Mod edit. This topic is not yet updated for WotLK and patch 3.0 for TBC

14/0/47 - The Raiding Shadow Priest
This is the "Cookie-cutter" spec for a Shadow Priest wanting to raid. There is plenty of debate about the first 5 points of shadow going into Spirit Tap or Blackout. Choose whatever you want. As your gear gets more +hit raiting on it you can also drop some points from Shadow Focus and pickup some additional talents such as 5/5 Improved Mindblast or Improved Vampiric Embrace. Another reasonably debated choice on this build is Matrydom vs 3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield. Again - choose what works best for you.
Advantages:
- Should provide decent damage output and make the most of your shadow priest in a raid environment.
- Picks up all the talents you need to raid with.
Disadvantages:
- This is not as strong in PvP situations or if you have to offheal.
- No Silence.
Options
- Swap 5/5 Blackout for 5/5 Spirit Tap
- Swap 5/5 Unbreakable Will for 5/5 Wand Specialization
- Swap 2/2 Matyrdom for 3/3 Improved Power Word: Shield
- Decrease Shadow Focus for additional Shadow Talents if you have good +hit gear.


17/0/44 - PvP Raider
Mana Burn, Fear, and Silence your enemies. This spec picks up the skills that make you an effective PvP Shadow Priest without hurting your raiding capacity much at all. Pick this if you PvP a bit as well as raid and you want to keep the same spec. 2/5 Silent Resolve keeps your buffs/debuffs from being dispelled and 5/5 Shadow Weaving is much more important for PvP than for PvE.
Advantages:
- Improved Mana Burn
- Silence
- Improved Psychic Scream
- Strong in PvP/Arena & still very decent to raid with
Disadvantages:
- Will slightly under perform full raid builds.
Options
- Swap 2/5 Improved Mindblast for 2/2 Improved Vampiric Embrace


20/0/41 - The Gladiator
So you want to do Arena? Well try this spec out if you've got a good 3v3 or 5v5 team together. There is 8 points in the discipline tree that can be customized to suit the other players in your team or your own preferences.
Advantages:
- Strong in 3v3, 5v5
- Can be tailored to fit your Arena group
Disadvantages:
- Not an effective off healer
- Strictly a PvP build as it is missing many raiding talents
Options
- Silent Resolve, Mental Agility, Imp. Inner Focus, and Absolution can all be interchanged depending on your preference
- Take 2 points from Focused Mind to get 2/2 Shadow Resilience
- Take 2 points from the Discipline tree and pickup 2/2 Healing Focus if you want less interruptible healing


7/13/41 - Holy Protection
This spec takes advantage of the protection talents offered in the holy tree. It works well in 2v2 if you find yourself constantly being targeted and need some additional help to stay alive. It will also function ok in an off healer situation.
Advantages:
- Increased survivability from the holy tree
- 2/2 Healing Focus means you can heal much more effectively in a PvP situation.
Disadvantages:
- No Improved Power Word: Fortitude
- Also strictly a PvP build as it is missing many raiding talents
Options
- Take 2 points from Focused Mind to get 2/2 Shadow Resilience


20/0/41 - The Mana Saver
This is another strong raiding build for the Shadow Priest but with more of an aim to efficiency. If you're having trouble lasting long during raids or if you just want to save a bit on your mana pot bill give this spec a go. The aim of this build is to get 5/5 Mental Agility to help lower the cost of some spells.
Advantages:
- Will provide improved longevity in a raid.
- Still is very raid focussed and will perform well.
Disadvantages:
- Less maximum damage output compared to cookie cutter build.
- The main cost of this build is the loss of improved Mind Blast. However this will also lend to longevity due to the nice mana efficient Mind Flay spell being used instead.
Options
- Decrease Shadow Focus for additional Shadow Talents if you have good +hit gear.
- Decrease Mental Agility by a couple of points if you need/want the additional points in Shadow Focus / Shadow Power.


7/11/43 - The AOE Shadow Priest
If you're feeling useless in AOE fights and want to participate then grab this build. This build also picks up Silence, Spirit Tap, and Wand Specialization for solo grinding.
Advantages:
- You have an effective AOE spell
- Can be an effective off healer
- Fun build for 5man content and solo grinding
Disadvantages:
- Mana inefficient due to lack of Inner Focus and Meditation
Options
- Adjust points in the holy tree to get 5/5 Divine Fury so that you can use Greater Heal at reduced cast time
- Remove Improved Psychic Scream and Silence for more raid focussed Talents


0/10/51 - Sunwell and beyond
When you've eaten up most of the content that this xpac has to offer and you find yourself in tons of gear you can start to through even more efficiency out the window. This spec ditches the discipline tree and instead reaches into the holy tree to get 5/5 Spell Warding. This is a very popular spec for Sunwell fights where there is plenty of AoE spell damage floating about.
Advantages:
- Picks up 5/5 Spell warding to reduce incoming spell damage.
- Plenty of point in the shadow tree to pickup all your favorite talents.
Disadvantages:
- Mana inefficient due to lack of Inner Focus and Meditation
Options
- The first tier holy talents can be whatever you want really.
- Heaps of room for movement in the shadow tree to get whatever you please.
- Drop 1 from Shadow and pickup Holy Nova for a situational AoE spell.

