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WotLK Classic Elemental Shaman Guide - Icy Veins Since the last phase of the expansion, Elemental Shamans have steadily climbed the damage meters, transforming from a bottom-tier low-end DPS specialization into a heavy burst specialization with consistent damage thanks to the ability to reset Fire Elemental Totem after every encounter. While they were previously placed in the C-tier, we can now count them among the most powerful DPS specializations in the A-tier. 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Added P3 best in slot items and new page layout. While Survival Hunters are the most efficient throughout the majority of Ulduar both from a DPS perspective and in regards to mana efficiency they will tend to fall short towards the later stages of Ulduar once other classes start to scale up. On top of the the brand-new Focus Magic buff available to all Mages, we get the Arcane-exclusive Arcane Empowerment. Enhancement brings two buffs to any raid composition, Windfury Totem and Unleashed Rage. One thing to keep in mind is their potential for scaling meaning, with the right equipment and skillset, they may as well simply jump to the middle of the B-Tier. Their skill rotation is a bit more involved than other classes while still producing similar results. They also provide powerful support totems such as Windfury Totem , Wrath of Air Totem, Strength of Earth Totem, Totem of Wrath, and . Blizzard took a very simple if it aint broke, dont fix it approach with Combat Rogues, as theres barely any changes to their gameplay in WotLK. WotLK Classic Enhancement Shaman Spec, Builds, Talents, and Glyphs These buffs arent unique to Enhancement though. Since we can snapshot Fire Elemental, this allows us to deal powerful damage, both in Single-Target and AoE situations. Our equipment is at its weakest in Phase 1, and that has major implications on the meta. Beast Mastery is last in the line of specializations that fell from grace. While they barely cling onto their S-tier spot for this first phase, theres nobody who doubts just how powerful their damage is. Besides their insane damage output, Unholy Death Knights will continue to provide powerful utility effects such as Ebon Plaguebringer. Choose 4 totems that work best with your party. Thus, if youre interested in playing Demonology, you should coordinate with your guilds other Warlocks but, if you get the Demo spot, youre in for a very solid Wrath of the Lich King experience. Since this fight has large portions with no Cleave, our DPS suffers accordingly. They have a number of specialization unique buffs and still provide a vast array of Paladin utilities as well. Call of Flame increases your Fire Totem and, more importantly, Fire Nova damage by up to 15% and giving Lava Burst a slight boost. First of all, the new Morb spec seems to have completely popped off, granting Unholy an entirely new way of playing the specialization. However, we have been penalized in the utility department, as Expose Weakness has been nerfed to only being able to increase our own attack power, meaning that Misdirection is the only utility we can bring to a raid. Retribution Paladins used to be considered a weak spec in OG TBC, though that ended up not being the case in TBC Classic. Sadly, this wont be enough to top the meters. Our cleave damage is virtually non-existent, but our single-target damage is absolutely jaw-dropping. Icecrown Citadel having a good amount of multi-target fights means that, in practice, you wont be on the top as cleanly as Fury Warriors will. Luckily, Gargoyle can potentially be used multiple times during that fight. The other notable differences are: You can gear for spell power in your neck, back, finger, trinket, and main-hand slots during T7. Still, Marksmanship is very much still competitive, so long-time Marksmanship veterans could stick to their guns (har-har, pun intended) if they dont enjoy Survivals playstyle. 2023 (talents page): Removed PvP talent and glyph references. Arcane Mages are extremely powerful in regards to Single-Target, however, they have issues performing on the same basis when it comes to AoE fights, as they have to rely on Arcane Explosion. We never really become useless, but Combat begins outscaling us starting with the next phase (Ulduar), and the gap only gets bigger with every phase. Moreover, every raid will want at least 1 Shadow Priest or Balance Druid for the spell hit debuff, which we offer with Misery. Their main drawback is that they lack powerful cleave abilities, and that a big chunk of their DPS comes from bleeds, which take a while to apply, so were kinda slow to start. Since the release of WotLK