Shadow priest pve dps tips?

[Genooo]

Any tips for doing optimal dps? Common noob mistakes? I just hit 90 yesterday and my ilvl is 460.

Also, which t6 talent does the most single target dps?

[pkm]

Don't think there is much to say. Be smart about dotting, manage your orbs optimally. Just follow your normal single/multi target priority. As far as I know spriest doesn't really have CDs to blow or burst (devouring plague?)

[snaxattax]

the only real 'trick' for shadow is really maximizing twist of fate. using dots on adds, our level 90 aoe talents, and SWDeath we can maintain very high uptime on this buff for fights with swarms of low health adds. always have enemy healthbars on, and when you see mobs getting low (youll get a good eye for it with practice) be ready to swap and cast SWDeath and/or a DoT (depending on how long it will be alive... elegon big adds for an example live for quite a while in execute range until they actually explode and this behavior is a significant contribution to our TOFate uptime on this encounter) before it dies.

also, another thing is if you're on a divine insight fight (first two and the 4th in HOF, first two in MSV) be sure not to use the mind spike glyph. the buff from the mind spike glyph interacts with DI in a very negative way - often causing DI procs to not reset the mindblast cooldown. you can work around this with /cancelaura macros, but the dps gain from doing this over just using mindbender is very small (and it's a significant dps loss if you fuck it up =/ ).

[kartmanlol]

be sure not to use the mind spike glyph. the buff from the mind spike glyph interacts with DI in a very negative way - often causing DI procs to not reset the mindblast cooldown. you can work around this with /cancelaura macros, but the dps gain from doing this over just using mindbender is very small (and it's a significant dps loss if you fuck it up =/ ).

Hmm how does that work again? Cause sometimes I do get DI procs, use the instant MB and it goes on cd but the ability on the hotbar is still lit up. I always assumed its something to do with mastery causing it to double proc or something. Didn't know anything about MS glyph interacting with it.

[Deleted]

best tip I can give;

don't suck, don't die

[snaxattax]

Hmm how does that work again? Cause sometimes I do get DI procs, use the instant MB and it goes on cd but the ability on the hotbar is still lit up. I always assumed its something to do with mastery causing it to double proc or something. Didn't know anything about MS glyph interacting with it.

mastery only works for dots/channels. it has to do with having an 'instant' mindblast from GoSpike and also having an instant mindblast from DI - the game then consumes the buffs in a stupid order when you hit mindblast. just use a different glyph for DI fights, and if it's mostly pure single target or a mindsear spamfest go for mindbender instead of FDCL altogether. just try it and see for yourself.

[Genooo]

the only real 'trick' for shadow is really maximizing twist of fate. using dots on adds, our level 90 aoe talents, and SWDeath we can maintain very high uptime on this buff for fights with swarms of low health adds. always have enemy healthbars on, and when you see mobs getting low (youll get a good eye for it with practice) be ready to swap and cast SWDeath and/or a DoT (depending on how long it will be alive... elegon big adds for an example live for quite a while in execute range until they actually explode and this behavior is a significant contribution to our TOFate uptime on this encounter) before it dies.

also, another thing is if you're on a divine insight fight (first two and the 4th in HOF, first two in MSV) be sure not to use the mind spike glyph. the buff from the mind spike glyph interacts with DI in a very negative way - often causing DI procs to not reset the mindblast cooldown. you can work around this with /cancelaura macros, but the dps gain from doing this over just using mindbender is very small (and it's a significant dps loss if you fuck it up =/ ).

So twist of fate > Divine insight? I didn't know that, thought, the free extra mind blasts would be more useful.

Also, when mind flaying, so I let it finish channeling before recasting or recast slightly before its over?

[snaxattax]

twist of fate is a buff which lasts 10 seconds - all nukes as well as all dots you cast during this time get the +15% damage buff for their entire duration as long as TOF was up when you cast the dot. damage you deal to a mob past the 20% point will refresh the TOF buff, which can end up giving you 15-20 seconds of the buff from a single dying add. also, fights where TOF are good (fights with adds) also give you plenty of opportunities to get extra orbs through SWD.

generally if a fight has lots of adds that die throughout the encounter, TOF blows away divine insight. the only fights that don't really fit this mold are the first (and on 10 man the second) bosses in H-MSV, and the first two bosses in H-HOF. people used to use DI for meljarak, but with the buffs to mind sear, it's not worth bothering with anymore.

[Genooo]

twist of fate is a buff which lasts 10 seconds - all nukes as well as all dots you cast during this time get the +15% damage buff for their entire duration as long as TOF was up when you cast the dot. damage you deal to a mob past the 20% point will refresh the TOF buff, which can end up giving you 15-20 seconds of the buff from a single dying add. also, fights where TOF are good (fights with adds) also give you plenty of opportunities to get extra orbs through SWD.

generally if a fight has lots of adds that die throughout the encounter, TOF blows away divine insight. the only fights that don't really fit this mold are the first (and on 10 man the second) bosses in H-MSV, and the first two bosses in H-HOF. people used to use DI for meljarak, but with the buffs to mind sear, it's not worth bothering with anymore.

