Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Elemental Shaman - 3.2 updates / Things you Should Know!


Ahh yes, Elemental Shaman. If you have one you love them, if you don't, then you are /jealous of them.

I was talking with multiple people over the weekend (none that have a elemental shaman) and they were all saying how "over-powered" elemental shaman are blah, blah, blah.

"A newly dinged 80 can get some crafted gear and some item level 200 blues and do 3k dps"

First off, lies!

Second, you are just jealous because we have utility and we are a hybrid class. Just because we can spec to heal or melee, does not mean that a straight dps class (mage, hunter, rogue) should do more dps then us.

Wipe those tears tubby and get ready to learn a few things about lighting power, nature wielding, FROSTSHOCKIN Elemental Shamans.

Tier Gear and Bonuses - When to use them?

Tier 7
  • 4-set bonus: The bonus critical strike damage of your Lava Burst is increased by 10%
Tier 8

  • 2-set bonus: The periodic damage dealt by your Flame Shock can now be critical strikes.
  • 4-set bonus: Your critical Strikes from Lightning Bolt cause the target to take nature damage equal to 8% of the Lightning Bolt’s damage over until cancelled sec.
Tier 9

  • 2-set bonus: Increases the duration of your Flame Shock spell by 9 seconds
  • 4-set bonus: Increases the damage done by your Lava Burst spell by 20%

Everyone in there mama is running heroics and raids to get there hands on conquest badges. You can buy anything with these badges, including your full tier 7 and 2 pieces of your tier 8.5.

When to switch from T7 to T8?

Your tier gear should be your first priority due to the bonus you get with them. As an Elemental Shaman, you want to be using your T7 four piece bonus until you get both T8.5 items from the badge vendor.

The 4 piece bonus from your T7 is not as good as your 2 piece bonus from T8. Going a little further in depth about it, the 4 piece T7 bonus roughly increases your output by ~30. While the 2 piece T8 bonus increases your output by around ~125.

Quite a huge difference. I have seen quite a few elemental shaman rolling around in Dalaran with one piece of T8 and it is breaking up their 4 piece bonus from T7. By doing this you might have a little more stats, but your dps overall is going to be much lower.

When to switch from T8 to T9?

The two piece set bonus for T9 is not that powerful. I saves you 1 global cooldown every 30 seconds, making it a small upgrade and only uping your output by ~60. Do not break up your T8 4 piece set for the 2 piece T9 unless the second item gives a 90-95 dps upgrade.

Surprised? I was too...but that last part was taken directly from the math guys over at Elitist Jerks.

So start collecting your T9 pieces. Just don't switch your 4 piece T8 until you have 4 pieces of the T9. Pretty weak, but it is what it is.

When you do get the 4 piece T9, that is where the money is at....I would love to create a shaman on the PTR to see what kind of dps I would be doing...I am sure its REDONKEYOUS!

Gems!

So now you are rocking your sexy 2 piece tier 8 bonus, but now you need to make sure you are gemming those suckas right.

[Chaotic Skyflare Diamond] is the only meta gem you should be using as a Elemental Shaman. If you are not using it, then you need to replace it ASAP if you care about making your toon the best it an possibly be.

Other then that, you should just be gemming for spell power. If you are having issues reaching the hit cap (368 for horde 342 for alliance) you should use the mix stat gem, [Vivid Eye of Zul] (+10 hit and 15 stamina)

Why you say? Well, it counts as a blue gem which is a requirement for the meta gem and it also allows you to stack more spell power gems like [Runed Cardinal Ruby]. It would be better then stacking the 12sp/15 stamina gem unless you are already hit capped. Then the 12sp/15 stamina gem would be the way to go to make the requirement for the meta gem.

Glyphs

I had to do some research on for this section. What I found was pretty cut and dry and that my friends is a good thing. We like to have things that are cut and dry. That way we don't confuse or over think ourselves.

  • Glyph of Flame Shock - Required - It is a key part of our rotation, without it we wouldn't do the DPS that we do now. I mean not only does it save 1 global cooldown, it allows us to pew pew more!

  • Glyph of Lightning Bolt - Required - It works out to be an additional 4% extra damage to lighting bolt.
The above two gylphs are the cut and dry part. There isn't any reason why you shouldn't have them in regards to PvE dps.

