[PvE Guide] Elemental Shaman - Updated for 6.0.3

[Deleted]

Is it worth casting CL instead of LB when only single target damage matters, but there are some "padding" targets in range? Downside: less filler damage, upside: faster fulmination build-up, buffed earthquake.

[Mixe]

What trinkets would you guys go with here?

Sandman's Pouch
Shard of Nothing
Quiescent Runestone

I'm pretty sure Runestone is a given choice, but i am a little torn between the other two. Any thoughts?

[Griffeth]

I think most BiS lists for those trinkets say Shard + Runestone

[Skygoneblue]

Is it worth casting CL instead of LB when only single target damage matters, but there are some "padding" targets in range? Downside: less filler damage, upside: faster fulmination build-up, buffed earthquake.

You'd get more Earth Shock damage on the target that matters, right? So why not?

Also, in 6.1, that CL is going to make your Earthquake instant, so it'll be even less cumbersome to include in a situation like the one you described.

[Raincrow]

Are there some theoretical breakpoints where some talents become better than others that new Ele Shamans can look for? For instance, in another thread on Elemental DPS, I noted that someone mentioned talenting into Storm Elemental because their Multistrike was fairly low. Are they general values you look for to see which talents make the most sense based on your stat balance?

Also, wanted to ask about how many folks were using Hekili, and how well it helps you manage the nuance of cooldown usage for Ele Shaman? Anyone done a man vs machine comparison themselves?

(FYI, this is my shaman: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/characte...isuzhen/simple)

[Griffeth]

FYI looks like Bink did a trinket sim for the BiS Mythic profile:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._Trinkets.html

[Deleted]

Is it worth casting CL instead of LB when only single target damage matters, but there are some "padding" targets in range? Downside: less filler damage, upside: faster fulmination build-up, buffed earthquake.

It is yeah, in part. It is only worth it to do so when you will not waste Lightning Shield stacks (ie don't do it at 15+ stacks!) and/or for Earthquake. You should weave in Chain Lightnings to get the faster stack generation (especially with set bonuses) for sure. Mindlessly spamming it though, thats not good.

[Deleted]

FYI looks like Bink did a trinket sim for the BiS Mythic profile:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._Trinkets.html

What about trinkets with socket slots? :<

[Tyaz]

Trinkets with slots are just the best thing ever since you are able to get the extra stats from it, its an added bonus I would think right?

[Luzum]

With the 30% damage buff to Storm Elemental is it worth using over Liquid Magma or Elemental Fusion ever?

[Tyze]

I just.. Multistrike, yeah it's good. I just got the Trinket from Blackhand and it's insane. But 41% damage everytime, I get like 90% multistrike with the trinket. But yet only 41% when Multistrike strikes. Is this even good? I mean at 55% of Multistrike I think it's fine, its a 55% change of double spells, but at higher than this isn't necessary I think.. Don't think Multistrike is that good since it doesn't increase the extra spells dmg more than 41%? Or I might just have a UI bug?

And with Tier set, I will get over 100% multistrike but the multistrikes will only deal 41% damage?

[Hots]

Any update on the best talent choices with 4-set now?

Im intrested in knowing for different type of figths:

Stationary single target. Thougths: EM/UF/EF on a figth like gruul. Could echo be better when theres more movement for example on Blackhand?

Burst AoE figths. Thougths: Echo/PE/LM on maiden where CL instead of LB most of the figth and Echo for movement with bombs and EQ when all 3 are down. Switch out PE for UF on Operator and Kromog since we barely CL but keep Echo for the burst AoE. Echo is probably worth taking on Beastlord and also on Flamebender if you stack wolfes.

Stationary AoE: thougths: wouldnt say HM or BRF has this kind of figth but for stationary AoE, with CL instead of LB we should go EM/PE/LM since Echo wont do much.

What do you think?

[Deleted]

4set: EotE/UF/EF for single target, LM on darmac and operator. EM and LM on maidens. PE on darmac, operator, maidens.

