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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSpiritual Guidance: Shadow priest Pandaren and the new MoP talent tree
by Fox Van Allen 
Oct 26th 2011 at 8:00PM
Cataclysm was a great expansion to play a shadow priest in, but if what we learned at BlizzCon 2011 is any clue, playing a shadow priest in Mists of Pandaria is going to be a whole lot better.
I know those are big words, but when we start delving into the new-for-MoP talent trees, I feel these new talents will back those words up. We're getting a new playmate for our Shadowfiend, a whole new talent tree with spectacular new abilities, and a new, RNG-free mechanism for Shadow Orbs and Mind Blast. And, oh yeah: Pandaren can be shadow priests.
Excited? You should be.
A whole new talent system
One of the biggest bombshells of BlizzCon 2011 -- aside from all that Pokemon panda business, of course -- was the fact that talent trees are undergoing their second overhaul in so many expansions. For those of you who may have missed the announcement, here are the key bullet points:
- We're only making six talent choices on the way to level 90, one per 15 levels. Each choice will be between three options. Once you choose one of the three, you can't go back and choose between the two others.
- These talents will be handled similar to the way glyphs are now. You won't have to visit a trainer to change them. You'll simply need some readily available reagent.
- There's now only one priest talent tree, though we all still choose a specialization at level 10.
- All "boring" talents have been removed. Say goodbye to Darkness and Improved Devouring Plague. Spells like Vampiric Touch and Silence are being removed from the talent tree, too; as a shadow priest, you should be given these spells as you level up automatically.
- All talent trees have been merged. This means that disc priests can choose a souped-up version of Vampiric Embrace; shadow priests can choose Power Infusion.
Level 15: Crowd control
The first choice priests of all stripes will have to make is at level 15, and all three choices are shadow-themed options for crowd control.
Already, you can see the new Blizzard philosophy of tough choices at work. All three have their own pros and cons, and overall, it's hard to single one out as the best. Obviously, Void Tendrils has a vastly different use being a snare (instead of a fear); Psyfiend is more powerful than Psychic Scream, but the former has a longer cooldown.
I think I'm going to have to take the Psyfiend. He'll look so cute munching on Tyler's skull.
Level 30: Mobility
If the first set of talent choices is about limiting your foes' movement, the second set of priest talent choices is all about boosting our own mobility.
Level 45: Your first DPS choice
At level 45, you'll finally have a choice between three damage-dealing talents -- well ... two damage-dealing talents and a bizarre new healing/damage hybrid.
I really don't like this tier, but that's just because I don't think I'll ever be able to choose anything but Dark Archangel. After all, the "shadow priest with dark wings" look feels just so iconic now that I can't bring myself to do without.
Level 60: Self-healing/shielding
Again, those of you who cheat on the shadows with the discipline and holy trees will recognize some familiar talents:
Another one of those hard choices? You bet. Power Word: Shielding yourself is incredibly useful tactic in heroics and raids alike, and an extra 30% worth of damage absorption is no small benefit. Then again, if you've got disc priests in your raid already, Final Prayer might be a better choice.
Level 75: More powerful talents cometh ...
In case you haven't noticed the general trend, these talents get more and more desirable as you level. Case in point, your level 75 talents:
Level 90: The ultimate in talents!
If there's one thing I know you guys all have on your wish lists, it's this: "Please, Blizzard, make it so Dispersion isn't the ultimate shadow priest talent anymore." That wish has been granted:
And here's where those hard choices kick in again -- taking Vampiric Dominance requires us to pass on Void Shift, an incredibly powerful talent in its own right. It's a healing cooldown that's just as powerful in a DPS priest's hands as a healing priest's. One quick button press, and your health percentage is swapped with the tank's -- an absolutely invaluable trick to any of you who have experience healing. And better yet, you get a quick +25% health back right after the swap.
The third choice at level 90 is clearly a healing talent, though we shadow priests could find use for it as well. Consider this scenario: You're healing through an encounter like Nefarian, and you know a big burst of damage (Electrocute) is coming. You could use Vow of Unity on a tank and then immediately go into Dispersion. Though Electrocute would break the Vow, you'll still absorb a good portion of the tank's damage, and only a small fraction of it at that. Of course, there's no telling if that would be allowed under the proposed mechanic ... at this point, we're all just speculating. Which brings up a very good point ...
Disclaimer
Those of you who remember my Cataclysm coverage will find these words familiar: All this stuff is subject to change. This is Blizzard's first attempt at a new talent tree, and we can expect lots of stuff to change between now and then. (One thing you should definitely expect to change: A requirement on Void Shift that you have more health than the target before casting it, to prevent griefing.)
Also, try to remember that some of these percentages given here are likely just placeholders. None of this has been balanced against other classes' abilities -- a final step that Blizzard will take before launching Mists of Pandaria in late 2012.
Lastly: A change to Shadow Orbs
If a new talent tree wasn't news enough, we caught one more tidbit of information during BlizzCon 2011 that'll set the shadow priesting world on its head. The change was hinted at by our level 45 abilities, but thanks to a man I've lovingly nicknamed "Paradigm," we have confirmation: In Mists of Pandaria, Shadow Orbs are becoming a resource.
