Boylston's Quad-box Shaman Rated Battleground Compendium

[Boylston]

Boylston's Quad-box Shaman Rated Battleground Compendium

Introduction
Welcome to a guide dedicated to the 4xElemental Shaman team with a specific emphasis on Rated Battlegrounds. This is intended to be a large, community-driven guide to how to play this team to its maximum effectiveness in Cataclysm. Please take a few moments to read the ground rules before posting, and it is highly encouraged that you read the actual guide in its entirety before posting as well.

Ground Rules
This guide is intended to be very specific. Please stay on-topic as much as possible! Observe the following:

1. Although material in the guide may have broad application to Rated Arena, World PvP, or even PvE, please make every effort to not derail conversation with discussion of other areas. It's OK if a suggestion in the compendium or community discussion "won't work in arena". That's not the point of this guide.
2. This guide is NOT intended to debate which team composition is best for Rated BGs. Please do not derail discussions with comments like, "yeah, but 4xHunters are better for WSG" or "how does this team compare to DK+4xRets?". The point is to provide help to make this specific team composition work most effectively.
3. The guide will try to point out Best Known Methods as well as provide alternative suggestions where there is no clear winner or multiple effective approaches.
4. Try to keep suggestions independent of multiboxing solutions (i.e. ISBoxer vs. Keyclone vs. Hardware, etc) if at all possible.
5. I will try to edit and credit as we evolve and learn how to best play the team in Cataclysm.
6. Many people choose to run a healer or 5th player with this setup. Given the large number of combinations, please restrict feedback to the 4xShaman part.
7. If English is your native language, try to use it correctly. I am not trying to be grammar police, but I would like to be able to cut-and-paste great discussions into the main part of the guide without wholesale re-writing. (Exceptions made for non-native speakers as well as Ualaa, who is free to use stanzas to his heart's content).

Why Elemental Shaman?
Shaman have long been a popular multiboxing class for a variety of reasons. These include good ranged DPS performance, excellent burst capability, ability to heal, defensive options which do not need to be micromanaged (e.g. Totems, Mail Armor+Shields), and overlapping buffs due to the totem mechanic. They can also be easy to set up and play, unlike other classes or multi-class combinations.

Nearly all of the changes to the Shaman class in Cataclysm look like they will be for

[Boylston]

New Abilities/Talents for Cataclysm
Cataclysm brought many new features to this team. This section outlines new abilities, talents, and game mechanics and how to use them most effectively.

Unleash Elements (Trainable at L81): For Elemental, you will be using Flametongue Weapon buff for more spellpower. The Flame version of this spell is: “Unleash Flame” - Unleashes the Flametongue enchantment upon the Shaman's weapon, dealing 1023 to 1213 Fire damage to target enemy (L85 number, unsure about spellpower coefficient) and increasing the damage dealt by the Shaman's next Fire spell by 20% (this “Unleash Flame” buff will show on your character and lasts 8 seconds).

Usage: Excellent to pair with Lava Burst! Very short 15sec cooldown means you may want to just embed this into a macro and forget about triggering it manually.

Healing Rain (Trainable at L83): This is a ground-targetted, 2 second cast time, AoE heal that persists for 10 seconds. Cooldown is matched at 10 seconds. L85 heals 690-820 health (spell coefficient unknown) each tick for 5 ticks during that window. If there are more than 6 people in the area, the healing effect drops. Mana usage is 46% of base mana (L85 number?), so it’s not especially cheap to use.

Usage: This ability stacked gives a 15,000ish heal (755 avg tick x 4 shamans x 5 ticks) for your whole group for a quad-boxed group. Use pre-emptively before a big fight begins to give yourself some nice healing while you're in turret mode. Time will tell whether this ability stacked is more or less effective than Chain Healing during combat or for top-off purposes after battle.

To use this ability most effectively, you need a mouse broadcasting setup and some way to snap all shamans camera view to the same perspective.

(Anyone know spell coefficient for this one?!)

Spiritwalker’s Grace (Trainable at L85): Allows you to cast non-instant spells while moving for 10 seconds. Spell can be cast while casting other spells (read: it’s off the GCD). It’s an instant ability with a 2min cooldown.

Usage: Obviously this will be useful for doing damage on the move, as well as for healing while retreating. This will help loads with chasing down runners or dealing with Line-of-Sight abusers. There may also be some great opportunity to use Interact With Target (for facing purposes) + Backwards movement + SG-boosted spells to deal with a melee who charges into your team. (“Ring of death”, anyone?)

