Understanding the shadow priest help please

[Deleted]

Only just started to play a priest my other 2 toons are hunter/mage. my priest is lvl 17 and am not sure what i am doing in the way of dealing with mobs.
don't get me wrong i am surviving.........
when i cast mind flay i get some purple orbs around me...what do these do/ what these for?
i start off my doin SW pain, mind flay,mind blast, and then i just hit anything .
back to the purple orbs once i have these spinning round me do i need to use the spell again or do i wait till they go away?

many thanks apologies for lameness

[Haedess]

Tbh i do not remember when you get each spell but i will tell you my rotation on mobs were i do not use Mind spike.
VT(don't think you got this yet) - DP(devouring Plague) - Shadow word: Pain - Mind blast - Mind flay. After this they are probably dead :P
The orbs are called shadow orbs, these increases your damage with mind blast and mind spike 3 orbs is max, 3 orbs = most damage

[LimeSudz]

For lower levels I used mind blast to open and then an instant Shadow word pain right after, then you can either put DP on them or mindflay them, throw in another mind blast and they should be dead. If you aren't killing them by the time they reach you consider pre-shielding yourself.

the orbs increase damage from mind blast, you want to use them whenever you can because when you use them you get a buff that let's your damage over time spells (SW: P, DP, VT) do more damage and a lot of a shadow priests damage comes from DoT spells.

Thought I'd throw in my two cents. I usually play holy so This probably isn't the end all be all of shadow rotations.

[Arlee]

when i cast mind flay i get some purple orbs around me...what do these do/ what these for?
back to the purple orbs once i have these spinning round me do i need to use the spell again or do i wait till they go away?

many thanks apologies for lameness

So when you get the orbs you can cast MB again and it will hit for more. After you do that you get a new buff called empowered shadows which causes your DoTs to do more damage. However unless you are fighting something that has a ton of health (like a boss in a dungeon or something) the mob probably won't live long enough for you to reapply sw and take advantage of the buff. But definitely use MB if you have orbs

[Deleted]

many thanks for the replies, the mob is usually dead just before it reaches me o i must be doing summat right have not yet mastered how to tackle more than 1 mob.......

[LimeSudz]

many thanks for the replies, the mob is usually dead just before it reaches me o i must be doing summat right have not yet mastered how to tackle more than 1 mob.......

What I tend to do for 2 mobs at 85 is dot on up and mind spike/blast the other. 3 mobs would work the same dot 2 up (only DP one since it would waste mana since you can't have it on more than one target) and spike/blast one down.

at low levels I'd suggest just dotting up both targets, shielding when you can and then alternate between mind flay and mind blast.

[MoanaLisa]

At really low levels, don't be afraid to use Smite if you need to although sticking to your shadow spells will generally serve you better. If you run into mana issues early on, get a good wand and use it. Everything else here is good advice. MB to start, SW-P right after, MF after that. If an orb or three pops up, run MB again as soon as you can.

Be aware that as you progress other dots such as Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague will make their appearance. At lower levels (<60), VT is really good; DP does a lot of damage but can crush your mana consumption and generally isn't necessary for questing or anything other than actual bosses and elites.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

[gaymer77]

When you're out killing stuff by yourself stick with SWP, mind flay, and mind blast as your rotation. Mobs with a little higher HP can take VT on them as your opener to trigger replinishment on yourself to help with mana regen which sucks balls at lower levels even with the buff they gave regen at the lower levels. Once you hit Outlands, start off with VT then SWP > MB > MF until dead. I wouldn't waste the mana with DP unless you are trying to solo an elite as its a huge mana whore. In dungeons your rotation for trash is tab target SWP then pick one and MF & MB then switch to the next one and MF/MB. On boss fights it'll be VT > SWP > DP > MB > MF and remove any spells you don't have in that which you don't have yet.