I dislike pwave so much. So very very much. It’s over all look and how clunky it is. All this set up for a one off that feels like crap.
Also why is Lava burst the only identity people seem to cling to and now pwave. Is this Elemental or Primordial Lava Burst Wave Shaman only?
They need to fit LvB back into the rotation again at least every few LBs. But I can’t say that I miss IF and EB (instant cast is better).
The gameplay of lightning focused builds is so bad. One of the worst designed specs in the game.
That’s what happens when you get a half baked rework late in the development cycle and see no meaningful iteration on it.
Maybe next expansion elemental can finally get a proper rework.
Wise words, but don’t say them out loud, or you’ll be called stupid or worse.
Blizzard released a rushed rework for the Shaman in the open beta because they realized they hadn’t done any iteration or testing during the closed beta, particularly for the Shaman and the Hero talents, and now people are just dealing with it.
They released commendable design intentions, aligning with my viewpoint of having Fire, Lightning, and Weaver as distinct builds. But that’s not what we got. Fire is dead and still intertwined with Lightning, which still has to use Lava Burst and Lighting use lava
Now, asking for a complete rework, we all know it can’t happen by August 27th. However, it could happen in Season 2, after 3 months. Blizzard has already stated that expansions will have faster cycles—no more than two years, but closer to one year.
People talk about tuning, but then insult those who ask for the same attention that other classes have received over the years, like Rogue, Hunter, Warlock, Mage, etc. We get stuck with a one-button build (which is fine if it’s Lightning, at least for me).
Some argue that the problem is having one specialization with three builds. They even created a fourth specialization for Druids, so why can’t we have that? Instead, we’re pitted against each other when, in reality, we should be asking Blizzard/Microsoft for more. They claim to have 7-8 million active players per month and generate around 91 million euros per month. With that kind of budget and time, they say they can’t do a rework? Then the problem isn’t with me; it’s with those who accept less.
We’re stuck with old animations (like Lightning Bolt and Ascendance), invisible effects (Earth Shock, Frost Shock, and Flame Shock), and a class that tries to make a Christmas dinner with just three ingredients. With the profits they make, they could feed a third-world nation, and you’re telling me it can’t be done? The problem lies with those who accept this, not with me.
Is this Lighting Bolt Shaman or Elemental Shaman? Because that’s what it is, Lighting Bolt Shaman. There is nothing Elemental about it. People only want Lava Burst and Earth Shock/Elemental Blast buffed to a point where you’re not mindlessly spamming Lighting Bolt. It’s cool we got a lighting build. It’s dumb it’s as brain-dead as meatball spam. Right now, it’s smashing your CDs, spam lighting bolt, Earth Shock naked at the moment you are about to overcap, only use Lava Burst to consume Pwave. Thats it. It’s no different than spamming Lava Burst till you can’t, then casting Elemental Blast until you can cast Lava Burst again; Icefury is somewhere in that mess. Stormbringer AoE is slightly better, but even that is too much Chain Lighting spam. Consider that our Tier set is a nothing burger in single target now because we spend Maelstrom even less than we did with the old Farseer Fire build.
If they gave us something like Season 2 Lighting, I’d be cool as a cucumber. At least then half the kit and talent tree isn’t dead.
The issue is that the moment they nerf FoL, Ele is dead unless they bring back Lava Burst-centric talents. Without the haste steroid from Pwave being on a Short CD or Grandpa’s damage, which is entirely CPM-based, Ele will be in a very bad spot. Everything else you said is spot on.
This is why you are stupid. “Meatball Spam bad, Lighting Bolt Spam good.” One button spam only exist if you devalue every other button in the spec. Go play classic if you want a one-dimensional spec.
