Depends if you played shadow in legion which i did not do much because it was the ex pack they ditched shadow priest in a sinking ship mechanic, I personally wish they rework how shadow priest is played again their aoe is so stale and the void system is a system of the past.
Shadow priest as a whole has taken 10 steps backwards with this ex pack as a class spec and them nerfing it makes no sense, they need to bring back aoe spells that are fun and instant like druids or fire mages or warriors or hunters
Legion destroyed most specs. There isnāt in my view a single spec/class that improved from WoD class design. Combat, Survival, Shadow priest and Demonology are just the worst offenders.
Legion Elemental came close, but even that was simply because of Gust of Wind- Which they promptly removed. Ele was much better in WoD and previous expansions, as were every single other spec.
While i understand your feelings about this, im the exact opposite. I think wow had its peak in legion with everythingā¦content and classes by far. With M+ which was introduced there and really enjoyable (gear swaping and tyr or fortified started at lv 10).
After that many artifact weapon skills or legendary effects became talents in the tree which was a big step backwards.
So for now as much as i love playing SP, our aoe rotation with SN is by far the worst.
As a casual spriest since BFA the class has never felt as clunky to play in AOE as right now. Searing Nightmare rotation feels worse than BFA voidform.
I think this might be a little simplistic, Iāve seen the tier lists etc, and Iām currently in the process of writing up my own thoughts, but I will say this.
Shadow is one of, if not the best at the thing that it does (Sustained single target, augmented by the presence of adds due to ToF). However, the raidās gonna ask a lot more of groups than just that (Especially on mythic), and there will be other things of equal, if not higher value that shadow just canāt do or help with.
If you remember back in SOO, we had feral druids topping single target by 20-30%, which is obscene compared to todayās balance. Even still, you rarely saw more than 2 in a 25 man raid team.
Itās not like Shadow is bad on cleave fights. Shadow is already blasting on fights like Huntsman and Inerva. And the cleave is going to be even better in 9.1 due to small transfer of damage from DP to dots.
Looking at the encounters of SoD Iām very confident that Shadow will be able to fulfil most of the important requirements of the raid group. The damage profile of Shadow is just extremely efficient. No one cares about specs that are high on the meter because of unimportant pad damage. Like for example Havoc DH on Sire D or Fury on Sun King. Shadow is just pure efficient damage.
Iām not entirely sure if youāre trying to claim that Shadow is a one trick pony, but thatās definitely not true. Shadow is extremely versatile and have legendaries/talents for most important raid scenarios.
I doubt it. But if you have any examples of important damage that Shadow cant help with then youāre more than welcome to present them.
Shadowās very VERY well positioned for SoD, donāt get me wrong. But Iād be really shocked to see anyone āStackā them in the way hunters or DKs were. Iāll still call them S tier, but the lack of meaningful utility always tends to hold them back, especially on end bosses. Guilds still want locks, still want moonkins, still want mages etc etc. Donāt expect to see 5 shadows on 1 boss.
Shadow looked absolutely top of the world in EP, yet for WF between method and limit they brought one for azshara.
still do think shadow is ok but i donāt think the playstyle compared to a free win no skill push bottom for massive dps and aoe mage druid hunter Death knight is anything to argue over.
They need to address shadows boring aoe playstyle, I am not found of the missing part of an expanded aoe department we miss like 1 spell for aoe yeah they buff and nerf dots. It doesnāt fix that the playstyle still is boring compared to other specs.
Shadow Priest aoe playstyle feels like a sloppy disk drive that canāt read Cds anymore.
I donāt disagree, but Iām sick of you repeatedly saying itās weak when itās not. Im never gonna defend the design of searing nightmare, but the spec does put out numbers in m+ if you can play it. Itās just incredibly counter intuitive and awkward.
i can clearly state that the current aoe of shadow is fine, but a drag compared to keep up with given any other class talent specialization out there feels. Shadow feels more like a chore with these small changes. With these minor changes at best it feels like flavor of the month specc when people highly regard itās fine when it feels like it miss half of the fun in it which is rewarding aoe spells.
Thatās my point im trying to prove and keep on doing till blizzard finally addresses the underwhelming talent choices boring 2 bottoms mash wait for a cd to keep up with other specs which has way more fun rewarding ways around doing aoeā¦
Itās ironic that people complained about BFA voidform so much when SL searing nightmare playstyle feels even worse. Doing aoe as SP feels like a chore while other classes just press one or two buttons. Iāve quit my spriest until they stop forcing the spec into searing nightmare.
we miss like 1 spell for aoe yeah they buff and nerf dots. It doesnāt fix that the playstyle still is boring compared to other specs.