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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. 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 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 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. 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. 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
- 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.
CONTENTS
FROM THE PRIEST FORUMS
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- Disc - Where's my mana?!
- Twist of Fate v Fortress of the Mind
- Holy T21-4 + Soul of the High Priest
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