Shadow Priest Talents

The War Within Pre-Patch

Talents in World of Warcraft define your character's gameplay. They offer active abilities for offense and defense, major cooldowns, or passive enhancements to your stats and spells. Here are the current Shadow Priest talents for The War Within Pre-Patch.

Where to Find Talents

Talents can be found in the talent menu, which is accessible by pressing the N key (default) or by clicking the target icon in the micro menu:

Screenshot of the talents button in the micro menu

Class Talents

Class talents represent a common tree shared across all Priest specializations. These talents provide foundational skills and enhancements essential to the Priest class, offering a range of abilities that lay the groundwork for a Priest's overall capabilities.

Name	Cast	Effect
Renew	Instant - 40 Yd Range	Fill the target with faith in the light, healing for 11,554 over 15 sec.
Dispel Magic	Instant - 30 Yd Range	Dispels Magic on the enemy target, removing 1 beneficial Magic effect.
Shadowfiend	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 3 Min Cooldown	Summons a shadowy fiend to attack the target for 15 sec. enerates 0.5% Mana each time the Shadowfiend attacks.
Prayer of Mending	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 12 Sec Cooldown	Places a ward on an ally that heals them for 3,329 the next time they take damage, and then jumps to another ally within 30 yds. Jumps up to 4 times and lasts 30 sec after each jump.
Improved Flash Heal	Passive	Increases healing done by Flash Heal by 15%.
Purify Disease	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 8 Sec Cooldown	Removes all Disease effects from a friendly target.
Psychic Voice	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Psychic Scream by 15 sec.
Petrifying Scream	Passive	Psychic Scream causes enemies to tremble in place instead of fleeing in fear.
Shadow Word: Death	Instant - 40 Yd Range	A word of dark binding that inflicts 4,653 Shadow damage to your target. If your target is not killed by Shadow Word: Death, you take backlash damage equal to 5% of your maximum health. Damage increased by 150% to targets below 20% health.
Focused Mending	Passive	Prayer of Mending does 45% increased healing to the initial target.
Holy Nova	Instant	An explosion of holy light around you deals up to 2,315 Holy damage to enemies and up to 1,733 healing to allies within 12 yds, reduced if there are more than 5 targets.
Protective Light	Passive	Casting Flash Heal on yourself reduces all damage you take by 10% for 10 sec.
From Darkness Comes Light	Passive	Each time Shadow Word: Pain deals damage, the healing of your next Flash Heal is increased by 3%, up to a maximum of 60%.
Angelic Feather	Instant - 40 Yd Range	Places a feather at the target location, granting the first ally to walk through it 40% increased movement speed for 5 sec. Only 3 feathers can be placed at one time.
Phantasm	Passive	Activating Fade removes all snare effects.
Death and Madness	Passive	If your Shadow Word: Death fails to kill a target at or below 20% health, its cooldown is reset. Cannot occur more than once every 10 sec.
Spell Warding	Passive	Reduces all magic damage taken by 3%.
Blessed Recovery	Passive	After being struck by a melee or ranged critical hit, heal 20% of the damage taken over 6 sec.
Rhapsody	Passive	Every 1 sec, the damage of your next Holy Nova is increased by 20% and its healing is increased by 20%. Stacks up to 20 times.
Leap of Faith	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 1 Sec Cooldown	Pulls the spirit of a party or raid member, instantly moving them directly in front of you.
Shackle Undead	1.5 Sec Cast - 30 Yd Range	Shackles the target undead enemy for 50 sec, preventing all actions and movement. Damage will cancel the effect. Limit 1.
Sheer Terror	Passive	Increases the amount of damage required to break your Psychic Scream by 75%.
Void Tendrils	Instant - 1 Min Cooldown	Summons shadowy tendrils, rooting all enemies within 8 yards for 15 sec or until the tendril is killed.
Mind Control	1.8 Sec Cast - 30 Yd Range	Controls a mind up to 1 level above yours for 30 sec. Does not work versus Demonic, Undead, or Mechanical beings. Shares diminishing returns with other disorienting effects.
Dominate Mind	1.8 Sec Cast - 30 Yd Range - 30 Sec Cooldown	Controls a mind up to 1 level above yours for 30 sec while still controlling your own mind. Does not work versus Demonic, Mechanical, or Undead beings or players. This spell shares diminishing returns with other disorienting effects.
