Elemental Shaman DPS Theory - Post 3.3

So its that time again, new patch, new toys, new ways of blowing stuff up. I'm going to talk about DPS rotation theory here, I'm not going to be writing macros - you should all know how to do that by now.

So your general rotation is FS, LvB, CL, LB. This has been a static rotation for some time now. However, we need to do a dynamic priority based rotation, as different abilities have different cooldowns and durations.

Shaman have two different DPS phases.

Phase 1 - Prioritized Cooldown abilities
1) Flame Shock
2) Lava Burst
3) Chain Lightning

These are abilities that you use in a priority order, as I have listed above (in that order).

Phase 2 - Spam!
4) Lightning bolt

When everything else is on cooldown, this is what you should be doing.

Now, the biggest change is elemental mastery. It now provides HASTE for the duration. This is a significant change.

Before we also used to macro in EM with LvB, to get the instant cast on LvB. This is most likely not what we should be doing anymore. I have moved mine down to CL, so CL is instant, and when entering Phase 2 of the DPS rotation, the haste duration is used only to boost LB (more LB casts before Phase 1).

This also holds true for HASTE "use" trinkets and engineering buffs (hyper speed accelerators). If you've got them, use them for your LB phase, NOT for your FS - LvB - CL phases. Obviously there will be some overlap, but the idea is to prioritize your haste abilities and items towards your LB phase. You should also "attempt" to blow heroism/bloodlust as your entering Phase 2 - although this is less important overall, because Heroism/Bloodlust has a much longer duration.

Also, you should all have your Tier 9 two-piece bonus by now - don't forget to adjust your flame shock macros.

The EJ thread on the PTR version (which went live) of EM showed the DPS difference between 3.2 and 3.3 versions of EM was rather trivial. I've seen about the same results in my DPS. What I've done is swap blowing EM on every CD on my spam macro, to using it on my LB macro to get LBs out faster. I've also stopped using heroism before FS->LB and use it after CL. So the bigger part of Heroism is affecting my LB spam. I've only been doing this since tuesday, so I don't have any concrete numbers, but it seems like a DPS increase on the meters. But I've also gone from 2pc T8 to 4pc T9 on all my DPS. The shaman are hitting 5k easily on tank and spank bosses without heroism. Before I changed where I was using EM and hero, I was high 4.8-4.9k on tank and spanks.

Unless you are manually casting EM, it doesn't really matter where you put it, in a click sequence.
Every ability which is not on the GCD will fire off, on the first press of the button.

You can test this quite easily.
Stand with your back to the target.

Have a click macro, which goes a, b, c, d.
Place trinkets and EM on "d".

They'll fire off, on the first press.
Because the click clicks all of the buttons at once.
And only the GCD spells are limited by the GCD.

So to reserve EM until we want it, we must manually click it.
Or we can include it in the click, by placing it anywhere in our sequence, which means it will fire off as soon as ready, every time.

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Unless you are manually casting EM, it doesn't really matter where you put it, in a click sequence.
Every ability which is not on the GCD will fire off, on the first press of the button.

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At least with the click slots I choose, this is simply NOT the case. They fire off in order, top to bottom.

All of my spells on the GCD, fire off in the order they are listed.
The click macro, calls all of the castsequences, but because of the GCD and wow executing top down, only the first spell on the GCD fires off.

Flame Shock, then Lava Burst, then Chain Lightning, and finally Lightning Bolt.

However, any spell or ability not on the GCD, fire off on the first click.

It is extremely easy to test this in game.
Just add the /use 13, /use 14, and Elemental Mastery, to say your Lightning Bolt fall-through spell.
Then have the button and trinkets visible on your bar, as you go through the macro.
Observe when they are used.

Click functions the same as one huge macro.
/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Elemental Mastery

In a heavy DPS situation, EM is best to use with Lightning Bolt, not LvB or CL, as it is the longest cast spell out of the three and gains the most benefit. I've always been confused as to why people use it with LvB.

As well, you should cast LvB -> LB -> CL instead of LvB -> CL -> LB, as that ensures that Clearcasting is up for CL. The projectile travel time on LvB means if you go LvB -> CL, the buff may not yet be up for CL.

Of course, some of this is hard to setup properly in castsequence/click macros. :P

OK, Ualaa - looks like you're right. I could have sworn the behavoir was different. /doh

Now off to figure out a better way to control that

You can probably put the EM in a castsequence buffered with a few ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Code:

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/castsequence reset=combat ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Elemental Mastery

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Unfortunately...

