orb each time it is cast.
  • spell_shadow_shadowform.jpgShadowform increases Shadow damage by 20% (up from 15%).
  • spell_shadow_siphonmana.jpgMind Flay no longer refreshes spell_shadow_shadowwordpain.jpgShadow Word: Pain.

Removed Abilities

None of the abilities that were part of the Shadow Priest rotation in Cataclysm have been removed, although some have been changed (see above), such as the Shadow Orb/Empowered Shadows mechanics.

With this mind, the Shadow Priest rotation remains similar to its Cataclysm version. Below, we list what we think the Shadow Priest rotation will be, approximately. A great deal of testing is still required, and many abilities are subject to change.

Single Target Rotation

  • Keep up spell_shadow_shadowwordpain.jpgShadow Word: Pain and spell_holy_stoicism.jpgVampiric Touch.
  • Use spell_shadow_unholyfrenzy.jpgMind Blast on cooldown.
  • Use your Shadow Orbs on spell_shadow_devouringplague.jpgDevouring Plague. Devouring Plague deals a fixed damage per Shadow Orb, so it makes no difference if you use it with 1, 2, or 3 Shadow Orbs. Ideally, you should use it with 3 orbs, though, in order to conserve global cooldowns.
  • Use spell_shadow_siphonmana.jpgMind Flay whenever Mind Blast is on cooldown and your DoTs do not need to be refreshed.
  • Use spell_shadow_demonicfortitude.jpgShadow Word: Death on cooldown when the target is below 20% health.

Cooldowns

  • spell_shadow_shadowfiend.jpgShadowfiend (or spell_shadow_soulleech_3.jpgMindbender) should be used on cooldown.
  • spell_holy_powerinfusion.jpgPower Infusion, in case you choose it as a talent, should be used as many times as possible during the fight. Ideally, you should cast it on the caster (healer or DPS) who will benefit your raid the most thanks to it. This is to say, you should cast it on the caster DPS who does the most damage (or benefits most from increased casting speed) or on one of the healers, if your progression is being halted by healing probelm.
  • spell_shadow_mindflay.jpgShadow Word: Insanity, in case you choose it as a talent, should be used when your spell_shadow_shadowwordpain.jpgShadow Word: Pain is about to expire on the target.

Multiple Target Rotation

When facing 2 or 3 enemies, you should apply and keep up your spell_shadow_shadowwordpain.jpgShadow Word: Pain and spell_holy_stoicism.jpgVampiric Touch on all of the targets, while performing a single target rotation on one of them.

When facing 4 or more enemies, you should simply channel spell_shadow_mindshear.jpgMind Sear on one of the targets (or the tank, if he is in melee range of all of them).

Talents

Tier 1 is a choice between three crowd control talents. It appears that it will have little impact on the actual DPS performance. The talents are:Tier 2 provides various movement enhancing abilities. Casting priest_spell_leapoffaith_a.jpgLeap of Faith (a Holy spell), takes you out of spell_shadow_shadowform.jpgShadowform. Moreover, even though casting spell_holy_powerwordshield.jpgPower Word: Shield (on yourself or another player) does not remove Shadowform, using Power Word: Shield, as a Shadow Priest, can cause problems for your raid, since your spell_holy_ashestoashes.jpgWeakened Soul could prevent Discipline Priests from casting their more powerful Power Word: Shields (or having Weakened Soul on you already could prevent you from gaining the movement speed boost when you most desire it). Therefore, we feel that spell_holy_symbolofhope.jpgBody and Soul is not very desirable. ability_priest_phantasm.jpgPhantasm looks like it will have more PvP applicability, leaving ability_priest_angelicfeather.jpgAngelic Feather as being the most useful talent in this tier, which can also benefit other raid members.

Tier 3 gives you a choice between three DPS-increasing abilities. We discussed spell_shadow_soulleech_3.jpgMindbender and spell_shadow_mindflay.jpgShadow Word: Insanity at the start of this article.

The third talent choice is spell_holy_surgeoflight.jpgFrom Darkness, Comes Light, which gives you a chance to gain a mana-free, instant cast spell_priest_mindspike.jpgMind Spike that does not consume your DoTs on the target. Coupled with the spell_priest_mindspike.jpgGlyph of Mind Spike (see below), this could prove an excellent talent.

Tier 4 gives you a choice between self-healing and survival talents. The usefulness of ability_rogue_shadowdance.jpgSpectral Guise seems more suited to PvP. The choice between spell_holy_testoffaith.jpgDesperate Prayer and ability_priest_angelicbulwark.jpgAngelic Bulwark will likely be based on your own preference and the encounter mechanics. We would just note that, unless it happens regularly that you are brought below 30% health, and continue taking damage after that, Angelic Bulwark will not be very useful. We would recommend Desperate Prayer, because it offers you a lot more control.

