Spiritual Guidance: Early Cataclysm for shadow priests
by Fox Van Allen 
Dec 8th 2010 at 11:00AM
Cataclysm is here! Cataclysm is here! That's not exactly anything new, though -- it's been here for at least 36 hours now. Which means, of course, that I've been awake for well over 36 hours, playing World of Warcraft the whole time. Here are some fun facts about my current state that I've been able to glean from the internet:
- After 17 hours without sleep, people behave similarly on tests as those with blood alcohol levels of 0.05.
- After 21 hours, people test similarly to those with blood alcohol levels of 0.08.
- Minor halluncinations typically begin after 36 hours, with visual hallucinations appearing at around hour 60.
That's what this column is all about: all the basic information you'll want to know for that epic grind to level 85.
Job number one: Reset your talent tree for leveling
Yesterday's release of Cataclysm -- not patch 4.0.1, not patch 4.0.3, not patch 4.0.3a, but real, honest-to-goodness, full release Cataclysm -- means the focus for players sitting at the old level cap of 80 has changed. The game is no longer about running Wrath dailies, running Wrath heroics, and kingslaying. It's about leveling. A new focus means a new talent tree editing.
This talent tree build represents what I consider to be the best talent tree for Cataclysm leveling. It sacrifices points in Improved Mind Blast to put points in Paralysis. The latter talent is essential for speedy, efficient solo leveling; when combined with a strong "leveling" rotation, it all but guarantees that mobs will be dead before they reach you. (More on that rotation later.)
Once you start leveling, your first priority is going to be to dive deeper into the discipline tree to take two points' worth of Evangelism (at levels 81 and 82), and then one point worth of Archangel at level 83. These two set you up for both stronger DPS and a healthier mana pool, making them must-haves. The level 84 talent point is not of much consequence -- put it into whichever talent seems most valuable to you (either Improved Mind Blast, Inner Sanctum, or Mental Agility).
Once you've hit that magical level 85 and feel the need to start running heroics, you may want to revisit your talent tree one more time (hope you have gold saved up!). Silence is incredibly valuable to have in Cataclysm heroics, and Psychic Scream can be glyphed to provide some serious (and safe) crowd control. Paralysis largely loses its value in heroics, so we can cannibalize points from there. This level 85 tree represents a pretty good starting point for your level 85 heroic-running build -- feel free to tweak it as you prefer.
Did you just start a new goblin or worgen? You may want to check out last week's column, which helps you decide what talents to take when.
I covered glyphs here in Spiritual Guidance a few months ago, if you want some more detailed information. For those who are leveling, there are a few must-have glyphs:
- Glyph of Dispersion Fast mana regen is key to efficient leveling and strong heroic performance -- much more so than any DPS talent. Dispersion is better than sitting to drink, right?
- Glyph of Shadow Word: Death In Cataclysm, mana regen and strong DPS revolves around Shadow Word: Death. It's your strongest spell (if cast when your enemy is under 25 percent health), and when it connects for a kill, can proc Spirit Tap for huge amounts of mana regen (if you take the glyph below). This glyph gives you a "do over" if your first attempt at a kill through Shadow Word: Death fails without having to wait out the cooldown timer. Definitely take it for leveling; consider keeping it for heroics.
- Glyph of Spirit Tap On some servers, this glyph is nastily expensive. But there's good reason behind the cost -- it's a really valuable glyph for us shadow priests during the leveling process. It allows us to get a significant amount of mana back through Spirit Tap when we successfully kill a foe (that gives experience or honor) with Shadow Word: Death.
- Glyph of Inner Fire To be sure, the benefit you get from the Glyph of Inner Fire is modest -- it cuts the amount of physical damage you wind up taking by maybe 3 percent. Still, that's probably more useful than your other major glyph choices for leveling.
- Glyph of Psychic Scream If you get overwhelmed while soloing, or even while running instances, crowd control can be a lifesaver. The standard version of Psychic Scream sends enemies scattering in fear, which often results in aggroing extra mobs you're ill equipped to handle. By taking away enemies' ability to run when feared, this glyph turns a once-dangerous last-ditch spell into an anytime shot of crowd control. It's great for soloing and great for instances.
Those are the key leveling glyphs -- two prime and three major. They also work extremely well for running Cataclysm heroics. Your final prime slot is best resolved for either Glyph of Mind Flay or Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain. As for your minor glyphs, they're still as cosmetic as ever -- just keep whatever you had set in Wrath.
