1. [Guide] Enhancement Shaman PvE

    __________ 0. Into __________

    Hello all you warmane players out there. Today i wanna teach some of the newer player the shaman enchantment DPS spec. (or some veterans out there who haven't gotten around to playing enchantment shaman yet). Enchantment shaman is, in my opinion, one of the most fun DPS classes out there and one of the classes that can dish out extreme DPS if played properly.

    __________ 1. Content __________
    0. Intro
    1. Content
    2. Choosing your faction
    3. Choosing your race
    4. The basics
    5. Talents
    6. Glyphs
    7. Rotation
    8. BiS list
    9. Gemming
    10. Enchanting
    11. Professions
    12. Tips
    13. Conclusion

    __________ 2. Choosing your faction __________

    So there are currently 4 races which can play as the shaman. 1 on the alliance and 3 on the horde
    Alliance:
    -Draenei
    Horde:
    -Orc
    -Tauren
    -Troll

    Why am i even talking about factions? Well because it's important to know what side you'll chose can impact your DPS. I suggest horde, not because i hate alliance or anything, but horde racial spells / passives are just more PvE oriented while Alliance racials are more PvP oriented. (sounds weird i thought it'd be the other way around since horde are the bloodthirsty things)
    Recommended Faction: Horde

    __________ 3. Choosing your race __________

    If you do chose to play alliance there is nothing wrong with draenei, they get a raid wide buff that increases everyone's hit chance by 1% which isn't that bad.
    But if you do chose Horde there are some options you can go with:
    Orc - can enrage to deal additional damage
    Tauren - has a stun
    Troll - can enrage to increase attack / cast speed

    Tauren falls off because tauren is the "tanking" class - all his racials are oriented around tanking (increased health, increased nature resistance, aoe stun)
    Orc vs. Troll - so i've been recently testing out this and i did come to the conclusion that troll does more DPS then orc as one of the biggest priorities for Troll is Haste and attack speed is basically haste.

    Recommended class: Troll

    __________ 4. The basics __________

    Shaman is a very versatile class. While it can be a melee DPS (enchantment) it can also be a ranged caster DPS (elemental) or a healer (restoration). Shamans can wear mail armor giving them quite a small competition when it comes to gear (their only competition are hunters... really).
    Talking about Enchantment shamans your stat priority should be:

    Hit (cap) > Haste > Arp > Atp > Crit > Agi

    *Arp - Armor penetration
    *Atp - Attack power
    *Crit - Critical strike rating
    *Agi - Agility

    _____ 5. Talents _____

    16/55/0 build - http://wotlk.openwow.com/talent#hVhhVZ0xxIoxdIhusRuVo


    Explanations:
    Astral Knowledge 5/5 - Though we are melee attackers we still benefit a lot from intellect
    Thundering Strikes 5/5 - More crit = more DPS
    Improved Shields 3/3 - Lightning shield is part of your rotation so the increased damage from the lightning orbs is a DPS increase
    Shamanistic Focus 1/1 - Though we are trying to melee a lot we still use mana and we run out quite a lot of it if not careful with our spells
    Flurry 5/5 - Attack speed = Haste, haste is 1 of our most important stats
    Improved windfury totem 2/2 - we will keep this thing out 24/7 while bashing bosses so it's another source of haste
    Spirit weapons 1/1 - i took this mostly for the tanks to not make their lives harder but sometimes the parries come in handy as your tank can still die and enchantment shamans are capable of "off-tanking certain situations"
    Mental Dexterity 3/3 - Gives you 1 Attack power for every point of intellect you have. Great increase in DPS as enchantment shamans have intellect in almost every part of their gear
    Unleashed rage 3/3 - raid-wide attack power increase + expertise for yourself. Good DPS increase for the whole raid.
    Dual Wield Specialization 3/3 - Hit chance = DPS as if you miss an ability / swing that will completely destroy your DPS (imagine some of your spells doing 0 damage but still being 100% neccessary for your rotation... ugh)
    Dual Wield 1/1 - Simply... More DPS
    Stormstrike 1/1 - Part of your Rotation
    Static Shock 3/3 - This is where improved shields come in handy. It's another way of you doing DPS a.k.a. DPS increase.
    Lava Leash 1/1 - Part of your Rotation
    Improved stormstrike - gives you 20% of your base mana every time you use stormstrike - bye almost all your mana problems
    Mental Quickness 3/3 - Increases spellpower, reduces manacosts. Great talent as part of your rotation consists of spells which scale with spell power
    Maelstrom Weapon 5/5 - you're able to get a 100% cast time reduction on a lightning bolt / chain lightning making that spell essentially free DPS
    Feral Spirit 1/1 - 3 badass wolves fighting for you increasing your DPS.