Tier 5 gives you a choice between the following talents, as mentioned at the start of the article:

As we mentioned above, it's not clear yet which of these talents will be the biggest DPS increase, but it is worth noting Power Infusion's raid utility.

Tier 6 gives you a choice between three multiple target DPS talents:

As we mentioned at the start of the article, it is hard to tell which of these talents will be best, but we do not believe any of them will affect your single target rotation greatly. Choosing one over the others will probably depend on the final versions of these spells and the mechanics of the encounter you are progressing on.

Glyphs

There is only one glyph that has any chance of influencing your DPS. This is spell_priest_mindspike.jpgGlyph of Mind Spike, which causes your spell_priest_mindspike.jpgMind Spike to reduce the cast time of your next spell_shadow_unholyfrenzy.jpgMind Blast (within 6 seconds) by 50%, stacking twice (thus, making your Mind Blast instant cast).

We hope you have enjoyed our article and that you find it useful. As always, we are eagerly awaiting your feedback!

  • Like 3

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Having Shadow Priest as my main character, I found it very useful, thank you :)

Not sure if I can't wait for MoP, or do I dread the release date. Didn't have a chance to try out beta, but I don't like the looks of the new talent system!

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Having Shadow Priest as my main character, I found it very useful, thank you Posted Image

Not sure if I can't wait for MoP, or do I dread the release date. Didn't have a chance to try out beta, but I don't like the looks of the new talent system!

You're welcome!

I have a good feeling about the talent system. Give it a chance!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm thinking about changing to Priest for Mists of Pandaria. Your post certainly made my decision a bit easier Posted Image

Thanks for the help once again!

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You're welcome!

I have a good feeling about the talent system. Give it a chance!

She struggles with the hard stuff ;) GO Foundation :P!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Having Shadow Priest as my main character, I found it very useful, thank you Posted Image

Not sure if I can't wait for MoP, or do I dread the release date. Didn't have a chance to try out beta, but I don't like the looks of the new talent system!

You're not alone! I only logged on MoP beta, checked out my paladin for a minute, then went off. As far as I do like the new spells and thing with talents, the revamped talents are one of the things I won't really like since it will give you a lot of more spells and frankly, I just don't like filling my action bar with more spells than I already have enough.

Can't wait for more rotations though! :P

  • Confused 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You're not alone! I only logged on MoP beta, checked out my paladin for a minute, then went off. As far as I do like the new spells and thing with talents, the revamped talents are one of the things I won't really like since it will give you a lot of more spells and frankly, I just don't like filling my action bar with more spells than I already have enough.

Can't wait for more rotations though! Posted Image

Again, this is a misconception :)

You "lose" a lot of spells (or a few spells, depending on your class/spec) from Cataclysm. For example, as a Shadow Priest, you no longer have access to spell_holy_lesserheal.jpgHeal, spell_holy_greaterheal.jpgGreater Heal, spell_holy_prayerofhealing02.jpgPrayer of Healing, and spell_holy_divinehymn.jpgDivine Hymn. Now, I'll grant you that these are not spells you would be frequently using as a Shadow Priest, and even if you wanted to heal, you'd probably use other spells first. Even so, a diligent raider would have had all of these spells on their action bars, and now you don't have to worry about them anymore.

As for "gaining new spells", remember that a lot of the talents that "give you a spell" are mutually exclusive. In each tier, you can only choose one, and many tiers do not have a new spell, but rather they are just passive bonuses. Overall, you're probably looking at 3 new abilities per spec, maximum.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

She struggles with the hard stuff Posted Image GO Foundation Posted Image!

OI! /slap

Again, this is a misconception Posted Image

You "lose" a lot of spells (or a few spells, depending on your class/spec) from Cataclysm. For example, as a Shadow Priest, you no longer have access to spell_holy_lesserheal.jpgHeal, spell_holy_greaterheal.jpgGreater Heal, spell_holy_prayerofhealing02.jpgPrayer of Healing, and spell_holy_divinehymn.jpgDivine Hymn. Now, I'll grant you that these are not spells you would be frequently using as a Shadow Priest, and even if you wanted to heal, you'd probably use other spells first. Even so, a diligent raider would have had all of these spells on their action bars, and now you don't have to worry about them anymore.

You'd be surprised what spells you have to use in raids when Peelyon is our main healer :P

I use Divine Hymn and Hymn of Hope fairly often on harder encounters, just to help out the healers.

  • Like 1
  • Confused 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

OI! /slap

You'd be surprised what spells you have to use in raids when Peelyon is our main healer Posted Image

I use Divine Hymn and Hymn of Hope fairly often on harder encounters, just to help out the healers.

Well, you won't be using Divine Hymn any more :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

a few things to think about on this, need to get used to reapplying SW:P again and timing Insanity might take a bit of trial and error.

1 question though, are all tier 6 talents holy?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

a few things to think about on this, need to get used to reapplying SW:P again and timing Insanity might take a bit of trial and error.

