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First look at Shadow Priest in the Midnight Alpha

· 8 min read
Publik
Publik
Maintainer of Book of Shadows

The following changes are focused on simplifying some of the cooldown launch sequence as well as the frequent number of high priority procs in the rotation for Shadow. We are also updating the fantasy and visuals of their core spells to create a consistent theme of using the power of the Old Gods to haunt your enemies.

Feedback Thread on the Forums

Changelog​

Baseline Spells​

In addition to these spells being added baseline there have been changes to the balancing of several spells in our kit. For brevity I have not included these simple balancing tweaks in this post.

Removed Spells​

Class Spells​

Shadow Spells​

Talent Tree​

You can see an updated version of the Talent Calculator on Wowhead.

Class Tree​

Hero Trees​

Archon​

Archon Icons

Voidweaver​

Spec Tree​

We will soon be getting several new talents into the spec, these have not yet shown up in Alpha but were announced:

  • Shadow Power – Increases your non-periodic spell damage by 6%.
  • Mind Melt – Mind Flay has a 20% increased critical strike chance and deals 50% increased critical strike damage.

The following talents have been adjusted/reworked:

Tentacle Slam Animation​

Shadow Crash renamed to Tentacle Slam and has been redesigned – Tentacle Slam summons a massive shadowy appendage to slam the ground, dealing damage and applying Vampiric Touch to up to 6 targets to all enemies between you and the target, as well as 8 yards around your target. Max 2 charges, 15 seconds recharge. Tentacle Slam Animation

Shadow Word: Madness Animation​

Shadow Word: Madness Animation

Apex Talents: Void Apparitions​

  1. Void Apparitions - When an effect from an Idol is activated, conjure Shadowy Apparitions
  2. Void Apparitions - Shadowy Apparitions have a chance to become empowered and deal more damage and send out a Void Bolt at their target. This Void Bolt does NOT refresh DoTs
  3. Void Apparitions - Tentacle Slam has a 100% chance to activate an effect from one of your idols (does not require it to be talented).

FAQ​

How will Mass AoE Work?​

With the changes that remove Void Bolt and its ability to refresh DoT effects this is a massive gap we have right now in our kit.

UI and Addons​

Combat Addons will be disabled.

This means that many things you rely on for tracking will have to change. Basically anything that accesses Combat Log events will likely stop working and you will need to rely on the default UI to track these things.

While we do not know all specifics it is likely that things like Plater nameplate mods or Weak Auras that track buffs/debuffs will no longer function. Hopefully we get more details soon.

The biggest thing here is to give feedback on what we rely on addons for that is no longer working. The biggest things that come to mind are:

  • Tracking if every mob in a pack has DoTs active
  • Duration of DoTs on your current target to know optimal refresh times (Only works for Shadow Word: Madness currently)

Gearing Updates in Midnight

Season 1 Tier Set Bonuses​