Hi, New to Alpha. Very excited over the Shaman Changes. My feedback will be on Elemental.
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Too many “trickle” GCD demands.
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Flame Shock
I feel the rotation is suffering hard from Three Stooges syndrome, in which I have a lot of buttons I want to press, and so very few GCDs to press them. Lots of Utility Totems that are best pressed on CD. This is exacerbated by having a FluxMelting / AfterShock / Windspeaker’s build. I find practically no time between button mashing to actually drop my trickle utility.
Ancestral Wolf Affinity and Totemic Projection does very little alleviate the situation. Trying to place totems before trash pulls in M+ is very tedious and rather dull gameplay, Totems only having 15s-18s duration does little to make Totemic Projection shine in this exact niche it should be designed for.
I think the problem could be solved thusly:
- Bring back Wrath of the Lich King Call of the Elementals allowing me to place all Totems at once every 26s-30s in 1 GCD. Could even limit it to four totems.
- Massively increase both Duration and Cooldown of Totemics, this in my mind will drastically carve out a niche for Totemic Projection being a very strong talent for M+
With Elemental itself. My least favorite mechanic of the spec is Flame Shock. It has always clashed with my vision and desire for the spec, it feels like a relic from a bygone era. The last time Flame Shock got an update was when Lava Burst was introduced in Wrath.
I understand the desire of not wanting Shamans to become a Multi-Dot centric spec, and I agree. I would play Spriest, or Warlock in that case. But there has to be a better balance. I dislike the current 18s duration, it feels very restrictive and more of an annoying fly to be swatted.
I dare say, I think my favorite idea is to just remove Flame Shock from Elemental completely. I know it’s bold, but it’s fresh. Elemental now has a very strong identity as being a spell slinging power house that reacts to the whims of nature. There is already huge flavor in trying to Maximize Lava Surge, Ice Fury, Flux Melting, Aftershock, Master of the Elements, Deeply Rooted Elements, Power of the Maelstrom, Echos of the Great Sundering.
You have so many abilities crying out desperately to be used, and juggled properly to maximize and you’re stuck pressing boring, unengaging Flame Shock. My address to PvP Concerns is: Just make Lava Burst do less damage in PvP? When was the last time Ele Shaman was meta in PvP anyway?
If you cannot see it in your heart to do such a bold new idea. Can we please get some talents to make Flame Shock easier to manage? Longer Duration with longer Cooldown would be a nice choice vs Flames of the Cauldron. (Like MM Light and Heavy Ammo Talent Choice).
Can Liquid Magma also be moved? I don’t foresee many situations where it’ll be worth picking up over Primal Elementalist, and only applying 3 Flame Shocks when an average trash pack is 5 feels very underwhelming.