1 question though, are all tier 6 talents holy?

In-game, the tooltips of the Tier 6 talents mention that the damage is Shadow damage when the spells are cast in spell_shadow_shadowform.jpgShadowform. So, presumably, they won't cause any problems.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks much for this guide!

The SPriest stuff has been changing so rapdily with each Beta Patch, I felt extremely lost.

This entire site, in general, is a MUST READ for WOW Players. I'm so glad I found it during Firelands for your raid guides. Keep up the great work!

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks much for this guide!

The SPriest stuff has been changing so rapdily with each Beta Patch, I felt extremely lost.

This entire site, in general, is a MUST READ for WOW Players. I'm so glad I found it during Firelands for your raid guides. Keep up the great work!

You are welcome. We're going to do this for every class over the next 10 days or so, just to give people an easy way to reference the changes that are coming.

We're glad you like it!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You are welcome. We're going to do this for every class over the next 10 days or so, just to give people an easy way to reference the changes that are coming.

We're glad you like it!

I would also like to thank you for this, I had been trying to piece together the info myself by researching, but gave up, so this was exactly what I've been looking for! Can't wait to read the writeups over the other classes as well.

Edited by zebus
  • Like 1
  • Sad 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello! Firstly I just wanted to say i've been following this site for a while and I love all your guides.

I have been playing a Shadow Priest as my main for over 3 years. I was initially a bit hesitant about the changes they were making to Shadow Priests in MoP and I didn't like the look of the new talent trees, but after levelling to 90 and doing some raid boss tests I absolutely love the changes and can't wait til MoP is released! Posted Image

After reading this guide, and from my own experience I wanted to provide a couple of comments that may be helpful to other Shadow Priests:

Tier 1: spell_priest_voidtendrils.jpgVoid Tendrils is instant cast. spell_priest_psyfiend.jpgPsyfiend is instant cast, however you have to click on the ground where you want to place it - this is a time waster in my opinion.

Tier 2: spell_holy_symbolofhope.jpgBody and Soul. Casting spell_holy_powerwordshield.jpgPower Word: Shield on yourself does not take you out of Shadowform, so in my opinion this is the best option for PvE.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One thing.

spell_shadow_mindflay.jpgShadow Word: Insanity isn't a talent, but rather learned at level 74. You can safely mention that it can be part of the rotation.

Currently, spell_shadow_mindflay.jpgShadow Word: Insanity is a spell, providing you pick up the tier 3 talent Power Word: Solace. If you do not choose that talent, you will not have the spell available to you.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hello! Firstly I just wanted to say i've been following this site for a while and I love all your guides.

I have been playing a Shadow Priest as my main for over 3 years. I was initially a bit hesitant about the changes they were making to Shadow Priests in MoP and I didn't like the look of the new talent trees, but after levelling to 90 and doing some raid boss tests I absolutely love the changes and can't wait til MoP is released! Posted Image

After reading this guide, and from my own experience I wanted to provide a couple of comments that may be helpful to other Shadow Priests:

Tier 1: spell_priest_voidtendrils.jpgVoid Tendrils is instant cast. spell_priest_psyfiend.jpgPsyfiend is instant cast, however you have to click on the ground where you want to place it - this is a time waster in my opinion.

Tier 2: spell_holy_symbolofhope.jpgBody and Soul. Casting spell_holy_powerwordshield.jpgPower Word: Shield on yourself does not take you out of Shadowform, so in my opinion this is the best option for PvE.

Thank you for pointing this out. I'm going to update that part of the guide tomorrow (about PW:S). Even with this in mind, though, I'm not so sure that it's so much better to have spell_holy_symbolofhope.jpgBody and Soul. It means you can't apply your movement speed increase if you've already got Weakened Soul on yourself, and if you don't have it, you might be seriously inconveniencing a Disc Priest with your own weak shields :)

Anyway, I'll develop a bit more on this tomorrow. Thanks again!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've updated the article. It seems that, now, casting spell_holy_powerwordshield.jpgPower Word: Shield does not take you out of spell_shadow_shadowform.jpgShadowform, no matter who you cast it on.

Regarding spell_shadow_mindflay.jpgShadow Word: Insanity, it is a spell that appears in your spellbook if you have chosen the appropriate talent and you are in spell_shadow_shadowform.jpgShadowform. At least that's how it is now. I, too, used to see it in my spellbook as "learnable from a trainer", but this no longer seems to be the case. It just appears there.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

In-game, the tooltips of the Tier 6 talents mention that the damage is Shadow damage when the spells are cast in spell_shadow_shadowform.jpgShadowform. So, presumably, they won't cause any problems.

Thanks for that Vlad, was hoping that would be the answer.

Again thanks for all the effort IV is putting into this, really is much appreciated.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks for that Vlad, was hoping that would be the answer.

Again thanks for all the effort IV is putting into this, really is much appreciated.

