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It's been long overdue, but Legion will bring a full revamp to Shadow Priests... and with it, some new Old God lore!

Shadow Priests now draw their power directly from the Old Gods, using Insanity as a resource instead of mana or shadow orbs.
Tap into the power of the void and going insane, your shadow form grows darker and darker, and you grow tentacles and turn into Void Form - this insanity is fleeting but slowly drains, so you try to keep generating as much as you can. The longer you stay in that form, the more damage you deal.


Shadow Priest Overview


The Light in which many priests bathe is brilliant and effervescent, granting them immense divine power.
But the brightest light casts the darkest shadow—and from within this blackness, a rival power dwells.
Shadow priests fully embrace this opposing polarity, their faith equally resolute as their holy counterparts—but focused on shadowy magics and mental manipulation.
Like all priests, they dedicate much of their lives to worship—but they derive their power from the Void, straying dangerously close to the domain of the Old Gods.
To truly understand such ancient, corruptive influence is to be driven mad. This is the state in which these dark priests thrive, embracing insanity and feeding off of the minds of their opponents to reach terrifying new limits.

Gameplay

We’ve long alluded to the Old God influences of Shadow Priests in their spells and abilities, and we’re making that more distinct in Legion.

A new resource, Insanity, provides a better fit for Shadow, having more granularity and gameplay that emphasizes the immense but fleeting power that the Void offers. Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, and Vampiric Touch will build Insanity. Reaching maximum Insanity will transform Shadowform into Voidform, giving the Shadow Priest access to stronger Void magic, but it is unable to be maintained indefinitely. This should make for interesting gameplay as Shadow Priests try to maintain the height of their Insanity as long as possible to prey on the minds of their enemies.
While not under the effects of Insanity, Shadow Priests continue to rely heavily on abilities that inflict sustained damage over time. Finally, having turned away from the Light, Shadow Priests eschew such spells as Heal, Flash Heal, and Prayer of Mending. Power Word: Shield and Shadow Mend are their primary healing tools.

Core Abilities

• Voidform

• • Passive
  • When you reach 100 Insanity, you enter Voidform, transforming your Mind spells into Void spells, and increasing your Shadow damage by 30%.
  • While in Voidform, you gain 2% Haste every 1 sec. This Haste will also persist for 20 sec after Voidform ends.
  • Voidform causes your Insanity to constantly drain, faster and faster, until completely drained, and Voidform ends.

• Mind Flay

• • 40 yd range, Channeled
  • Assault the target’s mind with Shadow energy, causing minor Shadow damage over 3 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%.
  • While in Voidform, transforms into Void Flay, which also extends Shadow Word: Pain by 3 sec.

• Mind Blast

• • 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast, 9 sec cooldown
  • Blasts the target’s mind for strong Shadow damage.
  • Generates 15 Insanity.
  • While in Voidform, transforms into Void Blast, which has a 4.5 sec cooldown, and also extends Vampiric Touch by 3 sec.

• Vampiric Touch

• • 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
  • A touch of darkness that causes huge Shadow damage over 24 sec, and heals the Priest for each point of damage dealt.
  • If Vampiric Touch is dispelled, the dispeller flees in Horror for 3 sec.
  • Each time Vampiric Touch deals damage, it generates 3 Insanity.

• Shadow Word: Pain

• • 40 yd range, Instant
  • A word of darkness that causes minor Shadow damage instantly, and an additional huge amount of damage over 18 sec.
  • Each time Shadow Word: Pain deals damage, it generates 3 Insanity, and has a 10% chance to reset the cooldown of Mind Blast.

• Mastery: Madness

• • Increases the damage and Insanity generation of your Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, Vampiric Touch, and Shadow Word: Death by 20% (with Mastery from typical gear).
  • Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Shadow-specific talents:

• Oblivion

• • Instant, 2 min cooldown
  • Let the power of the void flow through you, instantly generating 100 Insanity.

Talent Calculator
Check out the current talent calculator here!


There are a lot of cool talents here. I'll list them out someday when I'm not completely lazy.

More Information

• • Shadow Priests don't have Flash Heal or Heal anymore, but they do have Shadowmend, which is a new spell that is twice as good as Flash Heal in terms of how much it heals for, but over the next 10 seconds half of that heal fades away.
  If the target takes damage it comes off of the Shadowmend damage first, so if the target is constantly taking damage it is a really strong heal.
  
  • Shadow will also keep Power Word: Shield.
  
  • You're forced to speak Shath'yar - the language of the Old Gods - while in Voidform.
  
  • Insanity is capped at 100. Voidform is automatically activated, not toggled.
  
  • Currently, there are 8 different talents related to Insanity.
  
  • At first, the Voidform drain is slower than you can generate Insanity, but it ramps up over time, draining faster and faster.
  
  • You'll be able to return to Voidform very quickly, thanks to the Haste from your previous Voidform persisting for 20 seconds.

Artifact: Xal'atah, Blade of the Black Empire

Practitioners in the ways of shadow will truly covet Xal'atath, Blade of the Black Empire as a part of their arsenal. The Shadow Priests who wield this Void-honed blade will truly terrify their enemies and bend minds to their will.

This terrifying dagger was made from the claw of an Old God eons ago, and dark priests used it for ritual sacrifices during the height of the Black Empire. After the fall of the Old Gods, Xal'atath was hidden away by cults. It has surfaced from time to time over the course of history, inevitably associated with some horrific ritual or disaster. The blade has a will of its own: it uses powerful Void energies and mind magics to warp everything around it for some nefarious purpose.

Artifact Talent Tree
Check out the current Artifact talent tree here!


