On this page, we list your Shadow Priest coreabilities and how they should be used together (rotation) in World of WarcraftMoP 5.4. We also explain whento use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtletiesthat you will need to know if you want to excel at playing a ShadowPriest.

The other pages of our Shadow Priest guide can be accessedfrom the table of contents on the right.

1. Single Target Rotation↑top

As a Shadow Priest, you should always have Shadowform active whileDPSing.

The single target rotation for Shadow Priests is based on a rather simplepriority system. It can best be summarised as:

1. Cast Devouring Plague with 3 Shadow Orbs.
2. Cast Mind Blast if you have fewer than 3 Shadow Orbs.
3. Cast Shadow Word: Death if you have fewer than 3 Shadow Orbs.
   • Shadow Word: Death can be cast twice before triggering its cooldown, andyou should always do so.
   • Shadow Word: Death is only usable on targets who are below 20% health.
4. Cast Mind Flay on the target when Devouring Plague is up.
5. Apply and maintain Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch.
6. Cast Mind Flay as your filler spell.
7. Cast the second cast of Shadow Word: Death (which does not generate aShadow Orb) if you are moving and cannot cast Mind Flay.

2. Multiple Target Rotation↑top

The multiple target rotation depends on how many enemies you are facingand how long these enemies will live. Use the following guidelines,but do not hesitate to adapt your playstyle to your particular situations.

2.1. Persistent Enemies

If your enemies will live for a rather long period of time, then make use ofthe following guidelines:

2.1.1. Against 2-4 Targets

1. Keep Shadow Word: Pain up on all targets.
2. Keep Vampiric Touch up on all targets.
3. Cast Mind Flay when Devouring Plague is up.
4. Cast Mind Blast if you have fewer than 3 Shadow Orbs.
5. Cast Devouring Plague with 3 Shadow Orbs.
6. Cast Shadow Word: Death on low-health targets, in order to generatemore Shadow Orbs.
7. Cast Mind Flay as a filler.

2.1.2. Against 5 or More Targets

Against 5 targets, maintain Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch upon all of them, and use Mind Sear as a filler. Against more than 5 targets,ignore DoTs and simply channel Mind Sear on one of them or, ideally, on atank or melee DPS who is in range of all of them.

2.2. Short-lasting Enemies

Keep Shadow Word: Pain up on all targets, and use Mind Flay as afiller.

Cast Shadow Word: Death on low-health targets, in order to generatemore Shadow Orbs.

If there is a large number of enemies, you can resort to channeling Mind Sear.

3. Inner Fire Versus Inner Will↑top

You should be using Inner Fire in nearly every imaginable scenario,since it increases your spellpower and your DPS.

Inner Will provides a small movement speed increase, so it can beused in a situation where moving quickly is of the utmost importance.

4. Cooldowns↑top

As a Shadow Priest, you have few (and weak) offensive cooldowns. However,you possess several abilities that are useful for your raid.

• Shadowfiend should, essentially, be used on cooldown.
• Dispersion should be used to help replenish your mana or allowyou to survive. We explain it in greater depth in oursection dedicated to Dispersion.
• Void Shift allows you to swap health percentages with yourtarget. It can be used to save raid members, by trading your life with theirs,or to save yourself in the same way.
• Vampiric Embrace is 3-minute cooldown with a 15-second duration.It causes all the single-target damage you deal to heal nearby allies for50% of the damage.
• Hymn of Hope restores the mana of raid members, and also temporarilyincreases their mana pool. It is a strong raid cooldown, and you shouldconsult with your raid leader before using it.

To read about these abilities in more detail, we recommend our detailed cooldown section.

You also gain several new abilities from your talents. You can read aboutthese below.

5. Optional Read: Mastering Your Shadow Priest↑top

Shadow Priests have a relatively simple rotation. However, there areseveral things you must understand in order to play your character toits full potential.

5.1. Shadow Orbs and Devouring Plague

Each time you deal damage with Mind Blast and Shadow Word: Death, you generate a Shadow Orb. Note that you can useShadow Word: Death twice in a row, but only the first cast will grant you aShadow Orb. You can have a maximum of 3 Shadow Orbs at one time. The onlyspells that cost Shadow Orbs to cast are:

• Devouring Plague, a powerful DoT;
• Psychic Horror, a stun and disarm.

