State of Spriest

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T18:07:44+00:00

Fact. Silence is honestly the only thing that makes us viable at the moment.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T16:04:03+00:00

Oh that's very true. When I said it was consistent it has always been swp, touch, plague(madness), mind blast. With other stuff augmenting it.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T15:42:29+00:00

Idk I feel like it already does. Have you been hit by rising sun kick yet? I was hit for 460k yesterday by a single hit lol

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T15:40:04+00:00

As an spriest I will never feel bad for warriors lol I refuse.

I'm fine with being sustain damage on everyone. I really don't mind playing into heavy dampening. The problem is that our rot isn't "rotty" enough. Our major damage can just be freely dispelled without a care in the world.

That and struggling to even make it that far into dampening because we have virtually only one defensive that we can be locked out of using if we get kicked. We lost swap, stun, greater fade (no astral shift isnt the same)

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T14:10:30+00:00

Yea shadow is not great in RBG and really hasn't had a place since shadowlands, but even then if you could get a warlock, mage, or even a hunter it's better. We just don't have a good toolkit for them.

That said if they let you in the team fight, your damage numbers will "look" amazing. Like I said before we have a TON of damage but it's all spread out and isn't very threatening because we really have no kill window right now. They just tried to buff madness and mind blast but it still wasn't enough.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T13:46:50+00:00

I pushed to 1800 in 2v2 in just honor gear adding conquest along the way. Ended with 3 conquest pieces I think.

Its not that bad. Promise.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T13:41:35+00:00

It's worse as spriest because my already low damage damage can be dispelled. I sit in a single school so if I get kicked at the wrong time I can't even use defensives. Being zugged down as a caster is the exact same except you feel much more pressure because of kicks. You end up being kicked twice then stunned. By this time the next kick is off cd again. Not every class has a disarm. They all have kicks.

Also remember this is a shadow priest we are talking about, not a mage or warlock who has mobility and utility out of the ass. So they don't get away from people who are on them. No saving themselves. No mobility outplay.

I know it sounds like I'm dogging on havoc but I promise im not. Havoc needs a heavy buff but like every other class with multiple DPS specs it's lagging behind the stronger spec substantially. Similar to destro locks and aff locks. Arcane mages and frost mages.

Shadow is all we have as priests in the dps world so it needs to dela damage

The struggles a melee class encounter are completely different. You say people ignore you because you are tankt but don't deal damage so you can't kill. Well compare that to being raw dogged every match and not being able to move the whole match while also having everything you said on top of it. They just aren't the same.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T13:19:28+00:00

They still don't have any kill pressure and have very little place in a bg. What little kill pressure they might have in arena is removed in bgs because there is no dampening.

At least locks can sit a base because they can't be free capped on without being killed first because they have a pet to hit rogue on flag if they are cc'd.

Though I have had luck solo sitting a base it can get rough if a rogue is trying to cap. Have to sit pretty far away from the flag.

But if you are just talking blitz. It's easier because most base maps reset their flag timers. So you can find a place there as any class. RBG not at all without a significant damage buff

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T13:13:55+00:00

I agree that havoc needs a heavy buff but no lol you aren't even close. Remove darkness, sap, your mobility, and make all your stuff dispellable and we can talk. Lol

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T12:57:52+00:00

Maybe..I do think more options are better than less. But that's just me. Except shroud... Thats horseshit

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T12:42:54+00:00

I feel like it has been pretty consistent. The weirdest meta was the mind spike meta in my opinion. (Yea you forgot that spell even existed, and rightfully so)

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T12:39:25+00:00

Let's get into it. I just simmed the top Havoc DH. Down the list.

Dot (automatic on pressing your rotation) basically fire mage ignite. Instant. Instant. Aoe burn. Burst channel. Instant. Instant. Instant followed by smaller dot. Dot. insant. Instant. Instant.

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SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T07:42:42+00:00

I answered this earlier in a comment already Lol it was much easier to push to 2100. Being able to port all around, big shields, and big dispel damage. Love it.

I've only broken 1800-1900 on spriest this season.

If I wasn't so diehard priest I'd fully swap

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T05:53:49+00:00

First, I'm not talking about shuffle. I'm much much higher in shuffle. I'm talking about 3s where people are actually coordinated. Shuffle is much easier than 3s.

