Shadow Priest DPS Gear and Best in Slot — Dragonflight 10.2.6
On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Shadow Priest in World of Warcraft Dragonflight 10.2.6.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Shadow Priest gear and best in slot.
Gearing a Shadow Priest
Welcome to our Gearing Page for Shadow Priest. This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.
The video version of this guide is also available if you would like to watch along as I talk about Shadow Priest.
If you have a new piece of gear for which you need gems and enchant advice, you can find everything on our dedicated page below.
While gearing, item level is rather important, mainly due to the relative value increase of primary stats. In the case of Shadow, this means we want to prioritize Intellect first over any other stat; in other words, the item level of gear will generally be the most important factor when looking at replacing something. Secondary stats are still important as well, however, and currently, Shadow wants to focus on acquiring as much Haste and Mastery as possible. Critical Strike and Versatility are both lower in value. If it is not an obvious choice, sim your character to find out. For a more detailed explanation, you can read the Simulations page.
Simming your character is far and beyond the best way to determine if a piece of gear is, in fact, an upgrade. The trick is knowing how to do it in a way that produces reliable results. If you follow the Simulations guide page, you can use this to have a more practical gearing guide than simply following a BiS list.
BiS Gear for Shadow Priest
Overall BiS List for Shadow Priest
The below list is meant to give you a goal, not the end all be all. You can tweak various pieces depending on your exact stats or setup. You should always sim yourself on various settings to determine if something is an upgrade rather than blindly following this list.
Many of the items in this list have equally powerful alternatives; do not turn down an upgrade just because this is not mentioned here. This list is an example of a well-put-together Shadow Priest build that balances gear from Raids and Mythic+.
While this list does include crafted items where it makes sense from a secondary stat perspective, you should note that there are several viable setups of crafted embellished items. Check out the crafted section below to see how to tweak this depending on what you want to optimize for.
Gearing is a journey, and there are multiple ways to outfit your character with optimal gear. and there are several item sets that are considered BiS. Whenever there are more than one options, I will list them, but even some outside the list might be better for your character and your gearing setup. It is crucial that you sim your character to know for sure.
Be sure to check out the stats page to understand our goals with each secondary stat.
Slot | Item | Source/Note |
---|---|---|
Two Hand | Iridal, the Earth's Master | Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond's Fall |
One Hand | Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno | Fyrakk, the Blazing in Amirdrassil |
Off-hand | Trickster's Captivating Chime | Council of Dreams in Amirdrassil |
Head |
|
|
Neck |
|
|
Shoulder | Shoulderguardians of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Smolderon in Amirdrassil |
Cloak |
|
|
Chest |
|
|
Wrist |
|
|
Hands | Touch of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Igira the Cruel in Amirdrassil |
Waist |
|
|
Legs | Leggings of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Larodar, Keeper of the Flame in Amirdrassil |
Feet |
|
|
Ring #1 | Band of Burning Thorns | Larodar, Keeper of the Flame in Amirdrassil |
Ring #2 | Arch-Druid's Tainted Seal | Darkheart Thicket |
Top Trinkets |
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For your embellishments, I suggest always using Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation and pairing this with a Tailoring item with Blue Silken Lining. This item could be any off piece that makes sense, favoring ones that have lower stat budget like Cloak or Feet. The Wristguards do not produce as much personal DPS by themselves, but certainly make up for it in terms of group-wide DPS gained. On top of that, the wrists do stack independently, so if others in your group also use them, there is even more benefit. If you prefer to maximize damage, you can just stack Blue Silken Lining or use an alternative embellishment (see below section). In Mythic+, you should consider using Hood of Surging Time with either Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation or Blue Silken Lining.
Trinket-wise wise, you have several options depending on what you are looking for, and quite a lot of competitive on-use trinkets. It is not abnormal to use two on-use trinkets this Tier, specifically with Belor'relos, the Suncaller being able to be used anywhere in our rotation and not necessarily paired with cooldowns. While using these two together is still decent, most people will pick one of these to pair with Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge or Balefire Branch.
Note that Balefire Branch is difficult to sim accurately, depending on how much damage you are taking. As you take damage while active, you will reduce the trinket value considerably. The trinket loses 5 stacks every second, and you lose 2 stacks every time you take damage. If you take damage that is absorbed (i.e. Power Word: Shield), you will not lose stacks.
For weapons, I would suggest aiming to get a high item level Iridal, the Earth's Master as your prog weapon of choice. This weapon is not strictly BiS, but on certain encounters where you want to prioritize execute damage, or if you are Lusting on pull, this can be very valuable compared to Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno.
Mythic+ Gear BiS List for Shadow Priest
THIS LIST IS NOT BIS FOR DOING MYTHIC+. If you want the best gear setup to do Mythic+ content, you should use the Overall BiS List. This list is specifically showcasing the best drops when only looking at Mythic+ gear. Optimal setups will always include some raid items, especially trinkets.
In Dragonflight Season 3, you can get gear from the following dungeons:
- Atal'Dazar
- Black Rook Hold
- Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond's Fall
- Dawn of the Infinite: Murozond's Rise
- Darkheart Thicket
- Everbloom
- Throne of the Tides
- Waycrest Manor
Use the following list to help you target items to drop in Mythic+ Season 3 dungeons that have more ideal stats. This does not mean these are the only upgrades you can get from the dungeons, but just the notable ones. You should augment this gear with crafted pieces where possible to get the extra gain from 483 to 486 item level.