Words of the Pious	Passive	For 12 sec after casting Power Word: Shield, you deal 10% additional damage and healing with Smite and Holy Nova.
Mass Dispel	1.5 Sec Cast - 30 Yd Range - 2 Min Cooldown	Dispels magic in a 15 yard radius, removing all harmful Magic from 5 friendly targets and 1 beneficial Magic effect from 5 enemy targets. Potent enough to remove Magic that is normally undispellable.
Move with Grace	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Leap of Faith by 30 sec.
Power Infusion	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 2 Min Cooldown	Infuses the target with power for 15 sec, increasing haste by 20%. Can only be cast on players.
Sanguine Teachings	Passive	Increases your Leech by 2%.
Vampiric Embrace	Instant - 2 Min Cooldown	Fills you with the embrace of Shadow energy for 12 sec, causing you to heal a nearby ally for 40% of any single-target Shadow spell damage you deal.
Tithe Evasion	Passive	Shadow Word: Death deals 50% less damage to you.
Inspiration	Passive	Reduces your target's physical damage taken by 5% for 15 sec after a critical heal with Flash Heal or Penance.
Mental Agility	Passive	Reduces the mana cost of Purify and Mass Dispel by 50% and Dispel Magic by 10%.
Body and Soul	Passive	Power Word: Shield and Leap of Faith increase your target's movement speed by 40% for 3 sec.
Twins of the Sun Priestess	Passive	Power Infusion also grants you 100% of its effects when used on an ally.
Void Shield	Passive	When cast on yourself, 30% of damage you deal refills your Power Word: Shield.
San'layn	Passive	anguine Teachings Sanguine Teachings grants an additional 2% Leech. ampiric Embrace Reduces the cooldown of Vampiric Embrace by 30 sec, increases its healing done by 25%.
Apathy	Passive	Your Mind Blast critical strikes reduce your target's movement speed by 75% for 4 sec.
Unwavering Will	Passive	While above 75% health, the cast time of your Flash Heal, Heal, Prayer of Healing, and Smite are reduced by 10%.
Twist of Fate	Passive	After damaging or healing a target below 35% health, gain 10% increased damage and healing for 8 sec.
Throes of Pain	Passive	Shadow Word: Pain deals an additional 5% damage. When an enemy dies while afflicted by your Shadow Word: Pain, you gain 1.0% Mana.
Angel's Mercy	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Desperate Prayer by 20 sec.
Binding Heals	Passive	20% of Flash Heal healing on other targets also heals you.
Divine Star	Instant - 27 Yd Range - 15 Sec Cooldown	Throw a Divine Star forward 27 yds, healing allies in its path for 3,911 and dealing 3,049 Shadow damage to enemies. After reaching its destination, the Divine Star returns to you, healing allies and damaging enemies in its path again. Healing reduced beyond 6 targets.
Halo	1.5 Sec Cast - 30 Yd Range - 1 Min Cooldown	Creates a ring of Shadow energy around you that quickly expands to a 30 yd radius, healing allies for 8,936 and dealing 7,985 Shadow damage to enemies. Healing reduced beyond 6 targets.
Translucent Image	Passive	Fade reduces damage you take by 10%.
Cauterizing Shadows	Passive	When your Shadow Word: Pain expires or is refreshed with less than 5 sec remaining, a nearby ally within 40 yards is healed for 13,592.
Surge of Light	Passive	Your healing spells and Smite have a 8% chance to make your next Flash Heal instant and cost no mana. Stacks to 2.
Light's Inspiration	Passive	Increases the maximum health gained from Desperate Prayer by 15%.
Crystalline Reflection	Passive	Power Word: Shield instantly heals the target for 4,648 and reflects 12% of damage absorbed.
Improved Fade	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Fade by 10 sec.
Manipulation	Passive	You take 2% less damage from enemies affected by your Shadow Word: Pain.
Benevolence	Passive	Increases the healing of your spells by 3%.
Power Word: Life	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 15 Sec Cooldown	A word of holy power that heals the target for 56,989. Only usable if the target is below 35% health.
Angelic Bulwark	Passive	When an attack brings you below 30% health, you gain an absorption shield equal to 15% of your maximum health for 20 sec. Cannot occur more than once every 90 sec.
Essence Devourer	Passive	Attacks from your Shadowfiend siphon life from enemies, healing a nearby injured ally for 9,961. Attacks from your Mindbender siphon life from enemies, healing a nearby injured ally for 3,320.
Void Shift	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 5 Min Cooldown	Swap health percentages with your ally. Increases the lower health percentage of the two to 25% if below that amount.
Phantom Reach	Passive	Increases the range of most spells by 15%.

