Enhance vs. Elemantal

[M4d2m0A]

Ok so I was recently asked by my guild to try to switch over to enhance because we might be loosing our enhance shammy. I've been trying it out for a day or two, I got ShockandAwe, I've been reading up all I can on priorities, gearing, and whatnot. I'm starting to really hate this spec. I've played elemental shammy since BC. Back then it was cake, which wasn't so bad for raiding because it left me plenty of attention on keeping myself alive.

In all honesty it just seems like way too much crap to pay attention to. More cooldowns, more skills to prioritize, very specific gear compared to elemental, and more importantly, too easy to mess up. I told my raid leader I'd try enhance for trash and for any boss that needs higher dps I'll just switch back over the ele. But I'm really not looking forward to going to enhance full time.

I think I've just been playing ele too long and I'm way to comfortable with the rotation. Basically I just wanted to know If I could get some insight maybe from someone who's been in the same boat as me. Why did you pick enhance over elemental? Why would anyone play a spec that's 4-5 more buttons and an extra cooldown to watch? What is your priorities for spells? Do you keep fire nova on cooldown for single target? Doesn't it seem like this spec is a bit broken right now? Half the spells you need to cast come from the ele tree. I've downloaded rwar and enhsim and I'll keep reading over all the forums, maybe I missed something that will help everything click together in my head. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

[Hendrixstorm]

This is easy. If you are having trouble keeping up with the enhancement rotation go elemental. It's much simpler.

[BoxofRox]

Simpler doesn't quite describe it.

You basicly turn into a turret. SPY SAPPIN' MAH SHAMN.

[M4d2m0A]

I'm not really asking if I should be ele or enh, I stated in my post that my raid leader is asking me to go enhance because we might be loosing our regular. Since all the buffs I bring as elemental are already covered in our raid I was the first one he came to. I liked playing enhance a long time ago It's just been so long I had no idea where to start. I guess a good first question would be whats your rotation settings for shock and awe. I don't plan to use this addond forever but it's a good start at learning what skills to need to pay attention to. I have no fear of being able to handle the rotation it's just going to take some time to getting use to.

[djoze]

Why did you pick enhance over elemental? Why would anyone play a spec that's 4-5 more buttons and an extra cooldown to watch?

Because its boring to spam one button? I honestly prefer to play a class/spec where skill is required to do good.. otherwise i would play a Mage, not a Shaman for sure :x

I used to be resto. Changed to enhancement when ToC came out, at the beginning i was like you I f*cking hated this f*cking spec, so confusing, so "easy to mess up" like you said but once I got it I made my mind of never going back to resto (and if it keeps being a "one button class" i will never spec elemental too). It takes some time to master it but it's way funnier than you might think.

What is your priorities for spells?

Single target DPS:
1 - Maelstrom Weapon x 5 stacks - Lightning Bolt
2 - Lightning Shield if not active
3 - Spirit Wolves
4 - Shamanistic Rage
5 - Flame Shock
6 - Stormstrike if debuff not active
7 - Fire Elemental
8 - Magma Totem if not active
9 - Earthshock
10 - Stormstrike
11 - Lava Lash
12 - Fire Nova
13 - Magma Totem
14 - Lightning Shield

Get yourself a nice clean UI where you can track everything that you need, make sure you're gemming/gearing right.
don't know what else to say

[jswivel]

I'm not really asking if I should be ele or enh, I stated in my post that my raid leader is asking me to go enhance because we might be loosing our regular. Since all the buffs I bring as elemental are already covered in our raid I was the first one he came to. I liked playing enhance a long time ago It's just been so long I had no idea where to start. I guess a good first question would be whats your rotation settings for shock and awe. I don't plan to use this addond forever but it's a good start at learning what skills to need to pay attention to. I have no fear of being able to handle the rotation it's just going to take some time to getting use to.

Just be ele and drop enhance totems, you probably already have a blood dk or marks hunter for the 10% ap buff. By not having Enhancing totems your raid only loses out on 23 strength and agility and by not having Improved Windfury Totem your raid loses 4% melee haste. If your as bad at enhance as you seem to be saying you are, the dps difference will more than make up for the loss of these talents improving your totems.

Edit: if you do this however you will have to make sure your totems are within 30 yds of the melee but that shouldn't be a problem.

[Vargarii]

Single target DPS:
1 - Maelstrom Weapon x 5 stacks - Lightning Bolt
2 - Lightning Shield if not active
3 - Spirit Wolves
4 - Shamanistic Rage
5 - Flame Shock
6 - Stormstrike if debuff not active
7 - Fire Elemental
8 - Magma Totem if not active
9 - Earthshock
10 - Stormstrike
11 - Fire Nova
12 - Lava Lash
13 - Magma Totem
14 - Lightning Shield

Fixed.

