Shadow Word: Pain

Shadow Word: Pain is a level 2 priest damage over time ability with a direct damage component.

For Shadow priests, Shadow Word: Pain generates 3 Insanity on application.

• As with many baseline abilities, the actual damage dealt by Shadow Word: Pain will vary based on the priest's specialization. This is due to each spec having a hidden core aura that modifies ability damage done solely for that spec.
• As of patch 9.0.1, these hidden core auras grant Shadow Word: Pain a 7% damage increase for discipline, an 81% damage increase for holy, and a 20% damage increase for shadow.
• Like all damage over time spells, sufficient haste will cause Shadow Word: Pain to gain extra ticks.
• Shadow Word: Pain will not deal its initial damage when applied with Vampiric Touch via Misery (priest talent).

Shadow priests use Shadow Word: Pain (commonly abbreviated as SW:P) as one of their key damage-over-time attacks. Though its damage is considerably low, its primary use is to enable Mastery: Shadow Weaving, and it should generally be kept active on enemies at all times. Being both instant cast and free of cost, SW:P is the easiest of Shadow's three DoTs to apply and spread, especially with the talents Misery (priest talent) or Searing Nightmare.

As Discipline priests do not have access to Renew, they instead make use of Shadow Word: Pain as a "reverse HoT" via Atonement. Unlike shadow, discipline does not have any options to directly improve SW:P, but they can talent into Purge the Wicked which replaces SW:P entirely with a stronger DoT.

In PvP, SW:P can be useful for preventing rogues or druids from stealthing, and dealing damage while on the move. Unlike most DoTs, Shadow Word: Pain has an initial direct damage component that will interrupt flag captures and similar processes, making it highly useful for this purpose. This makes SW:P the priest's only instant spammable direct damage ability.

This spell envelopes a target briefly in a cloud of dark energy conjured from the netherworld.

• In Classic, Shadow Word: Pain is the only shadow damage over time ability available to priests (excluding the undead priest racial Devouring Plague). It is also considered to be one of the strongest DoTs in Classic due to both its high base damage and its synergy with the numerous shadow damage talents and debuffs available.
• Shadow Word: Pain is a basic Priest spell in Hearthstone. The flavor text reads: "A step up from a spell cast by many beginning acolytes: "Shadow Word: Annoy"."

• Shadow Word: Pain (Heroes of Azeroth), TCG card