I'd much rather have it (and trinkets) fire off, on the macro that it was put into.
But that's not how the game works.

Personally, I've just said screw it, it will fire off whenever it is ready.
And I'll have maximum up-time on the ability.

But I'd rather have an ability like that, when I choose for it to fire off.
But also not sure its worth an extra thing to manually control.

Is it possible that the loss of dps from the slight increase in downtime offsets the gain in dps by utilising for a slightly higher proportion of the LB spam section of the rotation?

Most people put EM + LvB together, for the instant cast.
Not so much for the after effect of the EM.

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Of course, some of this is hard to setup properly in castsequence/click macros. :P

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How about:
/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lightning Bolt,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Elemental Mastery

Flame Shock -> Lava Burst -> Lightning Bolt -> (Elemental Focus active for sure!) -> Chain Lightning -> LB Spam until LvB/FS is down from the CD (or the macro says: cast now sucker!)

I'll test that tonight!

Sorry about join in here but why cant we use Earth shock in this rotation? I been using the basic blue print for this /click macro and I average 2k-2.1k in DPS ,sad I know.The Theory we want is to rotate around the 18 sec of FS when I add ES after CL then finish with LB. My Dps jumps up to 2900 without blowing trinkets or my EM and Berserking (Troll).If its about mana useage of the Shock I do have a talent point use in Shamanistic Focus to save Mana.Is there anyway to tweek this to make this workable?
1. FS 18 sec
2 LVB 8 sec
3. CL 1.47
4. ES instant Cast (Cooldown 5 sec)
5. LB 1.96 sec
6. LB 1.96 sec
7. LB 1.96 sec
8. LB 1.96 sec
* (LB 1.96 sec) Sometime you can get an extra LB in there with air totem and haste rating.Then Add EM in there its hard to tell how many extra Lb you Can get in there before you cast FS again and start over.

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Originally Posted by Headcrash1

Sorry about join in here but why cant we use Earth shock in this rotation? I been using the basic blue print for this /click macro and I average 2k-2.1k in DPS ,sad I know.The Theory we want is to rotate around the 18 sec of FS when I add ES after CL then finish with LB. My Dps jumps up to 2900 without blowing trinkets or my EM and Berserking (Troll).If its about mana useage of the Shock I do have a talent point use in Shamanistic Focus to save Mana.Is there anyway to tweek this to make this workable?
1. FS 18 sec
2 LVB 8 sec
3. CL 1.47
4. ES instant Cast (Cooldown 5 sec)
5. LB 1.96 sec
6. LB 1.96 sec
7. LB 1.96 sec
8. LB 1.96 sec
* (LB 1.96 sec) Sometime you can get an extra LB in there with air totem and haste rating.Then Add EM in there its hard to tell how many extra Lb you Can get in there before you cast FS again and start over.

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LB after LVB, as your crit buff wont be up guaranteed yet. You also could use CL to help sync cooldowns, but most people will cast it anyways now. And your also wasting a GCD why would you do that using ES when FS is better.

As for 3.3 changes the only real change is just use EM outside of heroism.

When your haste is pushing a retarded amount, LB's get a better benefit. For some though it doesnt really matter, my main shaman has 750 haste unbuffed, so add in totem slot and WoA and im already pushing a large amount of haste.

/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Elemental Mastery

What does all the commas do?

Im a bit noobish when it comes to macros :-\

a comma tells the spell to do nothing and wait for the next click

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Originally Posted by zenga

a comma tells the spell to do nothing and wait for the next click

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i usually start with FS>(potion of speed) Lvb>EM>Cl>lb.I now realize the reason for loss in dps using this rotation.Any idea what the haste cap for shamans might be, in combat i m at a steady 1168 haste(minus physical totems, pots buffs etc), which gets boosted further by the 500 odd haste from trinket(equip use) every 45 sec IcD.

Edit:Also when it says haste increases by 15% for EM, is it the base haste or the haste you currently have when u click EM ?

^^ bump ....anyone?

@aha: the EJ forums will likely have a bit more of the math crunching info you're looking for w/ regards to haste and optimal use of potions/EM in various settings.

think tank:
http://elitistjerks.com/f47/t82625-shaman_elemental/

general shammy forum of geeky goodness:
http://elitistjerks.com/f79/t52324-s...imple_answers/

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Originally Posted by Ualaa

Most people put EM + LvB together, for the instant cast.
Not so much for the after effect of the EM.

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But should they? LvB has a shorter cast time than LB, so it should not be insta'd. in PvP or PvE anymore imo. imo the LB should always be the one to be shot instantly, as it has the longest cast time, not chain lightning.

