Shadow Priest PvP Stat Priority, Gear, and Trinkets (BfA / Patch 8.3)

The stat priority for Shadow Priests in PvP is as follows:

1. Intellect;
2. Haste;
3. Versatility;
4. Mastery;
5. Critical Strike.

Intellect is the best stat in all situations. Haste is the strongest secondary stat at all times due to it reducing the Global Cooldown on abilities and increasing the tick rate of your DoTs. Versatility is also crucial because it increases your overall damage dealt and reduces damage you take.

Gear has a chance to get a Corruption@ effect on them. This Corruption can have 2 different affects: dealing damage or increasing one of your stats. The more Corruption you have, the more damage you will take from the Corruption effects. It is recommended to not have more than 40 Corruption at once or you will take too much damage and die quickly.

For a general guide on Corruptions, check out our guide.

Corruptions that deal damage proc from your damaging abilities. Although you do not have a choice on when they proc, most of them proc often and can make up a large amount of your overall damage. Below are the best Corruptions to have that will deal damage from using your abilities.

1. Gushing Wound — Places a very large DoT on the enemy that cannot be dispelled. Perfect for increasing your overall damage output.
2. Infinite Stars — Although the debuff is dispellable, it procs very often and can drastically increase your damage.
3. Twisted Appendage — gives your abilities a chance to summon a tendril that will deal damage and slow the enemy. This tendril can be killed, but you can spawn multiple on one target and will do incredible amounts of damage if they are not killed quickly.

Corruptions that increase Stats are also extremely powerful. These Corruptions also have two different variations. The first is a proc chance to gain a stat. This is just like any other proc, where you will randomly get a buff that greatly increases one of your stats. The second, is you receive a certain stat from any source. This means you can gain that stat from anything from gear to traits. These stat increases are much more powerful to have. Below are the best Corruptions that increase your stats.

1. Versatile — If you want to be tankier and want to make it extremely difficult for the enemy team to kill you, this corruption is your best choice. Versatility is important for surviving and this gives you a flat Versatility increase.
2. Surging Vitality — Similar to the Versatile corruption, Surging Vitality also increases your Versatility. However, this is a proc, so you will not have control over when you get this Versatility increase.

Shadow Priests are normally the primary target for teams to focus. To help deal with this, Versatile is the best corruption to have on your gear. If you want to do more damage, Gushing Wound is also another good option. If you do this, you will take more damage when teams focus you.

In general, Shadow Priests do not have a specific cooldown that you need trinkets to line up with. As a result, your trinkets can have a passive or on-use effect. The stat you want to be increasing is Intellect. The reason you want to increase Intellect is because it drastically increases your overall damage output.

To be successful in 3v3 arena, you need to have at least two pieces of gear with either Thought Harvester or or Death Throes. You will also want either Heed My Call or Unstable Flames in the second tier.

Below, we list the items that have these traits.

• Visage of Nightmarish Machinations;
• Corrupted Gladiator's Silk Cowl;
• Corrupted Gladiator's Silk Cowl;
• Vile Manipulator's Hood.

• Void Ascendant's Mantle;
• Pauldrons of Vile Corruption;
• Vile Manipulator's Amice.

• Robe of the Fallen Keeper;
• Corrupted Gladiator's Silk Raiment;
• Corrupted Gladiator's Silk Raiment;
• Robes of Unreality.

Forbidden Obsidian Claw is a must-have trinket that drops from Maut in the Ny'alotha raid. This not only restores Mana, but it also deals a large amount of damage. Ideally, you will want to use this trinket when the enemy healer does not have a dispel, so it will stay for the entire duration.

Corrupted Gladiator's Maledict is a great trinket to have. The on-use damage and healing absorption is capable of forcing defensives, especially when coordinated with your other teammates Maledicts. This can be used by itself or while you are using your burst rotation to force multiple cooldowns out of enemy teams. If you use this trinket, make sure your other teammates are using it as well. Otherwise, the enemy healer can just dispel the debuff and it will force cooldowns.

Corrupted Gladiator's Safeguard is a mandatory trinket if you think the enemy team can swap to you and kill you. This provides and additional defensive for when you drop to low health. If you do not think a team will swap to you and kill you, you can use replace this one with any of the trinkets below.

Corrupted Gladiator's Badge is strong for the Versatility and the on-use Intellect effect. The 2-minute cooldown is long, but should be used every time you are using your burst rotation.

Corrupted Gladiator's Insignia has a good amount of Versatility on it and has a passive effect. This effect increases your Intellect. This increases your sustained damage output.

Enchant Weapon - Machinist's Brilliance is the best weapon enchants. This enchant provides a proc that gives you more Haste. This reduces the cast time of your important spells and results in an increase to your overall damage. It also increases the rate that your DoTs deal damage.