Shadow Priest... 8.3 PTR class change

Classes Priest
1

Shadow

  • Auspicious Spirits damage bonus reduced to 25% (was 50% and was 70% in 8.1.5).
  • Fixed a bug causing Spiteful Apparitions (Azerite Trait) to be increased by 75% if you do not have Auspicious Spirits talented.
  • Developers’ notes: The multiplicative interaction between Auspicious Spirits, Spiteful Apparitions, and Chorus of Insanity has specifically been a big part of Shadow’s damage scaling somewhat out of control at high target counts.
  • Chorus of Insanity critical strike bonus reduced by 25%.
  • Shadow Word: Pain damage reduced by 8%.
  • Vampiric Touch damage reduced by 8%.

a bit hard, no?

10 Likes
3

(Shadow) Spiteful Apparitions: damage bonus increased by 75% when the Auspicious Spirits talent is not selected.

381 days later their intended change is now a bug.

32 Likes
4

Mage Lead: “How can I screw with Shadow Priests today?”

16 Likes
5

Uhh…

This wasn’t a bug, though? This was literally an intended change a little over a year ago.

Either way, these nerfs seem really, really, really heavy-handed but considering how absurd this spec’s scaling with secondaries is it might just amount to a 12-15% nerf for multi-target or something that might get rapidly outscaled with new traits/Essences/gear.

Problem is, it also hits single-target a fair amount without addressing that the spec is “balanced” around its BiS Azerite traits currently and not its baseline damage. The multi-target nerfs are pretty justified but those single-target nerfs might be a bit heavy-handed.

8 Likes
6

I feel it’s way to much of a loss. They are balancing it around BiS talents and BiS Azerite traits. So all in all our top end comes down.

If AS is that much of a problem give us something better to choose in that talent bracket
Also make our Mastery useful!!!

2 Likes
7

Shadow priest is going to be the new warlock in m+ as well it seems.

5 Likes
8

in what sense?

9

That’s the entire problem with rng on top of rng character progression, who would have thought? Its painful how often during 2 alpha/beta cycles this problem was broached and how rented growth is extremely disrupting from dev cycle to dev cycle.

3 Likes
10

Well i mean its Void Form in a nutshell.

11

those are some hard nerfs

3 Likes
12

I agree with the nerfs. EXCEPT, *Shadow Word: Pain damage reduced by 8%.
*Vampiric Touch damage reduced by 8%.
Because this will affect our direct damage in Single Target fights and pvp. Ok, nerf the damage in fights, with lots of adds, but give some buff for single target encounters

9 Likes
13

Another thing about this is that, historically this expansion, if you go across all the nerfs each tier. Our dot damage get repeatedly nerfed because we have too strong spread target cleave, despite the truth being that most of that damage has come from the chorus SA interaction. Repeatedly dots have paid for apparition’s crimes.

Now that they’ve finally started targeting the SA COI interaction, and we STILL get dot nerfs. Shadow Word: Pain on 1 target is doing less damage than some minor essences.

4 Likes
14

SP and Aff Locks have been OP for several expansions so I find it funny you were not expecting those nerfs which came a lot later than they should have:

Developers’ notes: Specs which excel at DoTs on multiple targets have, over the course of many tiers of content, generally had very high performance on the average. Their DPS advantage in raid encounters that play into their multi-target strength (which are relatively common) is not balanced by a comparable disadvantage in other areas. A small reduction in damage on these specs will leave them noticeably strong in the situations in which they’re strong (albeit slightly less than before), and give other specs more opportunity to stand out at other times. At the same time, a few of the Essences added in Rise of Azshara are not performing as well as we would have liked, so we’re increasing the effectiveness of some parts of them to help keep them competitive with the other Essences available.

15

I’m very happy that Blizzard are nerfing certain aspects of the spec. It’s been clear for a while now that raiding is becoming a much more multi target centric affair than it has been in previous expansions, and that the initial design philosophy behind multi dotters doesn’t “really” fit in with that as well as it did when initial class concepts were being created / re imagined all those years ago.

I’m fully expecting some sort of major overhaul for dot classes / dot damage style in 9.0. Maybe the return of single target only dots (Wrath Cata Devouring Plague). Something to give more dedicated single target tuning knobs, and freeing up design space to create a more competitive environment on multi target fights. Shadow is really the only “true” multi dotter left, in that their multi target value derives from the raw damage of their dots (and dot related effects) and not from increased resource generation or just a bit of extra damage on the side.

Blizzard have been repeatedly nerfing our dots in an attempt to curb this for multiple tiers. But it hasn’t worked because the real damage doesn’t come from the dots, it comes from the spirits they generate and the power of the SA trait.

Problem is now they’ve finally nerfed the thing that was really causing our multi dot damage to skyrocket, they’ve left us with over nerfed noodle dots that barely, if even at all, out damage a minor essence.

I just think that for the time being, Blizzard don’t really know what they’re doing (If previous shadow changes and their intentions are anything to go by), and are likely to have been incredibly heavy handed.

