"Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

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chickenbutt
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"Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#1 » Post by chickenbutt » 25 Mar 2016 17:54

DISCLAIMER: I made this guide because some guys in guild chat were (hopefully) joking about how Enhancement requires 3 buttons to play, and I figured I could share some stuff like the priority systems I used when I was raiding a lot with Hellraisers and Divinity. I suppose some things in this "mini-guide" could be wrong, but this is what I've so far found to be the best priority systems for respective fights. I would never be able to write any of this if it weren't for the great player Discussion. Jasper's been my mentor for years, especially regarding Enhancement Shaman. :.)

Enjoy your Enhancement Shaman! Easily one of the most fun and interesting specs in the game.


26/8/2021 Editing this after all these years to correct some things I've learned since then as well as adding some details


PRIORITY SYSTEMS

Assuming your Enhancement Shaman has four pieces of tier 10 and proper itemization;
Single target priority system:
Wind Shear*****
Before encounter, buffer Lightning Shield & Totem Call****** ->
Start Auto Attack with Totems down ->
Shamanistic Rage+DPS Cooldown ->
Feral Spirit (Bloodlust) ->
Refresh Stormstrike Debuff ->
Use Maelstrom stacks (Lightning Bolt) ->
Refresh Magma Totem* ->

Refresh Lightning Shield if 4 stacks or less ->
Apply Flame Shock ->
Refresh Flame Shock ->
Fire Nova. ->
Earth Shock*** ->
Refresh Lightning Shield ->
Lava Lash ->

This priority system should be used vs a single target boss where no adds spawn.
This priority system should also be used vs something like Professor Putricide while DPSing standing still - but you should use Searing Totem while DPSing on the move and Chain Lightning or Magma Totem ONLY when you can chain, say, PP and Ooze/Gas simultaneously or when you know you can get more than 4 ticks of Magma Totem off after placing it.

Cleave priority system:
Wind Shear*****
Before encounter, buffer Lightning Shield & Totem Call****** ->
Start Auto Attack with Totems down ->
Shamanistic Rage+DPS Cooldown ->
Feral Spirit (Bloodlust) ->
Refresh Stormstrike Debuff ->
Use Maelstrom stacks (Chain Lightning > Lightning Bolt) ->
Refresh Magma Totem* ->
Refresh Lightning Shield if 4 stacks or less ->
Fire Nova ->
Lava Lash ->
Apply Flame Shock ->
Refresh Flame Shock ->
Earth Shock.

This priority system should be used vs something like Anub'Arak****. Chain Lightning when adds spawn, otherwise use Lightning Bolt. Don't hold on to Maelstrom Weapon stacks in anticipation of adds spawning, as you generate stacks fast enough that not casting Chain/Bolt is a DPS loss. If you are fighting something like Blood Beasts on Deathbringer Saurfang, use Lava Lash, Flame Shock and Earth Shock before Fire Nova when Blood Beasts are up**.

AoE priority system:
Wind Shear*****
Before encounter, buffer Lightning Shield & Totem Call****** ->
Start Auto Attack with Totems down ->
Refresh Magma Totem* ->
Shamanistic Rage+DPS Cooldown ->
Fire Nova ->
Feral Spirit (Bloodlust) ->
Refresh Stormstrike Debuff ->
Use Maelstrom stacks (Chain Lightning > Lightning Bolt) ->
Refresh Lightning Shield ->
Lava Lash ->
Apply Flame Shock ->
Refresh Flame Shock ->
Earth Shock.

This is for anything that constantly has more than 4 mobs that need to die.

If your Shaman has four pieces of tier 9 gear, then Earth Shock and Flame Shock (+refresh) should be moved up in priority over Fire Nova, Lava Lash (if your weapons aren't too great) and Lightning Shield (+refresh) for single target DPS.
Not having tier 10 makes Shamanistic Rage only useful for regaining mana or soaking damage, so use it for those purposes only.
If your Shaman has absolutely no set bonus pieces, then go Restoration for (possibly) faster emblem farming, lol.

