Shadow Priest 9.2.7 Guide

Introduction

This guide presents an in-depth view of the Priest's Shadow Specialization in WoW Shadowlands patch 9.2.7! You will learn everything about the spec, such as how to level, gear, prepare, and then min-max your Shadow Priest for the most challenging PvE content in World of Warcraft, Season 4.

First, we'll check out the specialization's particularities and see why the Shadow Priest is one of the best specs in Shadowlands in the ongoing meta. Then you'll learn how to gear your Shadow Priest, what stats to prioritize, and the best leveling spec, talents, and rotation that will get you to max level in no time.

Finally, we'll go deep into min-maxing your character for the end-game content and teach you what covenant to choose and the best legendaries to use for Mythic Raiding and Mythic Plus dungeons. By the end of the guide, you will become a master of the Shadow specialization! Sounds good, right? Let's get started!

Table of Contents

• Shadow Priests: Strengths and Weaknesses
• How to gear your Shadow Priest
• How to level your Shadow Priest. Leveling tips
• Best Shadow Priest talents for end-game content
• Best Covenant, Soulbinds, and Conduits for Shadow Priests in 9.2.7
• Best Legendaries for Shadow Priests
• Shadow Priest in Shadowlands - FAQ

Shadow Priests in Shadowlands: Strengths and Weaknesses

In World of Warcraft, the Priest class comes with three specializations: Shadow, Holy, and Discipline. All three priest specs focus on ranged-combat fights and require wise resource management. The Shadow priest covers the ranged DPS role and uses Insanity and Mana as resources.

The Shadow Priest represents one of the best DPS classes for Mythic Dungeons and Mythic Raiding in Shadowlands Season 4, providing excellent single-target damage!

In terms of weapons, the Shadow Priest uses a wide selection of weapons such as daggers, maces, staves, and wands. As for raid gear, the priest shares the Conqueror Tier Token with Paladins, Warlocks, and Demon Hunters for legacy content. In the Shadowlands expansion, the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid, it shares the Venerated Tier Token with Paladins and Shamans.

In the table below, we present the Shadow spec's strengths and weaknesses:

How to gear your Shadow Priest

In World of Warcraft, gearing is one of the most important aspects that enhances your character's overall performance by providing massive amounts of stats, armor, procs, and set bonuses. This guide will teach you how to properly gear up for the most challenging content in WoW Shadowlands, Mythic Raiding, and Mythic+ Dungeons.

We'll start with the basics and cover the Shadow Priest's stats priority, check out the tier set bonuses, and finally, the best in slot gear you can get from mythic raids and dungeons.

Shadow Priest stat priority

Regardless of the class and spec you roll into in World of Warcraft, the stats are a key component when gearing up and min-maxing your character for the end-game content. Shadow Priests wear Cloth gear with Intellect as the main stat.

The Intellect stat increases the power of your spells and abilities, in other words - the damage you are dealing to the enemies. Also, please note that a higher and adequate item level will better impact your character's performance than a perfect stat distribution, so always keep an eye on the gear's item level!

The Shadow Priest stats priority looks like this:

• 1. Intellect
• 2. Haste
• 3. Mastery
• 4. Critical Strike
• 5. Versatility

So as a Shadow Priest, you will primarily value item level for Intellect as the primary stat, then Haste, followed by Mastery, Critical Strike, and Versatility as secondary stats.

In other words: Intellect > Haste > Mastery > Critical Strike > Versatility. And here's why:

Intellect: Increases your spell power and, therefore, all the damage you are dealing to your enemies

Critical Strike: Increases the chance for extra effectiveness on your attacks and heals

Haste: Increases your attack speed and your spell casting speed

Mastery: Increases the effectiveness of Mastery: Shadow Weaving

Versatility: Increases healing and damage dealt and reduces damage taken

Shadow Priest Tier Set Bonus

To start with, what is a tier set in World of Warcraft?

In WoW, a tier set is a unique class armor set with powerful 2-set and 4-set specific bonuses for each specialization of that particular class. Tier set bonuses change based on the character's active talent specialization, ensuring that the bonus is appropriate and useful to that spec.

So to recap, tier sets are unique pieces of armor that, when equipped simultaneously, provide you with a bonus, different for each spec of the chosen class. This bonus is based on the number of pieces from the set you have equipped, with most tier sets providing bonuses when equipping 2 or 4 pieces.

How to get the Shadow Priest Tier Set in Shadowlands Patch 9.2.7

There are three ways you can get tier set items in WoW in the Shadowlands expansion:

• Sepulcher Raid: You can get tier set items from specific bosses in the Sepulcher of the First Ones raid.
• Creation Catalyst: You can craft Tier armor from non-set pieces of the same item level using the Creation Catalyst crafting system.
• Great Vault: You can obtain tier set items from all activities that normally give Great Vault rewards, such as raiding, Mythic+ dungeons, and PvP.

