Shadow Priest Guide — Mists of Pandaria Classic

Skimmyxo — Rank 1 Shadow Priest, Siege of Orgrimmar Heroic 14/14, All Stars 1,054
T16 · Siege of Orgrimmar T15 · Throne of Thunder

Talents

15
Void Tendrils Psyfiend Dominate Mind
Void Tendrils

Useful for dealing with adds.

30
Body and Soul Angelic Feather Phantasm
Angelic Feather

No longer a wheelchair class. Far stronger than the Retail version.

45
From Darkness, Comes Light Mindbender Solace and Insanity
Solace and Insanity

Strongest single-target option.

60
Desperate Prayer Spectral Guise Angelic Bulwark
Angelic Bulwark

Passive shield that procs at low health.
Spectral Guise on Siegecrafter Blackfuse (Launch Sawblade) and Paragons of the Klaxxi (Aim and Mesmerize) — cancels the cast.

75
Twist of Fate Power Infusion Divine Insight
Twist of Fate

Snipe low-health adds with Shadow Word: Pain and Shadow Word: Death to maintain high uptime.
Divine Insight on Iron Juggernaut, Thok the Bloodthirsty and Paragons of the Klaxxi — helps deal with all the movement.

90
Cascade Divine Star Halo
Halo

Default at 20+ yards.
Divine Star on Thok the Bloodthirsty and Garrosh Hellscream.

Rotation

Opener

Pre Pull
  1. Cast Shadowfiend
  2. Cast Berserking and Synapse Springs
  3. Cast Shadow Word: Pain
  4. Cast Vampiric Touch
  5. Cast Devouring Plague
  6. Cast Mind Blast
  7. Cast Mind Flay: Insanity

Interrupt and recast Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch if Unerring Vision of Lei Shen procs.

Spell Priority (highest → lowest)

  1. Devouring Plague — 3 Shadow Orbs only.
  2. Mind Blast — Use on cooldown.
  3. Shadow Word: Death — Use both charges on cooldown.
  4. Mind Flay: Insanity — Recast just before Devouring Plague expires to snapshot the channel.
  5. Shadow Word: Pain / Vampiric Touch — Aim for 100% uptime.
  6. Mind Spike — Only with From Darkness, Comes Light.
  7. Halo — Use on cooldown with proper positioning (20+ yards).
  8. Mind Flay — Interrupt early for higher priorities.
Before casting Devouring Plague, make sure Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch both have at least 8 seconds remaining — so you won't need to interrupt Mind Flay: Insanity to refresh them.

Macros

CDs

#showtooltip
/cast Berserking
/cast Power Infusion
/use 10
/use 13
/use 14

Pops all our major cooldowns at once.
/use 10 — Gloves (Synapse Springs) /use 13 — Trinket 1 /use 14 — Trinket 2

Shadowfiend

#showtooltip
/cast Shadowfiend
/cleartarget [dead][noharm]
/targetenemy [noexists]
/petattack

Casts Shadowfiend and forces it to attack your target.

SWD

#showtooltip Shadow Word: Death
/cleartarget [dead][noharm]
/targetenemy [noexists]
/cast [stance] Shadow Word: Death; [nostance] Shadowform
/cast Shadow Word: Death

Ensures you're in Shadowform before casting Shadow Word: Death. Automatically targets a new enemy if your current target is dead — useful for sniping low-health adds like Ball Lightning.

MOP

#showtooltip
/cast [talent:6/1]Cascade
/cast [talent:6/2]Divine Star
/cast [talent:6/3]Halo

Automatically uses whichever Level 90 talent you have selected — Cascade, Divine Star, or Halo — with the correct tooltip.

Dispersion

#showtooltip
/cast Dispersion
/cancelaura Dispersion

Press once to activate Dispersion, press again to cancel.

Feather

#showtooltip
/cast [@player] Angelic Feather

Automatically places Angelic Feather at your feet.
If stacked in a group, step slightly away from others to make sure you still receive it.

Stats

Priority Hit cap → Haste → Mastery ≈ Crit WowSims

T16 Preset BiS

Haste Haste Breakpoints
47.57% 17,232
Mastery
60.03% 15,210
Crit
32.88% 8,694
Hit
15.07% 3,363
Health 694,699 Mana 300,000 Stamina 39,164 Intellect 30,774 Spirit 3,520 Spell Power 55,763 Expertise 1,760 (5.18%)

Hit cap is 15% (5,100 rating).

Every 340 Hit/Expertise/Spirit rating you gain increases your total Hit Chance by 1%.

Spirit gained from gear and Expertise both convert 1:1 into Hit.

Stat Weights (EP)

Spirit
1.51
Hit
1.45
Intellect
1.00
Haste
1.00
Mastery
0.75
Crit
0.74
Spell Power
0.73

T16 Preset BiS

580+8
Hood of Swirling Senses (Heroic Warforged) Reforged 665 Crit → 665 Haste
580+8
Necklace of Fading Light (Heroic Warforged) Reforged 403 Spirit → 403 Crit
574+8
Shoulderguards of the Ternion Glory (Heroic) +200 Intellect and +100 Critical Strike
608+8
Xing-Ho, Breath of Yu'lon Lightweave Embroidery
574+8
Raiment of the Ternion Glory (Heroic) +80 All Stats
580+8
Bracers of Sonic Projection (Heroic Warforged) +180 Intellect
580+8
Horned Mace of the Old Ones (Heroic Warforged) Jade Spirit Reforged 294 Spirit → 294 Mastery
580+8
Revelations of Y'Shaarj (Heroic Warforged) +165 Intellect Reforged 371 Haste → 371 Spirit
574+8
Gloves of the Ternion Glory (Heroic) +170 Haste Synapse Springs Reforged 450 Mastery → 450 Crit
580+8
Belt of the Broken Pact (Heroic Warforged) Reforged 471 Spirit → 471 Haste
574+8
Leggings of the Ternion Glory (Heroic) +285 Intellect and +165 Critical Strike Reforged 682 Crit → 682 Haste
580+8
Bone-Inlaid Sandals (Heroic Warforged) +175 Haste
580+8
Signet of the Dinomancers (Heroic Warforged) Reforged 381 Mastery → 381 Crit
580+8
Laser-Slice Signet (Heroic Warforged) Reforged 389 Spirit → 389 Crit
580+8
Purified Bindings of Immerseus (Heroic Warforged)
580+8
Kardris' Toxic Totem (Heroic Warforged)

T16 Tips

Boss tips coming soon

Siege of Orgrimmar boss-by-boss tips are being written. In the meantime, watch my latest 14/14H stream VOD.