Shadow Priest DPS Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 7.2.5 Changes
  • 3. Patch 7.2 Changes
  • 4. Strengths
  • 5. Weaknesses
  • 6. Viability in the Current Patch
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Main Resource
  • 3. Basic Abilities
  • 4. Cooldowns
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
      • 2.1.1. Single Target & Light Cleave
      • 2.1.2. Surrender to Madness
      • 2.1.3. Mythic+
    • 2.2. For General Use
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression
  • 2. Relic Choice
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Preface
    • 1.1. Shadowform
  • 2. Single Target Priority
  • 3. Multiple Target Rotation
    • 3.1. Persistent Enemies
      • 3.1.1. Against 2-3 Targets
      • 3.1.2. Against 4 or More Targets
    • 3.2. Short Lasting Enemies
  • 4. Cooldowns
  • 5. Important Notes
    • 5.1. Insanity
      • 5.1.1. Generating Insanity
      • 5.1.2. Insanity Generation Modifiers
      • 5.1.3. Insanity Drain
    • 5.2. Voidform and Lingering Insanity
    • 5.3. Void Bolt
    • 5.4. Talent Synergies
      • 5.4.1. Lingering Insanity + Legacy of the Void
      • 5.4.2. Surrender to Madness + Reaper of Souls + Twist of Fate
    • 5.5. Void Eruption and DoTs
      • 5.5.1. Single Target
      • 5.5.2. Multiple Targets
    • 5.6. More on Cooldowns
      • 5.6.1. Shadowfiend
      • 5.6.2. Dispersion
      • 5.6.3. Void Torrent
    • 5.7. More on Talents
      • 5.7.1. Tier 6 Talents
      • 5.7.2. Tier 7 Talents
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Mastery vs Haste
  • 2. Gems
  • 3. Enchants
  • 4. Consumables
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Priests
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Shadow Priests
      • 1.2.1. Dispersion Cancelaura Macro
      • 1.2.2. Mind Flay Camera Spin
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Priests
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.3. GTFO
      • 2.1.4. Parrot or Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 2.1.5. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.6. Recount / Skada / Details!
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Shadow Priests
      • 2.2.1. WeakAuras Thread
      • 2.2.2. SPTimers
  • 3. ChangeLog
• ×Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 2. Legendary Items
    • 2.1. Explanations
      • 2.1.1. Anund's Seared Shackles (Wrist)
      • 2.1.2. Sephuz's Secret (Finger)
      • 2.1.3. Mangaza's Madness (Waist)
      • 2.1.4. Heart of the Void (Chest)
      • 2.1.5. Soul of the High Priest (Ring)
      • 2.1.6. Zek's Exterminatus (Back)
      • 2.1.7. The Twins' Painful Touch (Finger)
      • 2.1.8. Mother Shahraz's Seduction (Shoulder)
      • 2.1.9. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish (Trinket)
      • 2.1.10. Zenk'aram, Iridi's Anadem (Head)
  • 3. Loot Competition
  • 4. ChangeLog

General Information

This page is a gear reference for Shadow Priests. It lists your best items and Legendaries, gives you gearing advice, and shows you how you will be competing for loot with other classes.

The other pages of our Shadow Priest guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author and Reviewer

This guide has been written by Furty, who has an illustrious history in the World of Warcraft raiding scene and race for World First. He has been a member of guilds such as Serenity, Midwinter, and many more, and is currently raiding in Future. He plays most classes at the highest level. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him play on Twitch.

This guide has been reviewed by Atroxe, a Shadow Priest who plays in Encore, and by DjRiff, a theorycrafter at HowToPriest. You can watch Atroxe play on YouTube and Twitch, and you can watch DjRiff stream on Twitch.

1. Tier 20 Set Bonuses

The Tier 20 set bonuses augment our resource generation and expenditure.

• 2-piece bonus: Mind Flay damage increases the damage of your next Mind Blast by 3% and its Insanity generation by 1. Stacks up to 10 times.
• 4-piece bonus: Insanity drains 10% slower while in Voidform (5% during Surrender to Madness).

The 2-piece bonus is a little lackluster, though the increased damage and Insanity is nice. It is not worth micro-managing the stacking bonus, so just treat it as a passive boost to your damage. The 4-piece bonus, on the other hand, is exceptionally strong and worth acquiring as soon as possible. It is worth dropping higher item level offpieces in order to complete your 4-piece bonus due to its potency.

2. Legendary Items

Legendary items have a high item level of 970, which makes them extremely strong. They are so strong, in fact, that a legendary item is always going to be worth equipping over any other item you might have in that slot.

However, there is a limitation on the number of legendary items you can have equipped at any one time (by default 1, but by now most players should be able to equip 2). Since some legendary items are better than others, if you have more items than the limit, you will have to choose which ones to equip.

