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Offical Cataclysm Shaman Class Preview

In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we'll be making lots of changes and additions to class talents and abilities across the board. In this preview, you'll get an early look at some of the changes in store for the shaman class, including a rundown of some of the new spells, abilities, and talents, and an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with the different talent specs.

New Shaman Spells

Primal Strike (available at level 3): Primal Strike is a new weapon-based attack that every shaman will learn very early in the game. Our goal with this ability is to make leveling as Enhancement rather than as Elemental more viable, since many key Enhancement talents become available at fairly high levels.

Healing Wave (level 4): While the shaman already has an ability called Healing Wave, we're adding another spell to the class's direct-healing arsenal and giving it a familiar name. The current Healing Wave will be renamed Greater Healing Wave, and the intent is for the 'new" Healing Wave to be the shaman's go-to heal. Lesser Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave will be used on a more situational basis.

Unleash Weapon (level 81): Unleashes the power of your weapon enchants for additional effects (see below). A dual-wielding Enhancement shaman will activate the effects of both of their weapon enchants. Instant cast. 30-yard range. 15-second cooldown. Undispellable.

Here are a few examples of effects we're considering for this ability:

  • Windfury Weapon . Hurls a spectral version of your weapon at a target, dealing 50% weapon damage and increasing the shaman's Haste for the next five swings.
  • Flametongue Weapon . Deals instant Fire damage and buffs the shaman's next Fire attack by 20%.
  • Earthliving Weapon . Heals the target slightly and buffs the shaman's next healing spell by 20%.

Healing Rain (level 83): An area-effect heal-over-time (HoT) spell that calls down rain in a selected area, healing all players within it. There is no limit to the number of players who can potentially be affected; however, there are diminishing returns when healing a large number of targets, much like the diminishing returns associated with AoE damage spells. This should give Restoration shaman another healing tool that improves their group-healing and heal-over-time capabilities. 2-second cast time. 30-yard range. 10-second duration. 10-second cooldown.

Spiritwalker's Grace (level 85): When this self-targeted buff is active, your spells are no longer interrupted by movement and possibly even by your own attacks. This will give shaman of all three specs another way to heal or do damage when it.s necessary to move in both PvE and PvP. Instant cast. 10-second duration. 2-minute cooldown.


Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

In addition to adding new spells, we're planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you're familiar with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we intend for each spec.

  • Restoration shaman and other healing classes will need to pay attention to mana more than they've had to during Wrath of the Lich King. Spirit will be the Restoration shaman's primary mana-regeneration stat.
  • We're making changes to which classes and specs are able to dispel magic, diseases, curses, and poison, largely for PvP purposes. Shaman will have Cleanse Spirit as a baseline ability, but it will only remove curses. Restoration shaman will have a talent that will improve Cleanse Spirit so that it also removes magic. Shaman will no longer be able to remove poison.
  • Cleansing Totem will be removed from the game, as we want dispels to be a decision for players, not something done mindlessly. To that end, all dispels will cost slightly more mana, and you will waste the spell if you cast it when there is nothing to remove. (Currently, the dispel is only cast when there is something to remove, which encourages spamming 'just in case.") We will balance PvE dispelling with this new model in mind.
  • Totem of Wrath now will replace Flametongue Totem for all shaman, and dropping this totem will buff the group's spell power by 4%. Elemental shaman will have a talent that lets all Fire totems provide +10% spell power, allowing them to drop Searing, Magma, or Fire Elemental Totems without losing their spell-damage buff. The 4% and 10% buffs will be exclusive with each other and with the warlock's Demonic Pact, so you can't benefit from all of them at once. We're also considering letting Elemental drop Searing Totem at range.
  • We want to free up Enhancement global cooldowns to make the spec more dynamic to play. We're considering, for example, increasing the cooldown of Lava Lash so shaman have time to work other interesting abilities into their rotation.


