Feedback - Priest Class Changes in Shadowlands
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Greetings,

We’ve heard your feedback on Shadow Priests and spent some time performing more extensive changes to the spec – including changes to baseline skills and talents. Most importantly, we’ve taken a deeper look at Voidform.

Voidform
Along with Insanity, Voidform was introduced in Legion as a central component of a Shadow Priest redesign that explored the fantasy of tapping into dark, mind-twisting void magic for temporary power. From a gameplay standpoint, this was expressed as building up Insanity, entering Voidform, then battling against decaying Insanity to prolong your time in this powerful state. This design has not been a clear winner for several players as we often receive feedback that people do not enjoy fighting the resource decay in order to inflict reasonable damage. On the other hand, we also hear from people who enjoy Voidform but feel it is not transformative enough. Over time, the design has proved problematic and Voidform uptime has dominated the spec, going far beyond our original intention. Now, any talents, items, legendaries, etc. that do not feed into Voidform are considered undesirable. We want time in Voidform to feel more impactful and as a result, we are limiting the time you can undergo the transformation by applying a cooldown. By default, the ability will no longer have the decaying resource mechanic, but that gameplay will be more appropriately placed in the redesigned talent, Legacy of the Void, so that players can have the option to choose the “legacy” feel of Voidform.

Devouring Plague
Feedback suggested the duration of Devouring Plague was too long. While we reduced the duration from its historic 21 second duration to 12 seconds, we agree this still feels too long so we’re reducing it further to 6 seconds. We’ve also fixed bugs that prevented Devouring Plague from scaling with Haste or Critical Strike and we’ve also increased its damage.

General Gameplay
We’re introducing a new passive called Dark Thoughts that adds a baseline proc in the rotation which we feel spices up the general rotation. We want damage over time effects to matter to Shadow Priests, so we’ve made it so Dark Thoughts and other mechanics interact with that core theme.

Talents
We’ve gone through a number of talents and made adjustments in an effort to make choices a bit more competitive in a variety of situations. Unfurling Darkness and Psychic Link support Shadow Priests multi-dotting strength, while Damnation and Surrender to Madness provide tools for Shadow Priests to quickly burst targets down when the encounter demands it.

Lastly, we want to spotlight the new talent, Searing Nightmare. Searing Nightmare can assist Shadow Priests in situations like Mythic+ where higher sustained AOE could be useful.

Thanks everyone for your feedback and your unending passion.

Baseline Changes
  • Void Eruption’s cast time is reduced by 40%.
  • Mind Blast (Rank 2) reduces cooldown of Mind Blast by 7.5 seconds (was 7 seconds).
  • Shadow Word: Death no longer generates Insanity.
  • Shadowy Apparitions re-designed – When you use Mind Blast, Devouring Plague or Void Bolt you also create a shadowy version of yourself that floats towards all targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch dealing Shadow damage. Critical Strikes will cause two Shadowy Apparitions to be created.
  • Voidform
    • Now has a 90 second cooldown and now increases damage by 20% and lasts for 15 seconds.
    • Voidform no longer reduces the cooldown of Mind Blast, but now refreshes the cooldown of Mind Blast and you gain 2 charges while in Voidform.
    • You no longer gain Haste every 0.5 seconds while in Voidform.
  • Devouring Plague
    • Devouring Plague’s duration reduced to 6 seconds and damage increased by 50%.
      • Developers’ note: Lowering the duration of the damage over time effect to make it punchier so that sequential Devouring Plague’s don’t overlap (accounting for potential overflow).
    • Devouring Plague will now properly critically strike.
    • Devouring Plague is now a level 20 spell.
  • New Spell
    • Dark Thoughts (Passive) (Level 16) – For each of your damage over time effects on the target, your Mind Flay and Mind Sear have a 2% chance to instantly add a charge of Mind Blast, causing it to be instantly cast, and allowing it to be cast while channeling Mind Flay or Mind Sear within 6 seconds.
      • Dark Thoughts can stack up to 5 times for situations where the Shadow Priest will proc many in a short time.

