I haven't followed this forum since Cata so I'm sorry if this has been discussed in another thread already. Please point me to that disccussion if so. ^^;
I've been playing Warlock main so far in MoP but been missing my Shadow Priest I had in Cata and just got it to level 90 a week ago. As always I'm having a lot of fun with it, but since I haven't kept up with theorycrafting I'd like to ask you all how good you think the spec will be in the future by going into details about its strengths/weaknesses.
Please try to not make this a discussion about balance as a whole. I'm making this thread to get some insight on the spec from people who play it a lot. I don't really care that much about what you think needs to be done balance wise as much as I want to get a better understanding of how the spec works, so try stay objective and avoid whining about what other classes can do better and what you think about them because of this. With that said, let's move on to some questions I have to start the discussion~
1) I read somewhere that the gear scaling for Shadow is not as good as other classes. What does this have to do with? That the spec now relies a lot on MB/MS procs which will not be affected as much by gear? If this is the main reason is it because proc rates remains the same, so the gear benefit from that part will mainly be from reaching haste plateus (which can seen as ineffective purely for this purpose becaue it happens so rarely that they are reached) and just pure Intellect (and partly Crit I guess) to increase damage from MB/MS when we use the procs? I've been thinking about this a lot but purely on my own since I don't stay updated with Shadow theorycrafting so just putting this out there to get it confirmed. It seems the playstyle of Shadow now might be more fun than in Cata because it has become more reactive (which usually increases skill cap in practice) but I can see if it won't work out the longer the expansion goes without any fixes because how poor it scales with gear.
2) I know Shadow's role isn't only to DPS but also to support the raid with some good utility. In 10-man you rarely want to engage a boss without a Shadow Priest in your group (the optimal 10-man setup is usually 2 tanks, 2 healers, 1 spriest, 1 boomkin and 4 other DPS or 2 tanks, 3 healers, 1 spriest/boomkin and 4 other dps). However, how good do you consider this so often praised utility is in MoP? Please try give me some good examples of fights where Shadow utility has been really good/important this tier. I also wouldn't mind if you could compare the spec with other hybrids, mainly Boomkin/Elesham, if you have the knowledge to do so.
3) Where and when do you feel Shadow as a DPS spec really shines? As in what situations and encounters this tier do you feel that Shadow is at top, where hardly any other spec in the game can do the job as well? I'm asking this to allow you to prove what the spec is really good at in MoP to greater highlight its strength(s). I have a feeling that even though, just like in Cata, the spec doesn't shine on single target its strengths outside of that might be slightly different. (There also has to be som way for it to compete in a raid environment when it comes to damage output or it's greatly flawed as a whole)
4) What would you think about me if I were to change to Shadow main in 5.2? As previously mentioned, I play Warlock main atm and I've been both having a lot of fun as well as been able to perform well with the class on a higher level (been playing in a fairly succesful hardcore guild). Will I be likely to have less fun playing Spriest? Seeing how they struggle to compete with Warlocks at all fights this tier. If you can give an unbiased opinion by having a fair knowledge of both classes you're welcome to try convince me what I should play, just make sure to give me at least one good reason to why I should listen to your advice.
Feel free to add more opinions about the spec if you think I forgot to bring up something important. I'm just trying to share my thoughts and feed you with some topics to get the discussion going~
PS. I've been raiding on a hardcore level this tier and know the spec rather well (at least enough to tell how it compares with other specs on monst enocunters). Many of the questions are just worded for you in a way to make them easier to respond to. I'm just asking you all this to get opinions from people who play Shadow a lot and have spent enough time/thought to get some good insight on how the spec work and is doing in MoP. ^^;