You're welcome on both counts :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ty for this guide was a great help to have this quick start to beta like this one. One spell that u din't mentioned is spell_priest_voidshift.jpgVoid Shift i used this one some times to "save" the tank and dispersed for the heals have some time to get my life up again.

And can't wait more to see the new raid guides. keep doing this great work.

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

ty for this guide was a great help to have this quick start to beta like this one. One spell that u din't mentioned is spell_priest_voidshift.jpgVoid Shift i used this one some times to "save" the tank and dispersed for the heals have some time to get my life up again.

And can't wait more to see the new raid guides. keep doing this great work.

Thanks for your compliments. I've added spell_priest_voidshift.jpgVoid Shift :)

  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Sign in to follow this  

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

  • Similar Content

    • By Rivinhal
      Hey guys.
       
      I have a question regarding leveling builds...
       
      Basically I'm currently leveling a Sin Rogue (lvl 93) and I'm currently using the suggested IV leveling build (http://www.wowdb.com/talent-calculator#Kl0KlyKlzbEDPcWLLBAcuR), but I don't quite understand the reasoning behind some of the talents and glyphs in the leveling build. I've certainly used other builds/varients in my time leveling, but since I'm really in "crunch time" now, I'd really like to make the most of my efforts.
       
      I sort of feel like the build could be changed for the better (my build would be quite different lol), and I know the page even says that the build isn't set in stone, but I'm not a pro Rogue player by a longshot, so I get the feeling the person(s) who made the build knows things that I don't, and there is some method to the madness that I'm not comprehending.
       
      So my question, in a nutshell, is this:
       
      What are the reasons behind the talents and glyphs in the leveling build?
      Is there a better leveling build?
      Does it even really matter that much?
       
      Sorry for the long exposition before the question, but any help here would be appreciated guys.
    • By Ascha90
      I just got into PvP with my SPriest and I could use some advice. What kind of talents should I take? I thought Clarity of Power coupled with Glyph of Mind Harvest, or even Auspicious Spirits with Glyph of Mind Harvest, could be good, but I don't know what the math should be for that kind of talent and glyph combo. Should I take one of the talents but not the glyph? I am using Recount to measure my DPS. I am currently using the talent Insanity because I am putting out so many Devouring Plagues due to Glyph of Mind Harvest.
    • By Martunox
      Well, I started the expansion as Destruction, and have been doing pretty good dps with it, but as I have been progressing in raids and such, I have encountered with more and more gear with haste/mastery/versatility, no crit, and I have been feeling that I'm stuck with my DPS because of the lack of crit, so I gave a shot to my Affliction spec that I used mostly for PVP.
       
      The problem is, as much as I try and feel that I'm keeping good the uptime of my dots, my DPS in dummy goes no further of 13k DPS.
      Maybe is the not so good levels of haste, or maybe I'm not doing something well in the rotation, so I came here looking for illumination here in Icy Veins.
       
      Also, I don't know well the opener for fights very well with Affliction, so a rough idea would help a lot!
      As far as stat priority goes, I understand is INT>HASTE>MASTERY. 
       
      Thank you in advancement for helping!
       
      Here is my askmrrobot page of my character:
      http://www.askmrrobot.com/wow/player/us/quel'thalas/min%C3%AEx
       
      How do I get logs of my combat in my character?
    • By Pandacho
      Table of Content:
      GENERAL CONCERNS
      COMMON TALENTS AND GLYPHS
      ENCOUNTER SPECIFICS:
      KARGATH BLADEFIST
      THE BUTCHER
      TECTUS
      BRACKENSPORE
      TWIN OGRON
      KO'RAGH
      IMPERATOR MAR'GOK
       
      This post contains my thoughts regarding resto shaman healing in Highmaul Normal and Heroic.
       
      My guild hasn’t done any Mythic Raiding yet, so you shouldn’t apply anything written here to Mythic without checking.
       
      All the strategies, talents and spells choices are calculated for a ‘standard’ healers setup: 3-4 healers for 20N and 4 healers for 20H, no overgear (my raid average ilvl was 647, healers average 644). This is important to consider because if you overgear and / or overheal (more healers than you need), most of the strategies and talent choices lose their importance - you just heal through the damage with whatever spells.
       
      Our Healer Team composition: Restoration Druid, Restoration Shaman, Holy Paladin, Priest (Holy / Disc, depending on the fight).
       
       
      GENERAL CONCERNS (top)
       
      If there are situations during a raid where you feel that all your heals are going nowhere, try to make some changes to your healing frames. If you are using an add-on for your Healing Frames and not the default Blizz UI, you should be able to track the following:
       
      1. HoTs from other Healers
      2. Shields from Disc Priests
      3. Damage Mitigation CDs from Tanks
      4. Raidwide Damage Mitigation and Healing CDs
       
      Actually for Number 4, I prefer to use WeakAuras - I track a lot of information on my Healing Frames and I have to cut something from all this or things get too messy.
       
