Why?
If the primary reason is due to “Lava Surge” interactions, then why couldn’t the proc chance work dynamically similar to the “Nightfall” proc for Affliction Warlocks? Affliction Warlocks don’t have a target cap on Corruption.
Just… why? There are so many things that would flow smoother for all the shaman specs if Flame Shock wasn’t capped and didn’t have a cooldown.
Because the devs are not really interested in modernizing the shaman class. They gave us a lazy builder/spender maelstrom bar, called it a day, and haven’t developed anything for us since.
It’s because there’s a lot of different talents that synergize with Flame Shock which would be overpowered if it was uncapped.
For Elemental:
Skybreaker’s Fiery Demise, Magma Chamber, Searing Flames, and even base Lava Surge procs would be out of control.
Simply put there are too many tie ins to the ability to uncap it without making it too overpowered, unless they nerfed those talents, which in turn would feel bad.
But the real issue to me has never been the fact Flame Shock is capped to 6 targets, but rather how annoying it is to spread. I think posts like these which crop up frequently in the shaman forums would be a lot rarer if the cap remained but Flame Shock could be spread through Earthquake. We have Magma Totem, but it’s cooldown is annoying to play around, feels like mediocre damage, and necessitates points into totemic recall, making what is a utility choice for Enhancement into a required damage cooldown for Elemental.
For Enhancement:
Ashen Catalyst and Lashing Flames would pretty much lift Lava Lash up in the priority beyond spenders in mass AOE, and while I definitely preferred the shadowlands play style more than the current one, I think that your priority turning into “how many Lashing Flames debuffs can I get out” in an uncapped environment would be both a chore, and considerably less fun.
I think the solution for Elemental in particular, is to make an equivalent for Enhancement’s Molten Assault which spreads Flame Shock when it’s on your Lava lash target.
Because all shocks had a cooldown in 2004 and
Nvm I think that’s it.