Enhancement Shaman Guide for MoP - Patch 5.4

[Aretoo]

Should be stacking EM with heroism or use it after it ended? I also got lifeblood (2880 haste every 2 min for 20 sec).

Stack haste procs with BL - especially with the short CD on EM you don't really want to delay it.

I know the priority list and I understand it, but sometimes the maelstrom weapon proc REALLY fast (I got 2 piece as well) and you just don't have enough time to react to it and use something else instead of lightning bolt. I feel that I mess up in the rotation sometimes, what would you consider the best talents (tier 4 and 6) to use for a beginner that just want to do some decent dps and get an understand of rotation and the spec itself?

Don't really understand what you're saying in the bold section. It seems to me that you're saying "I don't have time to use MSW for things other than LB" which confuses me as the priority list only has you using MSW for LB. For the most part you always want to be using MSW+LB (stacks of MSW dependent on the priority list) and only when you feel that you need to help offheal for some reason that's when you can use it for something else.

[Deleted]

Don't really understand what you're saying in the bold section. It seems to me that you're saying "I don't have time to use MSW for things other than LB" which confuses me as the priority list only has you using MSW for LB. For the most part you always want to be using MSW+LB (stacks of MSW dependent on the priority list) and only when you feel that you need to help offheal for some reason that's when you can use it for something else.

Sorry, english is not my main language. What I mean is, I see maelstrom stacks at ~2, thinking I'll do some more attacks to get it to 3-5, but then it instantly pops up to ~4 just as you're about to use Stormstrike, and feels like my reaction is too slow to use lighting bolt instead of Stormstrike, so a few times I end up having 4 stacks when using Stormstrike, which is a waste I assume with the 2 piece set bonus.

[Aretoo]

Sorry, english is not my main language. What I mean is, I see maelstrom stacks at ~2, thinking I'll do some more attacks to get it to 3-5, but then it instantly pops up to ~4 just as you're about to use Stormstrike, and feels like my reaction is too slow to use lighting bolt instead of Stormstrike, so a few times I end up having 4 stacks when using Stormstrike, which is a waste I assume with the 2 piece set bonus.

Yeah that's just part of how our priority and skillset works - there will be times that you waste MSW stacks, in a perfect system you'll never waste them and never delay SS/LL - but we all know that's not true, stuff happens and you just gotta adapt on the fly, that's what will separate good enh from average enh players. You don't want to hardcast LB (aka MSW<5) if it will delay SS, even if you have say 4 stacks of MSW and then you have SS coming off CD right then, you'll want to hit SS which results in a wasted MSW stack and then LB.

[Deleted]

Yeah that's just part of how our priority and skillset works - there will be times that you waste MSW stacks, in a perfect system you'll never waste them and never delay SS/LL - but we all know that's not true, stuff happens and you just gotta adapt on the fly, that's what will separate good enh from average enh players. You don't want to hardcast LB (aka MSW<5) if it will delay SS, even if you have say 4 stacks of MSW and then you have SS coming off CD right then, you'll want to hit SS which results in a wasted MSW stack and then LB.

Oh, right. Thanks for the help.

[Porcrind]

I was reading somewhere that with the 2-piece T15 set bonus, you want to cast LB with MSW at 4 so as to not waste a MSW charge. Does this still hold true or should I hold off until MSW is at 5 before I cast LB?

If SS is up when my MSW is at 4, would that still take priority over LB with MSW at 4?

*edit* I see on the Priority List that MSW4 < MSW5 for LB and this changes the priority of SS relatively speaking (MSW5 > LB > MSW4). I missed this earlier.

[Deleted]

Maybe I am blind, but I can't find anything about Enh weapons. Should I use slower weapons or faster ones? Main hand slow (Mace, Axe), off hand dagger? Or both as slow as I can get?

[Deleted]

Both as slow as you can get

[Deleted]

Both as slow as you can get

Thank you

[Aretoo]

Both as slow as you can get

It's not quite as simple as that. Here is a quote from another thread on this forum which addresses the issue in what I thought was a good way:

All of these "is X weapon better than Y even if X is faster?" questions can be answered by looking at the weapon damage, if (Top end + Bottom End)/2 is higher on the X than Y, then it's an upgrade for sure.

