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 (11.2).

Single Target

Ensure Shadowform and Power Word Fortitude are active before combat.

Maintain alongside Shadow Word Pain. Use Shadow Crash to refresh if available.
Spend Insanity to maintain uptime without capping.
Use to generate Insanity and avoid losing charges.
Use to generate Insanity and refresh DoTs.
Use early in burst windows or to open Entropic Rift.
Use during cooldown windows for Insanity generation.
Use during cooldown windows for burst damage.
Use on targets below 20% health.
Use as a filler.

Maintain DoTs with Vampiric Touch and Shadow Word Pain. Spend Insanity on Devouring Plague while avoiding capping. Use Mind Blast and Void Bolt for Insanity generation, and Void Torrent for burst. Utilize cooldowns like Dark Ascension or Void Eruption effectively.

AoE

Ensure Shadowform and Power Word Fortitude are active before combat.

Apply DoTs to multiple targets. Use both charges if available.
Manually apply to additional targets if needed.
Funnel casts into priority targets or spread for AoE.
Use for AoE burst.
Use for AoE burst or Insanity generation.
Use for AoE damage when available.
Use to generate Insanity.
Use on low-health targets.
Use as a filler.

Apply DoTs with Shadow Crash and Vampiric Touch. Funnel Devouring Plague into priority targets or spread for AoE. Use Void Eruption or Dark Ascension for burst, and Void Torrent for additional AoE damage.

Cooldowns

Use for sustained damage and Voidform access.
Use for burst damage on non-periodic spells.
Use for Haste boost during cooldown windows.
Use for burst damage and Insanity generation.
Use for Insanity generation and damage.
Use for AoE damage or Insanity generation pre-pull.

Utilize Void Eruption or Dark Ascension for burst phases. Pair Power Infusion with other cooldowns for maximum effect. Use Void Torrent and Shadowfiend for Insanity generation and damage.

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.