So what exactly is the point of Lava Lash?
Even in BfA where it was a spender, at half the damage of Stormstrike and a higher cost, it was still basically just a Maelstrom dump to avoid capping resources or propped up by hot hand if you chose it.
I see it featured prominently in the specialization selection screen depicting iconic core abilities for Enhancement, but even lightning bolt has more relevance than Lava Lash at the moment.
To me, the Flametongue and Lashing Flames interactions are extremely shallow and ironically just serve to highlight how little relevance Lava Lash has on its own; a core ability shouldnât have to be propped up by talents or essentially passive cosmetic buffs to be considered relevant.
Itâs greatest contribution is now just being a button to push when nothing else is available; too bad it now also has nearly twice the cooldown of Stormstrike and generally fails at that role too.
As much as I wouldnât mind just trading Fire Nova for a strong MSW enhanced Earthquake / magma field in place its place for higher sustained damage over Hailstorm, I think Fire Nova is here to stay, and itâs beyond painful to see the lack of synergy and missed opportunity with Lava Lash.
Why not a bit of both though?
- Lava Lash to create a Consecration like field of magma baseline where Flame Shocks tick harder
- Adds interaction with other core abilities with more visual synergy than a passive single target damage buff in Lashing Flames while still requiring manual application of Flame Shock
- Hot Hand to function similar to the BfA version by procing at a rate comparable to Ice Strikeâs CD, resetting or adding a single charge to Lava Lash, and causing Flame Shock to spread to one nearby target on your next enhanced Lava Lash
- Moderate throughput and convenience talent provides a passive middle ground between the active Ice Strike and random Stormflurry without artificially over spreading Flame Shock
- Fire Nova treats up to 3 enemies in the field as if having Flame Shock (damage or target scaling to be tuned as needed)
- Talents build on already attractive / streamlined core mechanics making it similar to MSW spender / Frost Shock -> Lava Lash / Fire Nova
- Lashing Flames to be replaced by Echo of the Elements to add a second charge to Stormstrike and Lava Lash
- Addresses multiple ability shortcomings by adding rotation flexibility, repositioning the field, and late random proc protection
While we are talking about the âfeels badâ effect of random CD resets on single charge abilities, I feel like Ice Strike should come with a second charge to both shocks as well since you are effectively wasting a portion of the main point of the ability if you do not immediately use a shock. As it is, you lose a GCD worth anyways; hardly the efficiency you would expect of a CD management playstyle. Itâs also a reasonable âquick startâ alternative to Hot Hand for a fire build.
Even though itâs starting to get a little off topic now, it is worth mentioning an Echo of Elements ability on the first row would induce some power creep in the other two abilities in order to remain competitive. This is an issue Elemental is dealing with currently, but letâs be honest, all of the current abilities on this row are kind of boring.
- Forceful Winds acting as a controlled, but reasonable, Windfury burst on a moderate CD, potentially with an execute or MSW generation component (or both with the MSW generation at over 90%?), would really make people think twice about defaulting to Echo of the Elements.
- Having Elemental Blast enhance your next elemental ability would make it almost a drop in replacement for lightning bolt and higher throughput during endurance fights.
TL;DR: letâs give Lava Lash some love and deserve that class ability highlight.