Shadow Priest M+ Rotation

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been playing WoW on/off since November 2007, but no matter what class I have played I have always been pants at pushing numbers as a DPS. Throughout Dragonflight I mained as a Havoc DH, and it was just… Not good at all.

In War Within I have been playing my Shadow Priest more than any other characters but whilst I have read info on Icy Veins and Wowhead, as well as watching Youtube videos, I just can’t seem to push out good numbers consistently, and this is even with the help of rotation addons…

I find the whole thing of making sure not to stand in stuff, whilst moving minimally to minimise spell cast interruption, as well as doing appropriate rotation (M+) a lot to take in and it feels overwhelming.

I would appreciate any tips to help a very bleh Shadow Priest be better at well, what she’s supposed to be doing.

Hello!

It can be a lot to learn and optimise Shadow, really any spec honestly.

Looking at the data I can see briefly (Raid logs, 1-2 dungeon runs) there’s quite a bit overall to work on but the biggest things for mythic+ specifically are building up the muscle memory for the rotation and getting comfortable with your positionig + playing aggressively up towards your tank so you don’t start pulls / engagemets running in late.

One of the biggest things I see all casters do in Mythic+ is play way WAY too far back. This results in the tank running off into the next pull and you trailing behind them trying to catch up. Always think about positioning forward so you’re in range (And can start casting on) the next pack / pull as the tank is running in.

Getting better at dodging mechanics + doing damage is practice. You are struggling right now because you are actively thinking about what the next button in your rotation is (Or reading a rotation helper such as Hekili). You need to reach a point where what you’re pressing isn’t really something you think about, then you can think about how to execute mechanics and your dps will happen automatically.

On the topic of Rotation helpers, they can be ok for some specs but for Shadow they are really bad. Shadow is a fast paced proc heavy spec and often a rotation helper is telling you what to do well after you should have done it. Shadow Priest is a spec where it’s sigificantly better to make a mistake but do something every global than it is to press the right button every time no matter how long it takes to work out. This is also something you get better at with practice.

If you want some more directed help I can’t recommend the Visage Discord community enough. They were set up to offer support and community to those who need it in WoW and offer free opportunities to chat with experienced players and even guide writers such as myself. https://discord.gg/aBEtXRjA (Link expires in 7 days).

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Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply, really do appreciate it!

Re: Rotation helpers; Yeah, my partner has said I should really just know what to use and when, and that rotation helpers tells you what to spit out under 100% optimal conditions (which obviously doesn’t mirror true in-game play most of the time).

I’ll delve into the Visage Discord community and ask for some more directed help there.

Thanks again!