help me better my shadow priestyness :D

[matherl]

K, i dont feel like I am doing as well as i can on my shadowpriest as i can be...

this is my armory: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...dowlulz/simple
if it doesnt work it is shadowlulz on the server undermine,

Right now I am pulling just above 15k on the boss target dummy and im hit capped. I am confused because people are argueing about hit cap vs not hit cap... I tried non hitcap and my dps increased but it was a gamble because while doing cho'gall my vampiric touch missed 5 times in a row and i almost went crazy...

my stats:
SP: 7314
Haste:22.95%
Hit:15.13%
Pen:0
mana regen:2919
Combat regen: 1029
Crit:11.69%
Mastery:15.66

if im not gemming correctly or reforging well please help =D

EDIT: Woah, my armory is way off.... it says i have 13.69 haste which is just plain out wrong... i have 17.10 haste without Sform and 22.95% with sform

[Medivh]

Considering nerf on our dots and improve on Mind blast. I suggest a hit% near cap 17%.

Haste at least 2140(second haste plateau with dark intent).

[Contego]

You have way too much mastery, and way too low haste.

[Zuziza]

A couple things you need to change, even if you want to be very close to hit cap.

-Reforge Soul Casket to haste (you're over hit cap). (Replace this trinket outright if you can; it's not that great.)
-Change boots to +50 haste enchant.
-Reforge boots from mastery to spirit.
-Reforge wand to haste.
-Change leg enchant to Ghostly spellthread; you're ignoring free hit.
-Get Exalted with Therazane for your shoulder enchant.
-Helm socket bonus isn't worth it; use a +40 Int gem.

What occurs to me is that you may have forgotten to switch Soul Casket to another trinket when you logged out, which would explain the discrepancy with haste and spirit.

As for hit cap, it's a preference. I've never encountered an issue of missing VT 5 times in a row (except maybe the first time I ever did Chimaeron because I simply was not paying attention), and that should be exceedingly rare if you're <2% below hitcap. It's a matter of lag, attentiveness, and reflexes. Just ignore anyone who says there's some magic number below hit cap where it's perfect; they don't understand statistics. What I would suggest is being as close to hit cap, but stay under, never over 17.00%.

Dummies are a bad way to really look at your DPS unless you're learning the basic rotation. 15k is fine, but it's not wholly representative of what you're doing in a boss fight. A big part of our DPS is managing CD's and procs while moving, plus you're missing out on a number of raid buffs. If you have any WoL's that you can link, we can look it over and tell you where to improve.

[matherl]

Considering nerf on our dots and improve on Mind blast. I suggest a hit% near cap 17%.

Haste at least 2140(second haste plateau with dark intent).

atleast 2140 without sform or 2140 including the 5% from sform?

[Zuziza]

atleast 2140 without sform or 2140 including the 5% from sform?

2140 is your haste rating from gear. If you always get DI from a lock, that's what your gear has to be at. Why would we ever look at a rating that assumes you're not in shadowform?

If you don't always get DI, you want 2588. More details are in here: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...ide-(by-Kilee)

[matherl]

2140 is your haste rating from gear. If you always get DI from a lock, that's what your gear has to be at. Why would we ever look at a rating that assumes you're not in shadowform?

If you don't always get DI, you want 2588. More details are in here: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/928084-Priest-PvE-Shadow-Guide-(by-Kilee)

im 58 haste from 2588 haste

should i regem to meet that plateau or should i just forget about it, also im working on trying to get moonwell chalice but it will reduce my haste by 128 haste, should i just stick with the casket? and plateau?

[Zuziza]

My mistake actually, the plateaus are 2141 with DI and 2589 without (1 point above). Getting to that plateau is an excellent DPS bump, but I don't know if switching the gems from Int to Haste would be an overall increase. My suggestion is to keep shooting for it while you gear up. Not all the 365 gear is better than 359 alternatives, so look at your stat weights and do the math to see if whatever secondary stats get lost/reforged are worth the minor Int bump.

[ThrashMetalFtw]

1st of all, GET 2 REAL RAIDING PROFESSIONS ASDASDASDASDASD!

Tailoring is by far the best profession for a Shadow Priest, because of how much dps we gain from utilising procs (and it averages to 90 Int, compared to the 80 of the other Professions). Then get JC, Ench, Inscr, BS, LW or Engi (/use that equals 80 Int if used on CD, same mechanic as a Proc, but weaker)

2nd, your gems are a total mess: NEVER ever gem 40 Haste, it's just stupid.

