Shadowpriest mana in arena

[Deleted]

Hey people!

I had a little question about shadow in arena, my friend and I play shadowplay in 3s or Rsham/Spriest in 2s, but in longer arena matches he just goes OOM after a while and has to use dispersion to get mana back...

He's clueless about what he's doing wrong (we've seen priests stay at 70% mana the whole match), any ideas on what might cause this?

[Lyro]

maybe he is just not using vampiric touch frequent enough, or it gets dispeled too much since it is the main mana battery of spriest it can cause problems

[Damerflinn]

What Lyro said is probably true. He's either not using Vampiric Touch enough, or it is getting removed too much.

If he's not using it enough, then that's simple enough to fix. However, there isn't really much he can do about it getting taken off too much.

I'm not sure how Spriest Shaman would work out for 2's, doesn't seem like there would be enough burst to really take anyone down?

Another possibility is that he's not getting anything out of Spirit Link Totem when it's being used, which would affect him late game. It honestly shouldn't be that hard for him to return his mana. With VT, Hymn, and Fiend, it doesn't surprise me that most Priests are able to sit at about 70%. Is he using Mindbender? That could definitely help as it has a shorter CD. Hymn can be a bit difficult to get a full channel off, but if coordinated properly shouldn't be too bad.

[Highmoon7]

As the other post said he needs better VT management. VT is around 80% of spriest mana regen. He should never go oom runing shadow play 3s.
1 VT= slowly losing mana
2 Vt= decent mana regen
3 VT= max mana all game

If he's keeping targets doted he should never go oom. If you're running recount you can check dot up time to see how well he manages dots.
I rarely disperse for mana. Also I go haste/mastery and avoid crit as much as possible. The extra mastery ticks on VT give mana back.

[Lyro]

However, there isn't really much he can do about it getting taken off too much.

set bonus that gives 3-4 secs of fear when vt is dispeled is a good built-in counter mechanism. similar to unstable affliction. shadow priests are really lame until they get that set bonus because of one dispel to dispel them all thing

[Deleted]

Thanks all, I'll make him read this thread

What Lyro said is probably true. He's either not using Vampiric Touch enough, or it is getting removed too much.

If he's not using it enough, then that's simple enough to fix. However, there isn't really much he can do about it getting taken off too much.

I'm not sure how Spriest Shaman would work out for 2's, doesn't seem like there would be enough burst to really take anyone down?

Another possibility is that he's not getting anything out of Spirit Link Totem when it's being used, which would affect him late game. It honestly shouldn't be that hard for him to return his mana. With VT, Hymn, and Fiend, it doesn't surprise me that most Priests are able to sit at about 70%. Is he using Mindbender? That could definitely help as it has a shorter CD. Hymn can be a bit difficult to get a full channel off, but if coordinated properly shouldn't be too bad.

There's not really a problem with the comb, there's not a lot of burst indeed but we actually only have real problems against warrior - healer. Also, if I may ask, what does spirit link have to do with mana? Or did you mean mana tide?

[Demetrion]

Just tell him to go wild with VT. Dot everything. Players, pets, critters, flying critters, spectators, his shaman, his warlock.

KEEP VT UP ON EVERYTHING!

Your setup doesn't have any CC that will break instantly when damage is dealt to target. He should keep his dots always on all targets no matter the arena size (2s or 3s) for his procs to work, especially in 3s.

[Yvaelle]

Actually, even keeping VT up on 2+ targets for much of the game, it's very very easy to go OOM as Shadow in arenas currently. Using Halo when you can land the sweet spot is pretty much always the right call - if your setting those up on cooldown then you should be doing it and its very expensive, additionally - using Mass Dispel to defensively dispel teammates is also highly beneficial and - if used frequently - will OOM a spriest after a few minutes.

So really, I wouldn't discount the possibility that he's going OOM because he's playing well - and going OOM is just something we struggle with right now. Increasing his haste and mastery will both help with this (more VT ticks), which means that better gear and in future seasons it will become less of a problem - but for the moment, you need to ask your spriest what they're putting so much of their mana into, the possibilities are:

1) Not VT'ing enough.
2) Casting the best spells (almost) as often as he can

If it's the first, that's easy to fix - if it's the second - that's just something you will have to get used to.

[Deleted]

If you are forced to play defensively with mass dispels, getting CCed/trained a lot/wind sheared/cycloned/dispelled, and if you have to have to heal your team mates because the opposing team is pressuring very hard, then yes, you will eventually run out of mana.

The only solution is to use dispersion for mana purposes, and to play cleverly with vampiric touches (as in dotting pets, and targets who aren't likely to be CCed within 10-15 seconds).

Halo and mass dispel are the two big mana killers, but both spells are so insanely good in arena.

[yurano]

Using Halo when you can land the sweet spot is pretty much always the right call - if your setting those up on cooldown then you should be doing it and its very expensive, additionally - using Mass Dispel to defensively dispel teammates is also highly beneficial and - if used frequently - will OOM a spriest after a few minutes.

Going OOM due to Halo and Mass Dispel is what Blizzard would call 'good design'. Those aren't supposed to be popped on cooldown.

[Highmoon7]

Pretty much only use halo/casscade/mas dispel when you have extra mana. You can't use them on cooldown. If you're low, don't give up mana needed for dots, sheilds and cc.

To answer the orginal quest, try to maximize VT up time to give you the most mana. Use halo/casscade/mass dispel when it is strategic not on cool down.