Legion: Elemental Specific

[Antilurker77]

I figure you guys will want to read this post: https://binkenstein.wordpress.com/20...the-main-swap/

I'm disappointed that you're becoming one of those FotM rerollers.

Although maybe it'll be good for you. Because honestly you're in for a rude awakening if you really think the grass is that much greener on the other side. You'll find that a lot of the problems you outlined in your blog can apply to mages as well, plus they have their own host of problems.

[gambit998]

I'm disappointed that you're becoming one of those FotM rerollers.

Although maybe it'll be good for you. Because honestly you're in for a rude awakening if you really think the grass is that much greener on the other side. You'll find that a lot of the problems you outlined in your blog can apply to mages as well, plus they have their own host of problems.

I dont think you hav been playing Elemental for long, i am guessing you havnt.

The years of always being left out in the cold and being shafted or having awesome spells nerfed and then the better version of said spell given to another class is a very very real fact. Shaman, specially Elemental has been the red headed step child of all the casters since BC we had a small chance to shine at the end of Wrath when it was the Pre Patch for Cata (I miss my Hamburger Patty Earthquake) got unwarented nerfs during Cata to set bonuses ect that where not that OP in the 1st place which again shoved us begind the pack. MOP gave us some amazing Raiding, again in the final tier because of the AOE we where capable of then. Then WOD....the single worst expansion i have ever experienced for the Elemental shaman, Our castimes are all the same, our Burst is gone, our 'Cooldown' is actually a dps loss because Lightningbolt crits hit harder than a Lavaburst (With Flameshock). All my alts have similar gearing to my Shaman and the DPs classes can easily without much effort out DPS her lack of burst her lack of Mobility and her lack of being able to not push out decent numbers. I mean my PVP geared mage can out dps my Raiding geared Shaman easily.

This is the major concern for alot of people myself incuded, because i do not want to work just as hard as everyone else (If not harder) to be a dps with sub par DPS. The Hybrid tax was removed ages back when they focused the specs into there designated roles. (IE Shadow Priest, Boomkin, Ret Paladin, Feral ect.) the only class that seems to still have this hybrid tax is the shaman class and there has been 0 explanation as to why. We have on a average of 10- 15 percent less dps almost all of the DPS specs, Our AOE is over tuned and is not bursty like almost all the classes have. We are sitting with the toolkit to be amazing it is just Blizzards way of thinking that still baffles me as to why we havnt actually even been on par with Mages or Boomkins for that matter.

Dont bring up that we are a Hybrid as we are that but our Grouping toolkit is meh and almost more of a hassle to the raid in a raid enviroment or healing as the 2 DPS specs is shocking. As in Shocka Bad.

[L3fty]

In WoD we've been very much a jack of all trades and master of none. Have we competed with mages? No, not really, but we have held our own if played well.

As someone that went from Mage to Shaman (backwards I know but we needed a resto at the time), one thing to really consider is the fact you will not be playing a spec you necessarily enjoy anymore. By this I mean, if you need to cleave, be prepared to go frost, if you need the boss dmg, you will be arcane. You're not the slightly wacky Shaman anymore that can do odd things with Grounding Totem. You need to make sure you like all the mage specs, because at the end of the day unless you are in a serious high end progression guild you are going to be raiding tiers for month after month regardless of the class you roll.

The point I'm alluding to is that even with our dps not being the top, this is a spec that is niche and special. As a mage, you are mage number X, and you will spec the absolute best spec for that fight. The numbers might be good, but the play style not so much (I always disliked arcane).

Good luck regardless, I will be interested to see if Mage is as dominant in Legion.
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Any thoughts on the buffs to Storm Ele and Totem Mastery? Looks like a good QoL talent change. Imagine Storm Ele will be quite a tasty dps increase.

[Hellfury]

Totem mastery, 2min duration nice change

[Deleted]

Totem mastery, 2min duration nice change

A "nice change" would be the complete removal of that ability.

[Mlz]

This is the major concern for alot of people myself incuded, because i do not want to work just as hard as everyone else (If not harder) to be a dps with sub par DPS.

Guess I'm the minority here but instead of making ele like other specs (not talking about utility at this point), I would love it if all the other specs had to work as hard to output decent dps.

[Kazgrel]

I'm disappointed that you're becoming one of those FotM rerollers.

Although maybe it'll be good for you. Because honestly you're in for a rude awakening if you really think the grass is that much greener on the other side. You'll find that a lot of the problems you outlined in your blog can apply to mages as well, plus they have their own host of problems.

