Elemental Shaman Guide: 5.3 Edition

[Valex]

I decided to pick a Shaman up, and after reading through this I need to ask one question: is the OP wrong/ unupdated on the point that Lava Burst has 100% crit chance without Flame Shock on the target? I only ask because before playing this Shaman for the past few days, its been the only class that I know completely nothing about.

[Endus]

I decided to pick a Shaman up, and after reading through this I need to ask one question: is the OP wrong/ unupdated on the point that Lava Burst has 100% crit chance without Flame Shock on the target? I only ask because before playing this Shaman for the past few days, its been the only class that I know completely nothing about.

That's why the title still says "5.0.5 edition". An update for 5.1 wasn't really necessary, we're working on one for 5.2.

For the most part, the rotation advice and such will remain unchanged. Where you'll see changes will be in the talent options, for the most part. There, it's pretty open; all three of the T4 options are solid, situationally, and PE/EB are really close to each other, PE being better for burst fights.

[Derpette]

Didn't know where else to post this, but been going through dungeon journal to check weapons for 5.2. For some reason when you filter on elemental, the staves from horridon and twin consort don't show up. I assume this is a bug? Hopefully gets fixed soon since dungeon journal filter is probably directly related to extra coin roles in case anyone would try and get them from these bosses.

[Aleksej89]

Great and wise Endus,

Can you please tell us is Unleashed Fury a viable pick for the Elemental since 5.2?

Also do we just spam Lightning Bolt during Unleashed Fury's debuff (10 seconds) or we also use Lava Burst?

Also, during (in the middle of) Ascendance, do we use Unleashed Fury for the 10% buff for lava burst damage? Or we simply ignore Unleashed Fury while we are in Ascendance?

[Endus]

It's not viable for PvE, no. If you want to add something to your rotation, EB is still providing a greater DPS boost. If you DO decide to use it, though, you'd use LvB, not just spam LBs, with the new change. PE and EB are both solid picks for 5.2, though.

It's probably not worth using for Ascendance unless your LvB cast time is down to 1 second; you'd need to get 10 buffed LvBs off in the buff duration to make up the cost of the GCD, roughly. As it stands, it doesn't quite make that up, since UE itself is on the GCD and burns the first second.

[Endus]

The guide's been updated for 5.2. At this point, the spell, talent, glyph, and rotation sections have all been updated. The gearing section has not, at this point; determining BiS lists is more work than what we've done up to this point. The general advice in that section still applies, however; the only thing to be aware of is that it lacks specific T15 suggestions.

Not a lot of changes, really; most of what changed for 5.2 were behind-the-scenes boosts that didn't affect our basic gameplay in any deep, fundamental ways.

[Guuggel]

Just asking if the Volatile talisman of the Shado-pan assault (1467 int and 8800haste for 10sec proc) is worth buying. Is it?
You can check my current trinkets from armory:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...Guuggel/simple

[Michelangelo]

Just asking if the Volatile talisman of the Shado-pan assault (1467 int and 8800haste for 10sec proc) is worth buying. Is it?
You can check my current trinkets from armory:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/characte...Guuggel/simple

Guuggel, in the case where you aren't able to sim it, I will say that the new trinket is better than your current 496 trinket for any build.

[Hoptam]

Cleaving:
Single target rotation & substitute Chain Lightning (either glyphed or unglyphed) in place of Lightning Bolt

I will ask about it just to be sure. It is DPS gain if I use glyphed chain on two targets (in the rotation) insted of LB?

[Intrepid1]

Does the fire elemental benefit from spell power or is it just intellect still ? I can't remember seems to me it was changed to spell power but I can't find it currently.

[Endus]

Cleaving:
Single target rotation & substitute Chain Lightning (either glyphed or unglyphed) in place of Lightning Bolt

I will ask about it just to be sure. It is DPS gain if I use glyphed chain on two targets (in the rotation) insted of LB?

