Shadow Priest DPS Mythic+ Tips — The War Within (11.1.5)

If you are still starting in your Mythic+ journey on the Shadow Priest, I would suggest taking Voidweaver for a spin. This build excels at doing one pack at a time which is what most PUG groups end up doing, and still has a solid damage pattern to scale as the key level goes up.

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• Facing off with smaller pulls, more of them instead of chain-pulling packs together.
• Good damage options every 30 seconds with Entropic Rift.
• Great single target boss damage.
• Devour Matter turns this build into a power house during Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound weeks or certain dungeons with shields.
• The Rookery - Last boss Shield damage

• Struggles dealing mass AoE, comfort zone is 8 targets or less.
• Facing packs that constantly move around while Entropic Rift is active.
• Pulls that last longer than 30 seconds.

• By default, this build assumes you are in keys where you need survivability from Mental Fortitude and also do not want to drop Silence. Strictly speaking, this is a DPS loss; if you want to drop one of those points, you can add back a point in Maddening Touch (AoE) or Mental Decay (ST) back to the build.
• This build has two major options to build around depending on what you are looking for:
  • Single Target: Mind Spike and Distorted Reality (+3% Single Target)
  • AoE: Mind Flay and Mind's Eye (+3% AoE)
• If you are in a dungeon with lots of deadly Physical damage you can consider using Void Leech over Embrace the Shadow.
• If you are looking for more mob control, you can experiment with using No Escape instead of Dark Energy. This might make the tanks job harder in some cases, so be sure to coordinate with your group on what is best for that key.

If you are looking for a build with more AoE potential that Voidweaver that also does well against bosses, I would try out the Archon Mythic+ build. Crucially this still takes Idol of N'Zoth for more AoE damage while still having strong single target.

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This build can struggle at lower key levels or if you are just starting out. To know if the key level is high enough for your group, if you take Void Eruption and after a pack dies, you still have 10 or more seconds left on Voidform the key level is likely too low, and you should consider using the Voidweaver build. This is very dependent on composition and item level.

• Top Sustained AoE Damage.
• Good Boss Damage without sacrificing too much AoE.
• Pushing high keys.
• Top Priority target damage inside of AoE packs.

• Requires more coordinated pulls around your cooldowns.
• Less single target than the Voidweaver builds.

• By default, this build assumes you are in keys where you need survivability from Mental Fortitude and also do not want to drop Silence. Strictly speaking, this is a DPS loss; if you want to drop one of those points, you can add back a point in Mind Devourer or Maddening Touch to the build.
• This build can swap Mind Devourer (ST) for Maddening Touch (AoE) depending on what is more important to you.
• You can adjust your Hero Talent choice node depending on the key:
  • Energy Compression - Generic AoE damage
  • Sustained Potency - Does better for longer fights and activates the Voidform duration pause outside of combat or while stunned. For this reason it is the default suggestion.

This build is aimed at maximizing single-target damage while still having Shadow Crash. It does particularly well in dungeons where it is hard to chain-pull packs with deadly bosses.

In terms of single target damage Voidweaver is about 3% ahead of the Archon variant.

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• Top tier single target while still having Shadow Crash. This is roughly 3% better Single Target than their dedicated Mythic+ builds.

• AoE options are more limited but still decent with the base kit.

• By default, this build assumes you are in keys where you need survivability from Mental Fortitude and also do not want to drop Silence. Strictly speaking, this is a DPS loss; if you want to drop one of those points, you can add back a point in Mind Devourer back to the build.

If you are just starting out your Shadow Priest journey in Season 2 you likely do not have access to the new set bonus available. This set bonus has a few talent choice implications so until you start using the Priest Shadow 11.1 Class Set 4pc bonus you should use the Pre-Season builds.

These builds are the best to use if you have any amount of tier from Season 1, or are just starting out and have no tier set bonuses equipped and are playing Archon. Voidweaver builds should continue to use the default builds for Season 2, regardless of your tier situation.

