[MoP] Shadow DPS Guide - Basics

So, I'm sure you were all expecting this post a month ago when 5.0 hit. Well, better late than never. Here's a Shadow basics post, updated for patch 5.0.

• Freshly updated for level 90!

Monk Heirloom Gear & Enchants

With Mists of Pandaria looming, only one thing is for certain: we're about to be awash in a jade sea of incompetent monks. I'm sure many remember with horror how it was at the start of WotLK, when 50% of the server was DKs, 90% of DKs were terrible at their class, and they beat us all in PvP and damage anyway, because they were super-OP. So of course, we have to prepare ourselves, and what better way than by getting our twink gear in order right now? After all, we won't be able to beat them until 5.1 nerfs them into line, so we'd better join them.

Shadow Priest Glyphs [Mists]

Prime glyphs are gone.

With Mists less than two months away (and no recent Shadow changes), I think it's high time to start theorycrafting for Shadow in 5.0. One of the big things that'll strike right when 5.0 drops is the new glyph set. We'll probably need to buy mostly all-new glyphs, as a lot of the old item IDs no longer refer to valid glyphs. Unlike before, it's hard or impossible to say what will be the best ahead of time. Very few glyphs, if any, offer any sort of damage increase, and the ones that do are extremely situational and minor. Probably, the "correct" glyphs will vary on a per-fight basis, and we'll need to swap glyphs between every encounter. To that end, you may want to buy and learn more than just what you plan to use immediately.