Elemental Shaman DPS Guide - Midnight (12.0.1)

This The War Within Elemental Shaman Guide highlights all the significant changes introduced to the Elemental Shaman class in the The War Within expansion. Shamans remain one of the most intriguing, challenging, and rewarding classes for players eager to harness the power of the elements.

Elemental Shaman Overview

Elemental Shaman is a damage-dealing spellcaster with a rich and flexible toolkit. Elemental Shamans can approach a multitude of environments without feeling compromised. The specialization has unmatched utility in many scenarios and can be customized to adapt to a variety of damage profiles. Overall, this specialization has a tool or talent for most scenarios.

Elemental Shaman Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• Amazing AoE burst especially when "preloaded" and good single-target DPS with Stormbringer.
• Excellent single-target DPS and solid cleave with Farseer.
• Enjoyable and interesting gameplay flow.
• Several talent variants are available and fairly close in damage.
• Unmatched utility outside of Raids.

Weaknesses

• Survivability when Earth Elemental is down is low.
• Stormbringer hero talents come with basically mandatory WeakAura requirements.
• High variance due to Deeply Rooted Elements RNG.

Elemental Shaman Basic Gameplay

Elemental Shaman is a spec with simple fundamentals for both single-target and AoE, with a wide array of customization available from your talents. Some talents allow for Elemental to be very easy to play or very complex and rewarding.

Most of your time in single-target will be spent casting Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt, while maintaining Flame Shock and casting Earth Shock or Elemental Blast once you have enough Maelstrom. Beyond these fundamentals, gameplay largely depends on your talent choices.

Elemental Shaman Changes in Patch 11.2

Elemental did not receive any major mechanical changes in Patch 11.2, but it did get significant buffs, amounting to roughly a 20% single-target damage increase:

• Chain Lightning damage increased by 40% (Farseer: Ancestor).
• Maelstrom Supremacy now increases spender damage by 25% (was 15%) (Farseer).
• Elemental Reverb now increases Lava Burst damage by 20% (was 5%) (Farseer).
• Elemental Blast and Earth Shock damage increased by 25% (not in PvP).
• Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, Icefury, and Earthen Rage damage increased by 35% (not in PvP).
• Frost Shock damage increased by 50% (not in PvP).

Elemental Shaman Leveling Guide for The War Within

Elemental Shaman Leveling Playstyle

Elemental Shaman is excellent at questing when your cooldowns are up, but much slower when they are not. Generally, you will be slower than many other specs at pure questing because your raw burst, multidotting, or ability to reliably pull half a zone is not as good as many other specializations. That being said, with smart cooldown use, you can take on just about anything, especially when your trusty Earth Elemental and Bloodlust/Heroism are available. In a way, this playstyle favors taking breaks, enjoying the new zones, and reading quest text rather than speedrunning, which is what we would recommend!

Elemental Shaman is also well-suited to dungeons, with a wide toolkit that allows them to help get any group out of almost any bad situation. Their AoE damage is especially powerful when using a dedicated dungeon build.

Gear Options

When leveling, always choose the piece of loot with the highest item level. The only exception to this rule is if you have a Ring or Necklace with a slightly lower item level but 2 secondary stats instead of 1.

War Mode Talents to Level Up as an Elemental Shaman

If you're willing to take the risk and use War Mode, the following PvP talents are recommended for leveling or open-world content. Keep in mind that you can experiment with different options. PvP talents can be freely changed at any time.

Your first PvP talent slot unlocks at Level 20, your second at Level 30, and your final slot at Level 40. Below is a curated list of PvP talents considered good for leveling.

• Totem of Wrath - Increases the critical effect of spells of allies within 40 yards by 20% for 15 seconds, with a 40-second cooldown. It's excellent for solo play and great if you're doing outdoor content with others.
• Burrow - Lets you burrow beneath the ground, becoming unattackable, removing movement-impairing effects, and increasing your movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds. When the effect ends, enemies within 6 yards are knocked into the air and take Physical Damage. This ability has a 2-minute cooldown.
• Static Field Totem - Summons a totem at a target location, creating a circle of terrain that enemies cannot move through. It’s extremely handy and versatile crowd control with a 1-minute cooldown.
• Counterstrike Totem - Replicates and reflects damage you take for 15 seconds on a 45-second cooldown. This can be really strong in high-damage areas, dealing chip damage to targets and converting your health pool into additional damage.