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the haste duration is used only to boost LB (more LB casts before Phase 1)

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/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,Elemental Mastery,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 13
/use 14

Concerning Elemental Mastery, this macro structue should work. EM isn't on GCD, so it won't jam a castsequence if its on cooldown. If its up, it pops after chain lightning which means the next button press you'll be casting LBolt spam until FShock/LBolt are up (unless your rotation is fubar?). The Chain Lightning on cooldown keeps EM safe & saved for starting LB spam instead of poping at the beginning or mid-rotation.

This is theory, cause I'm at work. Like a dork, I'm browsing the interwebs while on the clock. :o

/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,Elemental Mastery,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,13,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 14

Also thought up this version, to have EM ready for ChainL, then pop trinket after ChainL for LBolts. I just don't recall if trinkets can be placed in a castsequence like that.

Its tangential to this topic but fwiw you may want to try out BindPad, it lets you use /click with names in macros and not have to place your macros on any visible (or hidden bars). Simply name your macros in bindpad (which allows > 255 macros) and in the WoW macro editor simple use:

#showtooltip
/click BindPadMacro nameyougavemacroinbindpad

so for example I have in Bindpad 5 macros named dps1 (assist, focus, pop trinkets, etc), dps2 (FS), dps3 (LvB), etc and my dps macro simply is:

#showtooltip Lava Burst
/click BindPadMacro dps1
/click BindPadMacro dps2
/click BindPadMacro dps3
/click BindPadMacro dps4
/click BindPadMacro dps5

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Originally Posted by Ualaa

Click functions the same as one huge macro.
/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Elemental Mastery

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excuse my lack of macro knowledge, but does this mean that it will cast Flame Shock on cooldown (i.e. every 4-6 seconds) even though the dot still lasts a while?
is that the wanted behavior?
or is there a way to only cast it, say, after 12-15 seconds (with a [reset=x] maybe?)

cheers
-Zub

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aenar

/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,Elemental Mastery,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 13
/use 14

Concerning Elemental Mastery, this macro structue should work. EM isn't on GCD, so it won't jam a castsequence if its on cooldown. If its up, it pops after chain lightning which means the next button press you'll be casting LBolt spam until FShock/LBolt are up (unless your rotation is fubar?). The Chain Lightning on cooldown keeps EM safe & saved for starting LB spam instead of poping at the beginning or mid-rotation.

This is theory, cause I'm at work. Like a dork, I'm browsing the interwebs while on the clock. :o

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I think this doesn't work because it gets stuck on EM when it's on cooldown, the sequence is broken and no CL is fired

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aenar

/castsequence Flame Shock,,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Lava Bolt,Elemental Mastery,,,,,,,,,,
/castsequence Chain Lightning,13,,,,,,,,
/cast Lightning Bolt
/use 14

Also thought up this version, to have EM ready for ChainL, then pop trinket after ChainL for LBolts. I just don't recall if trinkets can be placed in a castsequence like that.

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And this won't work cause trinkets are a use, not a cast, and if it did work it would lock up the castsequence like the one above.

Also, it is Lava Burst, not Lava Bolt ;)

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trinkets are a use, not a cast

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/use & /cast do the same thing and both can be used for spells, items, and trinkets (confirmed ingame to verify). /use is more common because of the character difference. But the overall feedback is correct: /castsequence will lock up on a cooldown no matter if its a spell or trinket.

So the normal macro...
/use 13
/use Spell1()
...works fine. As we all know, a non-ready trinket won't stop the rest of the macro.

But, after testing...
/castsequence Spell1(),13, Spell2()
...won't work as I hoped. The trinket will cast in a /castsequence... if its ready. It won't go to the next sequence if its on cooldown :mad: The same would happen with EM which was my whole post above, I was hoping to get to work. Stupid cooldowns.

Burst/Bolt... I blame Ualaa :o cause I quoted his macro (without proof-reading). But typos happen, I typo whole words with another words at work. To quote a random person in Trade Channel... "I now believe that the 'G' key and 'T' key are to close together on keyboards. I also believe that's the last time I'll end a letter with 'Regards'.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aenar

"I now believe that the 'G' key and 'T' key are to close together on keyboards. I also believe that's the last time I'll end a letter with 'Regards'.

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lol!
treag sgory

holy cow you guys are over complicating things :P
Why try to fix something that isn't broken(ie normal click macros)

edit:
I seem to do fine with just basic stuff, or am i doing it wrong?

Can you please tell me how to write the macro?