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: Midnight (12.0.1).

Single Target

Ensure Shadowform is active before the encounter begins.

• Shadow Word PainView detailsIf not active on the target.
• Vampiric TouchView detailsMaintain uptime, either with Tentacle Slam or hard cast.
• Halo
• VoidformView detailsEnter Voidform.
• Power Infusion
• Void Volley
• Shadow Word MadnessView detailsSpend Insanity if not active, about to fall off, or nearing cap.
• Mind Flay InsanityView detailsIf Shadow Word Madness is active.
• Mind Blast
• Tentacle SlamView detailsIf no additional targets to DoT or upcoming movement.
• Mind FlayView detailsInterrupt if higher priority becomes available.
• Shadow Word DeathView detailsUse while moving.

Maintain Shadow Word Pain and Vampiric Touch. Use Halo and enter Voidform early. Spend Insanity on Shadow Word Madness and prioritize Void Volley during Voidform. Use Mind Flay as a filler.

AoE

• Shadow Word PainView detailsIf not active on targets.
• Vampiric TouchView detailsMaintain uptime, either with Tentacle Slam or hard cast.
• Halo
• VoidformView detailsEnter Voidform.
• Power Infusion
• Void Volley
• Shadow Word MadnessView detailsSpend Insanity if not active, about to fall off, or nearing cap.
• Mind Flay InsanityView detailsIf Shadow Word Madness is active.
• Mind Blast
• Tentacle SlamView detailsIf no additional targets to DoT or upcoming movement.
• Mind FlayView detailsInterrupt if higher priority becomes available.
• Shadow Word DeathView detailsUse while moving.

For AoE, maintain Shadow Word Pain and Vampiric Touch on multiple targets. Use Halo and Voidform early. Spend Insanity on Shadow Word Madness and prioritize Void Volley during Voidform. Use Mind Flay as a filler.

Cooldowns

• Power InfusionView detailsUse on yourself or an ally for maximum haste value.
• VoidformView detailsUse on cooldown, aligning with Power Infusion and Halo.
• HaloView detailsUse early in opener and cooldown sequences for ramp-up.

Use Power Infusion for haste, prioritizing yourself or a high-value ally. Activate Voidform on cooldown, aligning with other major abilities like Halo.

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.