Gloves - Ignore the bonus - Gem 40 Int
Belt - Ignore the bonus - Gem 2x 40 Int
Legs - Take the bonus - Replace the 40 Haste gem with a 40 Int gem, keep the 20 Int / 20 Haste gem
Boots - Ignore the bonus - Gem 40 Int
Chest - Take the bonus - Replace the 20 Int / 20 Haste gem with a 40 Int gem, replace the 40 Haste gem with a 20 Int / 20 Spirit gem
Shoulders - GJ correct!
Head - Take the bonus - Gem 20 Int / 20 Haste

And as others have said: Get 50 Int instead of 50 Haste on Bracers, and get the epic Shoulder enchant

[matherl]

1st of all, GET 2 REAL RAIDING PROFESSIONS ASDASDASDASDASD!

Tailoring is by far the best profession for a Shadow Priest, because of how much dps we gain from utilising procs (and it averages to 90 Int, compared to the 80 of the other Professions). Then get JC, Ench, Inscr, BS, LW or Engi (/use that equals 80 Int if used on CD, same mechanic as a Proc, but weaker)

2nd, your gems are a total mess: NEVER ever gem 40 Haste, it's just stupid.

Gloves - Ignore the bonus - Gem 40 Int
Belt - Ignore the bonus - Gem 2x 40 Int
Legs - Take the bonus - Replace the 40 Haste gem with a 40 Int gem, keep the 20 Int / 20 Haste gem
Boots - Ignore the bonus - Gem 40 Int
Chest - Take the bonus - Replace the 20 Int / 20 Haste gem with a 40 Int gem, replace the 40 Haste gem with a 20 Int / 20 Spirit gem
Shoulders - GJ correct!
Head - Take the bonus - Gem 20 Int / 20 Haste

And as others have said: Get 50 Int instead of 50 Haste on Bracers, and get the epic Shoulder enchant

but what about the 2589 haste plateau?

also herbalism gives a nice 480 haste that isnt on cd with trinkets

[ThrashMetalFtw]

Reaching a Haste plateau is not important, the extra Int is muuuuuuuuuuuch better than the dps you get from reaching the haste plateau (not to mention that with DI the VT duration resets for the 2nd time at like 2.1k Haste).

Herbalism, Mining and Skinning are USELESS for raiding. The Herbalism CD equals 80 Haste if used on CD, it's just horrible compared to other professions.

[Deleted]

You should realy consider getting T12 set the boni are strait awsome

[Nigma]

The only thing I can say that is relevant, since I don't play anymore but raided as a shadow priest from TBC until 4.1, is that while there are "dps increases" from being below the hitcap, I tried it myself and went crazy whenever I missed anything. Once you spend a lot of time learning the rotation and how to get every last bit of efficiency from it, missing those crucial Mind Blasts with 3 orbs up or missing Vampiric Touch (as you said) more than once can LOWER your DPS to a point that is (well, I had high standards for myself) unsatisfactory.

So unless you have catlike reflexes and can compensate for any missed spell within a split second, and even still it isn't that great of a situation, I would aim for being hitcapped.

Now, if you are just chaining heroics, you really only need 8% I think, so I would always reforge all of my hit to haste and mastery whenever I wasn't about to raid, but that can also bite you in the ass if you are as forgetful as me :S

[Ultima]

Have you read our PvE Shadow Guide? Found at: http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/928084-Priest-PvE-Shadow-Guide-(by-Kilee)

Also, might I suggest Elitist Jerks 4.2 updated guide? Located at: http://elitistjerks.com/f77/t124358-...e_4_2_updated/

[Ludijak]

Think there is much good stuff in recent posts but not gona read them, but there is lot of room on improvement on your gear, so let me start piece by piece:

Head: 20 int/20 haste gem instend current one (40 haste), and never gem for pure haste, only time when you shouldn't put 40 int is when bonus is greater or at 20 int.
Chest: Current geming make no sense at all, if you have red socket it is always 40 int in it. So 40 int in red socket and 20 int/20 spirit in blue.
Wrist: 50int is far better enchant then 50 haste.
Gloves: 40 int, and I suggest replaceing those for 2 piece set bonus, it is worth it. 65 mastery enchant is better but expensive and therefore 50 haste is fine.
Belt: 2x40 int gems.
Leggs: 40 int in red, 20 int/20 haste in yellow.
Feet: 40 int gem, and I strongly suggest Lavawalker.

Rest of gear looks fine, at least for reforging and enchants, stats on most of items aren't realy bis for shadow but if you couldn't get any better what can you do, always aim for more int and haste, after that think about spirit, mastery and crit.

Now your talents are ok, but having 2/3 in Inner Sanctum is almost a must for raiding shadow priest, so 1 from Mental Agility and one from useless Psyhcic Horror and thats it.