For example:
http://www.wowhead.com/item=81089 463 iLvl 2.6 speed
http://www.wowhead.com/item=87012 502 iLvl 1.8 speed

Axe: 6335 avg. damage
Dagger: 6308 avg. damage

in terms of pure damage, the dagger wins, but the increased stat gain is:

+169 Agility
+145 Haste
+324 Hit
-261 Mastery

Which should make the dagger winner in this case.

Certainly Blizzard has made our choice much easier in that all the slow (~2.6 speed) one-hand Agility weapons are what are the most optimal for us, but it isn't as black and white as "whatever is slowest".

[Prisefighter]

Questions about using ShockandAwe:
a) Do higher end raiders use it, or is it mainly a tool for new enhance shammys?
b) If you do use it, is there any need to change the default priority list or is it OK as is? Additionally, would there be a need to change the priority list based on talents?
c) Is there anyway to setup an AOE priority list? I've kind of just ignored ShockandAwe in AOE situations and kept magma totem down and then FS>LL>FN/CL spam. Seems simple enough to not need an AOE priority list in ShockandAwe assuming I'm AOEing correctly?

New to enhance shammy - playing it as my primary alt now, so I'd appreciate any tips.

[Aretoo]

Questions about using ShockandAwe:
a) Do higher end raiders use it, or is it mainly a tool for new enhance shammys?
b) If you do use it, is there any need to change the default priority list or is it OK as is? Additionally, would there be a need to change the priority list based on talents?

New to enhance shammy - playing it as my primary alt now, so I'd appreciate any tips.

A) I personally don't use ShockandAwe - but it has been widely used anywhere from beginners to high-end raiders. Back when I was a high-end ret paladin I helped improve my numbers and overall gameplay by using an addon called ClcRet - which offered a priority box for my optimal rotation. While I had dismissed using such an addon previously because I felt that it "made the game too easy" after trying it out and adjusting it to the most optimal rotation for my gear set and situation I was able to improve a good amount because the addon allowed me to pay more attention to fight mechanics, utility CDs, and other aspects since my basic rotation was pretty much handled by the addon. Long story short, try out any addon to see if you like it and if you improve with it - I use TotemTimers for Enh as I like the setup a little better than ShockandAwe (but it doesn't have a priority component).

B) As with all addons that help to guide you in your rotation there will always be tweaking needed to get the most optimal usage from it. You can play with it out of the box and have great numbers, and adjusting the priority will only yield in small gains here and there.

[Deleted]

About spots for enh shamans in 25 man heroic raiding :

My current enh shaman is an alt with around 515 ilvl (so i got basic knowledge of the class, and soon main depending on next tier what they do to it on ptr). We do have an enh shaman and are 12/13 hc atm but we are always discussing whether or not to take him for few reasons and i would like enh shamans in better ranked guild or not (doesn't matter as long as u can educate me) to try to enlighten me about it.

He seems to do insane burst at the beginning with a record of 1 100 000 dps burst on DA (just an example) for few sec on our first kill then he falls back. He also didn't start using AG and free HR boosted heals until Lei Shen where we needed it for phase 3 (so basically he wasn't nerfing his own dps to throw offheals).
So basically why take him over any dps with less burst but more sustained dps and a raid CD that can be used on special boss mechanisms ?
Is there a more sustained spec ? Is there a way of playing it for more overall dps or is it how enh do atm, super burst, then moderate dmg until super burst with CDs again etc ?

If i'm only looking at simcraft rotations and position the class is in an excellent spot, but as we all know it doesn't always reflect actual raiding experience (i main a dk and according to this list i'm the worst dps class when i'm obviously not, far from it depending on encounters).

Thanks for any help guys !

[Aretoo]

About spots for enh shamans in 25 man heroic raiding :

My current enh shaman is an alt with around 515 ilvl (so i got basic knowledge of the class, and soon main depending on next tier what they do to it on ptr). We do have an enh shaman and are 12/13 hc atm but we are always discussing whether or not to take him for few reasons and i would like enh shamans in better ranked guild or not (doesn't matter as long as u can educate me) to try to enlighten me about it.

