Mana has ALWAYS been the biggest problem with Shaman DPS. The fact there remains nothing to remedy this is, while blizzard gives even more utility and dmg to classes like warriors, warlocks and mages is hilarious.
Before anyone mentions Water Shield, I am talking about Elemental and Enhance specifically with Lava Burst and Lava Lash.
Water Shield and Lava Burst share a rune slot. Which would be like Crusader Strike sharing a rune slot with Divine Storm.
Most classes get some kind of mana/resource management to accompany their new runes. Only Tank Shaman rune offers any kind of useable mana regen.
Even Warriors got runes for rage generation and they have an unlimited resource for dealing damage as long as theyre alive and connecting.
-Druid got zero mana cost wrath.
-Hunters got mana cost reductions, and mana regen tied to viper (for later levels)
-Warlocks got a bunch of increased life regen abilities that allow them to health tap more often and at lesser consequence.
-Mages got enlightenment, arcane surge, and just have evocate.
-Paladins can crusader strike for 2% mana every 6 seconds.
The separate issue is Flame Shock Uptime vs Cost.
Flame shock is currently 95 mana and last for 12 seconds, meaning you can only get 1 Lava Burst cast off before needing to reapply if you are aiming to gain the 100% crit, which is mandatory.
Average mana pools are around 1200, which means you can get off around 8 Lavabursts before youre oom and useless on a boss.
Lightning bolt is also exceedingly expensive vs the cost of the spell at this level and almost isnt worth casting as a filler.
There should be a solution for both of these.
A-Lava Burst should be affected by all talents that affect Lightning Bolt and Shock spells.
(meaning it would potentially gain 5% dmg, 10% mana cost reduction, and -1sec CD.)
B- Lava Burst/Lava Lash should add duration back to flame shock when it hits a target.( cannot exceed 18 sec total duration) AS WELL AS providing some % based Mana return.
4% makes sense for lava lash due to its lower cost and CD.
5% makes sense for Lava Burst, or 4% if Overloads can also gain returns.
To summarize:
As it stands, Lava Lash doesnt do enough dmg to be worth using instead of just auto attacking. Flametongue enchant is mediocre damage compared to rockbiter, which adds too much threat to be useable in groups and raids if wanting to not pull aggro off the tank. Lava Burst is Ele’s best dmg and one of the only spells worth using, yet the mana cost of keeping flame shock active makes it untenable.
Wow logs show shaman DPS basically at the very bottom of everything.
On a side note, great job with Tank shaman design. they feel and perform great.
Only protentional issue is that block wont scale, and that mana regen against casters is non existent. Otherwise, good.