Totem Talk: Enhancement beta update
by Rich Maloy 
Sep 4th 2010 at 8:00PM
It's been a few weeks since my last beta post. I feel like I'm back in grammar school at good ol' St. Louise de Marillac, "forgive me readers, it's been four weeks since my last beta post. Since then I've been mean to my guild, and I tried to kill my own priest." In game priest, in game! I can't wait to read the letters to the editor about that slip up. Oh well, at least I didn't use the word "casual."
Moving right along to important topics that everyone cares about: beta changes for enhancement shamans! Well, I suppose "everyone" excludes people that are not interested in beta spoilers. Great, two paragraphs in and I've already offended Catholics, priests, and people not interested in beta spoilers. Look on the bright side: at least I didn't use an offensive font this week!
If you are interested in the latest beta changes as they relate to enhancement shamans then please read on. Please note that beyond this point, this post will not further offend your good, wholesome middle Azerothian sensibilities.
Prime glyphs
The latest round of glyphs look very interesting. The glyph list by prime, major, and minor classifications were released into the wild for Shaman as well as another lesser, filthier class. Prime glyphs are the newest category of glyphification, adding an additional three glyph spots for prime-type glyphs. The prime glyphs generally fall into the category of X does Y more. Here are those relevant to enhancement.
- Feral Spirit - Your spirit wolves gain an additional 30% of your attack power.
- Fire Elemental Totem - Reduces the cooldown of your Fire Elemental Totem by 5 minutes.
- Flame Shock - Increases the duration of your Flame Shock by 50%.
- Flametongue Weapon - Increases spell critical strike chance by 2% while Flametongue Weapon is active.
- Lava - Your Lava Burst spell deals 10% more damage.
- Lava Lash - Increases the damage dealt by your Lava Lash ability by 20%.
- Lightning Bolt - Increases the damage dealt by Lightning Bolt by 4%.
- Stormstrike - Increases the Nature damage bonus from your Stormstrike ability by an additional 8%.
- Windfury Weapon - Increases the chance per swing for Windfury Weapon to trigger by 2%.
Glyph of Flame Shock in its current incarnation increases the critical strike damage by 60%. The change to increase its duration by 50% is pretty significant, but I doubt it will be viable against some of the other, stronger ones.
The Glyph of Lava Lash was increased from 10% to 20%, but LL is such a laggard in terms of damage I don't see that making much of a difference, especially given the statement that Blizzard does not want our glyphs to change our rotations. The only saving grace for this glyph could be in Improved Lava Lash. If searing plus LL proves to be the killer combo of Cata, then we might find ourselves glyphing for it.
As for Glyph of Fire Elemental, that will continue to be a situational glyph. I'm glad we'll have the opportunity to swap glyphs in and out without having to constantly have a new stack made. Fire Ele glyph is a great thing to have for long boss fights, and a must-have when those fights have adds. Heroic Halion anyone?
Lastly, I might be going out on a limb with Lava Burst being one of or prime choices, but it's such a powerful spell I'm willing to bet that the glyph will sim out as one of our top three prime choices.
As an aside, I'm actually rather disappointed at the inclusion of Lava Burst in Maelstrom Weapon procs. Yes it's a nasty spell. Yes it's another tool to add to the enhance toolkit. Yes it's going to add another layer of richness to the already complex enhance rotation that I love so much. These are all great things. But there's something very, very, uhm, how do I say this? There's something elemental about it. To me it doesn't fit in the enhancement way. I only say this only now, while it's pretty much baked in, and not going to go away because I fear that if it were to be removed there would be an enhancement lynch mob forming for me at Blizzcon. (Then you'd have to answer your real priest, readers!)
But really, I don't like it. To me it's something from the elemental kit that's been ported over to enhancement. Yes we struggle with proc-based abilities so LvB on MW gives us some extra umph when we do get a three-stack of MW, and that's great. But couldn't we get spell increases along with MW, or maybe an enhancement only spell for MW that would be irresistible to use? I'd call it Stoneystrike. A three proc of MW enables you to case Stoneystrike, instantly disabling your opponent in a fit of explicatives and critting their hair for 140% damage. Or something like that.
Major glyphs
- Fire Nova - Increases the radius of your Fire Nova spell by 5 yards.
- Frost Shock - Increases the duration of your Frost Shock by 2 seconds.
- Ghost Wolf - Your Ghost Wolf spell form grants an additional 10% movement speed.
- Grounding Totem - When your Grounding Totem absorbs a spell, it attempts to reflect that spell on its caster, but the cooldown of your Grounding Totem is increased by 45 seconds.
- Healing Stream Totem - Your Healing Stream Totem also increases the Fire, Frost, and Nature resistance of party and raid members within 30 yards by 130.
- Hex - Reduces the cooldown of your Hex spell by 15 seconds.
