Is Shadow going to be "desirable" in 8.1?

[Debased]

I've seen the "changes". It looks like some numbers tuning that should have happened three months ago. I haven't crunched numbers but, I'll guess a 10% overall DPS buff at best, and a probable nerf to our cleave. Still bottom third I'm sure.

I cannot go through 8.0 again. Benched for M progression, unpuggable for keys, almost worthless for key progression etc. It's been miserable, I'm surprised I've seen as much content as I have (6/8M). I do not want to main a joke spec again.

Basically? Do you think shadow is actually going to be viable for semi-competitive play in 8.1.?

[A Chozo]

Nope.

You must change classes. Like, now.

[kalaratic]

nothing changes in the way you look at shadow in 8.1 compared to now. it will be desirable if either the numbers are overtuned or if multidotting will be strong on a lot of fights in the new raid.

[Beefkow]

It will take alot more than number tuning to get spriest to become viable again.

[Rockford]

Pretty much what the other's have mentioned. The "tuning" we're receiving for Voidform could have easily been implemented on release (I'm not at all impressed by the 3% reduction of all damage). I do think there'll be a chance for substantial tuning in 8.1.5 as Legion's equivalent could be compared as such with 7.1 to 7.1.5. While I can't see Voidform being replaced mid exp (as much as I'd like it), there are things they can do in making the spec less horrible. 2 charge Mind Blast, baseline SW and a decoupling of Eruption from Voidform into separate abilities is a start.

Though to be honest, if you're having a miserable time now, 8.1 is not going to improve on that. I'd even suggest playing around on specs that may peak your interest, while keeping the priest moderately active (as an alt) in the hope of 8.1.5 improvements.

Even picking up another class, while is can mostly be quick, has a high change of also being crap (or seen as such).

[krl]

Imho, you should change class asap. Why should I pick a shadow in my group ? What are its strong points that another spec does not do better ?

8.1 is also killing the tanky, non-voidform arena spec in pvp, so there's really nothing left in this game for shadow.

Btw Disc is getting nerfed to be balanced for the 1% top parses, good luck casually switching to it.

[athrun7189]

Imho, you should change class asap. Why should I pick a shadow in my group ? What are its strong points that another spec does not do better ?

8.1 is also killing the tanky, non-voidform arena spec in pvp, so there's really nothing left in this game for shadow.

Btw Disc is getting nerfed to be balanced for the 1% top parses, good luck casually switching to it.

Just being a ranged is something usefull in alot of guild now
and we dont talk about mass dispell on Zul that is also very usefull
Mytrax and Ghuu'nn are also fight where i'm always top 5-6

also.. if you like playing it, keep going
fun is what matter, and i'm pretty sure 99% of the people here saying you have to switch probably dont even raid in mythic

[bluesock]

Shadow will still be a dead spec in PvE for sure (if things stay the same), but in PvP they are probably gonna be monsters.

[AwkwardSquirtle]

With the shift to longer voidform, chances are you'll continue to struggle in M+. Raiding will vary by encounter, but is more likely to work.

[Tehterokkar]

Shadow is already pretty solid, should be even more so in 8.1 with the buffs to high-end players who manage Voidform correctly.

On top of that, Shadow has pretty premium raid utility in the form of Mass Dispel, which is pretty much required for Zul Mythic. If there are fights like that in the new raid or in the future(I haven't looked at details/dungeon journal of new raid yet, so can't comment specifically on Zuldazar raid), Shadow Priests will definitely find their way into raids.

Uldir was a lot about burst DPS target switching, something Shadow Priests aren't that great at. From videos of Preach that I've seen, there is a lot more traditional multi-dotting in the new raid, which should help Shadow a lot in terms of community's perception of viability(AKA WCL parses :/)

[Extremities]

^^^^^ What others are saying... All that Shadow has gotten are number changes and thats it. It will need more than just number changes to make it compelling.

[krl]

Just being a ranged is something usefull in alot of guild now
and we dont talk about mass dispell on Zul that is also very usefull
Mytrax and Ghuu'nn are also fight where i'm always top 5-6

also.. if you like playing it, keep going
fun is what matter, and i'm pretty sure 99% of the people here saying you have to switch probably dont even raid in mythic

I raid in mythic as disc and we don't take shadows in the roster before hunts/mages/locks/boomies. Shadows and elem are trash-tier of range that we only tolerate if a healer has to offspec for a fight. We may talk if they restore VE to its former glory and if they prove to have the uber cleave dps that carried us through the end of Antorus.

