So You're a New Shadow Priest, Post 3.3 Edition

Javaed posted on March 10, 2010

It's been awhile since I last posted, and for that I apologize.  I'm getting ready to do some reworking of the website, but for now I'm going to post my promised update to my guide for gearing up a new Shadow Priest post 3.3.  I've spent several hours looking over gear that's easily available to a brand new 80, and the bad news is that you're not going to get geared up for ICC using just gear you can get from running heroics.  Never fear though, I've got a set of guidelines for you to follow that'll get you close, and a little extra help from your guild will push you the rest of the way.

Step 1 - Grab Your Tier 9

The 10 man version of Tier 9 armor can be acquired with Emblems of Triumph, which you can get pretty quickly using the Random Dungeon Finder.  To get all 5 pieces, you're going to need 210 Emblems, which sounds like a lot, but remember that you get a reward of 2 extra Emblems after running a Random Heroic (with the exception of the very first random of the day, which will net you 2 Emblems of Frost).  On average, you can expect to get 6 Emblems of Triumph per run, so that's about 35 runs total.  You also don't need all 5 pieces of the set, and if you can afford to get some gear crafted, I'm going to recommend you either skip the pants or the robe, which will save you 50 emblems and require only about 27 random runs.

Step 2 - Grab Some More Emblem Gear

There's a few more items you might want to look at which are available with Emblems. I've got a quick list below, but I want to make one quick point about Emblems of Frost.  You may be tempted to save these for your Tier Gear, but you'll get these itmes pretty quickly once you start raiding or if you have a bit of luck in VOA.  I'm going to recomment you consider grabbing the items I have listed below (which cost Emblems of Frost), but keep in mind the other items you pick up as you gather your gear.

  • Cloak - Volde's Cloak of the Night Sky (60 Emblems of Frost)
  • Waist - Circle of Ossus (60 Emblems of Frost)
  • Waist - Belt of Omission (60 Emblems of Frost)
  • Ring - Band of the Invoker (35 Emblems of Triumph)
  • Wand - Brimstone Igniter (25 Emblems of Triumph)

Step 3 - Take a Look at Crafted Gear, or Items You Can Buy

This following list can get expensive quickly, but if you've leveled and alt and have the cash to spend take a quick look.

  • Robe - Merlin's Robe (Tier 9 Equivalent)
  • Wriest - Bejeweled Wizard's Bracers (Tier 9 Equivalent)
  • Waist - Cord of the White Dawn (Tier 8 Equivalent)
  • Waist - Sash of Ancient Power (Tier 8 Equivalent)
  • Feet - Savior's Slippers (Tier 8 Equivalent)
  • Feet - Spell Slinger's Slippers (Tier 8 Equivalent) 
  • This is the Expensive Stuff!
  • Legs - Leggings of Woven Death (Tier 10, best in slot before Hard Modes)
  • Feet - Sandals of Concecration (Tier 10 Equivalent)
  • Weapon - Hammer of the Purified Flame (Quest Reward from The Battered Hilt)

Step 4 - Run the Newer 5-Man Heroics

There's a ton of good loot here, and I'm not going to show case all of it.  Just make sure you run Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron and Hall's of Reflection as often as you can.  You're also going to want to run Trial of the Champion.  One quick note, the best trinkets you can get outside of raids are the Abyssal Rune (Trial of the Champion, Normal Mode) and Nevermelting Ice Crystal (Pit of Saron, Heroic Mode).

Step 5 - Do Some Easy Raiding

First, 3.3 introduced weekly Raid Quests.  These are pretty easy, and will net you 5 Emblems of Frost and 5 Emblems of Triumph.  Do these each week, as PUGs form for them constantly.  Next, get into Vault of Archevon as often as you can.  You may wind up needing to heal, but with a bit of luck you'll get up to three pieces of Tier 10 from this instance without having to spend a single Emblem of Frost.  Finally, Trial of the Crusader is a very easy raid, with minimal requirements for damage output.  If you're on a moderately active server, you should see groups forming for either the 10 mand or 25 man version.  If you've decked yourself out in some of the above items, you can probably put out enough damage for the raids, and hopefully get some nice upgrades.

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Comments

# Zabuni
Saturday, March 13, 2010 8:31 PM
Great starter guide. The only things I would add would be to maybe get in a few ICC trash runs, and getting the Shriveled Heart from HOR. Going through the initial path to Marrogar will get you a good ring that will only get better, and the heart is a great offhand.

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