Shadow dps help

[limpy14]

my dps can barely get up above 5k idk wat im doing wrong my rotation is SWP then DP SWD MF until orbs MB and refresh SWD and MF until orbs and use Archangel as much as possible maybe reforge gear or new talents?

---------- Post added 2011-05-09 at 04:40 AM ----------

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...un/peyt/simple is my gear

[The_Butcher]

for starters your not fully gemmed, and gear is still blues. But you are correct, your DPS should be much higher, im having a similar issue on my shadow priest, either from lack of playtime and knowledge, or just overall a bad rotation.

Any input to the OP would help me as well

[Lynlyn]

This might have just been an oversight by the OP, but are you using VT? That should be your opener before SWP and DP if possible... Also, SWD is only useful if you are moving and low on mana (otherwise while moving DP spam is better). See the shadow guide for specifics.

Your gemming and reforging are WAYYYYYYYY off. You generally want to gem pure int aside from good socket bonuses (see the guide) and you want all of your gear to have haste on it-- if it doesn't reforge stats, preferably mastery (crit if there is no mastery), to haste. Again, see the shadow guide for specifics.

Since it doesn't look like you are going to be raiding anytime soon, you probably don't need to worry about the hit cap, but that is something you generally want to aim for while gearing up for raids-- in other words make sure all of your gear either has haste or spirit/hit (until capped) on it.

Have you read the shadow guide found on the forums yet? It should cover all of the basics:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...e-(by-Newnoise)

Or tried using SimCraft?
http://code.google.com/p/simulationcraft/

[Deleted]

mmm ive looked at your gear.... and yeah i can see the problem...

as Shadow Priest you want to get as mich intellect and as much Haste...
Mastery and crit you dont realy need... also Dont gem for mastery and or crit...
your gear isnt optiomal for Shadow priest.. but that can change

For gear you want to prefer gear with Spirit and haste *spirit=hit*

also for rotation:
Singletarget: VE > SW:P > DP > MB > Mindflay till orb > MB keep your dots up and blast MB with atleast 1 orb up.
Multi targets: 2-3 VE+ SW:P on all and mindflay some 3+ SW:P on all and mind sear


Also you might want to look Newnoize Shadowpriest guide hier on MMO champ *or on www.howtopriest.com

[OnlineSamantha]

You should keep Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch, and you should Mind Flay in between. Also, as long as you have 1+ Shadow Orb, you should Mind Blast to keep up the Empowered Shadows Buff.

[Haunt]

The way that Spriests DPS is.. Different. I haven't looked at your gear, but i'll give you the baseline idea of the rotation. Keep in mind, this is coming from a 12/12 normal Spriest, pulling 16-17k each fight that isn't movement based.

My general rule is always start with DP, SW:P, then VT. After this you're fishing for your first Shadow Orb.(Mind flaying till it procs), then Mind blasting. The reason for this is to get your buff going as SOON as possible. After that, you're mind flaying as a filler, and using MB every time it's off cooldown. This includes to clip MF, ignore if people have told you otherwise.

It's literally almost ALWAYS beneficial to clip Mindflay, even to refresh a dot. Just be sure to do it after a damage tick, so you're not wasting it. I wouldn't advise waiting on Shadow Orbs to cast MB, simply because MB does enough damage in itself, and only has a 6.5s cooldown, so there's really no benefit to waiting on it. The only time you're going against that, is in the very beginning when you want your initial Orb buff.

Aside from that, it's a very simple priority system,

Shadowfiend
VT
SW:P
DP
Mind Blast
Mindflay

As well as be sure to make sure you use your cooldowns effectively, personally I use Archangel after I get all of my DoT's up, and am about to cast a MB, so I can have a full 15s or so of free channeling and casting for MB/MF.

Hope this helps!

[Vanaheim]

The things that are stated above are accurate, but I figured I'd give a few more specific points of suggestions.

-- First off, you want to gem for +40 Int (Brilliant Inferno Ruby - Red Gem) everywhere you can. Unless the set bonus is worth getting (you need that extra bump of hit, if it has +20 Int, etc), always gem for Int. If you need to place a yellow gem, always go for the Reckless Ember Topaz (+20 Int / Haste) while for blue gems, always go with the Purified Demonseye (+20 Int / Spirit) until you hit hitcap. The latter is amazing for getting you that little bump you need for hitting raid hit cap. If you put an Ebonsteel Belt Buckle on your belt, you can place an extra gem if you want.

-- Second, you want to grab the Burning Shadowspirit Diamond for your meta gem. If memory serves, it only requires red gems, which you should be socketing anyways, so you should be good there.

-- Third, know your rep. I see you have the Ramakahen tabard on. Personally, I'd grind up Therazane and the Earthen Ring first. The epic you get from the Earthen Ring will last you for a long time and Therazane has your shoulder enchants which help alot. Furthermore, you have exalted with Hyjal. Go grab the Arcanum of Hyjal. That'll help too.

