Introduction
Hello everyone, my name is Cayna and I have been playing a shaman since Siege of Orgrimmar in MoP. I have raided with Method since Legion, achieving 3 world firsts on end bosses (Helya, Jaina and Azshara). I was inactive during Castle Nathria, but have re-joined the new roster for Sanctum of Domination.
This guide will be about Elemental Shaman, which is currently a top tier spec. It is a bit under the radar as it might not be the best spec for one specific thing, however it is extremely powerful at everything. It is, or close, to the top 3 for:
- Sustained single target
- Stacked cleave
- Spread cleave
- AoE
- Burst AoE
It’s also one of the tankiest specs in the game with:
- Astral shift (1:30 cd)
- Earth elemental (30+% increased max hp via a conduit)
- Primal elementalist: Giving earth elemental an extra CD.
- As a necrolord we also have Flesh craft.
- Tauren is our best race, and we get 5% more max HP.
When used all at once, Elemental Shamans can soak amounts of damage that usually only immunities can soak. With the added ability to soak very frequently with proper planning, for example, 4 Chain Slams on Sludge Fist.
The only thing it's behind at is Single target burst (15 second windows). This is due to Ascendance not being our best talent, and Fire Elemental lasting 40+ seconds, making its 15+ second burst weaker than other classes. However, that being said, in very short burst windows (5 to 6 globals length) it is still up there.
What has changed
Elemental shamans started off quite weak in Castle Nathria, but after some much needed buffs they exploded into the “jack of all trades but master of none”.
- Chain Lightning has been buffed by 35%
- Earthquake has been buffed by 70%
- Earth Shock has been buffed by 30%
- Lava Burst has been nerfed by 10%
- Echoes of Great Sundering has been nerfed from 175% to 120%
- Our stat ratio was slightly changed.
- Our AoE was buffed by a total of 20 to 30% depending on what legendary you decide to use.
Windspeaker lost a tiny bit of value due to the Lava Burst Nerf, the single target difference between Echoes of Great Sundering and Windspeaker is now about 2%.