Could Enhance = wind, Ele = fire/earth, Resto = water in Legion?

[Krazzorx]

So I was thinking that maybe part of their class remakes, they may more heavily focus each shaman spec into a certain type of element.

We already have the ascendence spells fitting into each of those elements so why not go the whole way and give these specs (specifically enh and ele) some more identity?

Get rid of all fire spells for enh, all lightning spells for Ele (with replacements ofc) and rename earth shield for Resto.

And with this would also come a refocus on totems. Enhance only gets air totems, ele gets earth/fire, Resto water. I think this would be a good chance to finally revamp totems to be interesting.

[Deleted]

Enhance atm is more fire than wind.
Fire Nova, Lava Lash, Flame Shock, Flametongue, 3 Fire Totems...
vs
Windfury, LB/CL

And neither of of our wind spells deal all to much damage either.
Also, LB/CL is more than just iconic for ele. At the same time it isn't "enhancy" at all. Frankly, it wouldn't make any sense at all.

Additionally, Ele is called that because it is supposed to be a master of all elements. Unless they rename the spec, deliberately going for elemental splits wouldn't make any sense, esp since they want to make the specs fit their descriptions better come legions, as they made it sound.

[nazrakin]

I hope not, I don't like the idea of us being pigeon holed into a single element. The specs aren't "Wind shaman" and "Fire Shaman" its enhancement and Elemental. Rather than "what" elements are used, they should define the specs by how they are used. Enhancement should channel the elements through their weapons. Lighting bolt, CL, and shocks should all be replaced with visuals that involve some weapon interaction. I actually think the thematic "look" of Elemental is already pretty much there, hurling giant fireballs at an enemy while chunks of the earth throw itself at them and lightning strikes from the sky is a pretty awesome sight.

[Krazzorx]

Enhance atm is more fire than wind.
Fire Nova, Lava Lash, Flame Shock, Flametongue, 3 Fire Totems...
vs
Windfury, LB/CL

And neither of of our wind spells deal all to much damage either.
Also, LB/CL is more than just iconic for ele. At the same time it isn't "enhancy" at all. Frankly, it wouldn't make any sense at all.

Additionally, Ele is called that because it is supposed to be a master of all elements. Unless they rename the spec, deliberately going for elemental splits wouldn't make any sense, esp since they want to make the specs fit their descriptions better come legions, as they made it sound.

They could rename the specs (and even if they do nothing to the spec, which is basically guaranteed they will do some changes as is with every spec every xpac, enhance needs renamed IMO and I think is most likely to get so)

Ascendence though shows what they think of the specs. Enhance doesn't get Lava lash buffed, it gets storm strike buffed. And you become an air elemental. Fire nova may be pretty unique to enh but searing and fire elemental totems seem to be more holdovers from previous iterations of shamans.

Fire ascendence for ele turns CL into Lava Beam so that's not an issue. Which just leaves lightning bolt and lightning shield as last non earth/fire spell. (Earth shock obviously an earth spell, fulmination would just need a different animation)

[Pantsless]

Enhance atm is more fire than wind.
Fire Nova, Lava Lash, Flame Shock, Flametongue, 3 Fire Totems...
vs
Windfury, LB/CL

And neither of of our wind spells deal all to much damage either.
Also, LB/CL is more than just iconic for ele. At the same time it isn't "enhancy" at all. Frankly, it wouldn't make any sense at all.

Additionally, Ele is called that because it is supposed to be a master of all elements. Unless they rename the spec, deliberately going for elemental splits wouldn't make any sense, esp since they want to make the specs fit their descriptions better come legions, as they made it sound.

Seriously ?? CL is iconic for elemental but not for enhance ?? sometimes i think your just pulling stuff from your ass. Have you played Warcraft 3 ??

Flame Shock was first used by enhance because of that totem (remember those class unic items in Wrath ?) that gave haste with each tick of FS (an elemental totem for that mater), Lava Lash was added as a talent, Fire Nova was added to both specs in Cata, Flametongue was Elemental's weapon imbue before we got to dual wielding... with the exception of SS, Windfury and LL every single spell we got is from elemental's toolkit. However that is completely irrelevant since enhancement and elemental where, for a very long time, one and the same thing with the exception of melee vs ranged. Enhancement is, or at least was, the melee elemental shaman. So to say that one spell is iconic for one spec and not for the other is to prove just how superficial your view of the Shaman class is.

[Krazzorx]

And last I checked "Most specs are getting overhauled, tweaking them to fit the fantasy of the spec. Some will be renamed."

Who knows how big it is, but I highly doubt things will stand pat. Especially considering Shaman is one of the most popular fan opinion of class that needs remade and I'm sure Blizz is aware of that.

