Totem Talk: Enhancement talents, Page 2
by Rich Maloy 
Mar 7th 2010 at 4:00PM
Tier 8
Static Shock - 3 points - [PvE] - This is an excellent investment of 3 talent points for PvE and I consider it required for raiding builds. Your Lightning Shield will do passive damage -- not a lot, but from a damage-per-mana or damage-per-cooldown perspective this is a very efficient talent. For PvP this is useful only in the most aggressive builds. I skip this talent entirely on Stoney and use Water Shield for arenas.
Lava Lash - 1 point - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. While not as potent in arenas due to having Frostbrand Weapon on the offhand, Lava Lash gives us something to use in melee range when SS is on cooldown.
Improved Stormstrike - 2 points - [PvE] [PvP] - This is the second of three mana conservation/regeneration talents (again, not counting SR or MQ). In PvP investing 2/2 for the 100% chance of mana return is, in my opinion, essential. In PvE most raiding enhancement shaman opt for 1/2 counting on the 50% chance of mana return to smooth out over the long run. Whether you go 1/2 or 2/2 is a judgment call based on your typical mana situation.
Tier 9
Mental Quickness - 3 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Regen some mana and convert that AP into spell power!
Shamanistic Rage - 1 point - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Oh how I love Shammy Rage. Let me count the ways. You fill my mana pool. You save me from harm and filthy rogues. And with my 2pc tier 10 you make me a formidable damage dealing source.
Earthen Power - 2 points - [PvP] - Absolutely essential for PvP. The Earthbind pulse removing snare effects makes that totem one of the primary earth totems of choice. Plus reducing enemy attack speed by an additional 10% is an added kicker. Invest 2/2 for PvP; skip for PvE.
Tier 10
Maelstrom Weapon - 5 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Instant cast Lightning Bolts, Chain Lightnings, Hexes, and healing spells. Yes even healing spells. Not that anyone actually uses this to cast instant heals... or do they?
Tier 11
Feral Spirit - 1 point - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. I love my wolves almost as much as I love Shammy Rage. Actually I love my wolves more. I was more excited about this talent than any other coming into Wrath. Absolutely required for every enhance build.
Elemental tree
Jumping into the ele side of things I'm only covering those talents that we'll actually use. This tree is where we get to complement our melee attacks with increased elemental damage. The blend of physical and magical damage is one of the reasons I love playing enhancement so much. Dive in below for some added damage bonuses!
Tier 1
Concussion - 5 points - [PvE] [PvP] - With all of our other mana conservation/regeneration talents clear the first tier by going 5/5 here and skip Convection. Extra damage is good.
Tier 2
Call of Flame - 3 points [PvE] - Did I mention extra damage? Take 3/3 here for PvE and enjoy. For PvP I find I'm spending my points elsewhere and do not always have room for CoF.
Elemental Warding - 3 points - [PvP] - This is a no-brainer for PvP, espeically arenas, put 3 points in here. Skip for PvE.
Elemental Devastation - 3 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Absolutely essential for PvE and a very good idea for PvP. This is a great talent to link our melee and magical damage together. As with most PvP builds I've seen a lot of variation and some only take 2/3 as a filler to get down to tier 3. Whether 2/3 or 3/3 these are talents well spent in the ele tree for PvP.
Tier 3
Reverberation - 5 points - Oh, Reverberation. This talent could fill an article all to itself. If you're reading this post for ideas on how to spec your enhancement shaman and you don't want to run extensive simulations then skip this entirely. It is a big investment and can have benefits, but I caution all but the most dedicated EnhSim user against investing in reverb.
Elemental Focus - 1 point - [PvE] - When Fire Nova was changed from a totem to a spell and thus becoming a part of our rotation, Ele Focus came back into fashion. In fact of the three mana conservation/regeneration talents I keep talking about (SF, ISS, and EF) I use this one and 1/2 Improved Stormstrike (ISS). In 10s and 25s I rarely struggle with mana even if I'm spamming Fire Nova on every cooldown. I highly recommend this for PvE. It can go either way in PvP depending on your mana levels.