New Talents and Talent Changes

  • Elemental Reach will be simplified so shaman have a more consistent spell range.
  • We plan to add Earthquake as a deep Elemental talent for targeted and persistent AoE.
  • Spirit Link will likely be worked back into deep Restoration in some form. The idea is that you will be able to link targets together so they share damage. When we had previously tried to implement Spirit Link, it was hard to balance and a little confusing. However, we really liked the concept -- and so did players -- so we are trying to bring it back.
  • Elemental will have a deep talent that allows Spirit (which will appear on the gear they share with Restoration shaman) to boost their Hit rating.
  • Ancestral Knowledge will boost mana pool size, not Intellect.
  • Enhancing Totems will be replaced with Focused Strikes, which will improve the damage of the new spell Primal Strike and Stormstrike.
  • With the Mastery system, we're also considering removing a number of talents that grant passive bonuses, such as Mental Quickness, Improved Windfury Totem, Mental Dexterity, Call of Thunder, Tidal Mastery, Purification, Nature's Blessing, and others, to allow players more freedom to choose more interesting talents.


Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Elemental
  • Spell damage
  • Spell Crit
  • Elemental Overload

Enhancement
  • Melee damage
  • Melee Haste
  • Nature Damage

Restoration
  • Healing
  • Meditation (The amount of mana you regenerate in combat as a function of your Spirit)
  • Deep Healing

Elemental Overload: Your direct-damage spells have a chance to proc a less powerful 'bonus" version of the spell. This will work much like the current Lightning Overload talent, but would also apply to Lava Burst.

Nature Damage: This will provide a passive bonus to the Nature damage dealt by the Enhancement shaman.

Deep Healing: Your direct heals will do more healing when the target's health is lower. This will scale to damage (e.g. someone at 29% health would receive more healing than someone at 30%) rather than have arbitrary break points.

We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we're looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 | posted in , | 1 comments [ More ]

Shaman Cataclsym Q & A

Here is the Q & A that followed the Shaman Class Preview.

We know there are a lot of additional questions and we'll do our best to answer what we can. Keep in mind, this is merely a preview of things to come.


Q: Will Maelstrom Weapon include Lava Burst?
A: That’s the plan currently.


Q: How can Elemental Overload proc Lava Burst when Lava Burst already hits so hard in PvP?
A: We’re going to change almost every number in Cataclysm to adjust for everything from single ranks of spells to larger health pools to new combat ratings. With much higher health pools, hopefully burst damage will go back to being a tool and not the only way to win matches.


Q: What happens to the Lightning Overload talent?
A: It provides a bonus to Elemental Overload.


Q: Elemental doesn’t want to drop Searing Totem at range. We want to drop Magma Totem.
A: Searing Totem needs to so more single-target damage than Magma. That said, if we’re happy with the ability to occasionally place totems at range there is no reason it couldn’t apply to any totem. Imagine, “After using this spell, the next totem you drop will appear at the feet of your target.”


Q: Will Elemental have to spend talent points just to get the Spirit to hit conversion?
A: It will be bundled with another attractive talent, such as Elemental Precision.


Q: Will Unleash Weapon work with Frostbrand?
A: Yes. We just provided some examples.


Q: Is Healing Rain channeled?
A: No, it's not a channeled spell.


Q: Is Earthquake channeled?
A: Probably, but we’ll see.


Q: Will Unleashed Weapon consume your enchants?
A: No.


Q: Does the 10% spell power buff from Elemental scale with the shaman or the target’s spell power?
A: It will scale with the target the same as Demonic Pact and other buffs that bring the same benefit.


Q: Are you supporting two-handed weapons for Enhancement?
A: Once you start to get into the dual-wield talents, then Enhancement is a dual-wield tree.


Q: You didn’t address Enhancement survivability or mobility or X and Y!
A: This was just a preview and is not a comprehensive list of every change. Much more will be revealed in beta and much will change during beta.


Q: You didn’t answer the most important shaman question! What about Sentry Totem?
A: The Cataclysm is a time of great upheaval. Deathwing’s return to Azeroth tore a hole in the fabric of the universe that tragically resulted in the ultimate and irrevocable destruction of all Sentry Totems. Level designers are contemplating a shrine for the Sentry Totem near that of Uther the Lightbringer. We know shaman players will greet this news with grief, but as with all class changes we’ll have to get into beta before anything is final. 

