While the two main Priest specs focus on healing, Shadow Priest harnesses the darkness to deal damage in World of Warcraft: Dragonflight. They're a very solid option for DPS and bring lots of utility in PvE for Dragonflight and are one of the top picks for PvP this season too. If you're looking for something to help push you over the top and perform better than your friends, let our Shadow Priest best in slot guide help!

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Shadow Priest Best in Slot Stat Priority

The most important factor to consider when obtaining new gear is your stat priority. In general, Shadow Priests should follow a rule like this:

1. Intellect
2. Haste
3. Mastery
4. Critical Strike
5. Versatility

Haste and Mastery are head and shoulders above Crit and Versatility. Your best items will therefore most likely feature those two stats. As always, you should sim your gear to ensure you have the best items. We'll go over how to do so later in our guide.

Important Notes For BiS Lists

It is important to note that any jump in ilvl by more than 10 points almost always results in the higher ilvl item being better. If you have an upgrade of 5 ilvl or less, compare the stats based on the stat priorities to decide the better item.

When weighing options of other items not listed below, refer to the stat priority of the class and spec. Keep in mind that stats eventually have diminishing returns, so it is not required to have absolutely every slot stack the same 2 stats. For simplicity, we offer the best per slot assuming you have not capped out these stats.

The calculations for diminishing returns are as follows:

• 0 to 30% in a stat - no penalty.
• 30% to 39% in a stat - 10% penalty.
• 39% to 47% in a stat - 20% penalty.
• 47% to 54% in a stat - 30% penalty.
• 54% to 66% in a stat - 40% penalty.
• 66% to 126% in a stat - 50% penalty.

In the case where you have reached 30% in a secondary stat, an item that has a secondary stat that is lower on priority may in fact be a better upgrade. This is why it is always important to sim your gear. For simplicity, we offer the best item in that slot assuming you have not capped out these stats.

Shadow Priest BiS Gear

The items appearing in these lists may come from Mythic+, Raids, or The Vault. Their item level will depend on the instance's level of difficulty (Normal, Heroic, Mythic, Mythic+ 1-20). This list does not include Renown or Crafting items as it is meant as a guide on what dungeons or raids to attend to get your best gear from these sources.

Item tooltips will show the Mythic 9 or the Normal Raid difficulty item level version.

Best Head

Two super solid options listed below. As always, sim anything you get.

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Best Neck

There are plenty of solid neck options waiting for you.

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Best Shoulders

Tier is good enough and has one of your best stats. The Mythic+ option is super solid, too.

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Best Back

Lots of cloak options, but only one has Haste and Mastery.

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Best Chest

Mythic+ has the ideal stats, but tier should win out.

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Best Wrist

Not the best options for bracers. Pick up what you can. Only the Manawracker Bindings have your perfect stat combo.

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Best Hands

Another solid option for your tier piece.

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Best Waist

Every belt option has at least one of your preferred stats. These belts below have both.

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Best Legs

Finally, we reach a tier piece without any of our best stats. You'll most likely skip this one.

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Best Feet

Surprisingly, there are a lot of boots available to Shadow Priests.

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Best Rings

Seal of the Filial Duty has a higher ilvl and your best stats. In fact, it's the only ring that has Haste and Mastery.

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Best Trinkets

The website Bloodmallet has run simulations on Patchwerk style fights to determine which trinket is best for Shadow Priests. We'll track what trinket does well with one target, three targets, and five targets.

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Best Weapons

Generally, whichever combination of items is a higher ilvl will be your best bet. Sim to make sure.

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Best Gems For Shadow Priests

Here we list the best gems you can socket your gear with for Shadow Priests. As always, it is best to sim to ensure you're using the best options available. These gems are chosen given consideration to your best stats.

• Epic unique gem - Fierce Illimited Diamond
• Remaining gems - Keen Ysemerald

Best Enchants For Shadow Priests

Here are the best enchants available for Shadow Priests in Dragonflight.

• Cloak - Graceful Avoidance
• Chest - Waking Stats
• Bracers - Devotion of Avoidance
• Legs - Frozen Spellthread
• Boots - Plainsrunner's Breeze
• Rings - Devotion of Haste
• Weapon - Sophic Devotion

How To Simulate To Determine Your Best Gear

Raidbots is a tool that World of Warcraft players can use to figure out if the gear they just looted is an upgrade. As mentioned earlier, there are so many nuances and diminishing returns as certain points in the game, that determining an exact set of bis gear is impossible. With the ilvl scaling of Mythic+ loot on higher keys and utility different gear has for different fights, there just isn't a pure "this is the absolute best for the entire Season" list. It's even something that certain classes have come across in Classic Wrath!

Don't worry, because we're still here to help. We highly recommend using raidbots to determine if an item you just acquired is an upgrade. Here's a quick guide to help you run simulations to see if your new item is an upgrade:

• Make sure you have the Simulationcraft add-on installed.
• With your new loot in your inventory, open your chatbox and type /simc.
• A window will open up. Copy the entire text and paste it on the Raidbots Top Gear page. I included my Simulation craft window for my personal character below

• This step is important. On the Top Gear page, scroll down and make sure you're selecting the gear you want simmed. If you do not select the gear you're wearing, as well as the gear in your inventory you just acquired, you won't know if you picked up an upgrade.
• Raidbots will then let you know which items allow you to maximize your DPS!

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