Hardstuck at +9, need help [Ele Shaman]

Classes Shaman
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So… Feeling a little bit discouraged. I keep failing my +9 keys, having only timed 3 of them. Failing keys is normal and gets more normal the higher up you go, if it were only that then I wouldn’t make this post.

In every dungeon I am really underperforming. It doesn’t matter that I perform a lot of utility functions as a Shaman if my DPS is terrible. Almost every single key I run, I am lowest of the 3 dps. I had a key where I was only marginally higher than the tank’s dps (like 650k on overall I think?), and I got flamed for bad dps before that player left the group. On a good aoe pull I can go like 2 million DPS typically.

I am 614 ilvl and I really don’t know how in the world players are getting higher than that. If I run my own key and form my own group, I tend to pick melee DPS so that they can benefit from my Sky’s Fury buff and they are usually higher ilvl than me 615 - 620 range. If I somehow get invited to a key, it’s usually only because they need a Bloodlust and I’m still the lowest ilvl person there.

My mastery, our worst one, is my highest secondary stat by percentage according to the character information sheet, at 23%, or 2880 mastery. I have tried to fix this but, I swear, literally only mastery gear has dropped for me for the past 2 weeks. I have in my bags 7 pieces of gear that would have been upgrades… but they have mastery on them. And I have vendored several as well (after asking if anyone else in dungeon needed it). I got a shield the other day that DIDN’T have mastery on and it was a downgrade, but I put it on immediately.

A while ago, around when I was at key level +4 or +5, I switched from Stormbringer to Farseer and saw an enormous jump in my DPS (Farseer is also way more fun). At that time, I was usually the top DPS in most of my groups.

For my Farseer build, I am following the Icy Veins guide – the “M+ Lightning AoE” build. I haven’t really used any other guides (I don’t know of any) and I don’t use Discord so I’m not keyed into the Shaman class discord.

I haven’t put any gem sockets onto my neck/rings because of the cost, but everything is enchanted, etc., and I’m getting my flask + food buff every dungeon as well.

So that’s basically it. Any, I guess, suggestions? Thanks for reading! And potential feedback

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I mean this is all going to change next week but for now: literally just spam CL and use EQ when you’re about to over cap, make sure you have like 100 Maelstrom when Stormkeeper is up and do SK > CL > EQ > CL, and drop LMT before hitting Pwave + AS and again SPAM THE EVERLOVING HELL OF CL. This is the most chip brain version of Ele

A wise man once said: “The biggest Elemental DPS loss is thinking”. Just follow the fundamentals and just smash your buttons like a chimpanzee trying to put a circle through the square hole.

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Thanks, but what is going to change next week?

I have also noticed that when I just spam CL and Lightning Bolt, my DPS goes up lol…

Why do I have to be at 100 maelstrom when I cast Stormkeeper (dont the instant cast CL/LightningBolts generate maestrom, if at 100 it gets wasted?)

Yes primordial wave interaction with LMT + AS is very fun :smiley:

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You want to ensure you have enough that you can do Stormkeeper > Earthquake > CL > Earthquake > CL in AoE or SK > Earth Shock > Lighting Bolt > Earth Shock > Lighting Bolt because of Surge of Power procing after spending Maelstrom. Having around 100 just ensures that you will have garunette and not need to luck out on additional overloads. Stormkeeper loses alot of value if you’re unable to do that.

We’re getting a whole rework lmao. Short answer: The reason you spam Lighting Bolt and Chain Lighting is getting deleted from the game.

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-_- whut… Chain lightning is my favorite Shaman spell

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Yeah this is simply unacceptable at that key level.

I expect my +9-+12 DPS to be able to do at least 1mil ST and 3-4mil AoE. You really need to be in the 1.5mil-1.6mil overall DPS range for this key level or it’s going to be extremely hard to time the keys. Some of this is up to your tank pulling large enough packs to really go to town on, but a lot of it is also up to you.

If you’re hitting 650k overall, you’re doing 1/2 of what you need to be doing at that key level. Furthermore, and perhaps a tad more damning, Elemental is considered fairly strong this season. I would put you in A-tier for both utility and damage. There are definitely some specs that will struggle to hit the numbers I am looking for in my groups, but I just don’t take those specs. Elemental, though, isn’t one of them.