GLYPHS & SPEC

The glyphs you should be using are;
Glyph of Windfury Weapon for an additional 2% proc chance on Windfury Attack,
Glyph of Lightning Shield for an extra 20% damage on Static Shock procs, and
Glyph of Stormstrike for an increased 8% nature damage on your Stormstrike debuff, OR
Glyph of Fire Nova (instead of Stormstrike) only if you are doing constant and very heavy AoE.
The spec you should be using looks like this -> 19/52/0
I suppose you could drop Improved Stormstrike and Clearcasting for points in Enhancing Totems or Improved Windfury Totem if you know you are never going to OOM because of Judgement of Wisdom and Replenishment in between your Shamanistic Rage (which usually always brings you to full mana with proper gear). Although I have never tried this, I don't see why it wouldn't work out in your raid's favor!

PROFESSIONS AND ITEMIZATION

The best professions you can get are Engineering for the 1 minute cooldown haste on-use that lines up perfectly with Shamanistic Rage and Tailoring for the Attack Power proc. I happen to love parachute cloak, and can't go without it on any of my characters, so my Shaman is Engineering/Leatherworking for a decent Attack Power enchant on wrists. Jewelcrafting is the second best option if you for some stupid reason want the parachute cloak like I do. :D

Make sure you always have at least around 20-26 expertise and 17% SPELL hit rating. Subtract 3% if you know you're always going be in group with Shadow Priests or Balance Druids, and an additional 1% if you know you're always going to be grouped with a Draenei. It's never practical to go for the melee hard cap with a dual-wielding spec, so stop getting hit at the spell hit hard cap.

Since the proc Windfury Attack has an internal cooldown of 3 seconds, you can itemize for haste until your static attack speed (with 20% Icy Talons/Windfury Totem + 3% Ret Paladin/Moonkin Aura + 30% Flurry + your relic totem buff) is at 1.00, 1.10 or even 1.50 and you will give your Windfury Attack a chance to proc every time your main hand hits.

It might seem like a weird thing to gear around but just like Fury Warriors, Feral Druids, Combat Rogues and Marksmanship Hunters that maximize their DPS with Armor Penetration cap, your Windfury build enhancement shaman will maximize its dps when you get the optimal haste rating for proccing Windfury Attacks -- while maintaining spell hit cap and expertise cap . This is why we love the gearing options in Wrath. Jewelcrafting is so great here, especially as a non-orc for that expertise in bis gear.

You can pay attention to this while gearing up, depending on how fast you are getting upgrades and if you don't have to worry about hit/expertise. You will be able to do this most effectively when you are close to BiS gear (duh).
for example 1.00 attack speed is about 1340-1370 haste rating, this is the best and is basically bordering on haste soft cap (capped GCD although haste still benefits melee attack and procs. 1.10 attack speed is at 1010 haste rating which is 40% melee haste


NOTES

*Magma Totem ticks every 2 seconds - make sure to refresh it fast as you can after it ticks as to make the interval between ticks as short as possible. Most optimal refresh is at 0 seconds, but if you have a half a second of downtime (nothing to cast and Lightning Shield fully stacked) you can of course refresh Magma Totem when it's not at 0 seconds. Be very careful with your timing when refreshing it right after 0 seconds because of a bug that sometimes destroys the Totem. It's just a timing thing you have to practice.
*You should use Fire Elemental Totem on stationary bosses since it frees up the global cooldown of having to refresh Magma Totem. When the Fire Elemental Totem runs out, use Magma Totem again. Only use it on stationary fights since you will miss out of Fire Nova damage if the totem is not near the mobs.

**Always make sure Lightning Shield is up before using Fire Nova, since it procs Static Shock. This can, depending on where you are in your priority system, make it worth to Fire Nova the Blood Beasts on Saurfang if you think you're lucky enough to get that RNG.

***An Earth Shock crit on average does more damage than a Fire Nova crit on one target. On two targets, Fire Nova does more damage than an Earth Shock crit if both Fire Nova hits are crits. On three targets, you always Fire Nova over Earth Shock.

