Always been LotV, want to break into S2M, but am I ready for it?

[ThreeLions]

I've been running mythics, dungeons, LFR but only one normal raid using LotV so far, and I haven't been terrible (ending up 3rd highest DPS on our guilds alt run for Xavius). This being said, I want to break into S2M, as I feel I'm being a prat and missing out on DPS.

Truth is, I don't feel I have the confidence in setup and routine yet. I feel like I'm running against a wall when using it in Mythics, wasting both keystone time and DPS. Everything feels too quick to down for me to use S2M at the moment, Kharazan is questionable, yet I feel like I'm at a disadvantage to those who do and can.

Here is my Armory!:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...nas/Bob/simple

My question is, do I have enough haste to use it? Is my gear terrible? Any tips or personal advice I'd absolutely love. Sorry I don't have logs at the moment, work has been mad, but I will try to post some soon. Really I just want to know if I need more Haste or if I'm missing anything before attempting S2M. Thank you for reading. Bob

[Tritolite]

Hi Bob, you are definitely ready gear-wise to start using S2M. Just practice on pvp dummies, or spam LFR.
While you don't have any of the supporting legendaries (Belt / Shoulders) that make S2M significantly easier, you should still be able after some practice, to reach the fabled 3rd Void Torrent.

You can also reset your S2M cooldown by entering a skirmish (very helpful if practicing on dummies!).

[Clavicle]

I was running LotV for the first few weeks of raiding, then I just told my raid leader (and healers) that I was going to be trying it out. I sucked at first, but got better. I still suck at StM, but I suck less than I did. At Tritolite said, practising on the PvP Target Dummies is a great help. The best practice is just to do it however. There will be frustrations when actions of other people kills you, because having priests using StM is something a whole raid needs to be aware of to do well (the first time I died on Ursoc because a mage decided to double blink him so far away he was out of range of the whole raid for 2 gcd was annoying as hell) but you can't help the behaviour of others.

Good luck.

[Jimjam38]

You can easily practice on the target dummy in your garrison - you can slowly kill it to the point where you can use shadow word death on it, which is a critical part of extending the duration of both regular voidform and S2M voidform.

[ThreeLions]

Hi Bob, you are definitely ready gear-wise to start using S2M. Just practice on pvp dummies, or spam LFR.
While you don't have any of the supporting legendaries (Belt / Shoulders) that make S2M significantly easier, you should still be able after some practice, to reach the fabled 3rd Void Torrent.

You can also reset your S2M cooldown by entering a skirmish (very helpful if practicing on dummies!).

I will try my best on the dummies and see how I do! Good idea. I hope some useful legendaries will drop soon, just my dumb luck to get the ring! I'll aim for that third VoiT, to as a marker or goal to set. This of course is the ideal stretch in a raid, but I'd love to get there at least on the dummies for the sake of routine. Thank you for the feedback.

I was running LotV for the first few weeks of raiding, then I just told my raid leader (and healers) that I was going to be trying it out. I sucked at first, but got better. I still suck at StM, but I suck less than I did. At Tritolite said, practising on the PvP Target Dummies is a great help. The best practice is just to do it however. There will be frustrations when actions of other people kills you, because having priests using StM is something a whole raid needs to be aware of to do well (the first time I died on Ursoc because a mage decided to double blink him so far away he was out of range of the whole raid for 2 gcd was annoying as hell) but you can't help the behaviour of others.

Good luck.

Yeah this is the one kick in the pants. Dps'ers or tanks pulling the boss out of range, or I have had in the past people lead stuns over to me so I just straight die when I'm getting a rhythm going. It's tough but the training dummies seem a good idea to start. Thank you.

You can easily practice on the target dummy in your garrison - you can slowly kill it to the point where you can use shadow word death on it, which is a critical part of extending the duration of both regular voidform and S2M voidform.

Yes, I think my shadow word death usage has been really terrible. I tend to spend them quick to stay in, but I could have used them more efficiently to stay in for longer. I will definitely take this into account. My next step is to try to get that fabled 3rd VoIT, once I've done that at least once, I'll know I have competence to some level, thank you

Thank you three for the messages, I'll give it a fair snap and hopefully do a good job after time and practice. It seems real high risk, high reward, but I do want to get that high reward Thank you for commenting!

[Tojara]

Most of S2M is knowing when to pop it (addon helps for this) and knowing how to use death properly. 95% of good S2M times is learning how to use death properly.

Basically with decent gear you should be able to get to the second void torrent without actually using death at all. Past that point it's getting a feel for when to use death, and delaying using PI for as long as your gear allows.

On my priest who is 865 iLvL (no legendary items), I can generally get away with not using PI until 85-90 stacks. During PI you don't really need to use deaths aside from just a DPS increase, and you want to exit your PI with both deaths coming off CD. At this point it's survive as long as you can, and when you run out of options it's literally using dispersion to buy time. If you can get to the point where you can do mid 80 to late 80 stacks before using PI, this generally will carry you to your third void torrent. Third void torrent which is mentioned on this forum a lot is basically a good baseline to hit as you'll pull pretty amazing DPS.