Unknown: Can this be used with Earthquake? (I think Astrall recall works but it isn’t usable in combat, right?)

Earthquake (31-pt Talent): Ground-targeted remote AoE ability with a knockdown percentage chance.

Usage: Reserved.

Note: This talent is optional. You do not need it in order to satisfy your 31pts-in-Elemental requirement before branching out to other talent trees.

Fulmination (Paired with Rolling Thunder + Lightning Shield + LS Glyph(optional)): These two talents+glyph open up a mechanic that allows your Lightning Shield build up charges beyond the 3 starting charges (max of 9) periodically as you hit targets with Lightning Bolts or Chain Lightning (60% chance per hit, each target of Chain Lightning has own chance. Overload bonus casts do NOT add charges.). The glyph prevents people striking you from dropping the charges below 3 (it can still be dispelled, however). Whenever you have more than 3 charges going, an Earth Shock will hit the target for its normal damage plus the Lightning Shield damage on charges 4-9. This shows up in damage logs as two separate entries (Shock+Fulmination). With a 9-stack of Lightning Shield, this can yield very substantial damage.

Usage: Maximize your charge gain using Chain Lightning on multiple targets. Glyph of Chain Lightning (adds 2 more targets, reduces damage 10%) highly recommended as well. Keep track of your team’s charge status using an external add-on (Power Auras is highly recommended). General consensus is that if most of your team has 6-7 stacks or more, it’s a very useful tool. Re-cast LS on anyone who loses the buff due to dispel, and don’t forget to rebuff your team post-rez. Note: re-casting the buff will reset the charge level to 3, so it’s handy to have a way to manually rebuff just one shaman.

[Boylston]

Cataclysm's Mastery Mechanic

Elemental Overload: Grants a 16% chance for Elemental Overload to occur. Elemental Overload causes a Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, or Lava Burst spell you cast to trigger a second, similar spell on the same target at no additional cost that causes 75% of normal damage and no threat.

Each point of Mastery increases the chance of Elemental Overload by an additional 2%. (Note: 179 Mastery Rating = 1 Mastery Point at L85. (double check)).


Some Sample Mastery Math: with a 4xShaman setup and the default 16% chance to proc an overload, you can expect the following results for each volley of spells:
P(no overloads) or P(0) = 50%
P(1 overload) or P(1) = 38%
P(2 overloads) or P(2) = 11%
P(3 overloads) or P(3) = 1%
P(4 overloads) or P(4) = 0.065536% (Get a screenshot!)
P(any amount of overload) or P(1-4) = 50%

Just a little bit of mastery changes things slightly (20% overload chance):
P(0) = 41%
P(1) = 41%
P(2) = 15%
P(3) = 2%
P(4) = 0.16% (Still, get a screenshot!)
P(1-4) = 59%

Mastery heavy, but not crazy (25% overload chance):
P(0) = 32%
P(1) = 42%
P(2) = 21%
P(3) = 5%
P(4) = 0.4%
P(1-4) = 68%

Go crazy with 20% mastery bonus (36% overload chance):
P(0) = 41%
P(1) = 38%
P(2) = 32%
P(3) = 12%
P(4) = 1.7%
P(1-4) = 83%



Note: I am in the process of building a simulator/calculator for comparing Mastery, Crit, and Haste (mostly Mastery and Crit, however).


.

[Boylston]

Recommended Races and Talent/Glyph Builds

Race Choices (Horde):
There is no clear winner here. However, here are some considerations for the Horde races.

Goblin (recommended): This new-for-Cataclysm race will be a very popular quad-shaman race. It has a very small size to make mouse-targeting harder for enemy players and navigation through indoor/tight spaces a little easier. Racial traits that benefit the effectiveness in BGs include +1% Spell Haste, and Rocket Barrage / Rocket Jump. The latter two abilities share a common 2min cooldown-- Rocket Barrage is an instant-cast, 30yd ranged attack that scales with spellpower. It is off the GCD, so it can be used within macros at the same time as other spells and is a Fire School, useable if you are locked out of a nature school. Rocket Jump is a forward-propelling ability that can be useful to quickly move your team.

Orc (recommended): Orc was a very popular race for 4xShamans and will remain popular. Significant racial traits include Blood Fury (584 spellpower boost for 15sec, 2min cooldown) that can be activated off the GCD and used to boost several spells as well as Hardiness, which allows decreased stun duration by 15%. The race is also quite compact and doesn't get hung up on most terrain/building features. One long-term consideration is that Orc's spellpower boost is a static amount and will not scale (probably good early on in expansion, with less impact later).