I know you either copied this from faq, or were guided to use this priority at some point. But I've never simmed more dps from putting lava lash ahead of fire nova in priority.

[Walktheline]

Not fixed...

The reason why you use Lavalash over Fire Nova is pretty simple. Does Firenova produce stacks of MW? No! So use LavaLash over Fire Nova (on single target!). It's not random, that MW5 is on 1st at our priority list, so why the hell should a attack that produces such stacks of MW be behind one, which doesnt produce it ;-) LL maybe does less dmg at itself, but in the end it does more dmg due to MW5

[Karnadas]

Not fixed...

The reason why you use Lavalash over Fire Nova is pretty simple. Does Firenova produce stacks of MW? No! So use LavaLash over Fire Nova (on single target!). It's not random, that MW5 is on 1st at our priority list, so why the hell should a attack that produces such stacks of MW be behind one, which doesnt produce it ;-) LL maybe does less dmg at itself, but in the end it does more dmg due to MW5

Ahh, thanks for bringing that up to me =D

Also I heard that SS with no SS debuff on target was above MWx5 because of the 28% extra damage the lightning bolt in question would do, but I also hear it's not. Whats your take on that? (Or anyone's take for that matter)

[BadBadBad]

i love enhance even though im resto but i enjoy a class with a lot of spells and rotation (especially with this new fire nova) and i hate ele cuz u just spam 3 buttons it gets lame and boring and i feel like a bot.
i dont know how you can hate such a cool ass spec

[BadBadBad]

Because its boring to spam one button? I honestly prefer to play a class/spec where skill is required to do good.. otherwise i would play a Mage, not a Shaman for sure :x

I used to be resto. Changed to enhancement when ToC came out, at the beginning i was like you I f*cking hated this f*cking spec, so confusing, so "easy to mess up" like you said but once I got it I made my mind of never going back to resto (and if it keeps being a "one button class" i will never spec elemental too). It takes some time to master it but it's way funnier than you might think.

Single target DPS:
1 - Maelstrom Weapon x 5 stacks - Lightning Bolt
2 - Lightning Shield if not active
3 - Spirit Wolves
4 - Shamanistic Rage
5 - Flame Shock
6 - Stormstrike if debuff not active
7 - Fire Elemental
8 - Magma Totem if not active
9 - Earthshock
10 - Stormstrike
11 - Lava Lash
12 - Fire Nova
13 - Magma Totem
14 - Lightning Shield

Get yourself a nice clean UI where you can track everything that you need, make sure you're gemming/gearing right.
don't know what else to say

so Magma totem does more dps than a searing on single target? ive been using searing for single cuz it lasts longer and i though magma was for the aoe.

[Evilgopher]

so Magma totem does more dps than a searing on single target? ive been using searing for single cuz it lasts longer and i though magma was for the aoe.

Yes, this has been the case since late Naxx when magma totem was buffed and started doing more single target dps than searing. I know it seems weird but the only situation in WotLK anymore to use searing totem would be to avoid breaking CC or where AoE effects are reduced such as Faction Champions in ToC. Of course though Fire Elemental does more dps than both of these and on top of that lasts for 2 minutes which saves you GCD's from re-dropping totems, try to line up the Fire Elemental with bloodlust so you can really focus on the hardest hitting abilities then.

Ahh, thanks for bringing that up to me =D

Also I heard that SS with no SS debuff on target was above MWx5 because of the 28% extra damage the lightning bolt in question would do, but I also hear it's not. Whats your take on that? (Or anyone's take for that matter)

This use to be the case for a short while, and its easy to see why someone would assume this to be the case. But the problem is that again a MWx5 LB is our hardest hitting ability and the longer we sit at 5 stacks, the longer we can't get anymore. In the time you Stormstrike to apply the debuff, you could have gained another 2-3 stacks and been well on your way to getting another 5 stack. Plus, with the new T10 4-piece, it can only proc when it hits 5 stacks. Quickly using your instant LB so you can get another 5 stacks gives you more chances at that extra AP throughout the fight.

[Angifuhz]

I've been main spec Enhance since BC (heaven forbid we did damage in Classic..). It took a little while to learn the basics of the spec as well as the gear, gems, enchants, and rotation. The more I played, the better I got at it. Now, it's like second nature (my personality fits the melee tree the best, which might be a reason it comes so naturally to me ;P).

One suggestion would be to just play with the spec. Back when I made the switch from Resto to Enhance, I didn't download any fancy mods that told me what to do next nor did I read any forums on how to play as that spec. Look at other Enhance Shamans and see what they're wearing - for a refresher if need be. Hopefully you find one that knows what they're doing. Go play with the target dummies or grey elites to get your bearings.

I also have a Druid that I play off and on. My main spec is Feral - Cat and when I play, it feels so strange. It's almost like learning to walk all over again.