Elemental Fury - 5 points - [PvE] [PvP]- A full 5/5 invested in in this talent will double our magical spell crits and so is absolutely essential for PvE builds. I also highly recommend it even in the most defensive PvP builds, though you may not have enough points to max it out.
Tier 4
Improved Fire Nova - 2 points - [PvE] - Last but certainly not least our new friend: Fire Nova. Mike Sacco and I feel the same way about it: BOOM! Absolutely invest in this for PvE and have fun watching yourself move up the meters on AoE trash pulls. Actually, where I see the most benefit to this are on heavy add based boss fights such as Anub and Ol' Lichy himself.
I really wanted to cover glyphs this week as well, but we're too far along already. Tune in next week as I review enhancement shaman glyphs. And if you're still reading this I commend you! +10 Achievement points for attention span.
May all your hits be crits!
Show your totemic mastery by reading Totem Talk, whether reading Mike Sacco's Elemental edition, Joe Perez's coverage of Restoration or Rich Maloy's Enhancement edition, we have you covered.Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Elmo Mar 7th 2010 4:35PM
I find myself drowning in Mana, especially since I use Shamanistic Rage every cooldown for the T10 2set.
According to elitistjerks it's best to lose 2/2 imp Stormstrike, Elemental Focus 1/2 imp Stormstrike Sham Focus.
anyway I only have Sham Focus left and still easily manage to stay above 50% mana at all times
Heuer Mar 7th 2010 7:43PM
I do not get the Elemental Focus thing. 100% chance to gain back 20% of your mana once every 10 seconds > reduction of Mana cost for instant cast for two spells every time you spell crit. I just don't get this. Not to mention, I never EVER go out of mana in 25 man.
Heuer Mar 7th 2010 7:45PM
edit: 40% mana reduction for your next two damage or healing spells NOT instant cast.
Edge Mar 7th 2010 11:33PM
It's just the fact that it works for Fire Nova. It helps a lot in Heroics, I've noticed. But yeah I end up with my mana bar not even moving on those rare occasions I do big raids.
Res Mar 9th 2010 6:17PM
In practice elemental focus is great. I see clear casting proc all the time, and it helps so much with fire nova, which I spam whenever possible for the many numbers and pretty graphics. :) I also never have mana problems running this set up. I don't notice the difference at all from dropping to 1/2 imp SS.
Kylenne Mar 7th 2010 5:49PM
I hit 80 last night on my enhancement shammy so this is article is timely for me. I actually find imp ghost wolf to be pretty invaluable when soloing and in five mans, particularly in PoS. Being able to move quickly to clear permafrost stacks is very helpful, particularly if the healer's not so geared. And it helps immensely when I'm trying to tag mobs for dailies during primetime on my high pop server.
Yes, it's a dps loss compared to some of the other talents, but I'm not nearly raid ready anyway, and in the meantime it's convenient. I'm still doing fairly solid damage for a fresh 80; gearing is more my problem at the moment (I think I might get a full resto and elemental set before i replace these damn heirloom maces I'm rocking).
alpha5099 Mar 7th 2010 7:13PM
Improved Ghost Wolf is an awesome talent, and feel no shame in holding onto it at 80. When 3.3 rolled around, I respecced without it, and I miss it all the time. I can't wait for Cataclysm, where I fully expect that the talent revamp will allow us to invest in IGW without it being a DPS loss.
Stoneybaby Mar 7th 2010 10:55PM
Yeah I was rocking Improved Ghost Wolf for a while in Wrath. I also used it as we were working on Freya to get around in that fight. It's a cool talent for sure. But ultimately my need to max out my output meant dropping it for other talents.
Tusker Mar 8th 2010 8:52AM
You hit 80 last night and you find improved ghost wolf helpful in Pit of Saron? How? I'll assume you had crafters in your guild ready to help you get geared, and I'll also assume that you had people who overlevel the content ready to carry you for the 5-man ICC gear, but the key point is that you were being carried. But as you mentioned, your healers isn't geared, so I wonder who was carrying you.
