Priest Shadow Talents Builds

§ Spirit Tap - x/5 points
Gives you a 20% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit after killing a target that yields experience. For the duration, your Mana may regenerate at a 50% rate while casting. Lasts 15 seconds.

· Excellent
· Maxed: 5 points provides a 100% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit after killing a target that yields experience.
· Essential for leveling, it will greatly increase the speed you can solo mobs 1-60
· New Priests should assign their first 5 points in this talent.

§ Blackout - x/5 points
Gives your Shadow damage spells a 2% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.

· Satisfactory
· Maxed: 5 points provides a 10% chance to stun the target for 3 seconds.
· At 60, consider reassigning 5 points from Spirit tap into this talent if you are staying Shadow
· Blackout activates more than you would think, and can make quite a difference in a fight.

§ Shadow Affinity - x/5 point
Reduces the threat generated by your Shadow spells by 5%.

· Worthless
· If you are in Shadowform, you will usually be either solo or PvP and in neither case does aggro matter. If you are Shadow specced but healing in an instance, you will not be doing damage, and certainly should not be doing enough to draw aggro anyway, making this talent worthless.

§ Improved Shadow Word: Pain - x/2 points
Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 3 seconds.

§ Shadow Focus - x/5 points
Reduces your target's chance to resist your Shadow spells by 2%.

· Excellent
· Maxed: 5 points reduces your target’s chance to resist your Shadow spells by 10%.
· Good for soloing or PvP.

§ Improved Psychic Scream - x/2 points
Reduces the cool down of your Psychic Scream ability by 2 seconds.

· Satisfactory
· Maxed: 2 points reduces cool down from 30 seconds to 26 seconds.
· Insignificant, especially with increased resists and the reduced duration of the spell in PvP.

§ Improved Mind Blast - x/5 points
Reduces the cool down of your Mind Blast spell by 0.5 second.

· Excellent
· Maxed: 5 points reduces the cool down of your Mind Blast spell by 2.5 seconds
· Max this one, Mind Blast is your number one biggest nuke, and you will want to be able to recast it as quickly as possible.

§ Mind Flay - x/1 point
Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 75 damage over 3 seconds and slowing the target to 50% of their movement speed.

· Excellent
· Along with Mind blast and Shadow Word: Pain, this will complete your offensive Shadow arsenal, your most mana efficient damage spell, and great for use in slowing down runners in instances, or slowing down opponents in PvP, either keeping them from running away, or reaching you as quickly.

§ Improved Fade - x/2 points
Increases the duration of your Fade ability by 5 seconds.

· Excellent
· Maxed: 2 points increases the duration of your Fade ability by 10 seconds.
· This is vital as a Shadow Priest when healing in instances. You will not have subtlety, so this is your only means of healing aggro reduction, put 2 points in.

§ Shadow Reach - x/3 points
Increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 6%.

· Excellent
· Maxed: 3 points increases the range of your Shadow damage spells by 18%
· Very good talent, max this if you are a Shadow Priest, more range is always good.

§ Silence - x/1 point
Silence the target, preventing them from casting spells for 5 seconds.

· Excellent
· Good PvP, and in some situations in PvE. You can use this to stop that Mage from sheeping your Warrior before he kills it, and use it to silence a caster in an instance, making it run to the group instead of standing back and casting.

§ Shadow Weaving - x/5 points
Your Shadow damage spells have a 20% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Shadow damage. This vulnerability increases the Shadow damage dealt to your target by 3% and lasts 15 seconds. Stacks up to 5 times.

· Excellent
· Maxed: 5 points yields 100% chance to cause your target to be vulnerable to Shadow Damage, unless it is resisted. Each cast adds 3% damage to the next cast, so only on your 6th cast will you get the full 15%, however you usually will average 9% or so increased damage soloing
· Prerequisite for Darkness.

§ Vampiric Embrace - x/1 point
Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow damage you deal for 1 minute.

· Satisfactory
· While soloing, it is unlikely that you will require Vampiric Embrace since mobs generally expire prior to the penetration of Power Word: Shield. However, since the talent only costs 40 mana it is an option for Priests that prefer a Renew effect while they are in Shadowform.
· In instances, your primary role will be as a healer and therefore it is unlikely that you will be doing a significant amount of Shadow damage, therefore this talent will provide a very low return in healing benefits. It may be useful at lower levels however it provides less benefits as one advances in levels.

§ Shadowform - x/1 point
Assume a Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 15% and reducing Physical damage done to you by 15%. However, you may only cast Shadow and Discipline spells while in this form.

· Excellent
· The single best bottom of tree talent for the Priest class.
· Cannot cast Holy spells (heal) in Shadowform. At level 60, it costs 400 mana, so it is not efficient to drop, heal, and recast mid-fight
· Cannot ride mount while in Shadowform
· Cannot use many trinkets while in Shadowform, including most that cast a spell effect.