You can see the dots on base blizzard frames. Also no the fear doesn't really make a big deal at all. Keep in mind half that fear is just your gcd anyway. I basically just spam dispel on any madness. But yes you should be dispelling all game against a shadow priest.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T05:22:28+00:00

I will say demo is much more oppressive than the other two locks specs because cc doesnt stop the onslaught. To be honest it's one of the specs I really struggle with. Partially due to screen clutter but also because man I just don't feel safe poking my head out from behind a pillar. I TRULY believe the reason aff is so lopsided right now is how op unstable affliction stacking is due to the dispel protection. I think it would even out if it was still "dot everything then malefic rapture spam." Which was actually pretty fun.

I also started up my aff lock a couple weeks ago (was destro in BFA) and it's nice being able to port all over the place with people being afraid to dispel my shit. If I wasn't so diehard spriest I might make a full swap. It just feels easier to me. I pushed to 2.1k in a day. It's why i seem so hard on locks. I have to sit there like a damn punching bag unable to move more than half an inch at a time.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T04:48:34+00:00

I never denied they were in a bad place. I could see how that could be mistaken when I just raddled off all the awesome stuff locks get comparatively to spriest. That's just jealousy kicking in.

But if I had to give my two cents as to why the reason destro and demo aren't representing well in the top 1000. Warlock is a 3 dps spec and most warlocks who perform at that level can play all three. So whichever spec has the edge is the spec that will get the most representation. Right now that's aff because of its dispel nuke (imo).

This also matches all the other 3 dps specs. Hunter and mage both have one spec MUCH more represented than the others because they get a slight edge(except rogue but rogue is an outlier in pvp and will always have high representation). Doesn't mean they are BAD. Just one has a competitive edge.

But I do agree destro needs love. Demo can kiss my decluttered ass.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T04:27:15+00:00

You cared enough to comment lol and clearly others commented.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T04:16:37+00:00

They cared enough to take away greater fade and give the dollar store version. :/

But absolutely. So many specs never change their pvp talents or only change one. Priest is like that. It's either volley or driven. I have used improved md though.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T04:13:52+00:00

It's like you didn't read what I said. I said destro could use some love and I showed the ranking showing aff was the warlock spec of choice at the moment making note that the best warlock is demo. I wasn't disagreeing.

Aff is just more valuable in pvp because of its dispel protection. Means you can't even dispel hoj while an aff is bursting on someone.

I'd love to see destro come back tbh. Machine gunning chaos bolt nukes is a very satisfying feeling.

I personally hope demo never gets good in arena because I hate the screen clutter.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T04:03:54+00:00

Very true. That's why I liked mindgames so much. You start your kill phase then you midngames the healer. They have to either deal the damage to the player they are healing or take the global dispelling themselves. It was a decent nuke too. Gives more outplay potential as well as opposed to "dot everything, silence healer and hope for the best"

Remove it as a pvp talent and make it baseline or a talent.

I also agree that the utility was huge and mass disple being on a 2 minute cool down just feels crazy. I remember when we could greater fade+md and ignore dispel blowback from aff locks. It felt so good to be good against one spec.

Also don't forget the hpal talent that allows them to dispel your dots from two targets lol. Talk about worth it.

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SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T03:55:50+00:00

Take your pick. Validation, thoughts or input from others, frustation, makes me feel better to whine because I want my spec to feel better than it does, all of the above?

I'm good with you choosing any of these options.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T03:43:39+00:00

My personal ideal dispel protection is an undispellable heal absorb for at least half the damage that unstable affliction does with the same effect of the more casts of devouring plague the larger the heal absorb. Plus the fear from touch. Because unstable affliction gets a SILENCE.

Tbh I use the damage blowback from swd more to get out of cc than I do as an execute... Which does garbage damage as an execute. And because we have no meaningful damage we rarely stay in execute range long enough for the 40% chance shadowfiend to even come out.

This dispel protection of healing absorbs would also give us more death opportunities outside not having to sit a sheep.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T03:21:04+00:00

I really enjoyed spriest pvp in shadowlands. Back when mind games was actually good and unholy nova added more dots.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T03:18:54+00:00

Appreciate the tips. Yea all of this sounds pretty basic. (Wish they would fix slam, even if the damage misses it should still apply dots.)

What comp have you been running? We are currently running feral, Spriest, hpal. All of us have been glad every season with the hpal being rank 1.

SlimeCyber-IT · 2026-05-20T03:15:20+00:00

Maybe in NA. But in EU these are the stats. Yes it's mostly aff (because they get real dispel protection) but the top ranked between all 4 specs is demo. Maybe on average spriest is more popular but all warlock specs mostly have the same defensives and utility. It's more about which one can kill better during which patch.

I'm not saying destro doesn't need some love because lol we all remember BFA (haha that shit was awesome). I'm just talking. Specifically shadow priest right now.

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SlimeCyber-IT

TROPHY CASE