[Nyoken]

So I was thinking that maybe part of their class remakes, they may more heavily focus each shaman spec into a certain type of element.

We already have the ascendence spells fitting into each of those elements so why not go the whole way and give these specs (specifically enh and ele) some more identity?

Get rid of all fire spells for enh, all lightning spells for Ele (with replacements ofc) and rename earth shield for Resto.

And with this would also come a refocus on totems. Enhance only gets air totems, ele gets earth/fire, Resto water. I think this would be a good chance to finally revamp totems to be interesting.

They better leave shamans alone or im gonna get pissed

[Pantsless]

And last I checked "Most specs are getting overhauled, tweaking them to fit the fantasy of the spec. Some will be renamed."

Who knows how big it is, but I highly doubt things will stand pat. Especially considering Shaman is one of the most popular fan opinion of class that needs remade and I'm sure Blizz is aware of that.

Remade is a very strong word that should be used with more care. I don't think that enhancement needs to be scraped and remade from zero, as the term remade would imply. I believe that all the pieces and general direction are there (the melee caster vibe, the fast paced lots of buttons to push playstile, etc ), just that they need to rearrange them so that its... and please forgive me for using this word, not so god damn clunky.

We have to little interaction between our spells and no resource management and this makes our rotation lack depth and unrewarding. And to make things worse, what little we have in terms of interaction is poorly made. Take FS resetting LL's CD : it's ok for single target but once you get in a cleave situation the amount of LL you get reset plus adding Fire Nova in your rotation pushes the rotation in to GCD lock and all of this for vary little damage increase.

Another example is the Echo talent. Just by adding 2 stacks to your main abilities, not only do you get more damage, but you also make the rotation much more involving. The fact that such a simple talent can have such a huge impact is proof that our GCD driven rotation needs to be rethought.

So no, we don't spells removed and we dont need spells added. Our abilities are not the problem. The way they work together, the way they interact, or better said not interacting, is the main problem.

[bloodmoth13]

No.

They would be making a mistake by mageifying shamans. if you want a pure fire caster, guess what? your in luck! we have 2 in the game already!!!!

Elemental uses storm earth and fire, resto uses mostly water for its healing properties and enhance is a melee warrior who uses the elements to enhance his attacks, elements such as storm and fire (no earth though)

They really REALLY dont need to be 1 element by default.

In saying that, i could see a talent tier focusing on specializing in an element. this is what this talent system should be used for: defining your characters identity.
As for talents, i forsee elemental fusion (with unleash elements being removed), unleashed fury and perhaps the whole 60 tier being removed (with 2 stacks echo provides becoming baseline) which would free up alot of room for actual interesting talents

Personally i wouldnt mind ascendance and feral spirit becoming talents; I dont really like ascendance, its cool and all but i think it would be better as an option and feral spirit doesnt feel exclusively enhance, it heals and it can hold aggro, would be useful as elemental too.

Shocks need an overhaul, they are bland as fuck, easily the worst abilities in the game (other than voidentropy and perhaps hamstring), i wouldnt mind totems no longer being exclusive (other than searing and magma) and our fire totems should get the short term cooldown treatment, giving them the same damage in a shorter window with a cooldown and perhaps 2 charges (and the ability to place 2 at once, like shadow hunter from war3).

The more i look at them though the more i think they need alot of work.

I could see perhaps each spec getting a unique elemental, storm elemental for enhance, fire for elemental and earth for resto (providing shields for melee or something?)

[Kralljin]

Doubt that Elemental will fully be dedicated to 2 Elements, but i could see Enhancement will focus on one Element.

Air / Wind might be a bad choice because Windwalker Monks exists, not they use many windbased spells but it i doubt that they want one spec to have the word "wind" in it, while another one actually focuses on wind based attacks.

Maybe instead of Air & Wind rather focus on Lightning, a Lightning based Melee Class.

Fire perhaps, being like a fiery version of a Frost Dk, plus Spirits wolves on fire.

I think Enhancement would be cooler if it be fully based around one Element, like Restoration on Water and reserving the "using all Elements" to Elemental.
Enhance should still feel like a melee spec and this drowns a bit between all those Spells, focusing on Element might help there.

[bloodmoth13]

Remade is a very strong word that should be used with more care. I don't think that enhancement needs to be scraped and remade from zero, as the term remade would imply. I believe that all the pieces and general direction are there (the melee caster vibe, the fast paced lots of buttons to push playstile, etc ), just that they need to rearrange them so that its... and please forgive me for using this word, not so god damn clunky.