Specialization Talents

Specialization talents provide Shadow Priests with unique abilities and enhancements tailored to their combat style. These talents differentiate Shadow Priests from other Priest specializations, maximizing effectiveness in combat.

Name	Cast	Effect
Devouring Plague	Instant - 40 Yd Range	Afflicts the target with a disease that instantly causes 11,536 Shadow damage plus an additional 12,108 Shadow damage over 6 sec. Heals you for 30% of damage dealt. If this effect is reapplied, any remaining damage will be added to the new Devouring Plague.
Dispersion	Instant - 2 Min Cooldown	Disperse into pure shadow energy, reducing all damage taken by 75% for 6 sec and healing you for 25% of your maximum health over its duration, but you are unable to attack or cast spells. Increases movement speed by 50% and makes you immune to all movement impairing effects. Castable while stunned, feared, or silenced.
Shadowy Apparitions	Passive	Mind Blast, Devouring Plague, and Void Bolt conjure Shadowy Apparitions that float towards all targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch for 1,495 Shadow damage. Critical strikes increase the damage by 100%.
Silence	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Silences the target, preventing them from casting spells for 4 sec. Against non-players, also interrupts spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec.
Intangibility	Passive	Dispersion heals you for an additional 25% of your maximum health over its duration and its cooldown is reduced by 30 sec.
Mental Fortitude	Passive	Healing from Vampiric Touch and Devouring Plague when you are at maximum health will shield you for the same amount. The shield cannot exceed 10% of your maximum health.
Misery	Passive	Vampiric Touch also applies Shadow Word: Pain to the target. Shadow Word: Pain lasts an additional 5 sec.
Last Word	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Silence by 15 sec.
Psychic Horror	Instant - 30 Yd Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Terrifies the target in place, stunning them for 4 sec.
Thought Harvester	Passive	Mind Blast gains an additional charge.
Psychic Link	Passive	Your direct damage spells inflict 30% of their damage on all other targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch within 40 yards. Does not apply to damage from Shadowy Apparitions, Shadow Word: Pain, and Vampiric Touch.
Surge of Insanity	Passive	Every 2 casts of Devouring Plague transforms your next Mind Flay or Mind Spike into a more powerful spell. Can accumulate up to 4 charges. ind Flay: Insanity Assaults the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 27,658 Shadow damage over 1.4 sec and slowing their movement speed by 70%. enerates 12 Insanity over the duration. ind Spike: Insanity Blasts the target for 19,130 Shadowfrost damage. enerates 12 Insanity.
Shadow Crash	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 20 Sec Cooldown	Hurl a bolt of slow-moving Shadow energy at your target, dealing 3,772 Shadow damage to all enemies within 8 yds. enerates 6 Insanity. This spell is cast at your target.
Shadow Crash	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 20 Sec Cooldown	Aim a bolt of slow-moving Shadow energy at the destination, dealing 3,733 Shadow damage to all enemies within 8 yds. enerates 6 Insanity. This spell is cast at a selected location.
Unfurling Darkness	Passive	After casting Vampiric Touch on a target, your next Vampiric Touch within 8 sec is instant cast and deals 16,842 Shadow damage immediately. This effect cannot occur more than once every 15 sec.
Dark Ascension	1.5 Sec Cast - 1 Min Cooldown	Increases your non-periodic Shadow damage by 20% for 20 sec. enerates 30 Insanity.
Void Eruption	1.5 Sec Cast - 40 Yd Range - 2 Min Cooldown	Releases an explosive blast of pure void energy, activating Voidform and causing 8,473 Shadow damage to all enemies within 10 yds of your target. During Voidform, this ability is replaced by Void Bolt. Casting Devouring Plague increases the duration of Voidform by 2.5 sec.
Mental Decay	Passive	Increases the damage of Mind Flay and Mind Spike by 10%. The duration of your Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch is increased by 1 sec when enemies suffer damage from Mind Flay and 2 sec when enemies suffer damage from Mind Spike.
Mind Spike	1.5 Sec Cast - 40 Yd Range	Blasts the target for 7,154 Shadowfrost damage. enerates 4 Insanity.
Whispering Shadows	Passive	Shadow Crash applies Vampiric Touch to up to 8 targets it damages.
Shadowy Insight	Passive	Shadow Word: Pain periodic damage has a chance to reset the remaining cooldown on Mind Blast and cause your next Mind Blast to be instant.
