Build Shop: Priest 14/0/47 (interview with Skosiris)
by Eliah Hecht 
Sep 18th 2007 at 9:14PM
Welcome, talent fans! This time we're going to try something a little different with Build Shop: an interview. We've got Wowhead co-founder and primary website developer Skosiris to talk a bit about his priest build, so check it out and let me know what you think of the format. For the uninitiated, Wowhead is an excellent WoW database site for looking up information on equipment, mobs, quests, spells, etc. I recently started playing Dungeon Runners, and Wowhead is possibly what I miss most about WoW. It's that good.
Skosiris is getting his Shadow on with this solo/5-man oriented spec. He's a relatively casual player, having never raided, and doesn't have time to play tons. I like the build well for its intended purpose.
Eliah Hecht, WoW Insider: Hey, want to talk about your build?
Skosiris of Wowhead: Sure thing. It's been a little while since I last played my priest, but this should be fun.
Likewise. So, do you have a link for the build?
14/0/47, Amory profile here
OK. So, let's see...14/0/47, eh? That's pretty shadow.
Yeah.
Why don't you give me an overview of the key ideas behind this build, and what you like to do with it.
This build is all about doing well in PvE by taking the role of a massive DPSer. It also happens to be the build I used while leveling. Spirit Tap is a godsend for soloing.
Word.
The shadow spec is all about dishing as most damage as possible, while healing others (both health- and mana-wise, thanks to Vampiric Touch).
Do you find yourself playing more in raids, or 5-mans? Or does it make a difference for this build?
I've been mostly focusing on 5-man dungeons so far. I must confess, I've never raided :(
You should try it, it's fun. Although I've only done so as a healer (and only MC, Ony, and KZ; I'm a fairly entry-level raider). Do you do heroics?
Haven't gotten the chance yet. It would be worth mentioning that I think this build would be awesome at PvP as well.
Versatility is good. I'm a little surprised to see Improved Power Word: Shield in there. Almost nothing in the world could compel me personally to get it; the benefit is just too small for the cost. But I guess if you're doing mostly shadow, Silent Resolve doesn't help that much.
Yeah, that's more of a filler talent in this case.
Indeed. Bad talent design on Blizz's part if you ask me. As far as what you missed in shadow, there's not much to talk about there, since you have most of it. Shadow Resilience is obviously more of a PvP talent. I think Shadow Focus would probably be handy for raids, so it makes sense that you have a few points there. Why no Improved Fade? Don't find yourself wanting to fade too much?
Most of my experience so far as a shadow priest has been pretty smooth as far as aggro goes. It's all about managing your threat. That alone could be a whole interview.
I miss my priest now :(
So...what, if anything, do you think is wrong with the Shadow tree?
You mean drawbacks of speccing into shadow? Or more like things Blizzard could do to improve this tree?
Either, although I meant things Blizzard could do. But they would both be interesting topics.
I wouldn't say that there is a drawback. If you spec into shadow, you don't really care about your lack of healing capabilities.
I wonder if shadow priests are better at DPS than healing priests are at healing. Death and Taxes would certainly seem to think so.
I hear so. These days, it seems that Paladins and Shaman are the better healers and that shadow priests can out-DPS most DPS classes.
Alright, is there anything else you want to say about your build? Anything you want me to ask?
I'd like to mention how much I like this build. Well, builds aren't cut in stone, a couple of points can be moved here and there.
Yeah, I like how respeccing is comparatively much cheaper now
But what I like about being a shadow priest is:
- very high damage
- extremely useful in groups
- very low downtime (I hate drinking)
- soloing is fun and efficient
Thanks! I like your build, by the way. I may try it or something close myself if I ever go shadow.
Thank you!
And that's the end of the first interview edition of Build Shop. What do you guys think? And how do you like the build? As always, send in your builds to buildshop@wow.com for consideration. If you would like to be interviewed, include a screen name at which I can contact you.
Filed under: Priest, Fan stuff, Talents, Build Shop
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Graham Sep 18th 2007 9:46PM
I'd really question taking Spirit Tap at level 70. I've got a good amount of good damage gear, and about none of it has any Spirit on it. MP5 is way more useful for raiding.
That said, ST is awesome for leveling. But not at 70.
Otherwise, super solid cookie cutter build for SPs.
