Hey folks!
I’ve had an absolute blast doing normal and heroic Cataclysm raids these past two weeks. Unfortunately, Shaman’s Fire Elemental is either bugged or unusable on numerous bosses in Phase 1. Fire Elemental accounts for anywhere between 25% and 30% of the Shaman’s total damage on a given fight, so it’s particularly frustrating when it doesn’t work properly. So far I’ve observed the following issues:
Omnitron - Because we can’t swap who the Fire Elemental target is attacking, Shamans are forced to dismiss their Elemental after the first swap as they’ll otherwise break shields.
Halfus - Fire Elemental is aggroing onto the Proto Drake in the back of the room, which it cannot reach, forcing it to sit there doing nothing.
Theralion and Valiona - Fire Elemental will often aggro on to whichever dragon is in the air, which it cannot reach, forcing it to sit there doing nothing.
Ascendant Council - Fire Elemental will stay aggroed to council members in Phase 1 even after they go into the air and cannot be hit, which it cannot reach, forcing it to sit there doing nothing.
All of these issues can be resolved by giving the players control over who their Fire Elemental is attacking. If the introduction of a pet bar is too difficult, at a minimum having them respect the “/petattack” command would be a greatly welcomed change.
Thanks!
34 Likes
It’s not considered a pet. The lock’s Infernal/Doomguard/Curse of Doom summons all work the same way. If the fire ele is prioing air targets that means it is closer than the grounded target and your tank needs to move closer to the ele or you need to drop it where tank will be when ele goes out.
1 Like
I’m fully aware it’s not a pet and is a guardian. Doesn’t mean they couldn’t make “/petattack” work for it. In Ulduar they changed it so that Fire Elemental will swap targets to whatever has most recently hit it. If it gets hit by something it can’t reach, it will just sit there doing nothing. As someone who’s put in over 20 hours in Phase 1 raids at this point I can guarantee you tank placement has little to nothing to do with it. We really need a way to change who it’s target is, whether that be through Flame Shock application or “/petattack” doesn’t really matter to me.
4 Likes
Your ele will stay aggroed on whatever is in proximity to it. You are doing something wrong if it isn’t hitting a boss. Giving guardian’s a /petattack ability removes the skillcap of learning when/where to use your ele. Elementals are strong(and easy to play well) right now, they dont need their skillcap lowered even more.
1 Like
Respectfully, I think this is a really bad take, and the AI is not to just hit whatever is closest to it. I have seen Fire Elemental quite literally change targets to something that is farther away mid fight after it was hit. It isn’t skill expression to have zero control over Fire Elemental, especially when they act unpredictably or get bugged (stuck in a corner unable to hit anything). Should hunters and warlocks have their pets converted to guardians as well to raise the skill cap for them as well???
11 Likes
Fire ele appears to be hitting targets just fine on Halfus:
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/dXJ26rvxFfnQW3MY#fight=23&type=damage-done&source=21
Double Dragons as well:
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/dXJ26rvxFfnQW3MY#fight=26&type=damage-done&source=21
Lowering the skillcap to buff an already strong class is not a good idea.
If its op nerf it and make it less clunky. What a hard concept if its too good
1 Like
Fire Elemental is in fact NOT working fine on Halfus
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/7VxaLzrKX3t4Py1p#fight=4&type=damage-done&source=29&ability=-32982
Or on Double Dragons
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/FTq1X7HdjnPYQZJf#type=damage-done&source=16&fight=38&ability=-32982
It may not happen every fight, but it’s definitely happening.
4 Likes
You linked your own logs…
I linked an ele played at a higher skill level…
The higher skill level ele has their fire ele hitting the target. If you can’t seem to do that, respectfully, it’s because you are doing something wrong. Providing /petattack support to guardians is a bad idea, it removes skillcap entirely.
You’re kidding right?
Here’s a sample from the top 50 Halfus Ele Shaman parses
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/3XARrZ6WpdVw7K9T#fight=20&type=damage-done&source=30&ability=-32982
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/j6dhJr8GcqQzmYNf#fight=22&type=damage-done&source=8&ability=-32982
https://classic.warcraftlogs.com/reports/3TCFxzcDdGtLyfJB#fight=14&type=damage-done&source=17&ability=-32982
Look at how few melees the Fire Elemental is performing. They’re clearly trying to hit something that is not in melee reach.
6 Likes
Isn’t it a guardian and not a pet though?
Go to the replay, look at where they summoned their fire ele…now look at where the boss is…
Now look at the replay on the shaman I linked who had their ele doing considerable dmg and was hitting the boss. They dropped totem literally on the spot the boss was brought for tanking…as opposed to the shamans you linked that dropped their totems in the center of the room.
1 Like
Yeah, Fire Elemental doesn’t know it has something to attack when the boss isn’t near the totem. I’ve had past guildies complain non-stop about how they’re ele’s are limited by their totems, I’ve seen entire durations of where they just don’t do anything but I wouldn’t rule that out as a bug.
Yeah, it’s called a skill cap. Some classes need it to perform well, unlike mages.
Oh yeah, gotta place totem at boss, so hard… I was agreeing with you and you’re just openly hostile to me, calm down.
I put a totem here, but the boss is over there… oh noes!!
2 Likes
What’s hostile about suggesting some classes have skill caps. I figure most mage players forget that. 
The fact that you singled out Mages for no reason for not having a skill cap which suggests that playing Mage takes no skill. Now I not saying that Mage, Fire specifically is hard, Arcane however does take skill to conserve your mana because that’s what the whole spec is centered around.
And again, singling out Mages because I play one, you’re not as subtle as you think you are.
3 Likes
Three buttons? That’s like 3 times what most mages press.
Just what is the point of you being so antagonistic towards people who disagree with you? I agreed with what you were saying earlier but you just can’t help youself because you say something that’s actually true for once you still attack me.
I don’t care how many buttons Mage has, to call it a skilless class is just saying you don’t play it. Mage has a lot of micro.
Name a caster that’s hard.
1 Like