WoW The War Within: Shadow Priest Build

Jonas Author

Created - 14.01.2025 Updated - 15.01.2025

348 0

This is a WoW The War Within Shadow Priest build that’s set to help out during team raids and even PvE. With the Priest class getting decent reworks in the next major patch, this Shadow Priest build is going to be even better so it’s worth trying out now as soon as possible.

Before you go, make sure to drop by our WoW Store. We’ve got excellent WoW gold deals that will help you build your characters fast.

Stat Priority

The primary stat that we focus on is Intellect. As you obtain higher-level gear, you'll naturally acquire more Intellect. Intellect increases your spell power, which directly affects the damage and healing you can do.

Next, let's talk about secondary stats. While the general priority of secondary stats is important, don't worry too much about it unless you're comparing two items of the same item level.

For example, if you’re wearing 619 item-level boots, and your current legs are 571 item-level, then if you get an upgrade from 571 to 619, it's going to be an upgrade no matter what stats are on the new piece of gear.

Higher item level always trumps secondary stat distribution when comparing gear of equal quality.

Mastery

Mastery is unique to each spec. For Shadow Priests, Mastery is tied to Shadow Weaving, which increases your damage based on the number of damage-over-time (DoT) abilities that you have applied to the target.

The more Mastery you have, the more damage you do with your DoTs, such as Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Devouring Plague. These are the key DoTs you will be using on your enemies, and the more Mastery you stack, the more impactful they become.

Haste

Haste is the next important stat. It reduces the cast time of your spells and increases your attack speed. This means that with more Haste, you'll be casting abilities like Mind Spike and Mind Blast more quickly.

The faster you can cast, the more you can deal damage, which is key to maximizing your DPS.

Critical Strike

Critical Strike increases the chance for your spells to deal double damage. This is particularly useful for spells that deal significant damage and can help you increase your overall output. If you’re looking for big numbers, Critical Strike is definitely one of your go-to stats.

Versatility

Lastly, we have Versatility. This stat increases the damage you deal, the healing you do, and reduces the damage you take. It’s an all-around great stat that provides both offense and defense.

While it’s generally not as impactful as the other stats in terms of raw DPS, it’s incredibly useful for overall survivability and performance in all situations.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of the stat priority, let’s take a look at what your set bonuses do for you this season.

Set Bonuses

The two-set bonus this season is quite strong for Shadow Priests. It increases the duration of Devouring Plague, which is one of your core DoT abilities. This extended duration means you can apply it and forget about it for a little longer, maximizing your damage uptime.

Additionally, the four-set bonus means that Devouring Plague increases your overall damage done, and multiple applications can overlap. This is a pretty significant boost to your DPS, especially when you're applying Devouring Plague to multiple targets or maintaining it during your Void Form.

Speaking of Devouring Plague, let's take a moment to look at this ability in detail.

Devouring Plague

Devouring Plague is one of your most important DoTs. It deals damage to the target every 2.7 seconds for a period of time. The longer it’s on the target, the more damage it will deal, making it critical for your overall DPS.

On our keyboard, it’s mapped to number six, and when you apply it to your target, it starts ticking away, dealing damage over time. It’s an essential part of your toolkit, and you’ll need to keep it up on all of your targets as much as possible.

Utilities & Defensives

Now that we've covered the basic stat priority and set bonuses, let’s move on to the utilities and defensives that Shadow Priests have at their disposal. These abilities are crucial for surviving and supporting your allies in various scenarios, especially in the chaos of "The War Within."

We’ll be showing you the most important utilities, but keep in mind, that you could talent into other abilities as well. There are a variety of options, and while we may not cover every single one, these are the ones you should be familiar with.

Offensive Utilities (Left Action Bar)

On the left side of the action bar, we have abilities that are used to control and damage our enemies. The most notable ones are:

• Psychic Scream: This ability is used to fear enemies and make them run away from you. It’s great for controlling the battlefield and preventing enemies from reaching you or your allies.
• Mind Control: Mind Control allows you to take control of an enemy's mind, making them fight for you. You can control an enemy up to one level higher than you for 30 seconds. If you’re level 80, you can mind control level 81 enemies.