Talents
  • Tier 15
    • Shadowy Insight has been removed.
    • Shadow Word: Void has been removed.
    • Death and Madness is now available on this tier.
    • New Talent: Unfurling Darkness – After casting Vampiric Touch on a target, your next Vampiric Touch is instant cast and deals 155% SP Shadow damage instantly. This effect cannot occur more than once every 15 seconds.
  • Tier 40
    • New Talent: Psychic Link – Mind Blast deals 60% of its damage to all targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch within 40 yards.
  • Tier 45
    • Lingering Insanity has been removed.
    • Dark Void has been removed.
    • New Talent: Searing Nightmare – Instantly deals Shadow damage to all enemies around the target and afflicts them with Shadow Word: Pain. If the enemy is already afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain, Searing Nightmare deals double damage. Only usable while channeling Mind Sear.
    • New Talent: Damnation – Instantly afflicts the target with Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague free of cost. 45 seconds cooldown.
    • Void Torrent – No longer pauses your Insanity while used, but now refreshes the duration of your Shadow damage over time effects on the target while its channeling.
  • Tier 50
    • Dark Ascension has been removed.
    • Legacy of the Void re-designed – Voidform no longer has a duration. However, during Voidform your Insanity will drain increasingly fast until it reaches 0 and Voidform ends. Voidform increases spell damage by an additional 5%.
    • Surrender to Madness – Reduced to a 90 second cooldown.
    • New Talent: Ancient Madness – Entering Voidform increases your critical strike chance by 30% for 15 seconds, reducing its effect by 2% per second.

PvP Talents
  • New Talent: Lasting Plague – Increases the duration of Devouring Plague by 6 seconds.

Notice: Test Character Wipe Incoming
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
During Beta maintenance tomorrow morning (August 5), we intend to delete all test characters in the Shadowlands Beta.

Once the Beta realms are live with the new build of the Shadowlands Beta, please copy your test character(s) over and start with the quest “A Chilling Summons”.

All of the means by which content can be skipped (flaskataurs) will also be removed.

Thank you!

WoW Classic - Gong Ringing Soon on Some Realms
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Hello!
Since the Ahn’Qiraj content went live with the last weekly reset, we’ve been closely following the progress made by players on every realm. In particular, we’re looking forward to the ringing of the gong on the five realms in this region that have completed their War Effort and will see supplies delivered to Silithus by 11:00 a.m. PDT tomorrow:

  • Sulfuras
  • Skeram
  • Incendius
  • Netherwind
  • Earthfury

They are listed above in the order that they completed turn-ins, which began the 120-hour-long process of transporting supplies.
We expect that players will begin ringing the gong on those realms soon after the weekly reset tomorrow, and that will begin the 10 Hour War, during which additional players who meet the requirements to do so may also ring the gong. At the end of the 10 Hour War, the 20- and 40-person raids will open on those realms.

We also expect that Silithus is going to be a packed house on those realms, and players who are below level 60 will be the first to be ported out. We’ll be looking for streamers who are participating on each of them, so please feel free to reply here if you spot a good stream for everyone to watch.
Good luck to everyone who’s trying to be the first to Bang A Gong!
This article was originally published in forum thread: Feedback - Priest Class Changes in Shadowlands, Classic - Gong Ringing Realms started by Stoy View original post
Comments 71 Comments
  1. baseballfan's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Argorwal View Post
    So shadow gets to trade it’s unique playstyle for a generic flat damage cooldown?

    Does it get any more boring?
    agreed. it feels like they just said "too hard to figure out, time to make it a regular damage increase cooldown, have fun!"
  1. Saltysquidoon's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinrael View Post
    Really.....?

    After they specifically said that Shadow changes are currently being discussed and are definitely coming months ago?
    Wut? Definitely coming months ago?

    They specifically tried the lazy band-aid fix first with DP and when that didn't placate the masses only when that blew up in their face spectacularly then did they make those real changes.
  1. Shinrael's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Saltysquidoon View Post
    Wut? Definitely coming months ago?

    They specifically tried the lazy band-aid fix first with DP and when that didn't placate the masses only when that blew up in their face spectacularly then did they make those real changes.
    In one of the earlier interviews from Preach, around the start of Alpha, Preach asked them if there are any plans for Shadow changes and they explicitly said that it is being talked about actively, but just nothing to announce at the moment. Start of alpha was months ago.
  1. Pengalor's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Swnem View Post
    Would you rather broken? It's too early to say it's boring. You haven't even tried it nor is there any footage.
    They say that playstyle stil exists with a talent too, so stop the drama until you know how it all feels.
    How was it 'broken'? And the playstyle doesn't really exist anymore since they're removing Insanity generation from some major abilities like SW: D.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Frinata View Post
    So, I don't have much room to talk with, as I haven't (yet) got to end game with Spriest on retail, but Voidform has been very clunky on dungeon bosses (I mention them like that because mobs outside that don't live long enough to make Voidform feel as intended). It's cool in concept, but becomes clunky and makes you feel bad for not being in Voidform, given how often you end up using it.

    I agree with Blizzard's statements about it, and turning it into a CD will help make Voidform more impactful
    At low level you don't have the haste to make it feel how it's supposed to. Also, it's just not a very good dungeon spec (not to mention at low level things die way too quickly, you see the same problem with Aff Lock).
  1. Alanar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinrael View Post
    Really.....?

