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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.
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.
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.
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 physical 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.
Spells
Primary
Chain Lightning
Acquired at level 28. Is the base spell for area of effect damage. Jumps three times (five when glyphed), dealing the same damage with each jump. Changes to Lava Beam under Ascendance; each jump of Lava Beam increases the damage by 10%.
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 30 seconds. Shares a 5 second cooldown with other shock spells. Increases the damage of Lava Burst by 50% on Flame Shocked targets.
Lava Burst
Acquired at level 34. Lava Burst is our primary nuke, and is a guaranteed crit, meaning that it will always proc Elemental Focus as well. A target with the Flame Shock debuff takes an additional 50% damage from Lava Burst.
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.
Secondary
Ascendance
Acquired at level 87, Ascendance is a 15 second duration, 3 minute cooldown ability which (for Elemental) removes the cooldown on Lava Burst & turns Chain Lightning into Lava Beam. Also changes you into a Flame Ascendant for the duration of the spell.
Bloodlust/Heroism
Acquired at level 70. Gives a raid wide 30% haste buff to everyone in the raid, and applies a debuff to players preventing them from benefiting from another raid haste effect for 10 minutes. 5 minute cooldown.
Earth Elemental Totem
Acquired at level 56. Summons an Earth Elemental to fight by your side for one minute, with a five minute cooldown. Can taunt non-boss enemies.
Fire Elemental Totem
Acquired at level 66. Summons a Fire Elemental to fight by your side for one minute (or 36 seconds when glyphed), with a five minute cooldown (three minutes when glyphed). While it has a Fire Nova ability it is best used as a single target DPS cooldown, or rather, it shouldn't be saved for AoE burn phases.
Magma Totem
Acquired at level 36. Summons a totem that deals fire damage every 2 seconds to targets within 8 yards. Lasts for 1 minute. An AoE totem, but is best cast before any AoE phase to increase damage output. Can be cast mid-burn, but requires 7 or more targets to be effective.
Searing Totem
Acquired at level 16. Summons a totem that shoots fire damage at a single target every 2 seconds for 1 minute. Our default single-target damage totem, to be used when we aren't using another Fire totem.
Stormlash Totem
Acquired at level 78. Summons a totem that buffs all allies within 30 yards, causing their attacks and spells to deal additional Nature damage for 10 seconds. This is a strong raid DPS cooldown, but the buff does not stack, so it should be cast one after the other if you have multiple Shaman in the raid. 5 minute cooldown.
Thunderstorm
Acquired at level 10 with Elemental Specialization. Knocks back and deals damage to enemies within 10 yards, and restores 15% of your mana. Typically used for the mana restoration or the knockback in PvE, rather than damage. Also reduces movement speed by 40% for 5 seconds.
Unleash Elements
Acquired at level 81. Unleashed the existing weapon imbue spell, dealing direct damage as well as providing an additional benefit. For Elemental, this typically is the Unleash Flametongue effect, increasing the next Fire spell's damage by 30%. This spell is typically not used in a standard rotation, but has some niche uses and is a good mobility spell for cases where the Shaman is not glyphing Unleashed Lightning, as it ranks just under Lightning Bolt in value per cast. 15 second cooldown.
Utility
Bind Elemental
Acquired at level 72. Allows crowd control of one Elemental type unit for 50 seconds with no cooldown.
Chain Heal
Acquired at level 40. A heal that jumps 4 times from target to target, healing for a lower amount each time.
Earthbind Totem
Acquired at level 26. Slows foes within 10 yards by 50%. Can be upgraded to Earthgrab Totem, which roots foes in place for 5 seconds in addition to the slow effect (each target can only be rooted once)
Frost Shock
Acquired at level 22. Shock spell that deals frost damage and applies a 8 second debuff that reduces movement speed for 8 seconds. Also causes a high amount of threat. Primarily used for single target kiting and nothing else. Can be talented to freeze the target in place for 5 seconds.
Ghost Wolf
Acquired at level 15. Transforms the player into a Ghost Wolf, increasing run speed by 30% and reducing the effect of slows if it is glyphed. Usable indoors & is helpful for covering distance during combat, but prevents casting so is usually limited to non-damage time or getting out of areas faster.
Grounding Totem
Acquired at level 38. Redirects a single harmful spell to itself, which destroys the totem. Effectively negates the spell cast.
Healing Rain
Acquired at level 60. An area of effect heal with a 8 second duration/cooldown.
Healing Stream Totem
Acquired at level 30. Heals the most injured party/raid member every 2 seconds for 15 seconds. 30 second cooldown. A smart but low value heal.
Healing Surge
Acquired at level 7. A 1.5 second single target heal. The high mana cost allows for spot or emergency healing only.
Hex
Acquired at level 80. Transforms a target into a frog for 1 minute. 45 second cooldown.
Purge
Acquired at level 12. Removes one buff from the enemy target per cast. Spells that can be dispelled by this spell should be highlighted so that they stand out among other buffs on the enemy target.
