I’m still working my Shadow Priest up to what I will call ‘raid ready’.

Not that she’s gonna be raiding… but I have high hopes for 5 man runs.

I have my basic gear pretty solid. The only major upgrade I need in the short term are the Tempest’s Touch gloves from the Caverns of Time/Old Hillsbrad quest chain. Everything else is pretty good, and is gemmed out with +9 Spell Damage gems.

So my next step is slowly farming the mats for all the enchants my gear will need. Last night, I got the Runic Spellthread for my pants. I have the mats for the +40 Spell Damage weapon enchant. (I plan on getting that for now, since the mats for Soulfrost are freaking insane. I’ll get that when I have a true ‘holy crap’ weapon, thanks very much.)

But consumables… I feel consumables are still my weak point.

Let’s take a look at the Shadow Priest. My role is to be a mana battery for the group/raid. I do this by keeping Vampiric Touch up on my target, and putting out massive shadow damage.

So my priorities in a raid are;

• 1) Maximize Shadow Damage.
• 2) Keep Mana up to keep pumping out continuous damage output.

Okay, that is pretty simple, right?

Why do I keep feeling like I’m missing something?

Test me on this.

For Shadow damage buffs, I can have;

ONE Food Buff

• Poached Bluefish (+23 Spell Damage, +20 Spirit)
• Blackened Basilisk (+23 Spell Damage, +20 Spirit)
• Crunchy Serpent (+23 Spell Damage, +20 Spirit)

ONE Battle Elixir

• Elixir of Major Shadow Power (+55 Shadow Spell Damage for 1 hour)
• Adept’s Elixir (+24 Spell Damage and Healing, +24 Spell Crit for 1 hour)

ONE Guardian Elixir

• Elixir of Draenic Wisdom (+30 Intellect and +30 Spirit for 1 hour)
• Elixir of Major Mageblood (+16 mana per 5 seconds for 1 hour)

OR, alternatively, ONE Flask

• Flask of Pure Death (+80 Shadow, Frost of Fire Damage for 2 hours, persists through death)
• Flask of Supreme Power (+70 Spell Damage, thanks for the reminder Logan!)

ONE Weapon Buff

• Superior Wizard Oil (+42 Spell Damage for 1 hour)

Aaaannnndddd… that’s it. That’s all I can come up with for damage boosts.

Damn it, I keep feeling like I’m missing something there. Not an item itself, sure there are mana regens, #/mp5, etc. Kirk at Priestly Endeavors made a kick ass list a while ago. 

No, I feel like there is an entire category I’m missing, and I can’t figure out what it is.

I mean, I eat a Blackened Basilisk, down a Flask of Pure Death, apply Superior Wizard Oil… and I’m done?

That’s +145 Shadow Spell Damage, and that’s good. Don’t get me wrong, that’s very nice. But it just seems like there should be something else to pop there that I’m missing… food, flask, weapon buff. What else?

WTF? Am I crazy?

As far as the Mana support, to keep me going in the fight itself, I have the following;

Shared Potion Cooldown

• Super Mana Potion (1800-3000 Mana, 2 minute cooldown)
• Major Dreamless Sleep Potion (Character goes inactive for 12 seconds, regains +3600 Mana and +3600 health, 2 minute cooldown)

Shared Healthstone Cooldown

• Demonic Runes (restores 900-1500 Mana, loses 600 - 1000 Health)

And lastly, I carry Heavy Netherweave Bandages, regular level 65 food and Purified Draenic Water for recovery in-between pulls.

So I can apply Vampiric Touch on an enemy and then use various Shadow spells to pump out damage and regain Mana for the party.

When Mana starts getting down by around 1500, I can pop my Racial Symbol of Hope (thanks Dax!) to give my party around 1000 Mana from Mp/5 regen.

When my Mana gets low the first time, I can release my Shadowfiend for about 3500+ Mana recovery from him doing damage. It’s got a long cooldown, 5 minutes, so best to start it early in the fight.

When my Mana gets low the second time, I can either down a Super Mana Pot for “oh shit, we’re going down, I need whatever I can get” Mana recovery, or a Major Dreamless Sleep for some “I’ve got a few seconds, gimme a solid big chunk o’ mana” Mana recovery. With a 2 minute cooldown, we get that ticking next.

If I am still within the 2 minute Potion cooldown the next time I need a boost, I can use a Demonic Rune to keep me going just that little bit longer, just until the Potion or Shadowfiend cooldown is up again.

It’s not a bad plan, I think. I haven’t respecced to my final level 70 spec yet, so I still don’t have Inner Focus. I know that it has a 3 minute cooldown, and that the next spell cast after it costs no Mana. So I know I’ll have to play with it, maybe macro it to my highest mana cost/long cooldown spell to make sure I get the most benefit from it.

I think I’ve got a good plan, I’m still in the ‘get my stuff properly enchanted’ phase.

Man… I keep telling people, if you think the game is over at level 70, better think again. Hitting 70 just let’s you narrow down your focus to getting an end-game piece of gear for your spec, and then affording the mats to enchant it, and then repeating the process.

The one thing I am most grateful for, is that the two characters I most want to play in this game, a Feral Druid and a Priest, both hit 70 well before Wrath of the Lich King was released. I’ll have plenty of time to settle in and enjoy them both, and learn the various idiosyncracies of the classes, long before I have to relearn everything all over again. And while everyone else is rolling their new Death Knight, I’ll be advancing through the new zones unopposed.

Well, most likely not, but a guy can dream, right?