    After they specifically said that Shadow changes are currently being discussed and are definitely coming months ago?
    No one expected this much tbh... don't be that guy.
  1. deenman's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Clozer View Post
    Shadows unique playstyle destroyed because low skilled people can't handle the insanity mechanic. xD
    nope,it simply is a fundamentaly flawed mecanic,rewarding good play is always good,but when good play is rewarded by doing double dps than the nr 2,we have a problem,so blizzard ofc nerfed it,and after nerf it became just awakward

    also its simply not fun to manage it,raiding it was ok but doing anything outside raiding with it was simply clunky...when you get to a point where BOTH YOUR HEALS SPECS perform better dmg wise in the outdoor....you dun fucked up
  1. kaid's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Saltysquidoon View Post
    Wut? Definitely coming months ago?

    They specifically tried the lazy band-aid fix first with DP and when that didn't placate the masses only when that blew up in their face spectacularly then did they make those real changes.
    It was not hard to balance as it was it was impossible. It either is useless for the bulk of play and totally over the top strong in raids or strong in the bulk of the play and totally totally OP in raiding. With something like this the top level raiders will abuse the mechanic so bad they will have to balance the class accordingly which makes it play like hot garbage for everybody else.
  1. Nephys's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by baseballfan View Post
    agreed. it feels like they just said "too hard to figure out, time to make it a regular damage increase cooldown, have fun!"
    And the idiots eat it as if its the nectar from the gods, don't you see everyone applauding them? We will never have SP from Legion again, it was fun while it lasted, at least I have the memories.

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    Quote Originally Posted by deenman View Post
    nope,it simply is a fundamentaly flawed mecanic,rewarding good play is always good,but when good play is rewarded by doing double dps than the nr 2,we have a problem,so blizzard ofc nerfed it,and after nerf it became just awakward

    also its simply not fun to manage it,raiding it was ok but doing anything outside raiding with it was simply clunky...when you get to a point where BOTH YOUR HEALS SPECS perform better dmg wise in the outdoor....you dun fucked up
    SP was clunky on low keys, which tbh is a minor issue because it was competitive on high keys due to mobs having a lot of HP. The problem in BfA is not related to priest's damage profile, all casters are bad in high m+ on bfa, its not a problem with the class, but with the game.

    Voidform is probably one of the most unique playstyles in the game atm, you don't just switch to SP and play it like every other class, you need to learn its quirks, that mastery is what makes the class good, this just makes SP another general class.
  1. deenman's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Nephys View Post
    And the idiots eat it as if its the nectar from the gods, don't you see everyone applauding them? We will never have SP from Legion again, it was fun while it lasted, at least I have the memories.

    - - - Updated - - -



    SP was clunky on low keys, which tbh is a minor issue because it was competitive on high keys due to mobs having a lot of HP. The problem in BfA is not related to priest's damage profile, all casters are bad in high m+ on bfa, its not a problem with the class, but with the game.

    Voidform is probably one of the most unique playstyles in the game atm, you don't just switch to SP and play it like every other class, you need to learn its quirks, that mastery is what makes the class good, this just makes SP another general class.
    Wile voidform is gr8 when its able to shine and sounds cool on paper,ultimately it just ends up feeling limiting,i simply dont enjoy it outside of those scenarios where it can truly shine,it felt good in early legion to wipe the floor with everyone else dps wise on some encounters

    but anytime you wanted to just play more chill and relaxed and not like an energizer bunny on steroids that would implode the moment i blink...it was lackluster,in wod you had more versatility

    i honestly miss the cata version most,tbc's mana battery was also cool,even if you didnt outdps anyone you knew you were a pillar of that group similar to a shaman
  1. Shinrael's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Alanar View Post
    No one expected this much tbh... don't be that guy.
    What are you talking about? They explicitly SAID that there will be changes. Don't be that guy, please?
  1. Nephys's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by deenman View Post
    Wile voidform is gr8 when its able to shine and sounds cool on paper,ultimately it just ends up feeling limiting,i simply dont enjoy it outside of those scenarios where it can truly shine,it felt good in early legion to wipe the floor with everyone else dps wise on some encounters

    but anytime you wanted to just play more chill and relaxed and not like an energizer bunny on steroids that would implode the moment i blink...it was lackluster,in wod you had more versatility

    i honestly miss the cata version most,tbc's mana battery was also cool,even if you didnt outdps anyone you knew you were a pillar of that group similar to a shaman
    If you are not doing top content you don't have to execute your kit at peak performance, its alright to just chill and click the buttons, but you are pushing a high m+ or progress boss you should go all out. I don't mean that the class should be extremelly hard to play, it wasn't, there's a difference between something difficult, and something that just takes time to learn. I am completely against them making shadow priest super difficult, that should be something reserved for a spec from a class with 3 dps specs, not one who only has 1 dps spec. A deep mastery is something else entirely, as a SP you had to learn how to manage the sanity drain, thats a skill that no other class checks, and only learn how to properly manage the cooldowns and saity after playing the class for a while, its not super dificult but it takes practice, thats good design by my book.

