WoW Forever: Shadow Priest
About the Class
A Shadow Priest maintains damage over time and fills short cooldowns with channeled spells. 
Shadow Word: Pain and 
Devouring Plague tick on the target, 
Mind Blast deals direct damage, and 
Mind Flay fills the gaps. 
Vampiric Embrace turns part of your Shadow damage into support for the group.
The Priest uses Mana, wears cloth armor, and depends heavily on safe positioning. 
Power Word: Fortitude buffs the group, while 
Dispel Magic and 
Cure Disease deal with dangerous effects. Check your trainer for new spell ranks as you level.
Strengths
- Damage over time and group support at the same time.
- Good Mana efficiency once you pick up the key talents.
- Has an interrupt, dispels, and crowd control.
Weaknesses
- The core playstyle doesn't fully come together until after early leveling.
- The channeled spell requires standing still.
- One of the instant attacks can deal dangerous backlash damage to you.
Stat Priority
- 1Hit
- 2Spell Power
- 3Critical Strike
- 4Spell Penetration
- 5Spirit
With 5/5 in 
Shadow Focus, your Shadow spells gain 5% hit, leaving 12% to come from gear and other sources against a raid boss. This talent doesn't cover hit for any of your non-Shadow actions. Critical damage is increased in 
Shadowform.
Talents
Rotation (Ability Priority)
The opener is a set sequence of abilities you use as you engage an enemy. Memorising it helps initiate your rotation in the most optimal way possible.
- 1Shadow Word: Pain
- 2Mind Blast
- 3Devouring Plague
- 4Mind Flay
- 5The last spell requires the matching talent. Shadowform and
Shadow Word: Death aren't part of this early sequence.
- Shadow Word: Pain — on a suitable target that will live long enough
- Mind Blast — on cooldown if you have enough Mana
- Devouring Plague — damage over time and Health recovery
- Mind Flay — between your main actions, if you have the talent
- Wand — for efficient finishing without spending extra Mana
Important Abilities
Ability | Use |
|---|---|
 Power Word: Shield | Absorbs damage and buys time for your next action |
 Fade | Temporarily reduces threat |
| Dispel Magic | Removes a suitable effect from an ally or a buff from an enemy |
| Cure Disease | Removes a dangerous disease |
 Psychic Scream | Emergency crowd control; feared enemies can pull extra groups |
 Resurrection | Brings an ally back out of combat |
Apply buffs before the pull. 
Inner Fire gives you personal protection, but it's no substitute for keeping your distance from dangerous enemies and moving in time.
Best in Slot (BiS)
Best in Slot (BiS)Enchants, Gems, Consumables
Enchants and Enhancements
ConsumablesBest Race
The Human Spirit increases Spirit, and 
Ruthless increases Critical Strike. For healers, Spirit is valuable for resource recovery and its interaction with talents. The racial 
Divine Grace provides extra emergency help.
Eureka! empowers direct and channeled actions and helps save Mana. 
Contingency Plan gives an ally an extra safety net. Periodic effects don't get the same bonus as direct spells.
Dark Sacrifice helps with Mana, and 
Will of the Forsaken protects against the matching types of crowd control. For Shadow, the damage difference between the available races is small; consider the enemy type and your own comfort.
Best Professions
Tailoring lets you craft cloth gear, and 
Enchanting lets you enhance items and disenchant suitable unwanted ones. The pair is convenient for gearing your character yourself and crafting some of your gear before raiding.
Herbalism supplies herbs, and 
Alchemy lets you brew potions and elixirs for damage, resource recovery, and survival. It's a practical choice if you use consumables regularly.
Engineering suits players who enjoy extra gadgets and PvP. Among secondary professions, 
First Aid is useful for bandages and 
Cooking for buff food.
FAQ
Is this spec a good choice for a first Priest?
Shadow is comfortable for solo play, but its core playstyle changes as you pick up key talents. At early levels, your wand and healing remain important.
Do I need a wand?
Yes. It helps you finish short fights without wasting Mana. In Forever, you have to stand still for half a second to shoot; spell power doesn't increase the wand's own damage.
What weapon types can a Priest use?
Wands, daggers, one-handed maces, and staves. Missing weapon skills can be learned from a weapon master. As a caster, compare the item's stats first.
Is Devouring Plague only available to Undead?
No. In Forever, Devouring Plague is available to all Priests from level 20. Don't pick a race just because of this ability's old racial restriction.
How do I avoid running out of Mana mid-fight?
Don't refresh effects before you need to, don't use expensive emergency heals on light damage, and drink between pulls. When questing solo, finishing enemies off with your wand saves Mana for the next one.
Author
Fouren
Fouren has been playing World of Warcraft for over 15 years. He is an active player with 12 Cutting Edge achievements under his belt, and has reached the top 1% and 0.1% multiple times on various classes. His main classes are healers, particularly Holy Paladin.
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