Shadow spells animation suggestion

[Dami]

As you probably know, we have great "shadow magic spells" animations like mind sear, shadow form, shadow orbs, etc. But our "important" damage spells and DoTs have the laziest-made spell animations in wow.
Blizzard its trying to make Mind Blast our most powerful direc damage but still looks like a tiny weak shadow flame , not like an explotion how it should be. Our dot's don't do enything to their target after the inicial efect, even vampiric touch which it's not supposed to be a mental sickness.

So this are my suggestions basing in the spell name, description and some of biology. I'll give a lazy option, a mediocre option and a personal best option.

Mind Blast: It probaly increasses (for a moment) the pressure inside the skull pressing the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem by shadow magic causing a contusion so it feels as your brain is exploated, if its critical it should produce a sever damage producing a fainting or paralysis.
Consideration that, the spell animation shuold be like a "buble" of shadow magic that compress the target's head and then(or) exploits.
options:
Lazy: increase the flame size, like mana burn flame.
mediocre: replace or add tho the little flame the animation of when mind sear impacts.
Personal: as mind blast dame is incrased by shadow orbs, the spell would consist in "throwing" a "shadow orb troll racial version" to the target and then implodes (or exploits) in a skull form (like shadow words icons) or a brain form (like when haunt "comes back")

Mind fly: Is spell animation is not so bad but it looks weak since the "improvement" it had long time ago. The spell description it says it all, it probably tense/infuses the target nerves/brain with shadow magic.
options
mediocre: put the "somky" shadows in target head (the current place of this efects its your hands) and make it bigger.
personal: "open" the "shadow threads" at the end of the "shadow rope" so it result more like a cone and shows our shadow weaver reputation.

DoTs:

Shadow word: Pain : It probably causes headache or the ilusion of been "pierced" and every x time like a throbbing or breakethrough pain. So the current spell animation its "correct" but it should do somethig during its duratión.
options:
lazy: every tick looking the same as when you apply it.
mediocre:increase the size of the application effect it leaves the "smoky" shadows in the target during its duration.
personal: as apparently the shadow orbs are made of the expulsion of shadow produced by some of our spells when they do damage, the duration animation should look like little shadow orbs/spikes atacking the target or the target emitting shadow waves.

Devouring Plague: I'm not sure if this spell its a "real" sickness as when it was a forsaken-priest racial or mental sickness; anyway, the spell should leave the "smoky-pink" shadows on the target so it is still "devouring it" looking like "I'm going under my madness" or leave a dark version of druids insect swarm looking like "oh, my leg its full of worms" and "consuming" them the priest receives healing.

Vampiric touch: This spell is a purely dark spell so it should be casted like Shadow word: Death. This spells affects somehow mana, maybe accomulating targets mana on the skull so its liberated and replaced by Mind blast or a dispel effect. The duration effect shoul look like the currently the currently Mind blast animation.

Please leave a coment, discuss or suggestion.

Sorry for my english.

[Oneirophobia]

I am alllll for more animations, preferably not on us though. I think our models have enough animations flying around them.
Target animations? We have little.

The reason we lack so many animations it terms of our attacks is because our main ones were made in vanilla, and really the most elaborate spells got back then were fireball and frostbolt.

I think that, if they were going to update an animation, vampiric touch should be the one that gets some love. I've always wanted to see a big shadowy hand appear and poke them when you apply it.

[zsun]

I personally prefer the old Mind Flay animation

[Noradin]

I like the shadow animations as they are.

[KieraDK]

More animations would be awesome! I'm watching Shamans throw Lightning Bolts and Lava Bursts, Mage's with Arcane Missiles while the height of a Spriests animations is a purple line...

[Karei]

Dots don't need animations.
Mind Flay however could be a bit niftier.
I still remember when Mind Flay, Drain Soul ,Drain Life and Drain Mana had similar animations until they changed Drain Soul and Drain Life.
It could be change into something similar I guess.

[Radux]

Mind Flay does have a different animation than what it used to. I much prefer the current one compared to what it was (looked like a stupid blue equalizer line on a stereo).

[Deleted]

Assuming we're talking on spell detail set on high this sounds awesome as a warrior myself i'd pretty much feel more like fighting if i saw my character suffering. Though if this goes through i sure hope i can take it off... Think about 5 shadow priests all dotting a target.. i'd DC from the lag :b

[matherl]

whats with you and connecting everything to head problems??

OT: dots dont really need animations because if every dot has a animation the game would break i think we are fine right now

[Doifer]

I would LOVE to see updated spell animations. It's those simple things that turn out to be awesome. I'd also love to see customizable cast animations per race but that's just me daydreaming :P

[Lizl]

whats with you and connecting everything to head problems??

Gee, I wonder. Considering that spriests are iconic for being "mental combatants". That, and see: MIND flay, MIND blast, MIND spike, MIND sear, MIND control?

I think the OP's speculations on how a priest's spells would "feel" are fairly interesting, if not accurate to what they would do.

OT: I think that the only thing that needs improvement is VT's animation upon application. Being our most powerful spell, I'd like to see it with an animation that makes people say "oh sh***..." when it is applied.

[Veiled]

Shadow animations are fine.

[Dami]

As apparently the "animation opinion" is heterogeneous, I prefer focusing in the other side of the post

Some questions: How do you think our shadow spells work? Do you agree with my opinion of that? Which are your hypothesis about?

Continuing my theory, some things I think (if I have more time/ interested people I will explain more about them):
our shadow magic is a wave-field
shadow magic could be made of antifotons
we have some tipe of homeostasis with it so if we brake it damage us
we can shape it in diferent ways changing its properties
our "studies" with the "instructor" are mostly about how to damage/protect the central nervous system
we have learned how to control mana using shadow magic
we don't want to/haven't alredy learned how to use it like warlocks do (affecting the soul) because is not convinient or damage ourselves

thinking in future:
we will improve our mind control spells
we will learn how avoid a higher percent of shadow damage
we will "study" more about summon and materialize shadows
could we learn a bane spell?
are we going to learn more "death" spells?
are we going to learn some kind of ritual/circle/telekinesis as some "priest npcs"?
Is possible to develop a shadow-electric("nature") atack considering that it would do a lot of damage to the nervous system?

This is just my opinion, post yours

well, aparently there's not much interest...