- Lightning Shield - Your Lightning Shield can no longer drop below 3 charges from dealing damage to attackers.
- Shamanistic Rage - Activating your Shamanistic Rage ability also cleanses you of all dispellable Magic debuffs.
- Shocking - Reduces the global cooldown triggered by your Shock spells to 1 second.
- Stoneclaw Totem - Your Stoneclaw Totem also places a damage absorb shield on you, equal to 4 times the strength of the shield it places on your totems.
- Totemic Recall - Causes your Totemic Recall ability to return an additional 50% of the mana cost of any recalled totems.
When I look at this list all I can think about is PvP, BG, and arena. I feel myself being drawn into battlegrounds just thinking about the possibilities. We already have the Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem, a must-have for PvP. Additional Ghost Wolf movement speed sounds great. Hex on a lower cooldown is far better than its current glyph, which increases the damage taken before it breaks. Being able to use it more often is better for both PvP and PvE.
Grounding Totem with a chance to reflect a spell sounds like a fun one, but it doubles the cooldown for only a chance. This needs to be changed to a guaranteed reflection for a 1.5 min cooldown. Lastly on the PvP front, Shammy Rage removes all dispellable magic debuffs. Not bad. I like the look of enhance PvP in Cataclysm.
As for PvE, Glyphs of Lightning Shield and Shocking will most likely be must-haves with the third up for grabs depending on the fight. The new Lightning Shield glyph, combined with the new Static Shock means the only time we'll need to refresh LS is when the time runs out. Static Shock no longer consumes a charge, and the glyph means attacks against you no longer consume charges.
I see some great situational need for glyphs of Healing Stream, Shamanistic Rage, Hex, and Fire Nova. Hex could be good for running 5-man dungeons if CC comes back in vogue. Finally, with all the talk about resistances and debuffs, I wonder if the new raids will place an emphasis on dispelling and resistances again.
Grounding Totem with a chance to reflect a spell sounds like a fun one, but it doubles the cooldown for only a chance. This needs to be changed to a guaranteed reflection for a 1.5 min cooldown. Lastly on the PvP front, Shammy Rage removes all dispellable magic debuffs. Not bad. I like the look of enhance PvP in Cataclysm.
As for PvE, Glyphs of Lightning Shield and Shocking will most likely be must-haves with the third up for grabs depending on the fight. The new Lightning Shield glyph, combined with the new Static Shock means the only time we'll need to refresh LS is when the time runs out. Static Shock no longer consumes a charge, and the glyph means attacks against you no longer consume charges.
I see some great situational need for glyphs of Healing Stream, Shamanistic Rage, Hex, and Fire Nova. Hex could be good for running 5-man dungeons if CC comes back in vogue. Finally, with all the talk about resistances and debuffs, I wonder if the new raids will place an emphasis on dispelling and resistances again.
Minor glyphs
The only minor glyph worth mentioning, if even that, is the Glyph of Arctic Wolf, which turns your Ghost Wolf form white. I'd rather not carry around any reagents than have a slightly reskinned ghost wolf.
Fire Nova and a new spec
In other news, Improved Fire Nova was moved deep in the enhancement tree, making it unreachable to the other shaman specs. The ability stays the same, reducing the cooldown by 4 seconds and increasing the damage by 20% with two talent points invested. This is going to be a purely situational talent, and to reach it we'll have to sacrifice talents in other areas, perhaps such as Concussion.
I could see a standard enhancement raiding spec being 6/35/0 with a Fire Novaing spec being 4/37/0.
Until the next update, be good to your priests, and may all your hits be crits!
Show your totemic mastery by reading Totem Talk. Whether it's Matt Sampson's elemental edition, Joe Perez's coverage of restoration or Rich Maloy's enhancement edition, WoW.com's shaman experts have you covered.Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Nivella Sep 4th 2010 8:16PM
I am really excited about the improved and glyphed lightning shield. Not having to refresh it so much reminds me of when they updated the pally seals.
(Oh, and first ^-^)
poggg Sep 4th 2010 8:17PM
"The only minor glyph worth mentioning, if even that, is the Glyph of Arctic Wolf, which turns your Ghost Wolf form white. I'd rather not carry around any reagents than have a slightly reskinned ghost wolf."
Eh? Am I missing something? 3 minor glyph slots, the anti-reagent glyphs only eat up two...the third slot can go to Arctic Wolf. I haven't kept up with the beta, though. Did the number of slots change?
Tenjin Akuma Sep 4th 2010 9:27PM
Water walk, water breathing, reincarnation -- three reagents, three glyphs.
alpha5099 Sep 4th 2010 10:28PM
We have three reagent-using abilities: Reincarnation, Water Walking, and Water Breathing. All of those can be glyphed. Throw in the situational convenience of a much shorter Astral Recall cooldown, and the Arctic Wolf glyph has some steep competition. Nothing game-breaking to be sure, no one's going to look foolish to use the glyph, but I'd rather use the other options.