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 | posted in | 0 comments [ More ]

Shaman Cataclysm Preview



I am going to start focusing this blog on Cataclysm and how Shamans will change for the next expansion.  Of cousre I will make sure to keep the community abreast of all changes to our class and my favorite spec Elemental, which I have to say is in a really good place at this time. Wrath has been a labor of love from the frustrating times of being so far behind as a dps class that many shamans not in elite guilds worried about if they would get a spot in the raid tonight.  Well we have come a long way and now some of the pure dps classes are complaining everywhere they can that hybrid dps is doing the same if not more dps that them LOL.  Sorry I really do laugh at pure dps classes that complain about shamies and boomchickens beating them in dps.  If you are a pure dps class losing the Recount ratings to a hybrid all I have to say is learn to play.


Anyway rant off.  Today is a really exciting day for Shamans as we are one of the first classes to have our Cataclysm changes released.  Remember that the changes are not set in stone and they are subject to changes. Let's take a look at Shamans in Cataclysm.


In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, we'll be making lots of changes and additions to class talents and abilities across the board. In this preview, you'll get an early look at some of the changes in store for the shaman class, including a rundown of some of the new spells, abilities, and talents, and an overview of how the new Mastery system will work with the different talent specs.


New Shaman Spells


Primal Strike (available at level 3): Primal Strike is a new weapon-based attack that every shaman will learn very early in the game. Our goal with this ability is to make leveling as Enhancement rather than as Elemental more viable, since many key Enhancement talents become available at fairly high levels.


Healing Wave (level 4): While the shaman already has an ability called Healing Wave, we're adding another spell to the class's direct-healing arsenal and giving it a familiar name. The current Healing Wave will be renamed Greater Healing Wave, and the intent is for the 'new" Healing Wave to be the shaman's go-to heal. Lesser Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave will be used on a more situational basis.


Unleash Weapon (level 81): Unleashes the power of your weapon enchants for additional effects (see below). A dual-wielding Enhancement shaman will activate the effects of both of their weapon enchants. Instant cast. 30-yard range. 15-second cooldown. Undispellable.


Here are a few examples of effects we're considering for this ability:


  • Windfury Weapon – Hurls a spectral version of your weapon at a target, dealing 50% weapon damage and increasing the shaman's Haste for the next five swings.
  • Flametongue Weapon – Deals instant Fire damage and buffs the shaman's next Fire attack by 20%.
  • Earthliving Weapon – Heals the target slightly and buffs the shaman's next healing spell by 20%.


Healing Rain (level 83): An area-effect heal-over-time (HoT) spell that calls down rain in a selected area, healing all players within it. There is no limit to the number of players who can potentially be affected; however, there are diminishing returns when healing a large number of targets, much like the diminishing returns associated with AoE damage spells. This should give Restoration shaman another healing tool that improves their group-healing and heal-over-time capabilities. 2-second cast time. 30-yard range. 10-second duration. 10-second cooldown.


Spiritwalker's Grace (level 85): When this self-targeted buff is active, your spells are no longer interrupted by movement and possibly even by your own attacks. This will give shaman of all three specs another way to heal or do damage when it’s necessary to move in both PvE and PvP. Instant cast. 10-second duration. 2-minute cooldown.


Changes to Abilities and Mechanics


In addition to adding new spells, we're planning to make changes to some of the other abilities and mechanics you're familiar with. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we intend for each spec.


  • Restoration shaman and other healing classes will need to pay attention to mana more than they've had to during Wrath of the Lich King. Spirit will be the Restoration shaman's primary mana-regeneration stat.
  • We're making changes to which classes and specs are able to dispel magic, diseases, curses, and poison, largely for PvP purposes. Shaman will have Cleanse Spirit as a baseline ability, but it will only remove curses. Restoration shaman will have a talent that will improve Cleanse Spirit so that it also removes magic. Shaman will no longer be able to remove poison.
  • Cleansing Totem will be removed from the game, as we want dispels to be a decision for players, not something done mindlessly. To that end, all dispels will cost slightly more mana, and you will waste the spell if you cast it when there is nothing to remove. (Currently, the dispel is only cast when there is something to remove, which encourages spamming 'just in case.") We will balance PvE dispelling with this new model in mind.
  • Totem of Wrath now will replace Flametongue Totem for all shaman, and dropping this totem will buff the group's spell power by 4%. Elemental shaman will have a talent that lets all Fire totems provide +10% spell power, allowing them to drop Searing, Magma, or Fire Elemental Totems without losing their spell-damage buff. The 4% and 10% buffs will be exclusive with each other and with the warlock's Demonic Pact, so you can't benefit from all of them at once. We're also considering letting Elemental drop Searing Totem at range.
  • We want to free up Enhancement global cooldowns to make the spec more dynamic to play. We're considering, for example, increasing the cooldown of Lava Lash so shaman have time to work other interesting abilities into their rotation.