      You can find the WeakAura for tracking Raidwide CDs in our WA thread.
       
      If you can see what other Healers are doing during the fight, it makes it much easier to choose the ‘right’ targets for your heals and not get into situations when you Riptide somebody who already has a Druid’s HoT and a Priest’s Shield. Same with Raid CDs: if your raid is not too communicative, you don’t want to be in a situation where you drop your HTT while a Holy Priest has already begun to channel Divine Hymn.
       
      If you are still struggling with mana issues, check that you have a Spirit enchant on your weapon (even if it’s 630 ilvl) and the DMF trinket. Remember that you can always chose Elemental Blast in your Talents for help in refilling mana. Bring mana potions with you. I know that it’s obvious, but from my experience of checking logs, a lot of the people complaining about mana issues did not use mana potions during encounters.
       
       
      COMMON TALENTS AND GLYPHS: (top)
       
      TIER 1:
       
      STONE BULWARK TOTEM
       
      Unlike in MoP, I can’t see any appropriate usage for SBT in Highmaul.
       
      How does it work?
       
      When you summon it, it grants you a 10-second Shield that absorbs (Spell power * 0.875 * 4) damage. After that 10-second period is over, it casts a smaller shield of (Spell power * 0.875) on you every 5 seconds (overriding the previous shield, even the large, initial one, if it is still active). This smaller shield absorbs exactly 4 times less damage than the first shield and lasts for 10 seconds.
       
      So for example, for my current Spell Power 4748 (647 ilvl), I will get a shield that absorbs 16618 damage and after the initial 10 seconds, a smaller shield that absorbs 4154 damage 4 times over a 20 second period.
       
      From what it seems, its worth maybe a bit more than one Riptide or one Healing Wave.
      We don’t have spiky damage in WoD that forces us to use every bit of constant damage mitigation because we wouldn’t be able to cast a healing spell in time. So, from my PoV, we should use talents that allow us to mitigate a big amount of unpredictable damage or to ignore predictable damage when we have to continue casting.
       
      NATURE’S GUARDIAN
       
      I would advise taking it for people who get ‘tunnel vision.’
       
      If you always get caught by fire on Twin Ogrons or Suppression Field on Ko’ragh, take NG - it will give you a couple of seconds to run away and heal yourself when you actually might already be dead. Obviously, it’s much better to move out of stuff and avoid unnecessary damage but, well, nobody is perfect! ^^
       
      ASTRAL SHIFT
       
      Perfect talent if you are able to plan your actions.
       
      AS reduces all damage for 40%. You should use it when the raid is taking heavy damage from boss mechanics. Force Novas, Expel Magic: Frost, Cleave… Almost every boss uses abilities that you can mitigate with this talent.
       
      TIER 2:
       
      Actually the only talent in this tier that can help us in Highmaul is WINDWALK TOTEM.
      There are no adds that have to be rooted in any fight here and even on trash most of mobs are casters, so it’s more efficient to CC, stun or interrupt them.
       
      TIER 5:
       
      In my opinion, the only reasonable choice for most of the fights in this tier would be RUSHING STREAMS.
       
      ANCESTRAL GUIDANCE was nerfed so heavily in WoD, that even while having a 2 min CD, as a major raid CD it converts only 20% of your direct healing to healing on up to 3 nearby injured raid members. It’s such a minor amount of healing that I wouldn’t recommend it for any fight.
       
      CONDUCTIVITY is a very situational talent, simply because it demands a big part of the raid to stay in one spot long enough to fully utilise it. The only fight in Highmaul where people are mostly stacked in one spot is The Butcher. I personally think that additional healing from RS is still better than a possibility not to cast HR on CD. But it’s up to you.
       
      TIER 7:
       
      CLOUDBURST TOTEM or HIGH TIDE
      You should choose whatever is more comfortable for your play style. I checked both of talents in all the Highmaul fights and have to say that there is no significant difference in output numbers if you understand these talents mechanic and plan your behaviour in encounters.
       
      There are a couple of encounters where one of the talents may be slightly more beneficial and I mentioned this in Encounter Specifics, but generally, just play with what you are feeling more comfortable.
       
      Remember that while there are talents that seems preferable to take with CBT or HT, they are not mandatory.
      For example, you can take Echo of the Elements with High Tide, because Unleashed Life empowers your Chain Heal too and additional Riptide without CD will help you to manage High Tide usage easier.
      Or, it's not mandatory to take Totemic Persistence with Cloudburst totem if you prefer not to drop Water totems together but one by one.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING STREAM TOTEM - all fights in Highmaul, except for The Butcher and Mar'goc with Arcane spells have a magic damage component that may be reduced with this Glyph. Even in the Kargath fight, where the boss has only physical abilities, the adds and Pillars add a magic damage component.
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE - with the new healing style in WoD, we are using HW a lot. So why not get free self heals?
       
