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Ranged DPS · Caster staff or one-hand and off-hand, wand

Shadow Priest

Shadowform, Darkness, Shadow Weaving, Dark Inspiration, Improved Mind Flay, Early Demise and Vampiric Embrace. Shadow Weaving is a raid debuff for every Warlock, and Vampiric Embrace heals the group.

PvE APvP ALeveling BHow tiers are set →
Open the PvE build in the builderBlank Priest builderDamage calculator

How Shadow plays

Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, Mind Blast on cooldown, Mind Flay to fill, Shadow Word: Death as the execute. Vampiric Embrace on bosses so your damage heals melee. Wand while moving.

Key talents

Talents

Shadow Priest endgame PvE build (20/0/31) · 20/0/31 · click any talent to edit in the builder
Discipline20
0/50/25/5
3/30/35/50/23/31/10/33/30/30/20/1
0/10/5
0/3
0/1
Holy0
0/30/30/5
0/50/5
0/10/3
0/30/20/30/20/10/20/10/5
0/3
0/1
Shadow31
5/50/55/5
5/5
2/20/2
0/21/12/21/51/13/3
0/1
0/2
0/2
5/5
1/1
Leveling17/0/34
Shadow Priest leveling build (10–60)
Spirit Tap, Blackout, Improved Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Flay, Shadow Weaving, Vampiric Embrace, Darkness and Shadowform, then Discipline for Wand Specialization, Mental Strength and Meditation.
PvE20/0/31
Shadow Priest endgame PvE build (20/0/31)
Shadowform, Darkness, Shadow Weaving, Dark Inspiration, Improved Mind Flay, Early Demise and Vampiric Embrace with Mental Strength, Meditation and Twin Disciplines.

Rotation and priority

  1. Shadowform on
  2. Vampiric Embrace, then Shadow Word: Pain
  3. Devouring Plague (every race at 20 now)
  4. Mind Blast on cooldown
  5. Mind Flay to fill; Improved Mind Flay makes it worth the channel
  6. Shadow Word: Death under 20% (30% self-damage if it does not kill)

Tips

  • Spirit Tap after every kill is why Shadow levels well: chain pulls while it is up.
  • Psychic Scream and Mind Control are your PvP; Silence from Discipline if you went deep enough.
  • Keep a wand with Shadow damage; wands fire while moving.

Stat priority

  1. 1Spell hit to 16%
  2. 2Shadow spell power
  3. 3Intellect
  4. 4Spirit (Spirit Tap)
  5. 5Spell crit
  6. 6Stamina

Weapon: Caster staff or one-hand and off-hand, wand. Check what each ability actually hits for at your numbers in the damage calculator.

Best recorded drops by slot

Highest item level in the dungeon loot records that fits Shadow; raid gear is added when raids open on 9 December

No recorded drops match yet.

Full item list with every recorded source on the items page.

Leveling as Shadow

Safer and less mana-hungry than Classic thanks to Spirit Tap, Devouring Plague for every race, wands that fire while moving and Vampiric Embrace, but slow to kill until Shadowform at 40.

Leveling build in the builderPriest leveling pageRoute planner

Tier for leveling: B

Leveling tier weighs kill speed, downtime and safety alone. See the best leveling class guide for the full ranking and the speed guide for the route.

Questions players ask

Is Shadow good in WoW Forever?
Launch-week assessment: A tier for PvE, A tier for PvP and B tier for leveling. Shadowform, Darkness, Shadow Weaving, Dark Inspiration, Improved Mind Flay, Early Demise and Vampiric Embrace. Shadow Weaving is a raid debuff for every Warlock, and Vampiric Embrace heals the group.
What stats does a Shadow Priest want?
In order: Spell hit to 16%, Shadow spell power, Intellect, Spirit (Spirit Tap), Spell crit, Stamina.
What weapon should Shadow use?
Caster staff or one-hand and off-hand, wand.