New Talents and Talent Changes


  • Elemental Reach will be simplified so shaman have a more consistent spell range.
  • We plan to add Earthquake as a deep Elemental talent for targeted and persistent AoE.
  • Spirit Link will likely be worked back into deep Restoration in some form. The idea is that you will be able to link targets together so they share damage. When we had previously tried to implement Spirit Link, it was hard to balance and a little confusing. However, we really liked the concept -- and so did players -- so we are trying to bring it back.
  • Elemental will have a deep talent that allows Spirit (which will appear on the gear they share with Restoration shaman) to boost their Hit rating.
  • Ancestral Knowledge will boost mana pool size, not Intellect.
  • Enhancing Totems will be replaced with Focused Strikes, which will improve the damage of the new spell Primal Strike and Stormstrike.
  • With the Mastery system, we're also considering removing a number of talents that grant passive bonuses, such as Mental Quickness, Improved Windfury Totem, Mental Dexterity, Call of Thunder, Tidal Mastery, Purification, Nature's Blessing, and others, to allow players more freedom to choose more interesting talents.




Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses


Elemental
  • Spell damage
  • Spell Crit
  • Elemental Overload


Elemental Overload: Your direct-damage spells have a chance to proc a less powerful 'bonus" version of the spell. This will work much like the current Lightning Overload talent, but would also apply to Lava Burst.


Enhancement
  • Melee damage
  • Melee Haste
  • Nature Damage


Nature Damage: This will provide a passive bonus to the Nature damage dealt by the Enhancement shaman.


Restoration
  • Healing
  • Meditation
  • Deep Healing


Deep Healing: Your direct heals will do more healing when the target's health is lower. This will scale to damage (e.g. someone at 29% health would receive more healing than someone at 30%) rather than have arbitrary break points.


We hope you enjoyed this preview, and we're looking forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on these additions and changes. Please keep in mind that this information represents a work in progress and is subject to change as development on Cataclysm continues.


Update
Just to clarify a few things:


Meditation – the amount of mana you regenerate in combat as a function of your Spirit.


Also of note, you only get one set of passive talent tree bonuses: the tree in which you’ve spent the most points. Sub-speccing in another tree will not net you those bonuses in addition.


Last but not least, it's the intention of Primal Strike to let shaman play as an Enhancement at low levels. Currently when leveling in this spec, you end up just using Lightning Bolt a lot so you feel like an Elemental shaman instead. At a higher level, Primal Strike gets replaced by Storm Strike. They share a cooldown so Enhancement just won’t ever use Primal Strike after that, in the same way that Prot warriors don’t use Sunder Armor once they have Devastate or Feral druids don’t use Claw once they get Mangle.

Patch 3.3.3 Elemental Changes and what you need to know

As Patch 3.3.3 continues to wrap up and looks to be almost complete it is time to review and discuss the changes Elemental Shamans will be looking at after the patch goes live.  There are not many changes but the Flame Shock changes do have an impact on rotations and therefore need to be discussed. 


  • Flame Shock: The damage-over-time component of this ability can now produce critical strikes and is affected by spell haste.
Flame Shock the base spell of elemental rotations very important because of the ability for shamans to produce guaranteed critical strikes from our Lava Burst spell.  With the changes to Flame Shock this patch it is important to note that the use of Glyph of Flame Shock is no longer mandatory and which Glyph should replace it is up for discussion.  Now that Flame Shock can produce critical strikes without the glyph we can use either Glyph of Totem of Wrath or Glyph of Lava as a replacement depending on which glyph you left out of your set.  It should be mentioned that use of Wrath and Lava with Lightning Bolt are the glyphs you should be using post 3.3.3.