The points in IGW would be better invested in dps talents or talents that enhance the party, even in Pit of Saron. If you have the spare points to invest in a talent whose sole use is to allow you to run away faster, you're definitely being carried.
Kylenne Mar 8th 2010 12:39PM
@Tusker:
1) Melee dps is a new thing for me. I've played casters exclusively at level cap for my entire WoW career. Being able to move quickly is more important to me than putting out a little more dps, especially with how ludicrously small a fresh 80 shaman's health pool is.
2) Speaking of which, somehow, those two points in IGW did not prevent me from pulling 2500 dps in a mixture of quest greens, dungeon blues and the LWing mail I've made for myself with the only purples being T9 gloves and the crafted 80 starter cape, nor did it prevent my group from one shotting every boss in all three wings of the Icecrown dungeons.
3) Wasting gold on mats for crafted weapons that can and will be replaced within a day or two when said toon doesn't have epic flying is fucking ridiculous. Maybe if we were still in patch 3.0 and things like the Tournament didn't exist, and rep grinds hadn't been nerfed, that would be a smart thing to do.
I repeat: five man dungeons are not 25 man heroic raids. You do not need bleeding edge max dps in a five man. You need to be able to do respectable damage and stay alive.
j4ykworks Mar 7th 2010 5:54PM
Frozen Power is AWESOME for leveling and 5 mans its a second CC. doesnt hurt... Ever. the damage bonus is a pvp thing, but the Snair is Pure WIN! OMG. wheres my monday night macro?
alpha5099 Mar 7th 2010 6:57PM
I love you, Stoney. I was really rather sad when I heard Rossi was leaving Totem Talk, as he was one of my favorite columnists on Wow.com. But after reading you stuff, I suddenly feel like Enh has been being shortchanged for so long. I thought it sounded kind of silly at first when Wow.com announced that they were splitting up the hybrid columns by spec, but it really does help a lot.
Also, high fives all around for all the cool kids who don't like Reverb. The only time I have ever considered investing in it was when I was toying with making a spec solely to get Less-Rabi, which ultimately proved unnecessary.
caribou_drew Mar 7th 2010 10:55PM
Cookie-cutter spec. As seen at http://bighitbox.com/bhb/2009/12/16/updated-enhancement-for-33.html
Nice way to plagerise an article....
Stoneybaby Mar 7th 2010 10:57PM
Good lookin' out Caribou-Drew but I'm the dude from Big Hit Box! Thanks for having my back though! I really do appreciate it :D
Stoneybaby = Rich Maloy
Wedlowe Mar 8th 2010 4:21PM
That was fraking hilarious. Stoney, thanks for all your great posts, here or at BHB!
Edge Mar 7th 2010 11:43PM
I'm gonna be the guy with the dunce cap in the corner aren't I? I tend to use reverberation in my PvP build. Not so much for the shocks, but to knock a second off my wind shear. I don't play arenas, but in BGs I tend to go after clothies, and other casters, and try to spend the rest of my time supporting the big damagers against plate (at least until wolves are off cooldown), and it seems to help a lot.
I still miss my fire nova totem to be honest, in PvP, but it's made up for it in PvE.
Another great article Stoney.
zolikk Mar 8th 2010 8:49AM
Great article. Especially liked the few funny remarks thrown in. I think there should be more of those!
One thing: Lightning Shield+Static Shock doesn't have a damage-per-mana ratio.
Edge Mar 8th 2010 2:10PM
It costs mana to cast Lightning shield after your 9 orbs are gone, so yes it would have a ratio, albeit miniscule, which is why it's such a good talent.
zolikk Mar 8th 2010 2:20PM
Nah, LS has no mana cost. And you can't divide by zero... Just sayin'
Darkwerk Mar 8th 2010 10:24AM
How does mental quickness help with mana regen?
"Mental Quickness - 3 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Regen some mana and convert that AP into spell power!"