WotLK Classic Shadow Priest Stat Priority

1. Hit Rating
2. Spell Power
3. Haste Rating
4. Critical Strike Rating
5. Spirit

As with most damage dealers, Hit Rating is your top priority until you reach the hit cap. Make sure your Hit Rating needs are first met before worrying about other stats as this will provide the highest damage increase possible.

As a Shadow Priest you have Shadow Focus, giving you 3% Hit chance with your Shadow spells. You also have Misery, which increases the chance for any harmful spell to hit by 3% on targets you debuff with Shadow Word: Pain, Mind Flay, and Vampiric Touch. Misery is a debuff on the target, meaning the Spell Hit Chance increase is applied to everyone who attacks that target.

The last Hit Rating concern is if you are Alliance with a Draenei in your party. This will give you the Heroic Presence buff, granting you another 1% Hit Chance. Remember that this buff is still party-wide and not raid-wide, so they must remain in your group for you to get this buff.

With Shadow Focus and Misery you will need to reach 11% additional Hit Chance from gear, or 289 Hit Rating. If you have the Heroic Presence buff you will need 10% additional Hit Chance from gear, or 263 Hit Rating. Be sure to reach this cap first and foremost before looking at other stats.

At Level 80:

• 26.23 Hit Rating = 1% Hit Chance

Spell Power is the new combined Healing Power and Spell Damage from previous expansions, now streamlined into a singular stat in Wrath of the Lich King. Spell Power increases the raw damage output of your spells.

Spell Power remains a Shadow Priest's highest priority stat as you rely heavily on damage-over-time abilities, which scale very well from this stat. Spell Power gives you a consistent damage increase throughout all of WotLK and will be the main stat you look at when comparing gear pieces.

Haste Rating increases your casting speed, allowing you to cast more spells in a shorter amount of time. This stat remains a powerful choice for Shadow Priests as you always have a spell to cast in your rotation.

Wrath of the Lich King also improves your Shadowform, allowing your Devouring Plague and Vampiric Touch periodic damage to benefit from Haste, making them deal their damage quicker. Shadow Word: Pain remains excluded from this benefit however and gains no benefit from Haste Rating.

When looking at an item's overall stats, Haste Rating is one of the top stats you are looking to gain after Spell Power.

At Level 80:

• 32.79 Haste Rating = 1% Faster Casting Speed

Unlike previous expansions, Crit Rating has become a powerful stat for Shadow Priests in Wrath of the Lich King. The first major change is that your Mind Flay can now Crit for additional damage.

Our Shadowform is also improved, allowing your Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch periodic damage the chance to critically strike for 100% increased damage. Shadow Power now increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Mind Blast, Mind Flay, and Shadow Word: Death spells by 100%.

You now also have Improved Spirit Tap, increasing your Spirit and Mana regeneration whenever you deal a Crit with Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Death, or Mind Flay.

These many changes that Shadow Priests receive in WotLK make Crit Rating a more desirable stat than before, but still not at the top of your priority.

At Level 80:

• 45.91 Crit Rating = 1% Crit Chance

Spirit greatly improves your passive Mana regeneration, giving you a high amount of passive Mana return. This passive Mana regeneration is broken up by what is commonly referred to as the "5-second rule".

After casting a spell that costs Mana, your passive Spirit-based Mana regen will be paused for 5 seconds, after which time it will resume, giving you full Mana regeneration again. As a Priest, you have the Meditation talent, allowing 50% of your Spirit-based Mana regeneration to continue at all times, even during the 5-second rule.

The main way you benefit from Spirit as a Shadow Priest is through your Twisted Faith talent. You also have Improved Spirit Tap, which increases your Spirit and Mana regeneration whenever you deal a Crit with Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Death, or Mind Flay. Lastly, you have Glyph of Shadow giving you even more Spell Power based on your Spirit.

At Level 80:

• 1 Spirit = 0.2 Spell Power