Only real tips is death management and for that it depends on luck with ghosts (and gear), so it's never going to be a tip so much as it's getting the general feel for it. A lot of people dismiss S2M as being 'easy' and to a degree it is, but if you mess up your rotation, you will die, and your rotation isn't completely set in stone as you do need to watch when and where to death to maximize it fully. As far as general advice goes the crafted JC neck is amazing and basically gives you a free SWD. Doesn't sound like a lot but it's pretty amazing. You can use this as an emergency if you mess something up, or use for a variety of things (delaying your PI, or getting a shadow fiend out at high stacks).

[ThreeLions]

Most of S2M is knowing when to pop it (addon helps for this) and knowing how to use death properly. 95% of good S2M times is learning how to use death properly.

Basically with decent gear you should be able to get to the second void torrent without actually using death at all. Past that point it's getting a feel for when to use death, and delaying using PI for as long as your gear allows.

On my priest who is 865 iLvL (no legendary items), I can generally get away with not using PI until 85-90 stacks. During PI you don't really need to use deaths aside from just a DPS increase, and you want to exit your PI with both deaths coming off CD. At this point it's survive as long as you can, and when you run out of options it's literally using dispersion to buy time. If you can get to the point where you can do mid 80 to late 80 stacks before using PI, this generally will carry you to your third void torrent. Third void torrent which is mentioned on this forum a lot is basically a good baseline to hit as you'll pull pretty amazing DPS.

Only real tips is death management and for that it depends on luck with ghosts (and gear), so it's never going to be a tip so much as it's getting the general feel for it. A lot of people dismiss S2M as being 'easy' and to a degree it is, but if you mess up your rotation, you will die, and your rotation isn't completely set in stone as you do need to watch when and where to death to maximize it fully. As far as general advice goes the crafted JC neck is amazing and basically gives you a free SWD. Doesn't sound like a lot but it's pretty amazing. You can use this as an emergency if you mess something up, or use for a variety of things (delaying your PI, or getting a shadow fiend out at high stacks).

What add-on is best for S2M guessing? I'd love to know that! I'll look into getting that JC necklace. It seems to me that Death management, knowing when to pop PI during 80 odd stacks is the best preliminary to get started. I'll give it a go! Thanks for your input Tojara, you guys on here are super helpful.

[Deleted]

Most of S2M is knowing when to pop it (addon helps for this) and knowing how to use death properly. 95% of good S2M times is learning how to use death properly.

Basically with decent gear you should be able to get to the second void torrent without actually using death at all. Past that point it's getting a feel for when to use death, and delaying using PI for as long as your gear allows.

On my priest who is 865 iLvL (no legendary items), I can generally get away with not using PI until 85-90 stacks. During PI you don't really need to use deaths aside from just a DPS increase, and you want to exit your PI with both deaths coming off CD. At this point it's survive as long as you can, and when you run out of options it's literally using dispersion to buy time. If you can get to the point where you can do mid 80 to late 80 stacks before using PI, this generally will carry you to your third void torrent. Third void torrent which is mentioned on this forum a lot is basically a good baseline to hit as you'll pull pretty amazing DPS.

Only real tips is death management and for that it depends on luck with ghosts (and gear), so it's never going to be a tip so much as it's getting the general feel for it. A lot of people dismiss S2M as being 'easy' and to a degree it is, but if you mess up your rotation, you will die, and your rotation isn't completely set in stone as you do need to watch when and where to death to maximize it fully. As far as general advice goes the crafted JC neck is amazing and basically gives you a free SWD. Doesn't sound like a lot but it's pretty amazing. You can use this as an emergency if you mess something up, or use for a variety of things (delaying your PI, or getting a shadow fiend out at high stacks).

I'd add to it that it's harder to practice than most other rotations as it's a short window that truly matters (the 80+ stacks and time towards third VoiT) which is the hardest part to practice but also takes much more time to get practice tries on compared to say, mages combustion. It's incredibly rewarding when you get it right though.

[nicbizz]

Kinda in the same boat as the OP, not sure if my LotV rotation is good enough as it is.

What is considered an acceptable number of VF stacks for LotV? I'm running 31% Haste, 21% Crit, 47% Mastery.

[Deleted]

https://howtopriest.com/images/S2M3VoiT.png

General guide. Just practice on garrison dummies until you hate it, then do 10 more hours.

[ThreeLions]

https://howtopriest.com/images/S2M3VoiT.png

General guide. Just practice on garrison dummies until you hate it, then do 10 more hours.

Nice run down! Will give it a go.

[Uberkafros]

It's never too soon to change into S2M. Especially on non progress content with your guild you should use S2M in order to get the practice you need to master the illusive 3rd Void Torrent during S2M.