Shadow Priest the Best DPS build for PvE/Raiding [BFA 8.2] (2024)

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Statistics Priority

Intellect - This is Shadow Priest's primary statistic. It provides a boost to your Spell Power, increasing all Spell Damage and Healing done.
Haste - Increases the Tick-rate of your Damage over Time effects, and reduces spell casting times.
Critical Strike - Gives your Spells and Abilities a chance to do Extra (Critical) Damage/Healing.
Mastery - Shadow Priest's *Mastery: Madness* increases the damage dealt by your *Void Eruption, Mind Sear, Mind Flay, Mind Blast, Void Bolt, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Word: Pain*.
Versatility - Increases all Healing and Damage done while also reducing all Damage Received.

The Best Talent Choices

Following Talent Build is designed to optimize the Single-Target Damage output, please read Talent descriptions below for more detailed info about which choices would be better for Higher Sustained and Burst AoE Damage and some specific situations.

Level 15:Recommended choice - Shadow Word: Void
Shadow Word: Void -is an active ability that replaces *Mind Blast, it has 2 charges and deals higher Damage while generating more Insanity than Mind blast, but has slightly longer Cooldown. Shadow Word: Void* will help to smooth out your rotation, thanks to its 2 possible charges that will prevent you from losing casts when bothShadow Word: Voidand theVoid Bolt come back up at the same time.
*Fortress of the Mind* increases damage dealt by your *Mind Blast* and *Mind Flay* by 10% and makes them generate 20% more Insanity. This is a very competitive choice as well, but it loses a lot of value in dynamic encounters with lots of movement. Shadowy Insight gives your *Shadow Word: Pain* ticks a chance to reset the remaining *Mind Blast* Cooldown, and make it an instant Cast. Casting *Shadow Word: Pain* on multiple Targets will not increase the proc chance. This is generally a poor choice, because your Rotation is already clogged up, and adding extra casts to it will just make you delay more important spells, it also has RNG element to it, as it may proc when *Mind Blast* is already off Cooldown, thereby losing value.
Level 30:Recommended choice - Body and Soul
Body and Soul - Casting the *Power Word: Shield* on a friendly Target will now also increase its movement speed by 40% for 3 seconds. This gives you a nice mobility buff that could also be used to aid other Raid/Party members if needed.
*San'Layn* improves your *Vampiric Embrace* by decreasing its Cooldown by 45 seconds and increasing its healing effect by 25%. This gives yourVampiric Embrace some more utility making it a great Group-wide emergency cooldown in Dungeons, its impact in Raids is quite negligible, however. *Intangibility* makes your *Dispersion* also heal you for 50% of your max Health while it is active, and reduces its Cooldown by 30 seconds. This is a greatchoice for Incoming-Damage heavy, low mobility fights and should be swapped withBody and Soulwhen needed.
Level 45:Recommended choice - Twist of Fate
Twist of Fate -Your Damage and Healing are increased by 10% for 8 seconds after Damaging a Target that is below 35% Health. This effect does not stack but refreshes as long as you are attacking a wounded (<35% HP) target. This gives you a nice boost in the execute phases and is at its best in fights without too many adds.
*Misery* makes your Vampiric Touch also apply a *Shadow Word: Pain* on the same Target. This works best in Fights against spread out Targets and in the low enemy count (up to 4) AoE engagements. *Dark Void* is an active ability that deals moderate Damage to your Primary Target and all Targets around it, all Targets hit get afflicted with the Shadow Word: Pain. This is a great choice for AoE heavy engagements, it shines especially in Dungeons. Please note that all three of the above-mentioned Talents are great and viable in their own right, and choosing the best one for thegiven situation is up to the Player.
Level 60:Recommended choice - Last Word
Last Word - Reduces the Cooldown of your *Silence* ability by 15 seconds. This largely improves your interrupting capabilities which areindispensable in Raids and Dungeons alike.
Mind Bomb is a replacement for *Psychic Scream* that applies a 2-second debuff, which upon ending, disorients all Targets in 8yd radius for 5 seconds. This acts mainly as a soft AoE stun and interrupt, with its 30yd range being the only benefit over thePsychic Screamin Raids and Dungeons. *Psychic Horror* is a 4-second Single Target stun with a 30yd Range and 45-second Cooldown. Pick this over the *Last Word* if more frequent Interrupts are not needed in the upcoming engagement.
Level 75:Recommended choice - Auspicious Spirits
Auspicious Spirits -Increases Damage dealt by your *Shadowy Apparitions* by 100% and you gain 2 Insanity every time they hit a Target. This is the best choice for Single-target DPS, as long as you have at least 18% Critical Strike chance, and a default pick at the present Gear levels.
*Shadow Word: Death* deals high amounts of Damage to targets below 20% Health, and generates 15 Insanity (or 30 if the Target dies within 1 second). This Talent boosts your Execute phase Damage by a significant amount but generates no value for most of the Engagements duration, unless there are adds to execute. Pick this if a Fight ends with the Hard DPS check. TheShadow Crash fires shadow energy to the pointed direction, dealing AoE damage to all Targets within the 8yd radius and generating 20 Insanity. This is the best choice for AoE Heavy engagements or for when you are still gearing up.
Level 90:Recommended choice - Lingering Insanity
Lingering Insanity -Haste gained from entering theVoidformfades slowly over time instead of immediately disappearing at the end of it. This is the default choice for Raiding thanks to quite low *Voidform* Downtimes during Boss fights.
*Mindbender* is a replacement for the *Shadowfiend, that generates more Insanity and has lower Cooldown than its counterpart. This is a good alternative choice for Dungeons and the Mythic+, as it extends the duration of your Voidform, theLingering Insanity provides more value in Raids, however. Void Torrent* is a 4-second channeled ability that deals high amounts of Damage, and stops you from losing Insanity during the channeling time; it generates 30 Insanity. Picking This ability is not recommended as it lowers your mobility and loses a lot of value when interrupted.
Level 100:Recommended choice - Legacy of the Void
Legacy of the Void - Reduces the Cast Time of your *Void Eruption* by 40% and increases the Spell Damage bonus granted by *Voidform* by further 5%. This gives you the highest Consistent Damage boost with an added benefit of being a passive ability.
*Dark Ascensiondeals damage to all enemies within 10yd of your primary Target,and then activates your Voidform, immediately granting you 50 Insanity; it has 60-second Cooldown. This gives you a strong Burst AoE Cooldown on demand which is preferred, over the Consistent Damage provided by the Legacy of the Void,* during the Mythic+ progression and some Raid Encounters. *Surrender to Madness* doubles your Insanity generation for 60 seconds, after that time you lose 90% of your total HP, and can't generate Insanity for the next 15 seconds; it has 4-minute Cooldown. This potentially gives you a great edge during execute phases, as it lets you stay in *Voidform* for a considerably longer time, but gets overshadowed by the other two choices in reality.