-- Fourth, REFORGING. This is your best friend when it comes to gearing up. Here's what I would do. Hit is very useful to have, but since you obviously aren't raiding, having the 17% hitcap isn't necessary since the minimum to hit all of the heroic dungeon bosses is simply 6%. That being said, I'd bump yours up just a bit further by reforging into spirit. Besides getting more hit this way, you also get more mp5 which is nice. The closer you are to raid hit and the better your Int and Haste are, the higher chance you have of getting into a pug raid. Any chance you get, reforge hit into spirit and crit into spirit (or hit if spirit isn't available). Rolling on spirit gear is also an option. With the talent Twisted Faith, all the spirit you have is just more hit, and believe me, it's a lifesaver for getting hit rating fast. Beyond that, you want as much Int and Haste as you can, so all your reforging should go towards getting more Haste while NEVER reforging Int. Mastery is the BEST stat to reforge when there are no other options with Crit being second best. At your level of gear, pretty much every piece should be reforged until you are content with the balance of your stats. Don't worry if they aren't perfect; that's what gearing up does.

-- Fifth, replace Glyph of Mind Flay with Glyph of Shadow Word: Death. Here's the reason. SW: D when the target is below 25% hits like a truck falling off a cliff onto a grape. It's glorious. What that glyph does is make it possible for you to essentially get twice the damage out of it with each one being able to crit individually. It can be a huge dps gain on some bosses and will help you immensely with mana issues. Mind Flay is not very important at the moment, so you shouldn't lose much dps doing it.

As far as actual attacking goes, I'd recommend the following intro casts:

If you have a chance to precast before entering combat: VT >> SW:P >> DP >> [If no orbs: MF until Orb. With an orb: MB] >> [MF until one of the previous spells needs to be refreshed. If you are MFing enough, SW:P should never need to be recast.] If you do not have a chance to precast or need to move into position while entering combat, simply move VT down to after DP. Theoretically, by the time you reach where you need to stand, you should have used up two GCD's without a problem. If you REALLY need a third, SW: D is the way to go. After the boss drops below 25%, SW: D whenever it is off of cooldown period one after the other. The spikes in damage are amazing.

Keep an eye on your buffs. Try to keep Dark Evangelism up at all times (the result of MFing a target) as well as Empowered Shadows (the buff you get after using MB or MSpike with an orb up). Recasting DP if a new buff pops up that could help increase its potency is always a good idea as long as another spell does not take priority. Since DP does damage as you cast it, you won't lose any DPS by doing it. Never recast VT if there is more than two seconds left on the timer. It is a waste of DPS in almost all occasions (excluding times wherein your cast speed was reduced or other such boss-based effects and you need to return it to full strength). Only MSpike if you A: need to remove dots (will happen rarely) or B: you are under a haste buff and are close enough to the boss's (or mob's) death that recasting dots would be a waste of time.

Archangel and Shadowfiend should be used appropriately based on your current buffs. Your SFiend is more powerful based on your spellpower, so popping it when you have an Int or SP buff is a good idea. If you are having mana issues, using it at approximately 60% should get you alot of mana back without losing any due to excess. I would recommend saving Archangel for one of three purposes. A: If the boss is long and you know it will be off of cooldown by the time something big happens later on, use it. It's better to use it and have it on CD for those first seconds of the special happy fun time than to never use it at all. B: If you are low on mana, use it. You are useless if you cannot cast, so use it even if it is not an opportune time. C: Use it in conjunction with certain buffs. I recommend using C for almost every use of AA. It is recommended to make sure all of your dots are topped off before you use it, however, since the resulting buff only affects your MF, MB, MSpike, and SW: D. Using it only at a full 5 stack of Dark Evangelism is also a good idea.


Those are the basics. Keep gearing up, grinding your rep, and dealing with your gear, and you'll see the dps upgrade you are so desperately looking for. Remember, half-assing your blues will make it harder to get purples, so do it right and save yourself some time. Gold is easy to come by these days anyways. If you need to reference an average spriest's armory, my link is below.

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...aheim/advanced

Best of luck!
Vanaheim

[scandalis]

Keep your dots up at all times, dont let empowered shadows fall off (sometimes the RNG boss can stop this) but as soon as you can if it falls off get it back up. Don't SWD >25% unless you have mana issues (i tend to only death > 25% if im running and really need the mana). Use focus macros especially for fights that have 2 mobs. Use fiend on CD and AA on CD but before using AA make sure you refresh your dots. Tauren offers no DPS gain as a SP and if you dont mind spending the money then race change to a goblin. Drop the dispersion glyph for swd. I'm at work so thats all i have time to write. GL!

The above posters gave great advice.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...A1lis/advanced
my armory just for the hell of it.

[rhyliss]

You should keep Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch, and you should Mind Flay in between. Also, as long as you have 1+ Shadow Orb, you should Mind Blast to keep up the Empowered Shadows Buff.

This post really boils it down to the essentials, without a lot of needless explanation. If you're still having trouble, I'd be happy to look at some parses or try to assist on a more personalized basis.