Boylston's Quad-box Shaman Rated Battleground Compendium

[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.