Shadow Priest DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within (11.2.5)

While optimizing talents on a contextual basis is the highly recommended method of setting up your build, the Talent builds listed below work great for specific purposes.

Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. For more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+ in Season 3, check out the dedicated pages below.

As a Shadow Priest in Season 3 we will prefer running Voidweaver, particularly when you acquire the new tier set. Before then or if you are pushing very high Mythic+ keys you should also consider Archon.

To see fully specialized builds in full detail for both Archon and Voidweaver use the tool below to toggle recommendations based on your desired Hero Talent Tree. Note that whichever you pick will affect the entire page and information will be tailored to that selection.

3.

War Within Shadow Priest Talent Builds

Use the boxes below to navigate builds

Archon
Single-Target Archon
Three-Target Archon
Mythic+ Voidweaver
Single-Target Voidweaver
Three-Target Voidweaver
Mythic+

4.

Archon Single Target Build

Archon Shadow Priests revolve around casting Halo to empower Void Eruption. This build will give you consistent Single Target damage.

This build is the same regardless of any tier sets you have equipped.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Single Target - Archon Show Copy

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Archon in single target focuses around getting as many casts of Mind Flay: Insanity as possible due to the strength of Empowered Surges. This fuels our preference towards Void Eruption so that we generate as much Insanity as possible for more casts of Devouring Plague for more Surge of Insanity procs.

Archon is very competitive against the Voidweaver variant once you have the new Season 3 4-piece. However, the build itself can be more punishing to play and requires you to consistently get 2 casts of Halo per Voidform (~90s total duration). Because of this I would only default to Archon if you are still using Season 2 tier, or do not have tier at all.

4.

Archon Three-Target Build

This build is the same regardless of any tier sets you have equipped.

This build is specifically designed for the three target council boss, The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega. Notably this is just the Mythic+ build but we drop Silence.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

3T - Archon Show Copy

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Archon is very competitive against the Voidweaver variant once you have the new Season 3 4-piece. However, the build itself can be more punishing to play and requires you to consistently get 2 casts of Halo per Voidform (~90s total duration). Because of this I would only default to Archon if you are still using Season 2 tier, or do not have tier at all.

Check out the dedicated Raid page for more talent build information and tips for every boss.

Shadow Priest Manaforge Omega Page

4.

Archon Mythic+ Build

This build is the same regardless of any tier sets you have equipped.

This build is designed for pushing high key Mythic+ or other AoE focused scenarios.

Archon gives you a massive starting point with big AoE damage that scales well as you get into higher key levels. If you are just starting out in your Mythic+ journey, or are just pugging keys in uncoordinated groups it might feel a bit sluggish to start and you should consider trying out Voidweaver instead.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Balanced Mythic+ - Archon Show Copy

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Full AoE Mythic+ - Archon Show Copy

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Options with this build:

• The Balanced build is the one suggested by default for maximizing overall damage for most Shadow Priests. If you are looking to push your AoE damage even further you can opt for the Full AoE version. This trades 2% single target damage for 2% AoE damage.
• By default, this build assumes you need survivability from Mental Fortitude and also do not want to drop Silence. Strictly speaking, this is a DPS loss; if you want to drop one of those points, you can add back a point into Phantasmal Pathogen (More single target) or Phantom Menace (More AoE). This is roughly a 1% damage gain.
• By default this build uses Sustained Potency for more boss damage and sustained AoE damage. This talent also pauses Voidform for up to 20 seconds out of combat, making it less punishing in lower keys to use cooldowns. You can instead take Energy Compression for the generic more AoE option if you prefer.

Check out the dedicated Mythic+ page for more talent build information and tips for every dungeon.

Shadow Priest Mythic+ Page

4.

Voidweaver Single Target Build

Voidweaver Shadow Priests revolve around casting Void Torrent to create an Entropic Rift and cast as many Void Blast as possible. This build prefers to play with Dark Ascension.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Single Target - Voidweaver Show Copy

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Voidweaver creates windows of burst damage every 30 seconds with Void Torrent and spawning Entropic Rift. During this window your hardest hitting ability becomes Void Blast so we end up taking as many talents as we can to buff the few amount of these we get to cast.

If you are newer to the spec you can consider dropping Phantasmal Pathogen in favor of Voidtouched. This is a slight DPS loss but can make the spec easier to play if you are feeling overwhelmed.

While this build is preferred due to its flexibility handling adds and execute damage, there is also a variant that is slightly better in pure single target you can try out. This involves swapping out Depth of Shadows and Deathspeaker for Voidwraith and Mindbender for a small gain.

Voidweaver becomes viable with the new Season 3 4-piece bonus. If you are still using Season 2 tier, or do not have tier at all I highly suggest defaulting to Archon over Voidweaver.

By default the builds chosen use Void Leech to help mitigate Physical damage taken. If you are in an environment where you are playing solo or are specifically trying to mitigate Magic damage taken (particularly Shadow school damage) you should use Embrace the Shadow instead.

4.

