Mists of Pandaria Classic Shadow Priest Stat Priority
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.
Stat Priority for Shadow Priest
The stat priority for Shadow
Priest is as follows:
- Intellect;
- Hit Rating / Expertise / Spirit (15%);
- Haste Rating;
- Critical Strike Rating;
- Mastery.
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.
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). 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.
Haste Rating
Shadow 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) | ![]() |
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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:
Ticks Gained (Goblin) | ![]() |
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---|---|---|---|
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 |
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,
further improving your damage./
Mastery % Haste
Shadow gets
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.
More MoP Priest Guides
More Mists of Pandaria Spec Guides from Other Classes
MoP Dungeon Guides
MoP Profession Guides
This guide has been written by Abide, TBC veteran for nearly a decade. Abide is a Warrior tank and multi-class expert currently playing on Faerlina as Horde. You can find him in the the Icy Veins Discord. You can also see him live on Twitch.