Enhance T15 4pc, makes us always lose 1 stack?

[Bryce]

I just noticed we get 2 charges of maelstrom weapon stacks on stormstrike with our 4pc. Wouldn't that cause us to always lose 1 stack because say you have 1 already, get 2 more from stormstrike on the next use of it wouldn't that make it 3 stacks then, or am I confused about the way this works?

[Drebbin]

That effect is our 2pc, and you gain an additional 2 on top of any charges gained from using stormstrike already. In practice I notice usually getting 3-5 maelstrom charges from one stormstrike, with 4 being the most common number gained. This is because each hit from stormstrike can proc one and then you get 2 additional from the set, add in white swings and you can go from zero to 5 in one stormstrike. The key is to hardcast at 3 or more stacks before using stormstrike to ensure no stacks of maelstrom are wasted. This is especially important when popping ascendance as you should stormstrike > lb > ascendance > stormblast > lb > rest of rotation.

[Embermoon]

Ignoring any priority queue here...

SS - gain 2 stacks
white hit - gain 1 stack (white hit crits - procs flurry)
flurried white hit - no gain (MSW stacks are a *chance* after all)
flurried white hit - no gain (however, windfury procs 3 extra hits)
WF hit - no gain
WF hit - gain 1 stack
WF hit - no gain
flurried white hit - no gain
flurried white hit - gain 1 stack
flurried white hit - no gain

So, you could have a 5-stack just that quickly. You could also cycle around to another SS, before getting a 5-stack. My guess is that you'll be getting 5-stacks fairly quickly, and that this set bonus might push MW5_LB to a higher priority than UE, even if you have the UF talent.


Note that I'm presuming, from reading the Wowhead tooltips, that the following abilities can all trigger maelstrom weapon:

- White hits
- Stormstrike
- Stormblast
- Lava Lash
- Windfury
- Flametongue
- Unleash Wind (but not unleash flame)

[Drebbin]

My guess is that you'll be getting 5-stacks fairly quickly, and that this set bonus might push MW5_LB to a higher priority than UE, even if you have the UF talent.

Yes, essentially if you have 5 stacks you want to clear them away with a lightning bolt and if you have 3-5 stacks with ss off cd you want to hardcast before using ss.