Voidweaver Three-Target Build

This build is specifically designed for the three target council boss, The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega. Notably this is just the Mythic+ build but we drop Silence.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

3T - Voidweaver Show Copy

CIQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMDzMDAAAAAAAAAAAAjxGMzMLbbjZGzMzMLDmNmZmZMbMAjhZxsN1MDWgZmBACwsNbLgZjFAbzA

Voidweaver becomes viable with the new Season 3 4-piece bonus. If you are still using Season 2 tier, or do not have tier at all I highly suggest defaulting to Archon over Voidweaver.

Check out the dedicated Raid page for more talent build information and tips for every boss.

Shadow Priest Manaforge Omega Page

4.

Voidweaver Mythic+ Build

This build is your starting point for your journey into Mythic+ dungeons, or other AoE scenarios. While doing great AoE damage, these builds also deal great priority target damage during AoE while also having decent single target.

Voidweaver should perform well in most levels of keys, but will struggle more compared to Archon if you begin to chain packs together or are looking for pushing sustained AoE even further. In particular Dark Ascension does not have as much AoE scaling as Void Eruption and currently only Archon prefers running that talent.

Use the Copy button below to generate an Import Code to use in-game!

Mythic+ - Voidweaver Show Copy

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Options with this build:

• By default, this build assumes you need survivability from Mental Fortitude and also do not want to drop Silence. Strictly speaking, this is a DPS loss; if you want to drop one of those points, you can add back a point into Dark Thoughts (More single target) or Maddening Touch (More AoE). This is roughly a 1% damage gain.
• Even though this build prefers to play Distorted Reality you generally still focus on a single target with your Devouring Plague casts. You do have the option to spread this around if you have multiple high priority targets.
• Using Mind's Eye is generally not too far behind in most scenarios in Mythic+ if you prefer to play with that talent.

Check out the dedicated Mythic+ page for more talent build information and tips for every dungeon.

Shadow Priest Mythic+ Page

Several of our talents actively change your rotation, specifically your priority in given situations. You can find out more about it in the rotation section below.

Starting at level 71 you gain access to brand new Hero Talents. This is where you get to pick between Archon or Voidweaver.

Archon Shadow Priest gameplay revolves around using Halo to empower your cooldown of choice and to cast extremely powerful Mind Flay: Insanity spells. This choice typically ends up playing Void Eruption.

Voidweaver Shadow Priest gameplay causes your Void Torrent to create a heavy hitting Entropic Rift that pulses AoE damage to enemies in its radius. This then gives you access to an upgraded Mind Blast in the form of Void Blast while the Rift is active. This choice typically ends up playing Dark Ascension.

The Hero Talents page goes over this choice and talks about more strengths and weaknesses of Archon and Voidweaver.

This section is intended to give more context on the various choice nodes we have in the Shadow Priest spec tree and when each choice might make sense.

Dark Ascension and Void Eruption is the main cooldown choice you have as a Shadow Priest. Due to Dark Ascension inherently scaling our damage, it usually ends up being strong in single-target environments especially at lower gear levels, while Void Eruption thrives more in AoE and multi-target.

Dark Ascension has two major advantages: the large damage amplifier to our direct damage and the 1-minute cooldown. Unlike Voidform this also is on top of Shadowform making it numerically a great choice.

Void Eruption gives access to Voidform but since this replaces Shadowform it does not actually add a damage modifier onto our kit except for the Mastery activation. This mastery activation can be a big bonus in AoE situations, but typically is much more lackluster in single target since our Devouring Plague uptimes are usually 90%+. However, you also gain access to Void Bolt, so after enough scaling with gear, this can end up performing well even in single target.

Due to the damage patterns provided by each Hero Talent, each one tends to favor a specific cooldown. Archon, in particular, prefers Void Eruption and Voidweaver prefers Dark Ascension. Typically, mixing these with their off-choice is about a 4-5% DPS loss and is not suggested.

In The War Within, we now have access to two different versions of Shadow Crash:

• Shadow Crash - Targeted at a specific location on the ground.
• Shadow Crash - Targeted at an enemy, will follow them if they move.

This choice node gives the player a choice in how they want to use this spell, particularly for managing DoTs. In most cases, these spells work exactly the same, which will lead to many experienced players opting to play with Shadow Crash for more flexibility.

• Can be placed specifically at a location to DoT multiple targets if there is not an enemy positioned perfectly in the middle.
• Can be cast before a target is active to get your DoTs on them quicker.

• Follows the target if they move.
• Does not require precise camera positioning to land on a pack of mobs.

I would highly suggest using Ground-Target Shadow Crash. If you are just starting to get comfortable with the spec, you can try Enemy-Target Shadow Crash but learning the ways to optimize the ground target version is important for getting the most out of your Shadow Priest.

Modifying the way we spend Insanity can have large implications when it comes to playstyle and damage output, which is what makes Mind's Eye and Distorted Reality often a big choice to make in your build.

Builds that prefer Mind's Eye will typically already have a good amount of Insanity generation so that you can keep up high uptime of Devouring Plague and also play off of interactions that reward more casts of Devouring Plague, such as generating Shadowy Apparitions or more Screams of the Void uptime.

