1. Introduction
2. Races
3. Stat Priority
4. Gear
5. Gemming
6. Enchants
7. Specs
8. Glyphs
9. Inner Fire v. Inner Will
10. Addons
1. Introduction: I have been PvPing as a Shadow Priest since the middle of Wrath of the Lich King. This guide is intended to cover the basics/simple questions about Spriest PvP. This is NOT a guide with in-depth arena strategies or comps. I do plan on keeping the guide updated in the future and please let me know if you find any errors in the guide, so it can be improved.
2. Races: Generally, I would tell people to pick whatever race they like the best - but for those min/maxers out there here is a small break down of each race.
Alliance:
Humans: Best race for Alliance PvP, the second trinket slot is amazingly useful. Extra spirit and bonus reputation are icing on the cake.
Dwarf: Stoneform is a nice defensive cooldown, especially against classes that rely on bleeds - such as feral druids. Frost resistance and archaeology bonus are mildly useful.
Gnome: Escape Artists is useful but, with fade and the new 4-piece bonus, it has been devalued quite a bit. Expansive mind is nice, engineering bonus and arcane resistance are both situational.
Night Elf: Shadowmeld is useful to drop combat and drink if need be, it is also a great tool for surprising an enemy (especially with Mind Control at the Lumber Mill)! Quickness is an added perk, nature resistance is situationally useful.
Draenei: Gift of the Naaru is great to throw up when popping a renew/prayer of mending mid-fight (note: it does break Shadowform). Heroic Presence is nice as it allows you to cut back on any hit you might need to reforge for, or if you have excess hit you can reforge it into another stat. Gemcutting and Shadow Resistance are both situational perks.
Worgen: Dark Flight is useful when running away from melee or trying to get a clutch fear off. The 1% crit from viciousness is a nice perk. Aberration's nature and shadow resist are situational. Flayer is generally considered useless.
Horde:
Tauren: Warstomp is situational, it requires you be in melee range and has a short cast time (which can be annoying) - but it has uses nevertheless. Cultivation, nature resist, and stamina increase are mildly useful.
Troll: Berserking is amazing, it is a like a mini-personal Bloodlust! "Da Voodoo Shuffle" is nice, Beast Slaying is situational. Regeneration is negligible.
Forsaken: Will of the Forsaken has seen nerf after nerf, and it is currently somewhat lackluster - but it can win you fights against classes with short-cooldown fears. Shadow Resistance and Underwater Breathing are situationally useful. Cannibalize is useful while leveling and a great way to taunt your opponents after you have slaughtered them.
Blood Elf: Arcane Torrent can prove to be quite useful with its 6% mana regen and clutch AoE silence. Arcane Affinity and Magic Resistance are mildly useful.
Goblin: Rocket Job is extremely useful, think of it as clutch blink with a longer cooldown. 1% haste along with alchemy bonus, cheaper vendor prices, and mobile bank make goblins a very attractive choice for Horde side.
3. Stat Priority:
Generally the accepted priority for stats is:
4% Spell Hit > Spell Penetration Cap (Hard Cap is 240 - Resistance Aura + Mage Armor) > Intellect > Haste > Crit > Mastery
4. Gear:
I recommend running with 4/5 Mooncloth set and the PvP off pieces. Priests in general are a resil dependent class and we need all we can get. This is also why I recommend running with two +resil trinkets (on use spellpower/battlemaster as the second). If you have access to raiding gear and would like to throw in some PvE pieces to improve your output, by all means do so - but try to keep your resil up. Reforge unneeded stats, crit, and mastery to haste (make sure to stay above all of your caps).
5. Gemming:
Red Slots: You should always gem intellect in red sockets: http://www.wowhead.com/item=52207.
Yellow Slots: If the socket bonus is useful (intellect/resil), I recommend gemming int/haste: http://www.wowhead.com/item=52208 If the socket isn't worth it, gem straight intellect.
Blue Socket: First priority for blue sockets are spell penetration gems, if you are below the spell pen cap gem: http://www.wowhead.com/item=52246 If you are over the cap and if the socket bonus is useful (intellect/resil), I recommend gemming int/spirit: http://www.wowhead.com/item=52236 If the socket bonus isn't worth it, gem straight intellect.
Meta Gem: [Burning Shadowspirit Diamond] (http://www.wowhead.com/item=68780/bu...ond#created-by) is your best option.
6. Enchants
Head: +60 intellect and + 35 resilience (http://www.wowhead.com/item=68770)
Shoulders: +50 intellect and +25 resilience (http://www.wowhead.com/item=68772)
Back: +70 spell penetration (if below cap) or +50 intellect (if over)
Chest: +40 resilience
Bracers: +50 intellect
Gloves: +50 haste
Belt: [Ebsonsteel Belt Buckle] (http://www.wowhead.com/item=55054)
Legs: +95 intellect and +80 stamina (http://www.wowhead.com/item=54448/)
Boots: +30 stamina and speed increase
Weapon: Hurricane or if you can afford it, Power Torrent.
