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Table of Contents
General Information
On this page, we list the spells that you will often use as a Shadow Priest.
The other pages of our Shadow Priest guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.
About Our Author and Reviewer
This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.
This guide has been reviewed by Atroxe, a Shadow Priest who plays in Encore, and by DjRiff, a theorycrafter at HowToPriest. You can watch Atroxe play on YouTube and Twitch, and you can watch DjRiff stream on Twitch.
1. Shadow Priest Spell Summary
If you are new to Shadow, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialisation, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Shadow and are comfortable with it in Legion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.
2. Main Resource for Shadow Priest
Insanity is your primary resource as a Shadow Priest. All of our offensive
abilities generate Insanity. The goal is to generate 100 Insanity (65 Insanity
with the 
Legacy of the Void talent) in order to enter 
Voidform,
at which point you go into an enhanced state during which your Insanity is
progressively drained and once you run out of Insanity, Voidform ends. Once you
drop out of Voidform you will want to build Insanity again like before and then
go back into Voidform, repeating the process. Insanity management is a crucial
part of playing a Shadow Priest.
Mana is your secondary resource as a Shadow Priest. Most of our utility spells cost Mana to use, though managing Mana attentively is generally not required.
3. Basic Abilities for Shadow Priest
These are your core skills that are available regardless of talents, and form the core gameplay of the specialization.
Void Eruption has a 2-second cast time (reduced by Haste), at the
end of which you enter Voidform. Void Eruption also deals a big burst
of damage to all targets affected by either your 
Shadow Word: Pain or
Vampiric Touch DoT. The Shadow rotation is greatly altered while you
are inside of Voidform, and this is the part of the gameplay that is the most
complex. During Voidform, your damage is increased by 20%, the cooldown of
Mind Blast is reduced by 3 seconds, and you gain 1% Haste per second
(multiplicatively).
Void Bolt is an ability that replaces Void Eruption while
Voidform is active. It is instant cast and it deals damage to the
target, adding 3 seconds to the existing durations of Shadow Word: Pain
and Vampiric Touch to the target and all nearby targets, and also
generating Insanity.
Shadow Word: Pain is one of your two DoTs. It deals Shadow damage
to the target over time, and generates Insanity on application.
Vampiric Touch is one of your two DoTs. It deals Shadow damage to
the target over time, heals you for 50% of the damage dealt, and generates
Insanity on application.
Mind Blast deals damage to a single target, which has a 9-second
cooldown, affected by Haste, and which generates a high amount of Insanity.
It is generally one of your highest priority spells.
Mind Flay is a channeled spell that deals Shadow damage to the
target and slows their movement speed by 50%. It generates Insanity, has
no cooldown, and is generally used as a filler throughout your rotation.
If Shadow Word: Pain is applied to your target, casting Mind Flay also
causes 
Mind Sear to deal Shadow damage to nearby targets and generate
an additional 1 Insanity per target hit.
Shadow Word: Death deals damage to a single target, and can only be
used against targets that are below 20% health. It generates Insanity, and
a greater amount of Insanity if the target is killed by Shadow Word: Death.
4. DPS Cooldowns for Shadow Priest
Shadowfiend has a 3-minute cooldown and it summons a shadowy
fiend that attacks your target for 12 seconds (extended once the trait
Fiending Dark is unlocked). It provides a small DPS
boost, and is considered an offensive cooldown (although not a tremendously
powerful one). It should be paired with high Haste buffs such as high
Voidform stacks and 
Bloodlust.
Dispersion has a 2-minute cooldown (reduced by 40 seconds once the
trait 
From the Shadows is unlocked). It lasts 6 seconds,
during which time all damage you take is reduced by 60% and you cannot be
stunned, snared, feared, or silenced. During Dispersion, you do not lose any
Insanity (if you are in Voidform), but you also cannot attack or cast
any spells. First and foremost, Dispersion should be treated as a defensive
cooldown in order to help us survive dangerous mechanics. If you know you will
not need to use it as such, Dispersion also has some offensive use. It can be
used to stop you from dropping out of Voidform too early, for example if you
are unable to hit a target for a while or if you get stunned by a mechanic at
high Voidform. Additionally, it can also be used tactically in order to resync
your rotation — this aspect of Dispersion is expanded upon in the
rotation section of this guide.
5. ChangeLog
- 22 May 2018: Made a few small tweaks to the page to improve accuracy.
- 28 Aug. 2017: Fixed typo in the Dispersion section.
- 12 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
- 01 May 2017: Updated Dispersion description.
- 10 Jan. 2017: Patch 7.1.5 update.
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