Shadow Priest PvE Guide - Wrath Classic (WOTLK)

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Rotation

Shadow Priests bring a handful of useful cooldowns to a raid.
Dispersion
allows them avoid large chunks of damage and can get you out of sticky situations,
Divine Hymn
which is a powerful 3 person channeled heal, and
Hymn of Hope
which restores mana to 3 raid members.
Mind Flay
has 3 separate ticks of damage, if any other part of your rotation is available, you should interrupt the channel immediately after the second tick to cast it.

Opener

1. Pre-pot
   Potion of Wild Magic
   .
2. Cast
   Vampiric Touch
   .
3. Cast
   Devouring Plague
   .
4. Cast
   Mind Blast
   (Skip if T10 4 piece).
5. Cast
   Mind Flay
   for 2 ticks of damage. Cast the whole thing if you have T10 4 piece.
6. You now have 5 stacks of
   Shadow Weaving
   .
7. Cast
   Shadow Word: Pain
   .
8. Cast
   Inner Focus
   with
   Mind Flay
   .
9. Follow normal priorities.

Single Target

1. Use
   Vampiric Embrace
   .
2. Maintain
   Vampiric Touch
   . Let it expire before you re-apply it.
3. Maintain
   Devouring Plague
   . Let it expire before you re-apply it.
4. Maintain
   Shadow Word: Pain
   .
   Mind Flay
   will take care of this with
   Pain and Suffering
   .
5. Cast
   Mind Blast
   .
6. Cast
   Shadow Word: Death
   if the target will die before you can finish a
   Mind Blast
   or
   Mind Flay
   cast, if you have exactly 1 GCD before you need to re-apply one of your DoTs or
   Mind Blast
   comes off cooldown, or while moving.
7. Cast
   Mind Flay
   . Interrupt after the second tick of damage if any of the previous steps are available. Use with
   Inner Focus
   when off cooldown.
8. Cast
   Shadowfiend
   to help your mana regen. Be aware of boss mechanics as it can die easily. Best used right before
   Bloodlust
   to maximize DPS.
9. Cast
   Dispersion
   if you need mana or if it will avoid large amounts of damage.

AoE

For 1 or 2 additional targets

1. Maintain
   Vampiric Touch
   and
   Shadow Word: Pain
   on all of them.
2. Maintain
   Devouring Plague
   on one of them.
3. Proceed with single target rotation.

For large pulls:

4. Cast
   Mind Sear
   .

Snapshotting

1. Snapshotting is a term where abilities "snapshot" certain buffs and debuffs such as Percentage Damage Modifiers (
   Tricks of the Trade
   ,
   Death's Embrace
   ,
   Shadow Weaving
   , etc), and Critical Strike (
   Potion of Wild Magic
   ,
   Moonkin Form
   ,
   Improved Shadow Bolt
   , etc) at the time it was casted. Technically all of the caster's stats will be snapshotted, but the one's mentioned previously are the only one's that persist for DoTs that are not refreshed manually such as
   Shadow Word: Pain
   ,
   Corruption
   for Affliction Warlocks, and
   Serpent Sting
   for Survival Hunters. The reason this is important for Shadow Priests is because they never refresh their
   Shadow Word: Pain
   after applying it since
   Mind Flay
   refreshes it with the talent
   Pain and Suffering
   . This is why the order of spells in the opener is important since you get to 5 stacks of
   Shadow Weaving
   before you cast
   Shadow Word: Pain
   .

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Talents

Standard Build

T10 4 Piece

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Glyphs

Major:
Shadow
,
Mind Flay
,
Shadow Word: Death
Optional:
Dispersion
for quality of life, or specific raid mechanics.
Minor:
Fortitude
,
Shadowfiend
,
Levitate

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Stats

Hit Cap

• 10% (263 Rating) with
  Heroic Presence
  ,
  Shadow Focus
  , and
  Misery
• 11% (289 Rating) with
  Shadow Focus
  and
  Misery

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Best Consumables

Flasks and Elixirs

Best:
• Flask of the Frost Wyrm

Alternatives:
• Spellpower Elixir
  ,
• Elixir of Spirit

Food

Best:
• Fish Feast
  ,
• Tender Shoveltusk Steak
  ,
• Firecracker Salmon

Alternatives:
• Great Feast
  ,
• Dalaran Clam Chowder
  ,
• Shoveltusk Steak
  ,
• Smoked Salmon
  ,
• Snapper Extreme
  ,
• Worg Tartare

Potions

Best:
• Pre-pot
  Potion of Wild Magic
  ,
• In Combat
  Potion of Speed

Miscellaneous

Best:
• Dark Rune
  or
  Demonic Rune

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Best Races

Alliance

1. Draenei:
   Heroic Presence
2. Human:
   The Human Spirit

Horde

1. Troll:
   Berserking
2. Blood Elf:
   Arcane Torrent

Wrath Classic (WOTLK) Shadow Priest Best Professions

1. Engineering: Best profession thanks to
   Nitro Boosts
   ,
   Hyperspeed Accelerators
   ,
   Springy Arachnoweave
   enchants,
   Global Thermal Sapper Charge
   , and
   Visage Liquification Goggles
   for early gearing.
2. Tailoring: Second best profession thanks to
   Lightweave Embroidery
   .
3. Jewelcrafting: Third best profession thanks to the 3 unique gems such as
   Runed Dragon's Eye
   and
   Rigid Dragon's Eye
   .
4. Blacksmithing: Fourth best profession during phases 3+ thanks to
   Socket Bracer
   and
   Socket Gloves
   .
5. Leatherworking, Enchanting, Inscription, and Alchemy: All provide comparable stat bonuses with
   Fur Lining - Spell Power
   ,
   Ring - Greater Spell Power
   ,
   Master's Inscription of the Storm
   , and
   Mixology
   respectively.
6. Skinning:
   Master of Anatomy
   .