We recommend picking 3 of the above talents depending on what you value most. Personally, we recommend the following picks:

Recommended Elemental PvP Talents

• Level 20: Totem of Wrath or Burrow
• Level 30: Burrow or Totem of Wrath (if you prefer a "get out of jail" card)
• Level 40: Counterstrike Totem or Static Field Totem, depending on personal preference.

Elemental Shaman DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents

© Wowhead

Copy the Elemental Shaman talents, paste them into the game.

Farseer Raid

Stormbringer M+

PvP Talents (War Mode)

In the open world, you can enable "War Mode," which provides the following benefits:

• Enables PvP talents in the outdoor world.
• Increases World Quest rewards by 10% at maximum level.
• Grants 10% more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With these benefits, it is recommended to enable War Mode to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, keep in mind that enabling War Mode makes you available for open-world PvP, so there is the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests. If you need advice on how to fight other players, refer to the link below.

Elemental Shaman War Mode Talents

This section ranks the best PvP talents for leveling and doing solo or small-group PvE content. Below are the recommended Elemental Shaman-specific PvP talents for PvE.

• Totem of Wrath - Increases the critical effect of spells for allies within 40 yards by 20% for 15 seconds with a 40-second cooldown. Great for solo play and outdoor content with others.
• Burrow - Burrow beneath the ground, becoming unattackable, removing movement-impairing effects, and increasing movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds. When the effect ends, enemies within 6 yards are knocked into the air and take Physical Damage. This ability has a 2-minute cooldown.
• Static Field Totem - Summons a totem at a target location that creates a circle of terrain enemies cannot move through. It’s very handy and versatile crowd control with a 1-minute cooldown.
• Counterstrike Totem - Replicates and reflects damage taken for 15 seconds with a 45-second cooldown. Strong in high-damage areas, converting your health pool into additional damage.
• Shamanism - Transforms Bloodlust/Heroism into a weaker, shorter-duration cooldown, up every minute. It lasts 10 seconds, increases Haste by 20%, and does not apply Sated/Exhaustion. A decent option, but I prefer the stronger, rarer cooldown.
• Grounding Totem - Handy in PvE but primarily strong in PvP-exclusive activities.
• Unleash Shield - A 20-yard range, 30-second cooldown crowd-control ability, depending on the elemental shield used. For Elemental, it mostly provides a knockback, but it’s not particularly worth picking up for PvE.

We recommend choosing Totem of Wrath, Burrow, and Static Field Totem by default.

Best Hero Talents for Elemental Shaman in The War Within

Raiding Hero Talents for Elemental Shaman

Farseer

Farseer is notably ahead in pure single-target and priority damage. However, it falls behind in multi-target scenarios and becomes much less effective in AoE situations with more than 3 targets. You should use this hero talent on every current encounter, except for Ovi'nax.

Stormbringer

Stormbringer is superior to Farseer in situations with significant AoE, but it lags behind Farseer in single-target damage by enough that it is not currently recommended for raiding in the Liberation of Undermine.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Elemental Shaman

Stormbringer

Stormbringer provides top-tier AoE and Cleave damage and is still decent in single-target situations. The added mechanics can be somewhat cumbersome to track but provide significant power in Mythic+.

Farseer

Farseer remains far behind in Mythic+, though it could be viable for keys where AoE isn't a major factor, and you mostly encounter small packs of enemies.

Elemental Shaman DPS Stat Priority

The Basics of Stats for Elemental Shaman

Intelligence is your most important stat. You should generally equip your highest item level gear and simulate yourself from there for adjustments specific to your gear.

Note that in some extreme cases, stacking too much of one stat can lead to significant diminishing returns beyond the usual relative values.

For exact ratios, this will vary depending on your talents and other factors. To obtain the exact relative values for your character, we recommend simming your character.

Ideal Secondary Stats Spread for Elemental Shamans

Out of 100% of your secondary stats, you ideally want to have a spread of roughly:

• 40% into Mastery
• 25% into Haste
• 25% into Versatility
• 10% into Critical Strike

Note that these are for Farseer and optimized for raid fights. AoE favors Critical Strike more than Versatility, and Stormbringer also values Critical Strike more in general.

