Patch 3.1 PTR build 9637 Shaman changes
by Matthew Rossi 
Mar 3rd 2009 at 6:45PM
- Stormstrike now lasts 12 sec (Up from 10 sec), cooldown lowered to 8 sec (Down from 10 sec)
- Unleashed Rage now properly increases the expertise by 3/6/9 instead of the agility.
The change to Unleashed Rage has me on the fence. On the one hand, expertise is not terribly common on physical DPS mail. You want to get roughly 26 expertise as fast as you can, and with this talent you'll be able to push dodges off of the attack table faster. (You'll not that with two pieces of valorous earthshatter you'll still be very short of that goal, leaving you to get your expertise from other sources like amulets, rings, trinkets,cloaks, etc etc or stepping down to leather.) So it fills a nice hole in enhancement itemization. On the other hand, I was really excited about 3% of my agility from the talent. So like I said, on the fence.
Edited to add: when comments are right, they're right. This is a much bigger change for the better than I made it sound in that paragraph. I was desperate enough for expertise to roll on a Ruthlessness tonight, so ultimately, I can't pretend it's not huge. Chalk this one up to me just plain underselling it.
All in all, not a huge PTR patch for shamans. Certainly not like the previous PvP focused one, but not every build can have huge changes for every class.
Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.Filed under: Shaman, Patches, Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ragan Mar 3rd 2009 6:54PM
The change from AGI to Exp on UR is amazing, and anyone who thinks otherwise needs their head checked.
This frees up 76 points on expertise that I can drop in the form of enhchants and gems. I am far more excited for this change than the 3% AGI.
Mengtzu Mar 3rd 2009 7:00PM
Absolutely. You'd need about 2500 agility to match that with a 3% agility buff, assuming agility is as good as expertise (which it isn't, under the cap).
Menchi Mar 3rd 2009 7:07PM
Indeed 9 expertise is 4.5 gems. 3% agi was for most people under 50 agility if you simply replaced 4.5 gems with agi now that's 72 straight agi right there not to mention the added bonus of being able to gem it for hit if you need it or whatever your needs are.
Also you won't need to fight for those silly expertise trinkets, rings, necks and other such items meaning you can actually pick up the good pieces giving you even more dps.
Not jumping for joy at this change means you're not loving your enhancement spec enough. :)
Inferious Mar 3rd 2009 6:55PM
Any idea what Blizzard plan to do for Shaman PvP viability in the near future? Having the Frozen Power snare/root for Resto Shamans would be a godsend in Arena..
JBurg Mar 3rd 2009 7:04PM
I'm pretty excited about the expertise. Agility comes in from all over the place (gear, gems, buffs, etc...), but hitting the dps expertise cap was just hurting. Plus now new leveling shaman won't have to put up with nearly as many parries or dodges.
Stormstrike isn't that big a thing one way or the other. Just gives me a bit of flexibility about when I want to use it. No longer is it "cooldown up must reapply" type ability. I do wonder though if it hits live this way, will it make Lava Lash a thing of the past?
Abremm Mar 3rd 2009 7:05PM
the stormstrike change changes nothing from live, its already 8sec with imp. SS, they just rolled that talent into the baseline. everything will fit together exactly how it does right now on live. the 10sec CD that was initialy on the PTR was surely a buggy remnant that got missed when they changed the imp SS talent.
mistergosh Mar 3rd 2009 8:59PM
Shameless self-promotion time!
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=15443529240&sid=1
Ok, I actually want feedback. Is this a good suggestion? Does anyone likes it? Should I keep pressing on the issue? Do you prefer WF in its current state?
Amaxe Mar 3rd 2009 10:33PM
"The Stormstrike changes are just plain buffs: more time to use the debuff properly and less time waiting for it to cool down. The only concern will be in fitting it properly into a rotation with Lava Lash, which has a six second cooldown. Frankly, it won't be that big a deal, it's still better to have access to it quicker."
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Um, use the most powerful attack when it is up (LB @ 5MW, SS, ES, LL)? Since LL is the least effective, if the sped up SS works to your advantage, why worry?
NeSuKuN Mar 4th 2009 1:02AM
Yeah, shamans don't use a rotation, use a priority system. ^^U
Dragon Mar 3rd 2009 10:43PM
This guy really shouldn't write about enhancement, it's painfully obvious that all he knows how to do is pew pew and heal. The storm strike changes aren't changes, they just rolled SS and imp SS into one talent. This doesn't change our "rotation" at all. We don't have a rotation we have priorities. and he's QQing about 9 expertise over 3% agility? REALLY?
Dave Mar 4th 2009 1:42AM
Do we have our wolves back under leash yet?
jared Mar 4th 2009 2:52AM
is it possible to get somebody writing about enh shamans that actually has a clue?
1 - Stormstrike changes are not buffs, they are bug fixes making it act exactly like live. If you read anything, you'd know that.
2 - Expertise is so much better than 3% Agi that it's embarassing to the community that you think its that great, honestly. You go out of your way to point out it is NOWHERE on mail gear save tier pieces, yet you think Agi is better?
Please, wowinsider. Please find somebody who knows Enh Shamans and let them write about us.
Marsipan Mar 5th 2009 10:32PM
Geeze, cut the guy some slack. He missed the change to Imp SS. Let's all QQ and flame him for it.
Imp SS change will be a nice buff for 5/10 man content where you don't have replenishment. I can see why he would initially thought 3% agi > 9 expertise. 3% agility scales, but doesn't really become good at the current level of agility.
The Expertise is an awesome change. Most shaman have all Expertise gems to get to 26 expertise. This frees up a LOT of gems to pick stats for something else (AP, Crit, Agility).
tgcam Mar 10th 2009 9:05AM
YAY!
expertise = more hits= more maelstrom counters= life saving healing wave.
can't wait.