Boards › Forum › DPS and shadowpriest
putana
240 posts
09-26-2007 12:19pm
I have been searching the internet about shadow priests. Came on this from Korbencorbin and whent also on shadowpriest.com.
I've been doing a lot of research the last few weeks on how to maximize our raid dps. Here are some of the most important things I have found for our casters.
1. Spell hit rating is the number one stat for any caster. It maxes out at 17% and should be your number one priority to reach this number. Whether you get the 10% bonus from talents and get the other 7% from gear, or if you have to stack hit rating on your gear. Veiled noble topaz is your friend.
2. Hit rating > spell damage > spell crit
3. Affliction is the highest raid DPS spec for a warlock
4. Spell penetration is absolutely useless in PVE it is meant for PVP and only helps to decrease partial resists taken by people that are wearing resist gear. All raid bosses have 0 resistance or are completely immune to a certain type of magic.
5. If you don't have the DoTimer mod and you use any type of a dot, get it. It will keep track of exactly when any of your dots are about to run out and warn you so you can refresh them.
6. Don't be afraid of riding tanks on the threat meter, all of our tanks are excellent at what they do. You should be constantly casting something, if you get out of control one of the tanks will let you know. If you don't know what a threat meter is learn quickly you need to have one. KTM or Omen is fine (omen preferred)
7. Use consumables for every attempt a flask or a battle and guardian elixir along with a food buff will help your dps more than you know.
8. Practice using different spell rotations and try out different spell cast patterns using SW stats to see what gives you your maximum dps. Dr. Boom in netherstorm is great to practice on. He has millions of hp and will not attack back.
9. Enchant your gear! I've said this millions of times even if you are only using a blue you never know how long it will take for that next upgrade to drop. Don't nerf your dps to save a few gold, the more dps we all put out the better chance you'll have at upgrading those pieces. If you can't afford something ask guildies to help you out, most are more than willing to help farm the drop or loan you a primal or two.
10. Most craftable epics are better than your tier 4 sets. Take the time to make them, a spellstrike set along with frozen shadoweave will get you more dps than your tier 4 set will if your're a shadow priest or a warlock. Farm the mats and get them made, you can deck yourself out in almost full epics without ever setting foot into a raid.
If anyone has anything else to add feel free to post and help others out. Do some research on your own to find out the max dps specs for your class. Elitistjerks.com offers advice from players in the top guilds in the world on their forums. Take the time to read them and help yourself out.
I've been doing a lot of research the last few weeks on how to maximize our raid dps. Here are some of the most important things I have found for our casters.
1. Spell hit rating is the number one stat for any caster. It maxes out at 17% and should be your number one priority to reach this number. Whether you get the 10% bonus from talents and get the other 7% from gear, or if you have to stack hit rating on your gear. Veiled noble topaz is your friend.
2. Hit rating > spell damage > spell crit
3. Affliction is the highest raid DPS spec for a warlock
4. Spell penetration is absolutely useless in PVE it is meant for PVP and only helps to decrease partial resists taken by people that are wearing resist gear. All raid bosses have 0 resistance or are completely immune to a certain type of magic.
5. If you don't have the DoTimer mod and you use any type of a dot, get it. It will keep track of exactly when any of your dots are about to run out and warn you so you can refresh them.
6. Don't be afraid of riding tanks on the threat meter, all of our tanks are excellent at what they do. You should be constantly casting something, if you get out of control one of the tanks will let you know. If you don't know what a threat meter is learn quickly you need to have one. KTM or Omen is fine (omen preferred)
7. Use consumables for every attempt a flask or a battle and guardian elixir along with a food buff will help your dps more than you know.
8. Practice using different spell rotations and try out different spell cast patterns using SW stats to see what gives you your maximum dps. Dr. Boom in netherstorm is great to practice on. He has millions of hp and will not attack back.
9. Enchant your gear! I've said this millions of times even if you are only using a blue you never know how long it will take for that next upgrade to drop. Don't nerf your dps to save a few gold, the more dps we all put out the better chance you'll have at upgrading those pieces. If you can't afford something ask guildies to help you out, most are more than willing to help farm the drop or loan you a primal or two.
