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it (read more Shadow Priest PvP Guide Battle for Azeroth (BfA)
Table of Contents
Introduction
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play a Shadow Priest in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, artifacts, PvP talents and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.
About The Author
This guide has been written by Mysticall, a seasoned PvP player who has repeatedly achieved Arena Master and 2500 rating. You can watch his stream on Twitch, and you can also check out his YouTube channel.
1. Spec Overview / Place in the Current Meta for Shadow Priests
Shadow Priests are a force to be reckoned with. What Shadow Priests lack in
defensives, they make up for in damage. If left unchecked, a Shadow Priest can
melt an entire team in seconds. Not only do they have strong single target
damage, they have utility. Spells like 
Mass Dispel and
Power Word: Shield make Shadow Priests a very versatile caster.
1.1. Strengths of Shadow Priests
- Strong spread damage
Dispel Magic and 
Mass Dispel are crucial- High consistent damage
1.2. Weaknesses of Shadow Priests
- No mobility
- Struggle to cast against melee teams
- Very few defensive cooldowns
2. Talent Choices for Shadow Priests
Regular talents work in both PvP and PvE content (although they may sometimes work differently in the two environments, which is indicated by their tooltips). In other words, they are always active.
On the other hand, PvP talents (which we talk about later on in the guide) are inactive outside of a PvP environment, unless you have enabled War Mode.
3. Regular Talents for Shadow Priests
3.1. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
Shadowy Insight is the best choice in this tier. This gives you
more sustained and burst damage that is instant.
3.2. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
If you are playing on a team and your primary goal is to crowd control the
enemy healer, 
Body and Soul is the best choice in this tier. This
will make it easier for you to get 
Psychic Screams on targets far
away. Otherwise, use 
San'layn. This gives you an additional
powerful defensive.
3.3. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
Misery is the best choice in this tier. This talent is crucial
when your DoTs are constantly being dispelled. This will help with overall
spread pressure on the enemy team and you can use the extra time you gain by
helping your teammates or kiting enemies.
3.4. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
Psychic Horror is the best choice in this tier. This gives your
team additional crowd control for healers or kill targets. The cooldown of
Psychic Horror pairs well with the cooldown of
Silence.
3.5. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
Shadow Word: Death is the best choice in this tier. This makes is
much easier to kill targets when they have low health.
3.6. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
Mindbender is the best choice in this tier. This talent
increases your burst damage and helps you enter 
Voidform
faster.
3.7. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
Dark Ascension is the best choice in this tier. This gives you an
additional opportunity to enter Voidform and allows you to use
Void Bolt more often. This ability can also be used in
Voidform to increase the duration of Voidform.
3.8. PvP Talents for Shadow Priests
PvP talents are typically only available in PvP content, but War Mode (explained below) allows you to also benefit from them in the open world.
As you will see below, the PvP talents are very flexible. Depending on what classes you are playing with and against, you can adjust your talents to better suit your team's goal. You must choose:
- 1 trinket talent out of 3 possible choices;
- 3 PvP talents out of a pool of about a dozen possible choices.
3.9. War Mode
War Mode is a new PvP system added in Battle for Azeroth. War Mode can be toggled on and off in any major city. When it is enabled, you are able to use your PvP talents in the open world, and because you will be fighting enemies of the other faction, you also get an experience bonus while leveling. Do note that this makes you vulnerable to being killed by players of the other faction.
3.9.1. Bonuses of War Mode
Enabling War Mode provides the following perks.
- The ability to use all PvP talents in the outdoor world. You do not need to be in PvP combat to use them.
- You can earn Conquest Points.
- You gain +10% experience while leveling.
- There are PvP achievements you can earn.
- At maximum level, you get a +10% World Quest reward bonus.
3.9.2. War Mode Bounties
If you kill too many players in a single zone, there will be a bounty put
on you. Everyone in that zone will know your exact location.
You can see the location of players with a bounty by checking your map.
Killing players with a bounty on them rewards Conquest Points and is part of
an achievement called 
Bounty Hunting. Bounty Hunting is part
of a meta achievement called 
Conqueror of Azeroth /
Conqueror of Azeroth that rewards the
title Conqueror of Azeroth.
3.9.3. Air Drops
It is not yet totally clear how Air Drops will work, but we know the following about it from Blizzard.
From time to time, a flying machine will make its way across the sky. The rumble of its engine is a clear indicator that something is afoot. You'll want to keep an eagle eye on the sky and watch for a War Supply Crate to drop somewhere in the zone. Similar to the chest in Gurubashi Arena, players can fight over the crate and claim it for their faction. Once a faction has gained control of the crate, anyone of that faction who is within the area will have a short period to open it and collect a piece of personal loot.
