Noob quetion, what is the big difference between priest and shadow priest, what are the benefits. I want to start a secondary toon and I keep hearing about shadow priests.
Thanks,
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WTF is a Shadow P.Follow
My priest is a shadow priest.
Second link... Ahlexis
Second link... Ahlexis
a shadow priest is 1 type of priset that you can choose from. It focuses mainly on shadow dmg and heavier hits (usually). Shadow priests (offensive) is one tree that you can choose from. The other 2 are holy (healing power) and discipline (staying power and all-purpose effectiveness). Read some posts, look at the Shadow Priest FAQ/Priest FAQ to get a more in depth description.
Also, I want to deal a good amount of DPS, where does SP compare with others? Where does the SP excel?
a good geared sp with a good knowledge of what he is doing.. and a good knowledge of his class can do a ton of dmg.. being in the top of dmg done in raids. it depends on the other classes too.. but he is up there.. not to mention that he gives health and mana back to his party while he is doing dmg.. SP are nice.. thats why I'm lvl-ing mine now :)
I remember a while ago when SP where shunned from groups doing Heroics. Now group leaders are constanly requesting them.
Personally (Main is a Rogue) I would rather have a SP as a friend then an enemy.
Personally (Main is a Rogue) I would rather have a SP as a friend then an enemy.
A well geared Shadow Priest should be amoungst the top in the dps charts - this is in addition to the side benefits that they have of mana and health return.
You should be aware that dealing with agro is the main downside to being a shadow priest. Having a threat add-on is a must unless you enjoy repair bills.
You should be aware that dealing with agro is the main downside to being a shadow priest. Having a threat add-on is a must unless you enjoy repair bills.
A Shadowpriest is simply a priest who has placed the majority of his talents into the Shadow tree, and hence has picked up talents along the way that are a staple of any Shadowpriest; Mindflay, Shadowform etc. (Those two spells really make a Shadowpriest [SP for short] stand out)
Also a Shadowpriest specializes his gear to take as much +Spell Damage and +Shadow Damage as possible and some +Spell Hit.
A Shadowpriest can deal a considerable amount of damage as long as they have knowledge of their class and good gear. (I am ALWAYS in at least the top 5 on the damage charts in my guild's Serpentshrine Cavern runs [one of the endgame raids, if you don't know])
One of the Shadowpriest's main benefits are its utility to parties. The two spells I am talking about are Vampiric Embrace and Vampiric Touch.
Vampiric Embrace (with improved VE) returns 25% of your Shadow Damage in health to the WHOLE party. Vampiric Touch, as well as being a powerful Damage over Time spell, returns 5% of your Shadow Damage in mana to the WHOLE party.
These two spells make Shadowpriests both a very desirable class and a unique class.
To conclude, a Shadowpriest is essentially, a lean, mean, fightin' machine that is a mana and health battery and, to top it all off, glows purple!
Read the SP FAQ at the top of this page, as well as Khalane's SP PvE guide a few posts down to get some much more in depth insight into the class.
Also, a good resource is shadowpriest.com, although a lot of that information is for SP's who are rading or already have a thorough understanding of the class.
Feel free to Private Message me if you want some more specific questions answered.
Edited, Nov 26th 2007 1:26am by Schmere
Edited, Nov 26th 2007 1:27am by Schmere
Also a Shadowpriest specializes his gear to take as much +Spell Damage and +Shadow Damage as possible and some +Spell Hit.
A Shadowpriest can deal a considerable amount of damage as long as they have knowledge of their class and good gear. (I am ALWAYS in at least the top 5 on the damage charts in my guild's Serpentshrine Cavern runs [one of the endgame raids, if you don't know])
One of the Shadowpriest's main benefits are its utility to parties. The two spells I am talking about are Vampiric Embrace and Vampiric Touch.
Vampiric Embrace (with improved VE) returns 25% of your Shadow Damage in health to the WHOLE party. Vampiric Touch, as well as being a powerful Damage over Time spell, returns 5% of your Shadow Damage in mana to the WHOLE party.
These two spells make Shadowpriests both a very desirable class and a unique class.
To conclude, a Shadowpriest is essentially, a lean, mean, fightin' machine that is a mana and health battery and, to top it all off, glows purple!