****During Anub'Arak's underground phase, you use the AoE priority system (Duh).

*****Always use Wind Shear on cooldown to reduce threat levels. Of course try to use it in such a way that it doesn't interfere with things you need to interrupt, like Lady Deathwhisper's Frostbolts.

******Your totem call should have Magma Totem in it, the other totems depend on your raid composition.
******You should always wear SLOW one-handed weapons with Windfury Weapon on your main hand and Flametongue Totem on your off hand.
Last edited by chickenbutt on 26 Aug 2021 03:55, edited 24 times in total.
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Gnurg
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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#2 » Post by Gnurg » 25 Mar 2016 18:07

Super guide, Benjamin! Kunne du lagt til noen farger for å vise til hva som er trollformler? Er så vanskelig å lese når alt er i samme farge. :cry:
HAI
CAN HAZ STDIO?
VISIBLE "HAI WORLD, IZ GNURF!"
KTHXBYE

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chickenbutt
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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#3 » Post by chickenbutt » 25 Mar 2016 18:20

I changed the priority systems so they're easier to read. I don't know about adding color, though. First of all I don't really know how to do it and make it look good. I also think it would make it harder to read, and it's quite tedious too. Thanks! I don't know why you're writing in Norwegian on the forums though, lol. What is trollformler?

EDIT: I changed the color of the entire text, is it better than white on black? I guess I can make it look warmer this way.
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#4 » Post by Fastor » 25 Mar 2016 18:48

Suggestion, do screen shot of Bars (only bars) with only spells you mention. You can make new toon on PTR if you dont want to show your own bars.

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#5 » Post by Wilcox » 25 Mar 2016 19:02

make one for pvp pls


and one for elemental pve :Q

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#6 » Post by chickenbutt » 25 Mar 2016 19:18

Wilcox wrote:make one for pvp pls


and one for elemental pve :Q
Sorry, I'm definitely not making a PvP guide. That would be way too much work. Also, wtf Elemental? I hate that spec and everyone knows this. Lol.
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#7 » Post by Wilcox » 25 Mar 2016 19:31

ele guide pls

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#8 » Post by chickenbutt » 27 Mar 2016 16:01

I edited the original post a little. I hope a lot of Shaman see this! I've seen far too many Shaman with awful setups, lol. I've usually always tried to help everyone who's asked me about Shaman stuff, especially Enhancement. I hope this will help at least some people. =)

This is for you, Wilcox.
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#9 » Post by Wilcox » 27 Mar 2016 16:02

I WANT ONE FROM YOU

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#10 » Post by chickenbutt » 27 Mar 2016 16:03

I already said I'm not going to make one, lol. Blz stop sh1tposting in my guide thread! :^)
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#11 » Post by Rascall » 27 Mar 2016 16:08

Instead of Ligh. Shield Glyph one should use feral spirit glyphs but without any potential in having pets fixed idk. I was using Ligh Bolt glyph when I was persuaded that pets are terribly bugged. And I even skipped wolves and went deeper into elemental tree for additional crit on Ligh. Bolts.
Also, with shamanistic rage used every cooldown you dont need any mana saving talents like Improved Stormstrike. I kept only Shamanistic Focus. But also Elemental Focus is a good idea. Instead I prefer using Reverberation in elemental tree. Rest is same as I have. I also use EnhaPrio addon to track and recommend next ability to use within prio system.
In terms of gemming I prefer AP gems and for yellow AP+haste (stark ametrine is the name I think). Since closer you get to BiS gear closer you will be to 1.0 speed. This is why I like constant haste and calculating my speed in order to max out the number of WFs instead of any haste procs (including dbw trinket). Haste calculation is what makes good enhancement. Either be on constant 1.0 or 1.5 speed.
Regarding consumables: Flask for AP, and fish...that gives AP and SP at the same time (ye SP is a little boost). For potions there are only haste potions I think. This could be only exception to my premise of avoiding haste procs (at start of boss fight Flurry and Bizzuri totem arent stacked yet either)
Last edited by Rascall on 27 Mar 2016 16:25, edited 1 time in total.
Rascall Retribution/Holy
Rascallus Blood (tank)/Unholy (DPS)
Rascalluz Affliction/Demonology
Rascalles Feral (bear)/Balance
Rascallez Assassination
Rascallis Arms (DPS)/Arms (tank)
Razcall Marksmanship/Survival
Razcallus Fury/Protection
Razcalluz Feral (cat)/Restoration
Razcalles Combat/Subtlety
Razcaellez Beast Mastery
Razcaell Discipline/Holy
Razcaelllus Enhancement/Restoration
Razcaelluz Blood (DPS)/Frost (tank)
Razcaelles Elemental/Spellhance
Razcaellez Arcane/Frostfire
Rascaell Protection
Rascaellus Frost (DPS)/Unholy (tank)
Rascaelluz Fire/Frost
Rascaelles Shadow
Rascaellez Destruction

