1985 is the most DPS I have put out in any encounter that does not include a damage amplification component. I will outline my methods and gear for you here. Even though WWS Scoreboard has been down for a while, and doesn't even include M'uru, I have included their DPS conversion for those saying that my overall presence would have lowered my DPS significantly, which is not true.
M'uru WWS ReportDPS: 1985
Using WWS Scoreboard Formula: 1928
Spell RotationIn short, the spell priority you use is to DoT everything. As we have seen with Hyjal trash, mass damage over time spells gives us the highest potential for DPS since SW Pain, and to a lesser extent VT, but have a high damage per cast time component. These spells hit a wall in almost every encounter because their actual DPS is relatively low for their duration when compared to shadow word: death, mind blast and even mind flay. In conjunction with the correct M'uru strat the mass DoT strategy is fully realized.
Raid StratI have seen a couple different strats when it comes to M'uru and the one I will describe probably gives shadow priests their highest DPS potential while maintaining excellent positioning for the rest of the raid.
Tanks:
There are four tanks, one for each door, a warrior for the void sentinel and a paladin for the void spawns. The door tanks can be any tanking class with paladin's being the easiest, but a skilled druid can generate more threat, they just don't get easymode AoE generate initial threat. A warrior and pally in the other two spots are crucial because spell reflect and consecrate are crucial for threat generation.
Healers:
I wont go too much into healers since they are largely irrelevant to our DPS, but I will say raid position increases the potential for CoH and chain heal.
Ranged/Melee DPS:
Our ranged DPS stands in two groups, each of which stands just outside the darkness spawn circle (yellow area) 180 degrees from each other while favoring one of the two doors. Melee is split between the sides and their sole job in Phase 1 is to DPS the berserkers and mage that spawn at each door. Ranged will be split between M'uru, void sentinels, void spawns and door adds.
Shadow Priest Role:
The first thing to note is that one priest will be designated to mass dispel the dark fiends that spawn in the middle. If this is a shadow priest you can subtract about 20% off of your normal DPS in phase 1 due to stopping DPS and potentially have debuffs falling off. The decision of who does this will come down to who your raid feels is reliable and what role they feel comfortable sacrificing for the 5+ seconds it takes your attention away from one's primary task.
Aside from mass dispelling you can pretty much let the DoTs fly. SW Pain will yield the highest damage for cast time, but VT will be necessary to make your spells more efficient as well as to return mana for your group. If done effectively your party will be spouting expletives about how much mana they are receiving.
As the fight start I always precast VT to coincide with our countdown and drop a SW: Pain as I run in. After that it is a normal casting sequence until the door adds and void sentinel spawns. For the remainder of phase one I prioritize my targets as follows:
1. M'uru: M'uru is set as my focus target and I always keep an eye on his remaining DoT time.
2. Void Sentinel: Void sentinels don't live very long, so I cast one set of DoTs and forget them, but the shadow weaving and misery is a huge bonus to the mages and warlocks we have finish them off.
3. Door Adds: DPS on door adds is very important, but if your melee has them under control you may not want to DoT them at all to increase overall raid DPS. The exception to this is entering phase 2 where a set of DoTs applied to the door adds and a many void spawns as possible will help ensure a smoother transition.
4. Void Spawn: Nearly any spec of pally can tank this, but even our ret paladin cannot kill off a full set by himself. Having DoTs active on the spawns will reduce the amount of time that warlocks have to seed which results in them being able to DPS more important targets like M'uru and the Sentinels.
Lastly, remember to listen to vent for calls for what needs more DPS. Your roll can shift to a very specific one quickly if a group's DPS falls behind.
SpecNot much to say about spec here other than every point in shadow weaving will increase your overall DPS. If you can afford 5/5 do it. Also, spirit tap is necessary as you will be looking for low void spawns to finish off for the mana return and spell damage increase with improved divine spirit. If your raid does not have an imp DS priest encourage someone to spec and be summoned just to buff your raid. I have seen as much as a 200 DPS difference compared to attempts without it, and the mana gain is significant as well.
ConsumablesFlask of Pure death, Wizard Oil, spell damage food and lots of Mana pots. I personally mana pot as soon as I hit about 65% mana and every cooldown after that. This strat is extremely mana intensive, but very manageable. I tend to use shadow fiends on the door adds, but if you time it after darkness it can also be used on M'uru. I prefer the door add since a Sentinel dragged through the middle can result in a instagib.
GearThe items you equip for this should differ slightly from your typical set. With haste affecting the global cooldown your overall DoT damage receives a large bonus from being able to cast faster, but DoTs also receive the best coefficients of any of our spells from pure damage as well. Luckily, the gear available to shadow priests in Sunwell typically have both very high haste and spell damage. This makes the decision for gearing relatively easy, but I will note some special items below. Also, dropping below the 16% hit cap is not as detrimental as in other fights since nearly all of the mobs you are attacking are below level 73, but if possible you should still shoot to be hit capped for M'uru and Entropius.
Trinkets: Ashtongue Talisman of Acumen and Timbal's Focusing Crystal
The DPS potential with the BT trinket equipped is huge since it will be active a majority of the fight giving you 220 spell damage. No other trinket comes close to this damage increase. I use Timbal's due to the mindless nature of it. I know the Hex Shrunken head has a higher damage potential on paper, but Timbal's comes close, has a slight potential for the killing blow to proc spirit tap on a void spawn, refreshes even faster than normal after the hidden cooldown with mass DoTs, and frees my mind up to think about other things.
Ring: Band of the Eternal Sage
In conjunction with everything else, the proc on this ring can raise your active spell damage to the 2000 range. I have started using this instead of another Ring of Ancient Knowledge because my gains from haste are beginning to flatter a little bit. It is hard to give an exact DPS increase on either with a largely DoT rotation, however, I do know that haste increases my DPS at the cost of efficiency while pure damage increases my DPS and efficiency with VT's current mechanic.
ConclusionThis is the highest DPS I have hit in a boss fight since we have entered The Burning Crusade. It is a little sad that these methods will be obsolete in about two weeks after this posting, but we do have a new age of the shadow priest to look forward to. It is refreshing to be able to be one of the top damage dealers in a boss fight again. Since the nerfs from SSC I have only been able to get #1 DPS on Illidan, but even that has subsided recently with the ridiculously poor scaling of shadow priests as others obtain Sunwell gear. I hope this helps the few shadow priests and guilds that are still attempting M'uru in these last days of TBC.