    I am afraid that this new version took that out of the spec, but we shall see.
  1. FossilFree's Avatar
    These changes are great! Now shadow just needs a couple glyphs for shadow versions of PWS and levitate.
  1. javierdsv's Avatar
    As veteran player and long lover of Priests, I'm seriously happy about most of these changes.

    Mind consuming rotations are no good for a game looking for new players to prevent the genre from dying.
  1. ClassicPeon's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Clozer View Post
    Shadows unique playstyle destroyed because low skilled people can't handle the insanity mechanic. xD
    When you are so far off the mark people literally ignore you :/

    Go back to lfr and pushing your weekly m0 mate

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nephys View Post
    And the idiots eat it as if its the nectar from the gods, don't you see everyone applauding them? We will never have SP from Legion again, it was fun while it lasted, at least I have the memories.

    - - - Updated - - -



    SP was clunky on low keys, which tbh is a minor issue because it was competitive on high keys due to mobs having a lot of HP. The problem in BfA is not related to priest's damage profile, all casters are bad in high m+ on bfa, its not a problem with the class, but with the game.

    Voidform is probably one of the most unique playstyles in the game atm, you don't just switch to SP and play it like every other class, you need to learn its quirks, that mastery is what makes the class good, this just makes SP another general class.
    That playstyle is still there for you to "enjoy".

    Meanwhile the rest of us shadowpriests who actually play the class(wink wink) welcome these changes and they are what the largest part of the community asked for.
  1. Scrysis's Avatar
    Aaaayyyyyeeee. As a priest, I welcome trying these changes! They might need some numbers tweaking, but this is what we've been suggesting for a while. Liking it!
  1. Musta's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Pengalor View Post
    How was it 'broken'? And the playstyle doesn't really exist anymore since they're removing Insanity generation from some major abilities like SW: D.

    - - - Updated - - -



    At low level you don't have the haste to make it feel how it's supposed to. Also, it's just not a very good dungeon spec (not to mention at low level things die way too quickly, you see the same problem with Aff Lock).
    We need to explode DH feedback in their faces too then.
  1. Rootsbum's Avatar
    Looks like im gonna stay priest after all
  1. Eapoe's Avatar
    Kind of gives me hope for SV getting some redesign and better synergy as melee. Back to the topic at hand, these changes seem nice and might make me play Spriest instead of Lock next xpac for my alt character.
  1. Khestral's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shinrael View Post
    What are you talking about? They explicitly SAID that there will be changes. Don't be that guy, please?
    Dude who cares what they've said? Sure, there have been hints that they are working on it but it could've been similiar to what they did in BfA 8.1, instead we've got a pretty huge rework because it fundamentally changes the gameplay and class.
    Maybe the guy didn't see the messages from Ion that they were looking into. What is the point in being a dick and calling any1 (implicitly) an idiot for not being well informed about upcoming beta changes. Let the people be excited, if they didn't know it was coming it was unexpected for them and there is 0 fucking problem with that

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by ClassicPeon View Post
    When you are so far off the mark people literally ignore you :/

    Go back to lfr and pushing your weekly m0 mate

    - - - Updated - - -



    That playstyle is still there for you to "enjoy".

    Meanwhile the rest of us shadowpriests who actually play the class(wink wink) welcome these changes and they are what the largest part of the community asked for.
    Well I switched to shadow in legion when they reworked the class and stopped playing it in bfa where most of legion's perks were removed. I haven't polled the community about what they want, and people are always louder when they're asking for something compared to when they're content or happy.

    I'm really sad about killing a niche unique fun playstyle tho, because it's not "there for you to enjoy" anymore with the removal of haste (and mass hysteria/Chorus of insanity) stacking during VF. Now LotV is just a simple extend your cooldown that many other classes have.

    I saw a lot of people wanting to go back to the version of shadow they enjoyed, but to be honest (for me) the legion iteration was the most unique and crazy thing wow had so far and I'm going to miss it 100%.
  1. Thelxi's Avatar
    Well finally. History repeats itself though and I hope people are paying attention to the fact that it took them four years to turn void form into a cooldown/talent, which was literally the feedback I personally and many others gave them, again, four years ago. We've seen this before with chakras and eclipse bars.

    Keep this in mind whenever you get excited about changes like the new eclipse mechanic. It might just haunt you for years.

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