With the Revival Catalyst, even if an item has bad stats, you might be able to catalyst it into Tier or better secondaries. Do not get rid of a piece of gear before checking! You do have limited charges of the catalyst that recharge over time, so be sure to prioritize getting your set bonus with Head, Shoulders, Hands, and Legs before using charges on other slots.
Gearing is a journey, and there are multiple ways to outfit your character with optimal gear. and there are several item sets that are considered BiS. Whenever there are more than one options, I will list them, but even some outside the list might be better for your character and your gearing setup. It is crucial that you sim your character to know for sure.
Be sure to check out the stats page to understand our goals with each secondary stat.
Slot | Item | Source/Note |
---|---|---|
Weapons |
|
|
Head |
|
|
Neck |
|
|
Shoulder |
|
|
Cloak | Drape of the Loyal Vassal | Atal'Dazar |
Chest |
|
|
Wrist |
|
|
Hands |
|
|
Waist | Poisonroot Belt (Mastery/Crit) | Darkheart Thicket |
Legs |
|
|
Feet | Slippers of Heedless Sacrifice | Black Rook Hold |
Ring #1 | Arch-Druid's Tainted Seal | Darkheart Thicket |
Ring #2 | Ring of Contempt | Black Rook Hold |
Trinket Options |
|
Note that Balefire Branch is difficult to sim accurately, depending on how much damage you are taking. As you take damage while active, you will reduce the trinket value considerably. The trinket loses 5 stacks every second, and you lose 2 stacks every time you take damage. If you take damage that is absorbed (i.e. Power Word: Shield), you will not lose stacks.
Raid Gear BiS List for Shadow Priest
THIS LIST IS NOT BIS FOR RAIDING. If you want the best gear setup to do Raiding content for, you should use the Overall BiS List. This list is specifically showcasing the best drops when only looking at Amirdrassil gear. Optimal setups will include items outside of raiding.
Use the following list to help you target items to drop in Amirdrassil that have more ideal stats. This does not mean these are the only upgrades you can get from the Raid, but just the notable ones. You should augment this gear with crafted pieces where possible, especially rings.
With the Revival Catalyst, even if an item has bad stats, you might be able to catalyst it into Tier or better secondaries. Do not get rid of a piece of gear before checking! You do have limited charges of the catalyst that recharge over time, so be sure to prioritize getting your set bonus with Head, Shoulders, Hands, and Legs before using charges on other slots.
Gearing is a journey, and there are multiple ways to outfit your character with optimal gear. and there are several item sets that are considered BiS. Whenever there are more than one options, I will list them, but even some outside the list might be better for your character and your gearing setup. It is crucial that you sim your character to know for sure.
Be sure to check out the stats page to understand our goals with each secondary stat.
Slot | Item | Source/Note |
---|---|---|
Main Hand | Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno | Fyrakk, the Blazing in Amirdrassil |
Off-hand | Trickster's Captivating Chime | Council of Dreams in Amirdrassil |
Head | Crest of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Tindral Sageswift in Amirdrassil |
Neck | Eye of the Rising Flame | Tindral Sageswift in Amirdrassil |
Shoulder | Shoulderguardians of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Smolderon in Amirdrassil |
Cloak | Mantle of Blazing Sacrifice | Smolderon |
Chest | Vesture of the Smoldering Serpent | Volcoross in Amirdrassil |
Wrist | Fading Flame Wristbands | Smolderon in Amirdrassil |
Hands | Touch of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Igira the Cruel in Amirdrassil |
Waist | Blooming Redeemer's Sash | Fyrakk, the Blazing in Amirdrassil |
Legs | Leggings of Lunar Communion (TIER SET) | Larodar, Keeper of the Flame in Amirdrassil |
Feet | Lifewoven Slippers | Nymue in Amirdrassil |
Ring #1 | Band of Burning Thorns | Larodar, Keeper of the Flame in Amirdrassil |
Ring #2 | Signet of the Last Elder | Igira the Cruel in Amirdrassil |
Top Trinkets |
|
Trinket-wise wise, you have several options depending on what you are looking for, and quite a lot of competitive on-use trinkets. It is not abnormal to use two on-use trinkets this Tier, specifically with Belor'relos, the Suncaller being able to be used anywhere in our rotation and not necessarily paired with cooldowns. While using these two together is still decent, most people will pick one of these to pair with Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge or Balefire Branch.
Shadow Priest Gear Upgrades in Dragonflight Season 3
In Season 3, you are able to upgrade gear from a variety of sources to get more item level.
In Dragonflight Season 3, you will use the following currencies: Flightstones and Dreaming Crests. You will naturally obtain these currencies from all forms of content in the game. These allow you to upgrade pieces depending on the track they drop in. This also lets you make crafted items up to 486 item level, which is 3 item levels lower than top-end Mythic raid gear.
For more information on the new Gear Upgrades system, check out our dedicated page below.
Note: the cost to upgrade items differs per slot but increases quickly as item levels go up.
With any season, there will be several different ways to build out your character optimally. Use this page as a tool with suggestions, but do not just look at the list at the bottom for the only way to gear up. There are plenty of ways to build your character correctly, depending on which pieces you get when. This page is designed to help make those decisions easier.
Best Items to Upgrade for Shadow Priest in Dragonflight Season 3
In this section, I am going to list the pieces of gear that I would focus on upgrading. This is generic advice and should be supplementary to you running your sims. Figuring out the best upgrade based on your character's current gear is always ideal.
- Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno
- Iridal, the Earth's Master
- Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle
- Any Helm item to scale Incandescent Essence
- Belor'relos, the Suncaller (Melee-Range)
- Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge
- Nymue's Unraveling Spindle
Check each section for more details on the various slots.
Trinkets
The video version of this guide is also available if you would like to watch along as I talk about trinkets.
Here are the top trinkets to target as a Shadow Priest. Check out the sims below for more details about which trinkets to use and when. These are generic suggestions of what to target, but anything that is a big ilevel jump might be an upgrade, even if it is not on this list.
When looking at trinkets, I wanted to specifically call out Nymue's Unraveling Spindle. This trinket has an interesting effect that buffs the damage it deals when a target is Immobilized. This can happen if a mob is stunned or rooted, but this is not possible for boss enemies. However, this also counts stationary targets such as Target Dummies as being immobilized. This same effect applies to bosses that like Target Dummies are immobile. Inside of Amirdrassil, you get this increase from Volcoross and Nymue since those bosses are locked in place. On those encounters, this trinket is one of our best options.
Note that while Belor'relos, the Suncaller will ideally be your top trinket, it does require you to be within 10 yards of your targets. If you can make that work, the DPS gain will be worth it, but if you are forced to be at range and cannot use the trinket enough, you should consider other options.
Viable trinket combinations that use double on-use almost always require Belor'relos, the Suncaller as one of the two options. All other on-use trinkets should be used during cooldowns, and then Belor'relos, the Suncaller can be used anywhere in our rotation. I strongly advise against using double on-use trinkets without Belor'relos, the Suncaller.
Check out the individual trinket sections below to learn more about each one.
Top Trinkets for Raiding
In order to understand trinket rankings, you need to first pick the trinkets that make sense based on the downsides that each one provides. Depending on the fight, your top trinkets will change based on this order.
- Is your target Immobilized? - Use Nymue's Unraveling Spindle
- Are you able to be in melee range? - Use Belor'relos, the Suncaller
- Are you avoiding damage taken during CDs? - Use Balefire Branch
- Are you on progression/does your Raid die a lot? - Use Ashes of the Embersoul
- Else use Nymue's Unraveling Spindle, Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge, Sea Star, or Coagulated Genesaur Blood.
Raiding Trinket Tier List
Tier | Trinkets |
---|---|
S-Tier |
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A-Tier |
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B-Tier |
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C-Tier |
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D-Tier |
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Top Trinkets for Dungeons
- Belor'relos, the Suncaller (Melee-Range)
- Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge
- Sea Star (Great defensive option)
- Balefire Branch or Ashes of the Embersoul
- Coagulated Genesaur Blood
- Time-Thief's Gambit - somewhat volatile, but can work well depending on pull cadence.
- Augury of the Primal Flame
Dungeon Trinket Tier List
Tier | Trinkets |
---|---|
S-Tier |
|
A-Tier |
|
B-Tier |
|
C-Tier |
|
D-Tier |
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Timewalking Trinkets
In addition to the trinkets above, I wanted to highlight some options from Timewalking Raids. Due to general trinket scaling and the 476 item level, the following options are quite competitive in all forms of content. While they are not strictly BiS, they could certainly help as you are gearing up.
- Energy Siphon - Ulduar Timewalking
- Living Flame - Ulduar Timewalking
- Eye of the Broodmother - Ulduar Timewalking
- Necromantic Focus - Firelands Timewalking
- Scale of Fates - Ulduar Timewalking
Trinkets Explained
The following section will go over specific notes on the various trinkets to consider as a Shadow Priest. Not every trinket is listed, only ones that have interactions worth discussing.
Belor'relos, the Suncaller
Belor'relos, the Suncaller is an incredibly strong on-use damage trinket. At all target levels, this trinket should be considered your Best-in-Slot option, if and only if you can consistently stand in melee. This trinket has a 10-yard range so should only be used when you do not need to stand at max-range.
In addition, this trinket does have a cast time, but this action itself is off the GCD. This means you can queue up this action at the same time you cast something else that IS on the GCD. For example, if you cast Shadow Word: Death you can also press Belor'relos, the Suncaller at the same time within that same GCD.
This trinket is the ideal pairing if you are trying to run two on-use trinkets. Belor'relos, the Suncaller is not affected by any of our spell modifier increases, so we are free to use this anywhere in our rotation. Typically, when paired with another on-use trinket, you will use your other option (like Balefire Branch) with Power Infusion, and then follow that up with Belor'relos, the Suncaller when it comes back on cooldown.
Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge
Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge is a relatively standard passive trinket. You will randomly proc Mastery, Versatility, or Critical Strike.
Balefire Branch
Balefire Branch is a competitive on-use trinket that we use as a 2-minute cooldown to sync with Power Infusion. Balefire Branch starts at 100 stacks worth of the Intellect and then decays 5 of those stacks every second until it expires completely.
As mentioned above, this trinket can be somewhat tricky to use well since taking damage will cause you to lose 2 stacks of the buff for each instance of damage taken (regardless of the amount). This means if you are in a scenario where you are using cooldowns and taking periodic raid damage, it will perform significantly worse.
The important thing to note in regards to the stack reduction on damage taken is that it does NOT count self-damage inflicted by the player. This means that spells like Shadow Word: Death, Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch, or Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno do not cause you to lower stacks when they trigger their self-damage components. Only external events trigger this.
