Shadow Priest Guide (3.3)

[Telnor]

It's important to note that Inner Fire no longer gives a spell power buff as of 3.3.5

Inner Fire continues give a spell power buff in 3.3.5. It has not been nerfed.

[Igetboredsometimes]

If it does still give a spellpower buff, then the tooltip is bugged. But thank you for making me aware of that; I'll definitely have to look into it.

[Edlena]

It does give spell power still, and the tooltip is no longer incorrect or they hotfixed it one. I don't see why it needed to be nerfed in the first place to be honest. However, going to the guide.. I see some information to be incorrect.
Remember, the more haste you get, the less of a priority that mind blast holds. When you get to haste cap (1240ish), mind blast then becomes a dps loss rather than a dps increase. Your starting rotation should always be SW:P (Gets 2 ticks in before refreshing it, thats just extra damage) - VT - DP - MB - Refresh SW:P for 5 stack Shadow Weaving.
Then the priority sets in, however there are some times when the priority has to be broken for dps increases (If you're like me and want to push out every number you can, if not just do the standard)
The priority is still DoTs / MB / MF.
However, if you choose to keep MB into your rotation (the dps loss is minuscule, but still see above) there are important times when you do not need to use it. Under the effects of haste buffs (Heroism/Bloodlust, Haste Pots, and Power Infusion) Just use mind flay and refresh dots, mind blast here is a dps loss.
Another situation again if you choose to keep it in is when you have more than 8 seconds left on both VT and DP, and you are able to get 3-4 MF's in.
The cast time/GCD on MB brings your dps down.
Just a couple things.
However, just do the easy thing, get a DFO, get haste on every piece of gear, and then drop the useless ability out of your rotation all together.

[Quinafoi]

Keep in mind, MB is required for Replenishment. While it may be sub-optimal for the shadow priest to use it for their individual needs, they may require the replenishment or others in the raid may require it in order to complete the encounter successfully. Not everyone has infinite mana.

And actually, the cost on DPS of an ability that drops below the GCD minimum of 1 second is actually more than just the value of the haste lost but rather the latency of your connection as well because of how the GCD functions.

[Edlena]

If your raid doesn't have a ret pally in the raid with how buffed they are in ICC.. then I really don't know what to say. Although it is required, again if you have other forms of players proccing replenishment, then using mind blast after getting a certain amount of gear becomes sub par to just using mind blast. Shadow Priests also are not really affected by a haste cap. Since our dots can get infinitely shorter (not literally, but it would be impossible to hit a hard haste cap.) The 1 second GCD soft cap for haste doesn't matter.
In turn, use MB if you are your raids replenishment, however if you have some other form, and adequate gear, then drop it.

[kraneo]

Excellent guide. I can't believe I missed that Devouring Plague can only be on one target at a time! That nugget will save some fruitless cast time.

For tracking DoTs I use Satrina Buff Frames. I also use it to track Shadow Weaving stacks (very helpful in fights with brief pauses in the action). Just a fantastic add-on for keeping track of any buffs or debuffs.

yeah i can't believe i missed the DP too! Been wasting time on that. Thx for advice

[Vive]

Hello, very nice guide! I was wondering if I could make a Video version of this guide. I do not mind if it's not "Associated" with TankSpot, but I would like a video version of this guide to be made available.

[Igetboredsometimes]

I realised that I had just been using a downranked Inner Fire for a rather long time xD. Not quite sure how that happened, but it does indeed still give a spell power buff!

[Chemii]

I realised that I had just been using a downranked Inner Fire for a rather long time xD. Not quite sure how that happened, but it does indeed still give a spell power buff!

Theres a bug related to dual spec that if you learn new spells it won't update the spells on your currently inactive (spec) set of bars. I'd check the rank of your other spells too.

[Sebadoh]

For those of you looking for some 4.0.1 info, here is a very good writeup: http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/sp...4-0-1-checklis

Note: this was written the day after the patch, much of this info is subject to change as more accurate data becomes available, but this should be good to get you started!

RIP Mind Sear :-(

[Felycitas]

Just FYI, not sure if this has been mentioned or not, the spell hit values are ~26.190 per 1%.

This is NOT the same as melee hit (which is 30.7548).