Elemental 8.1 PTR Changes

[oleander89]

Well Surge of Power and SK were nerfed significantly but Icefury was buffed. I have to imagine lava burst is getting a buff to compensate for all the reduced lightning bolt damage now.

[Puupi]

Surge of Power RNG element is bullshit.

If 3 is too much, change it to 2 you fuckwads, not 1-3. The spec is way too RNG heavy already.

[Sentynel]

I havent played a shaman in a long time but they are always the class in my heart.

Unfortunately even with all the troubled history shamans had over the past decade it seems that BfA will be (so far) the darkest time for the class.

The changes are insultingly pathetic and it is painfully obvious no developer at blizzard mains or even play-tests a shaman, because if they did this kind of cr*p design would not even leave alpha testing...

For the record, Ion actually mains a shaman. Although, he plays resto.

[Rawfury]

After looking at the 8.1 changes we might as well just reroll. I think im just sick and tired of being sick and tired and i love my spec and class.

[nothingsjim]

Ignoring the RNG on the new Surge of Power, does that mean it now synergize better with Unlimited Power?

We could potentially stack 4-5 UP stack with a single cast, as oppose to 1-2 stacks per cast.

Personally, I don't mind this RNG since I am not a mythic raider, but I can see why people are annoyed by it. Gambler Shaman ftw.

[Northy]

Ele is back to sucking on the PTR. This isn't good.

- - - Updated - - -

The Lightning Bolt that we cast right after Earth Shock, when using the Surge of Power talent, is back to doing nothing, thus making the interaction very clunky again.

[Deleted]

that icefury looks sweet tho

[Northy]

Surge of Power is garbagio now

[Ele man]

This is a trick. The complaint was poured because ele was simply weak.
In fact ele is not playable. It is completely useless spec. It is reality.

But dev is playing with ele, just like a child playing with a toy.
dev is not adding something for us. Dev is touching ele as he does his school homework.

PTR patches are not needed. Who will tell me what is improving? I really do not think that even one is better.
ele is just being treated toys. This patch is a waste of time for dev and ele player.
Do not touch ele if dev touch it like this. And either delete the spec, or write the "useless spec" in the introduction.
Why is it time-consuming if it will not improve anyway? Only two words are enough.

[prinnybomb167]

It is still early. I can't imagine them not doing something to lava burst right now. It is in a weird state where lightning bolt has a much higher damage threshold, even though lava burst maybe more consistent. Looking at ascendance, it will not be a valuable trait. I am assuming they will put some damage or mechanics back into lava burst, (I hope) because currently getting a lava surge proc just means nothing really, should be nice when you get procs, all it is now is a moment where u can do damage on the move. Also bring back the damage to Earth shock, or give it something, currently on ptr it feels so weak as a spender. This all comes back to having higher than normal crits, wish they would get rid of that and scale things appropriately.

[trm90]

The previous SoP iteration was broken. They nerfed a clear anomaly, it wasn't a slight outlier. Stop being so melodramatic, our spec needs attention and changes to our base mechanics but we don't need to be the next Legion affliction locks.


The RNG in the SoP change is annoying but condensing the overloads into a single LB cast smooths the rotation which previously lead to a lot of overcapping, and made it annoying to play with Aftershock, Lust, or FE. Currently on the PTR it always gives you 2x stack though. Really hope they just stick to a 2x stack.

If that fails, at least they finally fixed IF, which combined with SK+MotE+Echo makes for a pretty fast paced build.

[unbound]

It is still early. I can't imagine them not doing something to lava burst right now. It is in a weird state where lightning bolt has a much higher damage threshold, even though lava burst maybe more consistent. Looking at ascendance, it will not be a valuable trait. I am assuming they will put some damage or mechanics back into lava burst, (I hope) because currently getting a lava surge proc just means nothing really, should be nice when you get procs, all it is now is a moment where u can do damage on the move. Also bring back the damage to Earth shock, or give it something, currently on ptr it feels so weak as a spender. This all comes back to having higher than normal crits, wish they would get rid of that and scale things appropriately.

Please stop. It is not early anymore. They are well progressed in beta testing of 8.1, and they aren't going to make major mods anymore.