In addition, damage only counts if it actually hits the player THROUGH any absorbs active on the player. So if you get hit from a spell by 1000 damage, but currently have a shield active (i.e. Power Word: Shield) for 2000 absorb, you will not lose any stacks. You should use this information to cast a Power Word: Shield in your pre-pull rotation when using Balefire Branch.
Nymue's Unraveling Spindle
Nymue's Unraveling Spindle is another casted trinket, but unlike Belor'relos, the Suncaller this is not off the GCD and is a lengthy 3-second channel. The longer you channel, the more damage it deals and the more Mastery you get after the channel ends.
This trinket is a sort of hybrid damage trinket that also gives you a sizable Mastery buff that pairs well with our cooldowns. Due to the cast time and the fact that our cooldowns do not buff the trinkets damage , you should aim to use this trinket before you go into your cooldowns. In the opener, this means you use this just before you cast Mindbender.
Another important part of this trinket is the increased damage dealt towards targets that are Immobilized. Normally this is something that will not be relevant inside of Raid, since boss targets cannot be stunned from spells like Psychic Horror. However, any bosses that are stationary also are counted as being Immobilized. This means there are several fights where this trinket gets more value than usual and will do more damage than what it strictly sims for by default in the following encounters:
- Gnarlroot - Intermission Phase
- Volcoross
- Nymue, Weaver of the Cycle
Sea Star
Sea Star is a standard passive trinket that is very close to Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge in terms of value.
One big benefit to this trinket is when it comes to pushing higher level content. Because this has baseline Versatility on it, this trinket becomes a great choice when trying to get good damage output while also having defensive capabilities.
Coagulated Genesaur Blood
Coagulated Genesaur Blood is a standard passive trinket that is very close to Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge in terms of value.
Augury of the Primal Flame
Augury of the Primal Flame is a unique trinket that thrives on scaling with Critical Strike, Versatility, and number of targets. Later on in the season, as we scale these stats more, this can be a competitive trinket for us to run in Mythic+ environments.
While this trinket can have good results in Mythic+, it can also be quite RNG enough to make it not worth it, especially with standard levels of Critical Strike. As we get into later gearing in the season , or if you happen to have a lot of Critical Strike, you might see more consistent value out of this trinket inside of Mythic+.
Time-Thief's Gambit
Time-Thief's Gambit can be a desirable trinket to run in Mythic+ scenarios. This naturally syncs up well to use for EVERY cast of Mindbender and Dark Ascension, but does have a notable downside; if you are not pulling packs quickly, you could get stunned.
This trinket should not be used in a raiding environment.
Ashes of the Embersoul
Ashes of the Embersoul has similar qualities to Balefire Branch except with base Haste instead of Mastery, and the downside is different. This trinket opts to give us more damage during our 20-second burst window and sacrificing the base Haste after your cooldowns expire. Effectively, this means after the buff expires, it is as if you have no trinket equipped for 60 seconds afterward.
Notably, this downside can be somewhat undesirable depending on the encounter. However, if you are in a progression-raiding environment and your group members are getting into dire circumstances, you can get an extra buff out of the trinket for free that does not decay. This will not trigger from you simply taking a lot of damage in a raid environment; it needs your Raid to be in significant peril to trigger. The exact parameters are a bit unclear, but it's meant to help you clutch out a boss kill when you otherwise might not get enough damage. The proc is not something you should strictly rely on, but if it happens, you will love to have this trinket.
Oakhearts Gnarled Root
While Oakheart's Gnarled Root trinket generally underperforms I wanted to highlight it here since it can produce good results depending on your RNG. The proc itself actually deals quite a bit of damage in a single target if the target will live long enough, and the proc rate is scaled by haste, which is a great thing for Shadow Priests.
The downside here is that it has base Versatility on the item itself rather than the common Intellect base. This by itself is not a dealbreaker, but certainly means it is not our BiS trinket in any content. That being said, while gearing up, it can be a standard passive trinket you might see good results out of in raiding environments.
Caged Horror
Caged Horror is an older trinket that can act in a volatile fashion that makes it hard to predict. If you are looking for a trinket with consistent damage output, stay far away from Caged Horror. That being said, if you get lucky, you can RNG quite a lot of AoE damage with this trinket. The proc rate is very low, but scales with haste which makes it extremely RNG how well it will perform.
For most people, I would suggest using other options, but if you are looking to risk volatile damage to potentially get big results; this trinket might be for you inside of Mythic+ Dungeons, especially on Fortified weeks.
Single Target Trinket Rankings
- Dark Ascension + Idol of Y'Shaarj + Idol of C'Thun
- Dark Ascension + Idol of Y'Shaarj + Idol of N'Zoth + Idol of C'Thun
- Void Eruption + Idol of Y'Shaarj
Dungeon Trinket Rankings
- Dark Ascension + Idol of Y'Shaarj + Idol of C'Thun
- Dark Ascension + Idol of Y'Shaarj + Idol of N'Zoth + Idol of C'Thun
- Void Eruption + Idol of Y'Shaarj
Stats
Many people overthink the distribution of their secondary stats. An important thing to remember is that a higher quantity of stats is nearly always better than a better quality of stats. Because of this, wearing higher item-level gear with worse stats tends to be better than lower item-level gear with great stats. Keep this in mind when considering gear. For more stats information, please refer to our dedicated page.