You should always use your Shadow Orbs on Devouring Plague (barring someexceptional encounter mechanics where you may need Psychic Horror). The damageof Devouring Plague is based on the number of Shadow Orbs you cast it with.We advise you to always cast it with 3 Shadow Orbs.

Much of your rotation actually revolves around making the best out of yourShadow Orbs. As such, in addition to always casting Devouring Plague when youhave 3 Shadow Orbs, you have to pay special attention not to waste anyShadow Orbs by casting Mind Blast or Shadow Word: Death when you have 3Orbs.

5.2. Refreshing Your DoTs

As a Shadow Priest, a great part of your DPS comes from your 3DoTs ( Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch). Devouring Plague, however, cannot be "refreshed" sinceit lasts 6 seconds, and it cannot be cast freely. In best-case scenarios, youcan cast Devouring Plague as often as every 11 seconds (if you are able to use Shadow Word: Death, and you receive procs from Divine Insight), andnormally you will get to cast it every 24 seconds or so.

As a general rule, you should aim to refresh your DoTs just as theyare about to expire (before the final tick of the DoT).

There are a few subtleties that you should understand, though, to maximisethe damage you gain from your DoTs. Namely, you must understand how your DoTsare affected by your current buffs and procs and you must also understand whatDoT clipping is.

5.2.1. Dynamic Power of DoTs

DoTs benefit from your statistics at the time when the DoT was cast orrefreshed. This means that the DoT will take into account your haste,spellpower, intellect, etc. at the time when you cast the DoT, and it will notbe affected by any change in your stats while the DoT is running.

This raises the question of when and how it is best to refresh yourDoTs. For example, is it worth refreshing a weak DoT (that still has more thana few seconds on its duration) simply because you gained extra buffs? To answerthis question, you also have to understand what DoT clipping is.

The following section should answer all other questions you may have.

5.2.2. DoT Clipping

DoT clipping refers to the action of refreshing a DoT before its final tickhas occurred. If you refresh a DoT while it had 2 or more ticks left, all ticksexcept for the final one will be "wasted". The final tick will be added to thenew duration of the DoT (which will, therefore, be extended to include it).Furthermore, the final tick of the previous DoT, when becoming part of the newDoT, will be modified to your current statistics, and not the statistics of theold DoT.

What this means, in simpler terms, is that:

• If you refresh a strong application of a DoT with a weaker one, betweenits penultimate and last ticks, the final tick will become weak.
• If you refresh a weak application of a DoT with a stronger one, between itspenultimate and last ticks, the final tick will become strong.

5.3. More on Single Target Rotation

To better understand how you will put into practice the priority listed atthe start of this guide, we will quickly walk you through it.

You should apply and refresh your DoTs on the target, based on the aboveguidelines (essentially, just as they are about to expire). Then, if both yourDoTs are ticking, you should use Mind Blast as soon as it is available.The situation will rarely occur when a DoT will need refreshing just as Mind Blast comes off cooldown, but if it does happen, we recommendcasting Mind Blast first. If you benefit from a Divine Insight proc,then you absolutely should cast Mind Blast, regardless of the state of yourDoTs.

Then, when Mind Blast is unavailable and your DoTs do not need to berefreshed, channel Mind Flay on the target. When a higher priorityaction is needed, simply interrupt your current Mind Flay and perform it.Indeed, it will prove a sizable DPS increase to interrupt Mind Flay as soonas you need to cast something else. It is useful to have a cast bar addon thatallows you to see when Mind Flay ticks, as it is most beneficial to interruptit right after a tick.

It is, moreover, important to note that Mind Flay works just like a DoTwould, and that if you are going to cast more than one Mind Flay after another,it is ideal to cast the new Mind Flay before the final tick of the currentMind Flay. In other words, it is ideal to clip the last tick of yourMind Flay with a new Mind Flay. This also applies to Mind Sear.