    Concussion 5/5 - Shock spell damage increase (part of our rotation) and lightning bolt damage increase as you will have a free lightning bolt from time to time why not buff it up?
    Call of Flame 3/3 - Fire totems / Fire nova are part of your rotation
    Elemental Devastation 3/3 - Increases melee crit chance for every spell crit you get. Good combo
    Elemental fury 5/5 - Incrases crit damage bonus of your fire and nature spells. DPS increase.

    __________ 6. Glyphs __________

    Glyphs i currently use:
    1.Major:
    -Glyph of Stormstrike
    -Glyph of Feral Spirit
    -Glyph of Flame Shock

    2.Minor:
    -Glyph of Astral Recall
    -Glyph of Renewed Life
    -Glyph of Ghost Wolf
    Note: Minor Glyphs are not important, you can chose whichever ones you like.

    Glyphs that can be used on enchantment shaman you can consider using:
    1.Major:
    -Glyph of Flametongue Weapon
    -Glyph of Lightning Bolt
    -Glyph of Lightning Shield
    -Glyph of Windfury Weapon

    2.Minor:

    >No real impacts on DPS or playstyle overall<

    __________ 7. Rotation __________

    Priority list:
    Maelstrom Weapon 5x Lightning Bolt - Cast a Lightning Bolt when you have 5 Maelstrom weapon stacks - Chain Lightning does less dmg against a single target as it doesn't scale as well. For multiple target fights then naturally using Chain Lightning will be higher dps.
    Lightning Shield - Cast Lightning Shield if there are no orbs left on you.
    Feral Spirit - Cast Feral Spirit if the ability is off CD. (Use your own judgement for timing with Bloodlust/Heroism)
    Shamanistic Rage - Cast Shamanistic Rage if the ability is off CD. (with 2p T10 should be used immediately)
    Stormstrike - Cast a Stormstrike if there are no charges left on the target.
    Fire Elemental - Cast your Fire Elemental if it is off CD (This will also free up GCDs for other abilities making it very useful during Bloodlust/Heroism).
    Magma Totem - Refresh your Magma Totem if it has expired.
    Flame Shock - Cast a Flame Shock if there is no Flame Shock debuff on target.
    Earth Shock - Cast an Earth shock whenever its off cooldown and the above are not available.
    Stormstrike - Cast a Stormstrike whenever its off cooldown and MW hasn't got 5 stacks - this does a fair amount of damage but more importantly refreshes the SS debuff on the target giving 28% extra nature damage (20% base + 8% glyph).
    Lava Lash - Cast a lava lash whenever its off cooldown and none of the above abilities are available.
    Fire Nova - Cast Fire Nova regardless of single target or AOE targets.
    Magma Totem - Refresh your Magma Totem if there are 2 secs or less left.
    Lightning Shield - Refresh your Lightning Shield if low number of orbs remaining (2 or less).
    Totem refresh - if all else is on cooldown take the opportunity, if required, to refresh your totems.