What does that mean? Simply put, this: Mind Blast will no longer cost mana to cast. Instead, casting Mind Blast will require a Shadow Orb. Have an Orb? You can cast Mind Blast. Have two? You can cast it twice in a row. Beyond this, there's even more exciting news: Game developers stated they want to make these Orbs less RNG dependent.
I'm not sure how they're going to do that or even if it's possible -- frankly, I think that the RNG factor is pretty inescapable and integral to the gameplay. But given how well the developers have delivered on my own personal wish list in the past ... I can't wait to see what they come up with.
Are you more interested in watching health bars go down than watching them bounce back up? We've got more for shadow priests, from Shadow Priest 101 to a list of every monster worth mind controlling and strategies for raiding Blackwing Descent.Filed under: Priest, BlizzCon, (Priest) Spiritual Guidance, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
BladedDingo Oct 26th 2011 9:09PM
Im looking forward to these changes. I yate having to re-spec into must have cookie cutter builds to stay competetive. Now everyone will have the same potential to heal or damage regardless of talent selection, only skill and awareness will seperate the good from the bad. Taking away the bloated pseudo choice and giving us actual, fun choices will be awesome.
I played around with the talent calculstor on wowhead and had fun deciding what would be the most fun or coolest talent rather then thinking... Which talents will make my heal hit bigger.
I think blizz nailed talents this time around and further tweaking will only make it better.
Jonisjalopy Oct 26th 2011 9:45PM
My first thought when I saw Pandas were official:
"I have a new race for my bitchin' priest!"
Can't friggin wait!
Mitch_b_666 Oct 26th 2011 10:16PM
When you say removing all of the boring talents, is that binning them completely?
Seems like it couldn't be the case as it would mess up the class balances completely but on the other hand I can't say I've seen much in the way of saying otherwise - they only suggest important spells learnt from the talent trees will be learnt from a trainer instead.
I'd much rather have, say the first row of talents in our current tree (3% haste/6% extra SW:P dmg/reduced fade+shadowfiend CDs, than an AoE root/psyfiend/psychic scream (which we already had).
Mitch_b_666 Oct 26th 2011 10:27PM
I understand that could all be just shoved into the spell book under passive or something, but then this conflicts with their current notion of making the spell book less cluttered.
Ralkor Oct 27th 2011 12:20AM
All of that will simply be built in - Formerly classes were balanced around having those talents, now they won't be balanced around them. Your spells will have tweaked values to reflect this change, but remember it's not that they took away your +stats; they took everyone's +stats away, and with a brand new expansion they will be rebalancing you anyway. You'll be balanced without needing those stats. Likely they will simply be built into your character or spells, so that at level 85 you'll be exactly as powerful as you are now (give or take a little, of course) without needing to have those talents to get there.
Chance Oct 28th 2011 11:20PM
You won't be learning anything from a class trainer in MoP aside from dual spec and the ability to forget a spec (say shadow) for a different primary or secondary spec (say holy). All abilities will automatically be added to your spell book upon leveling.
As for current talent buffs to spells, they will be builtin to your spec. So your 3% haste buff from the first tier of talents? You automatically get this while leveling as Shadow, you just no longer have to open up a UI and select it. Some of these will be innate buffs that you get over time, others will be built in. Your shadow fiend reduced cooldown is an example of one to be built in, instead of having a longer CD when you first learn the spell the CD rate will be the same as if you had the option to, and already chose the talent upon learning the spell.
Pretty much NOTHING is changing with the original talents that you will notice if your character is already at max level and talented other than the fact that you no longer have the option to see these talents. There won't be any balance issues as Blizzard already balances every class around the assumption that people will be using specific talents, the difference now is that your character will not be gimped if they made a specific change to a talent and you didn't know about it but everybody else realized they needed to respec and put 1 point into the new buffed talent.
The removal of the trees as we know them is great, I don't understand any negative reactions as I really don't see how anybody can consider alt tabbing and googling "best shadow priest build" and copying somebody elses tree as an essential part of their gameplays fun factor.
Socialcockroach Oct 26th 2011 11:03PM
I know that they will undoubtedly change Void Shift to only work if you have a higher health percentage than your target, but man... the applications of its unaltered form can be amazing! Beyond griefing, there are undoubtedly loads of creative ways to use this ability.
What really jumps out at me is that it states that a percentage of life is transferred... meaning that it will scale. So, lets say you are in a pvp fight or trying to solo an instance and you realize you are dangerously low on HP, power word: shield is on c/d and so is dispersion. So instead, you cast shadow fiend and Void Shift it and BAM! you are at 90% health or so, and your shadow fiend is at 10%. In fact, if it does indeed transfer based on a percentage rather than a raw amount, it could trivialize any future Valithria Dreamwalker style fights. You could also use it to restore the health of the Alterac Vally bosses. Oh! And you could mind control a target and Void Shift it since it is an instant cast... an EXTREMELY powerful tool for both pvp and pve.
Argh... the more I think about it, the more I can see so many exploits with this ability which makes me want it so much more, but also makes me realize that it is definitely going to go under heavy revision.