When close to reaching BiS item level, you will have around 45,000 secondary stats. This means you should have something resembling:

• 16,000 Haste
• 16,000 Mastery
• 4,500 to 9,000 Critical Strike
• 4,500 to 9,000 Versatility

Note that due to the possibility of having many different items granting additional secondaries on use or on proc, this can vary quite a bit. Best-in-Slots, House of Cards (and similar trinkets), Cyrce's Circlet, and weapon enchants complicate things.

Statistics Explanations for Elemental Shaman

Mastery (Mastery: Elemental Overload) increases all your Elemental and Physical damage done and causes some of your spells to have a chance to deal additional damage and generate extra Maelstrom. Note that with the Mountains Will Fall talent, your Mastery will apply to your spenders, making Mastery more valuable.

Haste increases the speed of your casts as well as the tick rate of your damage-over-time effects.

Critical Strike increases the damage of your spells. It’s worth noting that Elemental Shaman has multiple talents increasing their Critical Strike damage.

Versatility increases all damage done and reduces all damage taken.

Elemental Shaman DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Single-target Rotation / Action Priority List

1. Cast Storm Elemental.
2. Cast Stormkeeper. Make sure it is available during Ascendance, ideally cast two GCDs before it (you want to cast Primordial Wave if talented immediately before Ascendance).
3. Use Ancestral Swiftness.
4. Cast Primordial Wave if Flame Shock is present.
5. Cast Ascendance, sync it with on-use trinkets, Bloodlust, Tempered Potion, Splintered Elements.
6. Cast Earth Shock if Ascendance will fade within the next 3 seconds.
7. Apply Flame Shock or refresh it when it has 6 seconds or less remaining.
8. Cast Earth Shock whenever you are less than 15 Maelstrom from capping or when Master of the Elements is up.
9. Cast Icefury but consume each of the two Fusion of Elements buffs before you cast it again.
10. Cast Lava Burst if Flame Shock is up and Master of the Elements is not up.
11. Cast Lightning Bolt if empowered by Stormkeeper.
12. Cast Icefury-empowered Frost Shock. It can be worth keeping one charge for movement.
13. Cast Lightning Bolt.
14. Cast Frost Shock while moving.

Single-Target Opener

1. Cast Storm Elemental ~4 seconds before the pull.
2. Cast Stormkeeper ~3 seconds before the pull.
3. Cast Lava Burst ~1.5 seconds before the pull so it lands right after the pull.
4. Cast Flame Shock so it hits right before your Lava Burst reaches the enemy.
5. Use Ancestral Swiftness and cast Primordial Wave (macro recommended).
6. Cast Ascendance with on-use trinkets and Tempered Potion.
7. Cast Lava Burst.
8. If at any point you get Icefury, cast it immediately but always cast a Lava Burst before your Stormkeeper-empowered Lightning Bolt!
9. Cast Lightning Bolt.
10. Cast Lava Burst.
11. Cast Lightning Bolt.
12. Proceed with regular rotation.

Multi-target Rotation / Action Priority List

If you are only fighting 2 targets, you still want to keep up the single-target rotation, but you use:

1. Cast Chain Lightning instead of Lightning Bolt.
2. Cast Earthquake instead of Earth Shock.
3. Apply a second Flame Shock on the second target before casting Primordial Wave, as the added damage and Haste from Splintered Elements make this worth it.
4. Cast Storm Elemental.
5. Cast Stormkeeper. Make sure it is available during Ascendance.
6. Cast Ascendance, sync it with on-use trinkets, Bloodlust, Tempered Potion, and Splintered Elements.
7. Cast Earthquake.
8. Cast Tempest.
9. Consume the Fusion of the Elements buff from Icefury.
10. Advanced! Feel free to skip this step: Cast Icefury. Do not cast it again until you consume its Fusion of Elements buff by casting one of these spells:
• Ascendance
• Instant Lava Burst via Lava Surge  if a Flame Shock is present AND you can follow it up with a spender
• Flame Shock if none are present on any target.
11. Cast Chain Lightning.
12. Cast Frost Shock while moving when they are empowered by Icefury.
13. Use Lava Surge while moving.