However, it doesn't work against demons, undead, or mechanical creatures. This ability can be incredibly useful in niche situations.

Defensive Utilities (Right Action Bar)

On the right side of the action bar, we have abilities that are more focused on protecting you and your allies. These are the core defensive tools that you need to know:

• Purify Disease and Dispel Magic: These abilities allow you to remove magic and disease effects from your allies. It’s essential for keeping your group safe from harmful debuffs.
• Leap of Faith: This ability is used to pull an ally to you. If they’re standing in something dangerous or about to take a massive hit, you can use Leap of Faith to save them by bringing them to safety.
• Power Word: Fortitude: This ability increases an ally’s health for an hour. It can be cast on yourself or any party or raid member. If you’re in a party or raid, casting it on yourself will automatically apply it to everyone in your group. It’s a fantastic buff for increasing the survivability of your team.
• Angelic Feather: You can place an Angelic Feather on the ground, and anyone who steps on it will get a temporary speed boost. This is useful for helping your allies move faster during fights, especially in dungeons or raids where mobility is key. You can also create macros to automatically place the feather at your feet, making it even easier to use.
• Vampiric Embrace: This ability fills you with the Embrace of Shadow, causing you to heal a nearby ally for 50% of the Shadow damage you deal to a single target. It’s a great way to provide healing to your team while still focusing on damage.
• Desperate Prayer: Desperate Prayer heals you for 33% of your maximum health over 10 seconds, providing a significant heal when you're in a pinch. It also gives you an immediate boost to your health, allowing you to survive longer in tougher encounters.
• Mass Dispel: This ability allows you to dispel magic effects on up to five friendly targets in a large area. This is incredibly useful in situations where multiple party members are affected by harmful debuffs, such as in Mythic+ dungeons or PvP. Mass Dispel makes it easier to clear harmful effects from your entire team at once, ensuring that you can keep everyone at their best.

These are the main utilities and defensives that we have available to us as a Shadow Priest in The War Within. Now that we've covered these essential abilities, let's move on to the next part of the guide!

Raid Rotation

Now we get to the exciting part—the rotation! Whether you're focused on Mythic Plus or raiding, the rotation will remain fairly similar. For raiding specifically, we’re going to be focusing on the talents that work best for Shadow Priests.

We’re going to take the Archon Hero talents, which are optimal for both builds.

At the core of the rotation is Halo, which plays a huge role, so it’s placed high up on the priority list. Along with that, we have Mana and something called Insanity.

Insanity is a resource you’ll be generating and spending throughout the fight, and it’s key to understanding how to execute your rotation effectively. Let's break down how we handle the various spells in our toolkit.

Priority of Spells

Here’s the general order in which you’ll want to use your spells from left to right. We’ll explain what each one does, when to use them, and why they’re important:

1. Vampiric Touch: This is your primary damage-over-time (DoT) spell, afflicting the target with shadowy energy. This should be applied first to ensure you start stacking damage early.
2. Shadowfiend: This summon generates Insanity every time it attacks. You’ll want to summon this as early as possible to start building your resource.
3. Halo: Halo creates a ring of shadow energy around you, dealing damage to enemies in its path. It's very powerful, especially when enhanced by your talents, and should be used as often as it comes off cooldown.
4. Void Eruption: Void Eruption is a two-minute cooldown ability that releases a massive blast of Void energy, dealing damage to all enemies within 10 yards. This ability activates Void Form, which amplifies your damage and makes your spells even more potent. After using Void Eruption, your next spell, Void Bolt, becomes available.
5. Void Bolt: This is the follow-up to Void Eruption. It replaces Void Eruption during Void Form and deals significant damage to all enemies. You’ll want to cast this on cooldown to keep up your damage output.
6. Devouring Plague: Once you’ve built up enough Insanity (45), you can cast Devouring Plague. This DoT causes shadow damage over time while also healing you a little bit. It's a vital part of your Insanity-spending abilities.
7. Mind Blast: You have two charges of Mind Blast, and it does a lot of damage. You’ll want to use these charges as soon as they’re available. This ability works in tandem with your Insanity management and boosts your overall damage.
8. Void Torrent: Void Torrent channels a steady stream of Void energy at your target, dealing damage and generating Insanity. You should channel this whenever you can, but ensure you’re not interrupted. It’s crucial for maximizing your damage during Void Form.
9. Mind Flay: Sometimes Mind Flay will transform into Mind Flay Insanity, and when that happens, you need to prioritize using it. The Insanity version is more powerful and generates Insanity, which is key to maintaining your rotation.
10. Shadow Word: Death: This spell has a 10-second cooldown and deals massive damage, especially if the target is below 20% health. You should use this whenever the opportunity arises, particularly when enemies are nearing their death.