We have to little interaction between our spells and no resource management and this makes our rotation lack depth and unrewarding. And to make things worse, what little we have in terms of interaction is poorly made. Take FS resetting LL's CD : it's ok for single target but once you get in a cleave situation the amount of LL you get reset plus adding Fire Nova in your rotation pushes the rotation in to GCD lock and all of this for vary little damage increase.

Another example is the Echo talent. Just by adding 2 stacks to your main abilities, not only do you get more damage, but you also make the rotation much more involving. The fact that such a simple talent can have such a huge impact is proof that our GCD driven rotation needs to be rethought.

So no, we don't spells removed and we dont need spells added. Our abilities are not the problem. The way they work together, the way they interact, or better said not interacting, is the main problem.

I think they need a rework.

Keep them as the melee elemental fighter, just brush them up a ton. Maelstrom could easily become our resource, but it should have its cap increased to give more control The 2 stacks on abilities that echo provides does wonders for the rotation! it makes enhance a joy to play! Id also like to see the focus completely removed from aoe. Aoe becoming our niche is only recent, we were never about the aoe and i personally think our aoe rotation is clunky as hell.

Other issue include:
Stormstrikes passive buff feels pretty terrible, should provide a better buff
Lightning shield feels like crap too, id rather see an actual lightning shield (like rehgar from HotS or a shaman from warcraft 3) than the sloppy little sod we have now, perhaps it could replace chain lightning on enhance?
flameshock still sucks
frost shock sucks
unleash elements sucks
Our personal enchants are pretty lackluster and completely passive
Our totems are rather unimpressive watered down dots.

Changes i would like to see:
Enchants reworked, see below
Maelstrom Weapon: basic attacks and windfury procs have a chance to gain a charge of maelstrom weapon, consume 5 stacks to make your next combat spell instant cast and cost no mana. max 15 stacks. (charges as fast as today, just has a higher cap)
Unleash Elements: throw both your weapons at your opponent for fire and elemental damage (no buffs)
Lava Lash: imbue your weapon with lava to deal x damage with your offhand weapon, empowering it with a flametongue enchantment for ~10 seconds, 2 charges.
lightning shield: electric orbs swirl around you, dealing x damage to all targets in range over 6 seconds, cost 10 maelstrom charges
Flametongue: empower your weapon to deal bonus x fire damage on every auto attack that splashes and hits 3 nearby enemy targets
Stormstrike: instantly strike with both weapons, activating windfury on both weapons immediately and empowering yourself with windfury, giving your auto attacks a 20% chance to proc windfury for ~5 seconds, 2 charges
Windfury: Wind empowers your weapon, creating a shockwave that causes your weapon to strike 3 additional times for 40% extra damage
Searing totem: Summon a searing totem at your feet, dealing x damage over 15 seconds, 30 second cooldown 2 charges.
Magma totem: Summon a magma totem at your feet, dealing x aoe damage over 15 seconds, 30 second cooldown 2 charges.

Our aoe rotation would be keeping flametongue active with lavalash, building maelstrom for lightning shield (think rehgar/war3 shaman) and using magma totem, which to me feels in depth enough.

This would make the spec easier to learn but add a bunch of nuances to make it harder to master, such as deciding whether to use SS and LL back to back for burst or staggering them for more buff uptime and whether to save lightning bolts for trinket procs etc.

This Implements the 'elementally enhanced fighter' fantasy alot better than current, where you simply use passive buffs. It also solves the age old issue that enhances damage was almost entirely passive, and brings windfury, both the most exciting spell and the dullest, into the rotation, giving it alot more control.

[Vizslakane]

Shamans are the masters of the elements.

Enhancement is a Melee class that channels the elements through our weaponry for our strongest attacks. Yet still be able to cast spells when out of range. We use water for self/off healing. And lightning, wind, etc for range.

Elemental is Ranged class that channels the elements through spells for strongest ranged attacks. And again water for self/off healing.

Restoration is a Healing class that channels the elements through spells for healing. Though predominately water (because water is the healing element). They can still use the other elements to buff healing and help with damage.

I agree Shamans need a rework. But I think all specs should have the all the elements at their disposal to use effectively in the role they choose.

For damage I think if they improved our cleave, gave us a hard hitting CD (remove the too many "wet-noodle" ones), and much better utility (We are a hybrid class. We should have stronger off heals), and less AOE ramp up, we would be in a very nice, more competitive position.

(And maybe even more damage from the resto spec. I mean Resto has the ability to bring up to 3 elementals into battle.)

[Mystrome]

Personally, I would like Elemental to be themed around Wind/Lightning, Enhancement around Fire/Lava and Restoration around Water/Earth. Each spec their own shock.

