IS SP really the tanky caster?

PVP Arenas
1

Ive been playing on my Warlock quite a bit the last couple of days and I noticed a few things that I think really kills Shadow Priest after playing another so called “Tank Caster”.

Warlock has 2 ports. Both of which have very short cooldowns, pass through pillars, and have the longest range of any other teleport in the game.

They also have Shadow Rift. Yes, good warlocks definitely use this ability. Only vs melee teams but, lets be honest, as a lock, melee is the most difficult challenge when playing a lock(also SP). This spell can be guaranteed to land in two ways, either by casting it following an Infernal summon, or after casting Shadowfury. Being able to send multiple melee on a voyage behind a pillar elsewhere is more than a little major.

Then there’s double Death Coil(instant cast).(also heals)

No cooldown on Fear.(still worthless vs Warriors)

Reflect is another big one. Yes, it works vs Ret and DK’s. It can mitigate HoJ, Repentance, judgements, and all DK ranged abilities.

Healthstones for heals

Amplify Curse/Weakness(pretty much crit proof)

Dark Pact(damage absorb/usable while stunned)

Shadowy Bulwark(absorb)

Unending Resolve(damage reduc plus interrupt immunity)

And the last giga giant cherie on top, Demon Skin and Fel Armor.

Tons of passive leech.

Now lets look at SP.

No mobility. Angelic Trashcan is not mobility.

We have a stun on a 45 second cd.

an aoe Fear on a 30 second cd.(worthless vs Warriors)

Fade for a snare removal

Dispersion as an immune on a 1.5 min cd.(can not attack during this)

Void Tendrils(worthless vs dk’s, Rets, and Warriors)

PW Sheild that absorbs 68k hp

Flash Heal that hits for around 70k hp

Desperate Prayer

and Swap on a 5min cd.(problematic af in matches with a Disc Priest due to the potential of overlapping Swaps)

Lots of tools yes. Albeit, VERY lackluster tools. All of which require you to stop dealing damage to cast. If I’m Dispersed, I can’t attack, if I’m spamming Flash Heals I’m not attacking, If I’m wasting globals on shield, same deal.

I would be stoked to drop 2 of those useless abilities for a meaningful form of mobility.

2

everybody but blizzard knows Shadow Priest is in a horrible state and it’s the only dps spec for priest class which makes it even worse

yet Ion thinks it’s a “skill issue”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74HHzN_MPtM

2 Likes
3

Mobility is just a trap in this game right now. Everyone knows melee will have 100% uptime on you anyway.

6 Likes
4

The only class who has mobility is an arcane mage being fed freedoms

5

Thats fine but it’s like everybody says, it’s more about creating space during offensive cd’s. Being able to port during Wings/demon form/Duel, etc etc, is huge. SP pretty much have to take it to the face.

1 Like
6

idk, that’s kinda how it’s always been since I’ve been playing it. Basically play with a Warlock that creates space for you by making them have to run. It’s tanky, but you’re at the mercy of your partners to not overlap, that’s where it gets exposed imo.

7

laughs in Solo Shuffle (since its the most played version of pvp)

1 Like
8

And yet I wait 10 years for a queue.

9

Sps don’t need to be Lamborghinis like warlocks or mages but at least give them a button that lets them reliably reposition like door of shadows lol

1 Like
10

SP has the highest healing output of any hybrid on top of fade/aoe dodge mechanic/30s fear. So yeah they’re pretty tanky for a spec that has to face tank

11

I mean it’s not in its best state, but it’s def not in a horrible state.

Spris pump rn, and with the right comp + coordination, they are genuinely unkillable. Like splay is a terrifying comp right now because of how hard it is to kill the warlock & the spri. You hit one, the other blasts, and the defensive rotation is extremely consistent.

12

in 3’s you can make alot of things work even frost dk but when it comes to a casual version called Solo Shuffle Shadow Priest is miserable to play with.

Every other class has a really good DPS version except Priest for Solo Shuffle.
Even with Healers being WAY Below DPS in Rating Shadow Priest manages to be the only DPS spec below its counterpart Holy Priest and Disc , how can this be viewed as acceptable.?

ref: https://seramate.com/eu/ladder?specs=[256,257,258]&type=3v3&page=1

https://seramate.com/us/ladder?specs=[256,257,258]&type=shuffle&page=1

https://seramate.com/eu/ladder?specs=[256,257,258]&type=shuffle&page=1

1 Like
13

I quite frequently see Spriest below other dps on healing in rounds, and if you remove the lifeswap counted healing it’s even worse. Sure, Lifeswap makes some one’s hp go up, but it’s also taking just as much away from the spriest casting it.

It’s hardly self sufficient any more and so many other classes are these days. The utility keeps getting gutted that made it such a strong class, and the damage is quite easy to shut down most of the time. Plus the dispel protection is simply laughable right now.

It’s tankier than some other casters, but those other casters can escape in one form or another to avoid burst/high damage situations, you just have to hope you can coordinate cd’s well enough that you live through. Much easier in 3’s of course, but in RSS you are at the will of an unknown element: The healer on your team, and the dps on your team.

Other classes need their self sufficiency tuned down so damage can be evened out more. If we don’t have the mobility, compensation in our utility improving is a decent way forward. Hell, even warriors; the class that has, from the start have been insane when paired with a healer, but need that healer to be keeping them up/saving them from roots/slows after they used their movement cd’s is now massively self sufficient by comparison to what they were like previously, they have many mobility cd’s, they have ways to remove slows and snares and prevent cc on them. Decent defensive cd’s and defensive stance, plenty of ways to have uptime and less of a reliance on other classes to keep them up on a target.

3 Likes
14

Sounds like bad SP. desperate prayer/shield/vampiric cd/passive 15% physical dam reduction all put SP at top healing

15

all that combined heals for 33k, a bandage heals for more =(

1 Like
16

Again just bad at SP

17

as is the whole ladder then , you calling rank 1’s hardstuck as glad bad sp?

1 Like
18

I’m saying any good SP will top dps healing

19

poor rank 1’s they need Beefsha to teach them

3 Likes
20

Actual r1 SPs are all 2.4K+ cr and will top healing so idk what your issue is. SP is insane in shadow play still