1. #1

    Elemental and M+

    Are we able to climb high as Ele now or is it more of a "do what you can" spec still? Boomies/Mages seem to still be the #1 however I've seen several top tier M+ guys (DrJay) play ALOT of Elemental and doing really well with it in 18+ keys.

    My guy isnt 120 yet so Ive no idea how strong we really are, I've only played DH in M+ since I dropped my Sham in Legion due to it feeling atrocious.

    It looks extremely fun again, so yeah... we all good? Have people noticed pugs are starting to accept Ele into groups now?

  2. #2
    Grunt
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    Not really , have 900 rio and up to M8 i get easy spots , 9 and above people look for 1k+ rio or the correct classes , not a single 10+ dungeon that i was accepted so far...so at least for me nothing changed

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Mordarim View Post
    Not really , have 900 rio and up to M8 i get easy spots , 9 and above people look for 1k+ rio or the correct classes , not a single 10+ dungeon that i was accepted so far...so at least for me nothing changed
    I have both a 1k+ boomy and Elemental shaman. I am starting to really like my shaman more. I crush my boomy on trash dps now unless there is a seriously big pull that lives a bit then boomy can do well.

    My shaman is an engineer, so he also brings battle rez. The only thing the boomy brings utility wise are treats and solar beam. My earth elemental can sub in better than trents for a pull that really needs it or I can use the defensive from it or dps as well on a boss.

    I definintely do more damage on mythic bosses as elemental unless it has a shitload of crazy movement such as knight captain Valyri in Tol'dagor or Yazma in AD with volcanic can suck for elemental too... but also sucks for balance cause balance needs to hard cast a lot... only thing I like about balance is it can build AP while moving and all the elemental builders are pretty much hardcasted.


    I feel a bit tankier on my elemental now too... between a better defensive on a shorter cooldown, the faux cheat death on a short cooldown, GW on top of it if I know a big hit is coming + earth elemental--- I am usually the last to die in a group (pugging).


    So elemental doesn't have solar beam but it does have the shortest cooldown on an interrupt of any class and its ranged. In some cases its better than solar beam, such as the tide sage council in shrine or certain fortified trash.


    Elemental definitely shines on having snap burst on trash as well, an area balance suffers. A group has to know how to pull for balance for balance to excel.


    So all in all, balance edges out in off heals, mobility, and treants on a necrotic weak. Also the solar beam is definitely amazing when used correctly.

    I'd say elemental does better in a pug setting, the burst damage is nasty, single target is very strong- no sacrifices in spec for M+ (AoE vs ST), provides the best knockback, has an AoE stun, the best interrupt, is pretty tanky, can ankh once or twice too depending on traits, and provides AoE snare+knockdowns. Be an engineer so you also bring battlerez.

    Mage/boomy have less to micromanage so might be easier but I think elemental is extremely strong in M+ and is only going to get better with scaling/new traits.

    I still like my boomy but notice im doing M+ a lot more on my shaman than anyone else now. (1.3k .io on both, don't have the consistent team or motivation to push higher)

    its starting to creep into raider.io too.. check out https://raider.io/characters/eu/tarren-mill/Djfroosh
    #23 DPS in the world is an elemental shaman.



    finally, using balance as my comparison kinda hits like a wet noodle outside of incantation but its a super amazing/strong cooldown. Elemental I feel has a lot more mini CD's to have strong numbers even if the elemental is down.


    but shhhhhh don't tell anyone.. I like how ele is a sleeper in M+

    Right now I am just praying we don't get nerfed. Its rare elemental gets to be this good in PVE/M+ - also, I have no trouble getting accepted into pugs. for +10,11,12,13,14+ etc keys
    Last edited by Jaewalk; 2019-01-03 at 04:58 PM.

  4. #4
    Grunt
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jaewalk View Post
    I have both a 1k+ boomy and Elemental shaman. I am starting to really like my shaman more. I crush my boomy on trash dps now unless there is a seriously big pull that lives a bit then boomy can do well.

    My shaman is an engineer, so he also brings battle rez. The only thing the boomy brings utility wise are treats and solar beam. My earth elemental can sub in better than trents for a pull that really needs it or I can use the defensive from it or dps as well on a boss.

    I definintely do more damage on mythic bosses as elemental unless it has a shitload of crazy movement such as knight captain Valyri in Tol'dagor or Yazma in AD with volcanic can suck for elemental too... but also sucks for balance cause balance needs to hard cast a lot... only thing I like about balance is it can build AP while moving and all the elemental builders are pretty much hardcasted.


    I feel a bit tankier on my elemental now too... between a better defensive on a shorter cooldown, the faux cheat death on a short cooldown, GW on top of it if I know a big hit is coming + earth elemental--- I am usually the last to die in a group (pugging).


    So elemental doesn't have solar beam but it does have the shortest cooldown on an interrupt of any class and its ranged. In some cases its better than solar beam, such as the tide sage council in shrine or certain fortified trash.