I keep repeating that if you think something is stupid, you should say it to yourself. Secondly, I’ve never said that Lava Burst spam was bad, so I can’t say that Lightning Bolt spam is bad either. What I can say is that these were embryonic builds centered on a single element that, instead of constantly complaining, could have evolved into something better.With the rushed rework of talents, this wasn’t done at all. If they had kept the Lava Burst spam, they could have made it interact with Ice Fury and the new mode of spamming empowered Frost Shocks. This would have been much more interactive and fun because you’d have Ascendance triggering randomly, Ascendance on demand, Fire Elemental, the mini-game of spamming Flame Shocks, and the possibility of triggering Ice Fury, Frost Shock, and Master of Elements. You’d have had a particularly fun and mobile Fire build.However, in favor of those who constantly complain, these possibilities were destroyed. Now we’re left with three iterations—three truly indecent builds.So, what I’m asking for, after this rushed rework, is the chance to have a proper rework of the Elemental Shaman, just like what was done with Combat, Demonology, Survival, and the endless iterations that Arcane has received. With every expansion, Arcane seems to have a new build, while we’re supposed to be content with what we have now, just tweaking a few numbers.Why can’t we raise our voices and say that maybe it’s time for Blizzard, with all the money they have, to give us something more? A real rework, a new build, or even a new specialization. They have 8 to 9 million active players paying monthly, earning millions, and we get a rushed rework in open beta because they completely forgot about the Shaman. Are we supposed to be okay with that?I understand that not realistically, we will only receive some tuning now, but I want attention to be drawn to the fact that we need a complete rework. One that results in three different, focused, active, and fun builds—not just a single-button spec. That’s what I’m asking for. If you want a Weaver build without any focus, that’s your point of view, and the developers may tell us in the future what the state of Elemental will be. But I hope there will be a decent and clear stance on what they plan to do.If we’re stuck with this mini-expansion, this mini-rework, again, I’m not okay with that. If you’re content with it and happy to have what we got, that’s fine for you. But I hope for a game that’s been around for 20 years, that continues to make huge profits, where they’ve squeezed everything out of it to the point of exhaustion, and now we’re supposed to be satisfied with just a little bit more each time.If this is good enough for you, fine. But I believe we deserve more.
Please point out where I said the current Lightning build is good enough. Or are you as dumb as I think you are? I just want good gameplay, IDGAF what elements we’re casting as long as the gameplay is good. Farseer Fire single target was fine. Tone down the Lava Surge behavior (not kill it completely), and Farseer Fire AoE would have been fine. Stormbringer Lighting AoE is fine, Farseer Lighting is garbage Season 3/4 meatball spam, and Stormbringer Lighting Single Target might as well not exist.
Or maybe you have dementia because you just said:
So, are you okay with this lighting build or would you want it changed a bit? Do you want to fix it now or at Midnight? If now, just buff Lava Burst and Elemental Blast/Earth Shock. What’s so bad about it? Is the world going to end if you have to use a Lava Surge proc now and then, following that up with an Earth Shock cast? Why so against that? Why are you so beholden to “Full rework or Lighting Bolt spam” with nothing in between? Is the Fire build in the room with you right now?
You haven’t said it directly, but you’re okay with having a Weaver build while abolishing the idea of a single-element gameplay, which to me is debatable. And it doesn’t seem like there are any true single-element builds in this case because even the top DPS build uses Primordial Wave, Lava Burst, Flame Shock, Earth Shock, and Farseer. So, would you define that as Weaver or not?
Its not if I’m spamming 1 button 90% of the time you rock sucker. Farseer Fire was closer to what you were suggesting. And literally, nobody uses the term “weaver” anymore.
Do you need me to test anymore beta builds for you?
You can criticize the gameplay, but in reality, you’re using Earth, Fire, and Lightning to empower Lightning Bolt, which still involves three out of the four elements. I would say that by using these elements to empower Lightning, it’s a Weaver build leaning toward Lightning, but still a Weaver. And yes, the gameplay is terrible, and I agree with you on that.
However, I would like to have a purely Lightning build without having to rely on Primordial Wave and Lava Burst for the haste trick. I want to have more Lightning buttons, just as I’m asking for more Lava buttons, so we can have, as the developers have said, three distinct modes of gameplay.
And do you think this request is idiotic and ruins the specialization, or maybe it’s the designers who are lazy and rushed an incomplete mini-rework without testing it, just like how the Shaman heroic talents were sent to open beta without reworking or iterating on them as was done with other heroic talents?
I don’t have dementia, my friend. It’s just that between having the possibility to thematically play a full Lightning build, even if the gameplay is terrible, and not having it at all, I prefer to have it, hoping that in future seasons or expansions, it will be improved.
Your request is just as dumb as the developers were for listening to anybody asking for pure Fire or Lighting Builds. It was a dumb design decision. If you have a build lean toward a singular Element while SUBSTANTIALLY having play from the others that’s good, it is entirely different if one Element engulfs a build. If Shaman was a caster-only spec with two damage specs and a healing spec, then sure, one fire and one lighting. But trying to shove it all 3 into a single tree is about as dumb as the druid class tree, which is doing terrible balancing acts trying to manage 4 different specs within a single class tree. Stop servicing Blizzard for a moment, and you might see that. You also want to avoid lockjaw as well.