I won't comment on Zul because we're horde and half the raid is belf.

[Ophenia]

On top of that, Shadow has pretty premium raid utility in the form of Mass Dispel

Utterly wrong.

Priest has Mass Dispell. Not Shadow. That makes a huge difference.

[Debased]

Shadow is already pretty solid, should be even more so in 8.1 with the buffs to high-end players who manage Voidform correctly.

On top of that, Shadow has pretty premium raid utility in the form of Mass Dispel, which is pretty much required for Zul Mythic. If there are fights like that in the new raid or in the future(I haven't looked at details/dungeon journal of new raid yet, so can't comment specifically on Zuldazar raid), Shadow Priests will definitely find their way into raids.

Uldir was a lot about burst DPS target switching, something Shadow Priests aren't that great at. From videos of Preach that I've seen, there is a lot more traditional multi-dotting in the new raid, which should help Shadow a lot in terms of community's perception of viability(AKA WCL parses :/)

That's what my friend said, the new raid apparently has a lot of more traditional "two target" fights; good for shadow. As for mass dispel, it's useful, but it's hardly a reason to bring a shadow priest. Hell I've killed M Zul twice now, on both occasions I didn't cast MD once. We have two healer priests and a load of blood elves though.

Anyway. I kind of new the answer to my question, but I was just looking for some other perspectives. The only way shadow will actually be "desirable" is if our tuning and the encounters (in regards to shadow DPS) turn out better than expected and we're top half tier DPS. Our utility is still pitiful. I don't expect M+ to be more welcoming.

I like my priest, so I hope it pans out well. My rogue and maybe my mage will be ready, maybe ...

[Foolicious]

At least one council fight as far as i have seen.
May be enough to put shadow in the upper half of warcraftlogs in the first weeks.
So everything is fine.

[Tehterokkar]

Utterly wrong.

Priest has Mass Dispell. Not Shadow. That makes a huge difference.

Mass Dispel costs a LOT of mana. And guilds might not have 2 priest healers available always.

[krl]

Mass Dispel costs a LOT of mana. And guilds might not have 2 priest healers available always.

Non issue. Most raiding guilds are horde and have so many blood elves.
Arcane torrent seriously devalues the priest class as a whole imho.

[Jaigar]

Tuning is a big part of it, but consider this:

Spriest ramping mechanics going into 8.1 is going to be bad, maybe as bad as it was in Legion.

Why you ask? 6 azerite traits is a big reason, and Chorus of Insanity. Chorus of insanity, even getting heavily nerfed by more than 40%, will still be the best trait. Its scaling is quadratic, and the number of stacks gained from longer forms pushes it to the top.

We get tied to the void form cycle again, as the punishment for dropping stacks early ramps up again. The next raid tier is looking like quite a few fights has intermission stages, or parts where you simply cannot attack.

Fights with intermissions, stuns, etc:

Monk and Mage Duo
Treasure Guardian
Rastakhan: MC Totem
Mekkatorque :Shrink ray and bomb mechanic
Stormwall Blockade
Jaina

Timing on fights may make it ok, but you still have a handful of RNG in fights that's just going to punish you hard. The one council fight mid raid too has the bosses heal after one dies, so dot-cleave as useful there. However there are adds you can DoT, though not sure how long they'll live on mythic.

Now with proper tuning, it may not be a problem. Tomb Of Sargeras had similar number of intermission or high movement bosses and shadow did pretty well there. There was also a decent amount of DoT cleave in Tomb which is a big reason why. I'm seeing some in BoD.

Circling back to azerite trait tuning: Chorus is going to be a problem. Uldir has a lot of fights where you can get RNG'd into performing well, or good guild execution really drives up your performance. I'm concerned that 8.1 is going to come around and spriest are going to dominate in 8.1 Uldir, and Blizzard is going to tune for that to come into BoD being riddled with intermission phases.

If you don't choose Chorus, then spriest azerite traits become much more limited. Consider that there will be 3 traits available on every piece, Two of the traits are one-of traits. You want 1 thought harvester and 1 whispers. Death throes and searing dialogue are scaled for AoE, and Spiteful somewhere in between.

It just doesn't work well without chorus, so you're likely going to get pushed into it. Chances are you'll be wearing 3 pieces with Chorus early 8.1 in Uldir.

This is my big round-about way of saying that I think they're going to screw up tuning and shadow is going to be just as bad next tier.