Zenotho Oct 27th 2011 12:25AM
Ehhh how exactly are you going to MC someone and VS them at the same time?
Erebos Oct 27th 2011 12:29PM
I have a feeling you're right. People will be complaining about this (and...as much as I hate to say it... probably rightfully so), so I can foresee it getting capped at a certain percent of you or your target's health getting swapped, or just setting it to a static amount.
I figure it'll go something like this:
Non-priests: QQ
Blizz: We feel that Void Shift is too powerful in its current blah blah blah... so we're changing it so that only X amount of health can be swapped, thus rendering it completely useless so no one will want to use it anymore.
Priests: QQ, take Vow of Unity (and maybe raid-healing holy priests and some shadow priests will take Vampiric Dominance, but who doesn't wanna play with a new spell?).
I guess we'll just have to hope they don't nerf it into the ground before MoP and we can use it in its current form for a little while.
Socialcockroach Oct 27th 2011 5:00PM
@ Zenotho
Easy. When you mind control an enemy, they are considered friendly during the duration of the cast. During that time, you can cast one instant cast spell... it will break the MC, but the effect will still land. In fact, if you so choose, you can mind control a hostile humanoid and buff them with a fort or renew. And if Void Shift is instant cast as the tool tip states, then it would probably work the same way.
Then again, it has been quite some time since I have played on my shadow priest and they could have changed the rules on MC. But that is how it used to work. As a side note, you also used to be able to talk to the other faction using emotes while mind controlling them... but that went away a long time ago.
Matrillik Oct 26th 2011 11:24PM
I can't wait for a PVP scenario when I can fully dot someone, gather 3 orbs, pop Archangel and Power Infusion and triple Mind Blast then into the ground. Did anyone else just get a boner?
amryxx Oct 27th 2011 12:30AM
I can't wait to find someone to in-game to make fun of me for playing a "Kung-Fu Panda".
... after which case I'll make my panda go all shadowy, summon Lovecraftian-esque tentacles and MF him to death.
(yes, I know I can't attack people in the same faction... but a man can dream)
Redielin Oct 27th 2011 11:21AM
I"m trying to decide which of the first talent tier I would take. They are all pretty PVP centric. Void Tendrils sounds pretty nice, and could have a lot of uses in PVE. Psyfiend, I'm not sure about - it is a longer CD, and it is a pet that can be killed or CC'd. Also, you lose control of the targeting, and you lose fear bomb. But repeated fears is just what the doctor ordered to counter fast-trinketing rogue teams where psychic scream just delays the inevitable. At least psyfiend will likely make them spend their cloak of shadows!
Psychic Scream will always be a great standby - but when facing burst teams, psyfiend might be more helpful in breaking your opponent's momentum.
numm Oct 28th 2011 5:26PM
Eceryone is entitled to an opinion, and my personal one is that if the a talent changes really come to efect then I will not be buying MOP. I love my priest and it is the only class I raid with. And in the new expac our toons will have shorter tallent tree then theww newly introduced pokemon. So, no more interractikns between the tallents and stats importance... In other words - not the game I signed up to play. I have very little respect for the Ghostcrawler and I think he should go back to shrimp farming so we can enjoy the game. After all, he is removing everything that made wow the most popular game in the world. Pandas or Space goats - I do not care. But turning the game into pokemon farmvile - sorry, not interested. Not worth the money when there is no challenge.
coyote303 Oct 29th 2011 12:48PM
Talent points and having different specs are my favorite part of WoW. I'll reserve judgment until I see the final product, but I am concerned what I love about WoW is about to go away.
bluhiem Nov 1st 2011 2:50AM
Fox when comparing this article to the myths of the talent tree article you come off as incredibly hypocritical. there you state that min maxing will not go away and people will pick on the best yet here you mention several times what you'll pick for reason that have nothing to do with min maxing. Example "I really don't like this tier, but that's just because I don't think I'll ever be able to choose anything but Dark Archangel. After all, the "shadow priest with dark wings" look feels just so iconic now that I can't bring myself to do without". you don't mention which is strongest but state that the flavour of the spell is the most important, so that would be a win for blizzard would it not.
Also you sated in your other article "Going up against Ragnaros? Then Twist of Fate is a poor choice". Again this is flat out wrong for casters ironically you mentioned the precise reason in this article why that is wrong http://www.wowhead.com/item=56400/sorrowsong if you read through the comments you'll see paragon casters used this heavily on their first heroic kill. which would imply that twist of fate would be incredibly useful on ragnoros type encounters.
As for the talents themselves, it seems as if blizzard copied call of duty's perk system which i actually incredibly versatile so i actually am not too worried about min maxing as 1. talents are switch able so if one does perform better in one instance just switch freely and 2. it may be a case on how you utilise the talents the how strong they actually are. Also the preist talents feel very synergistic with one another. I'm wondering if he health transfer from void shift could activate final prayer for example.also griefing with void shift n top of leap of faith is fun no matter the numbers. e.g stand in fire ,void shift the those show off balance druids then leap of faith them into the void zone and watch them die and get blamed for standing in fire.