Read the SP FAQ at the top of this page, as well as Khalane's SP PvE guide a few posts down to get some much more in depth insight into the class.
Also, a good resource is shadowpriest.com, although a lot of that information is for SP's who are rading or already have a thorough understanding of the class.
Feel free to Private Message me if you want some more specific questions answered.
Edited, Nov 26th 2007 1:26am by Schmere
Edited, Nov 26th 2007 1:27am by Schmere
Schmere hit a bunch of the good points. Here are a couple of others.
SP is a leveling machine. Setting up your pulls right you can kill mobs as a SP one after another with little damage or downtime. Add this to kill x or gather x quests and you will find SP leveling very fast.
While leveling if you run instances without high level help you will be able to heal or DPS as needed. SP are perfectly fine healers for instancing before end game.
And as a further point to your utility, instancing as a SP DPS even into the level 70 instances you can toss shields and heals even a psychic scream if needed. Often you can make the difference in a 5 man instance when things start to go badly by giving the others a few seconds to recover.
SP is a leveling machine. Setting up your pulls right you can kill mobs as a SP one after another with little damage or downtime. Add this to kill x or gather x quests and you will find SP leveling very fast.
While leveling if you run instances without high level help you will be able to heal or DPS as needed. SP are perfectly fine healers for instancing before end game.
And as a further point to your utility, instancing as a SP DPS even into the level 70 instances you can toss shields and heals even a psychic scream if needed. Often you can make the difference in a 5 man instance when things start to go badly by giving the others a few seconds to recover.
Scholar
31 posts
Unless I missed it in an earlier post the biggest difference between a shadow priest and a priest is shadowform. Its the 31 point talent in the shadow tree so won't really come into play until level 40. In shadow form you do +15% damage and receive -15% damage BUT you can't cast any holy spells (you cant heal yourself or anyone else while in shadowform). and you glow purple. Pre 2.3 this made more of a difference because to heal you would have to click yourself out of shadowform first.
Since the patch though, they made it so if you cast a holy spell in shadowform it automatically drops and you can cast, but then you have to click yourself back into shadowform after the fact. This is actually kind of nice for running away from stuff, if needed, you can just cast PoM and renew and worry about putting shadowform up after youre safe. This can be changed however (so you dont automatically drop shadowform) by some interface line, it was in the patch notes and I've seen it a few times in the O boards so its out there.
Since the patch though, they made it so if you cast a holy spell in shadowform it automatically drops and you can cast, but then you have to click yourself back into shadowform after the fact. This is actually kind of nice for running away from stuff, if needed, you can just cast PoM and renew and worry about putting shadowform up after youre safe. This can be changed however (so you dont automatically drop shadowform) by some interface line, it was in the patch notes and I've seen it a few times in the O boards so its out there.
#12REDACTED,
Posted: Dec 07 2007 at 9:32 PM, Rating: Sub-Default, (Expand Post) pure shadow usually ends badly,i recommend a branch of all three.my shadow freind has improved buffs and p.w sheild. thats it but it makes him own other shadow preist
Bringroflife has no idea what he's talking about. A branch of all three will simply gimp you. You need to specialize. That's what the talents are there for. And going all 61 points in shadow will yes, not end well. But a build like the standard 14/0/47 will end very, very well.
Please don't speak and ruin new player's hopes if you don't know what you're talking about.
Please don't speak and ruin new player's hopes if you don't know what you're talking about.
Quote:
pure shadow usually ends badly,i recommend a branch of all three.my shadow freind has improved buffs and p.w sheild. thats it but it makes him own other shadow preist
Bringroflife you need to be punished (lol).
Pure Shadow (minus 1 or 2 focuses) is brutal in all shapes, forms, and fashion when leveling.
I've got myn to level 28, and all of his points are in shadow, just want shadowform right when i ding 40 =D
I just respecced my 41 (now 42) priest from holy to shadow. I read the sticky thread, but was curious what you guys use for spell order. I assume you all do the SP thing with your shield on, right? As that is disc spell. What do you lead off with? When do you use mind flay? Seems long as your shield is up you can use mind flay any time, and the slowing effect isn't that needed. And if your shield is up, do you need vampiric embrace?