This is the Base Trait:
Void Torrent: Raise your dagger into the sky, absorbing void energy into it for X sec, then release a torrent of void energy at your target, dealing X damage over until cancelled.
While channeling this spell, your Insanity no longer drains.

And these three are the Major Traits:
Sphere of Insanity: When you enter Voidform, you summon a void sphere for 15 sec. While this sphere is active, 25% of all direct damage dealt is additionally dealt to any target with your Shadow Word: Pain on them.

Mass Hysteria: Each stack of Voidform increases the damage of your Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch by 5%.

Power of the Old Gods: You summon a Faceless Void from to aid you in battle for 12 sec who casts devastating void spells at your target. Replaces Shadowfiend.

Base Skin


Variations


Off-Hand Variations


Lore

Beware: Speculation ahead! Since no one has actually been able to play the artifact quest yet, here's my speculation pieced together from the little information we've been given. Of notable interest are the Arms warrior and Holy paladin previews, which make reference to Old God influence:

Stromkar, the Warbreaker
This greatsword was borne into combat by the barbarian warlord who first united humanity under a single banner, founding the nation of Arathor. A master tactician and strategist, King Thoradin went on to play a critical role in ending the Troll Wars. Later the sword was lost while it was being used to subdue a C'Thraxxi monstrosity in a forgotten tomb beneath Tirisfal. Abandoned and all but forgotten, Stromkar has been slowly drinking from the shadowy power there over thousands of years.

The Silver Hand
As one of the titanic watchers, Keeper Tyr bore this weapon in countless battles against the titans' enemies. When one of his fellow keepers, Loken, fell to corruption, Tyr and his allies stole the Discs of Norgannon to investigate the extent of Loken's betrayal. Discovering the theft, Loken sent horrific monsters after Tyr's group, but Tyr sacrificed his life to fight the creatures while his comrades escaped with the discs. His hammer was lost with him somewhere beneath the land now named in his honor: Tirisfal.

Add those previews to this confirmation from Blizzard:

Old Gods will play a role in Legion.

And I think it's possible that Shadow Priests will also be visiting Tyr's tomb. The "Black Empire" refers to the alliance of insectoid races that ruled Azeroth for several thousands of years before their empire was fractured by wars with the trolls. What better place to store a dagger of great power than in a tomb where Old God-influenced power has been stewing for millenia?

I'm not sure if there will be a lore explanation for the sudden transition of Shadow Priests from "generic shadow/void magic with some Old God flavor" to "full-on Old God cultist", but either way I'm sure that the class quest will provide context for the influence of Old Gods in all these artifacts.

Personally, as someone who had already RP'd a shadow priest as an Old God cultist and hoped for stronger class flavor than "the poor man's affliction spec", I am beyond pumped!

What do you all think about the new Shadow Priests? Leave your thoughts below!

I am very excited about the changes to shadow priest that have been described by the devs thus far, though it will be a matter of getting in to the game and trying them out to see if I will continue to level one. Some of the way they described it made it sound a lot like the way demonology warlock currently plays and if so, that kind of constantly in and out of a buffed version of the player style is not my thing.

But I am happy to see them getting something that makes them more different. Like its been said before, they always felt a bit like a lock with just more healing abilities in the past.

The one thing I'm a little sad about is it seems we'll no longer get shadow ravens, since the orbs are going away. D: That was the one little detail that made me really want to roll one ever since the Northrend NPCs.

Excited to see Shadow getting some rework, I loved the spec, the flavor, but it def. had its shortcomings.

With the Artifact preview, I am just but a bit concerned of them going full on Old God.

Sure it fits the artifact's story, and pardon the pun, fleshes out a mythos to them, but the void is many things but not just shadow tendrils.

We have void naaru and their ilk and the forsaken themes they could use.

Like the ravens Veph mentioned. Those Scarlet ravenspeakers always were intriguing.

While orbs are gone, maybe Spriests can get something like HotS Cho'Gall's "Dread Orb" ability were we cast bouncy void ords of twilight at our foes. ^^

Crap, I'ma have to go shadow now.

Shadowmend kinda sounds like the passive heal shadow priest had in BC so that sounds like a good change.

Still no fan of that dagger (and even less of it's design) but thats just me.

I like the themes, though I can't help feeling it's a bit weird considering Old God stuff is so unequivocally evil. I mean, it's one thing for a warlock to control an evil demon, but they're at least in control. In this case the player is actually a priest of an old god and the story to this point has shown that trying to use Old God powers usually ends up with you being controlled. I guess they have the theme worked out to explain that.

Maybe they'll keep the shadow raven effect for something. I'd be surprised if Arakkoa shadow magic wasn't utilized in the class.

I can't say I'm exactly thrilled about the themeing of it all - and I have no idea how to make it work with what my shadow priest really does. Because shadow priests have always messed with minds to an extent...he's become a psychiatrist/psychologist. His specialization is dealing with past trauma, "battle fatigue," "shell shock," and all the other mental nasties that can afflict troops during a time of war. (So I guess he'll definitely be transmogging that artifact into something a lot less - creepy.)

Ah well. I'll make it work somehow.

I read somewhere that the non-staff casters would also have an Off-hand to go with their MH weapon. but the art is not done. So hopefully that will balance the meh factor so far.

On another note, and missed opportunity made me think if they had a Whip like weapon. Kind of imagine a cast animation of void tentacle but then make more sense of a warlock or melee class.

ALternatively maybe take the floating demon head idea from the demonology artifact and make it like lil black and white valkyr shoulder spirits. that whisper in the priest's ear. XD