The glyphs below are the conditional ones, lets take a look. However, that 10% is a co-efficient bonus for Lava Burst. Also, because of the high use of our Lava Burst spell in our rotation, you should only get this when you are rocking the 4 piece set bonus for Tier 9. The 20% damage bonus (4 piece T9 bonus) further multiplies the additional spell power, which is just damn sexy!

So don't use this glyph unless you have the 4 piece tier bonus.

This is what you should use until you have the four piece tier 9 bonus. An additional +84 spell power to all spells sounds like something we can all use!

Pew Pew Rotation!

Nothing has really changed since I wrote my article a few months back, but here it is again.

FS, LvB, CL/LB filler, LvB, CL/LB filler, and repeat.

Now you don't have to use chain lighting if you don't want to, but I use it for a few reasons.
  1. It does more damage
  2. It's are only reliable AoE spell
Some of the negatives about Chain Lighting is that is cost more mana then Lighting Bolt and it is on a cool down. So you just can't spam it.

I want to be clear on this though, you do not have to use it, it is optional in our rotation. Most of the time I do use it, but I also pretty good gear and can take the extra hit on the mana.

Earthshock please?

Alot of Shamans say that you need to use Earth Shock in your rotation. I don't incorporated into my rotation because ES only has a 25 yard range (with talents) and you need a glyph to make it even come close to putting it in our rotation.

I already went over glyphs and the [Glyph of Earth Shock] is not worth replacing any of the other ones I listed in that section.

OMG? The End?!?

Yup, that is all I got to say about Elemental Shamans at this point. Just make sure you are using the right gear and the correct rotation and you should be doing fine. Located on the right of my page, under Shaman, there are a few other guilds about Elemental Shamans you might find interesting.

Topics include stats, gear, and reaching the hit cap.

Until next time, I'm WTFout!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love my elemental sham. In fact, i use your blogs in order to make sure he is up to date.

ive read that this is a pretty good rotation, of course, this one is for when you have enough sp, and can start to focus on haste.

fs, lavab, lb, lb, lb, lb, lb,

the only diff is, between this and the other one, with a little more haste, you end up gaining a free Lightning bolt.

I also only use earth shock on trash mobs that are about to die when i dont have time to throw another lb out.

Hope im not beating a dead horse here :D

WTFspaghetti said...

@ Anonymous

Defintely not beating a dead horse lol. I am not saying that Earth Shock is a spell you should never use, I am just saying that you shouldn't use it in your regular rotation.

In regards to your rotation, I would really suggest you trying to throw in a Chain Lighting in there when it is off cooldown.

You should see a big increase in dps as long as you have the mana to support it.

Green Armadillo said...

"Second, you are just jealous because we have utility and we are a hybrid class. Just because we can spec to heal or melee, does not mean that a straight dps class (mage, hunter, rogue) should do more dps then us."

I was once in a 5-man PUG HHOL with a Naxx-geared Elemental who was flat out a much better player than me. So he blew me out of the water on the damage meters, which was fine, and his totems boosted everyone else's DPS, which was fine, AND, because the group generally outgeared the content, he was able to heal pretty much the entire Loken fight in Ele Spec with DPS gear after the healer died.

Even ignoring the whole healing thing (and self-res wipe recovery), the totems alone mean that the group is better off bringing the Shaman over a mage with the same individual DPS. Not a problem in raids, because the totems don't stack beyond the first shaman, but I can't see why I would ever invite any spec of Mage over a comparably geared Ele Shaman to a five-man if it were my group and I had the choice.

I guess it's a moot point as long as the raid gear curve trivializes 5-man content. Raid balance demands equal DPS, and most players don't stay in 5-mans long enough to care. And hey, mages were on top last expansion with all the need for CC. Next time out we'll both be crying about how some other class has rendered both of us obsolete. Perhaps there'll be a ton of mobs that are best off-tanked by AOE-immune resistant?

Green Armadillo said...

That last line makes a bit more sense if you amend the word "pets".

River said...

The only shaman advice i have is, delete reroll a mage. LOL!

Arioch said...

Mages bring the biscuits and don't you forget it!

Anonymous said...

I was also using the thunderstorm glyph, it eliminated the pushback affect while upping mana by an additional "x" %. I normally only use that with large groups of mobs, and my mana pot is pretty high to where I don't run out during fights, what are your thoughts about putting lava busrt glyph in its place?

Anonymous said...

As a blue skinned elemental let me take it a bit the gear issues a bit further.

