Agreed. This is the main reason I don’t play a shaman anymore; I solo a lot of content and it feels really bad when other classes I play can pull small packs and be okay and I might lose to 2 mobs. It’s true that more gear would help and I’m probably not as good as other people, but its a stuggle to level and do world quests at first cap. My friends are on and off players, and I stopped playing Priest after it was my first 120 for the same reason. You think a chain mail wearing, element master melee fighter would be at least second in tankiness after the tank classes.
4 Likes
Was anyone else hoping that Elemental would be “Unpruned” so we could move and cast Lightning Bolt again? I remember this fondly, and it was one of my reasons for originally leveling the class.
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I may be misreading your post, but in the datamine it shows Elemental has access to Spiritwalker’s Grace baseline again, so you will be able to cast LB/CL on the move again!
There’s a frost dk with your name on it.
1 Like
I don’t feel like any of the covenants really fit shamans. We have to pick from pristine order, Undead, Vampires, and Fae…
Where is the chaos and destruction faction? Or anything elemental?
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we want 2 handers for the love of all that is elemental
4 Likes
I’ll remain cautiously optimistic for ele changes but I need to echo many others here… PLEASE bring back Gust of Wind
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Please make echo of elements baseline for elemental shamans and not a talent
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Gust.of.Wind.
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That rotation sounds about right. Tho Crash Lighting is seemingly out of place in it’s current iteration without SS chaining.
Maybe it’s time to prune CrL and unprune Fire Nova
From a resto standpoint primordial bolt sounds really really good for the start of the expansion… but as will likely be the case, as it is right now, healing wave will become hot garbage because healing surge becomes a better heal and is sustainable with max gear.
It’ll be tough to choose something because it’s good at one power level and then evolve beyond its usefulness and have to change covenants…
Ele flame shock off cooldown and gust of wind pls
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It seems to me that in “bring back abilities” mood, a lot of them will make no sense in a general rotation of Enhancement.
Which abilities are you talking about? FS to dot, FS to slow, LB is instant at spell dmg and CL is instant cleave spell damage…
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Agreed,
- Rockbiter was a maelstrom generator and now it’s just a filler on a CD.
- Lava Lash has no real use other then forcing Flametongue imbue on your off-hand, it doesn’t spread Flame Shock to my knowledge.
- Searing Totem is a mini-CD that feels annoying, probably should be a talent rather then a baseline ability IMHO.
- Searing Assault feels lacklustre at best, improved Searing Totem and Flame Shock on use ability talent? That doesn’t really get me out of my seat.
So you’ve got three abilities there in our main rotation that has a questionable role. If they want to keep Lava Lash it needs to do something, Rockbiter is a filler but on a massive CD, I’d rather they just removed Rockbiter and it’s god awful swinging animation and made it a imbue for some self-reliance. 20% Leech imbue? Something like that.
If you advocate so strongly for options and player choice, I’m surprised the design of Lava Lash isn’t more interesting. If you like LL, you can apply Flametongue, spec Hot Hand, and otherwise build around it.
If you want to play WF/WF and roll with Forceful Winds, you deprioritize LL and build around rolling WFs hard and fast.
I see potential for player choice in build here depending on what you prefer. Rockbiter will become filler or get a new role/be pruned, and Searing Totem will be reinstating class fantasy of having totems provide additional functions.
Is there something I’m missing here?
2 Likes
I love the idea of Surge of Earth, but its placement is crap. Why would I take Surge of Earth if I can get about the same effect from Echo + Cloudburst? Cloudburst has a higher ceiling/more risk of course; but not taking Echo significantly reduces my DPS, Tidal Waves procs, and overall flow. I think blizz should get rid of Downpour (or make it baseline) and put SoE there. That would give the 45 talent row the choice of Consistent Healing v. Consistent Burst v. High Ceiling Burst. Or just make Lava Burst have 2 charges baseline.
Also, I would like to see more interaction with Chain Heal. In place of Surge of Earth being moved, I’d like to see a passive talent that let’s say increases Chain Heal jump distance by 100% and can bounce to two extra targets, as well decreases mana cost and healing done by Chain Heal by 20%. In competition with Echo, this would make Chain Heal the primary generator of Tidal Waves, and provide more sustainable healing at the cost of burst with Cloudburst. With the 50 talent row, this would allow for more choices dependent on how you want to play and what the fight requires. Mostly, I miss MoP chain heal :(. Also, bring back the original animation dammit!
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Ele is better to play, but it still has some major issues with stat scaling and how it deals damage.
Mastery is still garbage, and we don’t scale all that well with any stat. This wouldn’t be a problem except gear scaling is out of control now and it means we will fall off immediately.
Lava burst does the same damage as LB again, only difference is it guarantees the crit. That feels bad and makes ascendance terrible.
It should be the big hitter it used to be, especially after they said they want that in the class changes blog.
Chain lightning still hits like a limp handshake. It used to be THE cleave ability. Hitting it was like hitting them with a truck. Now it might actually be better to spam 3s earthquakes than to even hit CL.
Bring back the cooldown on EQ, make it always instant, make CL increase its damage (the cata model), and then buff CL back to the glory days.
Overall ele shamans have no damage niche, no immunity, and no unique group utility. Why would you ever bring one in their current state? They don’t even get to be the big pp cleave class anymore. They are fun and I don’t want them to change it much, but it needs some kind of damage niche back.
4 Likes
I’m kind of an opinion that Rockbiter should be revamped back to the flavor of its origin rather than a reincarnation of its current role as a filler.
Rockbiter used to be a “light/off-tanking” imbue, with the height of utility in MoP. It’d increase your threat, and reduce your damage taken by 5% per weapon imbued.
If it were to be transformed into a short duration damage reduction which increased your damage dealt for the duration, it’d see a role as both the past and present.
- Rockbiter Weapon: 1 Minute CD, Earth embraces your arms enhancing your strikes. Reduces incoming physical damage by 10% and increases physical damage dealt by 10% for 20 sec.
Been watching the VoDs of elementals (which is rare and few between).
Lava Burst definitely seems like it’s competing with Lightning Bolt as being different flavors of filler. Its main benefit simply being that it’s faster damage in the now, with questions raised about the opportunity costs of economics/opportunity for/against building Fulmination stacks. Basically, based on the damage alone, everything seems so very samey that the priority system seems like a false choice at this point without/until the damage balance pass.
Chain Lightning’s damage seems like it got neutered right when it has been the poster child of target capped AoE since 2004.
Shorter duration flame shock 
…
Question: Does Echoing Shock affect Stormkeeper? Probably doesn’t since Stormkeeper is a buff and not a damaging ability. Still would be interesting to see Earth Shock -> Surge of Power -> Echoing Shock -> Stormkeeper -> LiB LiB LiB LiB LiB LiB …
RB should probably return to an imbue and ES returns in its place. Personally like your 10/10 idea as a base effect.