Jewelry
For neck and ring pieces, you can drop 5-10 ilevels in most cases to get our preferred stats: Haste and Mastery. That said, you should always sim yourself to see what is better as the secondary stat diminishing returns can still change your ideal setup.
Oftentimes, gear can be somewhat fixed so you can use your Neck or Ring slots to pick up items like Raven Filigree Pendant to fill out your gearset to not go above the suggested amounts of Haste and Mastery.
Overall Top Necks
- Eye of the Rising Flame
- Torc of Passed Time
- Chain of the Green Flight
- Raven Filigree Pendant (can help fix stats)
Make sure to use Tiered Medallion Setting to add 3 sockets up to your neck item.
Elemental Lariat can be an okay choice for an embellishment, but there are better options for most gearing setups.
Overall Top Rings
- Band of Burning Thorns
- Arch-Druid's Tainted Seal
- Signet of Titanic Insight
- Ring-Bound Hourglass
Weapons
This is a rough guide of what weapons to aim for. It is not an end-all-be-all list, and depending on your gear, you might find something that is even better. Be sure to sim your upgrades to know for sure, but you can use this list to help target things that will likely be strong.
This list is for optimizing overall damage. If you are looking specifically to leverage more execute damage, then you should use Iridal, the Earth's Master over all other options, assuming it is at least item level 483.
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno will also perform slightly worse on any fight you are lusting on pull since it significantly lowers the likelihood of getting a proc above 90% health. In these situations, you are likely better off using Iridal, the Earth's Master or Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle. Conversely, any situation with a higher-than-normal time above 90% health, you will see great results from Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno. One of the primary examples of this in Season 3 is the last boss of Dawn of the Infinite: Galakrond's Fall with Iridikron only lasting from 100%-85%.
Weapon Combo | DPS loss vs. BiS |
---|---|
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno (489) + Trickster's Captivating Chime (489) | 0.0% |
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno (489) + Interloper's Mossy Skull (489) | -0.1% |
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno (489) + Ancestor's Necromantic Focus (489) | -0.1% |
Iridal, the Earth's Master (489) | -0.5% |
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno (483) + Trickster's Captivating Chime (489) | -1.0% |
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno (483) + Interloper's Mossy Skull (489) | -1.0% |
Vakash, the Shadowed Inferno (483) + Ancestor's Necromantic Focus (489) | -1.0% |
Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle (489) | -1.1% |
Wand of Zealous Purification (489) + Trickster's Captivating Chime (489) | -1.7% |
Wand of Zealous Purification (489) + Interloper's Mossy Skull (489) | -1.7% |
Wand of Zealous Purification (489) + Ancestor's Necromantic Focus (489) | -1.7% |
Morchie's Distorted Spellblade (489) + Trickster's Captivating Chime (489) | -1.7% |
Morchie's Distorted Spellblade (489) + Interloper's Mossy Skull (489) | -1.7% |
Morchie's Distorted Spellblade (489) + Ancestor's Necromantic Focus (489) | -1.7% |
Eternal Kindler's Greatstaff (489) | -1.9% |
Iridal, the Earth's Master (483) | -2.0% |
Wand of Zealous Purification (489) + Crackling Codex of the Isles (486) | -2.3% |
Dreambinder, Loom of the Great Cycle (483) | -2.5% |
Illuminating Pillar of the Isles (486) | -3.2% |
Torch of Primal Awakening (486) + Crackling Codex of the Isles (486) | -3.2% |
The percentage on each item above indicated the loss when compared to the top best-in-slot option.
Note that there is no DPS difference between crafting Torch of Primal Awakening or Primal Molten Spellblade.
Tier Set Bonus
With Season 3, we have a Shadow Priest Tier set bonus that buffs a few aspects of our kit.
- 2-piece set bonus: Priest Shadow 10.2 Class Set 2pc
- 4-piece set bonus: Priest Shadow 10.2 Class Set 4pc
Based on the stats on these pieces and the pieces that drop across season 3 content, you should drop either the Chest or the Gloves. Which one to drop depends highly on your current gear and when you get the Tier set to drop. Vesture of the Smoldering Serpent is a decent chest while gearing up that drops early in the Raid, so most people will probably use Chest as the off-piece. That being said, you want to use Head, Shoulders, and Legs, ideally all the time.
This set bonus has fairly drastic changes to your rotation and general priority list for each part of the set. Check out the rotation guide to see exactly how this changes how you play.
Tier Set Power Level
Here are rough numbers for how strong the bonuses themselves are. This is not taking into account the actual gear pieces, just the bonuses themselves.
Due to the drastic increase in item level with this Tier, you will likely replace the previous Season 2 set bonus relatively quickly, but be sure to sim these changes to know for sure. Swapping to the 4-set specifically might take a bit longer since that is not as big of an increase compared to getting the new 2-set.
Single Target
- 2-piece set bonus: ~7.49%
- 2-piece and 4-piece set bonus: ~10.75%
Dungeons Overall
- 2-piece set bonus: ~4.71%
- 2-piece and 4-piece set bonus: ~8.32%
In practice, the tier set will feel underwhelming in a dungeon environment. The bonus damage to Shadow Crash is somewhat negated by the fact that you do NOT get the free Mastery bonus on targets that did not already have Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch active. On top of that, it can be somewhat difficult to get good damage out of the 2-set, which starts to excel primarily in execute.
When to replace Season 2 Tier?