10. Most craftable epics are better than your tier 4 sets. Take the time to make them, a spellstrike set along with frozen shadoweave will get you more dps than your tier 4 set will if your're a shadow priest or a warlock. Farm the mats and get them made, you can deck yourself out in almost full epics without ever setting foot into a raid.
If anyone has anything else to add feel free to post and help others out. Do some research on your own to find out the max dps specs for your class. Elitistjerks.com offers advice from players in the top guilds in the world on their forums. Take the time to read them and help yourself out.
putana
240 posts
09-26-2007 12:20pm
Thanks to Korbencorbin I landed on a website that in my opinion has some good information about shadow priests. http://www.shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=925 . I just copied some of it that in my opinion would be usefull to share.
Shadow Priests:
Advantages:
� Shadow weaving � adds 15% dmg for any warlock or shadow priest using shadow spells. The biggest buff to this recently has come from Warlocks being much more raid viable, resulting in raids wanting more Warlocks in the raid and thus more people benefiting from Shadow Weaving.
� Misery � adds 5% dmg for any Mage, Warlock, Moonkin, Elemental Shaman or Priest, also adds to the dmg that a paladin does, which would help for a Paladin tank, basically adding 5% more threat for them. Adding 5% dmg for 5-6 people in the raid is a large buff in terms of raid dmg.
� Vampiric Embrace � Heals the group for 20-30% (depending on spec) of the shadow priests dmg, is good on low but constant AOE fights, currently very useful on fights like Thaddius and Saphiron.
� Vampiric Touch � With a priest at full DPS, this will regenerate 2000+ mana a minute for the priests group, greatly increasing their long-term DPS on longer fights, as well as potentially allowing them to use consumables other than mana potions.
� The combination of Warlocks group with a Shadow Priest providing VE and VT is going to be incredibly powerful, almost certainly being a major source of DPS for the raid, or on healing intensive fights, the Shadow Priest providing mana for those healers could greatly increase their effectiveness.
� The Shadow Priest can drop shadow form and heal, while they will not be as effective as a holy priest, and especially not as effective when in dmg gear, they remain one of the most viable off-specs for performing their classes �main function� while still off-specced.
� The Shadow Priest can still dispel while in Shadow Form, and will probably still be specced to have reduced cost instant spells.
Continued Raid Viability:
DPS:
Shadow Priests should be viewed as a support DPS class, not as an �off-spec�. Fights such as Patchwerk are not the fights that lessen the Shadow Priests raid viability, on the Patchwerk fight the Shadow Priest is providing a fair chuck of DPS, as well as adding a lot of dmg to the warlocks and mages. If a Shadow Priest adds more DPS to the raid than a Mage or Warlock including Shadow Weaving and Misery, then just because you can get the priest to heal, doesn�t mean that that is the best alternative for the raid.
Maths
Assuming that a raid has 4 Warlocks and 5 Mages, each of them doing 250,000 dmg on Patchwerk, of that dmg, 226,160 of the total 1,750,000 can be attributed to the Shadow Priest, meaning that before they do any dmg, or take into account VE and VT, the Shadow Priest has already almost made as much of an impact as 1 of those players.
This is lessened in the BC, but assuming a raid of 3 Warlocks and 3 Mages, with all the Warlocks using shadow spells, and all of the players doing DPS, the Shadow priest will add 64.28% of 1 of those players with Shadow Weaving and Misery alone, they need to do 35.72% of the dmg that a Mage or Warlock can do until they contribute more DPS to the fight than those players, and that is ignoring VT and VE contributions.
/end maths
Through the addition of extra talent points at 70, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Fiends, the Shadow Priests main problem with DPS, mana sustainability, has been largely overcome, and they also add to 4 other raid members� mana sustainability.
Vampiric Touch:
VT is obviously one of the things that make Shadow Priests highly desirable for raids, and being a new ability, probably the one that will come under the most scrutiny for nerfs if deemed overpowered. However Blizz have shown through this talent, and statements made by CMs, that they want Shadow as well as other off-specs to be viable for raiding.
