Shadow Priest DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Shadow Priest abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.1.7).

Single Target

Ensure Shadowform and Power Word Fortitude are active before combat.

Maintain alongside Shadow Word Pain. Use Shadow Crash for refreshing.
Spend Insanity to maintain uptime without capping.
Use to generate Insanity. Avoid capping charges.
Enter Voidform when available.
Use for burst damage.
Channel fully when Devouring Plague is active.
Use with Surge Of Insanity stacks.
Use on targets below 20% health.
Use as a filler.

Maintain Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word Pain, spend Insanity on Devouring Plague, and use Void Eruption or Dark Ascension for burst. Fill with Mind Spike Insanity or Mind Flay as needed.

AoE

Ensure Shadowform and Power Word Fortitude are active before combat.

Apply DoTs to grouped targets.
Manually apply to additional targets if needed.
Focus on priority targets or spread for AoE.
Enter Voidform for AoE burst.
Use for AoE burst.
Channel fully for AoE damage.
Use when mobs are within range.
Generate Insanity.
Use as a filler.

Use Shadow Crash to apply DoTs, spend Insanity on Devouring Plague, and use Void Eruption or Dark Ascension for AoE burst. Fill with Mind Flay as needed.

Cooldowns

Use for sustained damage and Voidform.
Use for burst damage.
Use on cooldown or sync with other major abilities.
Use for AoE damage or pre-pull Insanity generation.
Channel fully for high Insanity generation.
Use before entering Voidform or Dark Ascension.

Use Void Eruption or Dark Ascension for burst phases, Power Infusion for Haste, and Void Torrent for Insanity generation. Sync Shadowfiend with major cooldowns.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

Single-Button Assistant
Assisted Highlight
Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.