Transitioning from Season 2 to Season 3, you will notice a larger-than-usual shift in item level corresponding to the increased difficulty. Due to this large jump, you will most likely swap to using the new tier gear relatively quickly.
While gearing, most players should focus on getting the Priest Shadow 10.2 Class Set 2pc ASAP, and then getting the Priest Shadow 10.2 Class Set 4pc when possible. The 2-piece holds the majority of the set's power, so acquiring that first will be crucial while gearing up. You will then use a combination of the Season 2 2-set and the Season 3 2-set for a period of time. Once you get enough item level, you will naturally swap over to using the new 4-set entirely.
It is critical that you sim your character in order to determine when to swap out tier set pieces. You should always have a plan in mind and do not just swap gear out because it has a higher item level blindly.
Use the following as a rough guide for acquiring tier pieces.
- Set piece priority at full-BiS:
- Legs - Leggings of Lunar Communion
- Head - Crest of Lunar Communion
- Shoulders - Shoulderguardians of Lunar Communion
- Gloves ( Touch of Lunar Communion) > Chest ( Cassock of Lunar Communion)
- While gearing up, it is important to recognize the value of your current pieces. If your current Head slot has a socket, moving towards the new Tier Head without a socket should be deprioritized compared to other upgrades. The value of the socket is considerable.
- Estimate of value going from Season 2 BiS to Season 3 Tier. This includes the
upgrade in item level.
- 476 2pc: 7.0% (Normal - Max Upgrade)
- 476 4pc: 12.6% (Normal - Max Upgrade)
- 483 2pc: 8.1% (Heroic - Max Upgrade)
- 483 4pc: 14.8% (Heroic - Max Upgrade)
- 489 2pc: 9.2% (Mythic - Max Upgrade)
- 489 4pc: 16.9% (Mythic - Max Upgrade)
Be sure to sim your character to fully understand how to swap gear pieces around to maximize your damage output while gearing up.
Revival Catalyst
At the start of Season 3, the Revival Catalyst will be available. This allows you to convert a valid Season 3 item into a tier-set item. When doing this, the secondary stats will change to static stats you can see below:
- Head - Mastery/Critical Strike - Crest of Lunar Communion(TIER SET BONUS)
- Shoulders - Critical Strike/Mastery - Shoulderguardians of Lunar Communion(TIER SET BONUS)
- Back - Haste/Mastery - Cloak of Lunar Communion
- Chest - Mastery/Versatility - Cassock of Lunar Communion(TIER SET BONUS)
- Wrists - Haste/Critical Strike - Wristwraps of Lunar Communion
- Hands - Haste/Critical Strike - Touch of Lunar Communion (TIER SET BONUS)
- Waist - Versatility/Haste - Cincture of Lunar Communion
- Legs - Haste/Mastery - Leggings of Lunar Communion (TIER SET BONUS)
- Feet - Mastery/Critical Strike - Poulaines of Lunar Communion
Crafted Profession Gear
The gear sets below specifically omit crafted gear from professions. You can further push your character by utilizing your 2 embellishment profession crafted gear items. You can equip as many pieces as you want, but if they use embellishments, then you are limited to 2.
The video version of this guide is also available if you would like to watch along as I talk about crafted gear.
Embellished Items
As a Shadow Priest in Season 3, you have a few options for your two embellished slots, depending on what you want to optimize for. The below list is the suggested options for embellished items ranked in order of overall power in Raid and Mythic+.
Check out the individual sections below to learn more about the top options.
If it was not clear, you can stack two of Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch Blue Silken Lining, Dreamtender's Charm, or Verdant Conduit which doubles the effects.
If you can afford to add it, use the Alchemical Flavor Pocket on one of your items. This optional crafting reagent can be added to an embellished slot. The key here is that even though it fits into an embellished slot, it does NOT take up one of your two embellished items, meaning you can have 2 embellished pieces AND a 3rd one with the flavor pocket. This can be a solid DPS increase in Mythic+ dungeons any time you die and do not have time to eat food again.
Raid Ranking
- Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation (see section below)
- Blue Silken Lining
- Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch (roughly equal to Blue Silken Lining at 50% uptime in Single Target)
- Witherrot Tome (roughly equal to Blue Silken Lining at 50% uptime in Single Target)
- Elemental Lariat (roughly equal to Blue Silken Lining at 35% uptime with full sockets ONLY)
- Chronocloth Sash + Chronocloth Leggings (takes up both embellishment slots)
- Undulating Sporecloak or Choker of Shielding
Mythic+ Ranking
- Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation (if not using Overengineered Sleeve Extenders for the battle rez)
- Hood of Surging Time (Most Key Levels)
- Blue Silken Lining (Max DMG for High Keys)
- Elemental Lariat
- Chronocloth Sash + Chronocloth Leggings (takes up both embellishment slots)
- Undulating Sporecloak or Choker of Shielding
Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation
Due to several nerfs to various embellishments going into Season 3, the Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation have come out looking quite powerful. In terms of personal DPS increase, these are roughly equivalent to using Blue Silken Lining with about 20% uptime, or just below Elemental Lariat. The difference is that these also provide an increase to Raid Throughput as well. If you take into account the Raid DPS gained for this it is closer to using Blue-Silken Lining with 70-80% uptime, depending on if you give the buff to healers or tanks instead of DPS.