5.4. More on Cooldowns

5.4.1. Shadowfiend

Your Shadowfiend (or Mindbender, in case you have taken thattalent), as a DPS cooldown, provides a small boost.Regardless of this, it should still be used more or less on cooldown, and notfor necessarily for the mana returns that it offers.

The damage that the Shadowfiend deals is based on your current statistics(most importantly, your spellpower), so using it when you have procs from Enchant Weapon - Jade Spirit or Lightweave Embroidery isbeneficial.

It is ideal to cast Shadowfiend after Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp has been cast. This way, theShadowfiend will benefit from the increase in attack speed for its entire15-second duration. If you cast Shadowfiend before Heroism/Bloodlust/TimeWarp, there will be at least a few seconds of its duration (beforeHeroism/Bloodlust/Time Warp is cast) during which the Shadowfiend will nothave increased attack speed.

When Heroism/Bloodlust/Time Warp has already been used in the fight, or itwill not be used for some time still, you should simply use Shadowfiend oncooldown.

5.4.2. Dispersion

Dispersion is an interesting ability on a 2-minute cooldown. Itprovides you with several benefits during its 6 second duration:

• All damage you take is reduced by 90%.
• You cannot be snared or slowed.
• You gain 6% of your total mana each second.

As a drawback, while Dispersion is active you cannot attack or cast anyspells. Your DoTs will still deal damage, though.

Dispersion's primary use is to avoid dying, to minimise the damage you take,and sometimes to bypass various deadly encounter mechanics.

While it does serve as a useful mana regeneration tool, you should neverreally use it specifically for this purpose.

5.4.3. Void Shift

Void Shift has a straightforward usage. It is an emergency cooldown(although you can also use it to handle some pre-determined encountermechanics). If you are at or near full health, you can cast this on a raidmember who has low health and is likely to be damaged again. Conversely, youcan use this on a full health raid member if you yourself are low health andyou are about to take damage again shortly.

You should always be mindful of the surroundings of the person who willhave their health lowered, so as to make sure that you are notendangering them.

5.4.4. Tier 3 Talents

Solace and Insanity works passively to boost your single target damage,provided that you are casting Mind Flay on the target affected by Devouring Plague. So, in order to maximise the benefit you gain from thistalent, make sure to cast Mind Flay on the target affected by Devouring Plaguewhile the DoT is up. Using Power Infusion (assuming you have taken thistalent) shortly before applying Devouring Plague will allow you to get moreMind Flay ticks in, and will boost your DPS further.

Taking Solace and Insanity has some repercussions on your single-targetrotation, in the sense that you should plan ahead of casting a Devouring Plagueso that you will not have to interrupt your Mind Flay to refresh a DoT.Specifically, this means that both Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touchshould have at least 7.5 seconds remaining on their durations when you castDevouring Plague.

If you have chosen From Darkness, Comes Light, you will have to be onthe look-out for these instant cast, supercharged Mind Spikes, and youmust use them regularly. As you can tell, it is not a difficult task atall. Keep in mind, though, that you cannot have more than 2 procs from thistalent at once, so if you have 2 procs, you need to quickly cast a Mind Spikein order to free up room for additional procs, and to avoid wasting DPS.

If you have chosen Mindbender, simply use this ability as manytimes as possible during the fight.

5.4.5. Tier 5 Talents

Power Infusion should be treated as a DPS cooldown, and used as oftenas possible. As we mentioned above, if you are able to cast this just beforea Devouring Plague, in case you have taken the Solace and Insanity talent,that will greatly boost the efficiency of both talents.

Twist of Fate causes its effect passively, so you do not need toconcern yourself with it.

Finally, procs from Divine Insight should be used right away. Thiswill increase your Shadow Orb generation, allowing for higher Devouring Plague uptime. This is especially useful on fights withmultiple adds, where you will get a large amount of procs (assuming that youhave Shadow Word: Pain up on multiple targets), allowing you to castDevouring Plague a lot more often.

5.4.6. Tier 6 Talents

Simply use the ability granted by your Tier 6 talent( Cascade, Divine Star, or Halo)on cooldown, whenever you can damage multiple targets with it.

