Shadow Priest DPS Vault of the Incarnates Raid Guide — The War Within 11.0.0
On this page, you will find tips, tricks, and strategies tailored to your Shadow Priest for each boss of the following raid: Vault of the Incarnates. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within 11.0.0.
Introduction
Below, you can find class and spec-specific advice for every fight in Vault of the Incarnates. If you are looking for a general overview of the Raid that is not spec-specific, check out our dedicated Vault of the Incarnates guides.
On this page, you will find Shadow Priest specific information to deal with each boss in the Vault of the Incarnates raid. These are not complete encounter guides but specific tips for doing the bosses as a Shadow Priest.
This page assumes that you already understand most of the mechanics of each encounter. These can be found on the full raid guide, so what is contained here are details specifically tailored toward Shadow Priest and how you can deal with each fight as best as possible.
All recommendations are progression-based tips and will not necessarily be the best for an overall DPS ranking.
Dragonflight Raid Talent Builds for Shadow Priest
Single Target Void Eruption Build for Shadow Priest
This build is the default single target build for Shadow, performing
ahead of Dark Ascension, particularly whenever there is any movement
involved.
- Terros
- Kurog Grimtotem
If you are able to fully turret during the fight you might prefer
the below version with Dark Ascension.
- CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmxMDAAAAAAAAAAAAwwsBzMzys9AmZmZMzMLwswMzMjZjBGjhZxsN1MDWgZAAEAQAA
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the build directly into your game!
Single Target with Shadow Crash Build for Shadow Priest
This build is nearly identical to the single target build but picks up Shadow Crash
and
Whispering Shadows to give you the ability for easy DoTing of many adds without
compromising your single target damage much (less than 3%).
- Eranog
- Sennarth
- Dathea, Ascended
- Broodkeeper Diurna
- Raszageth
If you prefer to run Void Eruption here is the top build with
Shadow Crash:
- CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgBzMDAAAAAAAAAAAAwwsMYmZ2mNmZmZ2GzsAzCzMzMmNGYMGmFz2UzMYBzAAQAABA
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the build directly into your game!
Multi-Target AoE Build for Shadow Priest
This build tailored to handle stacked council type bosses. With this build,
you should spread Devouring Plague around
as much as possible while making sure the bosses die at roughly the same time.
Be sure to always be focusing the target that has the highest remaining
duration left on Devouring Plague to maximize our Mastery.
- The Primal Council
- Broodkeeper Diurna - if full-time on adds in Phase 1
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the build directly into your game!
General Defensive Usage Notes
Shadow Priest has several defensive spells that you should plan to use and rotate
throughout mechanics. You should opt to use the smaller cooldown spells often
as needed with incoming mechanics and save bigger cooldowns like Dispersion
for large incoming damage.
Flash Heal with
Protective Light talented.
Power Word: Shield for a small absorb.
Fade with
Translucent Image talented.
Desperate Prayer
Dispersion
General Cooldown Usage Notes
As a Shadow Priest, you want to generally sync up your cooldown together. The typical sequence for cooldowns is the following:
- Use
Nymue's Unraveling Spindle if equipped.
Shadowfiend or
Mindbender
- Use damage-only trinkets like
Belor'relos, the Suncaller if equipped.
Void Eruption or
Dark Ascension
Power Infusion
- Other on-use trinkets like
Spoils of Neltharus
Note that with Shadowfiend, it does not sync nicely
with certain cooldowns, but you should still plan to use this on cooldown.
For more information, check out the rotation page.
In addition to the general rotation, you want to keep in mind that your goal is to use your cooldowns as often as possible during an encounter. With that in mind, your secondary goal is to use them at the correct time.
I highly suggest using some Addon or WeakAura to track the estimated time to
die of your target/boss target.
Method
Raid Tools has this as an option if you are already using this addon.
By tracking time to die, if you know that you can only fit one more cycle of
your cooldowns in before the boss dies, you can choose to hold these cooldowns
to better line up with Twist of Fate,
Bloodlust, or any other
mechanic that would make burning cooldowns better.
Eranog
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the single target with
Shadow Crash build.
- CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmZmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGsBzMzysxMzMz2MzsAzCzMzMmNGYMGmFz2UzMYBmBAAAAAA
Defensive Usage
- No specific defensive usage to mention.
Cooldown Timings
-
Shadow Crash should line up for every add set. With good timing, you can cast this just before the adds actually spawn but still get the timing right to hit them all before they start moving.
Mechanical Tips
-
The boss will frequently require you to move short distances when casting
Molten Spikes. If you know this is coming soon, try to save up instant cast spells.
- You can use
Mass Dispel on the
Leaping Flames DoT effect from the Flamescale Captain on Mythic difficulty.
Top Trinkets
Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Spoils of Neltharus
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
For more information, please refer to our Eranog guide.
Terros
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the single target build.
- CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgBmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGmFPAzMz2sNmZmZMmZBegNmZmZMbMwYMjZxsN1MDWwMAAEAQAA
Defensive Usage
-
Be sure to use
Fade and/or
Flash of Light (with
Protective Light) before soaking
Rock Blast.
Cooldown Timings
- No specific cooldown timings to mention.
Mechanical Tips
-
Leap of Faith can help position members quickly for
Awakened Earth. Careful doing this in Mythic to not remove
Infused Fallout stacks without realizing it.
Top Trinkets
Nymue's Unraveling Spindle
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart
For more information, please refer to our Terros guide.
The Primal Council
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the multi-target AoE build.
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-
If you are being put into the kick rotation, you might consider swapping out
Mental Fortitude or
Mind Devourer for
Silence. Only do this if this is required for you to make the kick order timings as this is either a defensive or offensive loss.
Defensive Usage
-
While you can soak both circles of
Meteor Axes with
Dispersion I would suggest holding, if possible, and just soaking one.
Cooldown Timings
- No specific cooldown timings to mention.
Mechanical Tips
- Be sure to spread
Devouring Plague across targets as you get enough Insanity. Always be targeting something that actively has it ticking.
Top Trinkets
Tome of Unstable Power
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
Spoils of Neltharus
For more information, please refer to our The Primal Council guide.
Sennarth, the Cold Breath
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the single target with
Shadow Crash build.
- CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmZmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGsBzMzysxMzMz2MzsAzCzMzMmNGYMGmFz2UzMYBmBAAAAAA
Defensive Usage
- No specific defensive usage to mention.
Cooldown Timings
- The big spider add is going to be the biggest priority. Make sure to focus on this
as soon as it spawns. Consider holding spell cooldowns like
Void Torrent to get this down quickly.
-
Hold
Shadow Crash if little spiders will be spawning soon, do not delay this more than a few seconds, though.
Mechanical Tips
-
Use
Fade with
Phantasm to help mitigate the various slow effects if needed.
-
If your positioning is compromised during
Gossamer Burst, you can use
Dispersion or other movement abilities to try and fight this off.
- Avoid rushing up the stairs during intermissions. You can save up procs or other instant casts to move at your own pace. If done correctly, you will retain boss uptime.
-
Ideally, you should be sending your casts of
Shadow Crash casts for the little spiders and then ignoring them. If you do not have Shadow Crash available make sure you tag at least one spider with something to trigger
Twist of Fate.
Top Trinkets
Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Spoils of Neltharus
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
Note: Tome of Unstable Power could proc on adds and do a lot of
damage, but typically this is not relevant for progression.
For more information, please refer to our Sennarth guide.
Dathea, Ascended
Talents/Build
- For this boss, you should use a different build if you are planning on going to a platform, otherwise stick with the basic single target setup.
- Single Target: CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgBmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGmFPAzMzysNmZmZMmZBmFmZmZMbMwYMMLmtpmZwCmBAgAACA
- Platform Team: CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmZmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGsBzMzysxMzMz2MzsAzCzMzMmNGYMGmFz2UzMYBmBAQAABA
Defensive Usage
- No specific defensive usage to mention.
Cooldown Timings
-
Save
Vampiric Embrace for the intermission. With healers being split, this is where it will be the most useful. If on Mythic, saving for a platform might make more sense for your group, though.
Mechanical Tips
- No specific mechanical tips to mention.
Top Trinkets
Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Spoils of Neltharus
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
For more information, please refer to our Dathea guide.
Kurog Grimtotem
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the single target build. If you are struggling to deal enough
add damage consider using the add damage build with
Void Eruption.
- Boss damage focused: CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgBmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGmFPAzMz2sNmZmZMmZBegNmZmZMbMwYMjZxsN1MDWwMAAEAQAA
- Add damage focused: CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgBmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGmNPAzMz2sNmZmZMmZBmNmZmZMbMwYMMLmtpmZwCmBAgAACA
Defensive Usage
- No specific defensive usage to mention.
Cooldown Timings
- No specific cooldown timings to mention.
Mechanical Tips
-
If your group is struggling with getting hit by too many
Frigid Torrent or you are just starting progression, consider talenting into
Mass Dispel to help out the healers.
-
During the intermission, the boss is immune, but you can continue to
generate Insanity from things like
Auspicious Spirits. Typically this makes it worth it to maintain your DoTs on him even during this phase. Still, re-dotting should be a low priority and something other than something to do while cooldowns are active.
Top Trinkets
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Spoils of Neltharus
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
Tome of Unstable Power (Good for add damage)
For more information, please refer to our Kurog Grimtotem guide.
Broodkeeper Diurna
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the single target with
Shadow Crash build for most setups. If you are full-time on the adds in Phase 1 you can consider going the add damage variant, but this is a loss in the last phase which is all single target and arguably the challenging part of the fight.
