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+--- Thread: Shadowpriest DPS and Silent Resolve Nerf (/thread-3336.html)
Shadowpriest DPS and Silent Resolve Nerf - JJJon - 03-02-2007
Hello there,
I raid as a shadow priest in my guild.
It has been quite fun so far in burning crusade.
The problem is that I seem to have is that in the current patch as a shadow priest I top the threat meters. I can already pull aggro whenever I want off of whatever tank I want to pull it off of if I am so inclined (through use of my higher DPS spells). I am specced into both silent resolve and shadow affinity. Silent resolve reduces threat generated by 20%, shadow affinity reduces threat generated by shadow spells by 25%.
Due to VE, a shadow priest generates significantly more threat than a normal DPS caster. This is because (as we all know), VE heals the priests entire party for 30% of damage done. in an aoe fight, it is not unreasonable to assume that VE will be almost entirely consumed (that is, there will be only 30%-40% overheal or so).
Let us assume a threat number for the priest's damage to be 100.
Vampiric embrace is a heal, and does 30% to 5 people. This means that it does 150*.5 threat (as heals count for half threat... it actually does a bit more because of critical heals) but lazily, it does 75 threat.
This means that under optimal threat producing conditions (before threat reducing abilities), a shadow priest generates 175% threat per damage.
Now let us assume that the priest is specced into both Silent resolve and shadow affinity (under the current conditions). The priest will be recieving 80% of the healing threat, and .75*.80 of the damage threat.
100*.75*.8 = 60
75*.8 = 60
This means that the priest will recieve 120% of the normal threat per damage incurred under maximal threat conditions.
under sub maximal conditions... it is a different case. let us assume that only 1 person is being healed by the priests embrace (the MEATSHIELD).
The numbers for this would run with a 30% VE without skills would be
100%
30%*.5 = 15%
Which gives us 115% threat per damage.
If the priest is specced for the reduction talents, it runs as such:
100%*.8*.75 = 60
15*.8 = 12.75
72.75% threat per damage.
Blizzard has recently altered the threat reduction skills in a PTR patch. Silent resolve will no longer apply to Shadow damage. Also, VE will max out at 25%, instead of 30%. What does this mean for a dpsing shadow priest?
We change our forumulas. we no longer multiply by .8 when calculating shadow damage. Our maximal VE healing is now 125%, our minimal VE healing is now 25%
Maximal threat conditions:
100%*.75 = 75%
60.5%*.8 = 45.125%
120.125% total threat per damage.
Minimal threat conditions:
100%*.75 = 75%
12.5%*.8 = 10%
85% total threat per damage.
This means that under maximal conditions, the threat that is produced by the priest is only greater by .125%. The unfortunate part is that under the minimal conditions, the threat is increased by a full 12.25%
What does this mean for in game experience?
Firstly it means that in smaller instances and trash (5 or 10 man) the priest will find himself holding back a bit more than he was previously had to.
Secondly it means that hardly anything will change from the priest's gameplay perspective in terms of large aoe fights. He will have virtually the same threat management as he did before.
This does not seem to be an unreasonable change, but I am not entirely sure why it was necessary at this point in the game. I often found myself holding back in small instance situations with all of the threat mitigation in the world. In larger raids, even on horde side now, threat is trivialized by the addition of blessing of salvation. It seems silly to make it more difficult to do damage in small instances where there is no garuntee of a paladin to grant such a buff.
What ways are there to deal with this extra damage in smaller instances?
There are a few:
The first is to cast less. This has the advantage of supplying the same mana efficiency as before, but a lowered amount of DPS.
The second would be to drop some damage skills. Possibilities are shadow weaving and shadowform. Which is preferable to drop would depend on group makeup (although dropping shadow weaving seems a bad choice, as it a skill, and group makeup changes).
With a warlock, we would most definetly want shadow weaving. with a mage or rogue in our group instead, it wouldn't matter as much. Dropping shadow form has the advantage of allowing us to cast healing spells, and it doesn't require a respec. Unfortunately, either of these options make our damage 15% less efficient as well.
So depending on the group makeup and setting, post patch, PvE shadow priests will have to make some sort of sacrifice.
Shadowpriest DPS and Silent Resolve Nerf - Brista - 03-02-2007
Well you can either cast less or cast VE less or cope with gaining aggro
Not casting VE lets you dps with decent minus threat and the Vampiric Touch mana benefits. If you don't use it for the first mob you focus then use it on the rest you won't even lose much VE
If someone else is doing the healing they probably don't need VE to keep everyone up, when I was a tree druid I almost never spent all my mana in 5 mans
Other options include non-standard tanking. For instance in our heroics we always try to keep one mob on the Frost Mage who kills it while keeping range. That's much less heal-intensive than healing someone who's tanking that mob. People are using Fear much more. It's pretty standard for main healers to keep max range then fear if they get aggro
So you could nuke/kite one mob until it comes for you, slow it with mindflay (and other effects such as chill and crippling poison) then fear it when it gets close and thus not tank the focussed mob in the old-fashioned way
If it runs towards new packs just Mind Flay it and it slows down and chooses a new direction to run but you won't normally be particularly near new packs if you're doing this anyway
The tank will still be able to keep aggro on whatever else is there and not cc-ed since he's only competing with your VE healing and the main healer's healing
I will say however that finding a Paladin for a group seems pretty easy. I think almost every time I have randomly whispered a Paladin and asked them if he wants to come to an instance they've said yes, much higher proportion than any other class
If you form pugs try the Paladins first. I think that Paladin healers' style of nigh infinite mana but no acceleration suplemented by a shadow priest's ability to shield and ve is one of the best healer/hybrid combinations you can get for a 5 man even without considering Salv and the other buffs
And of course Prot Paladins remain perfectly viable 5 man tanks
RE: Shadowpriest DPS and Silent Resolve Nerf - LavCat - 10-13-2020
Wow, maybe a new record.