Elemental shaman is not good enough for pvp

[Bobzor]

I was just thinking about how it seems that everyone is overlooking the new 4set bonus. It's clearly the biggest buff in the patch.
I will have a very enjoyable time in arena melting faces with a neat Lava burst+9stack fulmination.
I think elemental will be very interesting this season. Especially with a class that's able to give you some breathing room.

[ssyy]

despite eles state last patch me *a fire mage* and my ele shammy partner got 2459 in 3's together. Don't make up excuses for being bad, ele has some of the most powerfull pvp damage output if they arent being tunneled, and its your partners job to not let that happen. Granted both specs could be in better shape it honestly doesnt matter, it really comes down to the player not the spec *but being fotm is always nice if you decide to go resto lol, theres been so many times ive wanted to go frost but havent.

[msdos]

anyone who disagrees that Elemental has a high skillcap, well, i'm sorry, but you probably didn't start playing the game until Wrath.

Elemental was the one spec in the game for a LONG TIME that didn't have talented push-back protection. that already makes you better than every other caster because you always had to work around pushback, AKA, Tony Hawk's Pro Kiter. (why do you think Frostshock bounced back and forth between diminishing returns?)

Elemental still then persists on being the "hard cast" spec, that can basically only deal damage by hard casting. there's no pet, there's no dots (it gets dispelled), there's no backlash, there's barely a gap-opener for Elemental (WTB beta thunderstorm that sent them up in the air instead of backwards).
so due to thunderstorm sucking and totems being stationary, a la, the turret that Elemental always has been, you have to constantly worry about positioning (will this Tstorm be effective? am i close enough to them to EB root them? should i cast or keep moving? can i afford chain lightning? can i afford to heal myself?)

or not having the luxury of a CC until Wrath... hmm.. yeah, skill cap isn't high or anything, lol. to disagree is just mind-boggling and clearly a disdain issue about how you can't handle getting lavabursted.

[Deleted]

Elemental Shaman's aren't OP, but in the right hands it can still be good.
I think this is just another L2P issue.

[Tharkash]

Why do shaman get focused down in 3s? Because we're a huge threat. If we're ignored then somebody is definitely going to die as a result of it. But that still leads to the biggest problem, we ARE locked down easy. I think if we had a real escape mechanic we'd be fine. Ghost wolf not dispellable at least would be a long way in the right direction.

[Whisperawr]

Why do shaman get focused down in 3s? Because we're a huge threat. If we're ignored then somebody is definitely going to die as a result of it. But that still leads to the biggest problem, we ARE locked down easy. I think if we had a real escape mechanic we'd be fine. Ghost wolf not dispellable at least would be a long way in the right direction.

You're not a threat. You get targetted because you're the easiest to die, simple as that.

[Mdma22]

I'm going to go ahead and make a little change in your thread title.

The original one says:
"Elemental Shaman is not good enough for pvp".

It SHOULD say:
"I'm not good enough for pvp".

Fix'd.

I can confirm that it has been indeed fixed.

[Flaks]

Skillcap means the skill required to get the maximum out of the spec. In wich Elemental doesn't score to high. What you're refering to is the skill required to do well in competitive pvp.(with not scoring to high, I mean compared to some other specs, I do not mean any random person who plays elemental is skillcaped.)

Going by that there was 1 (ONE) elemental shaman at a 2700 rating last season. That player was godlike. Ergo- Elemental shaman have a ridiculously insanely high skill cap.

[JustinLee]

umm......if ele shaman is poor in pvp like op said .
moonkins who like to do pvp seems have to delete their toons

[Gmollster11]

Elementals are viable. They just require a little different playstyle than before. Moving LBs takes a little getting used to. Elementals are on the move casters now, not turret style.

Virtually no caster is gonna last when ganged up on, so quit worrying about it.

Elemental escapes?
- thunderstorm for distance (even while stunned)
-earthbind snare
-frost shock kiting
- hex, repeat kiting
- spriritwalkers grace to heal while kiting if needed

Simply put, your a much more mobile class than before, and it will take some practice.

[velias1234]

Rated pvp is not about 1on1. You need support just like nearly every other casting class in this game.

Ele shaman burst is extremely high atm, if you're QQ'ing about 1on1 just be quiet.

[rzy]

cant make a call till arena starts in my opinion

This, i think it will be okay, 90% haste when FS is dispelled and casting while running is lol! It will just require a bit of thinking on when and how to kite/counter and/or offheal.

---------- Post added 2011-07-05 at 02:22 PM ----------

You're not a threat. You get targetted because you're the easiest to die, simple as that.

if you let an ele shammy cast on any map other than Ruins its GG to that team, they put out SO much damage its unreal..