For comparison, my i619 DH guildmate hit 10mil AoE DPS in Necrotic Wake last night. I’ve also seen Frost DK, Arcane Mage, Ret Paladin and Fury Warrior surpass 10mil AoE damage. I even saw an Unholy DK hit 18mil DPS on an Arakara pull (although this was on Youtube, not in my own key).

It’s just insufficient.

I cannot offer much in the way of spec or rotational advice - I mained shaman in DF but not in TWW. I’m just giving you the numbers I’m looking for when I’m doing my own 9, 10s and 11s. You’re just simply not doing the damage you need to be doing for a +9, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s essentially the equivalent of a +19 from last expansion. If that’s your ceiling, that’s your ceiling, my friend.

Edit: I’ve conversed with Yeastyholes (eww) several times on this forum before and even when we don’t agree, he’s always very knowledgeable. He’s an experienced Elemental and you should listen to him.

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Why are you talking down to me like you’re my manager or something? Holy cow man.

Lmao, I know, that’s why I made the post. Thanks for telling me!

I know. I agree.

Oh okay well as long as we’re “damning” me 'n all that.

Yeah obviously, all you did was say how much of a steaming pile of crap I am lol

I have never seen this. I saw a Fury war get 7 million on one trash pack where I was doing 3 million and it blew my socks off figuratively. I was like omg…

Also (edit)

You wanna chaperone over the shoulders of the folks who invite me to their keys? Or tell people they can’t join my key that I post? Rhetorical.

It was an example. That dungeon I was doing particularly bad.

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dont need ta worry about dps, u’ll just be dying more trying to push after next week – reroll ret or sumthing

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Not sure what you mean. Because of class changes coming in the patch making shamans squishier, or because my ilvl is low for the content thus making me squishy

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incoming change will take out the CDR on ur stone bulwark totem/astral shift/spirit walkers grace so their cooldowns will be effectively doubled. Without ilvl you’ll be dying to more damage ur using defensives on now and if ur damage is struggling for dodging mechanics ur spirit walker’s grace cooldowns gonna hurt that too

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Just ran a +8 grim batol where on the Overall DPS I was #2 at 940k average and the 620 rogue was 960k average… And im 614.

Is that better lol

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It’s not going away but you’re literally not spaming 9 times in a row.

Also pro tip: the forums suck to learn anything about play a spec. Go to the Earthshrine discord and check out wowhead/icyviens guides. 90% of the forum posters either feelycraft idiots who don’t actually understand how to play or are jerks like the Forums guy.

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Considerably better than the 650k you were citing earlier. I’d say this is still on the low end for +9s, but a substantial improvement.

Ayy, a shout out.

And yeah, the class discords are a minefield of gatekeeping and misinformation, but they’re also the single best source of info for most given specs. You have to wade through the bad to get to the good, but it’s in there. I’ve been an Earthshrine member for about 5 years now, and particularly Resto Shaman has some really great resources there.

I’d also suggest going to Raiderio and finding the top 10 performers or so for your spec (in this case elemental) and going through their gearing choices, spec choices and the logs (if uploaded) for their +14-+16 clears and see how they’re playing. It’s a lot more investigative work on your end, but it pays dividends.

And I know it sounds cliche, but spending some time on the AoE dummies in Dornugal is likely time well spent, especially practicing the set up for big pulls.

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The actual answer to your question is that you should spend the majority of your time becoming a pro at log diving and understanding all parts of a sim output - sim yourself in several scenarios and look at how stats change and which abilities gain value. Look at top players/builds and try to mirror their damage output; a lot of people who create video content show cast history but beware of watching players with low M+ ratings. Most players will just regurgitate what they read in guides and while it might mostly be on the right track, it’s quite common to find discrepancies if you possess a different stat/gear profile. The same is true with rotation addons like Hekili (sp?) - I’ve seen a lot of players find great success in using these types of things but there are flaws… maybe starting with something like Hekili to see if you benefit and then try to wean off. twitch.tv/bondbl is one of the best eles in the world if you’re looking to study player habits.

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As a shaman, I can tell you. At 614 ilvl. you are playing your class horribly wrong and making critical mistakes, maybe even fundamental mistakes like not following your ABC’s level mistakes on top of rotational mistakes.

Join the shaman discord and ask for help in the ele channel and review the wowhead write up they have pinned in there

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Thanks.

So… Just ran a +8 necrotic wake and had overall DPS of 1.13 million which was #2 to the 620 rogue who did 1.50 million overall. So… getting better, I guess. Idk.

Still 614

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see petko videos on youtube

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