Shadow Word: Revolution!

[Dierdre]

and now our survivability will probably be the lowest of all ranged in the game, (every range get either a 10% and have at least one short CD and one more powerfull one), priest have basically glyph of fade and a disperse you can't use to survive since you're expected to soak raid mechanics with it.

Don't forget you have PWS... which you can't use on demand if you have a priest healer in your group.

[Lyrax]

I was thinking, why don't we get like a pet. So instead of our shadowfiend being a crappy once off cast that lasts 20s, he remains as a pet, similar to how warlocks work? It would be a pretty nice addon to our class + a good dps increase. Shadowfiend's current damage could be nerfed a bit (mine hits about 100k/hit) to make it more on par with warlock pets.

[Dierdre]

Are u feeling ok when you play your shadow?? do you like when you have to run and the only thing you can u do is spam sw;p and pray for procs?

Actually ToT wasn't so bad regarding movement for shadow priests as the previous MoP tier. Painting Tiles on H Stone Guard, running around on Garalon, running to and from adds on sha of fear; those were long, constant runs that crippled shadow's damage. Right now we can manage with short runs aided with Glyph of Mind Flay and Body and Soul (again, we need a weakened soul effect that is independent from a priest healer). On the very rare occasion where I find myself unable to stop a second and cast something (even on durumu you can stop and cast) I just PoM and run a bit further.

My real issue with shadow at the moment isn't movement (yes, we're one of the most movement-challenged specs, but it's still manageable) nor OOC resource generation (yes, it is a handicap against other specs that start at full, but it should pretty much even out over the course of a long fight).

My concern is our useful damage output potential. Yes, we shine when cheesing ToF. But when you get to H Iron Qon, game your procs like a pro, blowing pots and whatnot, heck even manage to save that guy who couldn't get the lock's gateway (because let's not kid ourselves, there's ALWAYS a lock on Qon even if you have to bench the raid leader), manage to get to the end of the fight, multidot the hell out of the damn dogs, blow divine star, PoMs and VE on Fist Smash, stand victorious over his dead body... and then check your recount to see you're +10% behind average damage and that your measly off-healing doesn't hold a candle to the druid / shaman; you can't help but feeling that something is very wrong with your spec atm.

- - - Updated - - -

I was thinking, why don't we get like a pet. So instead of our shadowfiend being a crappy once off cast that lasts 20s, he remains as a pet, similar to how warlocks work? It would be a pretty nice addon to our class + a good dps increase. Shadowfiend's current damage could be nerfed a bit (mine hits about 100k/hit) to make it more on par with warlock pets.

No disrespect, but I already have a warlock and a hunter. I am the the shadow cast as testament of the might of the light! I don't need a pet. XD

[Yvaelle]

I was thinking, why don't we get like a pet. So instead of our shadowfiend being a crappy once off cast that lasts 20s, he remains as a pet, similar to how warlocks work? It would be a pretty nice addon to our class + a good dps increase. Shadowfiend's current damage could be nerfed a bit (mine hits about 100k/hit) to make it more on par with warlock pets.

I'd rather us not have a permanent pet - and I'm not sure what adding a pet would give us at this point, apart from less personal DPS - which in a roundabout way is a movement dps buff (since our pet would still be on target).

I'd like a minor glyph that said:

Glyph of Cuddly Shadowfiend - minor glyph - if Shadowfiend or Mindbender is used out of combat they will be your non-combat pet until combat begins (this does not invoke the cooldown).

Then I could spec into Mindbender while in town and have it guard me while I'm AFK and/or jump around

Too much conceptual overlap with Warlocks too I think, pets are their thing.

[Cerbz]

I was thinking, why don't we get like a pet. So instead of our shadowfiend being a crappy once off cast that lasts 20s, he remains as a pet, similar to how warlocks work? It would be a pretty nice addon to our class + a good dps increase. Shadowfiend's current damage could be nerfed a bit (mine hits about 100k/hit) to make it more on par with warlock pets.

I would quit Shadow if I had to deal with a pet.

[crysie]

I'd rather us not have a permanent pet - and I'm not sure what adding a pet would give us at this point, apart from less personal DPS - which in a roundabout way is a movement dps buff (since our pet would still be on target).

I'd like a minor glyph that said:

Glyph of Cuddly Shadowfiend - minor glyph - if Shadowfiend or Mindbender is used out of combat they will be your non-combat pet until combat begins (this does not invoke the cooldown).

Then I could spec into Mindbender while in town and have it guard me while I'm AFK and/or jump around

Too much conceptual overlap with Warlocks too I think, pets are their thing.

I think that glyph is a nice idea, maybe itll cutify up the Shadowfiend and Mindbender too? like a baby squid for the Mindbender :3

Anyway, no I'd be against Shadow having a permanent pet as well, considering they already did that to my Mage. Blizz nerfs sac for Warlocks because they want people to use the pets considering it's a pet class and yet thrusts a permanent pet on Mages that is not.

[Crudelitas]

I was thinking, why don't we get like a pet. So instead of our shadowfiend being a crappy once off cast that lasts 20s, he remains as a pet, similar to how warlocks work? It would be a pretty nice addon to our class + a good dps increase. Shadowfiend's current damage could be nerfed a bit (mine hits about 100k/hit) to make it more on par with warlock pets.

god please no. i'm not the one to say this generally, but you want a pet, roll a pet class. I don't want to have to deal with a pet above all the things i'm trying to micromanage.

[Granyala]

Glyph of Cuddly Shadowfiend - minor glyph - if Shadowfiend or Mindbender is used out of combat they will be your non-combat pet until combat begins (this does not invoke the cooldown).

