Raiding as an Elemental Shaman 101

If you have read this blog for any amount of time I try to keep things simple as far as the math and theory crafting.  I leave it up to the guys I consider the experts over at Elitist Jerks.  I try to break down game mechanics into real world applications.  I know we wold all love to be running around in BiS and snapping off the perfect rotations leaving zero time between our next Lava Burst.  In reality progression raiding can make things a little difficult sometimes as many shamans know.  Wether it's tossing in an extra heal to save a raider that has strayed out of the healers range or stood in the fire too long (LOL) or  moving every 2 seconds in a encounter that even starting your rotation seems like a futile effort.  Yes raiding as a Elemental shamam can be difficult.

This post is going to cover Elemental Shaman Raiding 101.  I am going to cover the basics for masters of the lightning and lava.  I will assume you are specced correctly before we begin.  The first thing you must understand is how your rotation of spells effects the dps you put out.  There are four spells you will use in your rotation Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Burst and Flame Shock.  On any boss encounter you should open up with Flame Shock followed by a Lava Burst.  The reason is the Flame Shock debuff will make your Lava Burst automatically critical strike.  This is trigger your Elemental Focus talent causing Clearcasting your next 2 spells will have their mana cost reduced by 40%.  Which is great since the next spell is Chain Lightning.  The critical strike will also trigger the Elemental Oath talent causing you to gain 5% for crit and 10% more spell damage.

Ok so you open with FS followed by LvB the next spell should be Chain Lightning due to it scaling with Shamanism now and the reduced mana cost from Elemental Focus.  This should be followed by as many Lightning Bolts as you can fit in before LvB comes off cooldown.(Tip: Do not clip your LvB cooldown by adding in an extra Lightning Bolt)  Rinse and repeat as this is your rotation playing an Elemental Shaman.  Remember to refresh Flame Shock when needed.

Now we know how we should pew pew but what about our cooldown abilities.  Heroism/Bloodlust, Elemental Mastery, and trinkets.  To keep it simple wait for your Raid Leader to call out for Heroism or Bloodlust.  You don't want to get the raid the sated debuff at the wrong time.  One of the most important things to know when raiding is when to use Elemental Mastery.  This is kinda of a trick question since there are really to different way to use this talent depending on the type of encounter you are facing.  If it is a straight stand there and blow up the boss like say Patchwerk in Naxx you should open with EM and pop it everytime it comes off cooldown.  But since pretty much every fight in Ulduar and Trial of the Grand Crusader requires a ton of movement it is best to save it to fire off a LvB while moving from place to place before starting your rotation again.  Trinkets that are usable should be used during burn phases of boss fights to get the maximum effect.

One mistake a lot of new raiders make is on movement fights.  Nothing hurts you raid more that not moving when you are supposed to.  Never ever try to land one more spell before moving.  If you are trying to finish that last Lightning Bolt cast right as a black or white orb is about to crash into you during Twin Val'kyrs you will only make it harder on your raid since you are taking away the healers focus to keep you alive.(Tip: Smart dps is always better than dead dps)

You have this awesome Fire Elemental at your disposal as well, but when should you use him when raiding.  Simple wait until your raid is in a burn phase and then pop your Fire Elemental Totem to push out as much dps as possible to get through the dps check encounters.

Another thing to remember when you start raiding is many boss encounters require you to focus on adds that join fights periodically.  It is a good idea to take advantage of your Focus Frame.  Set the boss as your focus frame at the beginning of the encounter so you can easily switch back to the boss when your raid takes down the adds.

A few last tips, come to raids prepared.  Show up early with your flasks, potions, and food.  Check out some of the awesome blogs and websites available to read up and watch videos on boss encounters so you know what is coming in the next phase.  One last thing Stay out of the fire.