Because of that, I’m worried about where shadow will be performance wise next tier, but also deeply worried about their performance in Mythic Plus and PvP, where the reliance on dots and spirits to deal competitive damage is greater even than it is in raiding, but where they are not crushing in the same way they do raids.

5 Likes
16

“Lets make the class a pain to level because we miscalculated how endgame would pan out”
~Wow Devs

13 Likes
17

Think i’m just gonna delete my priest. By far the least fun/interesting class in my roster.

4 Likes
18

Intended change until we came close to competing. Then we had to be curbstomped, kicked in the head, and their heel slowly ground into our unmentionables, just to be safe. That’s part and parcel of what Priests have had to deal with ever since they deleted Shadow and replaced it with Insanity Priest / Voidform stupidity.

I don’t mind using Old God magic or that theme. I absolutely do mind how they went about implementing it, by deleting a entire spec and giving it a redesign WHICH NO ONE EVER ASKED FOR. I also will not abandon a character I’ve had since Wrath because some Developer decided to rip apart another Developer’s concept.

Instead I’m just going to keep pointing out the contempt that Shadow Priests are forced to endure in the form of the favoritism and bias given to Mages in the form of cosmetic glyphs, constant buffs, and QoL additions like Portals; until someone higher than that specific Developer realizes it and does something to address said disparity for the greater Priest community as a whole. So will HEllipsis, Annesh and many many other Priests.

Warlocks can Summon. Mages can Portal. We can… ???

Edit:

It would probably help people if they understand what I am talking about, and why I am more than a little angry about the direction Priest has gone over the years.

This is what Alliance Priests were described as in the Alpha of Classic, so that people have a good idea of what we were originally supposed to be; and just how far the class has fallen because of an apparent need by the developers to ensure that Priests ‘always’ heal first.

After the lands of Lordaeron were corrupted by the undead Scourge, the surviving clerics escaped to Stormwind and attempted to salvage their holy order: combining their forces with those of the clerics of Northshire, the weathered healers founded a new priesthood to guide their people in trouble times.

Obsessed with the notion that evil lurked within every mortal creature they set forth to purge men’s’ souls of corruption and darkness. Using strong mind powers and potent fear effects, these new priests were able to reestablish a strong hold over humanity’s spiritual destiny.

Though they are still able to heal wounds and cure the sick, priests are much more interested in dominating the weak and wretched in order to save them from themselves.

That is what Priests are ‘really’ supposed to be about.

Holy Priests = Northshire Clerics / Healers
Discipline Priests = Scarlet Crusade
Shadow Priests = Priests who dive full on into the Old Gods magic.

Discipline needs to become a DPS Tree, and Shadow needs to be redesigned back to it’s original form. Voidform was probably the worst possible way to implement the Shadow Spec, and since it’s never been addressed or mentioned by the Developers as being in need of a fix, I personally believe this was intentional and something they will keep as long as player outcry allows it.

The “Legion Shadow” while acceptable when we had a bunch of artifact talents (like the Void Tendrils) always has felt like a hostile move, calculated to alienate Priests from their sole DPS tree, while forcing them to play “new Discipline” as the only alternative. Perhaps the intent was to pigeonhole Priests into healing 24/7 by either being traditional, or by barely giving them that long begged for Holy DPS tree.

Because lets face it, if that wasn’t Blizzard’s intention, we would have 2 DPS Trees right now. We’re the only spec in the game with 2 Healing specs, even though we can only be one healing spec in a fight at any given time.

I feel like this is the most likely reason why “Legion Disc” remains a Healer despite the fact it could (and should) be a viable DPS tree, playing to the Inquisitor Whitemane Class Fantasy.

But what really angers me the most is the fact that they deleted a Classic spec that many played and replaced it with a substandard and intentionally cumbersome polished turd. That’s unforgivable. The Developers need to make this right and restore the Shadow Priest we all knew and loved in Classic and beyond. Shadow Orbs and spells you spend Sanity on are the right direction. Old God Magic drains Sanity, not Insanity. Remember guys?

Tentacles on our bodies was not and is not engaging. We don’t have time to admire whatever the heck they are supposed to be. Not to mention they don’t even stick around till the next Voidform, so who in the hell are they for visually?

Take a look at Alleria Windrunner’s spells and effects. Take the Dark Naaru and Void Lord concepts and bake them with Old God and Nathrezim spells like Vampiric Aura, Mind Spike, Shadow Crash etc. into a better spec. Because what we have now is a joke and a bad one at that.

14 Likes
19

Yes blizz nerf shadow priest cleave and leave classes like UH death knights doing over 1 million aoe dps in m+ bravo…… I do agree that a nerf in aoe might be called for but at the same time they are screwing SP’s single target damage with this hard nerf. granted they still do ok dps currently on the 8.3 ptr but not even close to top tier

4 Likes
20

I feel like this nerf is in complete disregard to shadow priest’s performance in pvp, just because they are considered OP in raids

21

Blizzard has disregarded any pvp tuning for over a year now so yep your completely right.