Classic, Affliction Warlocks,have been high on the tier list they are simply on a whole nother level! However, that does not mean our beloved casters find themselves in worse spots! Many players often choose to change specializations depending on the different phases of the expansion. We offer most of the same utility as the other Mage specs, such as Arcane Brilliance and the brand-new Focus Magic our only Fire-exclusive utility is the 5% spell crit debuff (Improved Scorch). However, it can be argued that were better than the other D-tier specs due to our exclusive access to Hysteria, the most powerful buff in the game. Demonology also sees a drastic playstyle shift in WotLK, going from a PvP-focused spec to a fully fleshed-out DPS spec. Frost DKs remain a highly competitive specialization throughout WotLK. We have a brand-new playstyle with a new ability, the Lava Lash, and a combo-point-esque system, the Maelstrom Weapon. Nothing changes for Frost it still suffers from poor damage due to a large PvP focus on a lot of its talents. However, in many cases, they provide valuable raid buffs that make them worth bringing anyway, as their utility makes up for their deficiency in raw damage. So, if you enjoy your Hunter, Marksmanship is not a bad choice at all! That being said, the other two specializations, Affliction and Demonology, will always outperform Destruction. However, other classes damage scales with better gear and the overall potential of Survival starts to fall off and Marksmanship takes a dominant lead. Click the name specialization in the table below to quickly jump to the section that explains the reasoning for their placement. A titan has fallen. The main issue Blood Death Knights face is the lack of utility buffs that they can provide. Once they manage to acquire BiS gear, Fury Warriors receive a massive bump in their damage output. Welcome to Wowhead's WotLK Classic PvE tier list predictions for Phase 2 Ulduar. It's also important to factor in the relative difficulty to play each specialization to its fullest potential. They are found in almost every raid group and it is common to see more than one of each. Despite two incredible set bonuses on their Tier 8 set (Nightsong Garb), Balance Druids lack the single-target damage to compete with some of the big boys above them. They cast powerful elemental spells and bring a unique set of buffs in the form of Totems. These specializations are usually recruited in larger numbers due to their outstanding performance. Expose Armor is no longer our responsibility, as mentioned above, so the only thing we really offer is the spec-agnostic Tricks of the Trade, which Assassination is better at thanks to their superior damage. Previously, we mentioned that Shadow Priests will struggle to compete with other casters at the beginning of Ulduar, however, they quickly proved that they can dish out damage just like any Mage or Warlock out there. WotLK Shaman Guide - Resto (Level 80) - Legacy WoW Marksmanship once again finds itself in a solid position. Through it, Marksmanship Hunters can use double Misdirection, and get an instant cooldown refill for their most powerful shots! Affliction Warlocks see a drastic shift in playstyle in WotLK. In the short term, they have the potential to produce an astonishing amount of damage, but it will make them run OOM extremely fast. Moreover, we do it safely from afar, with our DoTs constantly ticking meaning we arent phased by things like melee-unfriendly, or by movement-heavy fighths. Affliction Warlocks will be well-rounded in the majority of the fights. Furthermore, it would appear that Blizzard had a bone to pick with Arms Warriors in PvE, as our utility is severely nerfed compared to TBC. Not only do they have the capacity to deal extremely high amounts of Single-Target Damage through their Maelstrom Weapon procs and their Fire Elemental Totem, but they also offer heavy utility that can amplify other strong specializations such as Unholy Death Knights. SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE https://goo.gl/vfnWbvTwitch https://www.twitch.tv/toyhouzeClick ULTIMATE SHAMAN CLASS GUIDE for WotLK Classic (Talent Progressio. You may want to try Arcane for Phase 1, but start window shopping for Fire gear right away. In shorter fights, where we get to have Metamorphosis active for a big chunk of the fight, our damage will be very good though, itll suffer and fall behind some of the other A-tier specs in longer fights. You may also use Shadowfury to temporarily stun adds tanked by the Off-Tank if they find themselves in a dangerous situation. Thus, we dont care about the lack of armor penetration on Phase 1 gear. The only issue with their AoE Damage is that it is completely dependent on the position of the adds in relation to the boss as Mind Sear has a low range. 