Which is better for soloing? How about 5-mans? That'll be the bulk of what I'm doing for now, and when raid time comes I'll just switch to what you said.

[Dust45]

Which is better for soloing? How about 5-mans? That'll be the bulk of what I'm doing for now, and when raid time comes I'll just switch to what you said.

Twist of fate is definitely better for dungeons as things will be dying all the time. Soloing is kind of a mixed bag. If you are comfortable pulling many enemies in a row (I pull my next mob while the last is at 50% health, pausing to snipe that add once my dots take it to SW range), then you should go ToF. If you like to finish one mob before the next, I guess DI would be better. Basically, unless it is a raid boss that either does not have a soft enrage at the end and/or does not have any adds you can kill, Twist of Fate will always be amazing.

[snaxattax]

i personally prefer TOF for soloing if for no reason other than it also helps with your (emergency) healing. i usually run FDCL/TOF for dailies/5mans when i do them for this reason.

---------- Post added 2012-12-05 at 12:29 AM ----------

Also, when mind flaying, so I let it finish channeling before recasting or recast slightly before its over?

there is no penalty for recasting mindflay between the last two ticks. it adds the last tick, and corresponding channel duration, to the next mindflay. it works this way with all dots. generally recasting with <1.5 sec left on SWP, or <2.5 sec left on VT will not negatively impact your dps. the only exception to this is in execute range (never delay orb generators for anything other than a 3 orb DP) or if the mob is an add that's about to die.

[Deleted]

Any tips as to when refresh dots in regards to procs? ie jade spirit, inner brilliance, blessing of the celestials ecc?

[Balyn]

Any tips as to when refresh dots in regards to procs? ie jade spirit, inner brilliance, blessing of the celestials ecc?

as far as I know you don't need to do this anymore due the spellpower counts in right away on the dots.

[snaxattax]

as far as I know you don't need to do this anymore due the spellpower counts in right away on the dots.

this isn't the case - the only things that dynamically update on dots is mastery and crit. it's just that it's not worth refreshing your dots with spellpower procs anymore, as they are not as large a contribution to your overall dps. refreshing SWP can make sense, as the difference between the instant DD of SWP and a tick of mindflay is pretty small, but the only thing i refresh VT for is bloodlust.

[Deleted]

well then i was doing it kinda wrong, hard to change habits though Anyways ill just refresh pain now when i get 2 or more procs but will make the rotation pretty lame anyway thanks for the tip

[Minoan]

I would ask you about two swappable talents so far.
Bender|FDLC and DI|ToF.
MSV.
1st Boss: FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
2nd Boss:MBender|ToF Heroic:FDLC|DI
3rd Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
4th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:?
5th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
6th Boss:FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
HoF:
1st Boss:FDLC|ToF(?1) Heroic:FDLC|ToF
2nd Boss:FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
3rd Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
4th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
5th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
6th Boss:FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
ToES:
1st Boss:FDLC|DI
2nd Boss:FDLC|ToF
3rd Boss:FDLC|DI(?1)
4th Boss:FDLC|DI

?1 means-while on running mechanics of these bosses we are spamming SW:P to compencate movement damage lost. Are we able to proc Divine Infusion by these SW:P re-implementations for every CD? If yes, we are proccing some more Orbs while running.
Please do not punish me as it is just theorycrafting and fix that table. I'm obviously not sure what is better for 4th HoF boss since ToF is benefits if you're Seering till boss has 2 stacks of Debuff or start multidotting and keep MD procs on boss with 1 debuff, then DI is more useful. And that's really makes me frustrating knowing I haven't got so far by my shadow priest. If someone experienced will fix that table it may be an amazing tip for DPS newbies, just like me, from nobles.

[Relapses]

I would ask you about two swappable talents so far.
Bender|FDLC and DI|ToF.
MSV.
1st Boss: FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
2nd Boss:MBender|ToF Heroic:FDLC|DI
3rd Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
4th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:?
5th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
6th Boss:FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
HoF:
1st Boss:FDLC|ToF(?1) Heroic:FDLC|ToF
2nd Boss:FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
3rd Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
4th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
5th Boss:FDLC|ToF Heroic:FDLC|ToF
6th Boss:FDLC|DI Heroic:FDLC|DI
ToES:
1st Boss:FDLC|DI
2nd Boss:FDLC|ToF
3rd Boss:FDLC|DI(?1)
4th Boss:FDLC|DI

There's already a pretty accurate thread over at H2P:

http://howtopriest.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2173

I generally prefer MB over FDCL on fights without adds, but that's a personal playstyle preference.

[snaxattax]

i wouldnt use FDCL on (Heroic) feng or meljarak anymore. mindsear is so much stronger now that you don't want to be casting extraneous VT's or mindspikes.

[Volitar]

Try and snipe a shadow word : death or dot on anything dying to get a twist of fate proc.

[Minoan]

Thank you otaXephon!
And also, lots of people were complaining that if you're using FDLC+DI and glyph of Spike, you need to have special cancelaura glyph. Can anyone show it and explain in simple terms how it works?