He seems to do insane burst at the beginning with a record of 1 100 000 dps burst on DA (just an example) for few sec on our first kill then he falls back. He also didn't start using AG and free HR boosted heals until Lei Shen where we needed it for phase 3 (so basically he wasn't nerfing his own dps to throw offheals).
So basically why take him over any dps with less burst but more sustained dps and a raid CD that can be used on special boss mechanisms ?
Is there a more sustained spec ? Is there a way of playing it for more overall dps or is it how enh do atm, super burst, then moderate dmg until super burst with CDs again etc ?

If i'm only looking at simcraft rotations and position the class is in an excellent spot, but as we all know it doesn't always reflect actual raiding experience (i main a dk and according to this list i'm the worst dps class when i'm obviously not, far from it depending on encounters).

Thanks for any help guys !

1) The offhealing that an Enh Shaman can put out (AG or HTT + the occasional HR coupled with Healing Storm glyph + Healing Stream Totem) are not very large dps losses for the large gains if used correctly in the offhealing department.

2) Assuming his build is EM+PE then a more sustained build would be AS+UF or even AS+PE. However numbers shows that for a majority of situations the high burst EM+PE is the best build overall (and typically best overall dps - this is what most high end shamans use).

Enh Shaman is a very burst oriented build. You can slightly tweak it with talent points, but overall it's a burst class with mediocre aoe (good sustain aoe, just not good burst aoe), great utility and offheals, and decent sustained damage. Right now enh are also very strong out of some of the melee classes, especially now that they can start reaching high levels of haste.

[Lavindar]

Ok, sorry for the noobness, but do haste affect enhancement's Flame Shock ticks? I am asking this because if the tier bonus of Flame Shock reseting Lava Lash, it would push haste even more as our best stat.

[Aretoo]

Ok, sorry for the noobness, but do haste affect enhancement's Flame Shock ticks? I am asking this because if the tier bonus of Flame Shock reseting Lava Lash, it would push haste even more as our best stat.

Yes it does since that's how haste and dots interact - the more haste, the more ticks. And while this new tier bonus is exciting, it's in no way 100% certain that's what it will be - which is why I wait until patches officially are released before commenting on new changes. Feel free to create a thread in the Shaman forums to discuss this if you want - but this thread is for the current patch.

[Lavindar]

Yes it does since that's how haste and dots interact - the more haste, the more ticks. And while this new tier bonus is exciting, it's in no way 100% certain that's what it will be - which is why I wait until patches officially are released before commenting on new changes. Feel free to create a thread in the Shaman forums to discuss this if you want - but this thread is for the current patch.

Ok thanks, was just not sure because of the fact that we are meele.

[Deleted]

1) The offhealing that an Enh Shaman can put out (AG or HTT + the occasional HR coupled with Healing Storm glyph + Healing Stream Totem) are not very large dps losses for the large gains if used correctly in the offhealing department.

2) Assuming his build is EM+PE then a more sustained build would be AS+UF or even AS+PE. However numbers shows that for a majority of situations the high burst EM+PE is the best build overall (and typically best overall dps - this is what most high end shamans use).

Enh Shaman is a very burst oriented build. You can slightly tweak it with talent points, but overall it's a burst class with mediocre aoe (good sustain aoe, just not good burst aoe), great utility and offheals, and decent sustained damage. Right now enh are also very strong out of some of the melee classes, especially now that they can start reaching high levels of haste.

Thx for your input.
Yes he is using the EM+PE burst build.
About the HR, after looking at our logs, it shows majority is overhealing, is there a way to avoid that ? Like not necessarily put it on melee if melee isn't taking dmg or include the tanks with it ?
Doesn't using your maelstrom stacks for HR and not LB reduce your dmg by like 4/5% ? (the dmg of the LB in the recount basically) Or maybe at high level of haste/gear you gain them faster because atm with my current crap gear on my alt i barely get 5 stacks before HR is off CD again.

