Upcoming Elemental Shaman Changes
by Zuuz | 26/09/2007 18:05:33 Eyonix said in the Enhancement Thread ( Enhancement shaman - Low blow  ) he'd hop into an elemental shaman thread to post upcoming changes.Here's an elemental shaman thread. Thanks in advance Eyonix :) (In all seriousness though, thanks for all the information you're providing us E, it's appreciated). |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 22:18:55 We have a few changes currently locked down for patch 2.3 that the elemental shaman should find beneficial. Being a level 70 elemental shaman myself, I'm particularly excited as currently I feel the class is in good shape, but in need of a few minor tweaks. I'd say the one I'm most pleased with (especially after seeing the results of change on an internal build) concerns lightning overload. When 2.3 launches it will have a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to occur, though the additional spell will cause half damage, still ending up being a noticeable increase to overall dps,. Also, the additional spell will cause no threat whatsoever. Though the following two changes have the potential to benefit all shaman, elemental and restoration shaman will likely benefit the most. The first change regards the mana spring totem. Previously it restored 12 mana every two seconds at maximum rank, for your entire party. As of patch 2.3 it will restore your groups mana by 20 every 2 seconds. This equates to 50mana/5 for each member of your party without the talent points in restorative totems. The second change impacts water shield. This spell will no longer cost any mana to cast (which also means the five-minute rule will not be affected) and the mana granted per globe has been substantially increased. Additionally, the spells duration has been shortened to one minute and at the end of its duration it now grants mana for any remaining globes. Elemental Focus will now reduce the mana cost of the next two damage spells by 40%. Now before theorycrafting begins, this is actually a buff except in cases where your chance to land a critical strike with spells was extremely high. Though I mentioned this in an enhancement shaman thread, for those who missed it, I'll reiterate -- Frostshock will no longer be subject to diminishing returns which I'm sure players will find useful, especially in pvp. Lastly, we are making a change that will cause a reduction in dps, however, the elemental shamans overall dps will still be improving with the change that we're making to lightning overload. We're reducing the casting time of Lightning Bolt to 2.5 seconds (from 3 seconds), and chain lightning to 2.0 (from 2.5 seconds), causing benefit from spell damage to be reduced appropriately. The mana cost for these two spells are being lowered as well. The lightning mastery talent's cast time will now be reduced by .1/.2/.3/.4/.5 seconds. So, casting time for the spells ends up being the same as before. Keep in mind, some of what's listed above could change once the patch has received testing on the public test realms, and your feedback is always welcome. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 22:35:55
We're watching the situation closely, but nothing is planned just yet. When elemental farming I tend to throw down a searing totem and use flametongue weapon (well, I pretty much always use this weapon buff as elemental). Since both take advantage of elemental fury and scale with spell damage and spell crit, I tend to take them down fairly quickly, shocking every time my cooldown is up. Also, what's nice about flametongue weapon is that it ignores weapon speed when calculating the gain from spell damage, so finding the fastest possible weapon can help too. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 22:38:31
Am I misunderstanding something, or are you? The casting time stays the same. Let me know if I'm missing your point. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 22:44:53
Lets not change the focus of this thread, but to clarify, though I've already made a follow-up explaining that I wasn't stating those were by any means "good" enhancement stats, but rather discussing with a player that in my personal opinion and in my experience those stats are better than spirit and spell crit. Also, you may not fully understand statification and item budgeting. Those values would convert to an extreme minimal amount of enhancement preferred stats. I've played all shaman specs pre and post burning crusade, and was not just enhancement for leveling. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 22:49:44
Internal testing thus far has proved that the coefficient loss from your lightning bolt with five points in the new lightning overload results in an overall dps increase. And yeah, a larger portion of your dps being threatless should help. We'll be watching the changes closely as the hit the public test realms. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 22:53:55
We're increasing the additional mana granted by water shield for both the Tidefury Raiment and the Totem of the Thunderhead. "How does this stack with the New Enhancement Talent? Will it reduce the cost of the next shock by 100%(additive), 84% Reduction (multiplicative), or will it take the greater of the two values?" Good question, I'll have to find out. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:00:31
I'm not talking above average spell crit, I'm talking extremely high spell crit. Basically, players who had a "more than respectable" spell crit rating were never running out of mana, while those who were lower were suffering. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:03:12
I know this may seem like "fluff", but honestly we're watching the elemental shaman closely. Any improvements need to be inched forward slowly. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:06:04
I'm not ignoring anyone, and have commented on the issue. We're not convinced currently that the shaman needs an anti-interruption. Does not mean it won't happen, we just don't want to make a hasty decision on such a matter. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:08:56
Well, to be very honest, I'm fairly new to arenas with this character. I'm certainly excited for the changes in regards to raiding. I'm going to continue to get more practice in on the arenas between now and 2.3 so I'll have a better personal gauge. I see potential though. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:10:47
Don't know the numbers off-hand -- I'm off ttoday, so it's more difficult for me to get information, unfortunately. Also, keep in mind these numbers could very well change once the patch has hit the public test realm. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:12:53
No plans to nerf heroism. For the record, where I come from we call it bloodlust. :P |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:16:13
I'm giving you information in advance. You'll have plenty of time to provide your feedback, especially once the patch hits the public test realms. Just hang in there, I've not made claims that anti-interuption is needed, nor have I that it's not needed. We're simply keeping a close eye on the situation for now. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:20:51
I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk, I promise. I understand your concerns. But please understand that these are the planned changes, and quite a bit can happen between now and when the patch is pushed to live realms. Quite a bit of effort went into being able to release this information earlier than we'd normally reveal upcoming change. |
by Eyonix | 26/09/2007 23:23:13
If we give shaman a cc abillity it won't be until Wrath of the Lich King. |
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