    Ok. Doesn't sound too cool, right? learning all this takes a pretty long time and then mastering this takes even more time.
    So...
    How to 2 button rotate enchantment shaman 101:
    >First off you'll need a macro, to access your macros you can simply type in your chat /macro
    >then you'll need to create a new macro and name it whatever you want (Rotation, Rot, Spells...)
    >After that you copy this and paste it in "enter macro commands:" field below
    Code:
    /castsequence reset=6 magma totem, stormstrike, lava lash, flame shock, lightning shield, stormstrike, lava lash, earth shock
    This is a macro that will keep casting spells in a specific order as you keep pressing the button over and over again, but if you stop pressing the button for 6 seconds it will reset the rotation.
    The macro will cast the following spells in the following order:

    Magma totem -> Stormstrike -> Lava Lash -> Flame Shock -> Lightning Shield -> Stormstrike -> Lava Lash -> Earth Shock

    And then start over again from magma totem as long as you keep spamming the button

    >second step is just putting a Lightning bolt on your action bar
    >lastly all you need to do is spam this one button and watch out for when your maelstrom weapon reaches 5 stacks, then you'll instantly want to stop mashing that 1 poor button and use lightning bolt, after that continue mashing that button to continue the rotation.

    __________ 8. BiS List __________

    Head: Sanctified Frost Witch's Faceguard
    Neck: Baltharus' Gift
    Shoulders: Sanctified Frost Witch's Shoulderguards
    Cloak: Shadowvault Slayer's Cloak
    Chest: Sanctified Frost Witch's Chestguard
    Wrists: Scourge Hunter's Vambraces
    Hands: Handgrips of Frost and Sleet
    Waist: Blood-Drinker's Girdle
    Legs: Sanctified Frost Witch's War-Kilt
    Feet: Returning Footfalls
    Ring 1: Frostbrood Sapphire Ring
    Ring 2: Ashen Band of Endless Vengeance
    Trinket 1: Sharpened Twilight Scale
    Trinket 2: Deathbringer's Will
    Main-Hand: Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings
    Off-Hand: Havoc's Call, Blade of Lordaeron Kings
    Relic: Bizuri's Totem of Shattered Ice

    __________ 9. Gemming __________

    Meta: Relentless Earthsiege Diamond
    Red: Bright Cardinal Ruby
    Blue: Fractured Cardinal Ruby | 1x Nightmare Tear | Fractured Dragon's Eye (JC)
    Yellow: Quick King's Amber

    __________ 10. Enchanting __________

    Head: Arcanum of Torment
    Shoulders: Greater Inscription of the Axe
    Cloak: Scroll of Enchant Cloak - Major Agility
    Chest: Scroll of Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
    Wrists: Scroll of Enchant Bracers - Greater Assault
    Gloves: Scroll of Enchant Gloves - Crusher
    Waist: Eternal Belt Buckle
    Legs: Icescale Leg Armor
    Feet: Scroll of Enchant Boots - Greater Assault
    Ring 1: Enchant Ring - Assault (Enchanters)
    Ring 2: Enchant Ring - Assault (Enchanters)
    Main-Hand: Scroll of Enchant Weapon - Black Magic
    Off-Hand: Scroll of Enchant Weapon - Berserking

    __________ 11. Professions __________

    Note: every profession has it's own uses and can be the best choice in certain situations.

    1. Blacksmithing - 2 socket bonuses
    2. Alchemy - endless buff potion
    3. Enchanting - ring enchants
    4. Engineering - lots of situational enchantments
    5. Herbalism - Heal
    6. Inscription - Shoulder enchant
    7. Jewelcrafting - 3 unique gems
    8. Mining - Stamina
    9. Skinning - Crit strike rating
    10. Tailoring - Pant enchant

    Conclusion: i feel like the best ones are the jewelcrafting & enchanting combo as getting the ring enchants + 3 unique gems in your blue slots gives you a noticeable DPS boost unlike the other professions.

    __________ 12. Tips __________

    >You can bloodlust/Heroism your own Spirit Wolves so time them properly so they can benefit from the BL too

    >Use the following totems: Strenght of earth totem, Magma Totem, Fire Resistance Totem, Windfury Totem (make these as your Call of the Elements). When you run low on mana switch out Fire Resistance totem for Mana spring totem (make these as your Call of the Ancestors). It will help you quickly switch between the 2 totem formations when needed. You can make your third totem formation according to the situation / boss encounter.