[Aretoo]

Thx for your input.
Yes he is using the EM+PE burst build.
About the HR, after looking at our logs, it shows majority is overhealing, is there a way to avoid that ? Like not necessarily put it on melee if melee isn't taking dmg or include the tanks with it ?
Doesn't using your maelstrom stacks for HR and not LB reduce your dmg by like 4/5% ? (the dmg of the LB in the recount basically) Or maybe at high level of haste/gear you gain them faster because atm with my current crap gear on my alt i barely get 5 stacks before HR is off CD again.

Healing Rain does tend to overheal a lot if not used properly - it's really all about timing. And I'm not saying that in a fight Enh shaman should just switch from using LB for the MSW stacks to using HR, you just have to be smart about it and use HR at the appropriate times. Fights that I have done a considerate amount of off-healing are Magaera right after you kill a head and there's the massive AoE - since everyone stacks in my raid group I drop a single healing rain, either AG or HTT, and HST during that phase. The other fight is Ji'Kun during Quills - my raid group used to stack during Quills when we first were tackling this fight (not so much anymore) and I would drop a HR for the high AoE part coupled with AG+HST and do an incredible amount of off-healing. And yes, once you get enough gear (aka haste) you do accumulate MSW stacks incredibly fast, especially with the 2-piece tier bonus - and I'm not saying that you keep HR on CD, that a good Enh shaman will be smart about his/her off-healing and use it wisely to A) be efficient (aka low overhealing) and B) don't sacrifice too much dps.

[Embermoon]

Street, why would any "good/smart Enh shaman" be concerned about overhealing? It seems like a complete non-issue, to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't all of the historic concerns about overhealing (for healers) related to the following?

- Mana management
- Healer aggro (way back when)

Inambour, why would you be concerned about your guildie avoiding overheals with his healing rain? Your question seems to have started out, with a concern about your guildie's dps in a 25 man heroic setting, but then your next post expresses a concern about him overhealing. Help me out, because I'm not sure where you're focusing your concerns about his viability.

I have to disagree, slightly, with Street, to say that even when HR is used properly, it can still overheal for a ton (especially when your other healers are keeping the raid's health topped off). Also, you have to keep in mind, that an enhancement shaman tends to put down HR only when we have 5 maelstrom stacks, since it makes the cast instant, as well as costing no mana. Will we hard-cast HR on occasion? Sure, but it's not the norm. Since HR tends to be dropped with 5 MSW stacks, it's not like an enhancement shaman is really monitoring the raid's health, in order to worry about overheals. (And why should he?)

As a slight aside, we also have a couple of mechanics that will see us regularly overhealing. Feral Spirits is one. The new flame shock glyph is another. Combine with dropping the occasional HR, and it shouldn't be a surprise to see a significant portion of our heals be overhealing.

Enhancement off-healing is a nice bonus, but not one (imo) that really needs to be managed. Unless someone can point out a reason for us to be concerned about overhealing, I can't help but think that this is a vestigial concern.

[Aretoo]

Street, why would any "good/smart Enh shaman" be concerned about overhealing? It seems like a complete non-issue, to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't all of the historic concerns about overhealing (for healers) related to the following?

I mentioned that over-healing should be considered because it then gives you the choice of "do I use MSWx5 for HR which will do mostly overhealing in this situation and relatively low effective healing OR do I use it on LB now and wait to use HR during an instance where there is more raid-wide damage". Really the only thing about overhealing as Enh are concerned is a very minor nitpick at playing as optimal as possible as we're a damage dealing class first and utility/off-healing class second. And I would say a good Enh IS monitoring the raid health and not just applying HR at MSWx5 just whenever they want, but rather when there are high points of raid damage going out that can utilized by grouping up for AoE heals.

Feral Spirits and Flame Shock glyph are outliers - as you don't have as much control over their healing as you do other sources. Both HST and HTT are very smart about their healing, which makes them very efficient, but you need to think more about when using HR and other spells.

This really just comes down to playing optimally and efficiently. Doing a lot of overhealing by way of dropping HR and Chain Heal just whenever is not an optimal or effective way to play - using spells at the right time will yield in optimal play, and because we have a good amount of utility, we don't have to just worry about our DPS CDs and rotations, but other tools to be a good asset to our raid team.