Cooldown Usage for Elemental Shaman

Before using each of your cooldowns, you should take special care to consider several factors. Some of our offensive cooldowns have lengthy recharge times, but when correctly utilized, they can be responsible for a large percentage of our damage output. You should always take into account:

• Your raid's Bloodlust / Heroism / Time Warp usage.
• The mechanics of the current boss, including intermissions and abilities that necessitate movement.
• The spawn timers of any adds that might be present, as we may want to use or delay certain cooldowns with respect to cleave and AoE.

Ascendance

Make sure you have as many things as possible lined up with Ascendance:

• Bloodlust / Heroism / Time Warp
• Tempered Potion
• Splintered Elements right before or immediately at the start
• Storm Elemental cast before
• Stormkeeper
• On-use trinkets

Before each Ascendance use, ensure no boss mechanics will interfere, such as intermissions, boss movement, or mechanics that will force you to move. It can be a good idea to use Spiritwalker's Grace to ensure full DPS uptime. If using this talent, try casting Elemental Blast immediately before activating Ascendance.

Do not let yourself Maelstrom cap; be sure to cast your spender when or before your next cast would cause you to go above maximum Maelstrom.

Fire/Storm Elemental

Keep in mind that all our Elementals' damage abilities are now available to autocast, and so in single-target in particular, you do not need to manually cast their abilities, although in other situations, it may be worth trying to manually cast Meteor or Stormfury.

Remember not to use Earth Elemental when your Fire/Storm Elemental is still around if you use Primal Elementalist, as it will despawn the latter.

Stormkeeper

Stormkeeper is used more or less on cooldown on pure single-target encounters.

On multiple-target fights or fights with intermittent cleave and AoE, it can be a good idea to delay your Stormkeeper until you are able to Chain Lightning 5 targets (or 6 with Surge of Power).

Surge of Power

In most scenarios, there are two main uses for Surge of Power. Either you use it on Chain Lightning in order to hit a 6th target if possible, or, in a single-target fight, you use it on Lightning Bolt for additional Mastery: Elemental Overload procs.

In addition, if fighting against multiple targets within 8 yards of each other, you may want to empower your Flame Shock to spread to another target, but only if Flame Shock is not already present on either target or is within the pandemic window, and it is not possible or practical to use Liquid Magma Totem or Primordial Wave.

If you do not know what the "pandemic window" is, look here.

Finally, if you are using Stormkeeper as well, it is a solid damage increase to have Surge of Power available for at least one of the Lightning Bolt casts, ideally both if it is practical.

Academic Information for Elemental Shaman

Maelstrom Management

You should avoid casting Maelstrom-generating spells above a certain Maelstrom threshold that would make you go over the Maelstrom cap. Due to the interaction of various talents and procs with this threshold, providing exact numbers would be impractical. Instead, we generally recommend using Swelling Maelstrom and following our recommended priorities to avoid overcapping. Keep this in mind when pooling Maelstrom as well. It is likely that these spells will overload. Therefore, if you cast Lava Burst and would go over your Maelstrom cap if you gained more than 8 Maelstrom, it is likely you will overcap Maelstrom and waste valuable resources. In practice, it is safer to cast these spells at lower Maelstrom levels to avoid wasting your overload procs. The key to success is managing all your separate procs without overcapping Maelstrom.

Lava Burst and Flame Shock

The reason why Flame Shock should always be up on your target is because:

• Each tick has a chance to proc Lava Surge , which resets the cooldown of Lava Burst.
• Your Lava Burst will always critically hit if Flame Shock is on the target. This is very important due to Elemental Fury and our multiple other sources of Critical Strike Damage.

You should only cast Lava Burst when Flame Shock is active on the target.

Flame Shock benefits from Pandemic, meaning you can refresh it any time it has less than 30% of its original maximum duration remaining, and the remaining duration will be added to the new debuff. Therefore, you can refresh Flame Shock without wasting any duration when it has 5 seconds or less remaining, and it will be extended by 18 seconds. For example, if your Flame Shock has 5 seconds left and you refresh it, your new Flame Shock would last 23 seconds. Note that these numbers are doubled if you have a Fire Elemental in play.

