Shadow Priest PvP Guide — 12.1

Shadow Priests received major buffs to their damage output in Patch 12.1. The following changes will put them in a strong position going into Season 2 of Midnight.

• New Talent: Shadeburst – Shadowy Apparitions that float towards your primary target explode, dealing Shadow damage to all enemies within 8 yards. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.
• Improved Voidform has been redesigned – Voidform increases your spell damage by an additional 5% and grants 2 additional uses of Void Volley.
• Ancient Madness has been redesigned – Shadow Word: Madness increases your Haste during Voidform by 2% and increases its duration by 1.5 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. When Voidform ends, the Haste lingers and decays over 10 seconds.
• All ability damage done increased by 8%.
• Void Volley damage reduced by 10%.
• Voidform now grants 3 uses of Void Volley instead of Void Volley having a cooldown during Voidform.
• Power Word: Shield absorb increased by 25%.
• Idol of N'Zoth now generates 2 Insanity (was 4) at 50 stacks and 6 Insanity (was 12) at 100 stacks.

• New talents/Spells: Focused Power, Twin Disciplines, Painful Invocation, Mindpierce, Dark Enlightenment, Improved Voidform, Shadow Power, Mind Melt, Depth of Shadows, Haunting Shadows, Invoked Nightmare, Maddening Tentacles, and Crushing Void. It is worth noting that there is a large emphasis on your spread damage and talents like Depth of Shadows and Haunting Shadows help with that.
• Removed talents/spells: Dark Ascension, Last Word, Psychic Horror, Void Torrent, Shadowfiend, and Void Shift have all been removed.
• Changed talents/spells:
  • Void Eruption renamed to Voidform.
  • Devouring Plague renamed to Shadow Word: Madness and redesigned. It deals Shadow damage instantly plus additional high Shadow damage over 6 seconds and conjuring a Shadowy Apparition.
  • Shadow Crash renamed to Tentacle Slam and redesigned. Tentacle Slam summons a massive Shadowy appendage to slam the ground, dealing damage and applying Vampiric Touch to up to 6 targets. 2 charges.
  • Mindbender - Casting Void Eruption summons a Mindbender to attack your target.
  • Void Volley is now the replacement spell during Voidform instead of Void Bolt.
• PvP talent changes:
  • Catharsis has been removed.
  • New talent: Psychic Shroud.

Important Note

Midnight also introduces Apex talents, with Shadow Priest getting Void Apparitions. This helps you spawn additional Shadowy Apparitions, with a chance to spawn as Void Apparitions instead that use Void Bolt. This Apex talent is an overall large damage increase to your spread damage.