WatcherZero Sep 18th 2007 10:38PM
Spirit Tap and improved wands, both bad choices fora level 70. While its nice to talk to people about their class spec, perhaps this wasnt the right choice as he says he hasnt played his priest "In a little while"
P.S. Dont use this build if your a raiding shadow priest, its pretty bad.
Bylebog Sep 18th 2007 10:49PM
@2
this happens to be pretty much THE build for S Priest raiding. The only change would be to move 2 from Shadow Power to Shadow focus. I run with 5/5 fear resist, but if something goofy happens and the tank gets feared I am usually dead anyway. Also, Blackout is pretty well useless in raids and it is a 30% chance for a 3 second stun, better to go for Spirit Tap and lord it over everyone when you manage to SW:Death the boss and get the proc.
As heard in my vent "Headshot!"
Glenn Sep 18th 2007 11:55PM
Imp Wand is a poor choice but Spirit Tap is just fine for lvl 70. Not only is it great for any solo or farming you are doing but for any fights that spawn adds it's sick (re: Curator). Blackout is strictly PvP as endgame raiding trash and bosses are ridiculoulsy resistant to stun. Would go even further that #3 by taking all points from Shadow power AND shift two points from weaving into focus. If you do that you are still gonna get your 5 stack of weaving up on any boss (which is the only place you'll ever need it) in the first 10 sec. You won't have to slot hit gems and can go all +dmg PLUS and this is key you will nerf your crit chance.
Why? cause criting as a shadow priest will get you killed. Fade is a crap aggro management tool and if you CRIT and pull aggro fading won't help at all.
Imp P. Scream and silence are PvP so for solo and some raiding I don't see the utility. Put two more into Imp Mind Blast and you won't have dead spots in your cycle anymore.
With those ssavings you can get some mana reduction from Disc and put some silent resolve in so that you can heal if things start to go pear shaped. Hell, you might even want to pick up Healing focus seeing as it is the best talent in the class.
Try this out for size:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxT0zhhZbZxGxdMhRhtVo
Jack Spicer Sep 18th 2007 11:57PM
I'm surprised that Skosiris couldn't think of anything wrong with the Shadow tree. I'll admit that's it pretty solid, but it is definitely lacking a talent that would reduce the chance of Mind Flay interrupts. Considering that other classes have similar talents for their channeled spells, and the fact that Mind Flay is the spell that shadow priests cast 60% of the time, I'm surprised that it has been neglected for so long.
hpavc Sep 19th 2007 12:53AM
holy shield is the ultimate mind flay interrupt negation.
wand spec is great, get a arena wand and your doing more damage than most well geared 60s dps classes with it alone.
if your 70 i can see the spirit tap unless your raiding, if your still questing and doing dailies and stuff. gotta deal with the down time. if your going from one instance to another, then yeah its a bad choice. but just being 70 doesnt make that determination.
Toddler Sep 19th 2007 1:05AM
This is a terrible Raiding build for a Shadow Priest.
Starting dedicated PvE Shadow Priest should use this build.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMRzhZZxGxkMxRhtEo
You need to put 5/5 in Shadow Focus so you get the 10% + Spell Hit Bonus.
All starting Shadow Priest should work on getting their +Spell hit to 76 with the 5/5 Shadow Focus and must have 3/3 Shadow Affinity to reduce agro. As they start to craft their gear or get gear from Kara they should focus on getting as much +spell hit and +spell damage.
As the +spell hit increases to 100, points can be removed out of shadow focus and put into Improved Mindblast.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMRzhZZxGLdMxRhtEo
Once the +spell hit hits 136 (Capped) you can move one more point out of Shadow Focus for 3/5 and drop the improved VE for 5/5 in improved MB.
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bxMRzhZZxGhtMxohtEo
When geming your gear, use the forula +Spell Hit > +Spell Damage > +Spell Crit. I tend to Gem my gear for the set bonus, other Shadow Priest tend to just gem + max spell damage. As long as you priortize +Damage over +Crit, you should be good, just don't neglect Crit.
Spell Rotations I tend to stick with VT, IF+SWP, MB, SWD, MF, MF, MB, MF, SWD. This works well for Trash and you will lead the meters a lot.
Boss Fights, I tend to VT, IF+SWP, MF, MF, MF. at 50% I pot, at the next 50% mark, I Mana Fiend, and the next 50% or after 2 min, another pot. Last 15% of the boss, I will add MB - VT, SWP, MB, MF, MF, MB.