...and more...

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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#12 » Post by chickenbutt » 27 Mar 2016 16:24

Rascall wrote:Instead of Ligh. Shield Glyph one should use feral spirit glyphs but without any potential in having pets fixed idk. Also, with shamanistic rage used every cooldown you dont need any mana saving talents like Improved Stormstrike. I kept only Shamanistic Focus. But also Elemental Focus is a good idea. Instead I prefer using Reverberation in elemental tree.
The Feral Spirit glyph isn't appealing to me since LS is naturally doing way more damage than my wolves at any point in a fight. Although I only compared the two glyphs on a dummy (Single target, Ironforge) and not in a raid environment, I still believe LS is better. Even though pets are still not getting expertise from master hit%, I suppose you could prove me wrong. I kinda stopped PvEing since I went Resto PvP.

What is your gear? Why are you using Reverberation, and instead of what talents? Imp. SS? So you are 2 or 3/5 Reverberation?
In my eyes Reverberation is only for PvP and used by some Enhancement and most commonly Elemental specs. It reduces the cooldown of Wind Shear for interrupting and clearing Grounding Totem/Spell Reflect, and shocks for rooting as Enh/doing more damage and being able to keep Flame Shock up vs dispel classes more as Elemental.
I don't believe it's good for PvE at all.


Oh yeah, you are so right about the haste management thing! I forgot to put that in the guide, lol.
You will get the most out of Windfury Attack when your attack speed with Icy Talons/Improved Windfury Totem + Flurry is as close to 1 or 1.5 as possible! i.e The best possible attack speed for Windfury Attack proc rate.
Last edited by chickenbutt on 27 Mar 2016 16:33, edited 1 time in total.
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Rascall
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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#13 » Post by Rascall » 27 Mar 2016 16:33

Feral Spirit glyph was tested as bis in normal world where pets work. As you say once player is hit capped pets gain hit+expertise from players. Pet scaling is generally bugged. So many shamans attempted to find a better replacement. I was testing the Ligh Bolt glyph but as you say maybe the Ligh Shield glyph is a good choice.

My gear is close to BiS on enhancement. Reverberation 2/5 simply to use more Flame Shocks and Earth Shocks. Some guy recommended this with skipping mana saving talents during the elitist jerks debate. Since Shamanistic Rage is one of the highest priorities you should be using it every cooldown asap. You simply can´t oom as enhancement with all the raid buffs. Enhancing Totems is a good choice too for raid benefits.

Some good addons. Quartz, EnhaPrio...tracking buffs/debuffs...especially needed for enhancement to watch for million things...EnhaPrio for those lazy (it simply tells you what to use next)
Koko Totem Timers...good for tracking totems (since magma totem has short duration)
Flo Totem Bar...all totems in one pannel
Rascall Retribution/Holy
Rascallus Blood (tank)/Unholy (DPS)
Rascalluz Affliction/Demonology
Rascalles Feral (bear)/Balance
Rascallez Assassination
Rascallis Arms (DPS)/Arms (tank)
Razcall Marksmanship/Survival
Razcallus Fury/Protection
Razcalluz Feral (cat)/Restoration
Razcalles Combat/Subtlety
Razcaellez Beast Mastery
Razcaell Discipline/Holy
Razcaelllus Enhancement/Restoration
Razcaelluz Blood (DPS)/Frost (tank)
Razcaelles Elemental/Spellhance
Razcaellez Arcane/Frostfire
Rascaell Protection
Rascaellus Frost (DPS)/Unholy (tank)
Rascaelluz Fire/Frost
Rascaelles Shadow
Rascaellez Destruction

...and more...