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS - reduces the cooldown of Spiritwalker's Grace by 60 seconds but reduces its duration by 7 seconds. I prefer it above Glyph of Spiritwalker's Grace.
      The reason for this is that in almost all the fights in Highmaul, we have ground abilities from which we have to move out or knockbacks after which we have to run back to our spots. Mostly they are short but frequent. I see many situations where 8 seconds casting on the move every 60 seconds can be more beneficial than being able to cast on move every 2 minutes.
       
       
      ENCOUNTER SPECIFICS (top)
       
       
      KARGATH BLADEFIST (top)
       
      This is the fight with very low raid damage in both Normal and Heroic versions.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1: Doesn’t matter
       
      Tier 2: Doesn’t matter
       
      Tier 3:
      Call of the Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice. I prefer Totemic Persistence with CBT because it gives you the flexibility to use other Water Totems without ruining your CBT timings.
      You can use Call of Elements in this fight too but there is no specific advantage to it. CoE is very good when you have to use a utility Totem twice in a row due to fight mechanics (Tremor, Windwalk, Capacitor, etc.) or when the overall damage is so high, that even one more HST could help. There’s nothing like this on Kargath.
       
      Tier 4:
      Elemental Mastery: we don’t need additional CDs for this fight.
      Ancestral Swiftness: no real need for additional Haste or instant casts.
      Echo of the Elements: I would say that this is our talent of choice on Kargath. A chance for additional Riptides or an Unleash Life without CD definitely increases our healing output.
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams. No reason for Conductivity - the raid is never stacked.
       
      Tier 6:
      Unleashed Fury: your choice if you are aiming for single target healing in this fight. Not valuable if you chose High Tide in Tier 7.
      Primal Elementalist: An acceptable choice. There is nothing to heal for most of the fight, so you could use elementals for DPS!
      Elemental Blast: I can’t see any reason for having mana issues in this fight, so I wouldn’t take this talent.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst Totem: This is my preferred Talent for this fight. Damage on the Raid is low, so it feels better to single target heal while CBT will redistribute our healing to the raid.
      High Tide: The only reason to take this talent on Kargath, in my opinion, is when you are assigned to go upstairs. It’s problematic enough to time CBT there, people are running all over the place, so it might be easier to Riptide the group and Chain Heal them.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING STREAM TOTEM
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS (you can take something else instead but I don’t see anything really useful)
       
       
      THE BUTCHER (top)
       
      This is the fight with very high raid damage in both Normal and Heroic versions, especially for soaking groups.
      My guild uses a very specific tactic for this boss:
      We have two healers for 2 soaking groups (5+5 people) - myself (Restoration Shaman) and Disc Priest. Our Restoration Druid stays on the raid full time while our Holy Paladin prioritizes the Tanks. Sub-30%, our Healers come into the soaking groups to help minimise the damage, 2 healers in each group.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1: I take Nature’s Guardian for accidental (or not accidental Sub-30%) Cleave damage.
       
      Tier 2: Doesn’t matter
       
      Tier 3:
      Call of Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice.
      I prefer High Tide for The Butcher. According to my assignment, I will have at least 5 heavily injured people during the entire fight. It’s clearly worth the constant use of Chain Heal.
      So Call of Elements is my choice here. The overall damage is very high, so even one more HST could help.
       
      Tier 4:
      Elemental Mastery: I wouldn’t take it. The other two talents are much more useful.
      Ancestral Swiftness: If you like to cast faster and to have an ‘oh, shit’ instant cast once every 90 seconds, this is a good choice.
      Echo of the Elements: A chance for additional Riptides or an Unleash Life without CD definitely increases our healing output. Remember that Unleashed Life empowers Chain Heal too so you can benefit from EotE when taking the High Tide talent.
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams or Conductivity.
      I prefer Rushing Streams but if you are good in handling Conductivity full time on melee - why not?
      You can find the WeakAura for tracking HR with Conductivity talent in our WA thread.
       
      Tier 6:
      Elemental Blast: I would say that this is our talent of choice for the Butcher. The fight is very intense and we’ll need every possible bit of mana.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst Totem: you can choose this it if you prefer single target healing. If you are using spells wisely, CBT will nicely redistribute your healing to all the injured people.
      High Tide: This is a very good talent for this fight. You will always have a lot of injured people and the power of High Tide will be fully utilized.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS (for knockbacks)
      Other possibilities:
      GLYPH OF FLAME SHOCK (a bit more of passive self healing)
      GLYPH OF RIPTIDE - if you don’t have a Resto Druid in the raid, it can be a possibility. If you can’t manage your High Tide CH targets without blanketing the raid, it’s a possibility too. But frankly, the amount of Riptides you'll have with the EotE talent should be enough to fully utilize High Tide.
       
