[7.2] Legion Shadow Priest Guide and Discussion

[Vained]

When 7.1.5 finally hits and it turns out they nerfed Shadow as a whole (LotV included), I'm gonna be so fucking disappointed.

[Djriff]

When 7.1.5 finally hits and it turns out they nerfed Shadow as a whole (LotV included), I'm gonna be so fucking disappointed.

Honestly I don't think it'll be a huge nerf. Maybe compared to live yeah, but a lot of other classes are being reeled back as well. We should have an idea of how much it'll impact us soon™.

[Deleted]

Honestly I don't think it'll be a huge nerf. Maybe compared to live yeah, but a lot of other classes are being reeled back as well. We should have an idea of how much it'll impact us soon™.

Any ideia when 7.1.5 will go live? January?

[Gorsameth]

Any ideia when 7.1.5 will go live? January?

They said after the holidays in a Q&A so early January probably.

[Fleckens]

Honestly I don't think it'll be a huge nerf. Maybe compared to live yeah, but a lot of other classes are being reeled back as well. We should have an idea of how much it'll impact us soon™.

And only for STM, for everything else we should feel stronger than on live, at least on current ptr build.

[2Dee]

Want your opinion on this as I'm not sure how reliable sims can be.

According to sims in a raiding scenario shoulders outperform belt followed by bracers then everything else.

I'm wondering what the hierarchy would be in mythic + scenarios (9+)? Would it be Ring > belt > shoulders > everything else? Or would shoulders and belt still be the most optimal? I feel overall for dungeons the ring is too valuable to give up.

[danieltang34]

Can someone tell me what exactly does the shoulders do?
Is it just 5% extra haste from void form? Would it affect other stuffs tied to voidform like drains and MH?thanks!

[Tojara]

Shoulders are nice because depending on how fast you can enter void form, you can start every void form with 6-7 stack without the extra insanity drain attached to it (insanity drain is tied to time in void form, not how many stacks you have). Essentially I suppose it's just extra haste but it does help. For my priest (I don't have shoulders) I can typically delay using my PI until late 80s or early 90s as far as stacks go, if I had those shoulders it would be mid 90s or late 90s every single time.

Essentially it pushes everything up without any of the negatives of extra insanity drain. You reach breakpoints where your rotation changes late into S2M earlier, and you can delay your PI until later as well. They are nice outside and inside S2M.

I'd probably use ring and belt in 5 mans if I had the option. If I had all 3 I'd just swap the shoulders for a boss fight. Belt is pretty nice for getting into void form quickly, which is nice in 5 mans.

[Nyel]

I got the ring and I think I would never exchange it for another Legendary in 5man content. The DoT refresh and spread mechanic of the ring is something Shadow Priests should have as a baseline ability or at least as a talent choice. I don't want to miss it, especially not in content where trash mobs matter more than bosses.

It seems like we're getting into Voidform faster with 7.1.5 so that means we're able to spread our full duration DoTs faster as well. Paired with LotV and the reduced CD on Void Bolt after entering VF it seems like we're able to constantly refresh and spread our DoTs - how great is that? My only concern right now is how the ring will work with Mind Flay instead of Mind Sear. This could be a let down but we need to see how it'll go live.

For 5 man content the ring is everything - at least for me. The gameplay is just too decent to give it up for a single target boost. I'd say the second best legendary for 5 man content will be the cloak with RoS as it gives us even more Insanity resulting in even faster switching between Shadowform and Voidform.

[Deleted]

i just hope they dont fix the ring bug when it changes to mind flay. it is just to convenient to play M+ atm as shadow with the ring + bug, will be hard to lose it.

[ravod]

i just hope they dont fix the ring bug when it changes to mind flay. it is just to convenient to play M+ atm as shadow with the ring + bug, will be hard to lose it.

I just got the ring, what is this bug ?

[Teippi]

I just got the ring, what is this bug ?

Spam Mind Sear while you are casting Void Eruption and the first mind sear does not remove the buff so you can spread the dots twice.

[Shaiandra]

But I have a question - I am a little bit confused about the whole StMing twice thing. How does it work?!
General tips for Xavius HC welcome. Would really appreciate it.

While you're in the Dream state, if you would die by any means, you instead leave the dream (and upon exiting the dream all cooldowns are reset). If you transition to the next phase (when Xavius has 65% or 35% health), you also leave the Dream if you were in it. So you should use StM early when you get the Dream, such that you die to leave the Dream, before moving onto the next phase.