Elemental (can place totems up to 25 yards away):

* Lightning Shield
* Lightning Bolt
* Chain Lightning
* Static Shock (replacing other shock spells, excisting passive renamed to something else)
* Howling Gust ( replacing LvB)
* Thunderstorm
* Lightning Totem (replacing Searing totem)
* Tempest Totem (replacing Magma totem)
* Storm Elemental totem

Enhancement (places totems at their feet):

* Magma Shield (replacing Lightning Shield)
* Magma Strike (replacing Stormstrike)
* Lava Lash
* Lava Burst/Bolt (replacing Lightning Bolt)
* Magma Barrage (replacing Chain Lightning)
* Flame Shock
* Fire Nova
* Searing totem
* Magma totem
* Fire Elemental totem

Restoration:

Pretty much as-is, with the addition of a Water Elemental Totem (Frost Mages get a Frost Elemental in stead). Earth spells as damage dealing/mitigating abilities (think Earth Shock and Earth Shield), water spells to heal.

Very few abilities/spells shared between all specs, just the basic CC and CD's and Healing Surge.

Would make sense renaming the specs as well to fit the themes better.

Original post

- - - Updated - - -

We are a hybrid class. We should have stronger off heals (like we used to), which helps us bring more utility to the raid. (And maybe even more damage from the resto spec. I mean Resto has the ability to bring up to 3 elementals into battle.)

You raise a good point here, however, in terms of actually playing the game, balancing would become MUCH easier without having to worry a spell that needs a buff for one spec affecting another. I can live with the (minor) loss of fantasy if it means it improves the actual game.

[Vizslakane]

Would make sense renaming the specs as well to fit the themes better.

How about:

Arcane Shaman
Fire Shaman
Frost Shaman
jk

balancing would become MUCH easier without having to worry a spell that needs a buff for one spec affecting another. I can live with the (minor) loss of fantasy if it means it improves the actual game.

I see your point, but I feel there are many ways to buff the appropriate abilities through talents, mastery, etc.

The last thing I want to feel like is a mage.

We are one of the few classes (if not the only) that can do damage and heal many others in any of our specs. I mean we have Healing Rain (but it's pretty much garbage, save resto). We are the master of the elements. We should be a strong hybrid warrior.

I'll be honest, I miss the days the RL called for my Healing Tide or Healing Rain (while I'm Enhance), to help "save" the raid.

[MechaCThun]

Instead of re-focusing which specific elements each spec would wield, Blizzard could re-focus on how each spec uses those elements.

Yes, yes, you'll say that's already been implemented. Enhancement is melee. Elemental is ranged caster DPS. Restoration is healing. Although Restoration is more focused around the "water" aspect of healing you still have the option of using offensive spells.

What I'm proposing is more like how Lava Lash is Enhancements big fire ability and Lava Burst is Elemental's. One is slamming your weapon while it's on fire at someone and the other is literally throwing a ball of lava. The differences in how the element is being "wielded" reflects the differences of specs themselves, in turn, more spec identity.

[Erixi]

GIVE ME BACK TANKING!!!!

That's pretty much all I want. I was a pretty good tank / off tank all the way up till Panda. I just felt that with a bunch of the talent changes they made it harder and harder to do so... asides them not wanting us to be tanks. If they would have just changed up a few talents to better locations and levels, it would have worked.

[Deleted]

Noes!

Stop pigeonholing elements into specs. We aren't mages FFS! Shamans use different elements in everything they do. If anything they should try to spread out elements more, like giving Enh a proper earth spell. Fire might be tricky for resto, but healing winds aren't to far fetched.

That and adding more spiit stuff overall, although that's never going to happen I still want it

[Super Kami Dende]

By your powers combined, i am farseer planet!

[Mystrome]

How about:

Arcane Shaman
Fire Shaman
Frost Shaman
jk

Hehe, that is of course a real concern.

If they do it right though, (you can see my suggestions aren't awesome-level, think more of a base idea) I believe they can pull it off. They have people employed who are a lot better at this stuff than most of us are.

I see your point, but I feel there are many ways to buff the appropriate abilities through talents, mastery, etc.

The last thing I want to feel like is a mage.

We are one of the few classes (if not the only) that can do damage and heal many others in any of our specs. I mean we have Healing Rain (but it's pretty much garbage, save resto). We are the master of the elements. We should be a strong hybrid warrior.

I'll be honest, I miss the days the RL called for my Healing Tide or Healing Rain (while I'm Enhance), to help "save" the raid.

These 2 points I fully agree with. identity needs to be protected. And in MoP our off-healing was amazing. Popping ancestral guidance and a few CD's and healers could take a 10 second break.

[Ninthelora]

Please no, this is the reason mage really got boring. Especially an "elementalist" is the master of elements, not just one...
Don't let them make the same mistake as with mages!