I haven't done any heroic this week but last week i tried out the CL spam on maidens. You only FS and LvB when one of the bosses are away on the ship or 1+ are dead. Log, worked out pretty well and will only be stronger this week with the buff to EQ on 3 targets. I wouldn't take echo on this fight since it'll only give you one extra EQ on pull and then after each ship, 3 or 4 extra EQs over the whole fight compared to the haste from EM feels very lackluster.

Operator talents depend on how long the adds are up, if they get blown up instantly UF is going to be better than PE for obvious reasons.

I wouldn't go LM on kromog, the hands are too spread out for it to splash and other classes are better at aoeing them without having to sacrifice a ST dmg talent.

EDIT: After getting the latest version of simcraft SET sims higher than EF so I will most likely be using it instead of EF on all bosses. http://imgur.com/Duz9goZ Sim results for reference.

[Deleted]

Echo + 4 tier piece is ULTRASICK

Fuck elemental mastery , all day spamming lava burst !

[Deleted]

I wouldn't take echo on this fight since it'll only give you one extra EQ on pull and then after each ship, 3 or 4 extra EQs over the whole fight compared to the haste from EM feels very lackluster.

This is not true by the way. You get significantly more than that, because the cooldown of the second EQ is always going. Unless you are a robot with 0ms you will have periods of time where EQ is off cooldown whilst you place it, whilst moving but you haven't chain lightning'ed recently (Rapid Fire without SWG up) or where you are killing turrets in the sub 20% phase.

I would agree that EM is better, because you are right in thinking Echo works much better with EQ when you have significant periods of downtime on it to gather both charges back up, but its not right to say that it does nothing when you are casting EQ on cooldown. Even if you were stood still the entire fight, just the time saved in those brief milliseconds whilst you are casting it (say 0.3 secs to place it - assuming your mouse is already in the right place and you just have to click-click + latency of anywhere from 0.01-0.5 seconds ish) for every single cast of it will add up to a significant amount of extra Earthquakes over the course of a 10 minute fight.

[Deleted]

Fair enough, my post was poorly phrased. My point was that echo gives you only a minor increase in EQ casts and therefore it loses value while EM retains it's full value.

[Griffeth]

How are people feeling with the new 6.1 changes? Do you feel stronger overall or are you still getting used to the new talent layout?

[freddy090909]

How are people feeling with the new 6.1 changes? Do you feel stronger overall or are you still getting used to the new talent layout?

I got my 4pc the same day as 6.1, so I've been very happy with the playstyle improvements. I'm now running Echo/UF/SET on most fights, swapping SET to LM and UF to PE in certain situations.

The new echo with the 4pc has felt great in terms of playstyle. I'm getting to cast a lot of lava burst, a large part of which are instant. That, alongside the new EQ has made me feel great post-6.1. I'm almost expecting an EQ nerf at this point.

[Griffeth]

I got my 4pc the same day as 6.1, so I've been very happy with the playstyle improvements. I'm now running Echo/UF/SET on most fights, swapping SET to LM and UF to PE in certain situations.

The new echo with the 4pc has felt great in terms of playstyle. I'm getting to cast a lot of lava burst, a large part of which are instant. That, alongside the new EQ has made me feel great post-6.1. I'm almost expecting an EQ nerf at this point.

Why UF? I thought PE simmed higher DPS for most people.

[freddy090909]

Why UF? I thought PE simmed higher DPS for most people.

That got me curious, so I went and reran my sims. UF did sim quite a bit higher on single target (patchwerk, helter skelter, and light movement). What surprised me is that EM was also slightly ahead in all 3 situations in my gear, so I will probably be swapping back to that until I can get some better trinkets. For reference, I run my sims for a 5-6 minute fight length. Different lengths could work better with different talents (I could see PE gaining a lot of power in a 4 minute or 7 minute fight).