Aftyer the 2 56 Conquest badge items, I went for the neck piece and the windchill binding ( I know crafted belt is a bit better).

This is where I sit today ... doing ~2500 DPS, now mana issues fighting, though toss me into healling mid stream and it can go.

Tonight I get the crafted boots.

I am saving Triumphs for the legs... at that point I expect to break the 3K barrier.

That is my gear path, but I am open to ideas :)

Good Hunting
Tcler of Khaz'Goroth

WTFspaghetti said...

@Green

Mages are def not off the map when it comes to any sort of group content. I know with mine I can almost do as much dps as my elemental shaman, but my mage has worst gear.

In a raid situation, Mage's AI and debuffs are worth bring to the raid, plus their DPS is completely sick if geared and know their rotation. Plus they can spellsteal, turn people into turtles, and bring the much loved biscuits!

I agree with you some what in 5 mans, but in a raid situation I would want more mages then elemental shaman...but that is just me.

@ River and Arioch

Me <3 Mages long time!

@ Anonymous

The thunderstorm glyph is a minor, not a major glyph. You can use it and the Lava Burst one at the same time =D

Jong said...

good stuff.

"In relations to 5 and 10 man groups, which dps class to you prefer overall?"

Shamans are my favoite class to run with in general. in 25 mans too. our gm refuses to raid without 2 resto shamans. I don't like running without an enhancement shaman.

Fish said...

My fav thing about shammies is they are a lot more durable than mages but can still bring the pain. I also like the solid option of caster, melee or heals. Honestly, I wish I'd rolled a shammy when I first started playing, pally is just the way I normally go in fantasy games. . .

Ruhtra said...

What you said at the beginning is so true. People who do not understand their class, as well as other classes, will often complain that ____________ class is so OP. It is sad as all get out.

On a side note, I love the posts you throw up on Shamming it up. Used a lot of the info here when working on my Shammy. Keep it up!

Potts said...

All this Shammy talk bores me. Since you keep going on and on about it I am going to have to make one just so I can see what the fuss is all about. Lame...

Dion said...

Hi,

""A newly dinged 80 can get some crafted gear and some item level 200 blues and do 3k dps"

First off, lies!"

My shaman dinged 80 as Enhancement levelling 71-80 in AV on 5th September 2009. I had zero Elemental gear. I've picked up 6 pieces of PVP gear, a Cudgel of Saronite Justice and Venture Co. Lightning Rod. I just went ToC5 normal and did 3300 DPS on the first boss fight.

8 slots are still level 70 enhancement gear and my unbuffed spelldamage is 1047 (1601 with flametongue and totem of wrath, 14.7% crit 33 hit lol) so I'm going to say that this isn't lies.

You were correct about one thing though, I do love my shaman ;)

Dion

WTFspaghetti said...

@Dion said...

lol...I am not saying you are lying. I believe that the story you told is fact.

However, I was talking about heroic 5 mans and 10 and 25 man raids. I should have made that more known in my article.

<3

Anonymous said...

I've been playing a Mage for about a year now. After playing Rogue, DK and Priest it is the most fun i've ever had playing WOW.....that is until I leveled my Shaman. I started off healing(which BTW I hate doing) I was resto for a while and used to laugh at how long it took a Pally to kill me when I stood there and didn't fight back...lol. Then I went elemental and man is he fun now!! I found your blog looking for the proper rotation since I haven't been doing very good dps so far. Thanks for the tips and I will yell back in a couple days and let you know how it's working.

OH BTW question.....is SP as important doing elemental as attack power would be? I need some serious Shaman schooling! haha

Anonymous said...

Hey there!
I'm right there with that last "anonymous" post. My main is a mage and is fully epic'd. I love playing on her but wanted to try something new. I made a shammy and I'm determined I'm going to love her more than my mage when she hits 80 lol.

I'm 71 right now and was enhance for leveling but figured I'd go ahead and switch to ele so i could get used to it. I appriciate your post very much because I really didn't know anything about ele shamans :)

Was wondering what stats I should stack over others. if you could help me out with that :) Probably a stupid question but just want to make sure I got it right.

Anonymous said...

Your blog is well done and you make some great points. I am not sure of your rotation though so i will just say u can pull more dps if you AOE with ur Firenova spell. Try FS, LvB, CL, FN, LB, rinse and repeat.