1. #1

    Enhance & Elemental... Mythic+

    Hi all,

    I'm level 109 on my Shaman, I've levelled as both Enhance and Elemental and find them both great, Enhance has insane ST with average AoE whereas Elemental has insane AoE with average ST (well, with luck Ive seen people burst 1m as Ele)

    I'm casual, so I don't dedicate myself to raiding, I however stick to just PvPing and Mythic+, I'm trying to weigh up the odds as to which of these 2 specs is the more "pug friendly" dps for these...

    Way I see it, Enhance delivers on bosses, Elemental delivers on trash. Elemental has that extra cc in Earthquake also. It seems Elemental points in the direction of being the better in general, until the boss fight... I did my first ever +4 Mythic on my Havoc DH on Saturday and brought 3 guildies with me (2 enhance shamans and a frost dk), we did EoA and on every fight the 890 Enhance Shaman was peaking at just over a million and was doing a good 5-10m more damage than 2nd (861 enhance). I've yet to actually see an Elemental though...

    so for PUG's and for anything from 5-15, what do you guys seem to find the better option? Enhance for that incredible ST or Elemental for that incredible AoE?

  2. #2
    Deleted
    At the moment I think that ENH is the better choice in general. With proper cooldown management you can melt things on AoE, especially in M+ where mobs live longer, so the advantage of ELE isn't THAT big on trash.

    However, if ELE is getting a buff in 7.1.5 it won't really matter anymore, since their ST should get a nice boost. Either way, if you're not going for 12-15+ on a steady basis, either will do, even in the current state of things. Just master your rotations and know when to pop which CD and you'll be good.

  3. #3
    My advice is get good at both and play both. I have an enhance set of gear and an elemental set of gear as well as investing in both of those artifacts equally ~31 points in each atm. If you are looking to PuG alot of mythic plus you should just go Resto and use your elemental gear. With a lower iLvL you are much more likely to get taken as Resto than the other 2 specs. For DPS Enhance can do alot better with less gear so it is probably the better spec to start with. Purchase at 835+ Six Feather Fan off your AH, it will most likely last you a long long time, cause its just that good.

    Elemental still has a bad rep in the community and enhance will typically only be picked up if a lust is needed as the other cleave melee are just more popular.

    At 10+ if Tyrannical - Enhance is the way to go as its sustained single target is really good over the course of ~3-5m fights
    At 10+ if Fortified - Elemental is incredibly strong with fantastic sustained cleave and EQ with Lightning Rod build

    Under 10 I play Elemental if the tank needs help or its a seemingly weak group, Enhance for quick clears with a solid group.

    Shaman is the most versatile and fun right now that it has ever been IMO if you are willing to invest in multiple gear sets and learning all 3 specs. 7.1.5 will improve Elemental as well making it more raid viable and an even bigger beast in M+.

  4. #4
    As an 882 shaman I get asked on joining if I am enhance or elemental, when I tell people enhance they say "thank god". This is totally illogical because the EQ from an elemental shaman is the best CC in the game for M+ right now, and elemental shamans are destroying mythic+ meters it seems, but people like enhancement for whatever reason.

  5. #5
    Mechagnome Ghrog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by hatchetman240 View Post
    As an 882 shaman I get asked on joining if I am enhance or elemental, when I tell people enhance they say "thank god". This is totally illogical because the EQ from an elemental shaman is the best CC in the game for M+ right now, and elemental shamans are destroying mythic+ meters it seems, but people like enhancement for whatever reason.
    It's because of what they see us doing in raids or against things like World Bosses where Enhancements ST superiority is on full display.Then they see the Ele Shaman doing maybe 75% of that and that's all many folks need to see to make up their mind.



    PS: I'm not saying that they are right for making these assumptions and over looking Ele's strengths, just that this is in no small part how it's happening.

  6. #6
    I was in NL+11 with another ele yesterday. So ridiculous. These Stonehulks were just rubbing the floor. Didn't do their cleave-thing once

  7. #7
    Come 7.1.5, Ele will be able to deal with either 10+ affix (meatball/icefury build for ST and LR build for trash), so the clear choice is going to be Ele. Enh is too squishy for a melee and too bad at handling trash out of cd, while having nothing that Ele doesnt offer already, maybe except an extra cc on sundering? Nevermind, Thunderstorm is probably better.

  8. #8
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Ranulf13 View Post
    Come 7.1.5, Ele will be able to deal with either 10+ affix (meatball/icefury build for ST and LR build for trash), so the clear choice is going to be Ele. Enh is too squishy for a melee and too bad at handling trash out of cd, while having nothing that Ele doesnt offer already, maybe except an extra cc on sundering? Nevermind, Thunderstorm is probably better.
    Im guessing u are playing ele?

    Enhance is too squishy if u are standing in stuff, thats right. Dont stand in stuff.
    "Bad" at handling trash out of cd? what does that even mean (crash lightnignt has a 4(?)sec cd?)- sure we are not the best AoE specc, but its enough
    And you dont even need an extra cc, stun totem is great - id rather do nothing then knocking a group of mobs out of my teams AoE

    I said it in another thread before, if u think Enh aoe is terrible, then u havent seen an ehance doing it right yet
    Yeah earthquake is cool, but doesnt it have a very quick DR ?

    @OP - Play what u like most, we dont know what the new patch is gonna look like in the end, AND if u feel like u dont do much AoE, get another class in your M+ group to handle AoE

  9. #9
    I think both are excellent for M+, I would make your decision off of "do I prefer to play from melee or from ranged"

  10. #10
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Karoz View Post
    Im guessing u are playing ele?



    I said it in another thread before, if u think Enh aoe is terrible, then u havent seen an ehance doing it right yet
    Yeah earthquake is cool, but doesnt it have a very quick DR ?
    Enhance aoe is objectively bad compared to some classes such as WW monks, Demon Hunters, DKs, Affli Locks, Outlaw Rogues, MM Hunters etc.
    Source: I main enhance shaman and have completed a 15 key as well as numerous key boosts with mainly an outlaw rogue or WW monk. I can barely break 600K overall damage and the monk/rogue regularly go 800-900K overall, and I have charged core.

  11. #11
    I play Enh because I love its fast play style. Even if Ele was better in terms of DPS I think I'd still stick it out with Enh. I just like melee. I swapped from an Unholy DK That had both BIS items as well. I don't regret it. I love the shammy now!

  12. #12
    if you can level both it gives you an option to adapt to the M+ affixes, like if it's vulcanic go enhance, if it's skitish go elemental, simple example but kinda works, with the buff to elemental both are gonna be strong in it.

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