While this can vary slightly depending on your gear and your character once you get the new Season 2 4-piece bonus ( Priest Shadow 11.1 Class Set 4pc) you should start using the normal builds for this season found in the other sections on this page.

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Silence is your interrupt ability as a Shadow Priest, which can also prevent a mob from casting for a few seconds after, depending on the type of mob.

To make kicking a target easier, it is highly suggested that you use a Focus Kick macro for Silence. This allows you to attack a particular high-priority mob but keep your Focus on the mob you might want to kick. This macro will prefer to cast on your Focus if it exists, then on your Mouseover target, and lastly, your current target.

• #showtooltip
• /stopcasting
• /cast [@focus,exists,nodead][@mouseover,exists,nodead] [] Silence

To quickly set a focus target in hectic scenarios, we also recommend a Focus Mouseover macro. This will set your Focus to whatever your current mouseover target is.

• /focus [@mouseover]

Make sure that your UI shows your Focus Target's casts clearly so that you are always able to kick it on cooldown or in coordination with the rest of your group.

Psychic Scream is your primary AoE stop ability. The fear aspect is not that important in PvE, but it does act as a pseudo AoE interrupt (otherwise known as a stop) for all enemies within 8 yards. As Archon, you can take Incessant Screams to get an additional stop out of this. Depending on how much damage is going out, you can also consider using Petrifying Scream. However, if you can make good use of it, consider using Psychic Voice to get more overall stops in the key.

Psychic Horror is a single target stun talent that can serve a similar purpose as Silence in our kit to lock down a single enemy from casting. We recommend using this in the same way as your Silence, with the same macro (with Psychic Horror swapped in for Silence, of course). Typically, this talent is not worth the DPS or Defensive loss to take the talent, but it can be useful in certain cases.

Shackle Undead allows you to crowd-control a single undead enemy at a time. This has rare use cases in Season 2 and will not be used often.

Dominate Mind can also be used as a single target stop to a certain degree. While this is a bit more involved, it can be used to lock down a mob for up to 30 seconds. You can always cancel this early with a /petdismiss macro. Several dungeons also have mobs that still cast useful abilities when Mind Controlled.

• #showtooltip
• /petdismiss
• /cast [known:Mind Control] Mind Control; Dominate Mind

Due to the sheer amount of options the spec has in terms of utility, it is critical that you adjust class talents before every key you start to make sure you are optimizing utility when needed or taking more defensive options if you do not need the utility.

While we do not bring a battle resurrection to Mythic+ you can purchase Convincingly Realistic Jumper Cables to support your group. You do not need to be an Engineer to use this item.

Power Word: Fortitude gives everyone in your party an extra 5% Stamina, which provides a unique boost to help survive some of those hard-hitting abilities.

Mind Soothe provides an interesting alternative to Shroud of Concealment that might help your group skip past a more deadly Mythic+ pack, depending on the available space. This is changed to be an AoE cast ability that works on all mobs within the 10-yard radius on a short cooldown. Creative uses of this can make routing a key much easier.

Fade has a few good pieces of utility to call out, the most important being the aggro drop mechanic. If you find yourself getting aggro over the tank on the pull, you can use Fade to bypass this drop easily and continue with the key. With the Translucent Image class talent, this also turns Fade into a small defensive. With Phantasm this becomes an easy tool to break out of certain snare effects.

Twins of the Sun Priestess is by far the biggest piece of utility in the class tree, effectively giving your group an extra Power Infusion when used on an ally. While there is contentious debate on who the best specs are for this, I would generally prefer giving this out to Unholy Death Knights, Mages, Warlocks, Devastation Evoker, Enhancement Shamans or anyone that is on a 2-minute cooldown timer.

Dispel Magic allows you to dispel beneficial buffs from enemies. This is extremely useful in dungeons, as many mob packs in many of the dungeons tend to have some buff that they cast on themselves. While this is more important in some dungeons than others, it is still precious to be able to do it. You can also use this to spot dispel Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant.

