Shadow Priest DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within Pre-Patch

While optimizing talents on a contextual basis is the highly recommended method of setting up your build, the Talent builds listed below work great for specific purposes.

Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. For more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+ in pre-patch, check out the dedicated pages below.

If you want an overview and breakdown of every Talent, check out the Spell Summary first to help navigate your build choices.

NOTE: There is currently a bug that prevents Idol of C'Thun from working as intended. Until this is resolved you should not use this talent and you should put this point into something else.

Several of our talents actively change your rotation, specifically your priority in given situations. You can find out more in the rotation section below.

This section is intended at giving more context on the various choice nodes we have in the Shadow Priest spec tree and when each choice might make sense.

Dark Ascension and Void Eruption is the main cooldown choice you have as a Shadow Priest. Due to Dark Ascension inherently scaling our damage it usually ends up being strong in single-target environments especially at lower gear levels while Void Eruption thrives more in AoE and multi-target.

Dark Ascension has two major advantages: the large damage amplifier to our direct damage and the 1-minute cooldown. Unlike Voidform this also is on top of Shadowform making it numerically a great choice. The 1-minute cooldown can also be quite powerful when paired with Mindbender and Inescapable Torment for good damage every minute.

Void Eruption gives access to Voidform but since this replaces Shadowform it does not actually add a damage modifier onto our kit except for the Mastery activation. This mastery activation can be a big bonus in AoE situations, but typically is much more lackluster in single target since our Devouring Plague uptimes are usually 90%+. However, you also gain access to Void Bolt so after enough scaling with gear this can end up performing well even in single target.

In The War Within we now have access to two different versions of Shadow Crash:

• Shadow Crash - Targeted at a specific location on the ground.
• Shadow Crash - Targeted at an enemy, will follow them if they move.

This choice node gives the player a choice in how they want to use this spell particularly for managing DoTs with Whispering Shadows. In most cases these spells work exactly the same, which will lead to many experienced players opting to playing with Shadow Crash for more flexibility.

• Can be placed specifically at a location to DoT multiple targets if there is not an enemy positioned perfectly in the middle.
• Can be cast before a target is active to get your DoTs on them quicker.
• Can be cast outside of combat to generate Insanity pre-pull.

• Follows the target if they move.
• Does not require precise camera positioning to land on a pack of mobs.

Modifying the way we spend Insanity can have large implications when it comes to playstyle and damage output, which is what makes Mind's Eye and Distorted Reality often a big choice to make in your build.

Builds that prefer Mind's Eye will typically already have a good amount of Insanity generation so that you can keep up high uptime of Devouring Plague and also play off of interactions that reward more casts of Devouring Plague such as generating Shadowy Apparitions or more Screams of the Void uptime.

On the other hand builds that prefer Distorted Reality will typically like this choice when you are looking to maximize uptime on Devouring Plague (especially at lower gear levels). Distorted Reality builds also can make more use of spreading Devouring Plague in AoE situations to take advantage of effects like Phantasmal Pathogen.

While the builds above have sane defaults for Class Talents, this section will go in-depth about the various choices we have with class talents depending on the situation you are in.

The following is a list of class talents I would always use as a Shadow Priest. These are useful in just about every situation in PvE and will be the core talents for any build.

• Shadowfiend - Baseline
• Shadow Word: Death - Baseline
• Death and Madness and Tithe Evasion - Any build that ever uses Shadow Word: Death should always have these nodes.
• Dispel Magic - Useful for pathing and great utility.
• Improved Flash Heal and Protective Light - Gives us another valuable active defensive with no cooldown.
• Angelic Feather and/or Body and Soul - Movement talents, typically I would suggest having both.
• Power Infusion and Twins of the Sun Priestess - Damage cooldown and massive group throughout utility.
• Vampiric Embrace and San'layn - Extra healing utility that is taken all the time. Situationally Sanguine Teachings could also be used.
• Twist of Fate - Execute damage that unlocks nodes in the bottom section.
• Throes of Pain - Baseline damage to Shadow Word: Pain and should be taken in all situations.
• Halo or Divine Star - One of the few damage nodes on the tree.
• Translucent Image - Transforms Fade into an active defensive.
• Phantom Reach - Gives you more baseline range which can make positioning easier.

Now that you have an idea of the baseline suggested class talents , you can finish off your build based on the content that you are doing. Depending on the specific raid boss or dungeon environment you should tweak these choices based on what you need. In some situations, you might need more utility, and for others, if you do not need that utility, you can instead pick up more defensive choices.

The following talents are the utility choices we have as a Priest. You should only take these if you need them, otherwise fill points elsewhere.

• Psychic Voice - Gives a reduction in the cooldown of Psychic Scream which can be useful to get more AoE CC available.
• Phantasm - Transforms Fade to also break snare effects. Note that this is different from root effects.
• Leap of Faith - Iconic Priest ability that is nice to have in certain situations.
• Shackle Undead - Hard CC ability that works on Undead enemies.
• Void Tendrils - AoE root ability for enemies in a radius around the caster.
• Dominate Mind - Turns your Mind Control spell into one that instead makes the enemy a pet. This can be particularly useful in some Mythic+ Dungeons. This node is also required for certain pathing decisions and is often taken for just that reason.
• Mass Dispel - Powerful dispel tool.
• Power Word: Life - Gives you a powerful spell for off-healing.
• Essence Devourer - Passive healing that does particularly well with Mindbender builds.
• Manipulation - Extra defensive node that will work on spells cast specifically by enemies we have Shadow Word: Pain active.
• Void Shift - While use cases in PvE are slim this is occasionally great utility to have.

Once you get all the utility points you need for the content you are doing, you can then add the defensive points you need. This part is tricky as depending on content, this can vary wildly, but here are your options roughly ranked in terms of strength.

1. Spell Warding - 3% magic damage reduction
2. Improved Fade - Allows you to press Fade more often for the defensive value.
3. Angel's Mercy - Can be useful depending on timings of a mechanic you are trying to counter, but pathing into it can be cumbersome.
4. Void Shield - Can give Power Word: Shield a bit more value when used defensively for passive ticking damage.
5. Light's Inspiration - Makes Desperate Prayer stronger but usually this increase does not actually change what would be considered lethal.
6. Crystalline Reflection - Gives a very small heal with casts of Power Word: Shield that can also give a bit of damage depending on the situation.
7. Angelic Bulwark - Inconsistent cheat death-like shield that usually does not proc when you actually need it.

Note that I suggest taking Protective Light and Translucent Image by default in the top section. These are easily the most valuable defensive nodes in our class tree and should always be taken.

In the open world, you can go into "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

• PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
• 10%+ increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
• 10%+ more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of Shadow Priest-specific PvE talents.

• Catharsis is a great boost to damage in the open world if you find yourself in solo content or 1v1s.
• Driven to Madness gives you your cooldown back faster for better uptime.
• Psyfiend can be a nice talent if you are okay with another active ability; otherwise, Void Volley is a good backup.