Quote Originally Posted by shivetya
Quote Originally Posted by Vyndree
I persisted after the change to 2x40% mana reduction after crits.

The proposed "buff" to elemental dps that was promised ended up being a coefficient nerf. The shaman on the forums erupted, and blizz ate their words at the "buff" that really was a nerf and altered the coefficient until they can find a better solution.

I actually find the 40% off for two spells not a problem, but I would prefer 60% for both
There's nothing wrong with 40% off two spells.

This is the problem:
Crit, Non-crit, Non-crit = 80% off
Crit, Non-crit, Crit = 80% off, refreshed buff for the next 2
Crit, Crit, Non-Crit = one of your 40%'s is wasted, 80% off, refreshed buff for next 1
Crit, Crit, Crit = 80% off, refreshed buff for the next 2

Some of those crits are "wasted". Shammies with 40% crit or more weren't uncommon, which means that it's now more efficient to stack +dmg rather than +crit after 30% crit or so.

This is pushing shammies away from the burst damage, slowly but surely. You can see just based off of the iterative changes:

100% clearcast = crit is AMAZING
60% clearcast = crit is still good to stack, but not AS mana efficient
40% x 2 clearcast = crit will now start to lose effectiveness in mana-efficiency if you stack it too high

Then look at what they tried to do for 2.3:
- Lower spelldamage coefficient on lightning bolt, making shammies want to use their +crit itemization points to get more +spelldmg -- this change was last-minute reverted after elemental shaman noticed a significant dps decrease that would have ruined the spec entirely.
- Increase LO proc rate, but lower damage by half on the procs as well as 0 threat on that proc, spreading the damage out over time so it is less bursty, good for PvE, bad for PvP
- Water Shield changes make ele shammies less dependant on their clearcast talent for mana efficiency

You can clearly see what they have in mind for elemental shaman. Anyone care to predict any future changes?