On this page, we provide a step-by-step guide on how to play Shadow Priest in World of Warcraft -- Shadowlands 9.1, using the most basic rotation, talent tree as well as stat priority, gear setup and more. without sacrificing speed.

 1. 1.

 This section is intended to players who are not yet familiar to the game or the class or class, do not have any plans of taking on Mythic difficulty, or simply prefer a simple approach to playing their particularization without getting overwhelmed by the many factors and abilities which must be considered in order to play optimal play.

 2. The Fundamentals of Shadow Priest

 Shadow Priest has evolved into a more modern builder spender spec that specializes in damage over time (DoT) effects. At a high level the spec mostly revolves around maintaining your DoT effects up across as many targets as feasible while simultaneously building Insanity to be able to cast spells that require Insanity. The rest of this page will be devoted in getting you to that goal in the easiest method that is possible, allowing you to lower the demands of the specialization at the top end of play without creating a drastic decrease in output.

 You can visit our Spell Summary page if you're new to Shadow or need to know more about the skills that you can use. There were many changes to Shadow Priest going into Shadowlands, so it might be helpful to read this page to discover what's different!

 3. Talent Selection for Shadow Priest

 These options are easy to apply. While certain talents can provide marginally higher rewards when used correctly, they can often result in damage losses when used by several players. The talents recommended here aim to present the best setup that has very little punishment for unfamiliarity or mistakes.

 Level 15: Fortress of the Mind

 Level 25: Body and Soul

 Level 30: Misery

 Level 35: The Final Word

 Level 40: Auspicious Spirits

 Level 45: Mindbender

 Level 50: Hungering Void

 If you're in search of the absolute best talents for Shadow that do not compromise on performance for ease of use, you can find a more in-depth analysis of our entire talents page.

 4. Stat Choice for Shadow Priest

 You'll be putting these top three priorities for stats on your list:

 Intellect;

 Haste = Mastery;

 Critical Strike

 Variety.

 Most likely, you'll be looking for items that have Haste or Mastery because of the strength of Intellect having Haste with any item of a high level is a great place to start.

 While the stat priority for classes for the Easy Mode page is the same as our full guide, there are slight variations. You can find the complete explanation as well as top choices of the priority of our stats page.

 5. Basic Rotation for Shadow Priest

 Make sure that Shadowform Icon Shadowform is active before you begin combat. After that, you can use Mind Blast Icon Mind Blast to start your fight.

 Keep the Shadow Word Pain Icon Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch icon Vampiric Touch can be applied to all targets. It is not recommended to move if you have Misery Icon Misery.

 Spend your money on a devouring of Plague Icon, Devouring Plague.

 Cast Mind Blast Icon Mind Blast when you're able to generate Insanity. Or use it to channel Mind Flay Icon Mind Flay when you have a Dark Thoughts Icon Dark Thoughts.

 Cast Shadow Word Death Icon Shadow Word Death: If your target has less than 20% HP, or you're moving, then cast the Shadow Word Death Icon: Death

 Cast Mind Flay Icon Mind Flay to create Insanity if there is only 1 target, or switch to Mind Sear Icon Mind Sear if there are 2 or more targets.

 Cast Shadowfiend Icon Shadowfiend/Mindbender Icon Mindbender right before entering Voidform Icon Voidform.

 Cast Void Eruption Icon Voideruption to get into Voidform Icon Voidform with at least 35 insanity before you start your 15 seconds of burst damage.

 Voidform Icon Voidform

 You can activate the Power Infusion Icon Power Infusion to receive a burst of Haste in general. you should do this on cooldown.

 Spend Insanity Devouring Plague Icon. This is your goal Don't lose your sanity by casting more than 100 spells.

 Cast Void Bolt Icon Void bolt anytime it is available

 Cast Mind Blast Icon Mind Blast whenever it is available and also when Void Bolt Icon Void Bolt is at cooldown

 Cast Mind Flay Icon Mind Flay when there is nothing else to cast it. You can cancel it if there is a higher priority spell in play.

 For a more detailed priority list and all the possible cases of the edge to the rotation check out the entire guide on how to master the rotation.