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chickenbutt
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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#14 » Post by chickenbutt » 27 Mar 2016 16:42

Yeah, it's too bad pet scaling is so messed up here. I would like to use the Feral Spirit glyph over the boring LS one and see my pets whack away at lightning speed for tons of damage. Hehe. I don't like Lightning Bolt glyph since you use Chain a lot.

My gear is not very close to BiS, but it's close. My AS the last time I was in a raid was 1.19 with IT and Flurry. I'm missing 10hc neck (I'm using 25hc), 25hc cloak (using 251), STS (Though I have no idea how you would get 1.00 without Herkuml) and 284 weapons, and some heroic t10 I think.

Don't you think Enhancing Totems is better than Reverberation for yourself? I mean obviously it's amazing for the raid, but isn't the Agility and Strength benefit way more useful than half a second less cooldown on shocks?
:=) My Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

https://soundcloud.com/open_minded_97/fullat - a punk song I wrote and produced with a friend from music community college in 2019

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Rascall
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Re: "Mini Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide"

#15 » Post by Rascall » 27 Mar 2016 16:57

Since Maelstorm reaches x5 too fast you end up spamming it sometimes. Therefore I was using Ligh Bolt glyph and that talent in elemental tree for more crits on Bolts instead of wolves. On single targets I use Bolts only ofc. Some say Chains are better on 3 and more that even on 2 targets you should keep using Bolts.
festergut10hc neck is better as it gives hit and more AP with a good red socket instead of sindragosa25hc neck. In BiS gear you end up gemming hit and expertise either. Herkuml is BiS trinket with sts exactly for haste and speed reasons. with bizzuri totem, frost dk in raid, flurry stacked and some retribution paladin in raid giving haste you should be very close to 1.0.

Enhancing Totems are a better solution instead of mana talents. But I´m selfish focusing on my own dps with more shocks used :D
For raid ofc more str and agility is better but for enhancement hardly since you end up with so much crit that you dont need more agility.

here for calculation of crit cap: Last "9" is from elemental devastation talent
/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Crit cap :"..100-(27-(GetCombatRatingBonus(6)+6))-24)
/script DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage("Crit cap with ED :"..100-(27-(GetCombatRatingBonus(6)+6))-24-9)

But you are right non-selfish shaman should use enhancing totems since we skip improved windfury talents just because there are frost dks. There is also one thing why enhancement might not want to use strength of earth totem. Since its stationary totem it has limited range of buff and once players get out of its range (can happen rarely in ICC or RS but it can), players lose strength of earth totem buff...Thatswhy sometimes I dont even use it and I let dks keep horn.
Rascall Retribution/Holy
Rascallus Blood (tank)/Unholy (DPS)
Rascalluz Affliction/Demonology
Rascalles Feral (bear)/Balance
Rascallez Assassination
Rascallis Arms (DPS)/Arms (tank)
Razcall Marksmanship/Survival
Razcallus Fury/Protection
Razcalluz Feral (cat)/Restoration
Razcalles Combat/Subtlety
Razcaellez Beast Mastery
Razcaell Discipline/Holy
Razcaelllus Enhancement/Restoration
Razcaelluz Blood (DPS)/Frost (tank)
Razcaelles Elemental/Spellhance
Razcaellez Arcane/Frostfire
Rascaell Protection
Rascaellus Frost (DPS)/Unholy (tank)
Rascaelluz Fire/Frost
Rascaelles Shadow
Rascaellez Destruction

...and more...

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