Yeah you probably should be doing some more dmg, don't be too stingy with those MB/SWD, with mana pots you'll climb DPS dramatically.

Also, you're over the hit cap of 16% by a fair bit (someone correct me if i'm wrong please), so dropping some hit for other things would be nice, like the spell hit rating gems you've got, swap them for some +9 gems, it's free dmg!

You're right about your weapon, it's the main thing holding you back, get a new caster dagger with soulfrost on it and you'll notice a huge increase.

All of these things and their reasoning behind it are covered in much more detail by people much better than me at Shadowpriest.com, it's a great resource for PVE inclined Spriests.

While there's no rotation, with 1/5 imp MB (don't see much point for more) your spells all cast in 1.5s intervals, meaning other than mind flay spells generally don't come out of cooldown except for during MF which means you'll waste 1.5s tops. Just use your spells by priority whenever they're up and make sure you always know what's the next spell you're going to cast before the time comes to actaully cast it to reduce your idle time cased by the "spell finished casting - what do I cast now? hmm..." situation. Even if it takes you 0.3s to figure it out it's a lot of DPS lost.

I would actually recommend getting 4/5 Imp MB or even 5/5 if you have very low latency. I usually run at about 100ms and having 4/5 Imp MB really helps my rotation flow nicely.

This is what I open with

VT SWP VE MB SWD MF MB VT....I then start using the priority system as Mackabre talked about but I find that I go through this general rotation a lot throughout the fight.

One thing that is also worth mentioning is to not cast MB or SWD if VT is not up or if it will run out before then land on the target. This will hurt your mana pool and paying attention to this has really helped my dps.

Edit - I just started browsing these boards and I don't see very many signatures. Are they frowned upon?

I probably range between 700 and 1000, depending on the fight. I'll rip into Tidewalker tonight and try to get a decent approximation.

I've seen a few signatures around. However, signing your posts is considered to be a big no-no.

Balkoth, in case you didn't see the information to the left

Pretty much sums up why you arn't hitting the numbers you expect right now. Shadowpriests are quite consumable unfriendly really, you will be using mana-pots on cooldown - and even at +1500 raidbuffed I'm chain-chugging Dark Runes & Supers to keep going full tilt.

The main modifications to your performance are unfortunately out of your control, of course. Is the warlock with Malediction missing tonight? Do you have access to mana-tide? Are you using TA instead of WoA? Are you running with a BM hunter to give you Ferocious Inspiration? Are you constantly having to move out of range of your Mana-Spring totem? Does the fight threat-cap you too early?

As has been said in earlier posts, you can't improve much of this unless you talk group stacking through with your RL. What you can improve yourself is mainly gear, your willingness to use consumables & understanding how best to make use of your mana. A lot of this can be found on shadowpriest.com, however ultimately the biggest immediate change to your dps will be the 100mp5 gained from chain-chugging supers.

Also use Shadowfiend at appropriate times. Don't use it...

Hydross: At phase transitions or when full Shadow Weaving/Misery/Curse of Shadows aren't up
Lurker: Just before he whirls, spouts, or submerges
Tidewalker: Just before an Earthquake
Fathom Lord: Meh, I just use it on the shaman or priest, never tested whether Spitfire/Waterbolt Volley/Tidal Surge affect it

Void Reaver: Just before a pounding

You can get 6-7k mana back from a well used (and lucky) Shadowfiend, which can save you some mana potions.

Just to add some insights on the shadowfiend: it has something like a 75% dodge rate. This means that if you can time it between melee AoE effects that would normally take it out, you can usually have it last the full duration unless it gets caught in magical AoE.

For instance: On Lurker, the best time to use a shadowfiend is right after he whirls when re-emerging. Shadowfiend will most likely last its entire duration because of the insane dodge rate.

Considering all the mana-related issues, is alchemist stone a good use a trinket slot?

40 mp5 worth losing 60 or more spell damage? I doubt it, but if you're extremely mana starved it's worth working the numbers and seeing.

As far as DPS is concerned, I can feel I'm limited only by threat. On basically every fight. Is it my bad? or are the tanks bad?

http://armory.wow-europe.com/#charac...gnaros&n=Daize

EDIT: due to lack of raiding (summer times and some exams), I screwed my talent spec.

Threat capped means either your VE is healing to full effect nearly 100% of the time, your tank generates aggro slowly, or a combination of both. Solutions are obvoius ;p have healers help heal rather than rely on VE, and/or have the tank learn to tank... Even our best shadow priest that does nearly as much DPS as the mages/warlocks doesn't get totally threat capped (although pretty close sometimes when VE is heavily used). Remember overhealing doesn't generate threat.