Below, we will do our best to guide you through this process, as well as provide any other relevant information.

For a single target:

1. Sephuz's Secret (if it can be triggered)
2. Mangaza's Madness
3. Mother Shahraz's Seduction
4. Zeks Exterminatus
5. Soul of the High Priest (if playing Fortress of the Mind)
6. Heart of the Void
7. Anund's Seared Shackles
8. Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
9. Norgannon's Foresight
10. Soul of the High Priest (if playing Shadow Word: Void)
11. Zenk'aram, Iridi's Anadem
12. Celumbra, the Night's Dichotomy
13. The Twins' Painful Touch
14. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish

2.1. Explanations

2.1.1. Anund's Seared Shackles (Wrist)

Each time your Shadow Word: Pain or Vampiric Touch tick, you gain a stacking buff that increases the damage done by your next Void Bolt by 3%, stacking up to 50 times (150%). In practice, you will see maximum stacks in 3+ target situations between Voidform phases, generally fewer than 20 stacks otherwise. This is generally the second best legendary for Shadow Priests, regardless of your combination of talents.

2.1.2. Sephuz's Secret (Finger)

Successful crowd control on an enemy grants you 70% increased movement speed and 25% Haste for 10 seconds. Overall a strong legendary if you can reliably take advantage of the Haste bonus using Mind Bomb. Very potent choice in Mythic+ dungeons and raid encounters with stunnable adds, such as Il'gynoth. Usually the best choice when it can be reliably used.

2.1.3. Mangaza's Madness (Waist)

Mind Blast now has 2 charges. When in Voidform this solves the problem of overlapping cooldown abilities, namely Void Bolt and Mind Blast, from both being up at the same time by allowing you to shift Mind Blast 1 global cooldown into the future with no penalty. Generally speaking this is the best option overall (When Sephuz cannot be procced) and a great legendary option for Surrender to Madness, as it allows for greater safety.

2.1.4. Heart of the Void (Chest)

Heart of the Void increases the damage done by Void Eruption by 300% and heals you for 40% of the damage dealt. Can be very potent in Mythic+ dungeons and scenarios with frequent cleave and AoE, assuming target priority is relatively equal. Likely the best or one of the best legendaries for the aforementioned content and an average choice for single target/boss encounters.

2.1.5. Soul of the High Priest (Ring)

Soul of the High Priest grants you the Twist of Fate talent passively. A middling choice as the alternative options to Twist of Fate are not massive damage gains, but a solid and stable damage increase.

2.1.6. Zek's Exterminatus (Back)

Your Shadow Word: Pain has a chance to increase the damage of your next Shadow Word: Death by 25% and make it usable on any target, regardless of their current health.

2.1.7. The Twins' Painful Touch (Finger)

The first Mind Flay that you cast after entering Voidform spreads Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch from your current target to 3 targets within 10 yards. This can be useful in Mythic+ dungeons.

2.1.8. Mother Shahraz's Seduction (Shoulder)

When you enter Voidform you gain 3 stacks of Voidform immediately. This legendary has been nerfed enough it is now a fairly weak choice, especially as it does not allow you to use tier or the Arcway 2-set bonus in its place.

2.1.9. Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish (Trinket)

Allows the use of a vortex of destruction every 75 seconds that critically strikes your current target and all targets within 10 yards of it.

2.1.10. Zenk'aram, Iridi's Anadem (Head)

This increases the healing done by Vampiric Embrace by 250% while in Voidform, and increases all Shadow damage done in Voidform by an additional 3%. This turns Vampiric Embrace in to a powerful raid healing cooldown and provides a nice passive damage increase.

3. Loot Competition

Apart from other Shadow Priests, you will also be competing for items with the classes listed below:

Item Type	Competing Classes
Tier Tokens	Demon Hunters, Paladins, Discipline/Holy Priests, and Warlocks
Cloth Armor	Mages, Discipline/Holy Priests, and Warlocks
Amulets Cloaks Rings	Everyone
Trinkets	Balance Druids, Mages, Discipline Priests, Elemental Shamans, and Warlocks

4. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 19 Jun. 2017: Added Tier 20 set bonus explanation.
• 12 Jun. 2017: Added Heart of the Void and Soul of the High Priest to the Legendary items section.
• 01 May 2017: Updated positions of Managazas Madness and Anund's Seared Shackles.
• 30 Mar. 2017: Updated Zenk'aram, Iridi's Anadem tooltip.
• 14 Jan. 2017: Added new legendary items.
• 10 Jan. 2017: Updated legendary priority. Made note of Sephuz potency in M+.
• 10 Oct. 2016: Updated some mentions about legendary items.
• 29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
• 30 Jul. 2016: Updated trinket and set bonus recommendations.
• 18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.