Mists of Pandaria Classic Shadow Priest Stat Priority

Last updated on Jun 25, 2025 at 12:00 by Abide

On this page, you will find out the optimal PvE stat priority for your Shadow Priest in Mists of Pandaria Classic. We first present the stat priority, before delving into more complex explanations.

1.

Stat Priority for Shadow Priest

The stat priority for ShadowShadow Priest is as follows:

  1. Intellect;
  2. Hit Rating / Expertise / Spirit (15%);
  3. Haste Rating;
  4. Critical Strike Rating;
  5. Mastery.
1.1.

Intellect

Intellect is the main stat for all casters as it increases their Spell Power, boosting the effectiveness of damage and healing spells. Intellect will be found on all gear you use and will continually increase throughout the expansion as your gear steadily improves.

1.2.

Hit Rating, Expertise and Spirit (15%)

As it has been the case for all previous iterations of the game, maxing out your Hit Rating (or Spirit in this case, which is converted to Hit Rating via Spiritual Precision Icon Spiritual Precision). You can use either of these stats to reach the 15% spell hit cap, ideally using Spirit to also increase your mana regeneration at the same time. Mists of Pandaria changes Expertise, making it increase spell hit chance; you should not go out of your way to use Expertise, as Spirit is simply better, but you may have some available from a racial spell.

1.3.

Haste Rating

ShadowShadow benefits greatly from reaching certain Haste Rating thresholds, as this will give your spells additional ticks of damage, greatly increasing their damage output. Below are the effective Haste percentages requirements to gain additional ticks of damage on your damage-over-time spells. These tables are calculated with raid buffs in mind.

These are the haste requirements for non-goblin races:

Ticks Gained (Non-Goblin) Devouring Plague Icon Devouring Plague Shadow Word: Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain Vampiric Touch Icon Vampiric Touch
1 Extra Tick 3.12% Haste 3.16% Haste 4.75% Haste
2 Extra Ticks 18.97% Haste 19.02% Haste 23.81% Haste
3 Extra Ticks 34.99% Haste 34.93% Haste 42.82% Haste
4 Extra Ticks 50.81% Haste 50.81% Haste 61.92% Haste
5 Extra Ticks 66.64% Haste 66.64% Haste 81.00% Haste
6 Extra Ticks 82.62% Haste 82.50% Haste 100.10% Haste
7 Extra Ticks 98.61% Haste 98.48% Haste 119.02% Haste

These are the haste requirements for Goblins, thanks to Time is Money Icon Time is Money:

Ticks Gained (Goblin) Devouring Plague Icon Devouring Plague Shadow Word: Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain Vampiric Touch Icon Vampiric Touch
1 Extra Tick 2.10% Haste 3.16% Haste 3.71% Haste
2 Extra Ticks 17.79% Haste 19.02% Haste 22.59% Haste
3 Extra Ticks 33.65% Haste 34.93% Haste 41.40% Haste
4 Extra Ticks 49.31% Haste 50.81% Haste 60.32% Haste
5 Extra Ticks 64.99% Haste 66.64% Haste 79.21% Haste
6 Extra Ticks 80.81% Haste 82.50% Haste 98.02% Haste
7 Extra Ticks 96.65% Haste 98.48% Haste 116.85% Haste
1.4.

Critical Strike % Haste

Critcal Strike provides a moderately high value, as all of our spells can crit. Mists of Pandaria improves Crits across the board, making all spells and abilities crit for 2x damage; previously, casters would only crit for 1.5x damage, greatly improving this stat for DPS. Crits also trigger a Shadowy Apparitions Icon Shadowy Apparitions, further improving your damage./

1.5.

Mastery % Haste

ShadowShadow gets Mastery: Shadowy Recall Icon Mastery: Shadowy Recall for their Mastery trait, givng your periodic Shadow spells a chance to deal damage twice. While this is at the bottom of the list, it is still a decent stat to grab as DoTs are the main part of this spec; don't shy away from it.