Do spriest mana issues ever get better?

[Genooo]

I'm level 46 right now and am having serious mana issues as shadow, having to drink every 2 or 3 mobs.

[Deleted]

I got no mana issues with my shadow priest (85 with just some heroic gear).

[jaysix]

make sure you have the glyph of life tap

[Irefusetodie]

It gets much better once you hit outlands.

[Koilie]

Your high enough level to have spec'd into Masochism now. Just shadow word death on CD and there ya go.

And glyph Spirit tap

[Adon]

I guess it really depends on your gear. If you have most of the BOA stuff you shouldn't really have any problem at all, for any class.

Maybe you're doing it wrong? Are you applying every dot in your arsenal, when mind blast alone takes it to <50%?

If that's the case, try using Mind Blast and Flay only, or dotting up multiple mobs at a time and not single target dpsing at all.

[The Glitch]

Dispersion + Dispersion Glyph, use it every time its off cooldown

Also Shadow Word Death + Masochism use SW every time its off cooldown for mana back for not killing the enemy

Also once you get Shadow Fiend that helps alot too.

Also Glyph of Spirit Tap!

Mana can be annoying in the lower levels, but you do have the tools to keep your mana up for a while before your drained and have to drink!

[Deleted]

make sure you have the glyph of life tap

Spirit Tap Life tap is a warlock spell :O

OT it does indeed get better. Unfortunately I have no idea just "when" it will get better for you as I levelled my priest to 70 in tbc, 80 at the very beginning of wrath and now 85 in Cata. Once you hit 85 and have quest greens and such it can be a real pain to manage your mana, but once you have a few dungeon pieces here and there your mana works out. Oh and remember, SW when on the move, even above 25% hp. It might do crap damage but damage is still damage + you get free mana.

[Ashareth]

I've got the same mana problems on my spriest, it has started to get better recently (72 now), but it's still a problem.
I hear it becomes better later, around 80 or so, and it's nearly gone at 85.

Another case of GREAT BALANCING of lower levels/leveling by Blizzard, they are used to that, it seems they like to fuck up half the specs in the game for leveling for fun.

edit : and stop whith the whole "once you get shadowfiend it's ok", that thing is a 4 or 5 mins cd, and doesn't help much, you still spend your time drinking every 2/3 mobs as shadow for a long time.

Hell, i do more sustained dps and more dps overall as disc than Shadow, due to not being oom after 20/30s....

[Strykie]

Doesn't get better till lvl 85 with 90k+ Mana.

[Incandio]

I have mana issues with heirlooms. Got so fed up in ransoms started dpsing as devotion.

[Aleksej89]

Glyph of Spirit Tap + Masochism gives plenty of Mana during leveling.
Also Glyph of SW:Death (2 SW:D) is awesome.

Just start with Mind Blast, then 2 or 3 Mind Flay and finish with SW:Death as killing blow.
If your Mana starts dropping, you can use one SW:Death right after Mind Blast, then another SW:Death after Mind Flays for the killing blow.
That way you will earn 22% total Mana per mob - which is much more than you will be spending.
Luckily Blizzard moved SW:Death to some level ~30, so it is available quite soon.

Do NOT use DoTs on ordinary Mobs - only on Elites, Bosses or when "multi dotting.
DoTs are very mana intensive, just stick to Mind Blast, Mind Flay and SW:Death for ordinary mobs until Mind Spike.

[Deleted]

Doesn't get better till lvl 85 with 90k+ Mana.

My SP has a 345avg ilvl with 78k mana and I'm perfectly fine, even when multi dotting on trash. If you need 90k+ to have "stable mana" your doing something horribly wrong.

[Arlee]

I'm level 46 right now and am having serious mana issues as shadow, having to drink every 2 or 3 mobs.

lvl'ing a spriest is rough... once you get around lvl 70 it gets considerably better though and it definitely gets to be a non-issue at 80+.

Do NOT use DoTs on ordinary Mobs - only on Elites, Bosses or when "multi dotting.
DoTs are very mana intensive, just stick to Mind Blast, Mind Flay and SWeath for ordinary mobs until Mind Spike.

I agree with this with one change. If you are having mana issues putting VT on one mob and using MB to get replenishment going can be effective. Though this generally will only work when you are out questing on your own, not in instances as much.

[Prod]

One of the biggest mistakes for an SPriest is fully DoTing mobs that die fast since that's just a waste of mana. Even at lvl 85, if you're running a dungeon with overgeared people (like half 359s), you'll find that for some mobs, it's not worth it to DoT them.

[Ehtnalav]

Level as discipline... Discipline dps is ok at lower levels
I have great memories from my discipline leveling PW:S + Holy nova and 10 quest mobs are dead in no time
SP is really inpractical at lower levels, only single target spells and mana draining when multidotting

[Prod]

We seriously need Mind Spike at lower levels. DoTs just aren't that great when mobs die too fast.

[Deleted]

Level as discipline... Discipline dps is ok at lower levels
I have great memories from my discipline leveling PW:S + Holy nova and 10 quest mobs are dead in no time
SP is really inpractical at lower levels, only single target spells and mana draining when multidotting

Pretty much this, and also buy alot of mana potions. I find them really helpfull when I'm leveling alts myself .

[DariusMDeV]

Never use DP on non-bosses, problem solved. That's your mana eater, on a spell that never finishes. It's silly to cast if it's not going the full time.

[Violent]

Yes, It definitely gets better with gear, level, and mana conservation techniques.

IMO; Don't roll a spec just to level because it's "easier"... If you want to evolve into a good or even decent Spriest you need to learn how to play as shadow from 1 - 85.. I've leveled two priests myself one shadow, one holy both from 1 - 85. (I leveled holy in TBC when holy was "hard", with very MINIMAL help from anyone) I believe that plus other things helped make me the well-rounded priest player I am today. SO my advise would be: Stick to it, fun times are coming, if you enjoy shadow now (aside from your mana problems) you're going to enjoy it even more when you get to a good spot with mana.