Shadow Priest PVP Viability Questions

[13en3]

I posted this first in the PvP forum, but since it got no responses, I am hoping it might fair better here for any shadows playing lots of PvP. Thanks ahead of time for any responses.

Just wondering what place Shadow has in PvP right now. How do they do in 1v1 and BGs? What are their best comps in arena? What are the positives and negatives of the class in PvP? I've been able to find a lot about PvE, but very little about PvP. Also, is shadow hard to play at a high competitive level compared to other caster specs?

Thanks again,
13en3

[Deleted]

Forget about 1v1ing anyone melee. Ranged are fair game more or less, but I found locks hard to take on. Tanks are fun, if you have the time. And healers are our bread and butter. Probably the best class at making healers miserable, even druids can only survive in bear form with CDs.

In BGs you will be trying to hang back and be invisible (<3 Arathi blizzard), while dotting up anything that moves and dishing out some serious pressure. You can focus down well, mainly healers, as I've said before, but if you just left void form, you have no burst, so timing is important.

Can't say much about arenas, except bring good healer or HIGH burst partners. People just go loco and focus SP down like there's extra AP for doing that.

Positives would be good pressure, and decent burst, people often don't realize you're on them until they see a thick purple beam and they are dropping in to red zone. Good finishing potential. 3 silences and a stun/fear is brutal versus casters. Decent, low maintenance self heal from doing damage. Tentacle buddy on melee is amazing. Offensive and defensive dispels. Can break bubbles/ice blocks.

Negatives.. Biggest one is that out dots pretty much have no consequence for dispels. 3 sec fear is a joke most of the time, unless you decide to dispel someone at 15%. If SP is the only damage dealer, he will spend more time recasting the dots than dispeler will be controlled. Mobility is pretty bad, one of the reasons I play goblin. Defensive CDs are kinda meh. VE can keep you alive, but only if you can keep doing damage. A couple interrupts make it useless. Dispersion is ok, but it's no longer 95% and you will probably not be taking that pvp talent. So you can still be killed, but have to stop doing damage. Mana is a problem. Using PWS on CD will slowly drain it, might leave you with not enough to use mass dispel when needed. Also we are not a melee class, a big disadvantage this expansion.

[Ailylia]

SP can be very competitive in the right hands in PvP. It takes a good team however to really help it shine. The teammates really have to be aware of how to use and protect the SP but there are some very good tools SP have at their disposal to help a good comp win. It is, however, difficult to play well. There are other classes that are much easier to be effective with. I'm just saying if you stick to it and get a good team/comp setup for it, it's a good class, but it's not as easy to do as some other classes. But that's pretty much the case with anything.

[Deleted]

Stick to RBGs and BGs where we are complete gods. Our output is that of three people in BGS. Usually double anyone elses damage and heal for the same as a healer. Sometimes heal for a higher amount than any enemy damage done.

[13en3]

it's a good class, but it's not as easy to do as some other classes. But that's pretty much the case with anything.

That's not true. Some classes are very faceroll and simply don't have a high skill ceiling. I can see that shadow might have a very high skill cap, which is why I am interested. I'm just not seeing a lot of shadow priests in PvP and not too much talk about them. Seem really under played. Thanks for your response.

[Deleted]

SPriest is going to be nerfed soon IMO. The damage is insane and the 2% extra dot damage each second in voidform, along with void bolt refreshing all dot's in range is ridiculous. RBG's if you position right its very easy to be top damage, with the misery talent you can just spam VT on everyone (and pets for ToF) for most of the game. 1v1 as said, against melee just forget it.

As for arena's, we are still squishy and need to be babysitted. With the current burst from other classes Dispersion isn't all that effective and you will always be the kill target in 3's. Essentially you will want something like warrior or mage as a partner, who can peel for you and burst on demand. Fake cast vt's/md's, mass dispel your healer out of CC, predict block/bubbles with mass dispel and once you get the hang of them you should be ok.

If you do decide to play spriest I hope you enjoy it!

[Spicymemer]

From an arena perspective, Spriest is only viable with comps that can consistently and reliably peel.

[13en3]

If you do decide to play spriest I hope you enjoy it!

Leveling currently. Disc in dungeons and shadow for BGs. I have to say I like the playstyle fine. It appears to me that shadow will have a pretty high skill ceiling (maybe I'm wrong). Thoughts on that? I feel like most other classes I was playing were face roll and I want a little bit of challenge to maximize DPS. When I get a decent healer, I'm unstoppable, but getting caught by myself by warriors is kind of rough. Same as you stated it would be.

[Deleted]

Leveling currently. Disc in dungeons and shadow for BGs. I have to say I like the playstyle fine. It appears to me that shadow will have a pretty high skill ceiling (maybe I'm wrong). Thoughts on that? I feel like most other classes I was playing were face roll and I want a little bit of challenge to maximize DPS. When I get a decent healer, I'm unstoppable, but getting caught by myself by warriors is kind of rough. Same as you stated it would be.

It does have a higher skillcap than most DPS specs in terms of having to fake cast/position/kite. We are not as tanky as other casters, like Spicymemer said you really need a partner who can consistently peel for you. Mostly when playing in arena you will be the kill target with CC aimed at your healer. A good healer who can avoid CC along with a reliable DPS who can peel will make it much easier for you. Luckily a lot of CC can be dispelled with Mass Dispel off your healer, but having the pre-positioning + possibly having to fake cast it are key to getting it off. Overall you will need to synergies more with your team, but its worth it.