wow Big Shadow Priest Changes/Revamp Leaked?

[Starym 3,801]

 

After the Shadow Priest community has been commenting on the poor state of the class in Shadowlands and a seeming tease by Blizzard dev Chris Kaleiki, it seems there actually is going to be a massive SP change/almost revamp coming.

Mood pic.twitter.com/QWd89aBL3s

— Chris Kaleiki (@ckaleiki) August 2, 2020

The official WoW Russia site posted class changes and very quickly took them down, but WoWHead caught them in time and preserved them! The info below has been google translated, and it still might not be actually happening, although it would be very strange for it to be formatted and worded this was as an accident, but don't get your hopes up 100% just yet. Presumably the official announcement will be coming very soon if this is real.

The actual changes range from new spells and talents, to a Void Form rework and additional Devouring Plague changes, changes to base skills and more:

Blizzard Russia (source)

Hello!

 

We've read your feedback on the Shadow Priest Specialization and have been preparing major changes for it for some time, which will affect, among other things, base skills and talents. First of all, we did a thorough evaluation of Voidform.

Void Form

Voidform was introduced in Legion along with the Madness mechanic as a core component of the updated Shadow spec, allowing priests to draw on dark, mind-warping void magic and gain temporary power. In terms of gameplay, priests could increase their Madness, take Voidform, and then try to hold out as long as possible in this powerful state, limited by ever-decreasing madness. This game mechanic was clearly not to everyone's liking, as we often get feedback that players are not interested in fighting for ever-diminishing resources as the only way to deal enough damage. On the other hand, we've also received feedback that players love Voidform, but feel that it doesn't transform the character much enough. Over time, the shortcomings of this mechanic became more pronounced, and in the gameplay of this specialization, the increase in the time spent in the Abyssal Shape became the most important factor, which does not correspond to our original idea. Currently, a lot of players are avoiding talents, equipment, legendary items, etc., which do not increase the time spent in Voidform. We wanted Voidform to have a stronger impact on the gameplay, so we decided to limit the duration in this form by adding cooldown to the ability. By default, the ability will no longer use the resource wane mechanic. This mechanic will be added to the corresponding reworked Legacy of the Void talent, with which players can inherit the old Voidform principle. and in the gameplay of this specialization, the most important factor was the increase in the time spent in the "Form of the Abyss", which does not correspond to our original idea. Currently, a lot of players are avoiding talents, equipment, legendary items, etc., which do not increase the time spent in Voidform. We wanted Voidform to have a stronger impact on the gameplay, so we decided to limit the duration in this form by adding cooldown to the ability. By default, the ability will no longer use the resource wane mechanic. This mechanic will be added to the corresponding reworked Legacy of the Void talent, with which players can inherit the old Voidform principle. and in the gameplay of this specialization, the most important factor was the increase in the time spent in the "Form of the Abyss", which does not correspond to our original idea. Currently, a lot of players are avoiding talents, equipment, legendary items, etc., which do not increase the time spent in Voidform. We wanted Voidform to have a stronger impact on the gameplay, so we decided to limit the duration in this form by adding cooldown to the ability. By default, the ability will no longer use the resource wane mechanic. This mechanic will be added to the corresponding reworked Legacy of the Void talent, with which players can inherit the old Voidform principle.

Devouring Plague

According to reviews, the duration of the "Devouring Plague" was too long. We have already reduced the duration of this spell from the traditional 21 seconds. up to 12 sec. However, we agree that this is still too long, so we will reduce it even further - to 6 seconds. We've fixed an issue that prevented Devouring Plague from gaining Haste and Critical Strike bonuses, and increased the damage dealt by this spell.

General gameplay changes

We've added a new passive effect “Dark Thoughts” to the game, which can trigger with a certain probability - we think that this will add variety to the main rotation. We want damage over time to play a big role for Shadow Priests, so we've made Dark Thoughts and other gameplay mechanics more relevant to this specialization.