Offhand: +40 intellect
7. Specs:
Recommended PvP Spec:
http://wowtal.com/#k=_5QXsyIl.aei.priest.
However, there are several viable variations:
• Dropping Paralysis for Improved Shadow Word: Pain.
• Dropping Paralysis, putting one point into Improved Shadow Word: Pain and putting the last point in either Inner Sanctum or Mental Agility.
*Note on Paralysis: Many priests debate over whether to spec into Paralysis. While the talent is useful there are several drawbacks. You have to cast several Mind Spikes in a row for a reliable proc and the effect, since it is physical, can be parried/blocked. I personally run with Paralysis - as I always find myself missing it when I don't have it specced.
8. Glyphs
Prime:
• Glyph of Dispersion: Reduces the cooldown of Dispersion by 45 seconds. Most valuable glyph as it gives a shorter defensive CD and more mana return. Mandatory.*
• Glyph of Shadow Word: Death: Resets the cooldown on death if it fails to kill someone below 25% health. With this glyph, if you get someone to 25% you've pretty much won. Recommended.*
• Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain: Increase the damage of pain by 10%. This adds a reasonable amount of damage to the dot and it is even better if you have pain on multiple targets. Recommended.*
• Glyph of Mind Flay: Increases the damage of Mind Flay by 10%. I would skip this one.
• Glyph of Power Word: Shield: Heals you for 20% of the amount absorbed by your Power Word: Shield (doesn't break Shadowform). This glyph provides a small amount of healing that adds up over a battle.
Major:
• Glyph of Psychic Horror: Reduces the cooldown of Psychic Horror by 30 seconds. Recommended/Mandatory.*
• Glyph of Fade: Reduces the cooldown of Fade by 9 seconds. This means you can clear movement-imparing effects on yourself 9 seconds sooner. Recommended.*
• Glyph of Prayer of Mending: Increases the potency of the first charge of PoM by 60%. This glyph is great, it makes your most efficient heal significantly better.
• Glyph of Mass Dispel: Reduces the cast time of Mass Dispel by 1 second. Extremely useful for removing bubble/ice block without fear of being interrupted. Recommended.*
• Glyph of Dispel Magic: Heals the target of your Dispel Magic for 3% of their maximum health (friendly targets only). With the upcoming changes to priest dispels, I wouldn't advise this glyph.
• Glyph of Inner Fire: Increases the armor bonus from Inner Fire by 50%, this adds less armor than you would expect. If you are having trouble surviving against melee, I might use it. However, there are better glyphs and I would generally skip over this one.
Minor:
I recommend:
• Glyph of Levitate
• Glyph of Shadowfiend
• Glyph of Fading
9. Inner Fire v. Inner Will
I see a lot of shadow priest ask this question. There is no real "correct" answer, it is a personal preference - however I do have some advice. I would advise to stay in Inner Will for the speed bonus and mana reduction (so many of our spells are instant it adds up for a lot). If you are being trained by melee switch into Inner Fire for the added armor and potency to heals. If you find you aren't having mana troubles without Inner Will, you should use Inner Fire all the time.
10. Addons
I personally recommend tweaking your UI until you find something you are comfortable with. In addition to the following addons, I suggest you pick up an enhanced party/raid frames addon - there are many options, but personally I use Vuhdo. (http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a...ils/vuhdo.aspx)
Gladius: This addon provides basic information about an enemy team in arena. It displays your opponent's health/resources/class/cast bar, it can also track an enemy's cooldowns (such as trinket), as well as diminishing returns. Download: http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a...s/gladius.aspx
Power Aura Classic: Useful for creating visual indicators for current buffs/debuffs/cooldowns. Useful for tracking stacks of Dark Evangelism and the duration of Dark Archangel. Download: http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a...s-classic.aspx
*Basic Setup: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...4#post10955394
Need to Know: Can be used to track the duration of multiple buffs and debuffs in clean/simple bars. Download: http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a...d-to-know.aspx
Lose Control: Displays any effect that makes you lose control (fear, stuns, silences etc.) of your character in the middle of your screen along with the time remaining on the effect. Extremely useful and requires little to no setup. Download: http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a...secontrol.aspx
Interrupt Bar: Provides a small bar that can be configured to track the cooldown on interrupts, letting you know when you can cast without fear of being interrupted. Download: http://www.wowinterface.com/download...arUpdated.html
Bindpad: Makes binding different abilities for multiple specs painless, quality of life addon. Download: http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-a.../bind-pad.aspx