I already respeccd twice, don't want to do it again. Already spent 6g respecing. First build had blackout, but I read that wasn't real needed, and I found I haven't had much use for it since I have my shield up anyways...
I already respeccd twice, don't want to do it again. Already spent 6g respecing. First build had blackout, but I read that wasn't real needed, and I found I haven't had much use for it since I have my shield up anyways...
No, do not use PW: Shield, the mana cost will just slow down your leveling. A good rotation before you get to level 50 and get VT is something like:
MB, immediately SW: Pain
Move backwards, during Global CD of SW:P
As soon as GCD finishes cast ~ 2 full MF's
at this point the mob should be around 25-30% health, and you should wand it to death
at level 50, when you get VT
VT, immediately SW:P
Move backwards during GCD
~2 full MF's
when mob gets to you MB
then wand to finish it off, if it needs it
another way I leveled effectively was
VT, immediately SW:P
~2 full MF's
rank 1, Psychic Scream,
MF until dead
This method is less mana intensive than number 1, but can be dangerous when around lots of adds, and since Psy Scream has a 30 sec CD, is not useable every fight
Also, there is not a perfect spell rotation for every fight. Just find one that works for you and use it. And VE is useful in the fact that it makes it unnecessary for us to stop and heal or bandage or eat. Just cast a VE on a mob every few fights and watch your health rise.
Edited, Dec 15th 2007 2:27pm by Schmere
MB, immediately SW: Pain
Move backwards, during Global CD of SW:P
As soon as GCD finishes cast ~ 2 full MF's
at this point the mob should be around 25-30% health, and you should wand it to death
at level 50, when you get VT
VT, immediately SW:P
Move backwards during GCD
~2 full MF's
when mob gets to you MB
then wand to finish it off, if it needs it
another way I leveled effectively was
VT, immediately SW:P
~2 full MF's
rank 1, Psychic Scream,
MF until dead
This method is less mana intensive than number 1, but can be dangerous when around lots of adds, and since Psy Scream has a 30 sec CD, is not useable every fight
Also, there is not a perfect spell rotation for every fight. Just find one that works for you and use it. And VE is useful in the fact that it makes it unnecessary for us to stop and heal or bandage or eat. Just cast a VE on a mob every few fights and watch your health rise.
Edited, Dec 15th 2007 2:27pm by Schmere
thanks. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I took out 2 level 45 southsea dock workers no problem as sp. Had to get the Metzen quest done. Though for the kidnappers I shielded, completed quest, and ran. :). Elites are going down pretty easy as well. I sometimes use shield if I can't start from a distance (adds and whatnot), but for the most part I don't need it.
What kind of gear should I get? I"d like to get +shadow damage and spirit, but I don't think that exists. I don't think I want to go with warlock gear. Up till now, I prefer int/spirit gear. I'm level 42 now btw.
Edited, Dec 16th 2007 3:50am by thrashering
What kind of gear should I get? I"d like to get +shadow damage and spirit, but I don't think that exists. I don't think I want to go with warlock gear. Up till now, I prefer int/spirit gear. I'm level 42 now btw.
Edited, Dec 16th 2007 3:50am by thrashering
Yeah, spirit and +shadow damage would be ideal, but before you get to Outland, there really isn't such a thing.
For leveling, this is your gear priority
Spirit - try to get ~ 2/3 of your stat bonuses to be Spi
Intel/Stam - try to get about 1/6 of your stat bonus for each
If you find any blues or anything with spell damage and other stats, get it if it's an upgrade.
But if you have enough spirit, and wand correctly, you will basically not need to be drinking.
You'll have plenty of bonus damage just from Darkness, Shadow Weaving, Shadowform and Misery. (~46% shadow damage increase with everything stacked)
For leveling, this is your gear priority
Spirit - try to get ~ 2/3 of your stat bonuses to be Spi
Intel/Stam - try to get about 1/6 of your stat bonus for each
If you find any blues or anything with spell damage and other stats, get it if it's an upgrade.
But if you have enough spirit, and wand correctly, you will basically not need to be drinking.
You'll have plenty of bonus damage just from Darkness, Shadow Weaving, Shadowform and Misery. (~46% shadow damage increase with everything stacked)
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