Now you got glyph of dispersion, don't know why, maybe you just took if for baleroc then it is ok, if that is not an issue then put glyph of shadow word: pain. And even in Baleroc case I think Shadow Word: Pain is better then Shadow Word: Death glyph.

And I must suggest droping profesions, but still this might be you alt you like to play from time to time, or you just don't have so much gold, but at least get rid of mining.

Now only thing left is you rotation and skill, think you can find alot good staff on that here and on other forums so no need to explain that.

And what you said for hit, I was raiding most of the last tier on 13% hit, was never caped and I didn't expirience 5 misses in a row, not even on Chimaeron so if that happend to you I don't think it will happen ever again so don't be afraid to be under cap.

[CaseyTheRetard]

The last point of haste rating that gets you to 2589 (2141 with DI) provides about 40 intellect worth of DPS. If you replace 1 red gem with 1 orange gem to hit the breakpoint, you will get a net of about 20 intellect more DPS. If you replace 2 reds with oranges / 1 red with yellow, you'll see no real difference.

[Hoddie]

Now your talents are ok, but having 2/3 in Inner Sanctum is almost a must for raiding shadow priest, so 1 from Mental Agility and one from useless Psyhcic Horror and thats it.

Can you explain why this is the case? I don't recall any particular times when I've died to spell damage and others have not, we already have small amounts of self healing which already puts us slightly ahead in the 'staying alive' (Bee Gees ftw!) stakes. I've also found Psychic Horror to be far from useless - in fact I'd say it was mandatory on heroic Cho'gall. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just curious what your reasoning is.

Also, I'd say being hit capped or very close to it is important if you're rocking with a mastery proc or on use trinket as the OP is (though maybe he didn't have this when he posted). Mastery procs can be extended for much longer than other procs thanks to Empowered Shadows, but missing a spell at the wrong time considerably reduces the value of such procs.

[Ludijak]

We as shadow priests probably take least dmg in raids, and got self healing, and still why not take another 4% less spell dmg, I don't see why. I found it very useful on Nefarian for example, then well I could say almost every FL fight and I wouldn't be far from right . Saving healers mana is always a good thing, so talent is not mandatory but incredible useful for sure.

As for Psychic Horror, I was refering mostly to Firelands as I belive most guilds are focused now there, and didn't do Cho'gall on heroic so can't say anything there but it is obviously great there.

As for hit cap, I used Mirror a long time and never felt that being hit caped would help me. Unlucky misses can happen but it happen very rarely, at least for me, and I feel that risk is worth taking if it means haste or hit.

[Hoddie]

We as shadow priests probably take least dmg in raids, and got self healing, and still why not take another 4% less spell dmg, I don't see why. I found it very useful on Nefarian for example, then well I could say almost every FL fight and I wouldn't be far from right . Saving healers mana is always a good thing, so talent is not mandatory but incredible useful for sure.

On our first Rag kill I took approx. 506k spell damage, not including SWD backlash, so a 4% reduction would have been a saving of 20k damage. On that same fight I was overhealed by - coincidentally - 506k. Don't get me wrong, I can see how this talent would be valuable in some very limited situations, particularly the movement boost (assuming this stacks with the boots enchant), but I think it's a bit of a waste of points to run with it all the time.

And yes, Psychic Horror certainly is situational but has saved my ass on trash a few times! On the whole I think it's good that we get a couple of spare points to pick talents that that suit our individual play styles.

About hit, I'm almost certain that it's more valuable if you have a mastery proc trinket than if you didn't. I haven't done any math on it but it just makes sense to me that the ranking of such trinkets assumes that you maximise the gain from the proc, and just 1 missed spell while the proc is running off and suddenly the trinket isn't as valuable as the ranking indicates - in other words, it would possibly be better to have a lower-ranked trinket with a haste proc or an int proc if you're missing spells and thus not maximising the mastery returns.

[CaseyTheRetard]

About hit, I'm almost certain that it's more valuable if you have a mastery proc trinket than if you didn't. I haven't done any math on it but it just makes sense to me that the ranking of such trinkets assumes that you maximise the gain from the proc, and just 1 missed spell while the proc is running off and suddenly the trinket isn't as valuable as the ranking indicates - in other words, it would possibly be better to have a lower-ranked trinket with a haste proc or an int proc if you're missing spells and thus not maximising the mastery returns.

I'm not more likely to miss a spellcast during a mastery proc than outside of the proc (also, missing MB does not affect it granting Empowered Shadows). I'm not more likely to miss a spellcast during a mastery proc than I am to do so during a haste proc or an int proc. The possibility of missing during a proc may affect the variance of my DPS from fight-to-fight, but not the average. The RNG affect on DPS from having a 20-25% chance to crit is much greater than the RNG affect of having a 2-5% chance to miss; it's basically noise.