Talents

We've looked at some of the talents and made adjustments to make the choice less obvious in different situations. Unfurling Darkness and Soul Link are intended to enhance the ability of Dark Priests to apply damage over time to multiple targets, while Damnation and Conquest to Madness allow deal a large amount of damage in a short period of time.

 

Finally, we would like to talk about the new talent Searing Nightmare. This talent is intended for high Mythic tiers and similar conditions where higher AoE damage may be needed during prolonged combat.

 

Thank you very much for your feedback and your inexhaustible enthusiasm.

Changes to base skills

• The cast time of Void Eruption has been reduced by 40%.
• Mind Blast (Rank 2) reduces the cooldown of Mind Blast by 7.5 sec. (and not for 7 seconds, as before).
• Shadow Word: Death no longer increases Insanity.
• The Twilight Ghosts effect has been reworked: when you use Mind Blast, Devouring Plague, or Void Bolt, you create your own ghostly copies that move towards all enemies affected by your Vampiric Touch and deal damage to them from dark magic. On a critical strike, two Twilight Wraiths appear.
• Void Form

  • Now requires 90 seconds. on recovery and increases the damage done by 20%. Lasts 15 sec.
  • Voidform no longer reduces the cooldown of Mind Blast, but instantly restores the spell upon cast, and grants you 2 charges while in Voidform.
  • While in Voidform, you no longer gain a speed bonus every 0.5 sec.
• Devouring plague

  • Devouring Plague's duration has been reduced to 6 seconds and damage dealt is increased by 50%.

    • Developer comment: Reducing the duration of the damage over time effect in order to make the damage from the spell sharper will help to avoid reapplication of the effect (taking into account the possible excess damage).
  • Devouring Plague can now critically hit.
  • Devouring Plague is now available at level 20.

New spells

• Dark Thoughts (Passive) (Level 16): For every damage over time you cast on the target, Mind Flay and Mind Sear have a 2% chance to gain a Mind Blast charge and instantly cast his. For the next 6 sec. Mind Blast can be cast while channeling Mind Flay or Mind Sear.

  • The effect of "Dark Thoughts" can stack up to 5 times if it works several times in a row.

Talent Changes

• Level 15

  • Dark Insight (Talent) removed.
  • Shadow Word: Abyss (Talent) removed.
  • The Death and Madness talent is now available at this level.
  • New Talent: Unfurling Darkness: After casting Vampiric Touch, your next Vampiric Touch is instant and deals 155% of your Shadow damage immediately. This effect can be triggered no more than once every 15 sec.
• Level 40

  • New Talent: Soul Link: Mind Blast deals 60% damage to all targets within 40 yards affected by your Vampiric Touch.
• Level 45

  • Relentless Frenzy (Talent) removed.
  • Dark Abyss (Talent) removed.
  • New Talent Searing Nightmare: Instantly inflicts Shadow damage to all enemies near the target and applies Shadow Word: Pain to them. If the enemy is already affected by your Shadow Word: Pain, Searing Nightmare deals double damage. Can only be cast while channeling Mind Sear.
  • New Talent Damnation: Instantly and at no resource cost, hits the target with Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Devouring Plague. Recovery time - 45 sec.
  • Abyssal Stream: No longer pauses the frenzy on cast, but now refreshes the duration of your Shadow damage over time effects when channeling.
• Level 50

  • Dark Ascension (Talent) removed.
  • The Legacy of the Void talent has been reworked: Voidform no longer has a duration, but while you assume Voidform, your madness will begin to decrease at an increasing rate. When it reaches 0, Voidform will expire. Spell damage in Voidform is increased by an additional 5%.
  • Conquering Madness: Cooldown reduced to 90 seconds.
  • New Talent: Ancient Madness: When you cast Voidform, your critical strike chance is increased by 30% for 15 sec. This increase gradually decreases by 2% per second.

PvP talents

• New Talent: Lasting Plague: Increases the duration of Devouring Plague by 6 sec.

Big thanks to WoWHead once more for catching the leak!