I have been playing Protection Warrior in PvP since phase 1 and played 3 classes during that phase: Shadow Priest, Protection Warrior, and melee-weave Hunter. I focused on my Warrior until Scarlet Enclave when it came up that SoD is going to continue far past Naxx. I love Gladiator Stance, it feels so good in group PvP being able to initiate with Shield Wall and CC entire teams with Shockwave, but since I also do a lot of 1v1 PvP I want to talk about the difference between Protection Warrior’s matchups and my now 1060 gs Shadow Priest’s matchup differences. Here it goes:
First, Protection Warrior. Feels great against DPS, can definitely kill healers. I would say that, against a good DPS, Gladiator Stance Protection Warrior goes 1 for 1 with an equally geared DPS. If I have the gear advantage, it’s almost no contest. Here’s the problem: other tanks. I can’t beat tank Shaman, can’t beat a bear Druid that is playing properly, can’t beat an equally geared Meta Warlock. I pop all of my cooldowns and do maybe 500 damage on a crit. I know it will be more once I get 4 set Lightbreaker, but that takes up to 5 globals/swings to stack up. It won’t outpace their damage. This is an impossible matchup if I want to keep my build that beats most DPS. Protection needs a rune like Second Wind or something that gives them equivalent survivability to the other tanks. I like the class regardless, it has clear potency in a lot of scenarios.
Now, Shadow Priest. I am not a caster main and I have yet to struggle in a PvP scenario as this class in a fair fight. Unless my opponent is Undead or a Warrior in Berserker Stance, they are dead before they leave Psychic Scream now that I have 2pc Revelation. The main reason this is so rough is because there’s very little you can do in this game to cut spell damage. Resistances aren’t a viable stat to build and reflector trinkets take a gear slot and only allow for one instance of damage reversal. I don’t think a full gear Shadow Priest struggles with anything. Even if people break the fear, you can kite with Mind Spike. I love the way it feels, but it makes off-meta specs feel so much less potent.
In conclusion, meta specs are just so much more potent than off-meta. Off-meta in SoD, as far as I have experienced, means you just can’t win certain matchups. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has felt this, and I’m sure it’s largely why a lot of people don’t PvP. Basically, SoD might need a decent sized balance patch for PvP. Discuss other experiences here! 
2 Likes
I also like to use non meta talents/builds so I can not help the group. It’s really fun.
Spriest is not beating any competent warrior,rogue,hunter,boomy,aff lock,mage or pally short of insane BO proc rng.
Who are you getting these fears off on in pvp? nobody has a trinket?
1 Like
Tanks have always killed melee in 1v1 since the dawn of time. It’s just the food chain. They should be illegal to pvp with though.
Are you out of your mind lol. You will die if you don’t trinket the blackout procs that go off nearly every tick of swp. I’ve seen you in bgs and you have a long way to go friend you need to get good.
The shadows that know what they are doing are very dangerous.
LOL blackout doesn’t proc from dot ticks you clown. It’s a 10% chance on spellcast… and if you’re are holding your trinket for BO procs its no wonder Fwengli is thinking shadow is good in pvp.
post on something from SoD so we can all laugh.
Maybe he just assumed it was from SWP ticks instead of the spammed arcane bolts from half a mile away.
Doesn’t matter what he assumed, he licks windows if hes blowing his trinket on a BO proc that in his own mind happens every couple seconds anyway.
1 Like
I get black out stunned first globe like 50-60% of the time vs spriests. This is the same argument all the eles make “OVERLOAD NEVER PROCS EVER!”
I’ll take anecdotal evidence that defies mathematical probabilities for $600, Alex.
Aren’t you the guy who claims KS is balanced because you don’t crit every shot?
1 Like
yeah just like orcs NEVER resist stuns, or they resist EVERY stun.
Nah I said that about hunter damage in general since everyone on here claims that every hunter attack is a crit. Sometimes we do crit every attack and yeah you are dead when that happens. But the difference between a non crit and a crit with hunters is very significant.
Wrong. Not trinketing the stun means you are dead to a hard cast before the gap is ever closed. Like I said I seen you in bgs and you need to l2P
You keep on trinketing those blackouts buddy.
spriest doesn’t feel great in pvp, I agree. only place it might shine is bgs if you can free cast.
and fear into mind control shenanigans…
Thats the rub, even if left to free cast…our nukes have cd’s, are on the low damage side of any cast time spells and one of them damages the priest.
Spriest has been neglected since lvl 40, has only remained playable due to instant MS set bonus. T3.5 set bonuses are a step in the right direction but they dont address many issues.
1 Like
What you’re not talking about is the potency of Shadow Priest on the opener. Yes, it is very bad at DEALING with opener pressure, but you still have answers. What I’m talking about with Gladiator Stance is certain matchups not mathing out. You can’t CC or damage cooldown your way to a win. It can just be more finely tuned; the better DPS can take advantage of things like positioning and procs for wins, while I just have to not fight these classes 1v1. It’s just different.