Shadow Priest Class Guide - MoP Classic

Welcome to our Mists of Pandaria Classic (MoP Classic) Shadow Priest Class Guide for Phase 1, it focuses on getting you up to speed with the Spec for PvE content, Dungeons and Raiding. The guide includes key information for what has changed going into MoP, the best Talent builds, Major Glyphs, your Rotation, Gearing and Consumables for Shadow Priest.

Table of Content:

• Changes from Cataclysm to MoP
• Talents
• Rotation & Abilities
• Gearing & Consumables

What’s New for Shadow Priests in Mists of Pandaria Classic

With a lot of classes receiving huge changes and the addition of the Monk class, you could expect the same for Priest. Shadow needed a bit of work, and Mists of Pandaria will change how you play the specialization. Here are some key changes:

• Spirit Shell, a new absorb raid cooldown has been added.
• Barrier takes a slight nerf.
• Body and Soul is available to every spec.
• Atonement has been added in the version we all know an love.
• Purify, like all dispels, has been modified to cleanse more effects but with a cooldown.
• Void shift is a new spell, swapping health with another player.
• Power Infusion can only affect the priest.
• Devouring Plague is now your spender. Shadow Orbs are still a thing, but they are now spent on Devouring Plague.
• Archangel isn’t an offensive cooldown anymore.

Is Shadow Priest Good?

Shadow Priests are fine in Mist of Pandaria Classic. In some niche fights, they can be one of the best casters, but they need very specific situations. They also tend to rely a lot on secondary stats, and this dependence makes them less reliable in the early phases. But Shadow Priest has the DPS potential to clear all the content in the game. If you like Shadow Priest, its gameplay and the overall feel of the specialization, there is no reason not to play it in this expansion.

Best Talents & Glyphs for Shadow Priest in MoP Classic

In the talent build section, you are going to find 2 builds for PvE activities: one for raid, one for dungeons. This distinction is for clarity purposes, but know that every talent can be swapped around depending on the fight you are going to play in.

Shadow Priest Raiding Talent Build

Here is a standard Raid Talent Build for Shadow Priests. You can change a lot of talents depending on the encounter:

• Dominate Mind can replace Void Tendrils if you need to control an add during a fight.
• Body and Soul is easier to use and faster, as you can just shield yourself every time you need to move. But Angelic Feather is also a great option, and a bit more flexible too. It’s mostly a personal choice.
• Solace and Insanity is the best talent in its row. It increases Mind Flay priority while Devouring Plague is active.
• Desperate Prayer and Angelic Bulwark are both incredible defensive options. One is active, one is passive. Angelic Bulwark is better in situations where you fall under 30% HP often.
• Twist of Fate is unmatched in this tier. You can refresh it by doting some random low health adds in a lot of fights. Divine Insight can be competitive in niche situations with a lot of adds and high movement requirements.
• Finally, Halo is the default choice for pretty much anything.

Best Shadow Priest Raid Glyphs

Regarding Major Glyphs, there aren’t any DPS increasing Glyphs. You can consider Glyph of Vampiric Embrace, Glyph of Fade for Damage Reduction, Glyph of Dispersion and Glyph of Inner Sanctum.

There are no game changing Minor Glyphs, do as you please!

Shadow Priest Dungeons & Challenge Mode Talent Build

In Dungeons, the reduced amount of space and smaller groups ask for a few changes. Angelic Feather is easier to use in dungeons, and Divine Star can be better than Halo if you can hit every target with it.

Shadow Priest Dungeon Glyph

Regarding Major Glyphs, there aren’t any glyphs which increase DPS. You can consider Glyph of Vampiric Embrace, Glyph of Fade for Damage Reduction, Glyph of Dispersion, Glyph of Inner Sanctum.

There are no game changing minor glyphs, do as you please!

Rotation for Shadow Priest in MoP Classic

Single Target Rotation for Shadow Priests

1. Maintain Inner Fire.
2. Maintain Shadowform.
3. Maintain Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch on your Target.
4. Cast Shadowfiend on Cooldown.
5. Cast Devouring Plague when you have 3 Shadow Orbs.
6. Use Mind Blast on Cooldown.
7. Use Shadow Word: Death on Cooldown.
8. Use Mind Flay during Devouring Plague.
9. Use Halo / Divine Star on Cooldown.
10. Use Mind Flay.

Shadow Priest Opener

Regarding openers, stay at max range (25 yards) and precast Halo, then precast Mind Blast, put your DoTs on your target with Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch, then use Shadowfiend and proceed with single target priority.

AoE Rotation for Shadow Priests

On light cleave fights, just maintain your DoTs on all your targets. If there are more than 4 targets, Maintain DoTs on everything and spam Mind Sear. If there are 6 Targets or more, just spam Mind Sear.

Best Gear & Stats for Shadow Priest in MoP Classic

Best in Slot (BiS Gear) aren’t as big in Mists of Pandaria Classic. Reforging is the new hype, so you can tailor your gear better than before.

Shadow Priest Best in Slot (BiS) Gear in MoP Classic (Pre-Raid)

The best weapons you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Inscribed Crane Staff, from Inscription.
• Je’lyu, Spirit of the Serpent, from Sha of Doubt, Temple of the Jade Serpent.
• Headmaster’s Will, Darkmaster Gandling, Scholomance.

The best off-hands you can find pre-raid in the first phase are:

• Inscribed Red Fan, from Inscription.
• Bottle of potent potables, from Hoptallus in Stormstout Brewery.
• Scroll of Whispered Secrets, a BoE.

The best pre-raid trinkets for Shadow Priest are:

• Relic of Yu’lon, from Inscription.
• Vision of the Predator, from Striker Gad’ok, Gate of the Setting Sun.
• Ghost Iron Dragonling, from Engineering.
• Flashfrozen Resin Globule, from Vizier Jin’bak, Siege of Niuzao Temple.

Shadow Priest Best in Slot (BiS) Gear in MoP Classic (Tier 14)

Upgrading your character with the best gear is an important part of increasing your damage, healing and tanking.

Below is a BiS Gear List containing your theoretical Best in Slot (BiS) Gear for Shadow Priest. This information is based on the MoP original release and PTR data, and so is subject to change. But this list should give you a good target for gearing.

There can be some key stat breakpoints and targets that you need to hit for maximum performance. You can find those in the Stats Section below, and use reforging to adjust your gear stats to achieve them.

MoP Classic Shadow Priest Stat Priority

First, you want to have enough Spirit, Expertise or/and Hit to reach 15% Spell hit chance.

The best secondary stat you can get as a Shadow Priest is Haste. You want a lot of Haste to generate more Shadow Orbs but also to increase the number of time your DoTs inflict damage while they are up. As a Shadow Priest, you just want to get to 18,215 Haste, the highest possible soft cap. After that, don’t get any more haste. Critical Strike Chance and Mastery are less valuable, Critical Strike chance being a bit better than Mastery.

Best Consumables, Enchants & Gems for Shadow Priest in MoP Classic

The following tables outline the recommended Consumables, Enchants and Gems for Shadow Priest in Raiding and Dungeon content.

Consumables

Enchants

Gems

We hope this guide helped you improve your Shadow Priest Gameplay and better understand the spec. To check out all of our MoP Classic content, such as Class Guides, Tier Lists and more, you can browse our full library of MoP Classic Guides.