PVE Shadow Priest DPS Guide (WotLK 3.3.5a)

Welcome to the Shadow Priest DPS guide for World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a. In this guide, you will learn about playing a Shadow Priest in a raid. The guide includes Talents, Glyphs, Gems, Enchantments, Add-ons, Gameplay & Skill rotation tips.

Talent Tree

Here I’ll describe two specs. The first one will be a casual spec, usable with every kind of gear. The second one will be for people with 4/5 T10 Set Bonus.

The advantage of the second build is that we don’t take Improved Mind Blast, which saves us 5 talent points. We take Improved Vampiric Embrace, which will give our raid extra survivability and now we have 16% less treat generation.

Glyphs

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Shadow
• Glyph of Mind Flay
• Glyph of Dispersion

Minor Glyphs

• Glyph of Levitate
• Glyph of Fortitude
• Glyph of Shadowfiend

Gems

Gems are situational and depend on the build and equipment. They are used to reach the required stat caps.

• Meta: Chaotic Skyflare Diamond
• Red: Runed Cardinal Ruby
• Yellow: Reckless Ametrine
• Blue: Purified Dreadstone

Enchants

• Head – Arcanum of Burning Mysteries
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of the Storm
• Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Greater Speed
• Chest – Enchant Chest – Powerful Stats
• Bracers – Enchant Bracers – Superior Spellpower
• Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Exceptional Spellpower
• Waist – Eternal Belt Buckle
• Legs – Brilliant Spellthread
• Boots – Enchant Boots – Icewalker

Weapons

• Two-handed – Enchant Staff – Greater Spellpower
• One-handed – Enchant Weapon – Mighty Spellpower

Gameplay & Rotations

Shadow Priests have an opener combo and a priority list afterward. Let’s take a look.

First Spec Openers

This is a standard opener for players using the first spec. (No 4/5 T10 Set Bonus)

• Vampiric Touch → Devouring Plague → Mind Blast → Mind Flay → Shadow Word: Pain
• Use Shadow Word: Pain only after stacking Shadow Weaving

Priority List

After using your opener you have to keep these spells on the target all the time:

• Vampiric Touch, Devouring Plague, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain
• Rest of the time you use Mind Flay

Second Spec Openers

If you have the 4/5 T10 Set Bonus then your opener will look like this:

• Vampiric Touch → Devouring Plague → Mind Flay → Shadow Word: Pain

Priority List

Vampiric Touch, *Mind Blast, Devouring Plague, Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Flay.

*Mind Blast is used much less with this spec.

*Mind Blast procs a regeneration buff.If you have other 3 classes, that give a similar buff, then you don’t have to use it.