Farseer Fire did this fine, though it would have been our 3rd season in a row playing a more Fire-centric build. Stormbringer Lighting AoE builds are doing this well, but its single target is awful. Single target bosses still compose 30-40% of the key. Season 3/4 Fire did not, and the current Single Target Lighting Build does not. And the spec dies when they nerf FoL, a single talent because they wanted to service this dumb goal. So why do you not want to band-aid the problem NOW and advocate for change later? All I see you doing is throwing coins in a well, hoping something good happens who decided to balance a class based on a bug and then fix said bug.
I’ll throw you a curve ball: I hated Season 2 Storm Builds for Enhance but love how it has been doing playing Stormbringer. It’s not because it’s Stormstrike spam or any dumb class fantasy element, but because the gameplay is good, fun, and meaningful.
I’m sorry, but I think the opposite of you, and I hope, as I’ve seen, that there are many fans of the Lightning theme, and that they will maintain the premise to develop it properly. Because as of today, it would take almost nothing to have it, just as it would take some fine-tuning to have a decent Weaver. And yet, here you are, complaining and calling people idiots simply because today, you have to use a build that’s thematically oriented toward Lightning.
Literally just buff Earth Shock/Elemental Blast and Lava Burst and you have it you ape. Fix it for now, rework it later.
IDGAF what element I am casting. Gameplay > Theme. The gameplay is garbage. Short of rework the solution is to incorporate the other tools we have. If they retrofitted Lighting Builds to play exactly like Farseer Fire did or DRE and Icefury to proc off Lighting Bolt, I’d be cool with it because it had better gameplay comparatively than “spam lighting bolt and maybe click something besides a CD every 20 seconds”.
You’re out of your mind if you think this is healthy:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/91325438105767936/1275370925562400842/image.png?ex=66c5a53b&is=66c453bb&hm=9985bd9c2e1e09dae58302c1bec850070f3905658a63bd74cf744242f5666046&=&format=webp&quality=lossless
From my point of view, theme is more important than gameplay because if I don’t like the theme, I won’t use it. Otherwise, with every season or expansion, I would just play the class with the most fun or strongest gameplay, but that’s not the case. You think of a theme and develop the gameplay to best represent that theme.
And please, don’t tell me that Elemental is an elementalist and has to use all four elements, because you’d be short-sighted not to recognize that Enhancement or Restoration is more of an elementalist than we are, considering they use 90% of our spells. So, let’s just say that the Shaman has really turned into a mess in terms of how it has evolved.
It doesn’t need to be to the same degree that Elementalist Enhance Builds do, nor does it need to be a 25% split between each element (or a 33% split between fire, nature, and frost in Ele’s case). It could be like a 70% -30% split towards one Element. Right now, it’s like a 90%—10% split. I am not talking about damage breakdowns; I am talking about buttons and abilities you are using.
I’m not playing the build like that. I use Stormbringer, and it revolves around getting more casts of Earth Shock, so I don’t use Surge of Power but Aftershock. I only use Flame Shock to reduce the pet’s cooldown; I play a pure Lightning build. However, it’s still a bit of a roulette because there are fun moments like the Earth Shock-Tempest-Earth Shock-Tempest-Earth Shock combos, but I don’t deny that the fun is all about trying to reach that point where you have the resources and luck to get those procs.
So I don’t take the Primordial Wave branch, but I go directly to Eyes of the Storm, Elemental Equilibrium, and Mountain Will Fall.
You do know Earth Shock overloads only account for like 0.8% to 1.5% damage, and you’re not procing Elemental Equilibrium right because you’re not casting an elemental spell at all so its just a talent point sink for probably one of the weakest talent points in the tree. Essentially, all you’ve done is cut off your own nose to spite your face to avoid casting Pwave and then literally ignore it until you get a Lava Surge proc to consume it. Testing what you just described feels even worse than Farseer Lighting.
Go play it if you want, but if you feel bad playing that build you kinda deserve it.
Actually, Elemental Equilibrium does activate; you just need to test it. If it’s not a bug in beta, and since the goal is to rush ES as much as possible, we might as well give it that value too.