Applying the Rotation

Let’s dive into how you’ll execute this rotation in a raid scenario, step-by-step. Here's what the general rotation will look like for single-target fights:

1. Apply Vampiric Touch: Always start by applying Vampiric Touch to your target. This also puts Shadow Word: Pain on them, ensuring that you have both of your primary DoTs active.
2. Summon Shadowfiend: As soon as Vampiric Touch is up, summon Shadowfiend to begin generating Insanity.
3. Use Mind Blast: Immediately use both charges of Mind Blast to deal damage and manage your cooldowns. These should be used as often as possible.
4. Cast Halo on cooldown: Use Halo whenever it’s available to deal significant AoE damage to enemies around you.
5. Void Eruption: When Void Eruption comes off cooldown, use it. This will trigger Void Form, and you’ll get access to more powerful spells like Void Bolt.
6. Power Infusion: Use Power Infusion to increase your damage output, especially if you’re about to cast Void Bolt. Power Infusion will give you a boost to both your damage and spell casting speed.
7. Void Bolt: After Void Eruption, immediately use Void Bolt to deal high single-target damage. This spell will be key to maintaining your DPS during Void Form.
8. Devouring Plague: Once you have enough Insanity (45), cast Devouring Plague. Keep this up on the target at all times, especially during Void Form. If Insanity is about to cap out or Devouring Plague is about to expire, reapply it as soon as possible.
9. Mind Devourer: When Mind Devourer procs, it’ll make your next Devouring Plague cost no Insanity and deal additional damage. This is a critical opportunity to use Devouring Plague again and maximize your damage output.
10. Mind Blast on cooldown: Always use Mind Blast on cooldown. It’s a great way to deal burst damage and trigger additional effects like Mind Devourer.
11. Void Torrent: If Void Torrent has at least 2.5 seconds left, use it. Fully channel it to maximize damage.
12. Mind Flay Insanity: When Mind Flay transforms into Mind Flay Insanity, use it to generate Insanity and keep up your damage output.
13. Shadow Word: Death: Finally, when your target’s health is low (below 20%), use Shadow Word: Death to finish them off and deal massive damage.

Managing Buffs & Debuffs

A key part of maintaining this rotation is ensuring you keep your buffs and debuffs up, particularly Vampiric Touch, Shadow Word: Pain, and Devouring Plague.

These abilities should be maintained as much as possible, especially when you’re in Void Form. The more you keep up these DoTs, the more damage you’ll deal overall.

Also, keep an eye on Mind Devourer and Power Infusion. When Mind Devourer procs, make sure to take advantage of the free Devouring Plague. Use Mind Blast as soon as you can to maximize the benefit.

Important Talents

• Surge of Insanity: Every two casts of Devouring Plague transforms your next Mind Flay into Mind Flay Insanity. This talent is crucial for generating Insanity and increasing your overall damage output.
• Mental Decay: This talent increases the damage of Mind Flay and extends the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch by a second when enemies suffer damage from Mind Flay.
• Screams of the Void: This talent makes Devouring Plague affect your other DoTs. Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch will deal damage 40% faster for 3 seconds when affected by Devouring Plague.
• Insidious: While your Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch are active on the same target, your Mind Blast and Void Torrent will deal more damage.

