It seems clear that the most recent changes to Shaman, specifically Ele, have been made with PvE in mind. Here are the most problematic parts of the tree from a PvP perspective:
- Ice and Fire / Ancestral Defense - Two very underwhelming talents in PvP. Not that they are bad, but having these two back to back doesn’t feel good, especially Ancestral Defense. Also, Ancestral Defense was just nerfed to 2% which is pretty baffling. I imagine that this was for PvE.
- Elemental Warding - It makes no sense, in a PvP context, for this to mitigate magic damage. Ele is already the best anti-caster caster in the game. It may seem a bit hyperbolic but this talent could have single-handedly made Ele a tier 1 spec in arena. The fact that it has been nerfed to 2% and no longer mitigates physical damage brings Ele right back to being a niche/FotM option. I understand that we still have Primordial Bond, but without a way to resurrect our pet as other pet classes have, it is guaranteed to be focused down by cleaves, being our only way of gaining mitigation. Return this to being flat damage reduction. If this talent was truly problematic in PvE, perhaps a choice node would be an elegant solution, choosing between 2% magic or 3% physical damage reduction. The last thing I want to see is Ele going another expansion getting run down by melee cleaves all over again.
- Nature’s Fury - Boring, and does less than nothing for Ele in PvP. I can’t imagine that any spec in any context is excited to take this. It only exists to be a roadblock into taking the cool new talents, such as Brimming with Life and Gust of Wind. Just remove this.
- Winds of Al’Akir - See above. The movement speed condition should be 2 totems. Actually the movement speed condition shouldn’t even exist. Is having a certain number of totems out an interesting gameplay decision? Shouldn’t you want to do that by virtue of totems being good, not because of this talent? Ideally, rework the totem part of the talent to do something else. 2 talent points is too much for a talent that, again, only exists as a roadblock to get Gust of Wind or Spirit Walk. It probably wouldn’t be as much of an issue if Nature’s Fury didn’t immediately precede it.
- Mana Spring Totem - Too many GCDs. 1 minute+ CD would be better. No one likes hitting abilities like this frequently.
- Stoneskin Totem - See above, but much worse. 10% is a pathetic number in PvP where it will simply be killed immediately anyways. Should be 1 minute+ CD, stronger effect. I imagine this is even more of an issue in PvE.
- Windspeaker’s Lava Resurgence - This used to be on a choice node with Elemental Blast, which gave something to Ele in PvP on that side of the tree. Now that it has been moved away, and given that no one will ever take Elemental Blast, it just removes an option from the tree. Now no one will be taking Elemental Blast in addition to never taking Windspeaker’s, as Skybreaker’s Fiery Demise is close to mandatory.