Shadow Priest opening rotation

[Gregorh]

Hey ive been having some problems with my opening rotation and wanted to see if anyone had some helpful advice. I start with SW:P and i mind flay until i get an orb then VT,DP. The problem im havin is that sometimes i don't get an orb untill maybe 6 mind flays which causes me to have to catch up to everyone throughout the fight. When i do that opener and i get an orb on the first or second MF im always way far ahead of everyone. How much DPS do you think i would lose if i just ran in and VT,DP,SW:P?

Heres a link to my armory if your curious about my gear.
Won't let me post armory link but its Gregorh-Kil 'Jaeden

[Ithrowmagicz]

I use VP, DP, SW:P, MF until I get 3 orbs, refresh VP, archangel, mind blast, MF until buffs are gone, repeat.
I pull an easy 13k in raids like that in healing gear and 345ilvl.

[Gregorh]

Thanks, il test it on dummy. I normaly pull 20+ on all bosses even if i start out slow.

[Deleted]

I start with VP, SW:P and DP. Then MF and I don't wait for 3 orbs. I cast MB as soon as I get the first Orb so I get the Shadow Empowerment and my next dots will be boosted. Depending on my trinket/enchants procs, I recast dots or not.

[a1derful1]

I start with VT, SW:P, DP, MB, MFx2, Archangel, MB, MF, VT, MF, DP....after that it's pretty much refresh dots as need, Mind flay to hearts content, and use Mind Blast on cooldown. I may or may not have an orb on the first MB....but I've already got dots rolling and by the time I refresh them I'll have Shadow Empowerment. Not gonna wait for RNG when I can have a sure thing up there in the process.

[Rushed]

MF is a dot, so I'd recommend holding off on MB until you get that orb because the following MF's will do more dmg

I use VP, DP, SW:P, MF until I get 3 orbs, refresh VP, archangel, mind blast, MF until buffs are gone, repeat.
I pull an easy 13k in raids like that in healing gear and 345ilvl.

That starter is wrong. First of all, SWP has a higher priority over DP so it should always be cast before, which is either after VT (standing still) or before VT (if you're running in). SWP not only does more dmg but it procs shadow orbs and shadowy apparitions. Mind Flaying to 3 orbs is a waste, sure it will buff your MB dmg, but there is no difference between a 1 or 3 orb Empowered Shadows, and ES is top priority at the start of the fight. Also you're refreshing VT before you use that first Mind Blast and get ES running? I don't even have to explain why that's wrong.

My starter rotation (assuming standing still to start) is: Shadowfiend (sometimes) > VT > SWP > DP > MF until 1 orb (95% of the time I get one within 6 MF ticks) > MB for ES. If it took me less than 5 ticks of MF to get an orb, I'll do another MF here to get 5 stacks of Evangelism and then refresh VT and DP. At this point depending on the fight I'll pop Dark Archangel to get it on CD asap, if I still have shadowfiend at this point I'll also use that. I wouldn't suggest using both Dark Archangel and shadowfiend back to back with lesser gear because thats a lot of wasted mana regen. But I'm in nearly full epics with 3 or 4 ilvl 372 pieces thrown in so I don't have mana issues.

My rotation prioritizes on getting dots buffed to their strongest asap (ES and 5 stack evangelism) and then the rest of the rotation is real easy. I do pretty strong dps and am happy with it for the time being.

[Vook]

I usually open with VT+Pain, MF until orb, then MB, reapply all dots and go on with normal rotation.

[zsun]

My opening:

VT
SWP
DP
MF till orb
MB
VT*
DP*
MF
AA
Fiend**
MF
MF
MB

...and so on

*After the mastery buff, it is actually a DPS gain if you refresh the DoTs immediately after Empowered Shadows is up.
** Usually by this time all your trinkets would have procced and therefore it is best to use shadowfiend now.

[nagina]

VT > SWain (start running) while running, cast DP + shadow fiend -> MFx2 ++++

Why run? many encounters requires that you run to a spot or "hug the raid", so there are chance to summon a copy of you, and it will most likely inscrease your damage output.
Well, works for me in many cases, and DPS is decent here, reason that I went for 4set bonus, it's kinda much moving in today's raids.

[pickley]

I usually do VT SW:P, then wiggle around a bit while casting DP/waiting for the GCD to finish. Hoping il get a shadow apparition proc :P

[Doomsoul]

My opening:

VT
SWP
DP
MF till orb
MB
VT*
DP*
MF
AA
Fiend**
MF
MF
MB

...and so on

*After the mastery buff, it is actually a DPS gain if you refresh the DoTs immediately after Empowered Shadows is up.
** Usually by this time all your trinkets would have procced and therefore it is best to use shadowfiend now.

That's how I;m doing it aswell. But I've also been wondering about the DoT Clipping. I know it's situational sometimes, but I was trying to find some solid info on just when exactly to refresh DOts for a maximum dps gain. I usually refresh them when there are 2 seconds left. I wonder if this is the right time to be doing it. Seems the best time in my humble opinion and experience.

[ed]

SW:P, VT, DP, mind flay until orb, blast, refresh VT, refresh DP, flay until orb, blast whenever you have orb, refresh dots.
Shadowfiend fits somewhere in the stard, as does archangel, trinkets, and synapse springs. It's all very situational.