Shadow Priest DPS Gear and Best in Slot — Shadowlands 9.0.5

Welcome to our Gearing Page for Shadow Priest, this section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

If you have a new piece of gear that you need gems and enchants advice for, you can find everything you need 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, 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 it can. Critical Strike and Versatility are both lower in value. If it is not an obvious choice, sim your own character to find out. For a more detailed explanation, you can read the Simulations page.

While we heavily recommend simming yourself, you can find some of our general simulations on the dedicated page below.

Mythic+ rewards gear based upon the keystone level you complete

Depending on the type of content you are doing, you will be crafting and equipping a Legendary Item for your character. To craft these, you need to gather different crafting materials, as well as learn the power associated with the legendary you want to use. The guide below tells you everything you need to know while crafting your best legendary as a Shadow Priest. The BiS list below will give recommendations for each slot, so you have options on which piece to craft depending on what gear you have.

While starting out your gearing journey, I have put together a spreadsheet for you to quickly reference upgrades and things to aim for.

Below you will find a ranking of the trinkets in Shadowlands, provided by Bloodmallet.

Many people have a tendency to 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.

With Patch 9.0.5 you now have access to upgrade gear obtained after the patch with Valor points. You can learn more about this system on the dedicated Valor page.

This item list is specific to pre-raid gearing and focuses on the best gear to get before stepping into Castle Nathria. Most of these pieces will come from dungeons, but you are able to craft some alternatives if you have those professions.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Depraved Physician's Mask	Doctor Ickus in Plaguefall
Neck	Sin Stained Pendant	Halkias the Sin-Stained Goliath in Halls of Atonement
Shoulder	Reanimator's Mantle	Amarth the Harvester in The Necrotic Wake
Cloak	Drape of Twisted Loyalties	Devos, Paragon of Doubt in Spires of Ascension
Chest	Sinister Requiem Vestments	Devos, Paragon of Doubt in Spires of Ascension
Wrists	Deathshackle Wristwraps	Ingra Maloch in Mists of Tirna Scithe
Gloves	Tricksprite Gloves	Mistcaller in Mists of Tirna Scithe
Belt	Kin-Tara's Baleful Cord	Kin-Tara in Spires of Ascension
Legs	Mueh'zala's Hexthread Sarong	Mueh'zala in De Other Side
Boots	Slippers of Leavened Station	Lord Chamberlain in Halls of Atonement
Ring #1	Signet of the False Accuser	Lord Chamberlain in Halls of Atonement
Ring #2	Death God's Signet	Mueh'zala in De Other Side
Trinket #1	Empyreal Ordnance	Oryphrion in Spires of Ascension
Trinket #2	Soulletting Ruby	Kul'tharok in Theater of Pain
Two-Hand	Nathrian Ferula	Lord Chamberlain in Halls of Atonement
Conduit #1	Dissonant Echoes	Doctor Ickus in Plaguefall
Conduit #2	Haunting Apparitions	Mordretha, the Endless Empress in Theater of Pain

Note that there are plenty of alternative items that are also good, just look for Haste pieces with ideally Critical Strike or Mastery on them.

The list below shows the best piece of gear for each individual slot that drops in Castle Nathria. It does not take into account any items from other sources.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Confidant's Favored Cap	Lady Inerva Darkvein in Castle Nathria
Neck	Charm of Eternal Winter	Huntsman Altimor in Castle Nathria
Shoulder	Shawl of the Penitent	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Cloak	Crest of the Legionnaire General	Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria
Chest	Robes of the Cursed Commando	Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria
Wrists	Grim Pursuant's Maille	Huntsman Altimor in Castle Nathria
Gloves	Impossibly Oversized Mitts	Sludgefist in Castle Nathria
Belt	Shadewarped Sash	Artificer Xy'Mox in Castle Nathria
Legs	Courtier's Costume Trousers	Council of Blood in Castle Nathria
Boots	Slippers of the Forgotten Heretic	Shriekwing in Castle Nathria
Ring #1	Most Regal Signet of Sire Denathrius	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Ring #2	Ritualist's Treasured Ring	Lady Inerva Darkvein in Castle Nathria
Trinket #1	Cabalist's Hymnal	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Trinket #2	Dreadfire Vessel	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Two-Hand	Sinbearer's Absolution Staff	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria

Note that, if you can get Empyreal Ordnance or Soulletting Ruby at item level 226 (or equivalent to your existing trinkets), these are both very competitive options.

The list below shows the best piece of gear for each individual slot, regardless of where it comes from, be it Castle Nathria, Dungeons, PvP, or any other available content. This list does not take into account the legendary you are using, but rather gives you options for each slot so you can freely craft your legendary based on what is the best upgrade for you currently.

Note that this assumes top item level for each piece in the below list, so do not drop item level just to follow this list. For dungeon pieces, you will need these to drop at the top item level tier to compete with most raid pieces at the Mythic level.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Confidant's Favored Cap	Lady Inerva Darkvein in Castle Nathria
Neck	Charm of Eternal Winter	Huntsman Altimor in Castle Nathria
Shoulder	Shawl of the Penitent	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Cloak	Crest of the Legionnaire General	Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria
Chest	Robes of the Cursed Commando	Stone Legion Generals in Castle Nathria
Wrists	Acolyte's Velvet Bindings	Trash drop in Castle Nathria
Gloves	Impossibly Oversized Mitts	Sludgefist in Castle Nathria
Belt	Shadewarped Sash	Artificer Xy'Mox in Castle Nathria
Legs	Purge Protocol Legwraps	Oryphrion in Spires of Ascension
Boots	Slippers of Leavened Station	Lord Chamberlain in Halls of Atonement
Ring #1	Most Regal Signet of Sire Denathrius	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Ring #2	Signet of the False Accuser	Lord Chamberlain in Halls of Atonement
Trinket #1	Cabalist's Hymnal	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria
Trinket #2	Soulletting Ruby	Kul'tharok in Theater of Pain
Two-Hand	Sinbearer's Absolution Staff	Sire Denathrius in Castle Nathria

Generally speaking, for trinket BiS you will always use Cabalist's Hymnal. The second one can be any one of: Soulletting Ruby, Inscrutable Quantum Device (weird to play with, be careful), Sinful Gladiator's Insignia of Alacrity, or Empyreal Ordnance.