[7.2] Legion Shadow Priest Guide and Discussion

[Naga Coatl]

That's actually not bad, by the way. It'd be cool if, instead of suicide, we drive one targeted raid member to insanity, boosting his damage, and while he is insane, we get current s2m buff - and then HE dies, horribly, while we're readying our absolutely awesome buff for another pesky fire mage/DH/huntard of our raid.

Maybe, but we're talking about Blizzard and their way to balance SP!

On the other hand, I don't really like how insanity = GREAT POWER, I still believe that SP should have been about manipulation, illusions, and insanity on others in the 'debuff' spectrum - I find it much more 'priestly/old-godey' compared to the mage/warlock feel of powerlust. But that's entirely another matter.

[l33t]

Maybe, but we're talking about Blizzard and their way to balance SP!

On the other hand, I don't really like how insanity = GREAT POWER, I still believe that SP should have been about manipulation, illusions, and insanity on others in the 'debuff' spectrum - I find it much more 'priestly/old-godey' compared to the mage/warlock feel of powerlust. But that's entirely another matter.

I feel the same, that's exactly why I proposed stm to be changed to drive others to insanity, that's a much more logical thing to do as an old god fanatic than killing yourself fighting with internet connection and unstable servers.

[Kilee25]

Wouldn't that go against having support classes in the game? (Half-joke)

[l33t]

Wouldn't that go against having support classes in the game? (Half-joke)

Not more than a Ret pally with his Blessings of Might...

[davesignal]

Wouldn't that go against having support classes in the game? (Half-joke)

Man, at this point I'd take Shadow being a TBC era DPS-support again. At least I'd feel particularly useful.

[Clrg]

cant wait for the mindspike buff.

[hugplx]

So does the updated notes mean MH is remaining unchanged until 7.1?

Effectively mind spike/sear/flay getting buffed and dispersion changes still the same?

As much as I love s2m, if they have to nerfbat it, I'm happy they're waiting until they do a full pass.

[hugplx]

Good, good. It's not ideal for people who don't love S2M, but it looks like our damage out of it should go up and be less pathetic until we buuuuuurn.

Does this push Void Ray over Reaper of Souls?

[britishbubba]

Good, good. It's not ideal for people who don't love S2M, but it looks like our damage out of it should go up and be less pathetic until we buuuuuurn.

Does this push Void Ray over Reaper of Souls?

As long as RoS allows SW to give you kill level insanity, I really doubt it'll ever be unseated.

[Dawnrage]

The class changes listed in this hotfix update, as well as those from the previous update will be applied during weekly maintenance in each region

Pretty sure the nerfs to MH are still coming.

EDIT: oh nm, didn't see the full notes. The hell, why would they buff shadow without touching S2M? Don't think it was needed besides our AoE.

[blargh312]

Pretty sure the nerfs to MH are still coming.

Scroll down to the "old" notes. MH nerf has a strikethrough.

[Zephirdd]

Pretty sure the nerfs to MH are still coming.

EDIT: oh nm, didn't see the full notes. The hell, why would they buff shadow without touching S2M? Don't think it was needed besides our AoE.

at least mind spike is now much better. 28% is no joke.

[valant]

What do people thing of this spec post-change ?

Fortress of the Mind
Void Ray
Shadowy Insight
Shadow Crash
Mind Spike

[hugplx]

Pretty sure the nerfs to MH are still coming.

EDIT: oh nm, didn't see the full notes. The hell, why would they buff shadow without touching S2M? Don't think it was needed besides our AoE.

I mean, it's a buff mostly to nonVF damage, right? Dispersion is a slight s2m nerf, but I'm curious if void ray will provide more damage than ros over the course of a long boss fight.

It should, right? I'm no maths person.

[hugplx]

What do people thing of this spec post-change ?

Fortress of the Mind
Void Ray
Shadowy Insight
Shadow Crash
Mind Spike

I think I'd only take insight with the belt.

[Dawnrage]

I mean, it's a buff mostly to nonVF damage, right? Dispersion is a slight s2m nerf, but I'm curious if void ray will provide more damage than ros over the course of a long boss fight.

It should, right? I'm no maths person.

You need RoS to sustain a long S2M though, so RoS is almost always the default choice if you go S2M in raiding (which you should on 99% of fights). Void ray might be better in dungeons now compared to RoS.

[hugplx]

You need RoS to sustain a long S2M though, so RoS is almost always the default choice if you go S2M in raiding (which you should on 99% of fights). Void ray might be better in dungeons now compared to RoS.

Mm. Probably right.

[Kaesebrezen]

What do people thing of this spec post-change ?

Mind Spike

Mind Spike is absolutely trash and you should never take it. Mind Sear is a vastly superior, even at two targets.

[Slammin Shaman]

So does the updated notes mean MH is remaining unchanged until 7.1?

Effectively mind spike/sear/flay getting buffed and dispersion changes still the same?

As much as I love s2m, if they have to nerfbat it, I'm happy they're waiting until they do a full pass.

Same. S2M definitely needs to be balanced, and overall I'm pretty happy with this. If there was one thing I wanted more than anything, it was hoping that VoiT would reverse our drain rate or double the amount of Voidform stacks for the duration. Helps with the class fantasy imo, since we had to use the weapon to drain the void of a few things for our class quests.

[Relapses]

Same. S2M definitely needs to be balanced, and overall I'm pretty happy with this. If there was one thing I wanted more than anything, it was hoping that VoiT would reverse our drain rate or double the amount of Voidform stacks for the duration. Helps with the class fantasy imo, since we had to use the weapon to drain the void of a few things for our class quests.

It'd help with the awkward situations where you're saying to your healer, "Hey, there's bad shit under me but I'm not gonna move because I'm channeling VoiT."

^{*note: I'm not actually advocating intentionally standing in bad shit, but dear God is it fucking annoying to channel sometimes.}