The fastest way to obtain tier set items is to take advantage of these three sources that can reward you with tier set items for your priest. The best advice is to complete the Sepulcher raid weekly - this is probably the fastest way to get your hands on the desired tier armor. In case you don't have a team to raid with, complete some Mythic+ Dungeons or some PvP matches.

Mythic dungeons and PvP are highly beneficial because even if you can't drop the set items while participating in these activities, you increase the chances of getting your set items at the Great Vault or the Creation Catalyst console in Zereth Mortis. At the creation catalyst console, you can convert the non-set pieces obtained in dungeons or PvP into tier set items.

Let's have a closer look at the Great Vault feature:

And this is what the Creation Catalyst looks like:

Back to our Shadow Priest Tier Set. Now that you learned how to obtain the tier set, let's see some set bonuses and particularities, shall we?

The Priest Tier set is called Habiliments of the Empyrean. For the Shadow spec, it comes with the following bonuses for two pieces and four pieces equipped:

• 2-Set: Darkened Mind - Casting Devouring Plague has a 40% chance to grant Dark Thought. Casting Searing Nightmare has a 25% chance to grant Dark Thought.
• 4-Set: Living Shadow - Consuming a Dark Thought causes your shadow to animate after a moment, dealing [(20.9% of Spell power) * 6] Shadow damage over 6 sec to all enemies within 10 yards of your target.

In the table below, we present you the sources for Shadow Priest Tier Set items:

The remaining tier set items (Cloak, Wrists, Waist, and Boots) can be obtained by using the Creation Catalyst in Zereth Mortis.

As previously stated, you unlock the tier set bonuses for your Shadow Priest when you equip any two or four pieces of the Habiliments of the Empyrean set. For itemization and build optimization, your four pieces of tier set as a Shadow Priest will be the Legs, Shoulders, Chest, and Gloves.

Raid Best in Slot (BiS) Gear for Shadow Priests

In the table below, you can find the best item to use in each slot from the raid as a Shadow Priest:

Mythic+ Best in Slot (BiS) Gear for Shadow Priests

In the table below, you can find the best item to use in each slot from the Mythic+ Dungeons as a Shadow Priest:

Best in Slot (BiS) Trinkets for Shadow Priests

The best Shadow Priest trinkets for end-game content are:

This wraps up everything you should know about gearing your Shadow Priest: the stats priority, how to obtain the tier set, and what items to use in the end-game activities. Moving on to the next section of our guide, we'll teach you how to level your Shadow Priest in Shadowlands patch 9.2.7. Sounds good, right? Let's dive in!

How to level your Shadow Priest. Leveling tips

Before leveling your Shadow Priest, you must first create and customize the character. That brings us to the first question: what race should you go for when creating the character? Let's find out, shall we?

Best Shadow Priest Races

When it comes to races, with so many options to choose from, you are probably wondering what would be the best race for the Shadow spec. In World of Warcraft, each race has different racial abilities and spells, but no races offer an immediate advantage compared to others regarding the Shadow spec. I highly recommend choosing the race you like the most, aesthetically speaking.

However, in the table below, you can see the top 10 best races for Shadow Priests based on performance gain:

Now, if you want to make an idea of what race players generally choose for their Shadow Priests:

• For Alliance: Human, Void Elf, and Night Elf.
• For Horde: Blood Elf, Undead, and Troll.

Best Shadow Priest Leveling Talents and Rotation in Shadowlands 9.2.7

The best talents to use while leveling to level 60 as a Shadow Priest are:

As for War Mode talents, in case you are leveling with War Mode ON (which you should!), use the following:

• Void Volley
• Void Origins
• Greater Fade

Shadow Priest Basic rotation:

• 1. Use Devouring Plague when you have 50 Insanity
• 2. Use Void Eruption on cooldown
• 3. Use Void Bolt
• 4. Use Shadowfiend on cooldown
• 5. Use Shadow Word: Death if the target is below 20% health
• 6. Use and maintain Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch
• 7. Use Mind Blast
• 8. Use Mind Flay as a filler

Follow the rotation, and you'll get to max level in no time! Now that we've covered the leveling part, it's time to move on to the end-game.

In the next section of our Shadow Priest Guide, we'll present the best talents to use for PvE end-game content, such as raiding and Mythic+ dungeons. In the end game, it's crucial to use the right talents and prioritize the skills you use depending on the activity. Choosing the best talents will significantly impact your performance as a DPS!