- More Boss Damage: CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmZmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGsBzMzysxMzMz2MzsAzCzMzMmNGYMGmFz2UzMYBmBAQAABA
- More Add Damage: CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAmZmZAAAAAAAAAAAAAGsBzMzysxMzMz2MzsAzCzMzMmNGYMGmFz2UzMYBmBAAAAAA
Defensive Usage
- No specific defensive usage to mention.
Cooldown Timings
- No specific cooldown timings to mention.
Mechanical Tips
- While the boss needs to be 50 yards away from the adds, it is possible to hit
the boss and the adds simultaneously with good tank positioning. Focus your
damage on one or the other based on your group's needs. Simply throwing a
Shadow Crash at an add pack to get
Twist of Fate procs will substantially help out your priority damage on the boss.
- You can use
Fade with
Phantasm to break either
Icy Shroud or
Frozen Shroud.
-
Cast
Dispel Magic to dispel the
Cauterizing Flashflames HoT from the Dragonspawn Flamebender. You can also use
Mass Dispel for
Icy Shroud and
Frozen Shroud.
Top Trinkets
Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Spoils of Neltharus
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
Note: Tome of Unstable Power could proc on adds and do a lot of
damage if you are looking for Phase 1 damage, but outside of that
will not be very helpful on the boss itself.
For more information, please refer to our Broodkeeper Diurna guide.
Raszageth the Storm-Eater
Talents/Build
- For this boss, we suggest the single target with
Shadow Crash build.
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- If you need
Silence for the orbs you can drop either
Mental Fortitude or
Mind Devourer, but most groups should have this covered.
Defensive Usage
- No specific defensive usage to mention.
Cooldown Timings
- Consider saving cooldowns to line up with the shield phases after the add platform.
Mechanical Tips
- You can use
Mass Dispel to help quickly dispatch sparks.
Top Trinkets
Umbrelskul's Fractured Heart
Neltharion's Call to Suffering
Ominous Chromatic Essence (All Allies)
Spoils of Neltharus
Whispering Incarnate Icon (At least a Healer or Tank)
Mythic Hurricane Wing Guide
On Mythic, you need to use abilities to counter the various casts of
Hurricane Wing that pushes you back. Most groups will get 4 sets
of this mechanic with current gearing, and as a Shadow Priest, we only
have a few tools to combat this. Use the below as a rough guide:
Power Word: Shield (with
Body and Soul) and
Angelic Feather
- Warlock Gateway
Power Word: Shield (with
Body and Soul) and
Angelic Feather
- NEED SOMETHING SPECIAL (see below)
- Warlock Gateway (usually skipped)
Alternatively, you can choose to change the order to Gateway on sets 1 and 4 if you know you will not get the 5th set. Doing this means you do not need help from a racial or external, but it does mean for the 2nd set, you will need to get back to the group quickly for the sparks that happen directly after, or plan to deal with yours on your own.
For soaks where you are not using Warlock Gateway, you typically will have
Stampeding Roar or
Wind Rush Totem and can delay your
Power Word: Shield or
Angelic Feather until after that
effect goes away since they do not stack. Any sets where you are relying
on this are very easy to mess up; you need to make sure you are very close
to the boss before the cast to make it, especially after the first set.
For any set after 3, if you are not using the Gateway, you need help from outside our kit. This can be done with any of the following in no particular order:
- An Evoker's
Rescue
- Goblin's
Rocket Jump
- Void Elf's
Spatial Rift
For more information, please refer to our Raszageth guide.
Changelog
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Update builds for Season 4 and add top trinkets per boss.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.7.
- 26 Feb. 2023: Update Raszageth talents to default to Dark Ascension and add more options to winds guide.
- 23 Feb. 2023: Add basic guide for Mythic Raszageth winds.
- 22 Feb. 2023: Update Dathea suggestions.
- 04 Feb. 2023: Update builds for fights to use Void Eruption more for cleave fights.
- 26 Jan. 2023: Small adjustment to Kurog non-Mythic build.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Update talent builds from 10.0.5 changes.
- 13 Jan. 2023: Correct Void Torrent suggestion for Sennarth.
- 05 Jan. 2023: Remove incorrect suggestion for Mass Dispel on Sennarth.
- 04 Jan. 2023: Simplify talent builds.
- 23 Dec. 2022: Update talent builds from Screams of the Void bug.
- 21 Dec. 2022: Update most talent suggestions after week 1 of raid.
- 13 Dec. 2022: Add alternative single target build for a few encounters that has more burst.
- 12 Dec. 2022: Swap to Idol of Y'Shaarj instead of Yogg-Saron for Eranog.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Page added.
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This guide has been written by Publik, Shadow Priest theorycrafter and SimC dev at Warcraft Priests. He currently raids in The Exiled on Arthas-US.
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