2023 (talents page): Adjusted glyphs and text explanation for Phase 3. Only the strong will survive; sorry, BM friends. Early on, with worse gear, this buff is slightly less desirable than the Elemental Shamans version. Coupled with our truly incredible utility, this makes Retribution Paladins an extremely desirable spec in Phase 4 many guilds will typically bring 2-4 Retribution Paladins, so raid spots will be easy to come by. The issue with Unholy Frenzy is that you will sacrifice a DPS spot for a simple potential damage increase for your main Physical DPS. As their damage is completely subpar to the other Mage Specializations, you will only want to use this specialization if you want to enjoy an Ice Master fantasy. Shaman Leveling Guide for WotLK Classic 3.3.5a. Innervate and Rebirth are among the most powerful mechanics in the entire expansion, making them truly invaluable. Restoration Shaman Healer Talent Builds and Glyphs - Wowhead Marksmanship Hunters (MM) are subject to poor performance early on due to their physical damage relying on armor penetration. However, this flaw is somewhat mitigated by excellent cleave damage (thanks to multi-dotting) and AoE damage (thanks to Mind Sear). Fire Mages and Fury Warriors, for instance, will have to wait a while for their turn to shine in the spotlight, as they lack the stats they need in order to succeed, such as crit and armor penetration. However, with their buff being provided by Retribution Paladins (which perform really well later on), they are often overshadowed by Marksmanship Hunter at every stage of the expansion. One aspect that Feral Druids benefit from is extreme survivability, not only through shapeshifting into a bear for an overall higher health pool, but also due to powerful defensive spells such as Barkskin. The reason for this relatively low placement is simple while Chimera Shot does Nature damage, the rest of our abilities are physical, meaning we suffer greatly from the lack of armor penetration on gear in these first few phases, just like the most of physical damage-dealers. They will be found in almost every raid group, and it will be common to see more than one of each. They have dropped from S to A-Tier. The theoretical performance of a specialization in any given encounter varies depending on a multitude of factors such as shorter or longer duration fights, if the damage is largely single-target, cleave, or AoE, and if it favors ranged or melee classes more. This spec shines as a tank instead, due to a plethora of self-healing and mitigation abilities which give it a distinct edge over other specs when it comes to tanking. We gain a new DPS cooldown in Killing Spree, and we can finally use weapons other than swords, as the Sword Specialization talent becomes Hack and Slash. PvE Enhancement Shaman Talents and Builds - Warcraft Tavern Survival Hunters deal excellent single-target damage, and we have an edge over many other ranged damage-dealers, since most of our abilities are instant and thus we arent interrupted by movement. Regardless of what class you play, knowing what the best spec, talents and even professions that you roll with can make that process much smoother. Besides its high Single-Target Damage, Arcane Mages also bring one powerful damage-enhancing effect, Arcane Empowerment. A Tier: Feral Druids (Cat) have a unique place here, they have great damage, provide many druid buffs and utilities, and are able to off-tank when needed, giving them a very comfortable niche. Fire Mages will be heavily reliant on the Tier 9 4-item set bonuses. Besides the overpowered damage, they also have a variety of debuffs (their curses), and a variety of utility spells that can aid the raid group in achieving victory. If being a giant chicken of doom was something you were interested in previously, but have been put off by the low DPS of a Boomie, you now have nothing to worry about it remains a solid, desirable spec for all of Wrath, usually near the middle of the damage meters. Those two raid-wide buffs are mutually exclusive with Trauma and Rampage respectively. A Tier: The Survival Hunters perform really well in the early stages of the expansion, with a lot of their single-target and AoE damage coming from magical sources, bypassing the armor penetration problem of physical damage dealers early on. Ele shaman bring 3 rare buffs (spell haste, spell damage, and spell crit). As this effect does not stack when multiple Shamans are brought, the first Shaman on each group is of extremely high value. They also lack any significant AoE or cleaving capabilities. None of this should dissuade