How is it that I pick the weakest class every time?

Classes Priest
1

Somehow, every expansion I end up choosing the most underpowered class. I was sooo excited for Shadow priest due to the xpac theme & class visuals, only to find it hard to keep up with level 71s in dungeons.

Also, can we talk about how clunky some of the abilities are?

Why does Dark ascension have a cast time when it shares a node with void eruption? Why does halo have a cast time and a cd greater than 30seconds?

Why does Shadow Crash have a 20 second CD?! It’s capped at 8 for some reason despite tanks already pulling whole rooms of mobs. It should either:

Have no CD and deal less direct damage
Or
Cost an increasing amount of insanity, starting from 0

And should apply vampiric embrace to all targets just like how Primal Wrath applies rip to ALL for Feral.

Never felt stressed out in AoE situations till I played this class. By the time you get your dots up, most things don’t survive a full void torrent, wasting it.

3 Likes
2

Nobody keeps up with level 71s in dungeons if the 71 was even somewhat geared from DF and playing well.

But any class with setup is going to be worse. If this is how you’re measuring things, you just need to wait till actual content exists in this game.

1 Like
3

To be fair, the damage doesn’t mean anything to me, because gear will probably fix that. It’s that the class feels mechanically awful. I don’t mind setup, but the limitations of shadow crash feel terrible when you quickly move from one pack to the next. The class is burdened with CDs w/ casting time.

I’ll keep watching gameplays to see what I’m doing wrong but it feels excessively clunky to play if it’s not ST.

2 Likes
4

DoT specs will always feel awful in normals, heroics and low mythic+ dungeons. In higher tiers when packs don’t die in 5 seconds, Shadow Crash is up at every pull and you can actually leverage those mechanics for good damage.

2 Likes
5

These are all complaints that we’ve had for 5-6 months of beta, and now live, development. They’re not going to be addressed.

  1. Void Erruption, Halo and Dark Ascension should be instant
  2. Shadow Crash essentially target caps us to 8 mobs, the CD is too long. It needs two charges or a 10sec CD.
  3. Our DoTs are extremely weak now, essentially only there to activate our mastery (like Boomie and Arms warrior)
  4. Too much of our damage spread is baked into Insanity abilities
  5. We have consistently poor mobility
  6. Our ramp-up time is better than it has traditionally been, but it still takes a bit for us to get into a good Psychic Link - Insanity dump rotation, making us weaker on very short fights and stronger on longer pulls
  7. Our damage tuning is horrifying. My priest is i584 with 19.88% haste, enchants, gems etc. I’m simming for 653,000 right now now in an Archon raid ST build. My trash Elemental shaman alt is simming at 806,000 with 10 less ilvl. We’re 30% behind. We’re one of the lowest single-target specs in TWW so far, with Balance, Fire and Outlaw.

ALL of that being said. We’re not garbage. Mind Soothe is VERY important for this season, and PI is as strong as ever. Vamp Embrace on a 1min CD is actually huge for both Mythic and Raiding. Our AoE DPS is pretty competitive if 1) mob packs are 8 targets or less and 2) they live long enough for us to ramp. Both should be true for Mythic+ on September 17th.

We’re also, historically, a scaling spec. Fire Mage and Spriest tend to be weak early in the expansion and stronger in the later tiers. This is something you just sort of get used to. The sky is NOT falling.

We need tuning.

3 Likes
6

They don’t even need to introduce a new ability, I’d honestly be fine with a buff to feather.

Shadow crash should have 2 charges or reduced cd.

Rotation feels clunky even with haste, but this is something that will have to come with a rework.

DA and void form should be instant

With modernization to mobility, instant cast burst, and better aoe reach, I think shadow would be about 90% of the way there

5 Likes
7

just really remove power infusion. after that ability you totally ruined this spec. please remove it. and remove psychic link to.

buff vt and swp - buff dp - buff mb

veruption and dascension instant cast.

and make shadow crash instant area damage like shaman earthquake dk d&d paladin Consecration

1 Like
8

I’m not saying you are wrong. Spriest likely does need help.

But it’s funny that you are comparing to fetal when shadow will almost always be more wanted than feral.

9

To be fair, your dungeon experience sounds like the absolute worst conditions for getting a feel for shadow, or any dps for that matter.

Normal dungeons where mobs die so quick your dots don’t have time to tick down, you’re still applying VT and they’re half dead. They die and you still have 10 seconds on your Shadow Crash. feels terrible.

Secondly, going against 71s is insane. They’re wildly overtuned, so they’re killing stuff EVEN faster.

I’m not saying you’re totally wrong, in some content or fights, shadow does feel rough. But wait until M+ where we really shine. Our damage profile, and PI are both suited toward content where they can be fully realized.

1 Like
10

The sky is not falling because it fell in Dragonflight alpha. Shadow is strong in M+ for bad reasons, disc is useful in raid only because of its wacky healing profile and Barrier, and holy really does nothing to justify its existence other than it always has existed and there are people that enjoy playing it.

Priest is the only class in the game that is uniquely disadvantaged in numerous ways and remains strong only because shadow is degenerate in M+ and fort is necessary in raid so discipline basically gets the one priest slot because of Barrier.

3 Likes
11

Specifically how Primal wrath works, puts their biggest dot on all targets. I would love to cast Shadow Crash off cooldown in exchange for insanity resource.

Full disclosure, this has been my xp from normal and into Heroic dungeons. I will admit I haven’t done mythic+ yet but it just feels wrong so far.

12

I love void weaver, I do not know what is wrong with other shadow priests.

13

where are we getting this mythical 1 minute vamp Embrace CD? did i miss a hero talent somewhere?

14

Insanity empowered spells should reduce the cooldown of halo if you are playing Archon

15

My damage feels fine and I don’t fall behind others, but damn does shadow crash suck. Mastery is much, much stronger than haste, ivyveins and wowhead were wrong. You can get 800k with 15% mastery 10% haste.

2 Likes