On the other hand, builds that prefer Distorted Reality will typically like this choice when you are looking to maximize uptime on Devouring Plague (especially at lower gear levels). Distorted Reality builds also can make more use of spreading Devouring Plague in AoE situations to take advantage of effects like Phantasmal Pathogen if you are okay giving up some priority target damage.

We generally prefer to play with Mind's Eye as Archon and Distorted Reality as Voidweaver. Voidweaver can certainly use Mind's Eye in Mythic+ environments but this can make it harder to execute the rotation, particularly in single target.

This choice simply mimics the Hero talent choice we have in terms of what part of our kit do you want to buff: Mind Flay or Mind Blast. Neither of these have a playstyle implication, but are typically good damage when paired with their respective Hero talent of choice.

• Archon - Mental Decay
• Voidweaver - Shattered Psyche

While the builds above have sane defaults for Class Talents, this section will go in-depth about the various choices we have with class talents depending on the situation you are in.

The following is a list of class talents I would always use as a Shadow Priest. These are useful in just about every situation in PvE and will be the core talents for any build.

• Shadowfiend - Baseline
• Shadow Word: Death - Baseline
• Death and Madness and Tithe Evasion - Any build that ever uses Shadow Word: Death should always have these nodes.
• Dispel Magic - Useful for pathing and great utility.
• Improved Flash Heal and Protective Light - Gives us another valuable active defensive with no cooldown.
• Angelic Feather and/or Body and Soul - Movement talents, typically I would suggest having both.
• Power Infusion and Twins of the Sun Priestess - Damage cooldown and massive group throughput utility.
• Vampiric Embrace and San'layn - Extra healing utility that is taken all the time. Situationally Sanguine Teachings could also be used.
• Twist of Fate - Execute damage that unlocks nodes in the bottom section.
• Throes of Pain - Baseline damage to Shadow Word: Pain and should be taken in all situations.
• Halo or Divine Star - One of the few damage nodes on the tree.
• Translucent Image - Transforms Fade into an active defensive.
• Phantom Reach - Gives you more baseline range, which can make positioning easier.

Now that you have an idea of the baseline suggested class talents, you can finish off your build based on the content that you are doing. Depending on the specific raid boss or dungeon environment you should tweak these choices based on what you need. In some situations, you might need more utility, and for others, if you do not need that utility, you can instead pick up more defensive choices.

The following talents are the utility choices we have as a Priest. You should only take these if you need them; otherwise, fill out points elsewhere.

• Psychic Voice - Gives a reduction in the cooldown of Psychic Scream, which can be useful to get more AoE CC available.
• Phantasm - Transforms Fade to also break snare effects. Note that this is different from root effects.
• Leap of Faith - Iconic Priest ability that is nice to have in certain situations.
• Shackle Undead - Hard CC ability that works on Undead enemies.
• Void Tendrils - AoE root ability for enemies in a radius around the caster.
• Dominate Mind - Turns your Mind Control spell into one that instead makes the enemy a pet. This can be particularly useful in some Mythic+ Dungeons. This node is also required for certain pathing decisions and is often taken for just that reason.
• Mass Dispel - Powerful dispel tool.
• Power Word: Life - Gives you a powerful spell for off-healing.
• Essence Devourer - Passive healing that does particularly well with Mindbender builds.
• Manipulation - Extra defensive node that will work on spells cast specifically by enemies we have Shadow Word: Pain active on.
• Void Shift - While use cases in PvE are slim, this is occasionally great utility to have.

Once you get all the utility points you need for the content you are doing, you can then add the defensive points you need. This part is tricky as depending on the content, this can vary wildly, but here are your options roughly ranked in terms of strength.

1. Spell Warding - 3% magic damage reduction
2. Improved Fade - Allows you to press Fade more often for the defensive value.
3. Angel's Mercy - Can be useful depending on timings of a mechanic you are trying to counter, but pathing into it can be cumbersome.
4. Void Shield - Can give Power Word: Shield a bit more value when used defensively for passive ticking damage.
5. Light's Inspiration - Makes Desperate Prayer stronger but usually, this increase does not actually change what would be considered lethal.
6. Crystalline Reflection - Gives a very small heal with casts of Power Word: Shield that can also give a bit of damage depending on the situation.
7. Angelic Bulwark - Inconsistent cheat death-like shield that usually does not proc when you actually need it.

Note that I suggest taking Protective Light and Translucent Image by default in the top section. These are easily the most valuable defensive nodes in our class tree and should always be taken.

In the open world, you can go into "War Mode." Enabling War Mode provides the following benefits:

• PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
• 10%+ increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
• 10%+ more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended enabling the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will make yourself available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of Shadow Priest-specific PvE talents.

• Catharsis is a great boost to damage in the open world if you find yourself in solo content or 1v1s.
• Driven to Madness gives you your cooldown back faster for better uptime.
• Mind Trauma is great for builds that use Surge of Insanity with Mind Flay. Casts of Mind Flay: Insanity count for this and make it a fun talent choice.