       
      TECTUS (top)
       
      This is a fight with very intense movement for the entire raid, including healers.
      The tactic that my guild uses for this boss involves the whole raid spreading out in a big circle around the boss, no stacking.
      We have the assignments for raid healing CDs during Tectonic Upheaval for every Healer too.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1: Nature’s Guardian for accidental ‘standing in crap’ damage or Astral Shift for Tectonic Upheavals.
       
      Tier 2: Doesn’t matter
       
      Tier 3: Call of Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice.
      Many people prefer CBT for this fight because of constant movement and obstacles that cause loss of LoS for direct target heals.
      Call of Elements can be a good choice too. One more HST in the moments when you have to run from Crystalline Barrage or around Earthen Pillar could definitely help.
       
      Tier 4:
      Elemental Mastery: You can take it if feeling like one more CD is needed but it will burn your mana really fast.
      Ancestral Swiftness: If you like to cast faster and to have an ‘oh, shit’ instant cast once every 90 seconds, this is a good choice.
      Echo of the Elements: A chance for additional Riptides or an Unleash Life without CD definitely increases our healing output. Remember that Unleashed Life empowers Chain Heal too so you can benefit from EotE when taking the High Tide talent.
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams is the only choice here really.
       
      Tier 6:
      Unleashed Fury or Elemental Blast.
      If you are able to cast a lot and burn your mana quickly or if you took Glyph of Riptide for this fight, then take Elemental Blast.
      If you prefer single target spells and CBT, take Unleashed Fury - 50% increased heal is really good - you can cast less and pay more attention to your movement.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst Totem: you can choose this it if you prefer single target healing. CBT will also nicely redistribute your healing to all injured people when you’re moving around!
      High Tide: good talent for people who are good in positioning or with Glyph of Riptide. You will have a lot of injured people in this fight and the power of High Tide will be fully utilized.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING STREAM TOTEM
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS (so much movement)
      Other possibilities:
      GLYPH OF FLAME SHOCK (a bit more of passive self healing)
      GLYPH OF RIPTIDE - if you don’t have a resto druid in raid, it’s a possibility. If you are not very good in finding safe spots and move a lot, it’s a possibility too.
       
       
      BRACKENSPORE (top)
       
      By the tactic my guild uses for this boss, we have assignment for every healer. On Heroic progression you will need two healers assigned to heal mushrooms (one healer in Normal).
      I have to say that a resto shaman with Cloudburst totem assigned to Mushrooms can do miracles ^^. I was able to pull 11% of total healing from CBT on this fight.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1: Nature’s Guardian for accidental ‘caught in crap’ damage or Astral Shift for Infesting Spores.
       
      Tier 2: doesn’t matter
       
      Tier 3: Call of Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice.
      Call of Elements can be a choice too. One more HST on Infesting Spores - why not?
       
      Tier 4:
      Elemental Mastery: no need really and it burns your mana too quick.
      Ancestral Swiftness: if you like to cast faster and to have ‘oh, shit’ instant cast once in 90 sec. - it’s your choice.
      Echo of the Elements: I like it on this fight. More UL for mushrooms!
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams talent would be the best choice here really. Conductivity is very arguable, imo. While there are periods when all the raid is stacked on mushroom, I’m not sure that this time is long enough for using this talent.
       
      Tier 6:
      Unleashed Fury or Elemental Blast.
      I would take Unleashed Fury, especially if assigned to mushrooms. 50% increased single heal is really valuable here. If you are healing the raid, Elemental Blast could be your choice too, but frankly, you can refill the mana from blue mushroom.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst totem: best choice for healing mushrooms. CBT will nicely redistribute your healing on mushroom to the raid.
      High Tide: good talent if you are healing the raid.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING STREAM TOTEM
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      Other possibilities:
      GLYPH OF FLAME SHOCK (a bit more of passive self healing)
      GLYPH OF RIPTIDE - if you don’t have a resto druid in raid, it’s a possibility, but remember that it’s weak and burns your mana fast.
       
       
      TWIN OGRON (top)
       
      This is the fight with intensive movement for all the raid, including healers.
      By the tactic my guild uses for this boss, the ranged dps and healers are mostly stacked together and move together, except of moving of fire and Pulverize.
      It would be nice if your hunters will cast Aspect of the Fox, so you could cast when moving from the fire.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1: I would advice Nature’s Guardian here, especially if you are not very good in moving out of fire.
       
      Tier 2: doesn’t matter
       
      Tier 3: Call of Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice.
      Many people prefer CBT for this fight because of movement it demands.
      Call of Elements can be a good choice too. One more HST for fire times or Pulverize could definitely help.
       
      Tier 4:
      Ancestral Swiftness: don’t think that more Haste could be very useful in this fight.
      Echo of the Elements: A chance for additional Riptide or Unleash Life without CD definitely increase our healing output. Remember that Unleashed Life empowers Chain Heal too, so you can benefit from EotE when taking High Tide talent.
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams talent is the only choice here really. I don't think that there is enough time of stacking in one spot to benefit from Conductivity.
       