Hey everyone,

Just thought I'd make a post to summarize a lot of builds that are flying around all over this forum and others. Please provide feedback if you'd like and I will include whatever I can into the first post.

I tried to make the above builds as flexible as possible so that you can swap them around to suit your own opinions/playstyle.

Cheers,

Excellent post. I've spent some time playing 14/0/47, 17/0/44, and 7/13/41 and your analysis of each of those is spot-on.

Hi Guys,

Been looking at the specs being discussed and something which has been popping up which isn't featured in the list above is the people who are speccing 20 into Discipline to pickup 5/5 Mental Agility. I've had a go at putting together the spec below. Let me know if it's good enough to make it's way to the list above or if I'm missing anything important.

20/0/41 - The Mana Saver
This is another strong raiding build for the Shadow Priest but with more of an aim to efficiency. If you're having trouble lasting long during raids or if you just want to save a bit on your mana pot bill give this spec a go. The aim of this build is to get 5/5 Mental Agility to help lower the cost of some spells.
Advantages:
- Will provide improved longevity in a raid.
- Still is very raid focussed and will perform well.
Disadvantages:
- Less maximum damage output compared to cookie cutter build.
- The main cost of this build is the loss of improved Mind Blast. However this will also lend to longevity due to the nice mana efficient Mind Flay spell being used instead.
Options
- Decrease Shadow Focus for additional Shadow Talents if you have good +hit gear.
- Decrease Mental Agility by a couple of points if you need/want the additional points in Shadow Focus / Shadow Power.

Any ideas on a solo spriest?

Use the raid build, minus a few points in Shadow Focus.

Sounds good. Shadow focus = +hit?

Hey guys and gals =)

Dear god im glad i found this place. Well actually i didnt, i was whining on the wow-europe priest thread and got directed this way! Thank god!!

Im a very noobish shadowpriest at lvl 65 atm. And i have tonight learnd alot about what gear 2 aim for etc. Now i have read about the talents and BOY HAVE I MY TALENTS FUKED UP!! Im full shadow...rediculus i notice now..

Im goin for the pve raiding build, but im wondering if its aimed for little more advanced raids or if i will be doin good with it when i start kara?

and...as im planning on doin arena to get the 3150 points for Merciless Gladiator's Gavel...will i be viable with the raiding build in arena? Cuz i dont feel like gettin the pvp build and just pvp my ass off and do nothin else until i get the points, i wanna be able 2 both raid and pvp like..the same day.

oowh... and btw...what the hell is mp5?

sorry for the noobish questions but ya gotta learn sometime right? xD

Thanks in advance!

Use the PvP raider build. It allows you to be functional in Arena's without impacting too heavily on your PvE performance.

Mp5 = Mana per 5. I.E. How much you regenerate mana.

To be even clearer, that's mana per 5 seconds.

<3

Ya...

I just spec PVE (14-0-47)come Tuesday night for 3 nights of raiding, and then I go PVP (17-0-44) on weekends. Expensive, but one dose of 10 dailies covers that.

For PVE, I also take Spirit Tap over Blackout (it was for Vashj but I'm rarely killing elementals now that we know what to do and have downed her).

I also take Wand Spec cuz if I resist a fear I may get agro (like at Kael today, I can get one-shot...somehow, I survived the hit w/ about 500hp). We've just started working on him, at last.

Quick question:

I'm at 92 spell hit and still do 5/5 Shadow Focus. Can I afford going 4/5, despite not having the "ideal" 102 spell hit?

Thanks in advance.

Morukus of Shadow Moon

To be even clearer you gain back mana in ticks of 2 sec so a 10 mp5 is 4 mana pr tick

Warning if get clearer then this we turn invisible

To be even clearer, you can learn much more here: http://www.wowwiki.com/Formulas:Mana_Regen

You'll learn that mp5 can save your a*s out there, even if it's minimum and seems useless. I personally care about it a lot... if you enjoy sucking all your mana being a nuker, it's mp5 all the way.

When I click the links, the specs that come up are all garbled (i.e. it has the circle of healing with NO other points in Holy). Can someone check those because I am really interested in seeing the various recommended builds.

Thanks

This is due to the new talent in the disc tree, Focused Will. Until all of the links are edited you can easily check the builds by adding a 0 before the first big group of zeros.

For example, The Raiding Shadow Priest:
Was http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/cla ... 0103051551
Should be http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/cla ... ?5002120130000000000000000000000000000000000053250410240103051551