Mage, compared to ele shaman, is better in almost every conceivable way. The only drawback is you can't be a melee dps and/or healer, only different (yet still superior) flavors of caster. Strictly going from caster dps standpoint, though, if the opportunity to go from a Pinto to a Ferrari comes along, it's silly not to take it.

Furthermore, Bink has played ele shaman at least as long as I can remember (TBC/Wrath). He's about as far from a FOTM reroller as one can be.

[Kralljin]

Guess I'm the minority here but instead of making ele like other specs (not talking about utility at this point), I would love it if all the other specs had to work as hard to output decent dps.

I'd say it's the Pure damage classes that break the deal here.

Hunter / Warlocks / Mages / Rogues have far too many tools to dodge raid mechanics.

Does a Class which has Ice block really need Cauterize on top of that? Or Blink + Ice floes, wouldn't one of them suffice? Because of these tools mages aren't Glass cannons anymore, they appear as Glass cannon but are pretty unbreakable in PvE.

It's one of the reasons why so many guilds run with 2-3 Mages / Warlocks / Hunters / Rogues, it's not good if 4 Classes make up half of your raid, especially if the classpool goes up to 12 Classes in Legion.

It's the irony of the situation that the hybrid tax is seemingly still active for not just damage but mobility and survival as well.

[Antilurker77]

I dont think you hav been playing Elemental for long, i am guessing you havnt.

The years of always being left out in the cold and being shafted or having awesome spells nerfed and then the better version of said spell given to another class is a very very real fact. Shaman, specially Elemental has been the red headed step child of all the casters since BC we had a small chance to shine at the end of Wrath when it was the Pre Patch for Cata (I miss my Hamburger Patty Earthquake) got unwarented nerfs during Cata to set bonuses ect that where not that OP in the 1st place which again shoved us begind the pack. MOP gave us some amazing Raiding, again in the final tier because of the AOE we where capable of then. Then WOD....the single worst expansion i have ever experienced for the Elemental shaman, Our castimes are all the same, our Burst is gone, our 'Cooldown' is actually a dps loss because Lightningbolt crits hit harder than a Lavaburst (With Flameshock). All my alts have similar gearing to my Shaman and the DPs classes can easily without much effort out DPS her lack of burst her lack of Mobility and her lack of being able to not push out decent numbers. I mean my PVP geared mage can out dps my Raiding geared Shaman easily.

This is the major concern for alot of people myself incuded, because i do not want to work just as hard as everyone else (If not harder) to be a dps with sub par DPS. The Hybrid tax was removed ages back when they focused the specs into there designated roles. (IE Shadow Priest, Boomkin, Ret Paladin, Feral ect.) the only class that seems to still have this hybrid tax is the shaman class and there has been 0 explanation as to why. We have on a average of 10- 15 percent less dps almost all of the DPS specs, Our AOE is over tuned and is not bursty like almost all the classes have. We are sitting with the toolkit to be amazing it is just Blizzards way of thinking that still baffles me as to why we havnt actually even been on par with Mages or Boomkins for that matter.

Dont bring up that we are a Hybrid as we are that but our Grouping toolkit is meh and almost more of a hassle to the raid in a raid enviroment or healing as the 2 DPS specs is shocking. As in Shocka Bad.

I've played Elemental since WotLK and stuck with the spec through the worst of times. Legion is directly addressing a lot of the issues with the spec right now which is why I feel Legion might be the best expac for Elemental yet.

Shamans constantly being 10-15% behind other hybrids is completely untrue. These specs have all flipped around each other over the years, and will likely continue to do so in the coming tiers. We got the short end of the stick due to the poor design of the legendary ring but obviously that's just for one tier. Things are looking a lot brighter in Legion.

[Hellfury]

Elemental never been my main, but really never been my main cause I know Elemental is always the 2nd citizen of specs, nevertheless its a fun spec(subjetive but for me is).

had high hopes for Legion that are being decimated every day sigh

[Lucrece]

I'm disappointed that you're becoming one of those FotM rerollers.

Although maybe it'll be good for you. Because honestly you're in for a rude awakening if you really think the grass is that much greener on the other side. You'll find that a lot of the problems you outlined in your blog can apply to mages as well, plus they have their own host of problems.

There's not been a single xpac where mage hasn't sat on top of meters and on top of gladiator titles.

Can you say the same for ele?

Elemental is viable to complete content no doubt, but to say that pure DPS classes don't have better tools even if what ele has are enough is just ignorant.

[gambit998]

Just saying being shoved into a niche is what is going to be our downfall, again.

WOD they front loaded all our damage into our AOE abilities, our single target suffered because of this. I would rather be average at AOE and deal equal Single target damage to other classes....there are just way to many AOE Talents/Artifact Trais that it is being majorly front loaded.