The most important change to Flame Shock is the dot portion of the spell is now effected by haste and depending on your level of haste will determine how many Lava Bursts you can fire off during your rotation.  Also remember there is no preset rotation that can be used by all shamans, your rotation is and has to be a priority rotation that must take into account Flame Shock falling off and Lava Burst extensions.  Basically it has not changed refresh Flame Shock when needed and do not miss Lava Burst casts when they come off cooldown to maximize DPS.  You will be casting Flame Shock more and less Lightning Bolts but the hasted dot with be more dps than the loss of firing off less Lightning Bolts.


  • Talents
    • Elemental Combat
      • Elemental Oath: This ability is now always on as a passive aura.
The changes to Elemental Oath will give a passive 5% crit at all times which is awesome and help some shamans that have a hard time finding a raid spot give their raid leaders another reason to take them.



Sunday, March 14, 2010 | posted in , | 13 comments [ More ]

Patch 3.3.3 and some Elemental Changes

There will be another minor content patch before we head into Cataclysm.  Gnomeregan.  With 3.3.3 there have been some changes to Flame shock and Elemental Oath.  Now I need to head to the PTR to see how these changes will effect things so I will update after some testing.

  • Flame Shock: The damage-over-time component of this ability can now produce critical strikes and is affected by spell haste.
  • Elemental Oath: This ability is now always on as a passive aura.







 

Saturday, February 20, 2010 | posted in , | 2 comments [ More ]

Lich King Loot Released and the best elemental weapon is...

Tel'thas, Dagger of the Blood King

UPDATED:The only problem with Tel'thas is that it drops in 10 man ICC not 25 man.  This is disappointing that after all of this toiling away in Northrend when we finally bring down Arthas there will be no loot for Elemental Shamans.  The only usable item that the Lich King drops is Royal Scepter of Terenas II with 792 spell power, 31 MP5, and 63 crit rating this should be passed to healers everytime.

It would be awesome if we could use swords, I mean look at this one hand sword Bloodsurge, Kel'Thuzad's Blade of Agony.  A perfect weapon for elemental shamans.  Spell power, haste, and crit exactly what you would be available to us as we take down the final boss in ICC.  Even if blizzard allowed us to trade in the Royal Scepter for a correctly itemized version we could use I could be happy but this is disappointing.  I would be willing to spend a primordial saronite or even 200 gold like they did for the strength rep ring in ICC. 

The only thing we can do now is wait and see if there will be any changes to the loot in the future.  Good luck to everyone as you take on the Lich King and hopefully you are able to grab the Best in Slot weapon from a 10 man raid.

 

2/8/10 Looks like blizzard read my post :) they just stated in a blue post that they are changing Royal Scepter of Terenas II and removing the mp5 and replacing it with haste.  this will make the weapon Best in Slot now.

 

   

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 | posted in , , | 5 comments [ More ]

Season 8 Shaman Armor Set Released




I do not PvP much aside from the occasional Wintergrasp or battleground.  Not that I don't want to because I think arena matches are awesome and take a ton of skill if you want to compete on a high level.   If I had the time I would love to but raiding 5 nights a week, blogging and real life takes up to much of my time.  Anyway I wanted to post the Season 8 Armor set pics from Blizzard for our PvP brethren.

I think this set is OK but it has a long way to go to look like my favorite set Arena Season 3.  The is just one BADASS armor set.!!!

What do you think?  What season looks the best???

Monday, February 1, 2010 | posted in , | 1 comments [ More ]

Fall of The Lich King Cinematic

If you are someone who does not visit my favorite WoW site MMO-Champion they have done it again.  They have found the Lich King Cinematic that reveals who will become the new Lich King when we finally kill him in the next few weeks. 

