Apparitions. I know Blizzard is against Spread Cleave and that’s fine, I get why. So change Apparitions to be visually appealing while playing by the rules.
Option 1
Change Apparitions to hit all targets within X yards of our current target that is afflicted by Vampiric Touch, dealing reduced damage beyond Y targets
Option 2
Change Apparitions back to haunting Shadow Word: Pain targets
Give us a way to put Shadow Word: Pain on everything reliably
Reduce Apparition damage to avoid Spread Cleave issues
Balance the Insanity generation so that this is how we generate Insanity on AOE
Remove/revert Mind Sear as we’ll want to put Devouring Plague on things instead
Option 3
Change Apparitions to only float to our current target
Apparitions now explode on contact dealing damage to everything within X yards of our target, deals reduced damage beyond Y targets
Spawn one Apparition per Shadow Word: Pain we have active
Give us a way to put Shadow Word: Pain on everything reliably
Balance the Insanity generation so that this is how we generate Insanity on AOE
Remove/revert Mind Sear as we’ll want to put Devouring Plague on things instead
I mean come-on, it’s so dang pretty and visually iconic to Shadow!
Priests have always been the least mobile healer and were promised long ago to have the best dps support to make up for it. And the Dragon Flight expansion is doing us no favors. We still have no silence. We lost our AoE knockback. We also recently lost SHADOW MEND which would have given us a great healing option when blocked out of the HOLY school. Heck, Blizzard was threatening to remove Mindgames for godsakes!
And please don’t use the button bloat nonsense as an excuse why we lost so much. It’s so easy to create a simple macro that combines a damage spell and healing spell into one keybind. I was able to reduce my 30+ button bloat to two toolbars. I have fewer keys to press with my HOLY priest than my SUB rogue.
So yea, please give HOLY priests the best healer dps.
Now with fewer senseless 2-point walls and an adjusted tier 1 to make fewer situational loadouts feel like they are forced to pick dead talents.
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Tier 1
Devouring Plague
No Changes
Dispersion - Coalescing Shadows - Silence
Intangibility built in to Dispersion.
Coalescing Shadows now also generated by Idol of Cthun Void Tendril at the same rate as they are from Mind Flay. Coalescing shadows now empower the initial damage of Devouring Plague instead of Mind Blast and Mind Spike.
Harnessed Shadows - Shadowy Apparitions - Psychic Horror/Last Word
Shadowy Apparitions now also generated by Shadow Word: Death during execute and Deathspeaker procs.
Dark Void now has no cd and costs 10 Insanity. Cast time reduced to 1.5 seconds and no long capped on Shadow Word: Pain application.
Void Apparitions cause Shadowy Apparitions generated by Devouring Plague to explode on impact for AoE damage.
Voidform grants ramping haste with no damage bonus. Voidform is tuned toi deal more damage than Shadowform in long fights where maximal extensions are possible. Shadowform fills the gaps where Voidform has been historically weak. Edit: Void Eruption has no cooldown and requires 60 insanity to cast. Voidform stacks hasted at 0.5% per second to a max of 20%. Voidform lasts 20 seconds and is extended by spending insanity. Voidform automatically ends at 60 seconds with no lingering buffs.
Shadow Crash cooldown not hasted and increased to 1 minute to deter use in single target builds. See below for the talent which reduces cooldown in AoE.
Unfurling Darkness now simply causes Vampiric Touch casts to affect 2 an additional target with no cooldown.
Shadowy Insight no long an RPPM proc. Proc chance lowered to account for increased procs in AoE. See below for the fix to maintain a decent proc chance in single target.
Mental Decay now causes Shadowy Apparitions to extend DoTs by 1 second and generate 1 insanity when they damage a target.
Void Bolt is an instant cast which costs 30 insanity. Each time you cast a spell which generates an apparition you gain a buff which stacks 13 times (critical hits count as 2 stacks). At 13 stacks you generate one charge of Surging Void. Surging Void makes your next Void Bolt free and causes it to generate insanity. Edit:. During Voidform, surging void simply resets the cooldown of Void Bolt.
Psychic Link - Shadow Energy - Shadowy Recall - Shadow Orbs - Puppet Master - Surge of Darkness - Mind Melt
Shadow Energy causes Shadow Crash to affect 2 additional target with Vampiric Touch. It also reduces the cooldown of Shadow Crash by 1 second each time a shadowy apparitions deals damage to an enemy.
Shadowy Recall provides a chance for Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch to tick twice whenever they deal damage.
Shadow Orbs provide a 20% chance per Coalescing Shadow consumed when you cast Devouring Plague to generate a Shadowy Insight proc.
Surge of Darkness now has a different function depending on whether you are in Shadowform or Voidform. In Shadowform it generates Surging Void procs from Vampiric Touch or Devouring Plague damage. In Voidform, it makes Void Bolt always free but gives it a 5 second hasted cooldown.
Mind Melt now causes Void Bolt to increase the crit chance of Mind Blast or Shadow Word: Death by 25% stacking 2 times. It does not reduce Mind Blasts cast time.
Edit: Psychic Link now affects only mind blast and mind flay to de-emphasize Void Bolt in AoE.
Maddening Touch - Tormented Spirits - Insidious Ire - Auspicious Spirits - Whispers of the Damned
Auspicious Spirits now cause Void Bolt and Shadow Word: Death to generate an additional Shadowy Apparition to attack the primary target.
Whispers of the Damned now generates insanity from critical Mind Blast and Shadow Word: Death casts.
Encroaching Shadows now causes Shadowy Apparitions to travel faster and doubles the number of apparitions generated by Devouring Plague.
Thought Harvester - Screams of the Void - Malediction - Inescapable Torment - Pain of Death
Screams of the Void is now applied at double effectiveness by MFI and Void Torrent. Void Tentacle applies Screams of the Void in addition to Mind Flay.
Pain of Death now increases Shadow Word: Death damage and execute range (to 35%) instead of causing cleave.
Nzoth - Cthun - Ysharaaj - Yogg Saron
Nzoth no longer has a chance to detonate stacks. It now explodes all stacks immediately once the stack count reaches 5 or the target dies.
Cthun is now procced automatically by MFI, Void Torrent, and Damnation. Mind Flay no longer has a chance to proc it. The tentacle can generate Coalescing Shadows and apply Screams of the Void as Mind Flay.
Yogg Saron now summons your living shadow to cast an empowered Shadow Word: Death on your target after you have cast 13 spells which generate apparitions. Critical strikes count as 2 spells.