Ancient Madness	Passive	Voidform and Dark Ascension increase the critical strike chance of your spells by 10% for 20 sec, reducing by 0.5% every sec.
Voidtouched	Passive	Increases your Devouring Plague damage by 6% and increases your maximum Insanity by 50.
Mind Melt	Passive	Mind Spike increases the critical strike chance of Mind Blast by 30%, stacking up to 3 times. Lasts 10 sec.
Maddening Touch	Passive	Vampiric Touch deals 30% additional damage and has a chance to generate 2 Insanity each time it deals damage.
Dark Evangelism	Passive	Your Mind Flay, Mind Spike, and Void Torrent damage increase the damage of your periodic Shadow effects by 2%, stacking up to 5 times.
Mind Devourer	Passive	Mind Blast has a 10% chance to make your next Devouring Plague cost no Insanity and deal 20% additional damage.
Phantasmal Pathogen	Passive	Shadow Apparitions deal 150% increased damage to targets affected by your Devouring Plague.
Mind's Eye	Passive	Reduces the Insanity cost of Devouring Plague by 5.
Distorted Reality	Passive	Increases the damage of Devouring Plague by 20% and causes it to deal its damage over 12 sec, but increases its Insanity cost by 5.
Mindbender	Instant - 40 Yd Range - 1 Min Cooldown	Summons a Mindbender to attack the target for 15 sec. enerates 2 Insanity each time the Mindbender attacks.
Deathspeaker	Passive	Your Shadow Word: Pain damage has a chance to reset the cooldown of Shadow Word: Death, increase its damage by 25%, and deal damage as if striking a target below 20% health.
Auspicious Spirits	Passive	Your Shadowy Apparitions deal 15% increased damage and have a chance to generate 1 Insanity.
Void Torrent	Channeled - 40 Yd Range - 45 Sec Cooldown	Channel a torrent of void energy into the target, dealing 53,352 Shadow damage over 3 sec. enerates 24 Insanity over the duration.
Inescapable Torment	Passive	Mind Blast and Shadow Word: Death cause your Mindbender or Shadowfiend to teleport behind your target, slashing up to 5 nearby enemies for 4,647 Shadow damage and extending its duration by 0.7 sec.
Mastermind	Passive	Increases the critical strike chance of Mind Blast, Mind Spike, Mind Flay, and Shadow Word: Death by 8% and increases their critical strike damage by 40%.
Screams of the Void	Passive	Devouring Plague causes your Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch to deal damage 80% faster on all targets for 3 sec.
Tormented Spirits	Passive	Your Shadow Word: Pain damage has a 6% chance to create Shadowy Apparitions that float towards all targets afflicted by your Vampiric Touch. Critical strikes increase the chance to 12%.
Insidious Ire	Passive	While you have Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, and Vampiric Touch active on the same target, your Mind Blast and Void Torrent deal 40% more damage.
Malediction	Passive	Reduces the cooldown of Void Torrent by 15 sec.
Idol of Y'Shaarj	Passive	Summoning Mindbender causes you to gain a benefit based on your target's current state or increases its duration by 5 sec if no state matches. ealthy: You and your Mindbender deal 5% additional damage. nraged: Devours the Enraged effect, increasing your Haste by 5%. tunned: Generates 5 Insanity every 1 sec. eared: You and your Mindbender deal 5% increased damage and do not break Fear effects.
Idol of N'Zoth	Passive	Your periodic Shadow Word: Pain and Vampiric Touch damage has a 30% chance to apply Echoing Void, max 4 targets. Each time Echoing Void is applied, it has a chance to collapse, consuming a stack every 1 sec to deal 673 Shadow damage to all nearby enemies. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets. If an enemy dies with Echoing Void, all stacks collapse immediately.
Idol of Yogg-Saron	Passive	After conjuring Shadowy Apparitions, gain a stack of Idol of Yogg-Saron. At 25 stacks, you summon a Thing from Beyond that casts Void Spike at nearby enemies for 20 sec. oid Spike Hurls a bolt of dark magic, dealing 5,147 Shadow damage and 1,085 Shadow damage to all enemies within 10 yards of the target. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.
Idol of C'Thun	Passive	Mind Flay, Mind Spike, and Void Torrent have a chance to spawn a Void Tendril that channels Mind Flay or Void Lasher that channels Mind Sear at your target. ind Flay Assaults the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 17,616 Shadow damage over 15 sec and slowing their movement speed by 30%. enerates 10 Insanity over the duration. ind Sear Corrosive shadow energy radiates from the target, dealing 9,426 Shadow damage over 15 sec to all enemies within 10 yards of the target. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets. enerates 10 Insanity over the duration.