Purify Disease dispels all Disease effects from friendly targets. This is fairly niche but still situationally extremely useful. The biggest use case this season will be dispelling off Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour.

Mass Dispel remains a beneficial ability to have in our arsenal. Dispelling is very important, and Mass Dispel allows for both offensive and defensive dispels. The fact that you can dispel multiple enemies or friendly targets with just one global is situationally powerful. However, Mass Dispel does have a fairly lengthy 2-minute cooldown. You can also Mass Dispel Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour as well.

Vampiric Embrace heals allies based on the single-target damage you do on a 2-minute cooldown (reduced by San'layn). It can be potent depending on the situation, especially when combined with San'layn. Note that the damage of our DoTs also gets converted to healing. Similarly, we also have access to Essence Devourer, which can be nice for any builds that use Mindbender for similar style healing.

Leap of Faith pulls a friendly party member towards you. It could be more useful generally, but it can sometimes save someone.

The class tree also offers several healing spells that you can combine to give off healing capability for the Priest. The main ones are Renew, Prayer of Mending, and Power Word: Life.

Void Tendrils offers an aoe root if you can afford to jump into melee to cast this.

Void Shift can be used to save your life or an ally's life if used at a good time. Generally speaking, this is not very useful.

For a quick guide of which talents to use, check the dungeon and affixes in the table below and see the list of suggested utility talents you should make sure you work into your build.

Dungeons	Affixes
Cinderbrew Meadery	Xal'atath's Bargain: Ascendant
Darkflame Cleft	Xal'atath's Bargain: Voidbound
Operation: Floodgate	Xal'atath's Bargain: Pulsar
Operation: Mechagon - Workshop	Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour
Priory of the Sacred Flame
The MOTHERLODE!!
The Rookery
Theater of Pain

Based on the selections above, you should run the following class talents:

• Purify Disease
• Mass Dispel
• Psychic Voice
• Phantasm
• Voidweaver for access to Devour Matter
• There are no specific talent suggestions for The MOTHERLODE!!.

• Be sure to have defensives running during Happy Hour as you are running around.

• Use Mass Dispel to help dispel stacks of Burning Fermentation.
• Be sure to get the adds debuffed with Vampiric Touch ASAP and then funnel damage off the boss with Psychic Link. Typically this should be enough and you do not need to focus them down.

• Be sure to get the adds debuffed with Vampiric Touch ASAP and then funnel damage off the boss with Psychic Link.

• No specific tips.

• At the start of the dungeon if you have Cooking or Alchemy leveled to 25 or higher you can click on the Cooking Pot to get an extra action ability, Sticky Honey. This can be used at a location, hitting all players and mobs and reducing their Haste by 15% and movement speed by 80% for 9 seconds. Since this can hit players you should be extra careful when or if you choose to use this.
• For the first big pull of the dungeon it can be easy to get lost in all the nameplates, try to center yourself and watch for circles under your feet that can be deadly one shots. You do not need to have EVERY add debuffed, just get the priority targets and then start your burst rotation.
• Can use Mass Dispel if the group gets too many Erupting Inferno debuffs out which are cast by Venture Co. Pyromaniac adds. This cast is able to be interrupted so hopefully should not see this much in coordinated groups.
• Be sure to bait charges of Careless Hopgoblin into the wall so they do not run across the room.

• You can use this WeakAura to highlight the nameplate of the cart to make it easier to find.
• Throw out Shadow Crash when you can to DoT the adds but do not make it a priority to DoT all of them. They will periodically get killed by mechanics so are mostly there to help get your Twist of Fate uptime.
• Keep an eye out for when the track rails glow red, that indicates a cart is incoming.

• No specific tips.

• No specific tips.

• Be sure to pay attention to when the adds spawn so that you can quickly debuff them with Vampiric Touch. Usually you do not need to swap to them afterwards and can just priority damage down the boss.
• Since this boss goes away at 54.5% you can use this WeakAura to get a better understanding of when it will die.