    >Use your buffs in the following order: Shamanistic rage -> Feral Spirit -> Bloodlust -> Berserking (as your racial will last only 10 seconds and you want the most value out of it)

    >Make sure to use Chain Lightning instead of Lightning Bolt on maelstrom procs when you're fighting groups of mobs

    >Always apply Windfury Weapon to your Main-Hand and Flametongue Weapon to your Off-Hand because. Windfury is better then Flametongue for Enchantment shaman as the extra hit can increase the shaman's DPS significantly but we do enchant our Off-Hands with Flametongue because Lava Lash deals an extra 25% damage if your Off-Hand is imbued with Flametongue Weapon.

    >Keep using Shamanistic Rage as soon as it comes off cooldown to keep your mana as high as possible

    >Don't forget you have a self-res, if you mess up, you get another chance!

    >Never use Water Shield when playing Elemental Shaman - it's a pretty big DPS drop.

    >Never replace Flame Shock with Frost Shock as it'll be a great DPS loss.

    __________ 12. Conclusion __________

    I pretty much said everything about Enchantment shaman's i know so far, of course, i am no god with this class myself and i still have a lot to learn but i'm sure that this is one of the specs that has 1 of the highest potentials in the game. I hope you enjoyed the guide and if you have any more questions i'll be glad to answer them!

  2. Noticed all the grammar issues and stuff, i just haven't slept for around 20 hours now and i'll probably try to correct them after i got some sleep since i can't even think straight anymore

  3. The difference between "Enhancement" and "Enchantment" is so insignificant only an ignoramus would call it out. Not to mention this is an international forum. #tryharderboys

    This is a simple and straightforward guide that any enhance shaman could use as a jumping off point when they hit 80.

  4. Talking about Enchantment shamans your stat priority should be:

    Hit (cap) > Haste > Arp > Atp > Crit > Agi

    *Arp - Armor penetration
    *Atp - Attack power
    *Crit - Critical strike rating
    *Agi - Agility
    Why do u suggest to get arp over ap when 50% of the dmg is magical?
    Why isnt expertice mentioned?

  5. Jakkre is right on the mark here, there isn't any expertise provided on Enhancement tier gear, so using Baltharus' Gift simply will not get you the expertise you need for the cap of 21.

    Secondly, there was once an argument to be made for an arp set, but now that WF/WF has now been fixed, that argument no longer has any basis. This means that your "BiS list" is inaccurate in terms of Gloves, DBW, Belt, Bracers and Ring. I would even argue that it is simply better to gem expertise and use Precious' Putrid Collar or Sindragosa's Cruel Claw in place of Baltharus' Gift as you can fulfill socket bonuses with accurate ametrines

    Let me start a tirade of my own based on talents. I wouldn't run improved windfury in a 25 man raid, as there will certainly be a frost dk to provide the same buff. It is instead a DPS gain to run improved fire nova instead. Also, in terms of raw dps, it is more of a benefit to put points in enhancing totems as opposed to improved stormstrike and 5/5 ancestral knowledge. Going 4/5 ancestral knowledge, 0/2 improved stormstrike and 3/3 enhanceing totems will yield a raw dps increase, and it's very unlikely between Shamanistic Rage and raid buffs/replanishment that you will OOM unless you've just resurrected.

    My next point will address black magic. At any haste point above 400, berserking will be a DPS increase over black magic on both weapons.

    As for your priority list: "Magma totem -> Stormstrike -> Lava Lash -> Flame Shock -> Lightning Shield -> Stormstrike -> Lava Lash -> Earth Shock"

    I would argue with 4 piece t10, for simgle target: "Lightning Bolt at 5x Maelstrom -> Stormstrike if no debuff -> Flame Shock -> Magma Totem -> Refresh Lightning Shield -> Stormstrike if debuff -> Fire Nova -> Lava Lash -> Earth Shock"

    It is important to note that Lava Lash is currently bugged, and is not improved by FT weapon to the extent that it should be. The reason Flame Shock is so much higher on my list is because it procs your totem and the sooner you use it, tthe more readily you can include Earth Shock into your rotation

  6. @PlaGu3
    Do u use this BiS gear by any chance? http://forums.elitistjerks.com/topic...33-and-onward/
    Its quite strange that the BiS gear is using crit gems. Do u know if these are the accurate gems?


    Regarding Black magic vs Berserker:
    I fail to understand why 400 attack power should be better than 250 haste.
    From what I have read haste outperforms attack power at any time so why 400ap > 250 haste?