[Kralljin]

There's not been a single xpac where mage hasn't sat on top of meters

I'll quote any random Blood elf:

Remember the Sunwell.

[trm90]

Healing CDs are getting nerfed across the board in Legion. Discipline is becoming a spec with average DPS and above average HPS. I think Blizzard shouldn't be scared to blur the lines between the healer/dps roles, and give us AG baseline as an actual healing CD. Increase its CD, buff its numbers by a lot to the point a raid can work around it. Instead of tickling random raid members with HST-levels of healing like we have now, it will reward high DPS in the form of high sustained healing. The current AG in our talent tree could then be replaced by another mobility spell.

For a lot of expacs, having healing spells on the side was a big plus. Shamans especially had a ton of buffs to offer the raid, which gave us immense utility regardless of our DPS spec. But now, it's all gone, and the saddest part is that our signature CD - BL - was given to Mages of all fucking classes, as if portals, food/drink, mobility, immunities, and high damage weren't useful enough to raids throughout the years already. In line with the classic hybrid/support nature of Shamans (even if it's an outdated design philosophy by now), I feel like healing CDs would be most appropriate.

[Hellfury]

You think that Shaman has AOE, you haven't seem a Fury warrior, actualy Shamans have nothing even the AOE isn't special

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_3tFvWhugg

[Deleted]

bad decision IMO

[Ilir]

So I was playin the spec on the pvp server and one thing that directly annoyed me : the artefact spell has a cast time, why ? Feels really weird to be channeling a spell that does no damage by itself.

Second : Lavaburst is overshadowing everything/everything is overshadowing Lavaburst (haven't really looked at the numbers) but basically : lava burst is like always off CD and most of you talents/artefacts spell/traits only work with nature damage and not lava burst or the other way round... it feels really disconnected and feels kinda lame.

I just wish they'd make every spell work with the talents/artefact or something.

[elcapone]

I've been following this thread to make sure I dont make the same mistake playing ele which I had no clue how bad it was during Wod. apparently, this player enjoyed ele during early alpha but now he has ditched it. search The Boxedwaffle on youtube, i cant post links.

ele used to be much, much more reactive in terms of its playstyle. Your artifact caused your lava bursts to proc Power of the Maelstrom, which caused your next three lightning bolts to overload two additional times. Furthermore, your on-use artifact increased the damage of your next three lightning bolts by 200%. Comboing these was insane damage. Furthermore, your crits (guaranteed by lava bursting) increased the damage of your next two abilities by 20% more damage (I think it was 20, I believe it's since been nerfed), so if you could line all of this stuff up, you'd do insane damage. And you wanted to

That and there was an artifact trait that gave you a stacking haste buff each time an ability overloaded, so you could maintain a 30% haste buff.

Now, lightning rod is a proc, power of the maelstrom is a much less frequently proccable artifact trait, and they did away with the stackable haste buff on overloads.

Here's my last ele vid (last time I enjoyed the spec, lightning rod had already been nerfed, but power of the maelstrom was still proccing):


From a damage-perspective (from my testing with full-artifact power):
Single-target: Frost>Destro>>shadow>fire>arcane>demo/ele
2-target cleave: Destro>>fire>shadow>frost>ele>arcane>demo
3-target cleave: Destro>fire>shadow>frost/ele>arcane>demo
AoE: Fire>ele>arcane>destro>frost>demo>shadow
Quick-add burst: arcane/destro/frost>ele>shadow/fire>demo
heavy-movement: Frost>>fire>shadow/arcane>ele/destro/demo

[Ilir]

wut frost mage is that strong ? Btw, the tuning is still not been done so things can change.

What's really bugging me atm is the clunky rotation.

[Prankish]

From a damage-perspective (from my testing with full-artifact power):
Single-target: Frost>Destro>>shadow>fire>arcane>demo/ele
2-target cleave: Destro>>fire>shadow>frost>ele>arcane>demo
3-target cleave: Destro>fire>shadow>frost/ele>arcane>demo
AoE: Fire>ele>arcane>destro>frost>demo>shadow
Quick-add burst: arcane/destro/frost>ele>shadow/fire>demo
heavy-movement: Frost>>fire>shadow/arcane>ele/destro/demo

Any background info on yourself? I've been looking for an in depth analysis of ranged dps from a respectable top raider. I remember in early/Beta WoD someone from Method did a quick rundown of almost every spec and how he/she felt they could perform on the highest level. I remember that being an almost spot on analysis. I personally don't have much knowledge about half the classes in this game so I'm less than qualified.

Not to be an asshole but, unless your a top 50 World raider, I won't be able to take your ratings seriously at all. I'm not one myself for the record.