Shadow
The Light in which many priests bathe is brilliant and effervescent, granting them immense divine power. But the brightest light casts the darkest shadow—and from within this blackness, a rival power dwells. Shadow priests fully embrace this opposing polarity, their faith equally resolute as their holy counterparts—but focused on shadowy magics and mental manipulation. Like all priests, they dedicate much of their lives to worship—but they derive their power from the Void, straying dangerously close to the domain of the Old Gods. To truly understand such ancient, corruptive influence is to be driven mad. This is the state in which these dark priests thrive, embracing insanity and feeding off of the minds of their opponents to reach terrifying new limits.
"These dark priests thrive, embracing insanity and feeding off of the minds of their opponents to reach terrifying new limits"
Gameplay
We’ve long alluded to the Old God influences of Shadow Priests in their spells and abilities, and we’re making that more distinct in Legion.
A new resource, Insanity, provides a better fit for Shadow, having more granularity and gameplay that emphasizes the immense but fleeting power that the Void offers. Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, and Vampiric Touch will build Insanity. Reaching maximum Insanity will transform Shadowform into Voidform, giving the Shadow Priest access to stronger Void magic, but it is unable to be maintained indefinitely. This should make for interesting gameplay as Shadow Priests try to maintain the height of their Insanity as long as possible to prey on the minds of their enemies.
While not under the effects of Insanity, Shadow Priests continue to rely heavily on abilities that inflict sustained damage over time. Finally, having turned away from the Light, Shadow Priests eschew such spells as Heal, Flash Heal, and Prayer of Mending. Power Word: Shield and Shadow Mend are their primary healing tools.
Voidform
- Passive
- When you reach 100 Insanity, you enter Voidform, transforming your Mind spells into Void spells, and increasing your Shadow damage by 30%.
- While in Voidform, you gain 2% Haste every 1 sec. This Haste will also persist for 20 sec after Voidform ends.
- Voidform causes your Insanity to constantly drain, faster and faster, until completely drained, and Voidform ends.
Mind Flay
- 40 yd range, Channeled
- Assault the target’s mind with Shadow energy, causing minor Shadow damage over 3 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%.
- While in Voidform, transforms into Void Flay, which also extends Shadow Word: Pain by 3 sec.
Mind Blast
- 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 9 sec cooldown
- Blasts the target’s mind for strong Shadow damage.
- Generates 15 Insanity.
- While in Voidform, transforms into Void Blast, which has a 4.5 sec cooldown, and also extends Vampiric Touch by 3 sec.
Vampiric Touch
- 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
- A touch of darkness that causes huge Shadow damage over 24 sec, and heals the Priest for each point of damage dealt.
- If Vampiric Touch is dispelled, the dispeller flees in Horror for 3 sec.
- Each time Vampiric Touch deals damage, it generates 3 Insanity.
Shadow Word: Pain
- 40 yd range, Instant
- A word of darkness that causes minor Shadow damage instantly, and an additional huge amount of damage over 18 sec.
- Each time Shadow Word: Pain deals damage, it generates 3 Insanity, and has a 10% chance to reset the cooldown of Mind Blast.
Mastery: Madness
- Increases the damage and Insanity generation of your Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Word: Death by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Shadow-specific talents:
Oblivion
- Instant, 2 min cooldown
- Let the power of the void flow through you, instantly generating 100 Insanity.