An idea to replace Void Entropy - Cataclysm priest.

[Shahad]

Yes, the point is it takes two minutes to reach maximum damage. It has a ramp up time. Ramp up time is the trade-off for the fact that it will be ticking away regardless of your movement, and that it would do so much damage that it doesn't really matter if you're casting Mind Flay: Insanity far fewer than COP or AS.

That's the entire point-- to make the focus of the spec maintaining DOTs, rather than hammering on Mind Flay, Mind Blast, or Disease Pyroblast like a goober.

There was a time, once, when the first step towards auditing a Shadow Priest's DPS was to see how well they were utilizing SW:P, VT, and DP-- the actual DP, not Disease Pyroblast. I'm not a huge proponent of 'WoW has been dumbed down!' style complaints, but DOTs have definitely been dumbed down and de-emphasized as the be-all, end-all of this spec.

DOTs used to require precise timing to maximize, and now you just mindlessly recast them inside of a huge window thanks to Pandemic. It's kind of terrible.

I don't feel like your suggesting would shift the priority to DoTs. It would just keep the priority high on Shadow Orb generator so you could pump out as many VEnt as possible, essentially just replacing DP. I don't really feel like that big 1 minute DoT really captures the DoT-spec gameplay.

If you really want to bring focus back to DoTs, you need something that directly interacts with SW:P and VT. Alternatively (or in conjunction to), you could change CoP so it's design doesn't force the value of DoTs down for the entire spec.

[JNovster]

Yes, the point is it takes two minutes to reach maximum damage. It has a ramp up time. Ramp up time is the trade-off for the fact that it will be ticking away regardless of your movement, and that it would do so much damage that it doesn't really matter if you're casting Mind Flay: Insanity far fewer than COP or AS.

That's the entire point-- to make the focus of the spec maintaining DOTs, rather than hammering on Mind Flay, Mind Blast, or Disease Pyroblast like a goober.

There was a time, once, when the first step towards auditing a Shadow Priest's DPS was to see how well they were utilizing SW:P, VT, and DP-- the actual DP, not Disease Pyroblast. I'm not a huge proponent of 'WoW has been dumbed down!' style complaints, but DOTs have definitely been dumbed down and de-emphasized as the be-all, end-all of this spec.

DOTs used to require precise timing to maximize, and now you just mindlessly recast them inside of a huge window thanks to Pandemic. It's kind of terrible.

Completely agree. That's why the changed talent I've suggested makes DoT's the priority. This brings us back to the old days, where even if there was a ramp up time, it only lasted 30 seconds at most. AS has its place if you like that DP "nukey" feeling, and CoP has its use as a good single target talent. This new Cataclysm style priest as a talent would bring the feeling of the spec back, and excell on multitarget fights where the adds remain up for extended periods of time and do not need to be nuked (Iron Maidens or Hanz and Franz for example).

[Juicebox]

For me Shadow was at its peak during Cata. I personally loved that playstyle and would love to see it come back as a talent.

Another way to do it is replace VEnt with a cooldown. That could also create a new aspect to Shadow.

[Lamortykins]

Cata was such a high point for Shadow. I really do miss the shadowfiend actually being worth a damn (for mana AND damage), the massive mind blast hits with old shadow orbs, and, to an extent, the mana management. Although it was a huge pain in dungeon and even t11 gear to basically use SWeath on cooldown just to keep from going oom.