#1 - Sept. 20, 2012, 10:21 p.m.
1) Introduction & Basics Information
- A) Introduction
- B) Stats and Gearing
- C) Buffs and Debuffs
- A) Primary Spells
- B) Secondary Spells
- C) Utility Spells
- D) Buffs and Passives
- A) Talents
- B) Glyphs
- A) Priority List
- B) Movement
- C) Area of Effect
- D) Cooldown use
- E) Advanced Shock Management
- A) Haste Caps & Breakpoints
- B) Hit Cap
- C) Stat Priority
- A) Gems
- B) Enchants
- C) Sets and Set bonuses
- D) BiS lists
- 1) Heroic Dungeon
- 2) Pre-raid
- 3) Tier 14 Normal
- 4) Tier 14 Heroic
- A) Level ranges & primary spell availability
- B) Glyph and Talent acquisition
- C) Gearing notes
- A) Addons
- B) Configs
- C) Macros
1) Introduction & Basics Information
A) Introduction
This is a PvE guide for Elemental Shaman written collaboratively by Binkenstein, Endus & Gistwiki. Contained within you will find everything you need to know to play Elemental at a competitive level in PvE content.
B) Playstyle
Elemental is the ranged caster damage specialisation of Shaman. It relies on a number of cooldown based spells for damage, along with a single dot and a charge/expend ability. It also has a number of damage & utility spells in the form of totems, the signature ability for Shaman. As well, it is the most armoured of caster specs thanks to mail & shields, and can assist with some off-spec heals if necessary (especially with talents). Elemental also has the potential for very high mobility with minimal loss in DPS with certain glyph choices.
C) Stats & Gearing
Elemental focuses on Intellect gear, with any of Crit, Haste, Hit, Mastery or Spirit as secondary stats. A rough stat priority is:
Intellect > Hit/Spirit to 15% cap > Haste > Mastery > Crit
Note: Crit/Haste/Mastery weights & priorities vary depending on glyphs & talents, so it's important to generate your own weights on a regular basis. Any basic suggestion such as this one can very easily be off for your particular circumstances. Some more detail on what circumstances can and will effect this and how will be in the Stats & Gearing sections of the guides.
D) Buffs & Debuffs
Elemental provides three passive raid buffs:
- -Mastery (Grace of Air),
- -5% Spell Haste (Elemental Oath), and
- -10% Spell Power (Burning Wrath).
In addition, Earth Shock applies the Weakened Blows debuff for 30 seconds, reducing the damage the target deals by 10%. The duration is sufficient to essentially guarantee uptime, despite the somewhat random nature of Earth Shock use.
As well, each Shaman brings Stormlash Totem, a 10s duration Air Totem with a 5 minute cooldown, which adds nature damage to all spells and attacks by party and raid members within 30 yards. This is a strong raid DPS cooldown, though it should be used one after the other if there are multiple Shaman as the effect does not stack.
2) Spells
A) Primary Spells
- Chain Lightning
Acquired at level 28. Is the base spell for area of effect damage. Jumps three times (five when glyphed) dealing less damage on each jump.
- Earth Shock
Acquired at level 5. Shock spell that deals nature damage and applies the Weakened Blows effect. Shares a 5 second cooldown with other shock spells. Also procs the Fulmination effect, which discharges excess Lightning Shield charges (ie: above one) at the target.
- Earthquake
Acquired at level 60 with Elemental Specialization. A placed AoE, with a small chance of knockdown. The damage it provides is only effective compared to Chain Lightning on 5+ targets. 10 second cooldown and duration.
- Flame Shock
Acquired at level 14. Shock spell that deals fire damage and applies a damage over time effect to the target for 24 seconds. Shares a 5 second cooldown with other shock spells. Required for the 100% crit chance effect of Lava Burst. The DoT duration can be extended by 25% (up to 30 seconds) at the expense of 25% of the direct damage portion of the spell via a glyph.
- Lava Burst
Acquired at level 34. Lava Burst is our primary nuke, and is a guaranteed crit with Flame Shock on the target, meaning that it will always proc Elemental Focus as well.
- Lightning Bolt
Acquired at level 1. Deals nature damage with a base cast time of 2 seconds. The basic filler spell for Elemental. Causes Rolling Thunder & Elemental Overload procs.