If you are one who does not want to know what happens before you kill the Lich King DO NOT watch the video.  It contains a major spoiler!!!!

| posted in | 1 comments [ More ]

3.3.2 Elemental Shaman Best in Slot List

With Patch 3.3.2 coming next week it is time to put out my best in Slot list.  This loot list will be based on Normal version raid loot since Heroic modes are not available yet.  With the changes coming to our Tier 10 4 piece bonus this patch you should be working towards getting the 4 piece bonus instead of eariler BiS lists which included using only the 2 piece bonus and 3 off set pieces.  The 4 pieces you will be using from the Sanctified Frost Witch's Regalia are the Helm, Chest, Gloves, and Shoulders. Ok now on to the list:

Sanctified Frost Witch's Helm

Sanctified Frost Witch's Hauberk 

Sanctified Frost Witch's Gloves 

Sanctified Frost Witch's Shoulderpads 

Plaguebringer's Stained Pants 

Frostbinder's Shredded Cape 

Bloodsunder's Bracers 

Waistband of Despair 

Earthsoul Boots 

Ashen Band of Endless Destruction 

Valanar's Other Signet Ring

Blood Queen's Crimson Choker 

Phylactery of the Nameless Lich 

Dislodged Foreign Object 

Bizuri's Totem of Shattered Ice

Bulwark of Smouldering Steel 

Frozen Bonespike 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, January 31, 2010 | posted in , | 11 comments [ More ]

Patch 3.3.2

 

After checking on multiple sources and because Blizzard has stated there will be extended maintenance this week it looks like Patch 3.3.2 will arrive on Tuesday Feb 2.  With this minor content patch comes a nice buff to elemental damage from the DPS increase to Shamanism as well as the change to our 4 piece T10 armor set.  We should see the last wing of ICC released as well.  It looks like we will have a very busy week in Azeroth next week. 

Official Patch Notes:

World of Warcraft Client Patch 3.3.2

The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

Dungeons & Raids
Halls of Stone
  • Brann Bronzebeard has been getting into shape and now feels comfortable walking faster when escorted.
The Forge of Souls
  • The Devourer of Souls will now cast Mirrored Souls less often.
  • The Spell Reflect ability has been altered on several creatures. It now has a cast time, only has 2 charges, and has a 75% chance of reflecting spells.
The Nexus
  • Anomalus will now use the Create Rift ability only once, down from 3 times.
The Old Kingdom
  • Elder Nadox now only gets one Ahn'Kahar Guardian during the encounter.
  • Jadoga Shadowseeker now only ascends once during the encounter.
  • Several enemies between the Befouled Terrace and The Desecrated Altar have been removed or had their pathing altered.
Pit of Saron
  • Players can now zone back into the instance if they are dead while encounters with Krick and Ick or Forgemaster Garfrost are in progress.
Utgarde Pinnacle
  • Skadi the Ruthless can now be removed from his drake with 3 harpoon strikes, down from 5.
  • Svala Sorrowgrave now casts Ritual of the Sword 1 time during the encounter, down from 3.
Vault of Archavon
  • Toravon, the latest boss to join the Vault's giants and masters of the elements, is now accepting challengers in 10- and 25-player formats.
The Violet Hold
  • The time between a boss being defeated and a new portal opening has been decreased.

PvP
Arenas
  • Season 8 has officially begun featuring all-new rewards.

Druid (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Balance
  • Earth and Moon: This talent now increases the druid's spell damage by 2/4/6%, up from 1/2/3%.

Shaman (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Elemental Combat
  • Shamanism: This talent now provides 4/8/12/16/20% extra spell damage to Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning, up from 3/6/9/12/15%, and 5/10/15/20/25% to Lava Burst, up from 4/8/12/16/20%.

Warlock (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Affliction
  • Shadow Embrace: This effect can now stack up to 3 times, up from 2. However, the periodic healing reduction effect has been reduced from 3/6/9/12/15% to 2/4/6/8/10% per application.
Demonology
  • Demonic Pact: The damage bonus granted the warlock by this talent has been increased from 1/2/3/4/5% to 2/4/6/8/10%. The buff granted to a raid or party by this talent remains unchanged.
Destruction
  • Conflagrate: The damage-over-time effect of Conflagrate has been increased to 40% of the spell's total damage, up from 20%.
  • Empowered Imp: The pet bonus damage provided by this talent has been increased to 10/20/30%, up from 5/10/15%.
  • Improved Shadow Bolt: Damage done by Shadow Bolt increased by 2/4/6/8/10%, up from 1/2/3/4/5%.