3.10. Trinket Talent
The first PvP talent tier is will give you a choice between
Gladiator's Medallion, 
Relentless, and
Adaptation. Gladiator's Medallion is the best choice in
this tier. It is great for removing crowd control on you that your healer
cannot dispel.
3.11. PvP Talents
You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each of them has their uses, but some are better for certain strategies than others. The top three choices are the most useful, but can be replaced with other PvP talents depending on your team's goal.
Void Origins makes 
Void Eruption instant. This is
great because it makes it easier to enter Voidform. It allows you
to burst when you want and not have to wait.
Driven to Madness makes it so while Voidform is not
active, being attacked will grant you 9 Insanity over 3 seconds. It is
important to note that these attacks need to be melee and this is a powerful
PvP talent against teams with a melee DPS on it.
Psyfiend summons a Psyfiend beside you to attack the target at
range with 
Psyflay. Psyflay deals up to 1% of the
target's total health in Shadow damage. It also slows their movement speed by
50% and reduces healing received by 50%. It is important to use this when the
enemy team is stunned because of how little health the Psyfiend
has.
Void Shift swaps the health between you and your current
target. It also increases the lower health percentage of the two to 25% if
below that amount. A great defensive for short games or against teams that
might try to kill your healer. You can switch Psyfiend for this
talent.
Pure Shadow reduces damage taken by an additional 33% while
Dispersion is active, and causes Voidform to not drain
Insanity for an additional 6 seconds after Dispersion ends. This
works great versus teams that will be primarily focusing you. You can switch
Psyfiend for this talent.
3.12. PvP Gear
Gear is what determines how strong a player is in PvP. The better gear you have, the stronger your abilities are. There are several ways to receive gear from PvP. One important way to get gear is by completing the weekly conquest point cap. You will receive gear at the end of the week based on your rating. For example, if you played and won at Rival in 3v3, you will receive a reward with an item level based on your ranking at the end of the week. It is important to note that if you are rated at a Rival level in 3v3, but only do 2v2 that week, you will not receive a piece of gear unless you won a game in the 3v3 bracket. The following are the names and ratings of all of the brackets:
- Combatant: 1400-1599;
- Challenger: 1600-1799;
- Rival: 1800-2099;
- Duelist: 2100-2399;
- Gladiator: 2400+.
3.12.1. Conquest Points
Every week there will be an empty bar in your PvP queue tab. If you earn enough Conquest Points to fill it, you will receive a piece of gear. When you complete a set, you can receive higher tiers of gear. Conquest points can be earned by doing the following:
- Rated Arenas;
- Rated Battlegrounds;
- Normal Battlegrounds;
- Epic Battlegrounds;
- World PvP.
3.12.2. Obtaining Gear
You will obtain gear by earning Conquest Points. The following are the three ways to receive loot in PvP.
- At the end of an Arena match there is a chance to receive a piece of gear. This gear is based on your Arena Rating.
- After you win a Rated Battleground or win your first Battleground of the day you will get a piece of gear and earn Conquest Points.
- Once you earned enough Conquest Points for the week, you will unlock a new weekly reward. This gear is based on your rating.
It is important to note that the gear you get from capping your conquest points is predetermined in a specific order. There are mechanics for players to get gear quicker if they have no played a character for a while.
4. Racial Bonuses for Shadow Priests
Racial bonuses can provide interesting PvP benefits. Here are the best races to choose for each faction.
4.1. Horde
The passive Troll racial bonus (
Berserking) is a great cooldown
to use when using burst cooldowns, as the Haste buff from it greatly increases
Shadow Priest damage.
4.2. Alliance
The Human racial bonus (
Every Man for Himself) is a great way to
get out of stuns.
5. Playstyle for Shadow Priests
The main role for a Shadow Priest is complex. A large majority of the time, you will just try to stay alive. You will be the focus for many teams. Make sure your partners can help peel for you, so you can get away and cast. Not only that, but you will also have to help your teammates survive if they are being focused. There are two main things you will focus on as a Shadow Priest has in Arena.
The first is keeping you and your team alive. This is a weird role to have
as a DPS specialization. Most DPS classes will just focus on using crowd
control and doing damage. Shadow Priests have unique utility that no other
casters have, such as abilities like Power Word: Shield,
Leap of Faith and Void Shift that help you and your
teammates when being focused.
The thing you will focus on is to always have spread pressure on the enemy
team. This can be difficult when being focused, but it is crucial. Shadow
Priest AoE pressure is unmatched. Always refresh your DoTs and enter
Voidform when there is an opportunity to free cast.