Tauren (acceptable): Taurens suffer from a very large size which makes them attractive to enemies and quite easy to target. This same large size can make them difficult to navigate through battleground features such as towers, doors and narrow hallways. While Taurens have some marginal benefits to their racial traits, the biggest is War Stomp, which is a PBAoE stun for 2sec on a two minute cooldown. This can be set up in a round-robin fashion to allow a stun every 30sec or so.

Trolls (not recommended): Trolls, unfortunately, are not a serious contender for a competitive quadbox team. They have a 20% haste booster for 10sec on a 3min cooldown and a passive 15% reduction in movement-impairing effects. They look great and have fun roleplay potential, but they are not a common choice for most multiboxers.

Race Choices (Horde):
I am by no means an alliance expert. May need help here.

Draenei: Draenei possess a racial treat that allows some healing healing over time (15sec duration, 3min cooldown). This ability does scale with spellpower, and it can be cast on any friendly character. The other racial bonus offers a 1% To-Hit for Spells bonus. Draenei are a mid to large-sized race that has a tail, if you're into that sort of thing.

Dwarf: New for Cataclysm, Alliance shamans can pick Dwarves who have the useful racial trait, Stoneform. This will clear and prevent all disease, poison, and bleed effects for 8 seconds every 2min. They are also a very compact size on the battlefield.

Thanks to: HPAVC!

Talent Builds


Here's what Kruschpak has to say:

Main-- http://wowtal.com/#k=K-wSC_i.a6d.shaman.
Alts-- http://wowtal.com/#k=l3AxydC.a6d.shaman.

Glyphs: shocking/thunder/lava/lighting shield/lighting bolt/elemental mastery

Glyph Discussions

In order of easiest to decide to hardest, here's what you might consider:

Minor Glyphs: These are mostly for flavor or convenience. I tend to think that for convenience of boxing, the following "Go Reagentless" glyphs work best.

Water Walking, Water Breathing, Renewed Life

Minor Glyphs: Right away we run into choices. These choices will mostly be based off your playstyle and preference.

Healing Stream Totem (1 Shaman Only): Massive boost to Resistances. You want this on someone, but not necessarily more than 1.

Lightning Shield: Your lightning shield can't drop below 3 charges (unless dispelled!). Good for all builds, but very important for Fulmination junkies. You may still want this (and Rolling Thunder talent) even with no Fulmination usage to regenerate mana.

Chain Lightning: Causes it to hit more targets, generating more LS Orbs for bigger Fulmination damage. Good even if you aren't using Fulmination much, too.

Now for some tougher choices...

Stoneclaw Totem: Gives a significant Damage Shield to each shaman when you drop a Stoneclaw Totem (every 20seconds!). Figure about 16,400 at L85. You can drop a stoneclaw then another earth totem in succession to get this Power Word: Shield-like ability.

Thunder: Reduces cooldown of Thunderstorm from 45 to 35 seconds.

Elemental Mastery: Gives you 20% damage resistance from all sources while you're under the effects of EM. It's only 15sec every 3min, but it's a big buff and you're likely to use EM during a big fight when you're under pressure.

Recommendation: Stoneclaw Totem, Lightning Shield, Chain Lightning
Heal Stream to sub in place of one Shaman's Stoneclaw glyph, and that Shaman drops a Tremor right away in your rotation.

A non-Fulmination user would likely go with Thunder instead of Chain Lightning.

Prime Glyphs:

Lava Burst: 10% more Lava Burst damage. You'd be a fool not to get this.

Lightning Bolt: 4% more damage. Also highly recommended.

Then, tough choices again...

Flametongue Weapon: 2% extra crit chance. Keep in mind that some of our best damage comes from Lava Burst which should already crit almost 100% of the time.

Shocking: After any shock spell, the GCD is 1.0sec instead of 1.5sec. This shortens the time between a Flame Shock + Lava Burst combo a bit.

Fire Elemental Totem: Shortens elemental cooldown to 5min. This can be a game-changer at times, so might be useful to some folks.

Recommendation: For now, I think Shocking, Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt. If battles are fairly protracted and quick kills are not the order of the day, then I'd substitute Flametongue for Shocking.