Warrior (Forums / Talent Calculator)
Protection
  • Shield Slam: The damage scaling from block value for this ability now diminishes faster and diminishes starting at a lower block value. The difference should be negligible for players in high-end tanking armor. In addition, the threat caused by Shield Slam has been increased by 30%.
  • Warbringer: This talent no longer allows Charge and Intercept to break roots or snares. Intervene remains unaffected.

User Interface
  • The party leader is now referred to as Guide in chat when a group is formed via the Dungeon Finder.
  • Fixed a bug where players with Raid Assist capabilities were unable to perform a Ready Check.
  • Fixed a bug where the first couple of tutorials were not displaying upon logging into the game.

Items
  • New strength-based melee DPS rings are now available from representatives of the Ashen Verdict.
  • Tier-10 Elemental Shaman 4-Piece Set Bonus: Redesigned. Successful Lava Burst casts now increase the duration of Flame Shock on the target by 6 seconds.

| posted in | 1 comments [ More ]

Elemental Shaman Buff INC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From MMO

Shamanism: This talent now increases your Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning spell damage by 4/8/12/16/20% (Up from 3/6/9/12/15%) and Lava Burst spell damage by 5/10/15/20/25% (Up from 4/8/12/16/20%

I can't believe it, Blizzard has finally recognized that elemental shaman's DPS is not keeping up with the rest of the DPS specs and tossed us a nice buff to Shamanism.  With the recent changes to our T10 4piece bonus allowing us to toss out more LBs per encounter this really is a nice buff.  














Tuesday, January 26, 2010 | posted in | 1 comments [ More ]

Tier 10 4-Piece Bonus Changes


From MMO-Champion,

We're not happy with Elemental 4PT10, even with the change Eyonix announced (not requiring Flame Shock for LvB to crit). I think we're likely to completely redo it. We'll try and post soon what we think that change will be so you can make gear choices accordingly.

The Shaman Tier 10 bonus has been redesigned and will no longer reduce the cooldown of Lava Burst or enable Lava Burst to be guaranteed to critical strike without Flame Shock present. Instead successful Lava Burst casts now increase the duration of Flame Shock on the target by 6 seconds.

Please note this is still a work in progress and we may end up with a different or modified bonus before the patch goes live.

Well if you have spent any time on Shaman forums lately you would have no doubt read that the community was not happy with the Tier 10 armor set 4-piece that went live in patch 3.3.  I must say I did not like it myself.  I am going to open this topic up to our readers and would like their input on the bonus as a blue post above proposed change.  

Sunday, January 17, 2010 | posted in | 5 comments [ More ]

Elemental Shaman Rotation in 3.3


First let me say I know it has been a while since I posted any  new information on the Tavern.  Between work, real life and raiding I haven't had much time but things have finally settled down for me again.  I look forward to bringing you guys as much Elemental Shaman information as I can as we make our way through Icecrown Citadel and finally take down the Lich King.  I will also start working on gathering all Cataclysm information as it is released so Shamans are ready when it comes out later this year.

I have spent a lot of time raiding and testing some new rotations for the Elemental spec since 3.3 has come out.  As we were going into 3.3 working our way through ToGC the top dps rotation had Chain Lightning being used after Lava Burst each time or even on cooldown if the encounter was not very mana  intensive.  Well in 3.3 this will not be the case.

The best Elemental Rotation in 3.3 no longer involves using Chain Lighting.  Now that statement may be misleading as you will still use CL but not after every Lava Burst.  The rotation you should be using now is Flame Shock, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt until LvB is off cooldown.  The only time a CL should be cast on single target bosses is when you need a filler spell.  Remember you should never clip you Lava Burst cooldown by casting an extra LB but a CL just might fit in.  In 3.3 the haste levels that elemental shamans are reaching have brought the cast time of Lightning Bolt down so far that it no longer makes sense to have Chain Lightning in your standard rotation.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010 | posted in , | 30 comments [ More ]

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