    Elemental definitely shines on having snap burst on trash as well, an area balance suffers. A group has to know how to pull for balance for balance to excel.


    So all in all, balance edges out in off heals, mobility, and treants on a necrotic weak. Also the solar beam is definitely amazing when used correctly.

    I'd say elemental does better in a pug setting, the burst damage is nasty, single target is very strong- no sacrifices in spec for M+ (AoE vs ST), provides the best knockback, has an AoE stun, the best interrupt, is pretty tanky, can ankh once or twice too depending on traits, and provides AoE snare+knockdowns. Be an engineer so you also bring battlerez.

    Mage/boomy have less to micromanage so might be easier but I think elemental is extremely strong in M+ and is only going to get better with scaling/new traits.

    I still like my boomy but notice im doing M+ a lot more on my shaman than anyone else now. (1.3k .io on both, don't have the consistent team or motivation to push higher)

    its starting to creep into raider.io too.. check out https://raider.io/characters/eu/tarren-mill/Djfroosh
    #23 DPS in the world is an elemental shaman.



    finally, using balance as my comparison kinda hits like a wet noodle outside of incantation but its a super amazing/strong cooldown. Elemental I feel has a lot more mini CD's to have strong numbers even if the elemental is down.


    but shhhhhh don't tell anyone.. I like how ele is a sleeper in M+

    Right now I am just praying we don't get nerfed. Its rare elemental gets to be this good in PVE/M+ - also, I have no trouble getting accepted into pugs. for +10,11,12,13,14+ etc keys
    Ofcourse Elemental does beter , noone doubts that , his question was if pugs are accepting elemental easier now that we got stronger. Well the answer is still not really , you have the luxury to have done stuff with your guild or with a group of friends but for most of the people PUGs are the only reliable way to get in to groups so unless your rio is awesome ele shamans still struggle , no auto invite like best M+ classes...dont get me wrong and i am not trying to start a debate with you but season 1 is done for Ele atm , we should wait for season 2 and get a fresh start to see if the changes helped the class get the respect it deserves

  5. #5
    Ele is now the best caster along with boomkin, so the answer is yes,it is rather easy to find a group now. If you're not being accepted to a group it will be most likely due to your ilvl or IO than being a ele.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by HCLM View Post
    Ele is now the best caster along with boomkin, so the answer is yes,it is rather easy to find a group now. If you're not being accepted to a group it will be most likely due to your ilvl or IO than being a ele.
    So same as usual then

  7. #7
    Dunno why it took people 4 months to figure it out but yeah, Ele is a damn good dungeon spec. Barely anything changed in terms of M+ viability in 8.1 as well, EQ and CL still do the same damage, and our ST damage in dungeons wasn't that terrible.

    Don't be afraid to try out Icefury as well, it's really good at shoring up your weaknesses on smaller pulls.

  8. #8
    Deleted
    Ele is bad at 2-3 targets. AMAZING at everyhing else.

    Between awesome ST dmg and superior burst and sustained AoE, utility via purge, interrupt, knockback, knockdown and AoE stun...the spec is all around amazing for M+. Only an idiot would decline you based on what streamers and ''community'' said (and perception of ele is a prime example how that same community and streamers can cause harm ingame).

    Ele playstlye is as dynamic, flashy and smooth as it has been in the last 8 years, all it takes is some haste.

    Now that i am used to FS having a CD again, i realize more and more just how unhealthy the gameplay was when it had no CD.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by trm90 View Post
    Dunno why it took people 4 months to figure it out but yeah, Ele is a damn good dungeon spec. Barely anything changed in terms of M+ viability in 8.1 as well, EQ and CL still do the same damage, and our ST damage in dungeons wasn't that terrible.

    Don't be afraid to try out Icefury as well, it's really good at shoring up your weaknesses on smaller pulls.
    Ele was hardly playable in 8.0. Mediocre aoe, non existing cleave, and poor ST dps. Coming in 8.1 blizzard buffed everything.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by mmoc23033661e0 View Post
    Ele is bad at 2-3 targets. AMAZING at everyhing else.

    Between awesome ST dmg and superior burst and sustained AoE, utility via purge, interrupt, knockback, knockdown and AoE stun...the spec is all around amazing for M+. Only an idiot would decline you based on what streamers and ''community'' said (and perception of ele is a prime example how that same community and streamers can cause harm ingame).

    Ele playstlye is as dynamic, flashy and smooth as it has been in the last 8 years, all it takes is some haste.

    Now that i am used to FS having a CD again, i realize more and more just how unhealthy the gameplay was when it had no CD.
    Agreed, even 4 targets is not fantastic but is managable. Just sucks that a lot of m+ trash pulls outside of teeming weeks are 3-4 pulls.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by mmoc23033661e0 View Post
    Ele is bad at 2-3 targets. AMAZING at everyhing else.
    Stacking Igneous potential removes this drawback with minimal sacrifice though it requires some ramp up time. It's an area of debate on what is optimal, but running 3xIP over more AoE centric traits like Tectonic thunder in M+ is acceptable if your group already has adequate AoE/Cleave on Fortified weeks, Tyrannical weeks 3xIP is higly reccomended.