Yes, it's still a gain on two targets. LB took a 13% jump, but CL also got a boost, in that it doesn't lose damage per jump. The effect on CL's actually greater, even on just two targets, even when glyphed.

LB went from 150% damage to 170%. That's a ~13% jump. CL, glyphed, used to be a 90% initial hit, with a 63% secondary hit, for a total of 153% of single target damage to two targets; now it does 180%, and that's a ~17% gain.

Does the fire elemental benefit from spell power or is it just intellect still ? I can't remember seems to me it was changed to spell power but I can't find it currently.

There's no effective difference between the two; mechanically speaking, what Intellect gives you that boosts your performance is spellpower. So yes, the Fire Elemental benefits from spellpower sources as well, limited though those are.

[Spacepunch]

Didn't know where else to post this, but been going through dungeon journal to check weapons for 5.2. For some reason when you filter on elemental, the staves from horridon and twin consort don't show up. I assume this is a bug? Hopefully gets fixed soon since dungeon journal filter is probably directly related to extra coin roles in case anyone would try and get them from these bosses.

Because you prolly shouldn't waste a coin trying to get a staff on a shaman.

[Narwhal6]

I have a question after looking through you guide.

With Primal Elementalist having a strong showing/effective use this tier, I've been playing around with tier 60 talents. According to your guide, you're suggesting Ancestral Swiftness is the strongest pairing. Care to explain/elaborate? I never saw the value in a flat 5% haste for Ele Shaman and the instant cast seems to be very minimal.

[Endus]

I have a question after looking through you guide.

With Primal Elementalist having a strong showing/effective use this tier, I've been playing around with tier 60 talents. According to your guide, you're suggesting Ancestral Swiftness is the strongest pairing. Care to explain/elaborate? I never saw the value in a flat 5% haste for Ele Shaman and the instant cast seems to be very minimal.

The value in the flat 5% is close to the value of EotE on it's own; EotE is a 6% chance to proc, so about a 6% bump. The instant cast makes up a small amount of the difference, but the bulk of that gap is made up by the passive Haste on the enhanced Elementals; the Elementals use melee haste for their attacks, so they're getting the extra 5% that was added for melee haste in 5.2.

It's a very passive combination, to be sure, but the numbers prop it up as viable.

[Narwhal6]

The value in the flat 5% is close to the value of EotE on it's own; EotE is a 6% chance to proc, so about a 6% bump. The instant cast makes up a small amount of the difference, but the bulk of that gap is made up by the passive Haste on the enhanced Elementals; the Elementals use melee haste for their attacks, so they're getting the extra 5% that was added for melee haste in 5.2.

It's a very passive combination, to be sure, but the numbers prop it up as viable.

Elementals getting the 10% Haste is something I didn't know - which is quite cool. Would you recommend using the AS on just a lightning bolt then or any time we may get a good EQ off?

[Endus]

Elementals getting the 10% Haste is something I didn't know - which is quite cool. Would you recommend using the AS on just a lightning bolt then or any time we may get a good EQ off?

If there's a lot of AoE, it's better used for EQ, if the adds will stand in it and take damage the whole duration.

Otherwise, yeah, use it on LB. It's not a huge gain, but it's something. The big reason to take AS is the passive haste boost.

[draykorinee]

When should I drop the 4 piece, I have lfr helm and chest a can replace with 506 and 502 I take it the stat gain now out weighs the bonus?

[N30]

is Glyph of FE good with AS/PE?

[Justusy]

Hey guys. I saw the thread title changed to 5.2. Yet it still has old aoe recommendation such as earthquake with over 5 adds when chain lightning is so much stronger now. Some useful breakpoints would be nice like eg 12 targets etc (not that we'll probably cast earthquake this tier).

[Zugrim]

Just a few clarification-questions.

If i'm reading this correctly, it's viable to remove Elemental blast, and go with Primal Elementalist instead? The only difference then would be that you'd remove elemental blast from the rotation?

And if you haven't specced Unleash Fury, you shoulden't use Unleash Elements at all?