Shadow Priest DPS Spell Summary (Legion 7.3)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.3 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• ×Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource
  • 3. Basic Abilities
  • 4. Cooldowns
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
      • 2.1.1. Single Target & Light Cleave
      • 2.1.2. Surrender to Madness
      • 2.1.3. Mythic+
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression
  • 2. Relic Choice
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. General Optimization Advice
  • 2. Tier 2 Upgrade Priority
  • 3. Tier 3 Upgrade Priority
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Preface
    • 1.1. Shadowform
  • 2. Single Target Priority
  • 3. Multiple Target Rotation
    • 3.1. Persistent Enemies
      • 3.1.1. Against 2-3 Targets
      • 3.1.2. Against 4 or More Targets
    • 3.2. Short Lasting Enemies
  • 4. Cooldowns
  • 5. Important Notes
    • 5.1. Insanity
      • 5.1.1. Generating Insanity
      • 5.1.2. Insanity Generation Modifiers
      • 5.1.3. Insanity Drain
    • 5.2. Voidform and Lingering Insanity
    • 5.3. Void Bolt
    • 5.4. Talent Synergies
      • 5.4.1. Lingering Insanity + Legacy of the Void
      • 5.4.2. Surrender to Madness + Reaper of Souls + Twist of Fate
    • 5.5. Void Eruption and DoTs
      • 5.5.1. Single Target
      • 5.5.2. Multiple Targets
    • 5.6. More on Cooldowns
      • 5.6.1. Shadowfiend
      • 5.6.2. Dispersion
      • 5.6.3. Void Torrent
    • 5.7. More on Talents
      • 5.7.1. Tier 6 Talents
      • 5.7.2. Tier 7 Talents
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Priests
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Shadow Priests
      • 1.2.1. Dispersion Cancelaura Macro
      • 1.2.2. Mind Flay Camera Spin
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Priests
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.3. GTFO
      • 2.1.4. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.5. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.6. Recount / Skada / Details!
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Shadow Priests
      • 2.2.1. WeakAuras Thread
      • 2.2.2. SPTimers
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Legendary Items
    • 2.1. Explanations
      • 2.1.1. Anund's Seared Shackles (Wrist)
      • 2.1.2. Sephuz's Secret (Finger)
      • 2.1.3. Mangaza's Madness (Waist)
      • 2.1.4. Heart of the Void (Chest)
      • 2.1.5. Soul of the High Priest (Ring)
      • 2.1.6. Zek's Exterminatus (Back)
      • 2.1.7. The Twins' Painful Touch (Finger)
      • 2.1.8. Mother Shahraz's Seduction (Shoulder)
      • 2.1.9. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish (Trinket)
      • 2.1.10. Zenk'aram, Iridi's Anadem (Head)
  • 3. Loot Competition
  • 4. ChangeLog

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. Introduction

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

Insanity is your primary resource as a Shadow Priest. Several abilities (including regularly used ones such as Mind Blast and Mind Flay generate Insanity), and Insanity is only used for your Voidform. If you have 100 Insanity you can enter Voidform, an enhanced state during which your Insanity is progressively drained and which ends when you run out of Insanity. Insanity management is a crucial part of playing a Shadow Priest.

Mana is your secondary resource as a Shadow Priest. Most spells cost Mana to use, although generally, attentively managing your Mana is not required.

3. Basic Abilities

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 the above-described Voidform. Void Eruption also deals some damage to all targets affected by your Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch DoTs. 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, Mind Flay will also deal Shadow damage to nearby targets as well 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. Cooldowns

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. Generally, this is used to extend the amount of time you spend in Voidform to allow you to reach another Void Torrent, or to help you survive dangerous mechanics. It is frequently used to avoid mechanics that would otherwise force you to drop out of Voidform due to extended movement and lack of Insanity generation.

5. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 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.