• At the start of the instance you can outrange or minrange the casts of Throw Rock from the Lowly Moleherd. This cast has 5-30 yard range.
• Purify Disease can be useful to get rid of Nasty Nibble cast by Pack Mole adds.
• You can maxrange the Kobold Taskworker adds after the 1st boss to avoid getting hit by the slam.
• If you pay attention to Torchsnarl you can dodge the cast of One-Hand Headlock and avoid it entirely.
• For the Wandering Candle trash you can Line of Sight casts of Surging Flame to avoid the damage.

• On this boss most groups should have enough add damage so that you can simply keep them all debuffed and then cleave off the boss. If the boss gets Kill-o-Block Barrier be sure to swap to the adds to phase the boss.
• Pay attention to the add health, once they die he will cast Jumpstart and will take double damage. You should make sure and have full cooldowns for this set and consider holding cooldowns to make sure to have them here.

• These bosses need to die as close together as possible. Be sure to main focus the bigger of the two bosses, Bront, since he will charge around the room and be harder for melee to keep uptime on.
• Be sure to position yourself so that if you get targeted with Barreling Charge you are in line with a bomb. You can dodge this once he locks onto your location.

• Many people find that if you set your Liquid Graphics quality to low you can see the waves on this more easily. You can try this WeakAura to automate this setting just for this encounter.
• This boss hits like an absolute truck and is just constantly throwing out ticking damage to the group. Be sure to coordinate with healers on when to use your defensive abilities. At a baseline you should plan to use Fade for every cast of Awaken the Swamp. I typically hold Dispersion in case I need to dodge a hard set of waves.

• No specific tips.

• Throughout the dungeon you will face various Darkfuse Inspector adds that will leap behind you and cast a frontal at you. You can bait these adds by putting your model against a wall to make this easier to dodge as a group. If everyone stacks up this becomes much easier. You can see this in action here.
• Can help dispel Overcharge from players cast by the Venture Co. Electrician. If this is not dispelled the target will be stunned for 5 seconds.

• Do your best to keep these bosses health even to make sure they die at similar times. Since the The Platinum Pummeler gets a damage reduction debuff you could swap off while this is active but be careful in case they get too out of sync health wise.

• If the boss is tanked in a particular location you can be hiding behind the Junk box and still be within line of sight to hit the boss. You can use this WeakAura to help indicate if you are behind Junk or not.

• Pay attention to the boss timers for the flower spawns so you are ready to nuke them as soon as they spawn.

• This is a very long boss encounter and you can typically full send all cooldowns at the start of the boss and get another use out of them, particularly with higher keys.

• There are a few spots in the hallway after the 1st boss with the slime adds that you can Line of Sight. Specifically be on the lookout for casts of Corrosive Gunk to line of sight behind a pillar.
• Keep an eye out for too many Arcing Zap debuffs on the party to dispel them with Mass Dispel.
• During the gauntlet before the 3rd boss you can use your Void Elf Racial to skip over the traps.
• The trash leading up to the last boss can be Mind Sooth Skipped. This can be tricky to pull off but can help save you some time.

• You can use Shadowmeld as a Night Elf on the Savage Mauling cast.
• Typically most groups will end up engaging this boss with another mini-boss at the same time. It is important to focus the main boss target but keep the other boss debuffed with Vampiric Touch due to Bound by Fate.

• No specific tips.

• As the boss is phasing have the group go up the same side and stand at the top stair together. Once the adds spawn you can move where the boss is. This will cause all of the adds to go up that same side of the stairs to make it easier to group.
• After the boss phases Shadow Word: Death should be a high priority action as Voidweaver while the Barrier of Light persists due to Devour Matter.

• At the start of the instance there is a fountain square with a golden orb in the center. You can click this to give your party the Blessing of the Sacred Flame buff. While this does not persist through death it is a nice additional damage buff to your raid to apply when you can. There are also two more of these in the giant room at the end of the dungeon on either side.

When facing the High Priest Aemya mini-boss pay attention to casts of Reflective Shield, this can easily kill you if you are not paying attention. In particular casts of Shadow Word: Death as Voidweaver will be almost fatal due to Devour Matter.