Though given the way we can switch around glyphs at will out of combat now, really the only minor glyph you'd need to have on all the time is Reincarnation. You could switch in either of the water abilities' glyphs when you need to make use of them, and switch to the Astral Recall glyph when you need to hearth and switch it back out afterwards, which should presumably still give you a 7.5 minute cooldown.
mor8idhomogenosuicide Sep 4th 2010 8:23PM
"The only minor glyph worth mentioning, if even that, is the Glyph of Arctic Wolf"
At the very least, you should provide a link to a page detailing them. And can I ask (I haven't seen them yet, may have missed a prior article) why they aren't in your opinion worth mentioning?
Saeadame Sep 4th 2010 11:38PM
I'm pretty sure they aren't worth mentioning because they're the same ones that are currently in the game.
Docseuzz Sep 4th 2010 8:54PM
You could always only activate the water breath / walking glyphs when you need em...
Angus Sep 4th 2010 9:00PM
Casual?!?! Summon the mob!!! Rabblerabblerabble!
In real news. The minors are disappointing because they still should be part of the baseline spell in at least 2 cases. Warlocks can give water breathing without a reagent base and their glyph actually does something nice. Death Knights cam water walk the entire group, with no reagent, while mounted.
The shaman versions of these spells are pathetic.
Ancestral recall being 7.5 minutes makes some things fun. Mobility is nice.
feniks9174 Sep 5th 2010 12:01PM
Keep in mind that the warlock Underwater Breathing glyph is one of the few -mildly- useful minors that we get.
Really though, I can't remember the last time I used either spell on my warlock or my shaman. It's just not necessary in the vast majority of PvE content. The only time I -ever- used Water Walking on my shaman was when I tried to get a guildie killed in ToC.
I'd gladly drop either of those to make my Ghost wolf look a little cooler.
zubbiefish Sep 5th 2010 12:58PM
Realy, they're minor glyps... minor.
Nevermind, I want a minor that turns my Ghost wolf into the same deal as a Warlock's metamorphosis. Demon-wolf FTW.
Angus Sep 5th 2010 4:42PM
Not the point folks. The point is our minors are needed to make utility spells ALMOST as good as the same version of the spell for other classes.
Not only that, but the reagents are annoying. They are drops from aquatic mobs. Can't buy them. Only reincarnate was ever something you could buy at a vendor and for some reason GC thought it was better than a soulstone.
Shaman are still Penalized for being jack of all trades and it is pretty sad.
Valtor Sep 4th 2010 9:08PM
My rogue teabags your corpse and spits on your grave
In other news; Enhance shamans use a Flame based weapon attack and a flame damage totem, whats wrong with Lava-Burstage
Scalin Sep 4th 2010 9:21PM
The new Shamanistic Rage makes me kinda skittish, but adding Cloak of Shadows onto it, well, that's even great for PvE purposes. Thumbs up on that one.
Faceless Minion Sep 4th 2010 9:29PM
So, for someone that is supposed to be offering a knowledgeable opinion, you seem to be offering a bunch of supposition, could-bes, and pointless garbage. Here's an idea, genius: Recount got activated this run. How about you check with it, or check with EJ about overall damage?
Being able to say "X does this much damage compared to the others, but remember, this is beta" is a lot more useful then "X may do Y but so may Z, but I'm too lazy to do anything to check even though I'm getting nominal pay for this job."
chazman89 Sep 4th 2010 9:52PM
you do realize that these new glyphs only went live on beta today right? meaning that at the moment, there is no solid data on how they will impact play because there has been no chance to start running the sheer number of sims needed to get solid info. also, this being beta, running those sims is useless anyways, as all numbers are subject to change. please think before you rant about the columns.
Jonisjalopy Sep 4th 2010 10:06PM
Welcome to the beta. Home of "supposition, could-bes, and pointless garbage."
Have you met the zombie riding the T-Rex riding a shark with a laser on it's head?
Saeadame Sep 4th 2010 11:41PM
I don't think addons can be in-game yet, either so it would be hard to get a good test on the math. Plus, anything that's in beta now is subject to change, so it's almost pointless to provide an actual, backed up opinion about something, because it could be nerfed or another could be buffed at any time.
Ryan Sep 4th 2010 11:42PM
All we need is a one man polka band on the back of the Rex and we have ourselves a real good time
coffee Sep 4th 2010 9:57PM
minion, did you forget that this is a BETA, and as such any real numbers anyone gives you don't really mean anything until the final build. An comparison of damage the way stoney did it is fine for now, and if your that desperate for numbers ask someone in the beta directly. Kthxbai troll
RussGreene Sep 4th 2010 9:57PM
It's also worth noting that Lava Lash has it's base damage and bonus damage from Flametongue doubled in the beta as opposed to live, so that Glyph of Lava Lash may be more valuable than you think.