Searing totem viability

[Nikoll]

I'm at work so I can't test this but maybe some of you have.
With the fn change gcd and mana can become an issue. Has anyone tested st over magma on single target? I'm full aware that enh cannot realisticly get to the sp needed to make st better than mt, but the gcds might make up for the loss. That is what makes fe better is the 5 saved gcds.

[Embermoon]

I was wondering that exact thing. I've noticed that I can get in 2 fire novas, at best, before having to refresh magma totem. My thinking is that searing will allow for more time on other PQ abilities.

[Nikoll]

What I'm guessing is assume 2 extra ll (lowest pq). And does that damage outpace the st/mt difference. Problem is I have no idea what st hits for.

[Syronius]

I was trying it out myself, and searing will probably not do a whole lot just because most fights, we're running around redropping totems.

The problem with searing is that it does have a cast time with its ability, which ultimately drops its damage potential(especially with repositioning).

While perhaps on fights were its mostly single positioned searing may help with gcd issues. I'm mainly seeing fire nova as a second lava lash unless multiple mobs are available and it becomes a higher priority.

[Deleted]

What I'm guessing is assume 2 extra ll (lowest pq). And does that damage outpace the st/mt difference. Problem is I have no idea what st hits for.

ST hits like your little kid sister don't bother with it. I should do the maths again to check but its 4am here and I'm WIDE AWAKE but too tired to do the maths. > >

[darkwarrior42]

ST hits like your little kid sister don't bother with it. I should do the maths again to check but its 4am here and I'm WIDE AWAKE but too tired to do the maths. > >

I always wondered why I never saw ST once shamans got above a certain level..

This may be slightly off-topic, but I'm curious: would shamans be interested in seeing ST become viable again, perhaps in Cata? Or do you prefer just running with magam/FE totem?

[Applesaus]

I always wondered why I never saw ST once shamans got above a certain level..

This may be slightly off-topic, but I'm curious: would shamans be interested in seeing ST become viable again, perhaps in Cata? Or do you prefer just running with magam/FE totem?

It would be cool to see some sort of talent, like imp fire nova, that makes the ST shoot multiple fireballs like 3 or 5 or have some sort of splash damage to it. But other than that, I like MT just fine

[Renzokuken]

This may be slightly off-topic, but I'm curious: would shamans be interested in seeing ST become viable again, perhaps in Cata? Or do you prefer just running with magam/FE totem?

It's prolly something Blizzard is considering. I'm sure they're not happy that what was designed as an aoe totem is superior on a single target than the single-target dps totem.

[sicness]

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but I believe a few ppl on EJ have tested that searing totem doesn't do as much dps as magma does, even on single target encounters. Having to drop MT more often is actually good on most encounters due to positioning of mobs/bosses anyways and while it may be more of a mana sink I don't think it's worth the dps loss. You're better off using fire nova less to conserve mana than use searing over magma I would think.

[Nikoll]

I understand MT does far more damage than ST. Thats why i said "I'm full aware that enh cannot realisticly get to the sp needed to make st better than mt". I'm wondering if the extra GCDs is going to outway. And yes there is positioning, but on say first beast, marrowar, deathwhisper if you get to stay on her, and maybe sourfang as AE does dick to those adds the 2 extra you dont really reposition.

W/E ill test it tomorrow.

[Fornaw]

Stealing this from a poster named thebitterfig on wowhead, I was going to do the math myself but I found this while researching pulse-rate.

Magma Totem deals 371 + 0.1*spellpower every 2 seconds. Searing Totem deals 105 + 0.166*spellpower every 2 seconds. Thus, once 0.066*spellpower > 266, or SP > 4030, Searing totem will deal more damage per tick.

Enh shaman with > 4030 spellpower, not particularly likely, but I would be interested to see some sim results at levels around the end of ICC gear, the 2 sec saved/min may mean something. Was doing Saurfang tonight and the guild commanded no AoE, hence I got to test this out. Searing does ~400 dps in my gear, its been a while since I checked magma, but it was definitely over 500 dps. In my experience dpsing, mana is not a particularly high concern anywhere but trash, once you have JoL and the extra crit buffs maintaining your mana pool to keep magma down +novaing isn't that bad. If your raid doesn't have JoL, replenishment or a decent supply of spell crit buffs I would try simming it with sim mana on.

[Deleted]

Just make Searing hit a little harder and scale a little better than Magma Totem,

Its not @%*& hard!