• You can use Shadowmeld as a Night Elf on the Lightspawn Purification cast.
• When facing Forge Master Damian you can use Fade with Phantasm to remove the Heat Wave debuff.

• Try to extend the footbomb debuff to make sure the damage amp lasts as long as possible. You should start your cooldowns after the footbombs spawn instead of on-pull to take advantage of this damage amp.

• The fixate cast from the adds can be removed with Shadowmeld.
• The boss will select one of the active adds and buff it with Azerite Infusion. This buff increases the damage taken by the add which is a golden opportunity as a Shadow Priest. You should immediately swap to this add to kill it quickly and get the Psychic Link damage on the boss and other add.

• No specific tips.

• No specific tips.

• You can use Shadowmeld as a Night Elf on the Venture Co. Mastermind Mind Lash cast.
• You can use Shadowmeld as a Night Elf on the Venture Co. War Machine Charged Shot cast after you get the debuff.

• No specific tips.

• No specific tips.

• Plan to use Fade anytime you get the Unstable Corruption debuff for the damage reduction. You can also use Mass Dispel to get a set of these off your group if the cooldown is available.
• This boss will alternate between a Shield phase and a damage amp phase. During Void Shell be sure to prioritize Shadow Word: Death as a Voidweaver for Devour Matter. You generally should have enough time to use Void Torrent on pull and get it back for the first Storm's Vengeance phase. Archon will end up needing to save Halo until a few seconds before the shield expires.

• Can use Mass Dispel to easily purge Lightning-Infused off the Cursed Thunderer adds.
• When Void Ascendant casts too many Feasting Void debuffs you can use Mass Dispel to help the healer. This puts a nasty DoT that doubles as a healing absorb on players.
• You can use Shadowmeld as a Night Elf on the Stormrook Energized Barrage cast.
• You can use Shadowmeld as a Night Elf on the Coalescing Void Diffuser AoE pull in cast.

• Can use Purify Disease to dispel Genetic Alteration.

• Stand inside of the bosses hitbox before he pulls you in. He will not actually pull you if you are standing in melee, and just need to run out after.
• Be sure to cast Vampiric Touch on the adds every time they spawn, then focus the boss down.

• If you get chosen to PvP do not pop any cooldowns and just let whoever will passively kill someone faster win.
• Shadow Priest is excellent at killing the banners here, be sure to focus them down.

• Shadow Crash can be hard to aim with the way this room is designed. If you are having trouble try facing the entrance to the bosses platform to cast your Shadow Crash, this is typically been easier for me.

• Have Silence ready each time you spawn an add.

• Diseased Horror and Blighted Sludge-Spewer put Decaying Blight Disease on a player which can be removed with Purify Disease.
• Be sure to Dispel Magic the Bone Shield buff off the Bone Magus adds.
• For the large mini-bosses on the way to Xav the Unfallen you can line of sight casts of Brutal Leap.

Periodically, orbs of cosmic energy will spawn near your group. As a Shadow Priest, you can use the following spells to get rid of these orbs:

• Psychic Scream
• Mass Dispel - Capped at 5 targets
• Silence - Usually best to save this for something else
• Psychic Horror
• Dispel Magic

When the Voidbound affix spawns, you should immediately swap targets to focus this down. If you are a Voidweaver, be sure to prioritize casts of Shadow Word: Death for the increase from Devour Matter.

The important thing to realize is the extra damage from Devour Matter will contribute to Psychic Link damage, so prioritizing Shadow Word: Death casts into this mob is a large boost in damage for us.

As a Shadow Priest there is no specific advice for handling the Pulsar affix.

When Xal'atath's Bargain: Devour is present that week, you should always be prepared to use Mass Dispel or Purify Disease to dispel Void Rift as often as you can on your party. You can also remove this with racials such as Stoneform.

If you are out of tools to dispel off the debuff, you can also use Desperate Prayer, Power Word: Life, or Flash Heal to help get the debuff off.