#0 - Sept. 12, 2010, 7:53 a.m.
- I was a big big supporter of the whole MW - LvB - ED triumvirate, but I must say that I am very very happy with the way you listened to the other shaman feedback threads and changed the way Stormstrike works, giving us an increased crit chance with Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Earth Shock and finally LIGHTNING SHIELD.
I've wanted something done to Lightning Shield and Static Shock for a long time, and I'm certainly satisfied with the crit change. This was long overdue, and finally puts Static Shock in a good place from a talent investment perspective. The glyph of course is simply outstanding again - I can actually level with Static Shock!!
Finally, the Chain Lightning cooldown reduction is _AMAZING_. You have no idea how huge this will be for Enhancement Cleave. I can't wait to make good use of this in the waning days of Wrath raiding, and look forward to its uses in Cataclysm!! Now lets get down to business...
Talents - It's a Trap!
- A cursory examination of the talent trees shows significant imbalances between the point distribution for each spec. Currently, Elemental Shamans have only 39 total talent points in their talent tree. Restoration shamans have a total of 41 talent points in their trees. Enhancement has a total of 46.
Upon closer examination, the discrepancy isn't so bad. 3 talent points will never be used by Enhancement shamans and are there to only provide an adequate tier 1 talent dump for Elemental and Restoration. I am talking about Improved Shields of course. While this talent looks like a good fit for Enhancement, the 15% damage bonus only affects a VERY small (3.5-4%) portion of our damage, and should not be picked up by any Enhancer worth his totems. That aside, that means we are STILL 2 talent points over budget.
The odd talent out is Improved Fire Nova of course. With your current talent tree setup, Enhancement Shamans will have no choice but to run with two PvE talent specs: one that includes Imp FN and one that doesn't. Why force us into this un-fun situation? Give us a polish pass, and remove this quirky talent please.
Our Searing Conundrum
- Its no secret that Searing Totem is very buggy in its implementation, and lately it has been pointed out that the totem AND the dot it provides could prove to be quite a potent negative when it comes to any situation that requires crowd control. While you can handle the 'dot' portion via perks for other classes, there is no fix all by leaving it in place.
Searing Totem typically provides 7-8% of our single target dps in Cataclysm. The DoT - Searing Flames, presently provides less than 2% of our damage. Its damage is so low for two reasons: 1) Searing Totem still only attacks once every 2.4 seconds (despite the fact its now set to 1.8 seconds - we have no macro to force faster cast times like the Warlocks did with their Imps) and 2) The dot is constantly consumed by Lava Lash over the course of the fight. Your stated goal was for the dot to provide damage while we are off target to help us 'keep up', but it certainly isn't performing its intended function.
Likewise, Improved Fire Nova is a _HORRIBLE_ talent. I hate to mention it again, but I feel its necessary: don't force Enhancement to have two PvE specs - one for Single Target and one for AoE fights! Fire Nova also costs a truckload of mana - you have to swap to Magma Totem to even cast it, and it costs us 40% mana just to get started! This mana sink makes it very very hard for us to use this ability in any kind of long duration AoE fight as well as our other arsenal of spells and melee abilities. As we discussed on the Beta forums, we have some GREAT ideas to tidy all of these issues up with a few key changes:
- 1) Change Searing Flames from a DoT to a stacking Fire Vulnerability Debuff (stacks 5 times)
2) Damage from _ANY_ Fire Totem stacks the debuff
3) Merge Imp FN into Imp LL (Renamed Eruption(NNF))
4) Link the Fire Nova and Lava Lash Cooldowns
5) Let us cast Fire Nova off of Searing Totem
- OR -
6) Make Fire Nova a PBAoE emanating from the caster
7) Remove FN cooldown reductions (10 seconds is 10 seconds)
8) FN and LL would not consume the debuff
Putting It All Together
- What does this do? It consolidates our Talent Tree (taking us from 43 Enhancer talents to 41). It lets Fire Nova work for 'quick' AoE situations, and gives us a very potent AoE with UNIQUE stacking synergies for longer duration fights. It increases Searing Totem's damage contribution from 8% (+2% DoT) to roughly 12% (a 2% damage buff) - letting Searing Totem perform its stated function while not harassing those who are crowd controlling.
PS: Searing Totem at 2.4 second attacks does the same dps as Magma Totem with 2 second attacks unbuffed. This moves slightly in favor of Searing Totem as we gain additional spell power due to scaling, but its too close for comfort at the moment. Also, I just want to remind you that Elementals want an increased range. Some adjustments might be required.
And lastly, the actual talent changes (remember Improved Fire Nova would be gone!)
- Searing Flames: Causes any damaging attacks from your fire totems to have a 33/66/100% chance to set their targets aflame, causing your Searing Totem to do an additional 4/7/10% damage. Lasts 15 seconds, stacks up to 5 times.
Eruption(NNF): Increases the damage of your Lava Lash and Fire Nova ability by 15/30%, and by an additional 5/10% for each of your applications of Searing Flames.