AoE Target Caps

• Tempest has no target limit but reduces damage beyond 5 targets.
• Meteor is limited to 8 targets.
• Earthquake and Liquid Magma Totem have a soft-cap at 20 targets. This cap is high enough that it should rarely matter.

Elemental Shaman DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Elemental Shaman in The War Within

We highly recommend using Raidbots to simulate your character's ideal gems and enchants, as they might differ from general recommendations.

The best stat for Elemental Shamans is Mastery, followed by Haste, then Critical Strike. You will most likely want to gem for Mastery.

You should use Elusive Blasphemite in one socket. To gain adequate benefits from its unique effect, use at least one hybrid gem of each color except orange (Stamina). Fill remaining sockets with whichever secondary stat you are lacking—likely Haste and/or Mastery.

If you do not value movement speed at all, you can use Culminating Blasphemite, but note that its unique effect is fairly minor for Elemental Shamans.

Weapon Oil for Elemental Shaman

You should apply Algari Mana Oil to your weapon every couple of hours.

If you are using Improved Flametongue Weapon—for example, in a PvP build—do not use this oil, as it does not stack with the Flametongue Weapon imbue.

Best Flask for Elemental Shaman in The War Within

Always use Flask of Alchemical Chaos for the best performance.

Best Potion for Elemental Shaman in The War Within

Your primary stat potion should be Tempered Potion. Use this during your cooldown windows or when under the effects of Bloodlust or Heroism. You can also obtain Fleeting Tempered Potion from Alchemist-spawned Cauldrons.

Keep a stock of Invigorating Healing Potions for emergency healing. If a Warlock is in your group, grab a Healthstone as well. Do not macro these together; use them independently for better survival. Fleeting Invigorating Healing Potion is another option from Cauldrons.

Best Food for Elemental Shaman in The War Within

Since secondary stats outperform primary stats point-for-point, always use secondary stat food. All the following options are equally effective:

• Beledar's Bounty
• Outsider's Provisions
• Jester's Board
• Empress' Farewell
• The Sushi Special (Feast)

If affordable, use Crystallized Augment Runes for a primary stat boost. These are costly and consumed on death, so use them strategically.

Best Enchants for Elemental Shaman in The War Within

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths (pure single-target) Enchant Weapon - Authority of Radiant Power (best overall)
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Speed
Legs	Sunset Spellthread
Boots	Enchant Boots - Defender's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Haste Enchant Ring - Radiant Mastery
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Burrowing Rapidity

Elemental Shaman DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Elemental Shaman

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Nathrian Usurper's Mask	Halls of Atonement
Neck	Momma's Mega Medallion	Operation: Floodgate
Shoulder	Fangs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Cloak	Reshii Wraps	Campaign
Chest	Furs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Bracers	Glyph-Etched Vambraces	Crafted — Leatherworking
Gloves	Claws of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Soulbinder Naazindhri in Manaforge Omega
Belt	Clasp of Furious Freedom	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Legs	Tassets of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Loom’ithar in Manaforge Omega
Boots	Interloper's Chain Boots	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Band of the Shattered Soul	Dimensius The All Devouring in Manaforge Omega
Ring #2	High Nerubian Signet	Ara-Kara, City of Echoes
Trinket #1	Araz's Ritual Forge	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #2	Diamantine Voidcore	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Weapon	Voidglass Kris	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Off-Hand	Vagabond's Torch	Crafted — Inscription

Best Trinkets for Elemental Shaman in The War Within Season 3

Raiding Trinket Tier List for Elemental Shaman

This Trinket Tier List is single-target biased, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Raiding. When Trinkets are equal on single-target, I will "break the tie" by looking into which Trinket performs better in AoE/mixed scenarios.

