Patch v6.1 brings a buff to Shadow Priests!
Not sure how big this will turn out, but I'm excited that there are buffs coming for shadow priests. These are the things that will affect Shadow Priest DPS after v6.1:
Auspicious Spirits (Shadow) no longer cause Shadowy Apparitions to not deal damage. Instead, it now increases Shadowy Apparition damage by 100% in addition to still granting 1 Shadow Orb.
-- so if I am reading this right, it sounds like after SW:P crits, we now get additional damage equal to 90% of spell power plus the shadow orb. Nice. This might make me consider Auspicious Spirits over Clarity of Power (Mind Spike, Mind Sear and SW:D do 40% additional damage if the target does not have one of your DOTs on it, plus it reduces the casting time of Mind Blast to 0 sec.). Well, no, probably not... hard to give up the instant cast Mind Blast and 40% damage increase on Mind Sear, especial with the next v6.1 buff in mind...
Divine Star (Shadow) damage increased by 20%.
-- No thanks. This requires that you are positioned properly to aim the cast directly at the mob. No good in raids when you are trying to avoid the ick.
Mindbender lasts for 20 seconds (up from 15 seconds).
-- No thanks. I barely remember to use my Shadowfiend anyway, and I still would never choose this over Insanity.
Surge of Darkness now has a 12% chance to trigger (up from 10%).
-- No thanks. I want Mind Sear to clear the DOTs so that I can take advantage of the increased damage due to Clarity of Power.
Void Entropy (Shadow) damage increased by 80%.
-- Okay, now we are cookin' here... Here is another DOT that you could use shadow orbs on like you would Devouring Plague, but frankly, why wouldn't I just cast another Devouring Plague and get the bonus heals from that DOT? No, I'll just skip this one still.
Insanity (Shadow) now also affects Mind Sear.
-- DING DING DING DING OMG this is the one. So now in raids/heroics, every time I run my AOE rotation, when I work up the shadow orbs to pop a Devouring Plague, I will first throw a Mind Spike to clear the DOTs, then cast DP, and then get the Insanity bonus (double damage on Mind Flay or now) on Mind Sear for super AOE face melting! Double Damage plus 40% on the Mind Sear???? SOLD!
As far as I'm concerned, that's all there was in this patch.