    When it comes to the spell priority.
    According to elitistjerks its:

    1)|Maelstrom Weapon x 5 stacks - Lightning Bolt
    2)|Flame Shock
    3)|Stormstrike if debuff not active
    4)|Lightning Shield if not active
    5)|Fire Elemental
    6)|Magma Totem if not active
    7)|Spirit Wolves
    8)|Shamanistic Rage
    9)|Earthshock
    10)|Stormstrike
    11)|Lava Lash
    12)|Fire Nova
    13)|Magma Totem
    14)|Lightning Shield

    Im actually surprised that earthshock deals more dmg than stormstrike according to the priority.
    I think that here on Warmane we can take fire nova over lava lash because of the mentioned bug.

  7. Hmm, Earth Shock is before Stormstrike because this is considering the SS debuff is on the target. Stormstrike is not really used for its damage, but rather for the debuff and WF procs, and it is physical damage, and since Enhancement builds AP and not ArP Earth Shock comes out stronger. There's your answer :P That priority list is very correct imho.

    @OP - Ugh, fix your BiS list pls... ArP is bad for Enhs just as much as it is for Retadins. Also, I'm agreeing with what was said regarding talents - Imp Fire Nova > Imp SS. At high gear you do not suffer from any mana issues so you just don't need this talent. Regarding Horde races, a simpler explanation is that the Orc racial scales with nothing but level, so once you reach 80 it stays the same - it's a nice number if you're a fresh 80, but once you go over 4k GS, it becomes absolutely obsolete whereas the Troll racial is just king for any DPS class out there - Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, Mages, Priests - anything that a Troll can roll, 20% haste is just huge.
    Edited: September 11, 2015

  8. Why do u suggest to get arp over ap when 50% of the dmg is magical?
    Why isnt expertice mentioned?
    Magical and nature based damage.

  9. When you run low on mana switch out Fire Resistance totem for Mana spring totem
    You realize Shamanistic rage has a 1 minute cd right?

  10. Also, I'm agreeing with what was said regarding talents - Imp Fire Nova > Imp SS. At high gear you do not suffer from any mana issues so you just don't need this talent.
    What spec do u think would grant more dmg?
    http://wotlk.openwow.com/talent#hVhGVbZhhxI0xzIhusouVo or http://wotlk.openwow.com/talent#hVhhVbZhxxI0xzIhusouVo
    Its actually 0,4 sec reduced cd on shock vs 4% more int
    Edited: September 11, 2015

  11. Magical and nature based damage.
    Nature damage is magical damage.

    What spec do u think would grant more dmg?
    http://wotlk.openwow.com/talent#hVhGVbZhhxI0xzIhusouVo or http://wotlk.openwow.com/talent#hVhhVbZhxxI0xzIhusouVo
    Its actually 0,4 sec reduced cd on shock vs 4% more int
    4% more intellect because of mental dexterity. 0.4 seconds is hardly noticeable.

  12. Regarding Horde races, a simpler explanation is that the Orc racial scales with nothing but level, so once you reach 80 it stays the same - it's a nice number if you're a fresh 80, but once you go over 4k GS, it becomes absolutely obsolete whereas the Troll racial is just king for any DPS class out there - Warriors, Hunters, Rogues, Mages, Priests - anything that a Troll can roll, 20% haste is just huge.
    The way I saw it was Orc has +5 Expertise on axes and fist weapons (Useful for Enhance Shamans I guess), +5% pet damage (5% more damage from Spirit Wolves) and on use attack power and spell power buff (Spell power and attack power both benefits Enhance Shamans).

    I'm curious if Trolls racial is better or not cause I really don't know if the +20% haste buff beats the 3 useful racials above.
    I'll be rolling Enhance on Lordaeron and planned to make an Orc since at first glance it's 3 useful racials vs 1 useful racial but maybe i'm wrong.
    Edited: September 13, 2015

  13. Lets assume u are attacking the boss for 7 minutes (420 seconds):

    The orc racial grants u for 15 seconds 322 AP and 163 SP and has 2 min CD.
    U can use the orc racial 4 times during a 7 min fight which is a total uptime of 60 seconds.
    420/60=7 Orc racial is up in 1/7 of the time.
    322 ap/7= 46 ap
    163 sp/7=23 sp
    Means the orc racial grants u a average 46 ap and 23 sp during a 7 minute long boss encounter.