[HPAVC]

Need info: These are off the GCD, yes? Is there a travel time on the Rocket Barrage?

Yes, its instant cast and its instant damage. Its "fire school" spell, your able to cast it when spriest silence effect is on you.

[Boylston]

Totem Recommendations
There are variations and slight strategic differences from player to player, but here is a good start point.

(Note: Feel free to provide input here!!!)

Earth: 3x Tremor (staggered highly preferred), 1xEarthbind (strongly consider talenting another shaman to AoE root)
Fire: 4xSearing Primary, Button for 4xMagma if melees swarm. Recommend Partner Fire Nova button/modifier key.
Air: 3xGrounding, 1xWrath of Air (Recommend a button that refreshes/drops 3-4 Grounding totems during a battle)
Water: 1xMana Stream, 1xTranquil Mind, 2xHealing Stream, (1 character should have Healing Stream Glyphed for more resistance buff)

Space reserved for staggering technique discussions, also discuss re-apply all at once , re-drop groundings, etc)


Discussion about grounding totem glyph also necessary.

[Boylston]

Stats: Space reserved for Spell hit-cap discussion and general stats allocation (Stam vs. Int, etc)


Reforging Strategies: Reserved.

[Boylston]

(reserved 3)

[Boylston]

Dangers and How to Counter Them
Sometimes, the Excrement hits the Air Conditioning. This section is intended to provide some quick tips on how to deal with what other people throw at you.




General - AoE Fear: Try to use staggered totems to eliminate a long duration. If you're caught off-guard or they've destroyed tremors, consider trinketing on one shaman and dropping a tremor. Regroup post-fear.

General - AoE Root: Just keep nuking!

Warrior - Bladestorm: Running won't help, and spreading out is not always terribly effective. Drop Magma totem, Fire Nova when available, and heal through the damage as needed. Thunderstorm and Earthbind are of no use here if you're trying to escape. (4xThunderstorms CAN help finish off a wounded warrior's health pool, however.)

Druid - AoE Silence (Solar Beam): You'll need to move out of the area of effect as soon as possible, or you're very much shutdown. You may need to leave a single shaman in the beam if it is also rooted. Highly recommend using a key to move your whole team in a direction so that you can get as many out as possible as there's a good chance the same druid will root your main. Although useful in other scenarios, Instant Ghost Wolf WILL NOT help you here, since it's a spell. (Help: Will Goblins' Rocket Jump count as a spell?)

Warlock AoE Stun: Ouch. You can either trinket out of this or just eat the duration. Thunderstorm IS useable while stunned, so you might want to pop at least one to get any dangerous melee off your team temporarily.

Warlock Hand of Guldan:

Mage Freeze Ring Thingy: Move ASAP.

Elemental Shaman Earthquake:

Rogue Smoke Bomb:

[Boylston]

Best Guess at Spellpower Coefficients in Cataclysm (weird source, need to confirm)

Shaman, Chain Heal, 0.32
Shaman, Chain Lightning, 0.571
Shaman, Chain Lightning, 0.429
Shaman, Cleansing Waters, 0.282
Shaman, Cleansing Waters, 0.141
Shaman, Deep Healing, 2.5
Shaman, Earth Shock, 0.386
Shaman, Earthliving, 0.058
Shaman, Earthquake, 0.119
Shaman, Earthquake, 0.191
Shaman, Elemental Overload, 2
Shaman, Enhanced Elements, 2.5
Shaman, Fire Blast, 0.429
Shaman, Fire Nova, 0.143
Shaman, Flame Shock, 0.214
Shaman, Flame Shock, 0.1
Shaman, Frost Shock, 0.386
Shaman, Greater Healing Wave, 0.806
Shaman, Healing Rain, 0.038
Shaman, Healing Stream, 0.0827
Shaman, Healing Surge, 0.604
Shaman, Healing Wave, 0.302
Shaman, Lava Burst, 0.571
Shaman, Lava Burst, 0.429
Shaman, Lightning Bolt, 0.714
Shaman, Lightning Bolt, 0.536
Shaman, Lightning Shield, 0.267
Shaman, Magma Totem, 0.067
Shaman, Riptide, 0.238
Shaman, Riptide, 0.075
Shaman, Searing Bolt, 0.167
Shaman, Searing Flames, 0.0334
Shaman, Thunderstorm, 0.571
Shaman, Unleash Flame, 0.429
Shaman, Unleash Frost, 0.386
Shaman, Unleash Life, 0.201