Combine this with glyph of Sha and you have your own manifested emotion following you around! <3

[Dalverick]

god please no. i'm not the one to say this generally, but you want a pet, roll a pet class. I don't want to have to deal with a pet above all the things i'm trying to micromanage.

Not saying I support a pet either... but shadow isn't exactly the hardest rotation out there. Would a pet really be that taxing on the playstyle?

[Vargur]

I rerolled Shadow because it DIDN'T have a (permanent) pet hehe

[Coolascancer]

Ive been playing spriest since ToC and have been dominated by locks and mages with equal or worse gear. I take breaks from wow since I started in vanilla but everytime i start playing again it just seems like they nerf spriest pve for spriest pvp. there is literally no reason why a person rerolling would pick spriest over lock or mage or hunter. or boomkin. or elemental. (for pve anyways. i wouldnt know for pvp, i consider pvp the bastard child, i wish blizz did too)

[Granyala]

Would a pet really be that taxing on the playstyle?

Lets be honest: Pets don't add much either way.

Mage: Waterele is 99% autopilot afk next to you, it might just as well not be there at all.
Warlock: Imp is 95% autopilot, you just use its ultimate ability manually.
Hunter: 90% autopilot since you have to rezz the little bugger constantly. >.<

Personally I think pets are pretty lame in general. I most certainly do not want one on my main.

[zealo]

Not saying I support a pet either... but shadow isn't exactly the hardest rotation out there. Would a pet really be that taxing on the playstyle?

No, a pet would not be very taxing on the single target rotation on shadow, but that depends on how the pet itself is done. Do it have abilities and cooldowns you need to keep off autocast and use yourself or is it just a npc that deals extra damage for you with an option to target where it goes?

[Lyrax]

No, a pet would not be very taxing on the single target rotation on shadow, but that depends on how the pet itself is done. Do it have abilities and cooldowns you need to keep off autocast and use yourself or is it just a npc that deals extra damage for you with an option to target where it goes?

It would just work like shadowfiend does atm. Except the shadowfiend wouldn't hit AS hard, cause that would be OP considering hunter/warlock pets don't hit that much, at least I don't think

Also, Shadow really isn't THAT hard a spec You don't have to manage that much besides upkeep of dots, spam mind flay and the odd mind blast on proc/cast. If pets did have utility like warlocks did it wouldn't be that much of an additional worry. But tbh, I do see where people are coming from, if they added pets, SPriests would just be a weaker version of an affliction warlock, and who wants that? No one.

[Cerbz]

Not saying I support a pet either... but shadow isn't exactly the hardest rotation out there. Would a pet really be that taxing on the playstyle?

Not to start a flame war over class rotations but.....Is there a caster that's "harder" to play though? Locks get everything easy(casting on the move, Pandemic, etc), Boomies, Ele Shaman and Mages are extremely simple. Hell, even most melee just smash flashing buttons that pop up.

I personally think the skill gap between good Spriests and bad ones is one of the most wide.

[TirielWoW]

I know this is mostly off-topic, but every time I see the title of this thread, in my mind I picture Shadow Priests dancing around a disco ball. >.>

I felt the need to share, sorry! :S

[Dalverick]

Not to start a flame war over class rotations but.....Is there a caster that's "harder" to play though? Locks get everything easy(casting on the move, Pandemic, etc), Boomies, Ele Shaman and Mages are extremely simple. Hell, even most melee just smash flashing buttons that pop up.

I personally think the skill gap between good Spriests and bad ones is one of the most wide.

I haven't played in awhile, but isn't it pretty straight forward? Dot everything, mind blast on cooldown, 3 orb devouring plague/insanity, and then flay until you get a DI proc/refresh dots?

I know this is mostly off-topic, but every time I see the title of this thread, in my mind I picture Shadow Priests dancing around a disco ball. >.>

I felt the need to share, sorry! :S

I wish I didn't have a full length robe so I could show off these bell-bottoms.

[Cerbz]

I haven't played in awhile, but isn't it pretty straight forward? Dot everything, mind blast on cooldown, 3 orb devouring plague/insanity, and then flay until you get a DI proc/refresh dots?

You can make any rotation sound simple if you dumb it down that way(like I did with melee =P)

You didn't mention our lvl 90 tier, which forces us to position ourselves correctly just to get the most damage out of it(which all 3 talents require us to be at a different distance), which also means we have to be more aware of where we are relative to the boss/adds than other casters. Not being able to DPS on the move is also a big deal. It requires constant planning ahead, and knowing how strong your DoTs are on the current target to determine whether it's even going to help to spam SW:P, and when to refresh your DoTs early if you know you won't be able to because you're going to be moving or there's going to be a transition. Hell, even clipping Insanity incorrectly can have a significant impact on your DPS.

Our execute phase is also the most frantic in the game and really tests your ability to stay true to your priority and how to manage refreshing DoTs without them falling off in between all the MB, SW, and Insanity channeling. It gets even more complicated if there's more than one target during execute phase.

[Dierdre]

Glyph of Cuddly Shadowfiend - minor glyph - if Shadowfiend or Mindbender is used out of combat they will be your non-combat pet until combat begins (this does not invoke the cooldown).

Then I could spec into Mindbender while in town and have it guard me while I'm AFK and/or jump around

Just catch a Twilight Fiendling @ Twilight Highlands + Glyph of Shadowy Friends.

[Dalverick]

Meant no disrespect at all, mate. Hope you didn't take it that way.

Was just a general summary of what I remember. Awareness is for sure a huge part of the playstyle. Was just commenting that I didn't think adding a pet into the mix would be too taxing.