S-Tier

• Araz's Ritual Forge
• Diamantine Voidcore WITH SET
• Azhiccaran Parapodia

A-Tier

• Astral Antenna
• Lily of the Eternal Weave
• So'leah's Secret Technique
• Ara-Kara Sacbrood
• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• Signet of the Priory
• Observer's Soul Fetters
• Naazindhri's Mystic Lash
• Gigazap's Zap-Cap
• Depleted K'areshi Battery
• Incorporeal Essence-Gorger

B-Tier

• Diamantine Voidcore WITHOUT SET
• Mereldar's Toll
• Harvester's Edict
• Perfidious Projector
• House of Cards
• Mug's Moxie Jug
• Sunblood Amethyst
• Soulbreaker's Sigil
• Essence-Hunter's Eyeglass
• Automatic Footbomb Dispenser
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky
• Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope

C-Tier

• Harvester's Edict
• Void-Touched Fragment

Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Elemental Shaman

This Trinket Tier List is AoE-biased for Mythic+, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Mythic+.

S-Tier

• Araz's Ritual Forge
• Azhiccaran Parapodia
• Astral Antenna

A-Tier

• Lily of the Eternal Weave
• Diamantine Voidcore WITH SET
• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• So'leah's Secret Technique
• Ara-Kara Sacbrood
• Observer's Soul Fetters

B-Tier

• Signet of the Priory
• Naazindhri's Mystic Lash
• Depleted K'areshi Battery
• Mug's Moxie Jug
• Gigazap's Zap-Cap
• Incorporeal Essence-Gorger 
• Mereldar's Toll
• Automatic Footbomb Dispenser
• Essence-Hunter's Eyeglass
• Diamantine Voidcore WITHOUT SET
• House of Cards
• Void-Touched Fragment
• Screams of a Forgotten Sky
• Perfidious Projector
• Sunblood Amethyst

C-Tier

• Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope
• Soulbreaker's Sigil

The War Within Season 3 Tier Set for Elemental Shaman

The 11.2 Elemental Tier Set bonuses are all valuable without being overpowered. You’ll typically use Farseer for raid content and Stormbringer for most Mythic+ scenarios. These bonuses do not significantly alter your rotation or talent choices for single-target, aside from dropping Primal Elementalist for Liquid Magma Totem with the 4-piece. In Mythic+, once you acquire the 4-piece, you can drop some elemental pet synergy talents and move toward Splintered Elements.

Farseer Set Bonus

Shaman Farseer 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Ancestral Swiftness summons an empowered Ancestor for 15 seconds that deals 10% increased damage and healing.

This additional Ancestor functions exactly like the regular one from Ancestral Swiftness, except that Ancient Fellowship procs still spawn normal Ancestors. You’ll generally prefer using Latent Wisdom anyway. This is a strong 2-piece bonus that significantly enhances damage about half the time. There’s no need to specifically track it—just play as usual. However, holding Ancestral Swiftness briefly for key targets can be worthwhile.

Shaman Farseer 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Ancestral Swiftness increases your spell damage and healing by 25%, reduces spell mana costs by 25%, and increases the recharge rate of Lava Burst by 50% for 8 seconds.

The primary strength here is the increased damage window. It’s worth tracking those 8 seconds to maximize your hardest-hitting abilities, similar to how you’d optimize the end of Ascendance. The mana reduction has little impact, and the Lava Burst recharge boost translates to fewer than two extra casts per minute.

Stormbringer Set Bonus

Shaman Stormbringer 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Ascendance has a 100% chance to grant a charge of Tempest , and every 9 Awakening Storms  now activates Ascendance for 6 seconds.

Both Deeply Rooted Elements and the 2-piece effect grant Tempest  charges, but only when Ascendance is inactive. Otherwise, the proc behaves like a normal Deeply Rooted Elements activation. You may need a WeakAura to track Awakening Storms procs. This bonus also gives a consistent burst increase by immediately granting Tempest  when you activate Ascendance.

Shaman Stormbringer 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Nature damage increased by 3%, and Ascendance empowers your next two Tempest  casts to gather a storm above that deals heavy Nature damage to the primary target and reduced damage to nearby enemies after 1.5 seconds.

Similar to the 2-piece, Deeply Rooted Elements procs can also trigger this effect unless you’re already in Ascendance. This is a strong multi-target bonus, with secondary targets taking around 70% of the original damage. The storm effect lasts 30 seconds and can stack multiple times.