Furthermore, these wrists can be crafted and used by every single armor class type. If you are in a group with others that also have this item (or similar item in a different armor type), the buffs individually apply to each raid member and can overlap (not stack). This means if you have 2 people in your group with this item, you can have 2 of the buffs active at once. If you combine this power with more group members, your Raid will not only get a large increase in damage, but your personal DPS will also get an increase.
Note that while this is a powerful embellishment for your group DPS inside of Mythic+, you may not want to use these, so that you can instead use the Overengineered Sleeve Extenders with the Tinker: Arclight Vital Correctors tinker to add that extra bit of utility for your group.
Finally, because this item is in the wrists slot, there is less of a hit in terms of item level by running a 486 piece. I would strongly consider crafting this item for progression content.
Blue-Silken Lining (BSL)
The Blue Silken Lining embellishment can be applied to various crafted items. This provides you with a flat amount of Mastery if you are above 90% health. If you fall below 90%, you will lose the effect until you go back above that threshold. In a perfect scenario, if you can keep this effect up 100% of the time, it will easily beat out every other option, but in reality, almost every encounter or dungeon will cause you to lose uptime of this. Luckily, Shadow does have some options to help here, namely Mental Fortitude. The other positive here is that Mastery as a stat does very well in single target and AoE environments, making it scale well as you add targets. The trick is knowing how much uptime you can expect, making it somewhat inconsistent.
The big caveat here is that you can have 80% uptime, but it is significantly less useful if you do not have it active during your cooldowns. Conversely, if you have this up for your cooldowns, you will get a good chunk of the value.
Use the below list to understand how average uptime of Blue Silken Lining compares to other embellishments.
- Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation - Raid DPS gained is equivalent to 70-80% uptime of Blue Silken Lining
- Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch - Roughly equivalent to 50% uptime of Blue Silken Lining in Single Target.
- Elemental Lariat - Roughly equivalent to 35% uptime of Blue Silken Lining with full sockets.
- Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation - Personal DPS gained is equivalent to 20% uptime of Blue Silken Lining
If you prefer to use something more consistent, I would suggest looking at other options such as Elemental Lariat or Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch.
Hood of Surging Time
This is a powerful embellished item that should be considered for Mythic+ environments. It gives you a powerful burst of haste starting off every trash pack but does not provide much benefit in most boss encounters. For this reason, I would strongly consider this item in dungeon scenarios , particularly during Fortified weeks. Generally speaking this can get worse as you go up in key level as you lower your total buff uptime but for most groups this will not happen until +27 or higher.
Note that this does mean you need to use Shoulders, Chest, Gloves, and Legs tier piece items to maintain your 4-piece set bonus.
Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch
Going into patch 10.2, this embellishment has had its damage dealt nerfed, and the damage dealt to the player buffed. This makes it a much more volatile choice, and is not my top pick for anyone for that reason.
That being said, if you are looking for something that is purely single-target damage, you can see decent results with this. Keep in mind that the damage taken is not insignificant, though, which could make this less than ideal for prog.
Alternatively, if you are looking for something more consistent in single target without the downside, you can look at using Witherrot Tome. This is very comparable damage-wise, but without the increased damage taken. However, the proc is itself a 10-second DoT effect, which also makes it less than ideal in multi-target environments.
Defensive Options
Generally speaking, the embellished items are about 1% of your DPS each (so roughly 2% total). If you are in a position where you are struggling more with surviving compared to dealing damage, I would suggest using Undulating Sporecloak. This option is one of the weakest offensively but does still help out defensively, albeit minor. In addition, you can also use Choker of Shielding for an on-use defensive option.
Conclusion
If you are looking to optimize damage on progression content, I would suggest using Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation and either Blue Silken Lining, Shadowflame-Tempered Armor Patch, or Elemental Lariat (with enough sockets). In Mythic+, I would consider using Hood of Surging Time in favor of any of the other options, depending on preference.
If you are looking to instead optimize your character with more defensive power, I would suggest looking at using Undulating Sporecloak and/or Choker of Shielding. These options are DPS losses compared to other choices but could end up saving your life under dire circumstances.
The important thing when gearing up is also to consider the item you are replacing. The above advice is generic for equal opportunity costs, but while gearing, if you are struggling to get an item in a specific slot, you likely want to spend your Spark to replace that ASAP and then match it with the corresponding strong embellishment. For example, if you are struggling to acquire a good Neck, Elemental Lariat might be a strong candidate for your second Spark craft. On the other hand, if you are struggling to get a good pair of wrists, consider Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation or Vibrant Wildercloth Wristwraps with Blue Silken Lining.
Non-Embellished Items
After crafting your two embellished pieces, I suggest simming your character to see what profession item upgrades are the most DPS for your character. You can craft every slot with the various professions via crafting orders, and filling out your gear with 486 items can be quite lucrative.
If we look at all gear items from the Raid, here are the top slots that will likely be good long-term investments to craft. Keep in mind that simming your character will always be the best; this is just a starting point.
- Vibrant Wildercloth Shawl
- Vibrant Wildercloth Slippers
- Vibrant Wildercloth Vestments
- Vibrant Wildercloth Wristwraps
- Torc of Passed Time
- Ring-Bound Hourglass or Signet of Titanic Insight
Note the crafted suggestion for Chest comes in due to the tier chest stats not being ideal. That being said, while gearing up, if you need to use tier chest to get your 4-set, you should definitely do that.
Other items can definitely still be an upgrade; make sure to sim your current gear setup to see what makes the most sense to craft.