Know your new stat priorities
The last time we talked about stat priorities, patch 4.0.1 had just come out. A lot has changed since then -- most notably, mastery has been buffed and Shadow Word: Death has been nerfed.
In a moment, I'll provide you with some basic pseudopower numbers, which will be helpful for choosing gear at level 85. Before I do, however, I want to remind you that these numbers are not etched in stone; stat values fluctuate based on your current gear. Between my own playing around with SimulationCraft and what's available thanks to testers at Shadowpriest.com, I've come up with the following preliminary numbers for post-4.0.3a play:
1 intellect = 1.00 PP (standardized)Note that these numbers apply for level 85 players only. Yes, spirit and hit look surprisingly (and suspiciously!) weak when compared to the rest of the stats. There's a chance these numbers could be off -- if you're interested in deeper specifics about this, check out Shadowpriest.com. Until that debate is settled, though, here's what you should keep in mind:
1 spellpower = 0.79 PP
1 haste = 0.50 PP
1 critical strike = 0.40 PP
1 mastery = 0.39 PP
1 spirit = 1 hit = 0.37 PP (for each point under the hit cap)
- There's no need to stack hit until you're ready to raid. In the final days of Wrath, you needed a hit rating of 446 to be guaranteed a hit against a raid boss (420 for draenei). Once you start leveling in Vashj'ir and Hyjal, you can be guaranteed a hit on virtually every mob with less than half that. Don't worry about the debate over hit until you're ready to raid.
- Focus on stat priority, not stat weighting. If you take nothing else away from this section, take away this: Intellect is more important than spellpower, which is more important than haste, which is more important than crit, mastery, and hit (the three of which are valued approximately the same).
There's a new hit cap in town
Remember, the amount of hit you need to be "capped" varies depending on your level -- each time you level, you'll need more hit. At level 80, it takes a mere 446 to be capped to the point where you're guaranteed a hit against a boss. At level 85, it takes 102.4 points of hit to raise your chance to hit by 1 percent. This means you'll need 1,741 points of hit to be guaranteed that every spell cast lands against a raid boss. Draenei need a mere 1,639.
Remember, Twisted Faith will convert your spirit (gained from items or effects) to hit. The important "hit chance" number will be found under the Spell tab in your stats, and not the Melee or Ranged tabs.
Reforge to buff haste and critical strike
As I mentioned above, hit is far less important during the leveling process. If you want hits to land extra hard against your foes while leveling in Vashj'ir and Hyjal, go ahead and convert a solid chunk of your hit and spirit to haste and critical strike, if you can.
If you want more information on reforging in general, check out this summary by WoW Insider's own Gregg Reece.
Meet your Cataclysm gem lineup
With each new expansion, a number of new gems are introduced, and Cataclysm is no exception. While the tried and true Wrath gems will always be an option for those on a budget, if you're looking for the most powerful gems and have the money to spend, these are the top-of-the-line Cataclysm gems to keep and eye out for:
Brilliant Carnelians are the red gems that buff your intellect. The standard version, Brilliant Carnelian, gives you 30 points of intellect. The Perfect Brilliant Carnelian gem will give you 35 points, and the Brilliant Perfect Carnelian gem will give you +40 intellect. Remember that gems will command high prices in the early days of Cataclysm, so unless you're gearing for progression raiding, skip the Brilliant Perfect Carnelian cut in favor of the cheaper +30 and +35 versions. And, of course, Runed Cardinal Rubies will always be an option if you're exceptionally money-concious. Given the value of intellect above all other stats, you'll probably want to fill every slot you can with a red intellect gem, regardless of slot color or bonus.- Reckless Hessonites are the orange gems that buff your intellect and haste. If you're in need to fill a yellow gem slot for an especially valuable slot or meta gem bonus, then the plus 15 intellect and 15 haste Reckless Hessonite is the way to go. Remember, though, you're likely to get more mileage out of putting a Brilliant Carnelian in pretty much every slot.
- Purified Nightstones are the purple gems that buff your intellect and spirit. These are the go-to gems for filling a blue gem slot if you're after a relatively good slot or meta gem bonus. A Purified Nightstone provides 15 intellect and 15 spirit.
- The Ember Shadowspirit Diamond is going to be your Cataclysm meta gem of choice ... probably. The Ember Shadowspirit Diamond provides 54 valuable points of intellect and a valuable 2 percent bonus to your max mana. It requires you have two yellow gems equipped to activate, which is much less of a burden than some of the other meta gems that require "more blue gems than red gems." For those on a budget, the Insightful Earthseige Diamond (+21 intellect with a proc that gives you 600 mana) is a viable option.