you from playing a Mage if Fire looks interesting to you, however, as we tie Arcane in Phase 2, and then finally blossom into one of the strongest specs in the game in Phases 3 & 4. Its certainly still possible to clear content with this spec, and they do provide some utility to the group. Related: A Complete Guide To The Tirion Fordring Questline "In Dreams". This is mainly based on their Wandering Plague talent, granting them insane AoE capabilities as a form of passive damage that has no special prerequisite in order to be triggered. Cast Earth Shield on the tank. 2H Enhancement Possible? - Shaman - World of Warcraft Forums Our issues remain the same: lackluster damage, and a complete lack of cleave damage, which Affliction excels at. Arms Warrios have a lot of the same upsides that Fury Warrios do armor penetration items such as Mjolnir Runestone help a lot, and both Tier 8 set bonuses (Siegebreaker Battlegear) are great. Assassination Rogues find themselves in the top spots of the DPS charts in the first Phase, commonly considered to be one of the best damage-dealing specs. WotLK Classic Elemental Shaman Spec, Builds, Talents, and Glyphs If you want to button mash and top dps easily, this is NOT the class/spec for you. Blood is actually doing okay(-ish) damage-wise in this phase, thanks to the armor penetration stat you can typically keep up with some of the weaker single-target specs, like Elemental Shamans and Balance Druids. They also have Seed of Corruption, however, this generally isnt enough to keep up with Affliction. No longer are they the specialists for raid. One basic metric to use is the amount of damage that a particular class can output in any given scenario or their Damage Per Second (DPS). The Assassination Rogue is currently S-Tier as expected, though it is A-Tier on this list originally as we expected it to fall off in favor of Combat spec in later expansions when armor penetration is more widely available. Fury Warriors find themselves in quite a better spot compared to the last phase of the expansion, as they ascend to the B-Tier. Besides their damage and crowd control capabilities, Warlocks provide a variety of class-specific utility spells, including Ritual of Souls,Create Soulstone, andRitual of Summoning. You'll out dps or keep up. A Tier: Demonology Warlock (Demo) is a very fun class to play. Were no longer the mana batteries we once were, but we still get to support our group with Prayer of Fortitude, Prayer of Spirit, and Vampiric Embrace. From a purely single-target damage perspective, Marksmanship would normally qualify for the S-tier, typically beating Feral Druids and Unholy DKs on some of the more melee-unfriendly fights. Furthermore, they also provide a very strong, unique spell power buff for the group. Since the majority of raid compositions will prefer an Enhancement Shaman or a Marksmanship Hunter, you will have a tough time finding a raid group. Unholy stays competitive throughout every Phase in WotLK, and eventually outshines Frost during the last phase, with the Icecrown Citadel raid. They have good single-target, AoE, and cleave damage potential but they wont be topping the DPS meters in the majority of scenarios. The B-Tier represents mediocre damage specializations. The DK Tier 9 set,Thassarians Battlegear, has powerful set bonuses that keep us firmly planted in S-tier. Although, ideally the Afflictions should be providing Summons & Healthstones, as Demonology does not generate any Soul Shards with their standard rotation. Furthermore, we gain access to the new 3% haste buff (Improved Moonkin Form, shared with Ret Paladins) and 13% spell damage debuff (Earth and Moon, shared with Warlocks and Unholy DKs). Retribution Paladins will perform very well in fights such as Kolorgarn, Iron Council, Ignis, Freya, and Mimiron from a pure damage output perspective, however, they will be provide excellent utility throughout the entirety of Ulduar. While the AoE healing effect can certainly be useful, it wont make a tremendous difference in fights where your allies can be quickly burst down. This is why Elemental shaman is ranked S tier in WOTLK Elemental finds itself in the C-tier for the 3rd time, and its not hard to see why our single-target damage just isnt there, as our poor scaling and a disappointing Tier 10 set (Frost Witchs Regalia) have let us down. Feb 21, 2023 By Em Stonham If you're looking for a class in World of Warcraft that offers plenty of variety, you'll love playing as a Shaman. While sure, 2h Enhance didn't pull the same kind of numbers that DW did, you could still use your full set of abilities with a 2h. Both their Single-Target & Cleave damage is great with a lot of tools for both