[Deleted]

I'll tell you a good fight, the two worst specs for pvp right now

Balance druid vs Ele shaman

[Deleted]

I'll tell you a good fight, the two worst specs for pvp right now

Balance druid vs Ele shaman

What about prot warriors? Prot paladins? Fire mages? Mutilate rogues?

Seriously. Why would anyone post something like that.

[velias1234]

I'll tell you a good fight, the two worst specs for pvp right now

Balance druid vs Ele shaman

Balance is hands down the best damage dealer for rated bg's ( solo defending a FC on twin peaks? and insane damage) and LSD does so much damage its ridiculous.

Ele burst is much higher now.

Its true though, both of those specs aren't very good 1on1. Which is what most of the stupid QQ in this thread is about.

[Andyclan]

If you were expecting to turn into a different class on patch day, I'm sorry but you'll probably be disappointed for some time. I did like your comparison to fire mages though, because your toolset is actually quite similar. You're the same kind of mobile caster, you don't have an abundance of snares/roots, and you have very weak defenses. However, it sounds to me like you don't appreciate any of your own strengths and just want what other classes have. That being the case, I'd recommend actually playing one of those classes. Either it will satisfy your needs, or it will make you appreciate your shaman more.

Elemental shaman actually do have a few things going for them:
- Wind shear. I can't begin to describe the strength of this ability, and I'm not going to try. If you contest this, I give up trying to convince you.
- Grounding totem. It may have a longer cooldown now, and like you said can easily be eaten in the chaos of a battleground, but it is also a very powerful ability. It can eat a cast attempt between a set of wind shears.
- Ghost wolf. There are tons of terrible melee filling battlegrounds. If you wolf their hamstring/chains/crippling, half of them don't know how to catch you again. I know countering terribles isn't a measure of class ability, but I'm sure most other ranged classes wouldn't mind an insnarable mode.
- Purge. Again, recently nerfed, but for a reason. Especially fun against (most) healers and ret paladins.

If none of those float your boat, you're playing the wrong class. You aren't a mage--a fairy that single-handedly destroys armies of melee. You fill a similar role, but you're more designed to take down healers (or at least provide the control while someone else does). Not having the friendly magic dispel probably means you won't provide the same support a resto shaman could, but you get to actually do some damage.

Actually, now that I think about it, elemental shaman might see some use the upcoming arena season. Most of what a resto shaman brings to the table can be brought by an elemental, which opens the door for a non-shaman healer. Wind shear + mana burn + orange staff wizardcleave maybe?

Freedom wolf doesnt exist anymore. They ninja nerfed it by changing the tooltip http://www.wowhead.com/spell=2645/ghost-wolf, in other words we cant get out of slows or snares anymore with wolf. So no more getting away from melee =)

[Mexikinda]

Elemental is difficult, that's for sure, and I think still mostly untested in arena in 4.2. Sure, Nuvoz is capable of playing it at high levels but he's the 1% awesome that proves it's difficult for most. It's always been my favorite spec, so I'll continue, but I will admit it isn't easy. 4.2 made it much better, but there are still some problems. Mainly mana. Running oom is such a pain the butt.

[Underskilled]

Elementals are viable. They just require a little different playstyle than before. Moving LBs takes a little getting used to. Elementals are on the move casters now, not turret style.

Virtually no caster is gonna last when ganged up on, so quit worrying about it.

Elemental escapes?
- thunderstorm for distance (even while stunned)
-earthbind snare
-frost shock kiting
- hex, repeat kiting
- spriritwalkers grace to heal while kiting if needed

Simply put, your a much more mobile class than before, and it will take some practice.

If Thunderstorm doesn't bug and not shoot them anywhere, it's still a what, 5 second slow? by 20%?

Despite having more than the max needed Spell Pen, Earthbind snare gets resisted often, and the snare itself is barely enough time to get 20 yards away.

Frost shock kiting requires you to use every shock cooldown just to keep the debuff up, meanwhile, assuming it doesn't get dispelled instantly, you have no Flame Shock up, which means no LvB, which means MUCH less damage, when we already do very little

Hex gets trinket'd instantly, it's our only "CC", not to mention, unless SWG is up, we need to stop to cast it, which lets us be interrupted easily.

Using SWG to run around to heal yourself when you can still be slowed, interrupted, Our heal heals for about 7k, and costs a monster chunk of our mana.

Practice shmactice, I could play my ele sham for ~6 months straight until the next patch, that doesn't stop getting nearly hard-countered by 50% of WoW's classes.

[MrSerious]

novoz would like to have a word with u bro http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=192411http://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=192411.

the last thing novoz said on arena junkies was that its a broken spec and he's giving up, not just the spec/class but the game.

I think he's had enough of blizzard screwing around with trying to balance classes (something about having no chance against shadow priest combinations) . Blizzard haven't managed to do it in 7 years, and are not any closer to getting it done either.