Endgame (PvE) Shadowpriest at Nostalrius

[Rugh]

Anything works, and Shadowpriests are probably the most viable of the "hybrids".

You have to realize, the raids in vanilla are not that hard, and most guilds these days don't care what you actually bring to the table anymore. These were serious issues back in vanilla, and often times SPriests/Feral Druids/Enhancement Shamans would be left out of Raids due to being offspec, but it matters far less here in 2015. ( And will matter less and less as the months go on. SPriests become much better with 12 debuff limit, Druids here are blessed with an odd bug that lets their enchantments get counted by the Feral buffs, making them raidworthy, and well, Shamans have a lot of problems if they don't go Resto, even in TBC, so bummer for them I guess. )

And a lot of that has to do with how we've changed as a game playing audience. Half the raid isn't on dialup anymore, more people understand the in's and out's of their class, we have damage/aggro meters to better find the people who aren't operating up to par, etc etc. The people who play on a PServer to 60 are generally the "hardcore" audience, so they tend to be better overall when it comes to playing their class properly, especially since there is zero guesswork these days, as it's 10 years later.

A few guilds I play with started doing Ony/MC with just 20-30 man full raids, and they've had zero problems. The content isn't going to care if you go in as an Enhancement Shaman or a Resto Shaman, and as long as the guild has enough healers, they likely won't give a shit if you are cool/can make your case.

With that said, the biggest gain of a SPriest isn't just their damage, it's their utility. Enhancement Shamans/Feral Druids cannot heal effectively, and become a liability on fights like Rags, where they get manabombed/kill all the other melee. If the raid starts going sideways though, an SPriest can drop Shadow Form and quickly take the pressure off the other Priests. Your healing isn't actually worse, you just lack a few minor things other Priests get that give them more longevity over a full dungeon.

If you are willing to, and can take on the roll of a healer when you need to without problems, you'll be fine.

[Syphonize]

I apologize for bringing up an old topic, but I wanted to address this question again. Has anybody had any success in running Shadow in raids during an 8 debuff environment? Shadoweaving seems great regardless, but Mind Flay constantly getting knocked off costs a lot of DPS. Anybody have any suggestions or comments or anything that they've tried?

Appreciate any replies.

[Syphonize]

Double post, sorry.

[Zaft]

I apologize for bringing up an old topic, but I wanted to address this question again. Has anybody had any success in running Shadow in raids during an 8 debuff environment? Shadoweaving seems great regardless, but Mind Flay constantly getting knocked off costs a lot of DPS. Anybody have any suggestions or comments or anything that they've tried?

Appreciate any replies.

I play shadow in raids. I am not there for dps at the moment: I quickly spam MF rank 1 5 times (canceling it and recasting after I get the debuff off) on the target to get the debuff up as fast as possible, then I keep it up with max rank MB every time it's off CD, it's not ideal as it eats up a charge of Imp Shadowbolt, but at least it doesn't take up an extra debuff slot. I dispel and heal if it's needed, so I work more as a utility spec at the moment.

When 1.7 is released it will be a heck of a lot better.

[Gazpy]

do not underestimate boomkins, if they use as many consumables as SP they don't need Debuff slots and they effectively give 12% crit to your raid (excluding themselves)
Starfire is quite strong, and in BWL the ability to use 2 or even 3 types of dmg on chrommy ain't horrible. (Arcane, nature, physical)
SP problematics come from the debuff slots, if there will be 16 feel ok to use those 2 debuffs for you, but be prepared no guild will ever give 1 SP 4 debuff slots, 2 at max. (thus remove SW:P from your boss equations)

[Theloras]

do not underestimate boomkins, if they use as many consumables as SP they don't need Debuff slots and they effectively give 12% crit to your raid (excluding themselves)
Starfire is quite strong, and in BWL the ability to use 2 or even 3 types of dmg on chrommy ain't horrible. (Arcane, nature, physical)
SP problematics come from the debuff slots, if there will be 16 feel ok to use those 2 debuffs for you, but be prepared no guild will ever give 1 SP 4 debuff slots, 2 at max. (thus remove SW:P from your boss equations)

Ret + Smite spec all day err day or GTFO

[Gazpy]

Ret + Smite spec all day err day or GTFO

That's already taking 1 debuff slot, but yeah smitespec I heard is fun with pally that boosts you.

[Theloras]

Ret + Smite spec all day err day or GTFO

That's already taking 1 debuff slot, but yeah smitespec I heard is fun with pally that boosts you.

Taking up 1 debuff slot for Judgement of the Crusader > taking up either 2 or 4

Whether the priest wants to put up Holy Fire for an additional debuff slot is debatable so I would just as easily recommend not doing it and just spam Smite ad nauseum for epic holy dmg lulz

[Zaft]

no guild will ever give 1 SP 4 debuff slots, 2 at max. (thus remove SW:P from your boss equations)

That depends a lot on your gear and your guild's lineup. SW:P is one of the hardest hitting dots.

do not underestimate boomkins, if they use as many consumables as SP they don't need Debuff slots and they effectively give 12% crit to your raid (excluding themselves)

I don't think 3% spell crit to party members within 30 yards is worth having an oomkin in the raid.

[Gazpy]

no guild will ever give 1 SP 4 debuff slots, 2 at max. (thus remove SW:P from your boss equations)

That depends a lot on your gear and your guild's lineup. SW:P is one of the hardest hitting dots.

do not underestimate boomkins, if they use as many consumables as SP they don't need Debuff slots and they effectively give 12% crit to your raid (excluding themselves)

I don't think 3% spell crit to party members within 30 yards is worth having an oomkin in the raid.

you obviously are fan of SP's, now let's go constructive, you will sacrifice 1/4 of all debuffs for one person or for 2 corruptions from warlocks and Shadow weaving+mindflay, vs again 12% crit with those all mages/warlocks who benefits the most and 4 corruptions that proc instant shadowbolts.