Hello! Shadow Help?

[MichikoUsagi]

Hello! So.. long story short.. I've been playing WoW since vanilla (hear that often? lol) but I never was serious about the game. I mostly just hung out in Goldshire or Org to pass time and talk with people. Well, with Cata I became a bit more serious but didn't have the time to play.

With the release of MoP I decided that it was time to get serious. So I leveled my S.priest up to 90 and became the proud owner of a max level character!

I haven't started dungeons yet, and I don't really have any interesting in raids, so my gear is all MoP quest gear and things my tailor buddy made me.

My question is... is my gear the reason my DPS seems to suck? I'm not sure if it sucks... but it seems like it. I can't take groups and I SUCK HARDCORE in any kind of pvp. I'm trying to learn more of a solid rotation and builds, but it's a bit confusing.

I'm not even sure where to start with gear and things since I'm a high level newbie!

I'd really like to learn all there is to learn about being a great S.priest! Sorry for the long post...

So where should I start with gear? I don't intend on primarily doing pvp so pvp gear isn't too needed. Anything special from dungeons or a dungeon you recommend?

Thanks,
Michiko

[Woaden]

First off welcome to H2P and being all purple-y awesome!

If you're in Greens don't worry about your DPS too much. Keep running Random Dungeons until you get enough gear to start doing Random Heroic Dungeons.

Pretty much anything with a higher item level with Intellect on it will be an upgrade for you so you won't likely have to make any real gear choices for a while.

Take the time you spend in the Dungeons to get a feel for your abilities more than anything else. When you get to Bosses start practicing your DPS 'rotation'.

When you get some free time browse through these:
Beginner Priest Guide
Shadow Guide
Pre-Raid Gear List

[Marathal]

Hello. Not use to saying this that often but yes at this point in the expansion it is gear. When I was first at 90 in greens, and even after in some sub 450 Blues, my numbers seemed horrible, taking on more than 1 or 2 targets seemed life threatening.

It gets better, I am now at a 465 iLvL and grabbing a lot more, holding a top 2 position for DPS. I feel I am more aware of casting now, where in Cata could almost zone out and keep DoT's refreshed.

When you start replacing green gear with better, try using an add on called Reforge Lite, choose shadow of course, set the option to heroic +2, calculate, show, and it will do the balancing work for you.

I would definitely recommend reading the guides, find out what talents fit your play style, give others a try even if you feel they are awkward. And have fun playing the best class in the game.

And grats on your 90

[Phoenixheal]

If you are looking for some easy gear to get I would say search around for easy quests/scenarios to do in order to bump up your item level to see that DPS spike up some.

For example, if you do the Arena of Annihilation there is a quest in there where you can get the staff Liuyang's Lovely Longstaff which is what I did on my toon for a quick huge upgrade.

Also, there are these shoulders Motherseed Mantle which are from a quest line in Dread Wastes. If you don't want to raid and aren't ready to dungeon just yet this would be your best bet while trying to pick up on a good rotation to max you DPS.

If you have any more questions on gear let me know. I would be happy to help you out on locating more gear for you.

[adriann222]

I was in your position until half way through Cata. So I can appreciate the steep learning curve once you hit max level....everything is different.

I agree with the previous recommendations. I also agree that DPS in greens doesn't matter. I usually go to www.wowhead.com and do a gear search for cloth gear and try and find the highest gear I can get through questing. I go find that quest chain and complete it. But while working on the quest chain I cue up for random dungeons. That way your's not just sitting around or questing randomly.

Once you have max gear through questing start working on dailies so you can get some faction gear. I recommend starting with the Golden Lotus and Shadow Pan. They are pretty easy to quest as shadow and really help you get a feel for your rotations since they have "boss" fights at the end of each string (once you are "friendly" with the faction).

I pretty much continue this behavior and keep upping the hardness of the dungeons I cue for as my gear allows and eventually you will be able to cue for "LFR"- Looking for Raid and you will see what raiding is able and have fun doing it.

As for PVP.....well at this point its all gear based. You need to make/buy a full set of tailoring PVP gear and then start doing BGs for honor. However, I will say that as a priest you may find your more help in a BG as a healer....(just food for thought). Anyway, most importantly welcome to H2P and have fun playing (that's the most important thing in the end).

[Dahk]

...is my gear the reason my DPS seems to suck? I'm not sure if it sucks... but it seems like it. I can't take groups...

Thanks,
Michiko

I hear this frequently from new shadow priests. This is how I go about it intentionally pulling huge packs of mobs.

I talent and glyph something like this. Remember you can change talent and glyphs as often as you like now.

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#pyDn|oTj

Find a pack and drop in at about 30 yards away. PoM then bubble yourself and fire off Halo. If you don't have any shadow orbs Mind Blast a mob then start applying dots, SWP and VT to everything you can reach as fast as possible. If you already have shadow orbs, go straight to dots. Having dots rolling on as many mobs as possible is key to pulling packs. By the time they get to you and start hitting you should have dots on a couple at least. Your bubble will break and your PoM will bounce. Hopefully you can reapply another bubble if not w/in a few seconds. Once you get dots on all the mobs you have pulled start weaving in instant Mind Blasts and Mind Spikes as they proc. Hard Cast Mind Blast if you have dots on everything and no procs. Hold off on Devouring Plague until you have 3 orbs and your second bubble has dropped off. Find a higher health mob and drop Devouring Plague on him and use your Vampiric Embrace CD. I usually hit it when I get down to about 30% health. With all the rolling dots and the DP your health will shoot back up to full right about the time everything dies. VE is on a 3min CD which in a raid seems like forever. But when you are out doing dailies or farming it is no time at all.

I would suggest trying it with smaller groups first or lower level mobs to get the hang of it. But once you get the rhythm of it down you can easily take down packs of mobs in less than raid gear.

[Woaden]

Appreciate the contribution guys, but it's a 3 month old thread

:P