Shamanistic Rage
Acquired at level 65. Reduces all damage by 30% and causes all offensive spells and totems to cost no mana for 15 seconds. Usable while stunned. 60 second cooldown.
Spiritwalker’s Grace
Acquired at level 85. When used, allows you to move while casting non-instant spells, granting you some mobility for 15 seconds. Mostly useful if you are not glyphing Unleashed Lightning. 2 minute cooldown.
Totemic Recall
Acquired at level 30. Destroys any active totems, returning 25% of their mana cost to you. Useful if repositioning and in need of mana, and can be combined with the Totemic Restoration talent to destroy totems early and maximize the potential cooldown reduction.
Tremor Totem
Acquired at level 52. Breaks Fear, Charm, and Sleep effects when dropped, and for 6 seconds thereafter, on all party and raid members within 30 yards. Can be used while afflicted by those effects as well. 1 minute cooldown.
Wind Shear
Acquired at level 16. Our ranged interrupt, locking out spells of that school for 3 seconds. Also has a small threat reduction effect. Note that the range on Wind Shear is only 25 yards, not 40, unlike most of our other spells. 12 second cooldown.
Buffs & Passive
Burning Wrath
Acquired at level 40. Gives a 10% spellpower bonus to the player and any group/raid members (range: 100 yards)
Elemental Focus
Acquired at level 40. Focus is a 15% damage increase/25% mana decrease proc from spell critical hits, which generate two charges. It will affect procs from Echo of the Elements and Overload, but only if a charge is still up when they hit (ie: if the last charge is consumed on a cast that procs either, they will not be affected). It is also not generated by Echo or Overload spells.
Elemental Fury
Acquired at level 10. The 50% increase gives us 250% critical strikes, or 259% with 3% critical bonus meta gems. For more information on how this is calculated, refer to the Totemspot Wiki
Elemental Oath
Acquired at level 55. Elemental Oath is our 5% Spell Haste raid buff. 100 yard radius.
Elemental Precision
Acquired at level 10. This allows Spirit to be effectively the same as Hit Rating for us, improving gear choices.
Elemental Reach
Acquired at level 10. The range increase ensures that all of our spells are usable up to 40 yards from the target.
Flametongue Weapon
Acquired at level 10. While it causes fire damage on each weapon hit, the primary function for Elemental is the 7% magic damage increase. Lasts for 60 minutes.
Fulmination
Acquired at level 30. The extra Lightning Shield charges are generated through Rolling Thunder. These allow your Earth Shock to inflict up to 6 Lightning Shield charges of damage when used. In general, you want to maximize the number of charges you use with each Earth Shock while minimizing the number of charges "lost" from sitting at 7 stacks, while also ensuring Flame Shock uptime.
Grace of Air
Acquired at level 80. Provides a mastery bonus to the player and nearby group/raid members (range: 100 yards). Gives 3000 mastery at level 90.
Lava Surge
Acquired at level 50. Lava Surge provides each Flame Shock tick a 20% chance to reset Lava Burst's CD, and makes it an instant cast.
Lightning Shield
Acquired at level 8. A nature based damage shield, which can stack up to 7 charges via Rolling Thunder procs. Charges will be expelled when hit or casting Earth Shock, down to a minimum of 1. Lasts 60 minutes.
Mail Specialization
Acquired at level 50. Provides 5% bonus intellect to the player while you have mail items equipped in every armor slot as Elemental.
Mastery: Elemental Overload
Our Mastery allows for additional "free" casts at reduced damage on Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, and Chain Lightning. These additional casts can typically proc additional effects just as the initial spell does, including Rolling Thunder procs.
Reincarnation
Acquired at level 30. Allows you to resurrect yourself at 20% health & mana. The 30 minute cooldown means that one should think before using it to make sure that it'll matter as it won't be up for a several attempts after the Reincarnation if you waste it.
Rockbiter Weapon
Acquired at level 75. Increases threat generation by 30% and reduces damage by 5%. The main use as Elemental is for the damage reduction, particularly with the Unleash Fury talent improvement. Lasts for 60 minutes.
Rolling Thunder
Acquired at level 20. The mana regeneration is Elemental's main tool for keeping mana high, while the Lightning Shield charges are used to fuel Fulmination.
Shamanism
Acquired at level 10. This passive is where our Shaman class spells are adjusted for Elemental, reducing the cast time while increasing the damage of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, and also removing the cooldown from Chain Lightning.
Spiritual Insight
Acquired at level 10. The mana pool increase of 400% provides us with enough mana to maintain our rotation, and the shock reduction improves our ability to juggle Earth and Flame Shocks effectively.
Water Shield
Acquired at level 20. Provides mana regeneration both passively and when struck. Generally, it is not worth giving up Lightning Shield, and between Rolling Thunder and Thunderstorm, should not be needed for mana generation in the first place. Lasts 60 minutes.
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