Best Crafted Items for Shadow Priest
Best Crafted Items for Raiding for Shadow Priest
This section is focused on the best crafts in a Raiding environment. These rankings tend to prefer more consistent effects that specialize in single-target damage.
There are alternative options you can swap these out with depending on your preference; for more detail, check out the section above.
- Your top priority should be to craft two items with Embellished effects. Your best crafts for maximizing raid DPS are the Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation and an item with Blue Silken Lining. Blue Silken Lining can be placed on any crafted item. You should prioritize placing this in the slot with the biggest upgrade for you. I would strongly consider using Signet of Titanic Insight for the free socket early on.
- After you have your two Embellished items, you should prioritize crafting items to gain the most item level. Consider adding Alchemical Flavor Pocket to one item you craft, this does not take up an Embellished slot.
I would strongly suggest avoiding crafting any main-hand weapons specifically. There are three competitive cantrip weapons this season (one of which is farmable in Mythic+) so this is typically not worth wasting sparks on as a Shadow Priest.
Best Crafted Items for Mythic+ for Shadow Priest
This section is focused on the best crafts in a Mythic+ environment. These rankings are aimed at maximizing overall damage inside of Mythic+.
There are alternative options you can swap these out with depending on your preference; for more detail, check out the section above.
- Your top priority should be to craft two items with Embellished effects. You should prioritize getting Hood of Surging Time as soon as possible for your early key push. After that, you can then choose to pair this with either Allied Wristguards of Time Dilation or an item with Blue Silken Lining for maximizing DPS. Many players will choose to play with Overengineered Sleeve Extenders with Tinker: Arclight Vital Correctors for the extra utility. If you are in that spot, you will not be able to use the Allied Wristguards and should instead look to put Blue Silken Lining on another item.
- For high push keys you will eventually transition to double Blue Silken Lining to maximize single target and AoE damage.
- After you have your two Embellished items, you should prioritize crafting items to gain the most item level. Consider adding Alchemical Flavor Pocket to one item you craft, this does not take up an Embellished slot.
Changelog
- 19 Mar. 2024: Update embellishment guidance for high Mythic+ dungeons.
- 13 Feb. 2024: Update dungeon trinket rankings to match the tier list.
- 25 Jan. 2024: Increase rank of Balefire Branch and Ashes of the Embersoul in Mythic+ Rankings.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Clarify usage on Hood of Surging Time in Mythic+.
- 20 Dec. 2023: Lower Nymue in the trinket rankings for Dungeons.
- 19 Dec. 2023: Update gear sets with more Neck options.
- 18 Dec. 2023: Add extra note about Augury of the Primal Flame.
- 13 Dec. 2023: Add note about prioritizing helm upgrades for Incandescent Essence.
- 01 Dec. 2023: Add crafted gear widget.
- 30 Nov. 2023: Add trinket tier lists as well as more detailed info on some options.
- 24 Nov. 2023: Update trinket and weapon rankings/comments.
- 16 Nov. 2023: Update note about Ashes trinket.
- 14 Nov. 2023: Add link to the trinket video.
- 14 Nov. 2023: Add small note about using Iridal in execute.
- 13 Nov. 2023: Update trinket suggestions and add more detail about when to use each one.
- 08 Nov. 2023: Add link to crafted gear video.
- 07 Nov. 2023: Update embellishment suggestions after the Undulating Sporecloak nerf.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Update gear lists and suggestions for Season 3 and Patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023: Add new gear lists.
- 13 Aug. 2023: Add video link.
- 10 Aug. 2023: Add note about Irideus Fragment for Dark Ascension builds.
- 23 Jul. 2023: Reviewed from the recent hotfixes.
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updates for Patch 10.1.5 including new items from Dawn of the Infinite.
- 27 Jun. 2023: Clarify a few choices on trinkets and embellished items.
- 07 Jun. 2023: Add note about Beacon to the Beyond in Mythic+.
- 01 Jun. 2023: Clarifying technical note about how the T30 set bonus works and adding rough numbers.
- 31 May 2023: Add a bit more detail on weapon crafting.
- 23 May 2023: Adjust timewalking section from recent changes
- 23 May 2023: Add timewalking section.
- 16 May 2023: Remove reference to Undulating Sporecloak bug as it was fixed.
- 16 May 2023: Add bug to Undulating Sporecloak and remove old Neltharion's Lair items.
- 15 May 2023: Correct Undulating Sporecloak info now that it has fixed stats.
- 06 May 2023: Add note about Ominous Chromatic Essence flight choice.
- 05 May 2023: Update weapon and trinket rankings from recent changes.
- 01 May 2023: Update all gearing suggestions for 10.1 and Season 2.
- 23 Mar. 2023: Update Onyx Annulet suggestions from recent hotfixes.
- 22 Mar. 2023: Update Onyx Annulet suggestions from recent info on Prophetic Twilight Stone interactions.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Update for Patch 10.0.7 with new section on the Onyx Annulet.
- 05 Mar. 2023: Small tweak to Dungeon trinket suggestions.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Update gear suggestions for 10.0.5.
- 24 Dec. 2022: Add Desperate Invokers Codex trinket.
- 21 Dec. 2022: Add some more detail to crafted gear sections.
- 13 Dec. 2022: Add video guide for crafted gear and remove note about having different elements in Elemental Lariat.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated for Season 1 launch.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
More Priest Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Publik, Shadow Priest theorycrafter and SimC dev at Warcraft Priests. He currently raids in The Exiled on Arthas-US.
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