Shadow Priest Rotation & Talent Build - Wrath Classic (WOTLK) (2024)

Introduction

Shadow Priests are one of two specializations that bring a spell hit buff to the raid with

Misery

, and also bring mana replenishment with

Vampiric Touch

. Priests are still the only class that bring a stamina buff with

Power Word: Fortitude

, and are one of two classes that bring a spirit buff thanks to

Divine Spirit

.

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Rotation

Shadow Priests bring a handful of useful cooldowns to a raid.

Dispersion

allows them avoid large chunks of damage and can get you out of sticky situations,

Divine Hymn

which is a powerful 3 person channeled heal, and

Hymn of Hope

which restores mana to 3 raid members.

Mind Flay

has 3 separate ticks of damage, if any other part of your rotation is available, you should interrupt the channel immediately after the second tick to cast it.

Opener

1. Pre-pot

   Potion of Wild Magic

   .
2. Cast

   Vampiric Touch

   .
3. Cast

   Devouring Plague

   .
4. Cast

   Mind Blast

   (Skip if T10 4 piece).
5. Cast

   Mind Flay

   for 2 ticks of damage. Cast the whole thing if you have T10 4 piece.
6. You now have 5 stacks of

   Shadow Weaving

   .
7. Cast

   Shadow Word: Pain

   .
8. Cast

   Inner Focus

   with

   Mind Flay

   .
9. Follow normal priorities.

Single Target

1. Use

   Vampiric Embrace

   .
2. Maintain

   Vampiric Touch

   See Also

   PvE Shadow Priest Best Races - WotLK Classic - Warcraft TavernShadow Priest PvP GuideWotLK Classic Shadow Priest GuideWotLK Classic Shadow Priest Spec, Builds, Talents, and Glyphs
   . Let it expire before you re-apply it.
3. Maintain

   Devouring Plague

   . Let it expire before you re-apply it.
4. Maintain

   Shadow Word: Pain

   .

   Mind Flay

   will take care of this with

   Pain and Suffering

   .
5. Cast

   Mind Blast

   .
6. Cast

   Shadow Word: Death

   if the target will die before you can finish a

   Mind Blast

   or

   Mind Flay

   cast, if you have exactly 1 GCD before you need to re-apply one of your DoTs or

   Mind Blast

   comes off cooldown, or while moving.
7. Cast

   Mind Flay

   . Interrupt after the second tick of damage if any of the previous steps are available. Use with

   Inner Focus

   when off cooldown.
8. Cast

   Shadowfiend

   to help your mana regen. Be aware of boss mechanics as it can die easily. Best used right before

   Bloodlust

   to maximize DPS.
9. Cast

   Dispersion

   if you need mana or if it will avoid large amounts of damage.

AoE

For 1 or 2 additional targets

1. Maintain

   Vampiric Touch

   and

   Shadow Word: Pain

   on all of them.
2. Maintain

   Devouring Plague

   on one of them.
3. Proceed with single target rotation.

For large pulls:

4. Cast

   Mind Sear

   .

Snapshotting

1. Snapshotting is a term where abilities "snapshot" certain buffs and debuffs such as Percentage Damage Modifiers (

   Tricks of the Trade

   ,

   Death's Embrace

   ,

   Shadow Weaving

   , etc), and Critical Strike (

   Potion of Wild Magic

   ,

   Moonkin Form

   ,

   Improved Shadow Bolt

   , etc) at the time it was casted. Technically all of the caster's stats will be snapshotted, but the one's mentioned previously are the only one's that persist for DoTs that are not refreshed manually such as

   Shadow Word: Pain

   ,

   Corruption

   for Affliction Warlocks, and

   Serpent Sting

   for Survival Hunters.The reason this is important for Shadow Priests is because they never refresh their

   Shadow Word: Pain

   after applying it since

   Mind Flay

   refreshes it with the talent

   Pain and Suffering

   . This is why the order of spells in the opener is important since you get to 5 stacks of

   Shadow Weaving

   before you cast

   Shadow Word: Pain

   .

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Talents

Standard Build

T10 4 Piece

Switch to these talents when you get 4 piece T10, as well as a few other BiS pieces. These talents will perform about 200 -300 dps better than the Standard Build setup.

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Glyphs

Major:

Shadow

,

Mind Flay

,

Shadow Word: Death

Optional:

Dispersion

for quality of life, or specific raid mechanics.

Minor:

Fortitude

,

Shadowfiend

,

Levitate

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Stats

Hit Cap

• 10% (263 Rating) with

  Heroic Presence

  ,

  Shadow Focus

  , and

  Misery

• 11% (289 Rating) with

  Shadow Focus

  and

  Misery

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Best Consumables

Flasks and Elixirs

Best:

• Flask of the Frost Wyrm

Alternatives:

• Spellpower Elixir

  ,

• Elixir of Spirit

Food

Best:

• Fish Feast

  ,

• Tender Shoveltusk Steak

  ,

• Firecracker Salmon

Alternatives:

• Great Feast

  ,

• Dalaran Clam Chowder

  ,

• Shoveltusk Steak

  ,

• Smoked Salmon

  ,

• Snapper Extreme

  ,

• Worg Tartare

Potions

Best:
• Pre-pot

  Potion of Wild Magic

  ,
• In Combat

  Potion of Speed

Miscellaneous

Best:

• Dark Rune

  or

  Demonic Rune

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Best Races

Alliance

1. Draenei:

   Heroic Presence

2. Human:

   The Human Spirit

Horde

1. Troll:

   Berserking

2. Blood Elf:

   Arcane Torrent

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Best Professions

1. Engineering: Best profession thanks to

   Nitro Boosts

   ,

   Hyperspeed Accelerators

   ,

   Springy Arachnoweave

   enchants,

   Global Thermal Sapper Charge

   , and

   Visage Liquification Goggles

   for early gearing.
2. Tailoring: Second best profession thanks to

   Lightweave Embroidery

   .
3. Jewelcrafting: Third best profession thanks to the 3 unique gems such as

   Runed Dragon's Eye

   and

   Rigid Dragon's Eye

   .
4. Blacksmithing: Fourth best profession during phases 3+ thanks to

   Socket Bracer

   and

   Socket Gloves

   .
5. Leatherworking, Enchanting, Inscription, and Alchemy: All provide comparable stat bonuses with

   Fur Lining - Spell Power

   ,

   Ring - Greater Spell Power

   ,

   Master's Inscription of the Storm

   , and

   Mixology

   respectively.
6. Skinning:

   Master of Anatomy

   .