New for Cataclysm: Off-hand enchants
Shadow priests are not only being treated to new, stronger gems in Cataclysm, but to new and stronger enchants as well. I won't list them all here for space reasons, but I did want to point out that you can now have your off-hand items enchanted. That's no small benefit -- Enchant Off-Hand - Superior Intellect is worth a whopping +100 intellect.
Some other notable enchants for shadow priests include Enchant Boots - Lavawalker (for a valuable run speed increase) and Enchant Weapon - Power Torrent, which has a great +500 intellect proc.
Your new Cataclysm "rotation"
Here's the meat and bones of it all -- the Cataclysm rotation. I know I've said this a lot, but it's a really important point: Once you graduate past level 80, mana regen becomes more and more of an issue. That means you'll need to be smart about your casts. Don't go around casting your full complement of DoTs on trash enemies -- things usually die too quick for DoTs to be mana-efficient. If you're soloing, rely heavily on Mind Flay, because it's your cheapest cast.
Other than that:
- Soloing? Open with Mind Spike. Once you get to level 81, you get access to the new spell Mind Spike. Properly talented, it does two really awesome things: It reduces the cast time of your next Mind Blast by 50 percent, and it increases the crit chance of your next Mind Blast by 30 percent. These effects do stack, so casting Mind Spike as an opener twice means your next Mind Blast will be an instant cast that's more likely to crit than not. If you can, get max distance from what you want to pull, cast Mind Spike twice, and then use your instant cast Mind Blast. In the early Cataclysm leveling process, you're almost guaranteed a crit, which means you're almost guaranteed to inflict Paralysis if you've taken that talent. (Remember, Paralysis only stops movement, not attacks -- it's useless if you're still in melee range of what's paralyze.) Be careful to only use Mind Spike as an opener, though; it will extinguish any DoTs you have active on that target.
- Don't forget Replenishment -- you'll need it. An alternative opener that works really well is Mind Spike + Vampiric Touch + Mind Blast, especially in early leveling (levels 81 and 82) when your crit rating is still high. You're still likely to cause Paralysis, but at the same time, you're starting each encounter by proccing Replenishment. The extra mana regen is great at reducing downtime.
- Running full DoTs? Maybe not. Are you battling a boss? Then you should try to keep your DoT spells -- Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Devouring Plauge -- up as much as possible. If you're not fighting a boss, applying all three DoTs is usually a huge waste of mana. Vampiric Touch gives you the biggest bang for your mana buck on short fights, so if you choose only one, make it VT.
- Abuse your cooldowns. There are two cooldowns you're going to be very familiar with: the one on your shadowfiend, and the one on Archangel. Both of these offer you a large amount of mana regen (shadowfiend is mana regen over time; Archangel provides an instant chunk of mana). If you're not at max mana, use the cooldown ASAP.
- New Mind Blast rule: 3 orbs or 15 seconds, whichever comes first. The bolded part says it all: In an extended encounter, you should only cast Mind Blast when you have three orbs active or to refresh Replenishment or Mind Blast.
- Try to land the killing blow with Shadow Word: Death every time. With the Glyph of Spirit Tap, Shadow Word: Death becomes a key mana regen tool. This holds true regardless of level -- it's the shadow priest's new best friend.
Are you more interested in watching health bars go down than watching them bounce back up? Think it's neat to dissolve into a ball of pure shadow every few minutes? Hunger for the tangy flesh of gnomes? The darker, shadowy side of Spiritual Guidance has you covered (occasionally through the use of puppets). Filed under: Priest, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Heremod Dec 8th 2010 3:26PM
@ Epic Grind comment
The trick is that this game has become about the things you do at max level---"hurry up and level so we can DO things together!"
So I guess I look at it this way: I'll probably hit 85 in about 16 hours of constant questing. At that point, no matter how novel the new quests are, I'll be bored of questing. To enjoy questing at that point, I'd have to switch to a new character. So, for me at least, the grind is about the right length. And once I hit 85, that's when it's time to get busy! Fishing, Cooking, First Aid, Enchanting, and Tailoring all need to get to 525. I need a minimum of full level-85 blues and epics before I feel like I'm pulling my weight in a raid.
From another perspective, I think that, for most people, staying up and playing a videogame for 16-24 hours straight is pretty epic. Not in the "I'm an amazing person for doing it" kind of way, but in the "I'll remember this 5, 10 years from now as that crazy thing I did when Cata came out" way. Kind of like when I camped out overnight for Star Wars tickets in high school :-). It's not that seeing a movie in a theater is epic, but the experience as a whole was very memorable.