A Shadow Priest with DPS of 667 will regen 2000 mana for his entire party per minute, assuming that they are under the effects of VT the entire time. The top mana potion in the Burning Crusade provides the user with an average of 2400 mana, usable every 2 minutes, meaning that with what is probably a very low estimate of Shadow Priest DPS, he is providing 5 people with triple the amount of mana he would get from just potting. Even if VT were nerfed to 3%, the amount of mana gained would basically be equal to, and probably a lot more than, an extra mana potion per 2 minutes.
Vampiric Embrace:
A mainstay of the Shadow Priests repertoire, with no sign or need of it being nerfed. With increased Shadow Priest DPS, it has become quite a good addition to the steady healing, basically being another HOT applied to the party as a whole, and is often enough to keep a group up on low dmg AOE fights, most notably Thaddius and Saphiron in Naxx.
Notes:
� After the first Shadow Priest, every additional Shadow Priest is less valuable, as one priest is enough to maintain Shadow Weaving and Misery, meaning that additional Shadow Priests are basically just adding VE, VT and their DPS, which is, and should be, less than a Mages or Warlocks DPS.
� Shadow Priests do take gear away from other caster DPS classes, especially Warlocks, with affliction Warlocks and Shadow Priests both favouring +dmg over +crit on gear, but hopefully I have shown that 1 Shadow Priest will add more DPS than any 1 other DPS class.
Other resources:
http://jesta.us/?p=8 - very informative, covers similar things, mainly focussing on current raiding
http://forums.elitistjerks.com/viewtopic.php?id=9459 - Thread on EJ forums, "The Shadow Priest thread"
Shadow Priests:
Advantages:
� Shadow weaving � adds 15% dmg for any warlock or shadow priest using shadow spells. The biggest buff to this recently has come from Warlocks being much more raid viable, resulting in raids wanting more Warlocks in the raid and thus more people benefiting from Shadow Weaving.
� Misery � adds 5% dmg for any Mage, Warlock, Moonkin, Elemental Shaman or Priest, also adds to the dmg that a paladin does, which would help for a Paladin tank, basically adding 5% more threat for them. Adding 5% dmg for 5-6 people in the raid is a large buff in terms of raid dmg.
� Vampiric Embrace � Heals the group for 20-30% (depending on spec) of the shadow priests dmg, is good on low but constant AOE fights, currently very useful on fights like Thaddius and Saphiron.
� Vampiric Touch � With a priest at full DPS, this will regenerate 2000+ mana a minute for the priests group, greatly increasing their long-term DPS on longer fights, as well as potentially allowing them to use consumables other than mana potions.
� The combination of Warlocks group with a Shadow Priest providing VE and VT is going to be incredibly powerful, almost certainly being a major source of DPS for the raid, or on healing intensive fights, the Shadow Priest providing mana for those healers could greatly increase their effectiveness.
� The Shadow Priest can drop shadow form and heal, while they will not be as effective as a holy priest, and especially not as effective when in dmg gear, they remain one of the most viable off-specs for performing their classes �main function� while still off-specced.
� The Shadow Priest can still dispel while in Shadow Form, and will probably still be specced to have reduced cost instant spells.
Continued Raid Viability:
DPS:
Shadow Priests should be viewed as a support DPS class, not as an �off-spec�. Fights such as Patchwerk are not the fights that lessen the Shadow Priests raid viability, on the Patchwerk fight the Shadow Priest is providing a fair chuck of DPS, as well as adding a lot of dmg to the warlocks and mages. If a Shadow Priest adds more DPS to the raid than a Mage or Warlock including Shadow Weaving and Misery, then just because you can get the priest to heal, doesn�t mean that that is the best alternative for the raid.
Maths
Assuming that a raid has 4 Warlocks and 5 Mages, each of them doing 250,000 dmg on Patchwerk, of that dmg, 226,160 of the total 1,750,000 can be attributed to the Shadow Priest, meaning that before they do any dmg, or take into account VE and VT, the Shadow Priest has already almost made as much of an impact as 1 of those players.
