For PvP, losing the cleave power, extra mobility and maneuverability that Scalecomander provides is unfeasible, Flameshaper would need to be numerically much superior to be worth it, and in fact he is inferior, so no matter how much you want to play him, it won’t be good.
Engulf and everything you have to do to set it up first needs to do much more damage to even compare with the fun factor of scalecommander. If I’m being honest I wish they’d have given dev chronomancer instead of flameshaper. Having more bronze magic in dev’s arsenal further emphasizes the “all flights” theme of evokers. Scalecommander is something all three specs should have access to because it’s so iconic to the class and flameshaper should be the alternative option to scalecommander for pres.
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Tried it today…it not worth the global over fishing for essence bursts…
I did some RSS as Flameshaper in S1 before Engulf was hit with heavy-handed PvP-focused nerfs. There’s a whole lot of problems with it:
- It requires Fire Breath on the target to deal damage. Healers dispel it for free when they know you’re Flameshaper.
- Setting up the 3 DoTs to maximize the burst means several GCDs of you going “I’m gonna blast ya” for the enemy to see it coming and prepare for it. Or just dispel your entire setup.
- When the stars align and you get your setup out and you push Engulf… If it doesn’t crit, it’s weak.
So at most, Flameshaper can two-tap undergeared players who aren’t paying attention or have a healer paying attention for them. Meanwhile, Scalecommander gets more damage more consistently, with no real setup required and it can have FIVE hover charges to bully melee with to the point where after you’re done hovering the first time, deep breath is up again for you to do it all over again.