We need to collectively understand that the class designer is simply incompetent and likely does not play an Ele Shaman in the game (or only plays it at a most basic level in the open world). They keep trying to make damage work without accounting for the mechanics of the game...which means they keep yo-yoing between putting too much damage in when there is little to no movement, and having too little damage in when performing on most current encounters (i.e. fairly heavy movement). They need to give better tools to turret casters to account for that high movement, but they are too incompetent to understand that.

I have rarely seen a major disconnect with a designer and the game they are involved with, but we are seeing it first-hand right now.

[this is caranthir]

It is still early.

I remember people saying the exact same thing during beta, it is not early, in fact i think it's getting quite late to do any major rework to the spec.

[WorldofWorkcraft]

So between the last PTR and this PTR, they nerfed damage/interaction of their proposed changes and are buffing Icefury to try and see if Frost Shock filler alongside Icefury is a possible rotation addition? I'm all for spell interaction, but this is still so very minimal. Is it really that hard to come up with interesting mechanics for a class that CONTROLS THE ELEMENTS? It's mind boggling. I've switched to Enhance, unfortunately. I've always played an Elemental Shaman if/when I played, but it just hurts to play one now.

I'm sad. I have to make myself not sad. Let's just throw out some talent ideas with interaction, because why the hell not? Let's take our main damage skill, Lava Burst, and make a talent row that's fun and involves AoE. I don't care if no one sees this, it'll be fun!

Lava Fountain (Choice 1 - Stationary AoE) - Lava Burst critical strikes have an x% chance to create a lava geyser under your target, dealing y damage per second to anything standing in the vicinity. Casting Earthquake on a lava geyser makes the ground erupt with 2 more geysers.

Elemental Storm (Choice 2 - Moble AoE) - Lava Burst critical strikes have an x% chance to create a firestorm cloud that follows your target, dealing x damage per second to them and surrounding targets in a small area. If lightning bolt is cast 3 times in succession on the target with the cloud, it gains electric currents, casting Chain Lightning every x seconds.

Firefighter (Choice 3 - Utility) - Lava Burst critical strikes have an x% chance to create lava pools under allies, adding x fire damage to their skills while within the pool. If you cast Cleanse Spirit or Healing Surge on an ally within the pool, its duration and effect are increased by x%. Stacks x times.

Of course, these are random rough ideas; ideas I'm sure many people have had that no one will care to take into consideration, but it was fun to come up with. In my mind, stuff like this is fun because it actually caters to play style alongside having the player make choices; not only on which talent makes sense (for playstyle and fight), but if, in the moment, it makes sense.

For instance:
Choice 1. We all love volcanoes! Clearly for stationary AoE situations. More straightforward than the others. Less choices, and would be the baseline choice if you don't really want to work for damage output. Still has cool interaction with EQ, making you want to save it for a proc. But do you?
Choice 2. More for fights with movement. Elemental has none, so why not put movement on the talent/skill itself? Hooray! Then, when you have the chance, you try and focus that target with lightning bolt to enhance that AoE. Is it worth it to try and get 3 lightning bolts on the target? Is it the right target? Will it run away? Do you coordinate with the tank so it's in the right spot?
Choice 3. Hey, we're a utility class, remember? We used to buff people. This is good for Shaman who want to help their friends parse higher, and like to throw out Healing Surge; and, maybe aren't confident in their damaging rotation abilities. Now, you're REWARDED for using that utility, and for being better at your utility than your damage. Insane notion, right?

Sigh...it's actually MORE fun to come with ideas for Elemental Shaman than playing one.

[Keltas]

It is still early. I can't imagine them not doing something to lava burst right now. It is in a weird state where lightning bolt has a much higher damage threshold, even though lava burst maybe more consistent. Looking at ascendance, it will not be a valuable trait. I am assuming they will put some damage or mechanics back into lava burst, (I hope) because currently getting a lava surge proc just means nothing really, should be nice when you get procs, all it is now is a moment where u can do damage on the move. Also bring back the damage to Earth shock, or give it something, currently on ptr it feels so weak as a spender. This all comes back to having higher than normal crits, wish they would get rid of that and scale things appropriately.

I think the real solution is to remove our mastery and put the increased crit damage in it's place. That way everything scales with mastery (except our pet), and our stats actually impact each other positively instead of negatively.

Make crits generate 1.5-2x maelstrom.