5.1. Before Gates Open
Before the gates open, know exactly who you will using crowd control
( Psychic Scream and Silence) on. Another ability to
coordinate is Void Shift; make sure not to overlap it with
other defensive cooldowns. Make sure to use 
Power Word: Fortitude on
your teammates. It can be dispelled by abilities like 
Purge or
Spellsteal, so be prepared to apply it often.
5.2. Offensive Rotation
There are a few things to keep in mind.
- Try to get into
Voidform as quickly as possible. - Most teams will focus you, so be prepared to cast spells as soon as you get the chance.
- Try to "juke" enemies into wasting their interrupts. This means to begin casting a spell and canceling it to get the enemy team to use their interrupts on nothing.
- Always keep your DoTs (
Vampiric Touch and
Shadow Word: Pain) on all enemies.
5.2.1. The Opener
The opener refers to your team's opening crowd control chain and damage done as soon as you get out of the gates. The main goal in the opener is to force your enemies to use their cooldowns. If the enemy healer uses their trinket in the opener, they are in trouble. With a ranged Stun and Silence, Shadow Priests no longer have to overextend to get crowd control on enemies. This helps with survivability and damage output.
Likewise, if an enemy DPS uses their trinket, you can crowd control the healer and stun the DPS without a trinket. This means they can be burst down in a stun and possibly killed.
When opening do the following:
- Cast Vampiric Touch. If you are using
Misery, it
should also apply Shadow Word: Pain. - Cast Shadow Word: Pain if you are not using
Misery.
- Cast
Mind Blast on the main target. - Cast
Mind Flay as a filler. - Use your burst rotation when you have enough Insanity to enter
Voidform.
- After your burst, perform your sustained damage rotation until your burst cooldowns are available.
5.2.2. Burst Damage
When you have the enemy healer in crowd control and you are trying to kill
an enemy, you use your burst damage. To use your crowd control, simply cast
Mind Bomb or Psychic Scream on the enemy healer. Once it
expires, use Silence.
- Use
Mindbender. - Use
Void Eruption to enter Voidform. - Use
Psychic Horror on the kill target. If you are playing with a
class that also has a stun you should use this after the stun. At the same
time you should 
Silence the enemy healer. - Use Mind Blast when you get a
Shadowy Insight
proc. - Use
Void Bolt to extend the duration of you
Vampiric Touch's and Shadow Word: Pains. - Use
Psyfiend. - Use Mind Flay as a filler.
- Use
Shadow Word: Death if your target is at 20% health or
less.
Make sure to refresh your DoTs by using Void Bolt. This will
drastically increase your damage output and lets you use more important spells.
This also generates Insanity quickly.
5.2.3. Sustained damage
Sustained damage is damage you do when your burst cooldowns are not available.
- Cast Vampiric Touch. If you are using Misery, it
should also apply Shadow Word: Pain.
- Cast Shadow Word: Pain if you are not using
Misery.
- Cast Mind Blast.
- Use Mind Blast when you get a Shadowy Insight
proc.
- Cast Mind Flay as a filler.
- Refresh Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain.
- If you get interrupted use
Power Word: Shield. - Use Shadow Word: Death if an enemy is at 20% health or less.
You can use Dark Ascension in either your burst or sustained
damage rotations. In your burst damage rotation, you can use it when you have
low Insanity and you can continue to use Void Bolt followed by the
rest of the burst rotation. In your Sustained Damage rotation, you can use it
while you have high Insanity to start using your burst rotation.
5.3. Defensive Techniques
Dispersion is the main defensive cooldown for Shadow Priests.
This reduces all damage done to you by 60%, but you cannot use any abilities
while it is active.
Void Shift is another great defensive cooldown. With a
5-minute cooldown it is likely to only be used once a game, but can help
stabilize your team instantly. This cooldown needs to be coordinated with your
healer so there is no overlap with other cooldowns. Use this when being
focused and swap your health with a teammate at higher health. Alternatively,
you can use it on a teammate that is at low health. Keep all of this in mind
when you are choosing your third PvP talent.
Vampiric Embrace is a defensive ability that, when used properly, can
stabilize your team quickly. When you or your teammate is taking heavy damage
and you have time to free cast, use this ability. Abilities like
Vampiric Touch and Mind Flay can completely heal your
team.
Power Word: Shield is a versatile spell that helps your team. With
talents like Body and Soul to buff it, use this ability when you or a
teammate needs to run away from enemies.
Shadow Mend is a direct heal that can be used on teammates. This
is a great ability when you are trying to get the enemy team to interrupt you
or if there are no more interrupts left. Although it does not do a substantial
amount of healing, it can help your healer if they are in crowd control.
6. Best Team Compositions for Shadow Priests
Now that you have the correct talents and understand your damage
rotation, it is time to step into the arena with your team. Shadow Priests
have the ability to rot teams down in seconds if they get a chance to cast
while in Voidform.
