Enha/Elem AoE changes so far not even mentioned?

[Aleksej89]

I recall a few blue posts before (or just as) the 5.4 PTR begun, stating that Blizz wants to speed up Enha's AoE ramp and that they also want to change Elementa's Earthquake (i think Magma totem as well) so that they are actually useful for DPSing.

However we are quite deep in the 5.4 PTR now and so far there are no hints or Blizzard posts about Elem/Enha AoE changes - so i am kinda worried they forgot or canceled it all without letting us know.

Does anyone have any new info or blizz quotes about the supposedly incoming changes to Shammy AoE spells/mechanics?

EDIT: A really awesome suggestion i read about is making Fulmination boost Earthquake's damage (and perhaps reduce it's cast time). That way Elem could spam Chain Lighting until max Fulmination, then cast EQ and resume CL until the next EQ+Fulmination is ready.

[Deleted]

Regarding Enhance wouldn't be surprised if the set bonus is all we see.

That thing is scary when you get the AE going. You ramp up really REALLY fast.


However the most problematic situation is still holding onto Lash to spread and flameshock insta gibbing something before you are able to spread.

[takolin]

For enhancement our AoE is somewhat buffed with the 4 set. Each FS tick has a chance to reset the CD of lava lash.

It might not fully fix things but it is a buff for our AoE damage. So multiple FS ticking = more LL thus you can spread your FS faster assuming there are enough mobs around. And while CL and FN are on CD, you up the damage by using more lava lashes instead of less damaging abilities.

[unholyness]

Regarding Enhance wouldn't be surprised if the set bonus is all we see.

That thing is scary when you get the AE going. You ramp up really REALLY fast.


However the most problematic situation is still holding onto Lash to spread and flameshock insta gibbing something before you are able to spread.

With the 5.4 Fights better for Range which already has great aoe, AKA Ele, and 4 set going to other classes first, they need to make Enh aoe really strong especially with so many adds on numerous fights.

[Embermoon]

Regarding Enhance wouldn't be surprised if the set bonus is all we see.

From what little I know about it, I'm really hoping it becomes a baseline mechanic, next xpac.

[Aleksej89]

I hope fixing our AoE won't end up in the same place as giving Sword usage to Enha

[BlissfulBlithe]

From what little I know about it, I'm really hoping it becomes a baseline mechanic, next xpac.

They said they'd think about making it baseline because it fixes our AoE somewhat and would give us flavour, no promises though.

[stomination]

From what little I know about it, I'm really hoping it becomes a baseline mechanic, next xpac.

They actually already said that this 4 set was a test on something they want to add in.

[Embermoon]

They actually already said that this 4 set was a test on something they want to add in.

I never saw a post that said they want to add it in; only that they're using the 4 pc as a test. My hope is that their "test" makes it through to a baseline change, in 6.0, because from what I've heard, it's working really nicely on the PTR.

Plus, building on GC's past statements that they like players having to make choices, it seems like the rotational changeup of differentiating our AoE rotation even further, from our single-target, is something that would appeal to Blizz' design preferences.

[Deleted]

The thing that concerns me the most about this set bonus is if history repeats itself from Dragon Soul. The raid/tier mechanics favour the AE like in Yorsaj or Spine (even though you shouldn't AE there but w/e) and Madness for that imba spellweave, But then comes next tier and the flaws start becoming more obvious as you progress through the raid.

So far from my experience on the PTR the AE is completely insane IF you manage to get the "engine" started, which means you would still have to either hold Lava Lash because you know you have to AE in less than 10s OR you spend it and you get a CD reset proc.

I've had a few situations on the PTR where I've spammed 8 Lava Lashes in a row because of the ooze adds on the Dark Shamans and other times you don't get any for over 30s.

I'd prefer if the proc chance was balanced around the number of active flame shocks like for ex 35ish% with 1 FS up, and it went down to 10% if you had like 4 or 5 active FS.

[Deleted]

Enh AOE is just much too slow. That doesn't change at all.

Most AOEs are are burns for 5 seconds, where as ferals and so on can put out easily 5-10 times more aoe damage then we do. Fire nova is weak per application and has a long ramp up time (it's three GCDs at least). Worst case is that LL still has 9 secs CD so you can't spread at all (this just doesn't change at all since the procc rate on single target is pretty low).

And with all that haste, our aoe scales badly and mostly only with flame shock multidot damage - w which just takes very long.

[Enosh]

iirc GC got asked about that on twitter and he responded with something along the lines of "did you try the 4 set yet"

so I guess that's the solution, problem is from what i've tried the thing has very random proc chances, aka got nothing for like 30s then 2 in a 5s span

[Embermoon]

...I've had a few situations on the PTR where I've spammed 8 Lava Lashes in a row because of the ooze adds on the Dark Shamans and other times you don't get any for over 30s.

Any idea if that might be a bug, or if it's working as intended?

[Deleted]

Any idea if that might be a bug, or if it's working as intended?

Its not a bug when I have more than 5 flame shocks rolling at the same time on 10 adds and each one of them has a 10% proc chance. Its just RNG.

Thats my point though when you have multiple FS you can almost spam Lava Lash like you are a Ele Sham spaming CL but if you only have 1 guy with FS you are forced to hold Lava Lash for AE.

[Embermoon]

Okay, that clears it up a little. I was thinking you were saying that there are times, when you have FS rolling on multiple adds, and the LL reset doesn't proc for over 30 seconds.

Since FS ticks every 3 seconds (http://www.wowhead.com/spell=8050), then 30 seconds would be a very reasonable (mathematically) time period, before you should expect a proc.

If it had a 35% chance to reset the LL CD, with only one FS rolling, then you'd hardly ever see LL have to wait the normal 10 second CD, to be usable. I'm sure that Blizz doesn't intend that.

[Deleted]

If it had a 35% chance to reset the LL CD, with only one FS rolling, then you'd hardly ever see LL have to wait the normal 10 second CD, to be usable. I'm sure that Blizz doesn't intend that.

So the problem persists:

We are still forced to hold our biggest single target ability in order to AE

This is not to far-fetched from Fire Mages waiting on a Impact proc to spread the dots lol. Not to mention Lava Surge for Ele has a 20% proc chance on a tick.

[Embermoon]

So the problem persists:

We are still forced to hold our biggest single target ability in order to AE

This is not to far-fetched from Fire Mages waiting on a Impact proc to spread the dots lol. Not to mention Lava Surge for Ele has a 20% proc chance on a tick.

I'm sort of playing devil's advocate, here, but a couple of questions:

- Wouldn't we be able to relatively-easily anticipate when that AoE phase was going to happen, so that any actual "holding LL" time was very minimal?

- Is enhancement AoE doing enough damage/dps, that "holding LL" is worthwhile, in the long run? (again, assuming the above precept)

[Deleted]

Having something like Lightning Whip from lei shen would be nice. 2 sec cast reduced by MS for instance. We need instant aoe. Having aoe tied to one of our major normal rotation spells is just awful.

- Wouldn't we be able to relatively-easily anticipate when that AoE phase was going to happen, so that any actual "holding LL" time was very minimal?

I do this already on Lei Shen, but whatever happens you have to actively delay several Lava Lashes to have it line up with Ball Lightning, and even then, you get max 1 nova off in that time.
And even then when you do get that nova off, it does nothing compared to most other aoes.

[Txiv]

I just don't understand why enhance needs better aoe. Their single target far out paces elementals. Seems like a nice balance in that both bring the same healing and buff utility but offer different options for Dps .

[Shockzilla]

Maybe they dont have anything to say about it yet.