This is lessened in the BC, but assuming a raid of 3 Warlocks and 3 Mages, with all the Warlocks using shadow spells, and all of the players doing DPS, the Shadow priest will add 64.28% of 1 of those players with Shadow Weaving and Misery alone, they need to do 35.72% of the dmg that a Mage or Warlock can do until they contribute more DPS to the fight than those players, and that is ignoring VT and VE contributions.
/end maths
Through the addition of extra talent points at 70, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Fiends, the Shadow Priests main problem with DPS, mana sustainability, has been largely overcome, and they also add to 4 other raid members� mana sustainability.
Vampiric Touch:
VT is obviously one of the things that make Shadow Priests highly desirable for raids, and being a new ability, probably the one that will come under the most scrutiny for nerfs if deemed overpowered. However Blizz have shown through this talent, and statements made by CMs, that they want Shadow as well as other off-specs to be viable for raiding.
A Shadow Priest with DPS of 667 will regen 2000 mana for his entire party per minute, assuming that they are under the effects of VT the entire time. The top mana potion in the Burning Crusade provides the user with an average of 2400 mana, usable every 2 minutes, meaning that with what is probably a very low estimate of Shadow Priest DPS, he is providing 5 people with triple the amount of mana he would get from just potting. Even if VT were nerfed to 3%, the amount of mana gained would basically be equal to, and probably a lot more than, an extra mana potion per 2 minutes.
Vampiric Embrace:
A mainstay of the Shadow Priests repertoire, with no sign or need of it being nerfed. With increased Shadow Priest DPS, it has become quite a good addition to the steady healing, basically being another HOT applied to the party as a whole, and is often enough to keep a group up on low dmg AOE fights, most notably Thaddius and Saphiron in Naxx.
Notes:
� After the first Shadow Priest, every additional Shadow Priest is less valuable, as one priest is enough to maintain Shadow Weaving and Misery, meaning that additional Shadow Priests are basically just adding VE, VT and their DPS, which is, and should be, less than a Mages or Warlocks DPS.
� Shadow Priests do take gear away from other caster DPS classes, especially Warlocks, with affliction Warlocks and Shadow Priests both favouring +dmg over +crit on gear, but hopefully I have shown that 1 Shadow Priest will add more DPS than any 1 other DPS class.
Other resources:
http://jesta.us/?p=8 - very informative, covers similar things, mainly focussing on current raiding
http://forums.elitistjerks.com/viewtopic.php?id=9459 - Thread on EJ forums, "The Shadow Priest thread"
Foxfyr
12982 posts
09-26-2007 1:49pm
Some really nice stuff in there.
Couple notes that jumped out for me from the first section:
2 should read SPELL hit rating, not just hit rating. Don't get the wrong gems if you're a caster.
The part about tanks and not waiting for them to build aggro is specific to their guild. Some of our tanks are still getting used to raids so know who you're in with and adapt as necessary.
The rest of the stuff about maxing dps by reading, enchanting, and spell rotations is great!
Couple notes that jumped out for me from the first section:
2 should read SPELL hit rating, not just hit rating. Don't get the wrong gems if you're a caster.
The part about tanks and not waiting for them to build aggro is specific to their guild. Some of our tanks are still getting used to raids so know who you're in with and adapt as necessary.
The rest of the stuff about maxing dps by reading, enchanting, and spell rotations is great!
Viraj
2318 posts
09-26-2007 3:23pm
3. Affliction is the highest raid DPS spec for a warlock
!!! LIES LIES LIES LIES ._.
jamisia
4240 posts
09-26-2007 3:29pm
Don't worry a Virajlork, having fun is the main thing, you don't have to respec affliction :D
Good information in there about shadow priesting!
