I got 1 of every class, multiples of some classes. Done a lot of playstyle vibe testing last couple weeks on the specs of the classes I play. SPriest doesn’t have anything in it’s rotation that pops or feels good to build to.
It would be cool if the left side of the tree focused more around Shadowfiend / Mindbender coming out more to make up for lack of shadowy apparitions talents. (which is the focus of the right hand tree). Shadowfiend being tied to an ability that’s used at 20% and 35% respectively is a back loaded dps issue. It’s geared toward M+ but if you don’t take Deathspeaker node it only comes out at 20%, dealing single target damage and can aoe 5 targets for a small amount 1 time and then it goes back to single target dmg. This is bad design for M+ packs. It is bad design even for N or H dungeons due to mobs dying quickly at 20-35% health. Not to mention Mindbender being on effectively a 2m cd tied to Void Form. Voidwraith is fine mechanically as it is, imo.
What you see in this part of the tree is effectively a dead branch. The reasons are that the capstones of the left side of the shadow tree (Idol of Y’Shaarj) and (Idol of N’Zoth) are both underwhelming, unrewarding and uninspired. With Y’shaarj being the greater offender. With Y’shaarj being tied to the extremely lackluster “minions and Mind Blast” branch. Mind Blast and Shadow Insight are great and Shadow Word: Death is good, but it should would be nice if the two left most branches of the left hand of the tree were synergistic with each other. They are in fact, not and I could not ever recommend anyone picking the left most branch at all. You as a SPriest are far better served by the right hand branches. Not to mention that the left hand branches don’t serve Archon hero tree at all the way the right hand tree does. The Mindblast talents are good for Voidweaver, but again, you lose out on adjacent nodes of easy investment by the fact that said nodes in Shadow (the minion nodes) are not good.
Dropping Infernals and Chaos Bolts as Destro
Chain dropping Elemental Overloads and ancestors as Ele
Big hits / crits and bleeds as Arms, etc, etc.
These all feel good to build up to and unleash in your rotation. Shadow doesn’t have things that feel all that great to unleash or build up to in the tree outside of Voidweaver’s Entropic Rift window. A very small window. IMO you want to take pride and enjoyment out of what you see and “feel” with your class and SPriest is missing this. Yet it’s very obvious and straightforward with the above classes I mentioned.
The point is Shadow is a crippled tree, it does not synergize well with itself within the tree on the left side and it doesn’t synergize with BOTH hero trees. Beyond this, Shadow Word: Madness feels unrewarding to land as a spender. Void Form doesn’t feel good to press for a 2minute cd, the way Ascendant or Combustion does. And for a spec with potentially 3 minions, they aren’t worth investing in their specialization unlike elementals for Ele or Dire Beasts for BM.
Shadow felt rewarding to play in WoD and I’m not against the theme changes and I’m not against devs altering the class, but the current vibe in the gameplay and the results of the investment in the talent trees and the big CD’s it just doesn’t feel good for me.