Mythic+ Rotation

When transitioning into the Mythic+ build, you'll notice only a few key changes in your talent choices. These tweaks are essential for adapting to the fast-paced, high-intensity environment of Mythic Plus dungeons.

The rotation remains largely the same, but the changes help optimize your performance in these scenarios.

Key Talent Changes

1. Silence: This talent is crucial in Mythic Plus, as it allows you to silence enemies and interrupt their casting. Silence has a 45-second cooldown, and being able to interrupt dangerous enemy abilities can make a huge difference in your team's success. You’ll want to make sure to use Silence strategically to shut down enemies when they’re casting powerful spells.
2. Shadow Crash: Another important change is the addition of Shadow Crash. This ability sends a bolt of slow-moving shadow energy to a target location, dealing damage to all enemies within eight yards. More importantly, it will apply Vampiric Touch to all enemies hit by the crash. This is a significant shift from applying Vampiric Touch directly. You’ll use Shadow Crash to apply Vampiric Touch to multiple targets, which is especially useful in Mythic Plus dungeons where multiple enemies are often clustered together. If Shadow Crash is on cooldown, you can still use Vampiric Touch as a fallback.

Mythic+ Rotation Breakdown

1. Apply Vampiric Touch with Shadow Crash: Use Shadow Crash to apply Vampiric Touch to up to eight enemies in your range. This allows you to cover multiple targets quickly, ensuring that you have your DoTs up where they’re needed most. If Shadow Crash is on cooldown, you can manually apply Vampiric Touch to your main target.
2. Use Shadowfiend: As in the raiding rotation, summon Shadowfiend early to begin generating Insanity. Keep an eye on your Insanity resource, as you’ll need it to power your higher-damage abilities.
3. Mind Blast: Continue using Mind Blast on cooldown, managing your two charges to maximize your damage output. Keeping Mind Blast on cooldown is a central part of your rotation.
4. Halo on Cooldown: Use Halo on cooldown to deal significant AoE damage to all enemies around you. It’s especially helpful in Mythic Plus dungeons when dealing with groups of enemies.
5. Void Eruption: Use Void Eruption when it comes off cooldown to enter Void Form and unlock Void Bolt. Follow this up with Void Bolt as soon as you enter Void Form.
6. Devouring Plague: Keep Devouring Plague up on all of your targets. Reapply it when necessary, especially when you’re about to cap out on Insanity or when it’s about to expire.
7. Mind Flay Insanity: Use Mind Flay when it transforms into Mind Flay Insanity (the purple version) to generate Insanity and maintain your damage output.
8. Void Torrent: Make sure to channel Void Torrent when you have at least 2.5 seconds left on the channel. Fully channel it to maximize damage and generate Insanity.
9. Shadow Word: Death: Use Shadow Word: Death on cooldown, particularly when enemies are below 20% health. It’s a great way to deal high burst damage.

The main difference between your Mythic+ and raiding rotation is that you’ll be using Shadow Crash more often to apply Vampiric Touch to multiple targets. In raids, you typically apply Vampiric Touch to one target and maintain it throughout the fight.

However, in Mythic+, where multiple enemies are often present, Shadow Crash lets you spread your DoTs across all of them with one ability.

The rest of the rotation is quite similar, focusing on Shadowfiend, Mind Blast, Halo, Void Eruption, Devouring Plague, and Mind Flay Insanity. The overall strategy remains the same, but you’ll just need to be more aware of when to use Shadow Crash to maximize your AoE potential.

That’s essentially the only major difference between your Mythic+ and raiding rotations. The Mythic Plus build in Season 1 of "The War Within" gives you tools to handle AoE encounters more effectively while keeping the core principles of your damage rotation intact.

The addition of Silence and Shadow Crash makes your rotation more dynamic and better suited for the constant need to interrupt and manage multiple enemies in Mythic Plus dungeons.

Settle Scores With The Shadow Priest

The DPS class is very important in teams, and hopefully, this Shadow Priest class does the right job for you.