6.1. 2v2 Arena
In 2v2 Arena, you want to be playing with a healer that has a reliable stun.
Your goal is to get into Voidform as fast as you can so you can start
casting powerful DoT spells. When you are ready to use your burst rotation, you
should Silence the enemy healer. Your healer should stun the kill
target so they cannot kite or interrupt your damage. Follow up your
Silence with a Psychic Scream. If you are playing with
a Holy Paladin, they can then use 
Repentance. You can do this crowd
control chain every 45 seconds.
Here is a list of the best team compositions for 2v2:
- Shadow Priest + Holy Paladin
- Shadow Priest + Restoration Druid
- Shadow Priest + Restoration Shaman
6.2. 3v3 Arena
Your role in 3v3 is similar to 2v2 Arena. Shadow Priests are crucial to
their team. You need to maintain your DoTs ( Vampiric Touch and
Shadow Word: Pain), but you must also crowd control the enemy healer
and DPS. You do this by using Silence on the healer and
Psychic Horror on your kill target or the target you want to peal.
The Silence prevents the healer from dispelling the
Psychic Horror. Be careful, because some classes can reflect/immune
the Mind Bomb. For example, a Havoc Demon Hunter can use
Reverse Magic or a Death Knight can use 
Anti-Magic Shell.
Outside of doing your normal/burst rotation, you have great utility in the form
of Leap of Faith.
Here is a list of the best team compositions for 3v3:
- RLS (Shadow Priest + Subtlety Rogue + Restoration Shaman)
- Shadow Priest + Havoc Demon Hunter + Restoration Shaman
- Shadowplay (Shadow Priest + Affliction/Destruction Warlock + Restoration Shaman/Restoration Druid)
7. Useful Macros for Shadow Priests
Macros are crucial to be successful in PvP. They allow players to use abilities on enemies without having to target them. This helps increase overall damage/healing and general awareness in the arena. Here is a macros that all Shadow Priests can benefit from.
7.1. Silence 123 Macro
- #showtooltip Silence
- /cast [target=arena1] Silence
Using this macro will cast Silence on arena enemy 1.
This makes it easier to crowd control an enemy while staying focused on
your target. If you want macros for the second and third enemies,
simply change the arena1 to arena2 or arena3.
7.2. Silence Focus Macro
- #showtooltip Silence
- /cast [target=focus] Silence
If you find that you do not have much room on your action bars, you
can use a focus macro. This is much simpler to use than the arena123
macro. Put an enemy on focus and this macro will use Silence
on that player while you are still focused on your target.
7.3. Life Swap Party Member Macro
- #showtooltip
- /cast [target=PUTNAMEHERE] Void Shift
This macro will use Void Shift on whichever player you put
in the macro. It is recommended that you make a macro for both of your arena
partners.
8. Artifact Traits for Shadow Priests
With the arrival of Patch 8.0, Artifact weapons have had their power drained in order to combat the spreading corruption from the sword of Sargeras and are now nothing more than a stat stick. This means that all traits are gone, so artifact paths and trait priority list are no longer required.
9. Relics for Shadow Priests
Relics are now simply a boost to your Artifact weapon's item level.
10. ChangeLog
- 01 Aug. 2018: Updated guide for patch 8.0.1.
- Updated Introduction and spec overview.
- Updated all talent sections.
- Added PvP (War Mode) talents and gear sections for the new BfA system.
- Updated Racial Bonuses section.
- Updated Burst Healing and Sustained Healing sections.
- Updated Macros section.
- Removed Gear section.
- Updated Artifact Traits and Relics sections.
- 09 Jun. 2018: Added an Arena Compositions section.
- 12 Apr. 2018: Made several updates to the guide and its structure.
- Added sections for Macros, Strengths, and Weaknesses.
- Moved Gear, Artifact Traits, and Relics sections to the end, since they are not that important.
- 07 Feb. 2018: No major changes needed for patch 7.3.5.
- 16 Dec. 2017: No major changes needed for patch 7.3.2.
- 09 Sep. 2017: Performed several updates to the guide.
- Removed Artifact Trait descriptions.
- Updated recommended Tier 7 regular talents.
- Updated recommended Tier 4 honor talents.
- Updated burst rotation.
- 12 Jul. 2017: Updated Recommended Tier 5 and 7 regular talents and Tier 3, 4, and 6 honor talents. Updated Burst damage rotation.
- 19 Apr. 2017: Updated recommended Tier 6 regular talent and Tier 4 honor talent.
- 09 Apr. 2017: Updated recommended tier 4 honor talent and updated burst rotation.
- 29 Mar. 2017: Guide added.
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