5 Shadow Priests in Cataclysm

[Owltoid]

Unfortunately, I'm not optimistic on the lolsmite build given build 12803 changes. So, time to hop on the mini-bandwagon and think about making them shadow priests.

Some fun things I'm looking forward to:

High mobility as long as Shadowy Apparition isn't nerfed (given my record on liking an ability just to see it nerfed, I may have cursed this). DoTing everything in sight with just SW: P may be enough to kill many toons as long as you keep moving for the Shadowy Apparitions to proc. I don't plan on being in Shadow Form when the shit is hitting the fan so I can holy nova and heal my toons. Extra DoTs allow for more damage while being on the run, while nice ranged nukes will help when not being swarmed.

While it doesn't sound as fun or unconventional as multiboxing holy priests, it may work. I'm guessing dispersion clears fear and makes you immune for the time and your DoTs continue to tick, so between that, fear ward, and trinket then the multiboxer killer may not be a huge deal.

[heyaz]

But will they still run out of mana after like 1 fight as shadow?

[Multibocks]

Well thats what dispersion is for, but yes SPriests have mana problems in prolonged fights. I hope they address this.

p.s. So sad they killed your lolsmite priests, I was excited to see the videos.

[Owltoid]

I'm fully expecting this to get nerfed, but I can't believe how blind I've been to the theorycrafting potential of shadow priests in Cataclysm.

Here's what I wasn't seeing: the holy tree really doesn't buff spells that much, but instead adds new tools to use.

What does that mean? Shadow priests can heal almost as well as holy priests for the spells that the holy tree didn't buff... like holy nova! I'm sure once Blizz realizes that a shadow priest can stay out of shadowform and heal pretty damn well they will once again buff shadowform so that it's required for decent DPS. However, as it currently stands, a 15% decrease in damage due to staying in caster form is well worth the ability to holy nova spam when being swarmed (for multiboxers - can't say the same for soloboxers).