Hero Talents

Hero talents allow for deeper customization of the Shadow Priest class fantasy, further enhancing its combat effectiveness.

Voidweaver

Name	Cast	Effect
Entropic Rift	Passive	Mind Blast tears open an Entropic Rift that follows the enemy for 8 sec. Enemies caught in its path suffer 3,288 Shadow damage every 0.9 sec while within its reach.
No Escape	Passive	Entropic Rift slows enemies by up to 70%, increased the closer they are to its center.
Dark Energy	Passive	While Entropic Rift is active, you move 20% faster.
Void Blast	Passive	Entropic Rift upgrades Smite into Void Blast while it is active. oid Blast: Sends a blast of cosmic void energy at the enemy, causing 6,079 Shadow damage.
Inner Quietus	Passive	Power Word: Shield absorbs 20% additional damage.
Devour Matter	Passive	Shadow Word: Death consumes absorb shields from your target, dealing 14,091 extra damage to them and granting you 1% mana if a shield was present.
Void Empowerment	Passive	Summoning an Entropic Rift extends the duration of your 5 shortest Atonements by 1 sec.
Darkening Horizon	Passive	Void Blast increases the duration of Entropic Rift by 1.0 sec, up to a maximum of 3 sec.
Depth of Shadows	Passive	Shadow Word: Death has a high chance to summon a Shadowfiend for 5 sec when damaging targets below 20% health.
Voidwraith	Passive	Transform your Shadowfiend or Mindbender into a Voidwraith. oidwraith Summon a Voidwraith for 15 sec that casts Void Flay from afar. Void Flay deals bonus damage to high health enemies, up to a maximum of 50% if they are full health. enerates 0.5% Mana each time the Voidwraith attacks.
Voidheart	Passive	While Entropic Rift is active, your Atonement healing is increased by 20%.
Void Infusion	Passive	Atonement healing with Void Blast is 100% more effective.
Void Leech	Passive	Every 2 sec siphon an amount equal to 3% of your health from an ally within 40 yds if they are higher health than you.
Embrace the Shadow	Passive	You absorb 3% of all magic damage taken. Absorbing Shadow damage heals you for 100% of the amount absorbed.
Collapsing Void	Passive	Each time Penance damages or heals, Entropic Rift is empowered, increasing its damage and size by 10%. After Entropic Rift ends it collapses, dealing 24,349 Shadow damage split amongst enemy targets within 15 yds.

