Shadow Priest DPS Spell Summary (Legion 7.2.5)

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. Introduction

If you are new to Shadow, this is a great place to start to get an understanding of how the spec works. On this page we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialisation, how they interact with each other and also with important cooldowns. If you already have experience with Shadow and are comfortable with it in Legion, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

2. Main Resource

Insanity is your primary resource as a Shadow Priest. Several abilities (including regularly used ones such as Mind Blast Icon Mind Blast and Mind Flay Icon Mind Flay generate Insanity), and Insanity is only used for your Voidform Icon Voidform. If you have 100 Insanity you can enter Voidform, an enhanced state during which your Insanity is progressively drained and which ends when you run out of Insanity. Insanity management is a crucial part of playing a Shadow Priest.

Mana is your secondary resource as a Shadow Priest. Most spells cost Mana to use, although generally, attentively managing your Mana is not required.

3. Basic Abilities

These are your core skills that are available regardless of talents, and form the core gameplay of the specialization.

Void Eruption Icon Void Eruption has a 2-second cast time (reduced by Haste), at the end of which you enter the above-described Voidform Icon Voidform. Void Eruption also deals some damage to all targets affected by your Shadow Word: Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch Icon Vampiric Touch DoTs. The Shadow rotation is greatly altered while you are inside of Voidform, and this is the part of the gameplay that is the most complex. During Voidform, your damage is increased by 20%, the cooldown of Mind Blast Icon Mind Blast is reduced by 3 seconds, and you gain 1% Haste per second (multiplicatively).

Void Bolt Icon Void Bolt is an ability that replaces Void Eruption Icon Void Eruption while Voidform Icon Voidform is active. It is instant cast and it deals damage to the target, adding 3 seconds to the existing durations of Shadow Word: Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch Icon Vampiric Touch to the target and all nearby targets, and also generating Insanity.

Shadow Word: Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain is one of your two DoTs. It deals Shadow damage to the target over time, and generates Insanity on application.

Vampiric Touch Icon Vampiric Touch is one of your two DoTs. It deals Shadow damage to the target over time, heals you for 50% of the damage dealt, and generates Insanity on application.

Mind Blast Icon Mind Blast deals damage to a single target, which has a 9-second cooldown, affected by Haste, and which generates a high amount of Insanity. It is generally one of your highest priority spells.

Mind Flay Icon Mind Flay is a channeled spell that deals Shadow damage to the target and slows their movement speed by 50%. It generates Insanity, has no cooldown, and is generally used as a filler throughout your rotation. If Shadow Word: Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain is applied to your target, Mind Flay will also deal Shadow damage to nearby targets as well and generate an additional 1 Insanity per target hit.

Shadow Word: Death Icon Shadow Word: Death deals damage to a single target, and can only be used against targets that are below 20% health. It generates Insanity, and a greater amount of Insanity if the target is killed by Shadow Word: Death.

4. Cooldowns

Shadowfiend Icon Shadowfiend has a 3-minute cooldown and it summons a shadowy fiend that attacks your target for 12 seconds (extended once the trait Fiending Dark Icon Fiending Dark is unlocked). It provides a small DPS boost, and is considered an offensive cooldown (although not a tremendously powerful one). It should be paired with high Haste buffs such as high Voidform Icon Voidform stacks and Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust.

Dispersion Icon Dispersion has a 2-minute cooldown (reduced to 40 seconds once the trait Icon From the Shadows is unlocked). It lasts 6 seconds, during which time all damage you take is reduced by 60% and you cannot be stunned, snared, feared, or silenced. During Dispersion, you do not lose any Insanity (if you are in Voidform Icon Voidform), but you also cannot attack or cast any spells. Generally, this is used to extend the amount of time you spend in Voidform to allow you to reach another Icon Void Torrent, or to help you survive dangerous mechanics. It is frequently used to avoid mechanics that would otherwise force you to drop out of Voidform Icon Voidform due to extended movement and lack of Insanity generation.