Is Shadow Priest a good pick for TBC?

Soulbind-bigglesworth · May 25, 2021, 3:36am

So I’m trying to pick a main for TBC, and I’m really considering Shadow Priest.

I’m fine with not being the top dps in a raid… I know most raids will want at least 1 spooky priest. However I must know, are they good in PvP?

Is their survivability good? Do they have any hard counters? (Maybe rogue?) How well do they do in arenas? Are they good for BGs?

I know this is kind of a subjective question but; How does a shadow priest compare to a warlock? Both in PvE and PvP

I’m only asking because warlock is my backup choice. If shadow is a not so good spec, I’ll fall back to warlock, so I’m just trying to compare how each performs in different settings

Styls-earthfury · May 25, 2021, 3:38am

Lock is just so much better… but SP are hella fun to play as well. Just not at the same level as a Lock. Rogues will give you problems but at least playing ud sp… you have a chance.

Frosto-faerlina · May 25, 2021, 3:42am

They’re different. People have always said Spriest is Lock Lite, but I’ve never really felt that way (my first two max-level characters ever were Lock and Priest, during the original iteration of TBC).

From what I’ve seen on Beta, with the patch and gear levels available, spriest is very strong in both PVE and PVP, but Locks are much more popular. Disc is also incredibly strong, with amazing healing and DPS output in 2s skirms at least, which is not really saying much probably.

Styls-earthfury · May 25, 2021, 3:46am

Disc is really, really strong. I’m looking forward to playing one in TBC and some shadow from time to time.

Lock is top tier in both pvp and pve.

Vandalx-silvermoon · May 25, 2021, 12:59pm

From what I’ve seen from the beta, SP does really good damage while putting up some good healing numbers. A couple skirmishes I ended up out healing my healer just through vampiric embrace. Just got to learn how to manage your mana, it runs out really fast.

Itchy-kromcrush · May 25, 2021, 1:02pm

if you like the fantasy and playstyle of the class - go for it. It’s not a class that can easily 1v1 other classes, but in BGs, 2s or 3s with support you will be fine. Sp are team players, almost like hybrids

Severien-tichondrius · May 25, 2021, 1:04pm

Shadow priests aren’t brought to raids for dps, they’re pure mana batteries.

Edgyjojomeme-nathrezim · May 25, 2021, 1:10pm

Zuggerino-earthfury · May 25, 2021, 1:15pm

Shadow priest is an important support role in pve

In pvp you have a few comps that do well but you’d do so much better as disc

Soulbind-bigglesworth · May 25, 2021, 8:34pm

Thanks for the insight guys, much appreciated

I’ve done some more reading and I think I’ve settled on a Shadow Priest.

As strong as warlocks are, I think I’d prefer the shadow priest rotation. From what I’ve read, warlocks scale very well, but they devolve into a shadowbolt cannon as the expansion progresses. Shadow seems to start out comparable to warlocks then is left behind because it scales poorly. BUT, they have a 5 button rotation which sounds much more engaging

I also played a warlock in TBC when it was current, so I think I’ll try something new this time around.

Now I just need to find a guild that needs a Mana battery

Oh and one more question; What comps are good for shadow? I plan to mostly raid but I’d like to try some arenas as well

Accolades-myzrael · May 25, 2021, 9:20pm