    The troll racial grants u for 10 seconds 20% melee haste and has 3 min CD.
    20% melee haste is equal to 504 haste rating.
    U can use the troll racial 3 times during a 7 min fight which is a total uptime of 30 seconds.
    420/30=14 Troll racial is up in 1/14 of the time.
    504 haste /14= 36 haste
    Means the troll racial grants u a average 36 haste during a 7 minute long boss encounter.

    But lets not forget about the passive Orc racials.
    5 expertice from wearing axe or fist is equal to 41 expertice rating.
    So two expertice gems can be replace for 40 more haste or 80 more ap.

    To summon it up:
    36 haste from troll vs 46 ap, 23sp, and 41 expertice rating from orc.

    The Orc clearly wins here. The 5 expertice from wearing axe or fist should already outperform the troll racial.
    Troll should only be better for burst dmg in short fights but orc should always win when it comes to sustain dmg.

    P.S.
    According to the tooltip the 5% increased pet dmg applys only to hunter, lock and DK pets

  14. Lets assume u are attacking the boss for 7 minutes (420 seconds):

    The orc racial grants u for 15 seconds 322 AP and 163 SP and has 2 min CD.
    U can use the orc racial 4 times during a 7 min fight which is a total uptime of 60 seconds.
    420/60=7 Orc racial is up in 1/7 of the time.
    322 ap/7= 46 ap
    163 sp/7=23 sp
    Means the orc racial grants u a average 46 ap and 23 sp during a 7 minute long boss encounter.

    The troll racial grants u for 10 seconds 20% melee haste and has 3 min CD.
    20% melee haste is equal to 504 haste rating.
    U can use the troll racial 3 times during a 7 min fight which is a total uptime of 30 seconds.
    420/30=14 Troll racial is up in 1/14 of the time.
    504 haste /14= 36 haste
    Means the troll racial grants u a average 36 haste during a 7 minute long boss encounter.

    But lets not forget about the passive Orc racials.
    5 expertice from wearing axe or fist is equal to 41 expertice rating.
    So two expertice gems can be replace for 40 more haste or 80 more ap.

    To summon it up:
    36 haste from troll vs 46 ap, 23sp, and 41 expertice rating from orc.

    The Orc clearly wins here. The 5 expertice from wearing axe or fist should already outperform the troll racial.
    Troll should only be better for burst dmg in short fights but orc should always win when it comes to sustain dmg.
    Awesome response dude, thanks a lot, very informative.

    P.S.
    According to the tooltip the 5% increased pet dmg applys only to hunter, lock and DK pets
    I just did a quick google and this is a response someone gave on the matter -

    ''Yes, it does, since patch 3.1

    http://www.wowhead.com/spell=20575/command

    "In patch 3.1, this racial effects Shaman pets (elementals and feral spirit)."

    http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/patch-notes/3-1-0

    "Command (Orc Racial): Applies to shaman pets, and now correctly applies to death knight pets."

    Another thread backing up the fact that Command does increase damage from Spirit Wolves - http://forums.elitistjerks.com/topic...nt-32-changes/

    Hope i'm right since Orc is the correct choice even without that racial being useful :)
    Edited: September 14, 2015

  15. I just did a quick google and this is a response someone gave on the matter -

    ''Yes, it does, since patch 3.1

    http://www.wowhead.com/spell=20575/command

    "In patch 3.1, this racial effects Shaman pets (elementals and feral spirit)."

    http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/patch-notes/3-1-0

    "Command (Orc Racial): Applies to shaman pets, and now correctly applies to death knight pets."

    Another thread backing up the fact that Command does increase damage from Spirit Wolves - http://forums.elitistjerks.com/topic...nt-32-changes/

    Hope i'm right since Orc is the correct choice even without that racial being useful :)
    Thanks for clearing that up.
    It should make the orc racial even better.
    Only question is if it works on Warmane but thats a different story...

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