Shadowpriests repeat after me: My manapool is meaningless.

I'll mention it, but grinding out the honor for it can be a pain. Hence why I didn't include it initially.

Adding the trinket, I missed the part where it became fixed :) Forgot about the ring, adding that too.

I currently use DoTimer. I know Quartz is also an option. If someone has a list of other mods, I'll include it.

I'll add both. Though I confess to avoiding MB/SW:D on farm content to cut down on the mana potion consumption >.>

For the reasons Severin mentioned, I'll include it.

Well, let's look at some numbers. First, we'll keep VT out of the equation for the reasons stated. So, we're comparing MB, SW:D, and SW:P. These spells have effective cooldowns of 7-9.5, 12, and 24 second cooldowns, respectively. We'll look at each seperately and I'll use Balkoth - WWS for the numbers on MB and SW:P.

According to that kill, MB's average damage was 2200. SW:P was ticking for 750. The key is finding out how much damage you lose by losing a GCD. SW:P ticks every 3 seconds for 750, or 375 per GCD. Mind Blast (using 5/5 Imp MB) can hit for 2200 every 7 seconds, or losing 315 per GCD when it's not used. With no points in Imp MB it is 232. Now, granted, I do not have Shadow Power or much crit. But unless the Mind Blast does 375/314= 19% more damage all of a sudden, using SW:P is superior.

So, now let's compare MB to SW:D. Fact 1: MB hits for more than SW:D. Fact 2: SW:D has a longer cooldown than MB. Using the GCD loss argument, MB is clearly superior.

I believe, raid buffed, Meditation currently offers about 10 mana/5 per point. So in 2.3 priests will likely gain 30 mana/5 if they have full Meditation, from their spirit. Now, I haven't done any hard math, but based upon gem stat ratios 10 spirit would have to be superior to 4 mana per 5, in terms of regeneration and extra damage. I don't have time to try to figure it out now.

And yes, we still don't have any hard data that is consistent for haste (besides haste being more valuable at higher damage levels).

A big thank you on the feedback, I'll update with these changes when I have the time tonight.

While it's true that the MB and SW:P cooldowns aren't head-to-head often, SW:P will always do more DPS per global, if it runs the full duration (bosses).

Without 2pc T6, SW:P will tick 8 times. If we take an average tick of 600 (yes, this is quite low to send home the message), we can expect 8 * 600 for 4800 damage over a 1.5 second global (3200 DPS). Again, this is close to the lowest end of SW:P's DPS capability. I can personally expect closer to 8100 damage done (5400 DPS)

Without even going into the math, with 4pc T6 and Imp. SB proc, I'm looking at mid-4800 crits from MB. That is, if the stars are all aligned, MB will _match_ the lowest expectations from SW:P. Averaged over a fight, the MB GCD falls behind.

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As for haste, more than mind flay will take advantage of the stat. Effectively, hasted MB and VT will invoke the cooldown or sooner dot ticks. This will haste the rate at which MB and VT can be recast, increasing long-term DPS.

There is also speculation / anecdotal theories claiming haste is affecting server response on instant casts. If this is the case, haste will also counter any latency tacked onto an instant's GCD, which can't be combated by /stopcasting.

You could probably expand the "What group should I be in?" section a bit. You don't even mention hunters but they are arguably the class that benefits most from a shadow priest.

I have a question concerning the +hit cap on a Draenei Shadow Priest. The "Working Theories of Theorycrafting as of 2.2" thread reports that, "Once you reach the hit cap, +damage is the best stat to stack for a shadow priest."

As I understand it, for PvE, +16% chance to hit is the maximum effective. A Draenei gets a +1% chance to hit racial bonus, so a Draenei SP needs on +15% chance to hit to reach the hit cap, which translates to a 15*12.6 = +190 spell hit rating.

But as a SP, having 5 points in Shadow Focus give another +10% chance to hit for shadow spells, so this should mean that only another +5% chance to hit is needed for a Draenei SP to reach the hit cap for shadow spells, which is only 5*12.6 = +63 spell hit rating.

But though +63 spell hit rating points allows the Draenei SP to be maxed on shadow spells, it takes another +127 spell hit rating points on top of that to max chance to hit for one of the most commonly used SP spells, Mind Blast.

My question is, after getting to +63 spell hit rating on a Draenei SP, is there any reason to invest another rating point in spell hit rating to get better performance on Mind Blast, or should further itemization be directed at +damage?

Mind blast is shadow. It's affected by SF. Get your 63 hit and then focus on + damage until you have so much + hit on your best gear that you can drop points out of SF and put them into other things (Shadow power, imp MB, etc).

Ack. I guess I was mislead by the Discipline talent, "Focused Power", which increases chance to hit on Smite, Mind Blast and Mass Dispel. Because of Focused Power, I thought that Shadow Focus doesn't apply to Mind Blast. Thanks for the correction and the advice.

I'll expand it, but I am curious on this. Mage > Hunter > Destro Lock > other casters, no?

That's assuming Judgement of Wisdom uptime.

Elemental Shaman and Moonkin are below mage but above hunter. Healers also fit in at the "above Hunter" level on most fights.

Yet Caligula seems to think otherwise. We'll see what his justification is, I suppose. I converted all the gear to [item] tags...any idea if it's possible to do something similar with enchants?

There are three reasons you'd want any spell caster (except maybe a warlock) with a shadow priest over a hunter:

#1) Totem Contention

The shaman and priest want Wrath of Air, as does everyone else in the group except the hunter, who wants agility. You waste useful totem buffs when you mix a shaman, shadow priest, and hunter. And the Shaman / Priest synergy is far too strong to be ignored.

#2) Hunters are more effective when out of mana than casters

When a hunter runs out of mana, he uses autoshot and his pet, and his DPS is maybe cut in half. When any caster runs out of mana, they don't lose 50% damage. They lose 95% damage, since all they can do is wand. Warlocks are the exception because they can lifetap.

#3) Hunters don't need as much mana

The mana regen from judgement of wisdom is enough to operate at close to full capacity on most fights, such that the marginal benefit of a priest is low. This is because hunters average close to 1 hit per second half of which didn't require mana to fire, where most casters land 1 hit every 2 to 3 seconds. (Arcane missile mages is the exception here, but missiles is a mana pig, so the mage still needs a priest).

That's why hunters benefit less from shadow priests than other classes.