Shadow Priest 101

The forum Elitist Jerks is a hub of Warcraft knowledge and expertise. Practically every aspect of the game is covered in some form or another in the myriad of posts found.

One in particular Bolshka stumbled upon was very informative about how Shadow Priests effectively DPS. Check it out, this should be required reading for any aspiring face-melter.

Elitst Jerks: How to Melt Faces Effectively

Good stuff

Text of the conversation between Kaylind and Bolshka about Shadow Priests:

Kaylind:"That was cool reading. I have been wondering what to do as a priest. Mostly holy for now but that just gives me ideas. Which one is mostly useful. Any ideas?"

Bolshka: "That's a loaded question, really. It depends on what role you wish to play as a Priest.

A blunt look at things is that if you wish to heal unparalleled, go Holy. If you wish to deal ungodly damage, go Shadow. Haha, ungodly... Priest... that's comedy.

The role of healer is useful if you are grouping alot and overall you will discover it is MUCH easier to find a slot in someone's instance. When people want healing the generic choice is Priest.

Coupled with points in Discipline, Holy can dish out a decent amount of damage at the cost of mana efficiency. In short fights you might even top out the DPS charts.

For damage (and leveling), Shadow is the way to go. On single targets an equally geared Shadow Priest's DPS will eclipse Mages in a heartbeat. You sacrifice a great deal in healing efficiency, of course.

Shadow Priests also provide convenient returns on mana and health while dishing out damage using things like Vampiric Embrace and Vampiric Touch. Their talents also bolster Warlock DPS by applying stacking vulnerability to shadow on targets.

Clearly there is a place for both Shadow and Holy in all manner of situations, it just depends on what you want to accomplish.

The only spec that is questionable to go 41 points in is Discipline. This is the class's attempt to be a "buff-oriented" role, not unlike a Shaman or Paladin. Unfortunately the benefit provided by Pain Suppression does not weigh up against the need for DPS or the potent healing a Priest can provide. You just don't see guilds screaming for Discipline Priests to down Illidan, ya know?

I like the direction the Discipline tree went recently, but it still needs more tweaking to be a must-have spec. Perhaps in Wrath of the Lich King this will be amended."

Kaylind: "cool. gives me thoughts. do you smell the burning hehe. might try the shadow bit to see if it is for me because you know how much damage I like to hand out heh."

Bolshka: "Posting a pure face-melting spec for Aristeed's reference later..."
Aristeed's Face Melting Spec