      Tier 6:
      Unleashed Fury or Elemental Blast.
      I would advice on Elemental Blast, this fight is way mana intensive and has more raid-wide than single damage.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst totem: chose it if you move a lot. CBT will nicely redistribute your healing to all the injured people in the time when you are moving around.
      High Tide: good talent for people who are good in positioning themselves. You will have a lot of injured people in this fight and the power of High Tide will be fully utilized.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING STREAM TOTEM
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS (so much movement)
      Other possibilities:
      GLYPH OF FLAME SHOCK (a bit more of passive self healing)
      GLYPH OF RIPTIDE - if you don’t have a resto druid in raid, it’s a possibility. If you are not very good in finding safe spots and move a lot, it’s a possibility too, but remember that it burns your mana!
       
       
      KO’RAGH (top)
       
      This is the fight with a high damage from both the boss mechanics and not paying attention.
      One of the fights where you should use shaman utilities.
      Remember that there are two main healing strategies for this encounter regarding dealing with Expel Magic: Frost: you can heal through it or move away if you don’t have enough HPS throughput.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1:
      Nature’s Guardian, if you are not very good in moving out of things.
      Astral Shift if you are able not to forget to use it on Expel Magic: Frost or Expel Magic: Fire.
       
      Tier 2: Windwalk totem! Use it to help the raid to get away from Frost Orbs.
       
      Tier 3: Call of Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice.
      Call of Elements can be a good choice too to reset the cooldown of Windwalk totem. Especially if you don’t have druids for Stampeding Roar.
       
      Tier 4:
      Ancestral Swiftness: not sure that more Haste will really shine in this fight, but it worth a shot if you like it.
      Echo of the Elements: A chance for additional Riptide or Unleash Life without CD definitely increase our healing output. Remember that Unleashed Life empowers Chain Heal too, so you can benefit from EotE when taking High Tide talent.
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams talent is the only choice here really. Not enough time stacking in one spot to benefit from Conductivity.
       
      Tier 6:
      Unleashed Fury or Elemental Blast.
      I would advice on Elemental Blast, this fight is way mana intensive and has more raid-wide than single person damage.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst totem: chose it if you like it.
      High Tide: just the same.
      Both talents are valuable for this fight.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING STREAM TOTEM
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      GLYPH OF PURIFY SPIRIT (Purify Spirit has 2 charges now. Useful for Expel magic: Fire dispels)
      Other possibilities:
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS
      GLYPH OF FLAME SHOCK (a bit more of passive self healing)
      GLYPH OF RIPTIDE - if you don’t have a resto druid in raid, it’s a possibility, but remember that it burns your mana and cuts healing output of Riptide!
       
       
      IMPERATOR MAR’GOK (top)
       
      This is a very long fight with a high damage from both the boss mechanics and not paying attention. There are many boss abilities that will do a raid-wide damage if people handle them in wrong way.
       
      TALENTS:
       
      Tier 1: I would recommend Astral Shift here. Use it on Force Novas or when you are Fixated.
      You can take Nature’s Guardian too, but there’s enough raid damage, so I think it’s better to mitigate.
       
      Tier 2: You can use Windwalk Totem on Slow debuff, but I think that it’s better to just dispel it.
       
      Tier 3:
      Call of Elements or Totemic Persistence.
      If you are aiming for Cloudburst Totem in Tier 7, Totemic Persistence could be your choice.
      Call of Elements can be good for another HST too. It is a long fight, so you’ll be able to use it at least 3-4 times.
       
      Tier 4:
      Ancestral Swiftness or Echo of the Elements: both talents are valuable for this fight. Chose what you are more comfortable with.
       
      Tier 5:
      Rushing Streams talent would be the best choice here. Not enough time stacking in one spot to benefit from Conductivity.
       
      Tier 6:
      Elemental Blast.
      The encounter is more than 10 min. long. You will definitely run out of mana without this talent.
       
      Tier 7:
      Cloudburst totem or High Tide: both talents are valuable for this fight. Chose what you are more comfortable with.
       
      MAJOR GLYPHS:
       
      GLYPH OF HEALING WAVE
      GLYPH OF SPIRITWALKER’S FOCUS
      Other possibilities:
      GLYPH OF FLAME SHOCK (a bit more of passive self healing)
      GLYPH OF RIPTIDE - if you don’t have a resto druid in raid, it’s a possibility, but remember that it burns your mana and cuts you healing output of Riptide!
      (top)
    • By tarokor
      Recently looked at starting to tank with my pally again and was looking through your site regarding tanking. On the Paladin protection page one of the Major glyphs you recommend is shield of the righteous however unless i am going blind it is no longer available as a glyph. Was it renamed or removed and if renamed what is it now called.
      Cheers guys
      ps:- apologies if i am blind, have searched the majors 3 times thou and cannot find it lol
×
×
  • Create New...