Shadow priest cata pvping - Dots or no Dots?

[Deleted]

Hello, I checked last few pages of posts but couldn't find any help on that so I hope it's ok to ask here.


I was watching some arena vids lately, and everytime I see a shadow priest attacking its always Mind Spike.

My question is : Is it just me seeing priest nuking somebody with it, or basically DoTs do not work that good on arenas anymore?
Thanks for any answers, I'd be very grateful to get some info about it.

[Grubby]

I dont PVP so cant give you a good answer, Im sure someone else will. But, dots are often removed before they tick, so would assume thats why Mind Spike has become the easy answer to this

[Warriur]

yeah ... having no dispell protection doesnt help. But most people still use dots i use them on the secondary target while i nuke the primary

(mind you havent played shadow since 4.0.6 so mmight have changed)

[Penatar]

yeah ... having no dispell protection doesnt help. But most people still use dots i use them on the secondary target while i nuke the primary

(mind you havent played shadow since 4.0.6 so mmight have changed)

Exactly, having no dispel protection sucks. I play as a destro warlock and I usually open with Immolate then immediately use corruption then conflag if my immolate wasn't removed. My thinking there is if I can get corruption off fast enough before they dispel that I have a 50% chance to still have immolate on the target so I can use conflag. I see no reason to worry about this as a shadow priest, however if I was using my shadow priest as an arena toon I'd say my best bet would be to fear them and then get all my dots on them as it will take 3 globals to remove them instead of removing each one as I place it up.

Blizzard really needs to make some sort of dispel protection, it's sick that warriors and feral can't have their effects removed but all casters, and some rogue and dk stuff can be removed mindlessly at little to no mana.

[Leeuwke]

I actually use my dots a lot while chasing a healer and putting pressure on him in 3v3. Forces him to keep his GCDs on himself, so he can't heal the others. And if he does heal the others, well, then the dots tick.

[Penatar]

I actually use my dots a lot while chasing a healer and putting pressure on him in 3v3. Forces him to keep his GCDs on himself, so he can't heal the others. And if he does heal the others, well, then the dots tick.

But any healer worth 2 shits can easily dispel it at a cost less than healing. Shamans right now can spam dispel and be back at full mana before their GCD is up, or so it seems. Using nukes makes them heal and will burn their mana faster and make them focus more on them selves. Although if you're both on the move dots will be all you can use.

[Shornaal]

Sin and Punishment helps keeping dots up.

[Evrx]

DOTs still are crucial and a large part of your damage in PVP. The dispel protection is mediocre but it's not negligble. In 3s, the only time I feel like I have trouble keeping DOTs up is versus a double defensive dispel team. And even then, with proper CC and pressure, you can still get DOTs going and do great damage. I don't think it needs to be said, but DOTs + flay + mind blast > mind spike + mind blast for sustained damage.

Nonetheless, mind spike is still good and has it's uses. It's just that you wouldn't want to just solely use mind spike / mind blast. Mind spike is still our best burst damage with Archangel / trinket up and really great for fast switches, killing people after they come out of bubble / iceblock, on demand paralysis proc with mind blast to peel or keep the target in place, etc.

Another factor is that the top shadow pvp specs right now don't take any points in improved mind blast, which makes a sustained mindspike + mindblast rotation a little awkward.

[Deleted]

Sin and Punishment helps keeping dots up.

DR's itself, and psychic horror. They dispel it anyway for about 5 seconds of being CCed, then they get 15 seconds free of no dots.

[MoshPit13]

basically u put up dots if u can keep them up for more than 1 global. they will b more dmg with flay than u spiking. if they are just getting dispelled instantly than just flay to get 5 stack evang and spike after that. if u have to move use ur instant dots. sw:d while moving if ur mana isnt capped and u arent vsing a mage. use dots in conjunction with cc goin on the enemy dispeller if u can. dont put up VT unless u no it wont get dispelled instantly S&P DR's itself and psychic horror so u dont want the healer to get that dr goin. overall u will get a feel for the situations where u can have dots up and where u cant but it takes experience to get to that personal choice. remember though that full dots up on 1 target into an AA trinket use mindspike switch onto another target is alot of pressure when u factor in dots on the first target and w/e ur partners are doing.

[Deleted]

Thank you for all the answers!

Reading all of that I start to get an image or what does it work now. Looks like a lot of fun !

Also thanks for info on DR, very useful.

I can't wait to get my priest on arenas again.

[HAWT5AUCE]

My question is : Is it just me seeing priest nuking somebody with it, or basically DoTs do not work that good on arenas anymore?
Thanks for any answers, I'd be very grateful to get some info about it.

It really depends on the situation and class I face.

My general approach:
If i'm far away and from harms way I nuke with mind spike.
Up close and personal I DoT to do as much damage as possible until my partners come and peel people off of me.

2v2's
DoT the other team up and let it kill them slowly pretty much. In 2's I'm more about survivability than full DPS for me.
If i'm far away from the opposing team then i'll start casting mind spike and mind blast.
Healers will always get the first round of DoTs and then the second.

3v3's
DoT whomever is melee class.
Mind spike and mind blast healers

5v5's
Mind spike and mind blast the living hell out of healers, the 6 seconds on mental paralysis really makes the difference!
Usually the melee in my team peels whomever is on me so I don't have to worry much.

This is generally how I approach other teams, it's not 100% precise and there are a lot of factors that goes into what I do, but this is what I've notice that works really well for me.

[Siri]

the dots are better for staying on one target.
mind spike is better for quick swaps. (more so in conjunction with AA)

the only real dispel protection an spriest has is CC on the healer or too much offensive pressure to give the healer time to dispel.
don't even mention sin and punishment.

[stickyjam]

the dots are better for staying on one target.
mind spike is better for quick swaps. (more so in conjunction with AA)

the only real dispel protection an spriest has is CC on the healer or too much offensive pressure to give the healer time to dispel.
don't even mention sin and punishment.

yeh this is pretty much how i play... dots > MS unless i need to make a quick swap on a low hp target...