Archon

Name	Cast	Effect
Power Surge	Passive	Casting Halo also causes you to create a Halo around you at 100% effectiveness every 5 sec for 10 sec. Additionally, the radius of Halo is increased by 10 yards.
Perfected Form	Passive	Your damage dealt is increased by 12% while Dark Ascension is active and by 20% while Voidform is active.
Resonant Energy	Passive	Allies healed by your Halo receive 2% increased healing from you for 8 sec, stacking up to 5 times.
Manifested Power	Passive	Creating a Halo grants Surge of Light.
Shock Pulse	Passive	Halo damage reduces enemy movement speed by 5% for 5 sec, stacking up to 5 times.
Incessant Screams	Passive	Psychic Scream creates an image of you at your location. After 4 sec, the image will let out a Psychic Scream.
Word of Supremacy	Passive	Power Word: Fortitude grants you an additional 5% stamina.
Heightened Alteration	Passive	Increases the duration of Dispersion by 2 sec.
Empowered Surges	Passive	Increases the healing done by Flash Heals affected by Surge of Light by 30%.
Energy Compression	Passive	Halo damage and healing is increased by 30%.
Sustained Potency	Passive	Creating a Halo extends the duration of Dark Ascension or Voidform by 1 sec. If Dark Ascension and Voidform are not active, up to 6 seconds is stored and applied the next time you gain Dark Ascension or Voidform.
Concentrated Infusion	Passive	Your Power Infusion effect grants you an additional 10% haste.
Energy Cycle	Passive	Consuming Surge of Insanity has a 100% chance to conjure Shadowy Apparitions.
Divine Halo	Passive	Halo now centers around you and returns to you after it reaches its maximum distance, healing allies and damaging enemies each time it passes through them.

PvP Talents

PvP talents are tailored for player-versus-player combat scenarios. Activated in arenas, battlegrounds, and the open world with War Mode enabled, these talents optimize a Shadow Priest 's performance in PvP encounters. They provide specialized enhancements that give players an edge in combat against other players.

Name	Cast	Effect
Driven to Madness		While Voidform or Dark Ascension is not active, being attacked will reduce the cooldown of Void Eruption and Dark Ascension by 3 sec.
Mind Trauma		Siphon haste from enemies, stealing 2% haste per stack of Mind Trauma, stacking up to 9 times. Mind Spike and fully channeled Mind Flays grant 1 stack of Mind Trauma and fully channeled Void Torrents grant 3 stacks of Mind Trauma. Lasts 15 sec. You can only gain 3 stacks of Mind Trauma from a single enemy.
Psyfiend		Summons a Psyfiend with 7,893 health for 12 sec beside you to attack the target at range with Psyflay. syflay Deals up to 1% of the target's total health in Shadow damage every 0.9 sec. Also slows their movement speed by 50% and reduces healing received by 50%.
Thoughtsteal		Peer into the mind of the enemy, attempting to steal a known spell. If stolen, the victim cannot cast that spell for 20 sec. Can only be used on Humanoids with mana. If you're unable to find a spell to steal, the cooldown of Thoughtsteal is reset.
Void Volley		After casting Void Eruption or Dark Ascension, send a slow-moving bolt of Shadow energy at a random location every 0.5 sec for 3 sec, dealing 4,280 Shadow damage to all targets within 8 yds, and causing them to flee in Horror for 2 sec.
Absolute Faith		Leap of Faith also pulls the spirit of the 3 furthest allies within 40 yards and shields you and the affected allies for 41,506.
Catharsis		15% of all damage you take is stored. The stored amount cannot exceed 12% of your maximum health. The initial damage of your next Shadow Word: Pain deals this stored damage to your target.
Phase Shift		Step into the shadows when you cast Fade, avoiding all attacks and spells for 1 sec. Interrupt effects are not affected by Phase Shift.
Improved Mass Dispel		Reduces the cooldown of Mass Dispel by 60 sec.
Mindgames		Assault an enemy's mind, dealing 16,514 Shadow damage and briefly reversing their perception of reality. For 7 sec, the next 41,505 damage they deal will heal their target, and the next 41,505 healing they deal will damage their target.