Shadow Priest DPS Guide — Dragonflight 10.2

In Dragonflight, Shadow Priest is a builder-spender style spec that also has some interesting damage over time and AoE mechanics. The talent tree offers an experimental build-your-own Shadow Priest, where you can choose between two different core cooldowns ( Void Eruption or Dark Ascension) and then capping it off with thematic Idol spells aligned to the Old Gods. The spec has lots of options, and playstyle can vary widely depending on the talents, so there is a lot to talk about!

Strengths

• Flexibility with cooldown style choice.
• Top-tier execute damage with the Amirdrassil set bonus.
• Powerful self-healing through Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague, scaling well with additional targets.
• Access to one of the best single player external DPS cooldown, Power Infusion. Can now be given away easily with Twins of the Sun Priestess.

Weaknesses

• DoT management can require a lot of focus and can be reliant on Shadow Crash hitting correctly in multi-target.
• Lots of spells and abilities, which could be overwhelming depending on talents.
• Need to plan out movement specifically, cannot just stop casting whenever you want for optimal damage.
• Damage is lackluster outside of execute and weak inside of Mythic+.
• One of the weaker specs when it comes to mitigating damage taken without losing DPS.

We are maintaining a list of changes for Priests, so you can see what changes with every patch of Dragonflight.

The video version of this guide is also available if you would like to watch along as I talk about Shadow Priest.

This section gives an overview of the Patch 10.2 Priest Changes going into 10.2.0.

• Power Infusion Haste reduced to 20% (was 25%) and duration reduced to 15 seconds (was 20 seconds).
• Shadow Word: Death now deals 8% of the Priest's maximum health in damage when it fails to kill a target instead of the backlash damage being based on damage dealt. This backlash damage is now reduced by damage reduction effects.
• Tithe Evasion now reduces Shadow Word: Death damage dealt to the Priest by 50% (was 75%).
• Mass Dispel cooldown is now 2 minutes (was 45 seconds).
• Improved Mass Dispel has been converted into a PvP talent with Mental Agility replacing it in the class talent tree. Mental Agility Reduces the mana cost of Purify, Purify Disease, and Mass Dispel by 50% and Dispel Magic by 10%.
• Power Word: Life is now a 15-second cooldown and can only be used on targets below 35% health.

• Shadow Crash damage is now reduced beyond 5 targets.
• Surge of Insanity now triggers from every other cast of Devouring Plague instead of every cast of Devouring Plague.
• Mind Flay damage increased by 10%.
• Mind Flay: Insanity damage increased by 30%. Generates 16 Insanity over its duration (was 12).
• Mind Spike: Insanity damage increased by 20%. Generates 8 Insanity (was 6).

The spec also has access to the brand new tier set for Season 3:

• 2-set bonus: Priest Shadow 10.2 Class Set 2pc
• 4-set bonus: Priest Shadow 10.2 Class Set 4pc

• Every section reviewed and updated for patch 10.2. This includes brand-new talent builds for Raid and Mythic+, an updated rotation that uses Shadow Word: Death more, and updated suggestions for Season 3 content.
• Suggested food has been updated to use secondary stat food over Intellect options.

If the new changes to Shadow Priest sound interesting and you would like to level a fresh Priest, check out the leveling guide below to get you to max level with ease!

After getting to max level, or once you feel more comfortable with the spec, you should check out the suggested Addons page to get started on mastering your Shadow Priest.

Shadow Priest gameplay combines the basic builder-spender idea used in other specs while twisting in being an active DoT class with lots of cooldowns to use. The basics of the rotation involve getting as much uptime as possible on your cooldowns while making sure to keep up all 3 of your DoTs on as many active targets as possible, especially Devouring Plague.

If you are new to Shadow Priest, or maybe just want a quickstart guide to the spec, we suggest first looking through the Spell Summary first, as well as the Easy Mode page linked below. This will get you up and running on your Shadow Priest in no time!

If this is not your first time playing Shadow Priest, you can jump right into the Talents and Rotation sections of the guide to start mastering the ins and outs of playing your Shadow Priest in a PvE environment.

While gearing these days can seem overwhelming or challenging, there are a few things to remember will make this process a bit less painful. Check out the gearing page to decide what pieces to aim for from various forms of content.

With any gearing setup, if you are looking to optimize your character, you should always ensure you are using the correct consumables, gems, enchants, and more on your Shadow Priest. All the little things can add up to a noticeable difference in damage! The stats page goes over each stat in-depth and why we like (or do not like) each secondary enhancement.

Once your character is prepared, you can dive into various forms of end-game content. We have dedicated pages for Raiding, Mythic+, and PvP, depending on what you are interested in. Each one will go over various talents and build changes best for that content. Our Raiding, Mythic+, and PvP guides can help you maximize your character for each environment, regardless of your focus on end-game content.

If you are struggling to perform on your Shadow Priest, we have compiled a list of mistakes and how to overcome them on your Shadow Priest, as well as general questions answered on the FAQ page. You can also try simulating your character to make sure you are using the optimal build for your character.