The Basic Rotation

The main goal of the Shadow Priest's rotation is to build upInsanity in order to cast Void Eruptionto enterVoidformand then sustain it by generating even more Insanity.

Use the following Priority list in order to optimize Single Target Damage output:

Mind Sear withThought Harvester proc	⇒
Void Eruption
Void Bolt
Shadowfiend on Cooldown
Maintain Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word: Pain at all times	+
Shadow Word: Void
Mind Flay to avoid Downtime
Use the following priority when fighting Multiple Targets:
Shadowfiend on Cooldown
Void Eruption if available
Void Bolt on Cooldown
Vampiric Touch should be maintained on up to 5 Targets unless they are about to die
Shadow Word: Painshould be maintained on up to 5 Targets unless they are about to die
Mind Sear to avoid Downtime

Tips and Tricks for Improving your Gameplay

Try to maximize your *Voidform's* uptime at all times.
Avoid Downtime! (even if it means mashing buttons in order to save hundredths of a second on each cast)
Learn Encounters and position yourself in a way that lets you stay stationary for as long as possible - moving around lowers your Damage output significantly.
Always analyze your mistakes and try to improve upon them!

Buying WoW Gold with real money is a hassle-free way to get all the items you need for your character.

END NOTE

This is an early version of our guide,we plan to upgrade upon it, and add further sections. So please leave your suggestions in the comments section below. We would also like to state that this is meant as a pocket guide and therefore we will not go into too much detail.

Pictures used in this article are theintellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment Inc.

Like this:

Pros	Cons
Strong self-healing capabilities, especially in a multi-target scenario	Burst AoE and Execute Damage are Talent choice dependant
Strong sustained AoE and Priority Target Damage	Poor Single Target Damage
Good AoE Burst damage	Low Single-Target Burst Damage potential
High Execute Damage	Multi-Target DoT management can get tricky
Some good group utility spells	Spec Mechanics (*Voidform*) are quite punishing when used incorrectly

Shadow Priest the Best DPS build for PvE/Raiding [BFA 8.2] (2024)

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