TBC Classic Shadow Priest Stat Priority

Here we will go over all of the Shadow Priest stats, what each stat does, which stats to look out for, and list them in a priority order.

1. Spell Hit Rating;
2. Spell Damage;
3. Spell Haste;
4. Spell Critical Strike;
5. Intellect;
6. Spirit;
7. Mana Per 5;
8. Stamina.

Here we will give you a full breakdown of what each stat offers you as a Shadow Priest.

Spell Hit Rating is required for your spells to not be resisted. For boss-level enemies, you will need 16% Spell Hit rating, including your Shadow Focus talent. Aim to reach this Spell Hit cap before increasing other stats.

Spell damage is your highest-priority stat as it directly increases all of the damage you deal. Seeing as this is the only stat that your DoT spells scale with, it remains your best DPS stat throughout the entirety of TBC Classic.

Spell Haste is one of your biggest damage increases, as it increases the amount of Mind Flays you can use between other spells. As it is difficult to acquire in the early stages of gearing, do not focus on it fully over Spell Damage.

Spell Critical strike chance is not the best stat for a Shadow Priest as a large portion of our damage comes from abilities that cannot crit, such as Shadow Word: Pain and Mind Flay. That being said, we still have both Shadow Word: Death and Mind Blast that can crit. Do not actively seek out Spell Critical Strike, but do not shy away from it either.

Intellect increases our Mana pool, Spell Crit chance, and our Mana regen. In TBC Classic, Intellect is now factored into the the Spirit regen formula, making Intellect a good stat to get. You will not be aiming to stack this stat, but you will feel the loss of it when you use gear that does not have it or has a low amount of it.

Spirit is a great stat for Shadow Priests, increasing our Mana regeneration. With Meditation, Spirit gives us Mana regeneration while casting, and when we are not casting our regeneration is greatly increased. Spirit Tap also gives us 100% increased Spirit when it is up, so we can regenerate quite quickly with some decent Spirit on our DPS gear.

While Mana Per 5 is a decent stat, it is a bit worse than Spirit since Spirit already gives us some Mana regeneration while casting and much more Mana regen when not casting. Spirit Tap also gives us a 100% increase to our Spirit, so we will usually look for Spirit instead of MP5.

While you should not focus on Stamina, it is important that you have enough to survive boss encounters that deal damage to random players. Priest has one of the lowest base health pools in the game, so taking gear that has slightly worse DPS stats but some Stamina on it may be needed.