For example if you get Dream in the first phase, try to use StM such that you die shortly before Xavius reaches 65% (and pop all other cooldowns before then too). Stop casting things before then if you have to; if you don't die before 65%, you'll lose the Dream buff and still have StM active, so you'll actually die. And of course you should be one of the players soaking Corruption since you should be doing insane damage.

Then use StM again at the last part of the fight like you normally would.

[Demetrion]

Belt is goiing to be nerfed.

Probably down to one charge.

What benefit would it give then? It would be generic belt with orange letter and bigger ilvl.

[Deleted]

I'm just going to enjoy my boots. They're so nice, especially during STM. ... Well sometimes they are handy when I play Holy so they do have that advantage.

I don't see how they could balance them in sane way without just making it a % buff. While at they same time (at some point) they said that the legendaries should change the way you play.

[Romanticide]

Shadow has no OP legendary ): Belt is the best just because it's the only one that affects insanity generation.

[Deleted]

Guild is going to try Xavius HC next reset. Got Cenarius down with ease.

But I have a question - I am a little bit confused about the whole StMing twice thing. How does it work?!
General tips for Xavius HC welcome. Would really appreciate it.

While you're in the Dream state, if you would die by any means, you instead leave the dream (and upon exiting the dream all cooldowns are reset). If you transition to the next phase (when Xavius has 65% or 35% health), you also leave the Dream if you were in it. So you should use StM early when you get the Dream, such that you die to leave the Dream, before moving onto the next phase.

For example if you get Dream in the first phase, try to use StM such that you die shortly before Xavius reaches 65% (and pop all other cooldowns before then too). Stop casting things before then if you have to; if you don't die before 65%, you'll lose the Dream buff and still have StM active, so you'll actually die. And of course you should be one of the players soaking Corruption since you should be doing insane damage.

Then use StM again at the last part of the fight like you normally would.

Another bit of advice is that if you die to any raid mechanics in the dream phase, and you are currently IN STM, then you will die and not come back to life when the dream phase ends. You have to die purely to STM while in the dream.

[Nyel]

What benefit would it give then? It would be generic belt with orange letter and bigger ilvl.

It still would be an additonal charge for Mind Blast. Two additional charges and maybe playing with SI is just too powerful. I mean, the belt is like a +10% damage for Shadow Priests overall - that's pretty much for a Legendary, isn't it?

@Meerak

Did they say they'll nerf the belt?

[Nyel]

Indeed, the belt is literally a "must have" for every Shadow Priest for ST purposes. The cloak is pretty powerful as well... we'll see how 7.1.5 turns out to be within the next 4 weeks I guess.

[KablenTom]

If you transition to the next phase (when Xavius has 65% or 35% health), you also leave the Dream if you were in it. So you should use StM early when you get the Dream, such that you die to leave the Dream, before moving onto the next phase.

This isn't true. You don't leave the dream after transition phases. You only leave dream if you die, or the debuff (3 minutes) runs out. Dream happens at 95% and 60% of Xavius's health. If you have enough DPS, both dream debuffs can overlap and everyone is the raid can be in the dream state.

As for tips on Xavius, for shadowpriests you ideal would "die" in dream to getting 100 corruption, after 70+ voidform stacks. You can get this easily if your raid allows you to get some early dispels on the tank. Once at 60 corruption, you start seeing the whirls on the floor, these give more corruption. This makes it easier to gain corruption if you miss hitting the adds that spawn in P1 or if you can't soak the pools in P2. Save PI for 100 corruption or when you are finding it hard to keep up s2m (may not get SW: D use).
If you manage this, you can see over 1m DPS.

Note that if the dream debuff runs out, you will not get s2m reset and will die for real. You have to die in dream for it to reset. This includes dying to s2m or damage from mechanics.

After dream, use s2m again in P3.

- - - Updated - - -

Another bit of advice is that if you die to any raid mechanics in the dream phase, and you are currently IN STM, then you will die and not come back to life when the dream phase ends. You have to die purely to STM while in the dream.

This has never happened to me before, even when it's a wipe and I'm in s2m + dream and die to boss melee hit. I just get ported back to my body and have s2m off CD again.

Maybe the only happens if you pop s2m BEFORE the dream debuff?