As for the shadowpriest stuff: those hit numbers are crazy. I saw those too. Do you think healers are going to lynch me for passing on hit gear in favor of spirit gear in raids? I maintain a healing off-spec for raids and five-mans, so it seems smartest to grab the dual-use pieces rather than trying to snap up hit now and spirit later when new recruits might need it.
There is still some concern that the system (which measures *lost* dps per point of hit under the cap) might somehow be fuzzing the numbers. On the other hand, it has also been observed that a shadowpriest who misses isn't losing as much dps as a mage who misses. It's also possible blizzard simply made a mistake in scaling.
Either way, I'm rather disturbed! The idea of reforging hit into haste when I'm below hit cap is astonishing!
On the other hand, these simulcraft numbers ARE being done in full T11 gear, and that may very well be skewing things. My understanding is that it only represents the value of the stats at a particular point in time. So it's more accurate if you're thinking "what should I aim for as my perfect T11 set?" but the numbers are not necessarily accurate for answering the question "what is my biggest upgrade right now."
Can anyone confirm that silence is useful in heroics? I assume it is, but it's hard to tell what blizzard with throw in. I was seriously considering picking it up. This ties into the imp MB issue (see below).
P.S. Don't respecs cap at like 20 gold now? I'm getting quest greens in hyjal that sell for 20 gold.
P.P.S. Is the wait until 3 orbs or 15 seconds widely accepted? I haven't tracked down any solid cataclysm data---but that would certainly devalue improved mind blast to be almost worthless, we're probably going to be raiding Tier 11 with 30% less crit and 15% than we had in ICC (mf orb procs), which means we're lucky to hit 2 orbs in 6 seconds. My understanding at least was that the simcraft might have been shooting it off at 2 orbs? But I'm not sure, I didn't read the raw data carefully.
Anyways, I more or less agree with the post, except I would recommend talenting for instances right away, not questing. The only real question seems to be silence vs paralysis though, so it's not huge :-). In my experience, you can quest pretty well with a bad spec, but in a 5 man, heroic or not, shutting that caster up when the tank spikes down to 20% health can be a life saver.
Pyromelter Dec 8th 2010 6:45PM
1. I think when i respecced at level 80 it was 52g, flat fee. It was on a character that I had respecced only once before.
2. The point of doing mind blast within 15 seconds isn't for max dps, it's to maintain your mana while solo'ing. Pretty sure you wouldn't be doing that in a raid, because I'm pretty sure you'd be getting enough shadow orbs in that time to make it worth your while to cast it.
3. I have to agree about Silence. It's useful for every single phase of the game... including heroics. Paralaysis may end up making tanks live's a bit harder if they can't position a mob with that talent too. If you're going to be doing any kind of pvp at all, Silence is a must imo.
Other stuff: Good point about the epicness. The leveling itself isn't an epic grind, but you feel epic having done it. It's your game, your experience, you are a badass for accomplishing that achievement.
The Simcraft stuff showing hit being less of a priority, I really have to question it's validity at this ponit. It even shows hit as a lower priority for mages. I just don't see it. 1741 hit really won't be all that much once you are raid geared. I think you can get away with being just under the hit cap, but even for a priest, missing a mind blast, mind spike, that can be a very significant dip in your dps.
Heremod Dec 8th 2010 3:28PM
@ Epic Grind comment
The trick is that this game has become about the things you do at max level---"hurry up and level so we can DO things together!"
So I guess I look at it this way: I'll probably hit 85 in about 16 hours of constant questing. At that point, no matter how novel the new quests are, I'll be bored of questing. To enjoy questing at that point, I'd have to switch to a new character. So, for me at least, the grind is about the right length. And once I hit 85, that's when it's time to get busy! Fishing, Cooking, First Aid, Enchanting, and Tailoring all need to get to 525. I need a minimum of full level-85 blues and epics before I feel like I'm pulling my weight in a raid.
From another perspective, I think that, for most people, staying up and playing a videogame for 16-24 hours straight is pretty epic. Not in the "I'm an amazing person for doing it" kind of way, but in the "I'll remember this 5, 10 years from now as that crazy thing I did when Cata came out" way. Kind of like when I camped out overnight for Star Wars tickets in high school :-). It's not that seeing a movie in a theater is epic, but the experience as a whole was very memorable.