Addons for Elemental Shaman

Generic Addons for Elemental Shaman

• ElvUI
  • ElvUI is a complete replacement for the default User Interface. It is extremely user-friendly and customizable, making it a great starting point for your UI.
• Weak Auras
  • Weak Auras is the most important AddOn for players aiming to master their class. It allows you to create and display customizable visual cues for buffs, cooldowns, and procs.
• Boss Mods
  • BigWigs Bossmods
  • Deadly Boss Mods
• Name Plates
  • KUI Nameplates
  • TidyPlates
• Damage Meters
  • Details

Extra AddOns

• Doom Cooldown Pulse
• Angry Assignments

WeakAuras for Elemental Shaman

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Elemental Shaman and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Elemental Shaman Frequently Asked Questions

How Good is Elemental Shaman in The War Within?

Elemental Shamans are in a strong position across all content, particularly excelling in Mythic+. There is no content where Elemental Shamans are not viable at a high level.

What Trinkets Am I Looking to Get for Raiding?

The best trinket choices vary depending on content, item level, and stat priority. You can find up-to-date recommendations in our Gear section.

What Talents Do I Use in Raids?

There are multiple viable builds, depending on whether you are focusing on single-target or AoE damage. You can find optimized raid talent builds on our Talent guide.

How Many Targets Should I Cast Flame Shock On?

• In single-target, cast Flame Shock before it expires, unless Primordial Wave or Liquid Magma Totem is available soon.
• In multi-target, do not manually apply Flame Shock—let Primordial Wave or Liquid Magma Totem handle spreading it.

What Stats Do I Want as an Elemental Shaman?

• Mastery is your strongest secondary stat, improving damage output across all scenarios.
• Haste is also important, especially for reducing cast times and generating more Lava Surge procs.
• Critical Strike and Versatility provide secondary benefits but are lower priority.

How Much Haste Should Elemental Shamans Use?

Haste has no hard cap, but around 12,000 Haste is optimal for Best-in-Slot 639 gear. Always prioritize more stats over perfect distributions.

What Piece is Better, X or Y?

The best way to compare gear is to simulate your character.

• Use Raidbots to determine which gear pieces provide the biggest upgrade.
• WarcraftLogs can show what top-performing Shamans are using in different encounters.

Should I Use Lava Burst During Storm Elemental?

Yes. Storm Elemental does not change your rotation, so you should continue casting Lava Burst as usual.

Do Multiple Earthquakes Stack?

Yes, casting multiple Earthquakes at the same time fully stacks their damage.

What Talents Do I Use in Dungeons?

The best dungeon talents depend on:

• Your group composition (who is providing utility or damage buffs).
• The dungeon itself (certain builds may work better for different boss encounters).
• Affixes (some require higher burst, others favor sustained damage).

Check the Mythic+ section of our guide for the best baseline builds.

Fire or Lightning Build?

Most Elemental builds mix both Fire and Lightning abilities. However, in AoE-heavy builds, it is possible to focus almost entirely on Lightning damage while ignoring most Fire spells.

How Many Targets Make Chain Lightning Worth Using Over Lightning Bolt?

Two targets make Chain Lightning better than Lightning Bolt.

• If you have a Stormkeeper proc and only two targets, you should still use Lightning Bolt instead.

How Many Targets Make Earthquake Better Than Earth Shock?

• If at least two stacked enemies will survive the full duration, Earthquake becomes more effective than Earth Shock.
• If there is a high-priority target, continue using single-target spenders instead.
• If using Echoes of Great Sundering, always alternate between Earth Shock and Earthquake, even in single-target fights.

Which Earthquake Talent Should I Pick?

Unless you strongly dislike manual placement, the cursor-targeted version of Earthquake is better.

• Use an @cursor macro for faster, more efficient placement.

Which Race is Best for Elemental Shaman?

For raw DPS in a Patchwerk scenario:

• Horde: Tauren is the best choice.
• Alliance: Dwarf performs best.
  However, racial abilities have minimal impact overall, so pick a race you enjoy.

Farseer or Stormbringer?

Stormbringer builds are superior in almost all situations.

• Farseer builds are still viable for pure single-target fights when using talents focused aroundErupting Lava.

What Flasks, Potions, Food, Enchants, and Gems Should I Use?

You can find up-to-date consumable recommendations in our Gems, Enchants, and Consumables section.

What Cooldowns Does Flash of Lightning Reduce?

None. This part of the talent was removed.