5.5. Mana Management

As a Shadow Priest, you are dependant on mana in order to do DPS. YourDoTs are extremely costly, and mana will be a problem especially on fightswhere you are trying to keep your DoTs up on several targets.

Fortunately, you have a variety of means to regain mana.

5.5.1. Vampiric Touch

Vampiric Touch is your primary means of mana regeneration. Casting itcosts 3% of your base mana, and it returns 2% of your maximum mana with eachtick.

If you are low on mana, and there are several adds alive that will livelong enough for Vampiric Touch to tick more than 2-3 times, then you can applythe DoT to all these targets, which will quickly replenish your mana pool.

5.5.2. Dispersion

Dispersion should never really be used for the mana regenerationthat it offers, although this is a nice benefit. As such, you should useDispersion for its damage-reducing component, and you should try to use itin such a way as to sacrifice as little DPS as possible. This means you shouldtry to use Dispersion during phase transitions or moments where the targetsare not attackable.

Otherwise, make sure you use Dispersion immediately after using Mind Blast and while none of your DoTs need to be refreshed. In thisway, Dispersion will essentially take the place of Mind Flay in yourrotation, which is your weakest spell.

Keep in mind, also, that the Dispersion buff can be cancelled, should youwish to end it early in order to resume DPS or cast some other spell.

5.5.3. Shadowfiend

Your Shadowfiend will restore mana to you with every attack itperforms. You should be using this as a DPS cooldown, so you will be gettingthe mana-returning benefit anyway.

5.5.4. Hymn of Hope

Hymn of Hope is more of a raid cooldown than a person manaregeneration cooldown. It offers no DPS gains whatsoever to you and, unlessthe other healers or the raid leader require you to use it to boost their manaregeneration, you should not have to use it.

Regardless of this, you should keep it in mind as a last resort.

6. Changelog↑top

• 10 Sep. 2013: Patch 5.4 update.
  • Updated the single target rotation to suggest using both available castsof Shadow Word: Death immediately, and also removed using Shadow Word: Pain as a filler from the single target rotation.
  • Improved the multiple target rotations, especially by adding that youshould use Shadow Word: Death on low-health targets to gain more ShadowOrbs.
  • Updated the description of Hymn of Hope to specify that this spellnow prefers restoring mana to healers over casters.
• 02 Aug. 2013: Added a mention of the fact that it is ideal to clipthe final tick of Mind Flay and Mind Sear when chaining more thanone cast of these spells.
• 20 May 2013: Patch 5.3 update: nothing to change.
• 07 May 2013: Made several updates.
  • Added casting Shadow Word: Pain while on the move, as a low priorityaction, to the rotation.
  • Made keeping up Vampiric Touch higher priority against multipletargets.
  • Improved the sentence that mentions how often Devouring Plague can becast.
  • Clarified that Dispersion should not be used as a mana regenerationability.
  • Added Vampiric Touch to the list of mana regeneration tools at yourdisposal.
  • Added mention of the importance of using Divine Insight procsimmediately.
• 27 Apr. 2013: Improved the single target priority greatly. Alsoupdated the Shadowfiend section to state that it is ideal to use theShadowfiend after Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp has beencast.
• 26 Apr. 2013: Fixed an error. The DoT refreshing section wasincorrectly stating that the power of DoTs is dynamically updated whenchanges to your Intellect occur.
• 12 Apr. 2013: Modified the explanation of the relation between Shadowfiend and Heroism/ Bloodlust/ Time Warp to reflectthe fact that it essentially does not matter when you cast Shadowfiend.
• 10 Apr. 2013: Improved the single target and multiple targetrotations. Updated the Dynamic Power of DoTs section to account for the factthat Intellect (Spellpower) buffs instantly affect your existing DoTs.
• 26 Mar. 2013: Made several small improvements
  • Added mention of Shadow Word: Death generating Shadow Orbs.
  • Fleshed out the best usage of Solace and Insanity.
  • Made several minor wording adjustments.
• 13 Mar. 2013: Improved explanation for usage of Solace and Insanity and Power Infusion.
• 04 Mar. 2013: Patch 5.2 update.
  • Added notes about the usage of Solace and Insanity.