Mithwen
02-26-2008, 11:03 AM
I thought I'd share a few links about being a shadow priest that I was looking over the other day and get my stamp of approval. If you're thinking about playing a shadow priest, or already do, there's some good advice in these links. Stuff I mostly sussed out for myself or read in several places, but wish I'd noticed the synopsis earlier. :)
So the first one is: How to fix your dps (http://shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=5209)
The stickied post has pretty much everything I'd have to say about pew pew priesting. Most of the things I do to maximize my own dps I incorporated over months but is included here. e.g. we have WWS stats to take a look at ... and you can use WWS to see what spriests from other guilds are doing on the same encounter. I used this tool to figure out that while the number of dot ticks I'd have on a boss was pretty good, I just wasn't mind blasting enough to up my dps. It's not just about your gear, you have to have your dots ticking and your cooldowns used. I changed this and bam ... better numbers. Granted, our WWS is maybe a little iffy, but it's better than nothing. Also included are a couple of the macros I use (and one that I have been meaning to add for ages!) as well as good advice for spell rotations. Note the discussion about using mp5 stuff if you have under 1k spell damage (which you shouldn't have if you make your BoEs). I know that I was knocking the mana pots back early on in SSC/TK, so this is good advice.
The second one to check is: The best raiding gear available (http://www.shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=6594)
This is a fantastically comprehensive list of what we have available and what they've figured out is good stuff according to some formulae (I haven't plunged into that just yet, but it's generally maximize to hit cap and then go nuts on spell damage ... but they factor in a bit for spell crit and haste). It's good stuff and I know I needed the little attitude correction toward loot that it brought me. Obviously there's room to quibble over certain pieces but the numbers are laid out pretty nicely. You can figure out how to get the biggest bang both for the crap you have in your bags right now, and decide what stuff is worthwhile to spend your time trying to craft (or bidding on if we see a drop).
I was somewhat surprised to see how well something like the Frozen Shadoweave Robe continues to fare into MH/BT (e.g. Robes of Rhonin don't score as well as I'd thought they would). I am convinced now more than ever that it's a pretty important piece for the tailoring shadow priest to have. The numbers for a given item also include a rating for the hit that they carry so that you can factor that into your overall gear assessment. Also, set bonuses are evaluated and presented as separate numbers. This gave me some pause for thought while I was re evaluating my 'end game' dream gear.
These are just a couple things to look at to start off. There's a lot more depth on these forums that hopefully will be useful to folks wondering about facemelting. Even with an alt shadow priest you should be able to construct a really decent set with tailoring and engineering (if you want to be silly like me) or tailoring and enchanting. There's no reason that you'd need SSC/TK loot to felt maces very nicely. If you're serious about being an omg pew pewz shadow priest you sadly need to be a tailor and there's no reason to hang on to being a mooncloth tailor.
Pika.
edited for wordiness and comprehension. Yes, it used to be a bigger wall of text.
So the first one is: How to fix your dps (http://shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=5209)
The stickied post has pretty much everything I'd have to say about pew pew priesting. Most of the things I do to maximize my own dps I incorporated over months but is included here. e.g. we have WWS stats to take a look at ... and you can use WWS to see what spriests from other guilds are doing on the same encounter. I used this tool to figure out that while the number of dot ticks I'd have on a boss was pretty good, I just wasn't mind blasting enough to up my dps. It's not just about your gear, you have to have your dots ticking and your cooldowns used. I changed this and bam ... better numbers. Granted, our WWS is maybe a little iffy, but it's better than nothing. Also included are a couple of the macros I use (and one that I have been meaning to add for ages!) as well as good advice for spell rotations. Note the discussion about using mp5 stuff if you have under 1k spell damage (which you shouldn't have if you make your BoEs). I know that I was knocking the mana pots back early on in SSC/TK, so this is good advice.
The second one to check is: The best raiding gear available (http://www.shadowpriest.com/viewtopic.php?t=6594)
This is a fantastically comprehensive list of what we have available and what they've figured out is good stuff according to some formulae (I haven't plunged into that just yet, but it's generally maximize to hit cap and then go nuts on spell damage ... but they factor in a bit for spell crit and haste). It's good stuff and I know I needed the little attitude correction toward loot that it brought me. Obviously there's room to quibble over certain pieces but the numbers are laid out pretty nicely. You can figure out how to get the biggest bang both for the crap you have in your bags right now, and decide what stuff is worthwhile to spend your time trying to craft (or bidding on if we see a drop).
I was somewhat surprised to see how well something like the Frozen Shadoweave Robe continues to fare into MH/BT (e.g. Robes of Rhonin don't score as well as I'd thought they would). I am convinced now more than ever that it's a pretty important piece for the tailoring shadow priest to have. The numbers for a given item also include a rating for the hit that they carry so that you can factor that into your overall gear assessment. Also, set bonuses are evaluated and presented as separate numbers. This gave me some pause for thought while I was re evaluating my 'end game' dream gear.
These are just a couple things to look at to start off. There's a lot more depth on these forums that hopefully will be useful to folks wondering about facemelting. Even with an alt shadow priest you should be able to construct a really decent set with tailoring and engineering (if you want to be silly like me) or tailoring and enchanting. There's no reason that you'd need SSC/TK loot to felt maces very nicely. If you're serious about being an omg pew pewz shadow priest you sadly need to be a tailor and there's no reason to hang on to being a mooncloth tailor.
Pika.
edited for wordiness and comprehension. Yes, it used to be a bigger wall of text.