Good information in there about shadow priesting!
putana
240 posts
09-26-2007 3:45pm
aww I'm sorry Viraj :cry: Didn't want to make you mad. Was just giving some inf. about shadow priest. Me myself i'm still learning a lot about her. And what Jamisia said " we are here to have fun " that is what we do ain't it?:D
Hugs, hugs
Hugs, hugs
Foxfyr
12982 posts
09-26-2007 4:02pm
You'll notice that the Overlork uses a lot of capitals. She doesn't always mean them :)
Aglarang
224 posts
09-26-2007 4:21pm
Me likey Shadow Priests (in my group). Perfect Lily group = Me, Shadow Priest, Moonkin, and 2 healers to keep me alive once I pull aggro.. :D
putana
240 posts
09-26-2007 4:26pm
Lol. Yeah pls get aggro so i dont be on top lol;)
gleja
7318 posts
09-26-2007 4:26pm
aww I'm sorry Viraj :cry: Didn't want to make you mad. Was just giving some inf. about shadow priest. Me myself i'm still learning a lot about her. And what Jamisia said " we are here to have fun " that is what we do ain't it?:D
Hugs, hugs
Imagine an overactive, highly excitable nerd that yells all the time but is in fact never angry, and that's pretty much Viraj. It's like having a kitten pretend to attack you.
Hugs, hugs
Imagine an overactive, highly excitable nerd that yells all the time but is in fact never angry, and that's pretty much Viraj. It's like having a kitten pretend to attack you.
putana
240 posts
09-26-2007 4:29pm
Ahh o.k. NP. :D.
And omg i like you 3 guys Gleja :drool:
And omg i like you 3 guys Gleja :drool:
Lux_Lisbon
11443 posts
HEY. Viraj is highly dangerous and is from the west side!
Viraj
2318 posts
09-26-2007 5:17pm
aww I'm sorry Viraj :cry: Didn't want to make you mad. Was just giving some inf. about shadow priest. Me myself i'm still learning a lot about her. And what Jamisia said " we are here to have fun " that is what we do ain't it?:D
Hugs, hugs
OMG HUGS
I do like the information about shadow priests - they bring the damage to the yard, and also Misery is HOT. Super hot!
(Shadowfury benefits from Shadow Weaving I'M JUST SAYING.)
Hugs, hugs
OMG HUGS
I do like the information about shadow priests - they bring the damage to the yard, and also Misery is HOT. Super hot!
(Shadowfury benefits from Shadow Weaving I'M JUST SAYING.)
Viraj
2318 posts
09-26-2007 5:18pm
HEY. Viraj is highly dangerous and is from the west side!
*throws Tha E* West siiiiiiiiide, mija Ines!
*throws Tha E* West siiiiiiiiide, mija Ines!
Widget
2088 posts
09-26-2007 6:08pm
!!! LIES LIES LIES LIES ._.
Affliction rocks the house!
Affliction rocks the house!
Viraj
2318 posts
09-26-2007 6:46pm
Affliction rocks the house!
I KNOW IT DOES
IT'S JUST THAT I LOVE CONFLAGRATE A WHOLE LOT
AND I CAN'T EVER DECIDE IF I LOVE CONFLAGRATE MORE THAN DARK PACT
SO I NEED TO BE AFFLICTION AND DESTRUCTION
GAWD!
I KNOW IT DOES
IT'S JUST THAT I LOVE CONFLAGRATE A WHOLE LOT
AND I CAN'T EVER DECIDE IF I LOVE CONFLAGRATE MORE THAN DARK PACT
SO I NEED TO BE AFFLICTION AND DESTRUCTION
GAWD!
Lemmin
2078 posts
09-26-2007 10:38pm
Me likey Shadow Priests (in my group). Perfect Lily group = Me, Shadow Priest, Moonkin, and 2 healers to keep me alive once I pull aggro.. :D
YOU GET MOONKIN LOVE FOREVERS.
YOU GET MOONKIN LOVE FOREVERS.
Frenial
6901 posts
09-26-2007 10:41pm
Me likey Shadow Priests (in my group). Perfect Lily group = Me, Shadow Priest, Moonkin, and 2 healers to keep me alive once I pull aggro.. :D
You forgot a warlock to apply curse of elements, but in this case, the double healer thing might be better for you.
You forgot a warlock to apply curse of elements, but in this case, the double healer thing might be better for you.
putana
240 posts
10-03-2007 4:25pm
Some links to shadowpriest.com I like this site very much.
http://shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=5209
http://www.shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=3384
http://shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=5209
http://www.shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=3384