    With the proper setup, Elemental is strong in most situations. It's *main* weakness in M+ is long movement phases.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Mewseph View Post
    Stacking Igneous potential removes this drawback with minimal sacrifice though it requires some ramp up time. It's an area of debate on what is optimal, but running 3xIP over more AoE centric traits like Tectonic thunder in M+ is acceptable if your group already has adequate AoE/Cleave on Fortified weeks, Tyrannical weeks 3xIP is higly reccomended.

    With the proper setup, Elemental is strong in most situations. It's *main* weakness in M+ is long movement phases.
    To clarify this up:
    1. IP is the best trait for all areas of the game
    2. TT trait is the worst trait for m+. It has hardly any value in aoe and no value on boss fights
    3. Movement phases are not longer an issue as we are not running SE most od the time. Mote + PE is a new king for m+

  13. #13
    What do SE, mote and PE stand for?

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Specialka View Post
    What do SE, mote and PE stand for?
    SE - Storm Elemental
    PE - Primal Elementalist
    Mote - Master of the elements

    They are most common talents for m+, and each of them changes your play style.

  15. #15
    Oki, Icefury is not that good for mm+? Maybe too ST centered?

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Specialka View Post
    Oki, Icefury is not that good for mm+? Maybe too ST centered?
    It is nice for dungs where ST/cleave is more important like KR or TD

  17. #17
    Is there a trait setup or gear level where mote becomes good, because right now the totem in siming better for me.

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Tweedzz View Post
    Is there a trait setup or gear level where mote becomes good, because right now the totem in siming better for me.
    It depends what you sim

  19. #19
    Are you still enjoying your ele sham? Im a boomy main and im working on my ele sham- woah is it different. The rotation does not feel nearly as smooth as ele (maybe im just not used to it yet). The fire-shock on cooldown is a bit awkward, and im spending a lot of time memorizing the 'priority' of skills to use. Hoping it gets better!

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Jaewalk View Post
    I have both a 1k+ boomy and Elemental shaman. I am starting to really like my shaman more. I crush my boomy on trash dps now unless there is a seriously big pull that lives a bit then boomy can do well.

    My shaman is an engineer, so he also brings battle rez. The only thing the boomy brings utility wise are treats and solar beam. My earth elemental can sub in better than trents for a pull that really needs it or I can use the defensive from it or dps as well on a boss.

    I definintely do more damage on mythic bosses as elemental unless it has a shitload of crazy movement such as knight captain Valyri in Tol'dagor or Yazma in AD with volcanic can suck for elemental too... but also sucks for balance cause balance needs to hard cast a lot... only thing I like about balance is it can build AP while moving and all the elemental builders are pretty much hardcasted.


    I feel a bit tankier on my elemental now too... between a better defensive on a shorter cooldown, the faux cheat death on a short cooldown, GW on top of it if I know a big hit is coming + earth elemental--- I am usually the last to die in a group (pugging).


    So elemental doesn't have solar beam but it does have the shortest cooldown on an interrupt of any class and its ranged. In some cases its better than solar beam, such as the tide sage council in shrine or certain fortified trash.


    Elemental definitely shines on having snap burst on trash as well, an area balance suffers. A group has to know how to pull for balance for balance to excel.


    So all in all, balance edges out in off heals, mobility, and treants on a necrotic weak. Also the solar beam is definitely amazing when used correctly.

    I'd say elemental does better in a pug setting, the burst damage is nasty, single target is very strong- no sacrifices in spec for M+ (AoE vs ST), provides the best knockback, has an AoE stun, the best interrupt, is pretty tanky, can ankh once or twice too depending on traits, and provides AoE snare+knockdowns. Be an engineer so you also bring battlerez.

    Mage/boomy have less to micromanage so might be easier but I think elemental is extremely strong in M+ and is only going to get better with scaling/new traits.

    I still like my boomy but notice im doing M+ a lot more on my shaman than anyone else now. (1.3k .io on both, don't have the consistent team or motivation to push higher)

    its starting to creep into raider.io too.. check out https://raider.io/characters/eu/tarren-mill/Djfroosh
    #23 DPS in the world is an elemental shaman.



    finally, using balance as my comparison kinda hits like a wet noodle outside of incantation but its a super amazing/strong cooldown. Elemental I feel has a lot more mini CD's to have strong numbers even if the elemental is down.


    but shhhhhh don't tell anyone.. I like how ele is a sleeper in M+

    Right now I am just praying we don't get nerfed. Its rare elemental gets to be this good in PVE/M+ - also, I have no trouble getting accepted into pugs. for +10,11,12,13,14+ etc keys
    Are you still enjoying your ele sham? Im a boomy main and im working on my ele sham- woah is it different. The rotation does not feel nearly as smooth as ele (maybe im just not used to it yet). The fire-shock on cooldown is a bit awkward, and im spending a lot of time memorizing the 'priority' of skills to use. Hoping it gets better!

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