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How the 15/0/36 build works
Shadow to Shadowform with Shadow Weaving, Darkness, Vampiric Embrace and Improved Mind Blast. Forever adds Improved Mind Flay, Devouring Contagion and Early Demise, and this build takes all three.
Fifteen Discipline points go to Twin Disciplines, Silent Resolve, Mental Agility, Wand Specialization and Inner Focus. The alternative stops Shadow at 31 for a deeper Discipline side.
Shadow Priest leveling build
One talent point a level from 10 to 60, in this order, ending at 20/0/31 without a respec. Pick the Leveling tab above and drag the level slider to watch the trees fill in.
Levels 10–19
Spirit Tap first: after each kill your Spirit doubles for 15 seconds and half your mana regeneration continues while casting. Improved Shadow Word: Pain lasts 6 seconds longer, and Shadow Focus adds hit.
Levels 20–29
Mind Flay at 20, and Improved Mind Flay makes it hit 20% harder from 10 yards further. Improved Mind Blast cuts its cooldown, Vampiric Embrace heals you from your Shadow damage, and Shadow Weaving stacks up to 10% more Shadow damage.
Levels 30–40
Improved Mind Blast finished. Devouring Contagion makes Devouring Plague cheaper and spreads it when the target dies. Darkness adds 10% Shadow damage, and Shadowform at 40 adds 10% more, halves Shadow spell costs and cuts Physical damage taken by 15%.
Levels 41–60
Discipline: Wand Specialization, Twin Disciplines for instant spells, Improved Power Word: Shield, Mental Agility and Meditation for mana, and Mental Strength for Intellect.
| Level | Talent | Tree |
|---|---|---|
| 10–14 | Spirit Tap 5/5 | Shadow |
| 15–16 | Improved Shadow Word: Pain 2/2 | Shadow |
| 17–19 | Shadow Focus 3/5 | Shadow |
| 20 | Mind Flay 1/1 | Shadow |
| 21–22 | Improved Mind Flay 2/2 | Shadow |
| 23–24 | Improved Mind Blast 2/5 | Shadow |
| 25 | Vampiric Embrace 1/1 | Shadow |
| 26–28 | Shadow Weaving 3/3 | Shadow |
| 29–31 | Improved Mind Blast 5/5 | Shadow |
| 32–33 | Devouring Contagion 2/2 | Shadow |
| 34 | Shadow Reach 1/2 | Shadow |
| 35–39 | Darkness 5/5 | Shadow |
| 40 | Shadowform 1/1 | Shadow |
| 41–42 | Wand Specialization 2/2 | Discipline |
| 43–47 | Twin Disciplines 5/5 | Discipline |
| 48–50 | Improved Power Word: Shield 3/3 | Discipline |
| 51–53 | Mental Agility 3/3 | Discipline |
| 54–55 | Meditation 2/3 | Discipline |
| 56–60 | Mental Strength 5/5 | Discipline |
Rather skip the climb? The leveling service takes your character to 60 on your realm.
Every talent in the Shadow Priest raid build
Each talent with its Forever tooltip at the rank the build takes.
Discipline· 15 points
Wand Specialization 2/2
Increases your damage with Wands by 25%.
Twin Disciplines 5/5New in Forever
Increases the damage and healing of your instant cast spells by 5%.
Silent Resolve 3/3
Reduces the threat generated by your Holy spells by 30% and reduces the duration of Stun, Fear, and Silence effects inflicted on you by 15%.
Mental Agility 3/3
Reduces the mana cost of your Smite, Holy Fire, and instant cast spells by 10%.
Inner Focus 1/1
When activated, reduces the Mana cost of your next spell by 100% and increases its critical effect chance by 25% if it is a non-periodic spell and capable of a critical effect.
Meditation 1/3
Allows 17% of your Mana regeneration to continue while casting.
Shadow· 36 points
Shadow Focus 5/5
Improves your chance to hit with Shadow spells by 5%.
Blackout 5/5
Gives your Shadow damage spells a 10% chance to stun the target for 3 sec.
Improved Shadow Word: Pain 2/2
Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 6 sec.
Shadow Reach 2/2
Increases the range of your offensive Shadow spells by 20%.
Improved Mind Blast 5/5
Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by 2.5 sec.
Mind Flay 1/1
Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 63 Shadow damage over 3 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%.
Improved Mind Flay 2/2New in Forever
Your Mind Flay now deals 20% more damage, gains 10 yards increased range, but slows the target's movement speed by 20%.
Vampiric Embrace 1/1
Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow spell damage you deal for 30 sec.
Shadow Weaving 3/3
Your Shadow damage spells have a 100% chance to increase the Shadow damage you deal by 2% for 15 sec, stacking up to 5 times.
Devouring Contagion 2/2New in Forever
Reduces the mana cost of your Devouring Plague by 50%. Targets that die while Devouring Plague is active spreads it, jumping to a nearby enemy within 10 yds for the remaining duration.
Early Demise 2/2New in Forever
Increases Shadow Word: Death's critical strike chance on targets at or below 20% health by 30%.
Darkness 5/5
Increases your Shadow damage done by 10%.
Shadowform 1/1
Assume Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 10%, reducing the Mana cost of all Shadow spells by 50%, increasing the critical strike damage bonus of your Shadow spells by 100%, and reducing Physical damage taken by you by 15%. However, you may not cast healing spells while in this form.
New Shadow talents in WoW Forever
The 3 talents in Forever's Shadow tree that Classic does not have, shown at full rank. Another 11 carry over from Classic with different ranks, positions or numbers.
Improved Mind Flay · row 3, 2 ranks
Your Mind Flay now deals 20% more damage, gains 10 yards increased range, but slows the target's movement speed by 20%.
Devouring Contagion · row 5, 2 ranks
Reduces the mana cost of your Devouring Plague by 50%. Targets that die while Devouring Plague is active spreads it, jumping to a nearby enemy within 10 yds for the remaining duration.
Early Demise · row 6, 2 ranks
Increases Shadow Word: Death's critical strike chance on targets at or below 20% health by 30%.
Questions
What are the best Shadow Priest talents in WoW Forever?
Our recommended Shadow Priest build is 15/0/36: Shadow to Shadowform, Twin Disciplines from Discipline. It is one of the Forever sim's preset builds. Nobody has played a level 60 yet, so treat it as a starting point until launch on 4 November.
Are WoW Forever's Shadow talents the same as Classic's?
No. Forever's Shadow tree has 18 talents, and 3 of them do not exist in Classic: Improved Mind Flay, Devouring Contagion and Early Demise. Another 11 have different ranks, positions or numbers. The tree is still seven rows deep, and each row still needs five points spent above it.
What is the Shadow 31-point talent in WoW Forever?
Shadowform. Assume Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 10%, reducing the Mana cost of all Shadow spells by 50%, increasing the critical strike damage bonus of your Shadow spells by 100%, and reducing Physical damage taken by you by 15%. However, you may not cast healing spells while in this form.
What is the best Shadow Priest leveling build in WoW Forever?
Ours takes one point a level from 10 to 60 with no respec and ends at 20/0/31. It picks up Mind Flay at 20, Vampiric Embrace at 25 and Shadowform at 40. The full order is on this page.
How many talent points do you get in WoW Forever?
51 at level 60, one per level from level 10, as in Classic. The Legacy perk Talented starts them at level 5 instead, which matters for alts while levelling.
Where does this talent data come from?
From the WoW Forever beta client's own talent tables (build 1.60.1.70338), not from Classic. Every tooltip on this page is rendered from the client's spell data, and we checked them against the numbers the beta's own tooltips show. The trees can still change before launch.