Single-Target and AoE situations. Arcane Mages were a powerhouse for most of TBC, and theyre still very much a powerhouse in early Wrath. Our scaling is superb, but in the earlier phases of the game we lack the crit necessary for Hot Streak to take off, meaning we lag significantly far behind our Arcane brothers, finding ourselves in the B-tier. Shaman builds | WoWWiki | Fandom Fan of Knives ability already does top levels of AoE damage, but the fact that it applies poisons (including Deadly Poison for the 2-set bonus effect) means Combat Rogues will also be constantly regenerating a high amount of energy in AoE-heavy fights, thus overcoming Fan of Knives major weakness its high energy cost. In addition to this, the composition of the group will also affect the maximum performance of any particular class. In this guide, we will focus on one build for the Enhancement Shaman - it revolves around the use of Stormstrike and Lightning Shield. We gain a whole lot of DPS tools focused around bleed effects, meaning we are no longer a tank spec that can occasionally DPS if tanking is not needed flipping the roles, many Ferals will now be cat mains that occasionally off-tank when needed. Its damage teeters on the edge of viability, which isnt really a compliment. The A-Tier represents strong DPS specializations that offer a great amount of damage and utility, but not the best possible damage output. The second is a 5% Critical Strike Chance increase through Leader of the Pack. However, the spec itself scales slowly, meaning that Arcane Mages will be a lot stronger, especially in the beginning and throughout the progression of Ulduar. Their utility is also lackluster as they only provide a single raid tool, Tricks of the Trade. Our new cooldown, Shadow Dance, gives us okay damage for 8 seconds, but then we go back to dealing some of the worst damage in the game. The main issue with this specialization and the reason why it remains stuck in B-Tier is its lack of Execution Damage and Cleave Damage that the other two Warlock Specializations provide. At Warcraft Tavern were huge fans of World of Warcraft. Marksmanship sees a slight drop in power in Phase 4, falling to the A-tier as some of the classes with better scaling overtake us. Arcane also suffers from a complete lack of Cleave Damage which places them way below all the other specializations capable of dealing large amounts of AoE damage. This specialization is far better suited for beginner players and for PvP content, especially since their 3% damage buff is easily replaced by Arcane Mages. Those specific specializations provide outstanding performances throughout the entirety of ToGC, with both peak BiS Gear and Progression Gear taken into account. It also has high burst damage and utility, both of which are especially great in PvP scenarios. In fact, the opposite is true by most metrics, they belong in the S-tier. Since the Demonic Pact is so powerful, many raids choose to offer their loot to Demonology Warlocks before gearing up any other caster, with the exception of Affliction Warlocks. While Warlocks in general saw a utility nerf, Demonology didnt have that much to begin with, and it now gets access to Demonic Pact. Near the beginning of the expansion they are average at best but in later phases, they are top-tier cleaving machines. is magic, and thus bypasses armor. Despite two very strong set bonuses on our new Tier 8 set (Sanctification Garb), the spec simply lacks the single-target damage needed to compete with the DPS superstars, so it drops to the C-Tier. Armor penetration starts to become more common in Phase 2 with the introduction of the Ulduar raid, which means that physical DPS classes are starting to ascend toward their most powerful states. Since Ulduars fights have been prolonged, Arcane Mages find themselves having a harder time with mana management, however, if Arcane Mage players do manage to find the right balance between pumping damage and maintaining a healthy mana pool, they can be very powerful. Still, this isnt a very big issue, and many raids will elect to bring multiple Fire Mages in Phase 4, as having ranged damage dealers putting out this much DPS is a godsend. We will be ranking each DPS class available for the expansion, as well as explaining each classs position on the tier list. Most likely a resto shaman for mana tide. Many Hunters choose to start out as Survival and then switch to Marksmanship once more armor penetration is available. We are the definition of a late bloomer: while our damage is just about average in the first 3 phases of the game, Phase 4 turns is into absolute monsters of cleave damage, thanks to Shadowmourne and our overpowered Tier 10 set 2-piece bonus.