As for the shadowpriest stuff: those hit numbers are crazy. I saw those too. Do you think healers are going to lynch me for passing on hit gear in favor of spirit gear in raids? I maintain a healing off-spec for raids and five-mans, so it seems smartest to grab the dual-use pieces rather than trying to snap up hit now and spirit later when new recruits might need it.
There is still some concern that the system (which measures *lost* dps per point of hit under the cap) might somehow be fuzzing the numbers. On the other hand, it has also been observed that a shadowpriest who misses isn't losing as much dps as a mage who misses. It's also possible blizzard simply made a mistake in scaling.
Either way, I'm rather disturbed! The idea of reforging hit into haste when I'm below hit cap is astonishing!
On the other hand, these simulcraft numbers ARE being done in full T11 gear, and that may very well be skewing things. My understanding is that it only represents the value of the stats at a particular point in time. So it's more accurate if you're thinking "what should I aim for as my perfect T11 set?" but the numbers are not necessarily accurate for answering the question "what is my biggest upgrade right now."
Can anyone confirm that silence is useful in heroics? I assume it is, but it's hard to tell what blizzard with throw in. I was seriously considering picking it up. This ties into the imp MB issue (see below).
P.S. Don't respecs cap at like 20 gold now? I'm getting quest greens in hyjal that sell for 20 gold.
P.P.S. Is the wait until 3 orbs or 15 seconds widely accepted? I haven't tracked down any solid cataclysm data---but that would certainly devalue improved mind blast to be almost worthless, we're probably going to be raiding Tier 11 with 30% less crit and 15% than we had in ICC (mf orb procs), which means we're lucky to hit 2 orbs in 6 seconds. My understanding at least was that the simcraft might have been shooting it off at 2 orbs? But I'm not sure, I didn't read the raw data carefully.
"actions+=/mind_blast,if=buff.shadow_orb.stack>=1&buff.empowered_shadow.remains
Kylenne Dec 8th 2010 3:59PM
Thanks a ton, this is going to come in real handy when I bring my priest up from 80.
Fletcher Dec 8th 2010 5:16PM
Ugh. I *hate* Shadow Word: Death. Hate hate hate. I refuse to put it on my bars. If I wanted to life tap, I'd roll a warlock. If I wanted to hurt myself, I'd roll an emo. It seems to do less damage (at level 80, at least) than the upfront portion of Devouring Plague. Do I *have* to use it to have reasonable mana regen? Certainly my baby spriest's mana regen has been *terrible*, which I blame on not yet having Shadowfiend or Dispersion, but ... SW:D. Ugh.
Siper Dec 13th 2010 6:32AM
A shadowpriest who cant stand 20k crits????? Never thought I would see the day
Try using SW:D when the mob drops below 25% health
Thelovedoctor Dec 8th 2010 8:16PM
If you have a reasonably high crit rate (ie. you're decked out in 264+ stuff) then Mind Spike will outdamage Mind Blast even with the +90% crit chance debuff on a mob. This means that on any mob that lives less than 20 seconds or so (ie. everything in outdoor zones and every non-boss mob in an instance), there's no point in ever casting anything other than Mind Spike and Shadow Word: Death. It's extremely boring but extremely effective.
Once you gain a few levels, however, your crit rate will drop and it will probably be worth it to cast Mind Blast again.
Grizzwald Dec 9th 2010 6:21PM
I was kicked from a Dungeon finder group for Needing on:
Quicksilver Amulet
+136 Stamina
+90 Intellect
+65 Spirit
Requires Level 78
Item Level 279
Equip: Increases your haste rating by 53 (1.87% @ L78)
haha, I was astonished!
Prophetess Dec 13th 2010 10:33AM
I was also wondering about the talent Masochism. Doesn't this mean that if we cast SW:D everytime it's off cd then we should get mana back?
So shouldn't this be part of our rotation before the mob is below 25% health?
Also Archangel only lasts for 18 secs .. during that 18 secs do we just cast ms, mb, and sw:d? Then return to our dot rotation?
DoubleCrit Dec 27th 2010 10:56AM
I know. I WANT to be 85 as fast as possible. Yeah the new zones are nice but honestly I could care less. I enjoy the new zones as 85 when I come back and run through the quests for gold.
Quasimojo Jan 1st 2011 10:08PM
I know this is an older post, but I was just re-reading it and in the section that says:
"New Mind Blast rule: 3 orbs or 15 seconds, whichever comes first. The bolded part says it all: In an extended encounter, you should only cast Mind Blast when you have three orbs active or to refresh Replenishment or Mind Blast."
Were the last two words supposed to say Shadow Empowerment?