Anyway, just go with whatever feels natural to you. If you want to give the Enhance spec an honest shot, it will take some getting used to, especially with how much it's changed over time. With so many abilities in the rotation/DPS priority, it can seem daunting.

However, since it's not a spec you normally play, methinks the gear you have for it might be subpar - at least compared to your Elemental gear. Combined with the possible lack of gear and inexperience/rustyness with the spec, it would probably be easier for your guild to simply find another Enhance Shaman.

[hvidgaard]

Not fixed...

The reason why you use Lavalash over Fire Nova is pretty simple. Does Firenova produce stacks of MW? No! So use LavaLash over Fire Nova (on single target!). It's not random, that MW5 is on 1st at our priority list, so why the hell should a attack that produces such stacks of MW be behind one, which doesnt produce it ;-) LL maybe does less dmg at itself, but in the end it does more dmg due to MW5

You missed the part where he said "simmed". That takes said mechanics into consideration. However, it greatly depends on the fight and gear, so you should always use the sim to determine what's best on a "Patchwerk style fight" and use common sense.

[M4d2m0A]

Thanks for all the replies, I do think things will get more interesting when the gear gets better. I also have a DK and Ret pally and I know how bad things seem when half your attacks are getting missed/dodged. I went through like 10 heroics last night and I got a pretty good feel for whats going on. I played a DK for a long time and this "rotation" isn't any more complex then theirs, so I'm sure Ill get the hang of it. Luckily I'm in a guild of some pretty laid back people and they won't really care if I pushing a few k less dps as long as I'm not dying to fires or getting mind controlled during the BQL fight like all of our past recruits. I like learning about different specs so this will give me the opportunity to actually use a raid as testing grounds, instead of a boring old test dummy. Thanks again.

[Gorlag]

Played resto pre-tbc, elemental in tbc(when it was perfect imo) and enhance in wotlk.
For me enhance is great, sure it would be nice with a longer lasting magma totem, but other than that it's perfect for me.
When playing any other character I feel bored, there's hardly anything to keep track of, thus making it less hectic.
Get yourself to good gear, and optimize your character, and then make a judgement!

[Walktheline]

Ahh, thanks for bringing that up to me =D

Also I heard that SS with no SS debuff on target was above MWx5 because of the 28% extra damage the lightning bolt in question would do, but I also hear it's not. Whats your take on that? (Or anyone's take for that matter)

Even if there is no SS debuff on the target, throw you LB. As said in the posts before, you would gain with your Stormstrike another 0-2 stacks. Long story short, never use SS if you got an instant LB waiting.

[Vargarii]

Not fixed...

The reason why you use Lavalash over Fire Nova is pretty simple. Does Firenova produce stacks of MW? No! So use LavaLash over Fire Nova (on single target!). It's not random, that MW5 is on 1st at our priority list, so why the hell should a attack that produces such stacks of MW be behind one, which doesnt produce it ;-) LL maybe does less dmg at itself, but in the end it does more dmg due to MW5

Do you have info to post to prove that, or is it your own personal napkin math theorycrafting to use to put someone else down?

Someone else beat me to it, but this was simmed dps, which takes that into account.

I understand that the priority would not hold 100%, but the post I qouted with edits was a general priority list, which tend to be based on patchwerk style fights. In fact, I'm pretty sure it has been mentioned here on the forums in other posts about FN being ahead of LL for dps. I simply gave the input that for a general priority system, FN nets more dmg.

[Airlick]

I'm just waiting to get emblems for trinket and 4x t10 (or from VoA), then I'm going enhancement and I'll never look back. What concerns me though, is that ele might be far better for leveling, seeing that I'll 1 shot mobs, it might be a great downtime having to run to mobs as enhancement. And I don't think instant LBs and Shocks will make me run less. I am pretty sure I'll be enhancement at 85, unless ele gets more complicated.

[conscript]

I'm just waiting to get emblems for trinket and 4x t10 (or from VoA), then I'm going enhancement and I'll never look back. What concerns me though, is that ele might be far better for leveling, seeing that I'll 1 shot mobs, it might be a great downtime having to run to mobs as enhancement. And I don't think instant LBs and Shocks will make me run less. I am pretty sure I'll be enhancement at 85, unless ele gets more complicated.

Hahahaha, No. Enhancement is probably the third best leveling spec in game behind only Blood DK and Ret. You are simply invincible. You can solo every 5 man group quest, you have instant heals, instant casts, can easily take down almost any regular mob simply by running up and pressing SS, if WF procs they are basically dead instantly. Downtime is nonexistent because you never have to drink with Shammy Rage and can speed run to every mob if you take imp Ghost Wolf. You never have to worry about mobs being immune to your spells, Air elementals or Fire elementals.