Descent into Shadow

Though it will be less epic than I would like, this post is about the shadow spec.  Which I have never been particularly interested in until I came upon a new guild which seemed perfect.  Except they did not need a holy priest. They needed a shadow priest.

So here we are ladies and gents.  My descent into the abyss.  My fall to the dark side.

But seriously, I am enjoying it a lot.  I leveled as disc and had every intention of only playing disc.  But at this point I am playing holy and shadow more often these days.  But enough chit-chat.

Shadow is similar to affliction warlock which I have played to some acclaim.  So I am comfortable with watching dot timers.  Everyone knows shadow priests get a big chunk of their damage from dots so you keep VT, SWP and DP up at all times.  Even to the point where you clip mind flay to keep it as close to 100% up time as possible.

But what I did not know was that mind flay is quite the trickster to get used to.  Not only do I have to watch for the ticks but I have to make sure if I am going to clip it I do so right AFTER a tick not before.  Hence getting maximum time from both spells.  It is pretty fun balancing this aspect of dps and watching boss timers and fire etc.

Shadow Tips I have learned:

• VT is extremely powerful and is worth clipping for. 
• DP also
• SWP is the weakest dot, but it buffs mind flay so keeping that up is paramount (albeit extremely easy)
• If you have to move, refresh dots and get a tick or two of mind flay if possible.
• Know when to Divine Hymn.  While your primary goal is of course to dps, if a healer dies and the boss is at 5% a Hymn could save the day.

Hah I found this picture and I enjoyed it, hopefully you will too :)