Best Shadow Priest End-game Talents

From the PvE perspective, there are two main end-game activities we'll take into consideration: Mythic raiding and Mythic+ Dungeons. We'll treat them separately to keep things clear and avoid confusion.

Best Talents for Mythic Raiding in Season 4 (patch 9.2.7)

In the picture below, you can see the best talents for mythic raiding as a Shadow Priest:

Best Talents for Mythic+ Dungeons in Season 4 (patch 9.2.7)

As a Shadow Priest, these are the talents you must use to maximize your damage in M+ Dungeons:

The talents in the 4th row are situational, so feel free to choose whatever you prefer.

Now that you learned what talents you should go for as a Shadow Priest in the end-game activities, it's time to move on to the final part of our guide that covers two major aspects: the Covenants and the Legendary Items.

Best Covenant, Soulbinds, and Conduits for Shadow Priests in 9.2.7

Best Shadow Priest Covenant for Raiding

The best Covenant for Shadow Priests for Mythic raiding is Necrolord, with the best soulbind option being Marileth. In the table below, we present the best conduits to use for Mythic Raiding as a Necrolord Shadow Priest:

Best Shadow Priest Covenants for Mythic+

The best Covenant for Shadow Priests for Mythic+ Dungeons is Necrolord while using Heirmir as a soulbind. In the table below, we present the best conduits to use for Mythic Dungeons as a Necrolord Shadow Priest:

Shadow Priest Covenant Popularity

Below you can see what the most picked Covenants for Shadow Priests are:

• Necrolord 57.8%
• Venthyr 16.4%
• Night Fae 14.2
• Kyrian 11.6%

This covers everything regarding what Covenants to choose as a Shadow Priest for mythic raids and mythic plus dungeons. Without further ado, let's move on to the final major aspect of our guide and learn what legendaries you should use as a Shadow Priest in Shadowlands in Season 4, patch 9.2.7.

Best Shadow Priest Legendaries - Shadowlands 9.2.7

Our guide's final section teaches you the best legendary items to use as a Shadow Priest for Mythic Raiding and Mythic+ Dungeons, whether you want to go for single or double legendaries.

Best Single Legendaries for Shadow Priests (Raid and M+ Dungeons)

• Best Single Legendary for Shadow Priest in Mythic Raiding: Shadowflame Prism
• Best Single Legendary for Shadow Priest in Mythic+ Dungeons: Shadowflame Prism

Best Double Legendaries for Shadow Priests (Raid and M+ Dungeons)

• Best Double Legendaries for Shadow Priest in Mythic Raiding: Shadowflame Prism and Pallid Command
• Best Double Legendaries for Shadow Priest in Mythic+ Dungeons: Shadowflame Prism and Pallid Command / Bwonsamdi's Pact

Best Legendary Crafting for Shadow Priest

• It is best to craft Shadowflame Prism on the head/gloves, depending on your set items.
• It is best to craft Pallid Command on the feet/ring.

Shadow Priest in Shadowlands - FAQ

1. Are Shadow Priests good in Shadowlands 9.2.7?

Yes, Shadow Priest represents one of the strongest specs for PvE content in Shadowlands Season 4.

2. Is Shadow Priest easy to play?

Yes. The Shadow Priest specialization qualifies as one of the most accessible specs in WoW Shadowlands.

3. What is the stats priority for Shadow Priests?

The stats priority for Shadow Priest is Intellect > Haste > Mastery > Critical Strike > Versatility

4. Which priest spec is best for leveling in patch 9.2.7?

The Shadow Specialization is the best spec for priest leveling.

5. What is the best race for Shadow Priests in Shadowlands?

• Alliance's best Shadow Priest races are Human, Gnome, and Void Elf.
• For Horde, the best Shadow Priest races are Troll, Goblin, and Blood Elf.

6. Which covenant is best for Shadow Priests?

• The best Covenant as a Shadow Priest for mythic raiding is Necrolord (Marileth).
• The best Covenant as a Shadow Priest for mythic dungeons is Necrolord (Heirmir).

Final thoughts

This wraps up everything you should know regarding the Priest's Shadow specialization in World of Warcraft Shadowlands for Season 4, patch 9.2.7. By reading this guide, you should now better understand the Shadow Priest's spec and particularities and how they perform in certain circumstances and different end-game activities. It's one of the game's strongest specs in Shadowlands, so I encourage you to try it!

Related Guides

If it feels like this specialization isn't the perfect match for you, we have also covered all the other specs available in the game. Below you can find an updated, detailed guide for each specialization in World of Warcraft:

Also, for a better view of the current meta, check out our guide on the Best Classes in WoW Shadowlands, where we present up-to-date rankings and tier lists for PvE and PvP in Season 4, patch 9.2.7.

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