You probably want to invest the time to create a Inner Focus (IF) macro that fires SWP or what ever you want.
This is my build currently. We have Kara and Gruul on Farm at this time, so I hope to get my mindblade and Belt of Divine Inspiration, and lost pendant with sights on Tier 5 Helm and Pants from SSC and Cord of Screaming Terrors from Lurker.
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Bloodscalp&n=Unsanctus
But that is just my thought, they could be improved by better shadow priest out there.
geoff Sep 19th 2007 2:39AM
@7
You're on the right track. As a spriest clearing in Hyjal and working on Reliquary of Souls in BT I'd make the following adjustments:
1. Unless you plan on PvPing (which w/o taking silence doesn't make much sense) I would put the points from Martyrdom in PW:S. Granted the boost to PW:S isn't huge, but as one of your limited options to prevent damage in Shadowform I find that I want it to be as powerful as possible. Focused Casting in PvE has very, very limited application.
2. Drop Imp. VE all together. A good many raid bosses are aggro sensitive and shadow priests generate a lot of threat as it is. Chances are (if your guild is smart) you're going to be playing mana battery for a caster dps group or healers. Either way, VE isn't going to be huge and will only contribute to you having to throttle your dps in order to not pull aggro.
@4
If things are going downhill in a raiding encounter having a shadow priest pop out and heal isn't going to save anything. If your at the point where you feel you need to heal then you've already lost. Don't waste points in the holy tree for fringe cases where your heals won't even matter.
Again, why take PvP talents with a raiding build? There is only one reason to take Silent Resolve as a shadow priest and that's to keep your dots from getting dispeled in PvP. Since your build has no Martyrdom or Silence I have to conclude that it's not meant for PvP.
Mental Agility is debatable I guess. First of all, we only have 2 instant cast spells (No, Mind Flay does not count, VE you shouldn't be using and is ridiculously cheap anyway). Beyond that using SW:D very often on many end game fights is fairly risky due to the incoming raid damage.
Lucas Sep 19th 2007 4:10AM
Mates, awknowledge, there is NO perfect build and that there is NO troubles in chooseing anything above anything - Though there are Talents which are utterly useless.
This build works in Heroics, KZ, GL, ML, SSC, TK, and MH
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=bVMGzZZAGGzMtohtEo
Dont let the "but you have no spirit" statement scare anyone - both T5 and T6 is packed with SPI, and so is a quite a few of the +dmg drops out there. Spirit Tap Works in lvl 70, and quite a lot of bosses have Adds that needs to be killed, and getting killing blow isn't that hard. Bosses like, Al'ar, Astromance, Lady Vashj, Hydross, Kael are just a few of those bosses that might give a killing blow and proc ST.
Also, if one doesn't get themselvess around 128 To hit, they aren't worth taking on a raid.
Improved Wand is _godsend_ when the rare thing happens, taht you go OOM, crits for 800-900 Dmg is NOT uncommon, and every 1.4sec omg... and you dont need teh extra resist for Stuns and Fears admit it, it's a PvP Talent. (yes I know I took Martydom but thet one actually help, since wasted casting time = is wasted mana).
But why the impr. fear and Silence? - Cus believe or not, it can be a life saver, and you'll be slightly more usefull on a Heroic run.
Your function is to deal damage in a raid, and to fuel your friends with mana, and buff the raid.
Get the best gear possible by tailoring, and then when you thing it's "that time" get the best T5 and T6 and you'll see your friends and foes tremple with fear as you blast their brains out, and melt their faces.
//Tallens
Snailking Sep 19th 2007 5:27AM
I love how several posts here say "This is a terrible Raiding build for a Shadow Priest."
The article says "this solo/5-man oriented spec. He's a relatively casual player, having never raided".
Liel Sep 19th 2007 9:31AM
@10 You know most posters RTFA, sides most of the "well my guild has downed Arthas blah blah" don't post their armory profile anyways.
Charlie Sep 19th 2007 10:35AM
agreed with the bad SP raiding spec. He doesnt even have 5/5 in the talent (forgot name!) to give you +10% to hit, only 3/5! Absolute MUST for a SP in raids.
Though he did go down the right path, 13/0/48 is the correct build for a SP. (getting Imp MB/Blackout/Silent Resolve(disc),+10% to hit, and none in imp scream/silence. 2/5 in the +crit for mindblast/Sw:D and 2 in shadow reach (though that can be debated, i personally cant STAND short range)