 6. Covenant Choice for Shadow Priest

 As a Shadow Priest you're granted plenty of freedom in your Covenant option when compared with other specs within the game. From a PvE perspective any Covenant you pick can easily remove all content. As such, as an introduction to the specs you must be open to picking the Covenant of your choice according to the things you are more comfortable with gameplay-wise. A majority of players who play at the top will prefer Night Fae for the increased mobility of Soulshape Icon Soulshape as well as the cooldown flexibility with Fae Guardians Icon Fae Guardians. Necrolord is an alternative that could be extremely competitive in terms of damage. It is easier to play and does just as well, or even better than Night Fae on certain types of fights. In PvE battles, Venthyr and Kyrian are good options. However, they're not as well-known. If you need more information, the full Covenants page provides specifics on each Covenant's strengths and weaknesses.

 6.1 Night Fae for Shadow Priest

 Class Ability: Fae Guardians Icon Fae Guardians

 Covenant Ability Soulshape Icon

 Legendary Preferred: Shadowflame Prism Icon Shadowflame Prism

 Night Fae Shadow Priests possess the unique ability to be a jack-of all trades when it comes to Fae Guardians Icon Fae Guardians. This allows you to reduce cooldowns for Void Eruption Icon Void Eruption, extra resources generation, as well as damage mitigation. Each of these can be controlled by a particular ability, which means you are able to transfer any of the Faeries to an ally, or to a different enemy. From an DPS standpoint, we are most concerned about the cooldown reduction faerie, to get better cooldown flexibility.

 The greatest thing about the Night Fae Covenant is the ability to Soulshape Icon Soulshape. This amazing ability to move will be useful in many scenarios, including PvE.

 Due to getting increased Voidform Icon Voidform uptime you naturally get great results using the Shadowflame Prism Icon Shadowflame Prism playstyle as it is a Night Fae. This style of play can be slightly more difficult however it's very enjoyable once you have the grasp of it.

 6.1.1 6.1.1.

 Generally speaking, Niya is the most recommended Soulbind for all PvE content. It is possible to switch to Dreamweaver at more advanced levels of Renown However, be mindful about not moving too much during your cooldown phase.

 6.2. Necrolord to Shadow Priest

 Class Ability is unholy Nova Icon

 Covenant Ability: Fleshcraft Icon Fleshcraft

 Preferred Legendary Pallid Command Icon Pallid Command for single-target fights and Shadowflame Prism Icon Shadowflame Prism to be used in different combat types

 The Unholy Nova icon Unholy Nova spell spreads across the target's area and is accessible to Shadow Priests of the Necrolord. It also heals allies in the target area, resulting in a short period of healing. Any damage you cause or your allies to an enemy that has been affected by the DoT will be compensated with some healing. This is a very flexible ability and is a great option for any scenario of PvE.

 Although it isn't as powerful as Soulshape Soulshape, the Necrolord Covenant capability Fleshcraft Icon Fleshcraft is a excellent defensive tool. It can also be used a pre-pull protection to aid healers. Also, you can get 20 percent damage reduction effect when channeling this shield, which you could utilize to counter large mechanics if DPS is not an important factor.

 In Patch 9.1 the Necrolord covenant was upgraded to a robust single-target Legendary, in the shape of Pallid Command Icon Pallid Command. This Legendary does not require any changes to the playstyle It simply deals massive single-target damage when employed in groups. The more stacks it summons the more allies you have to take on targets affected by the Unholy Novicon Unholynova debuff. Shadowflame Prism Icon Shadowflame Prism can be used in normal fashion on any target that is greater than 1.

 6.2.1. 6.2.1.

 Due to the amount of attributes Bonesmith Heirmir has, in addition to the synergy between Heirmir's Arsenal Marrowed Gemstone Icon Heirmir's Arsenal: Marrowed Gemstone with Pallid Command Icon Pallid Command This Soulbind is your first option for the majority of PvE-related content. Note that Plague Deviser Marileth can also be a decent choice in certain situations and especially with the advent of Volatile Solvent Icon Volatile Solvent will always give you a mastery buff, even when there aren't any nearby corpses.

 The dedicated Covenant page contains more information about each Covenant and its strengths, as well as the weaknesses.