Shadow Priest Conundrum

[Borsalino 0]

Greetings everyone,

 

I have read forums, topics treads for hours and I have gathered a lot of information, but I need reassurance as I am desperate... not prayer.

 

What I like about the priest, Dots; ...Dotless Shadow Priest go figure....

 

For the level 100 talents I am using COP, I just don't feel the other two, they seem to lack even though I mostly play COP lite.

 

I do pvp and pve the most and I am trying to excel on both. I have questions for both pvp and pve content. I went from stacking mastery to stacking critical primarily to stay away from traditional COP, but it seems like traditional COP is not viable in pvp anyway.

 

Here are my questions: (And again, it is more a thing of am I right or not)

 

1) Is the absolute highest single target damage DOT weaving (I've got this rotation down, its easy, it is just extremely boring, in one full rotation you end up casting 11 MSs like WTF!)?

 

 1a) If yes: Even though it is the highest damage it is ABSOLUTELY not viable in pvp?

 

2) What exactly is the deal with Haste? Should it really be my second attribute to look for? I read somewhere that haste messes with one of the spriest's abilities (was it mind flay?) why?

 

3) For one million dollars: Traditional COP betters with Mastery, if I switch from mastery to critical will COP lite beat traditional COP (in single target)? Also, is DOT Weaving still beast?

 

4) For pvp, is my burst casting two consecutive DPs, is it better to wait for one to finish before casting the other for more SoD procs or does it not matter because of how the second one absorbs the damage of the first one?

 

I guess my main problem is the secondary stats. How is mastery sometimes awesome and in other scenarios it turns into the worst stat. Additionally, Multistrike, when is it good? I read it does not proc on ticks correct?

 

Anyway I know a lot of people are just as lost as I am and I have read several forums. but I need clarity of Pow... I am some clarification. Thank ya'll.

 

 

Cordially,

 

Borsalino

[Brutalpriest 60]

I will be answering questions for PvE only.  I despise WoW PvP. 

 

CoP dotweaving is the highest.  Icy veins spriest class guide details what the dotweave is and how to use it.  Learn to use it, it will become natural.  As for the 10 mind spikes in the dotweave rotation, you can sub them out for other things.  Power word shield is a dps increase over mind spike if it gets absorbed (so cast it on the tank, IF you're not running with a disc priest.)  Pain and VT are dps increases over mind spike if cast on secondary targets, and said secondary targets survive for ... i think a little more than half of the dots' durations.

 

Mastery is good in patchwerk situations.  It's less useful in other situations where you have to move a lot, but since Mind Blast is instant cast, and so is D.Plague, most of Highmaul content can be stutter-stepped through, and what little can't be... well, a single GCD is lost placing an Angelic Feather under yourself.  Oh well =)  And let's not forget that during execution (including execution of adds) you're the most mobile caster in the freakin' game.  Drye has come out saying that secondary stats (except versitility, which is always suboptimal) doesn't really matter until you're in mythic, gearing up for Blackrock Foundry.  At that point, you'll want to sidegrade to gear with more haste and less mastery.  Crit and Multistrike are always safe bets.

 

Haste doesn't mess with rotations as far as I know.  The reduction of Mind Blast cooldown based on haste is the reason why this is true even during bloodlust.  Please post sources, I'm interested to read more.

 

Multistrike's on ticking is convoluted and confusing.  Unless you're a hardcore theory crafter... don't worry about it =/ 

[Novelist 1]

Power word shield is a dps increase over mind spike if it gets absorbed (so cast it on the tank, IF you're not running with a disc priest.) 

 

 

Actually this is a common misconception. The tool-tip for Glyph of Reflective Shield actually reads, "Causes 70% of the damage you absorb with Power Word: Shield to reflect back at the attacker." The misconception is that any of your cast PW:S that end up absorbing their full amount will cause the damage to be reflected back to the attacker. The truth is, only PW:S cast on yourself reflect the damage back to the attacker. So if there is a discipline priest in your party, leave the tank shielding to them.

 

By all means cast PW:S on yourself for the dps increase. Reflective shield is absolutely amazing on fights like Butcher and Twin Ogron.

 

Sorry for bumping an old thread.

Edited January 3, 2015 by Novelist

[Gwenymph 414]

I can confirm the Glyph only applies to the PWS on the casting Priest.

[Brutalpriest 60]

OHHHHH F**K ME.  Are you serious?!  AHHHGGGG. 

 

Thanks for clearing that up -_- Gonna stop sheilding the tanks now. 

 

Still, that solves the mystery of why my reflective shield was so under-represented in my combat logs.