Elemental Shaman DPS Gear and Best in Slot - Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0) - World of Warcraft

Note that the Midnight Pre-Patch includes an item-level and stat squish, meaning everyone's item level and stat numbers are going to be lowered dramatically.

Elemental Shaman Enchants and Gems

The Importance of "Simming Yourself"

At this stage in the game, there are so many variables and layers of optimization that you can apply to your character that there is no way for a guide or anything else to tell you exactly what gear you should wear. This is why we always recommend simulating your own character using Raidbots. The website can help you choose set bonuses, trinkets, and combinations in a way tailored completely to your specific character. Learning to use this tool is essential to maximizing your potential, as there is simply no other way to consider all the variables.

Evaluating Upgrades

The easiest way, and also the method we suggest, to compare multiple items is to use Raidbots' Top Gear. Here, you can input an export from the Simcraft AddOn, select the items to compare, and it will find out which of the items are best.

Stats

Many people overthink the distribution of their secondary stats. An important thing to remember is that a higher quantity of stats is nearly always better than a better quality of stats. Because of this, wearing higher item-level gear with worse stats tends to be better than lower item-level gear with great stats. Keep this in mind when considering gear. For more stats information, please refer to our dedicated page.

Elemental Shaman Stats

Disclaimer Regarding BiS Lists

We only provide "Best in Slot" lists as a mandatory requirement stemming from certain guilds and players thinking they absolutely need to mindlessly chase that one item in that one slot and nothing else will do. Sometimes, raid leaders enforce a very strict "BiS list" for loot council without any nuance; other times, it is players themselves enforcing it on themselves.

BiS Gear for Elemental Shaman

Overall BiS List Manaforge Omega BiS List Mythic+ only BiS List

Overall BiS List for Elemental Shaman

This list contains items available from the raid, Mythic+, as well as crafted items.

Slot	Item	Source/Note
Weapon	Voidglass Kris	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Off-hand	Vagabond's Torch with Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension, Versatility and Mastery	Crafted — Inscription
Helm	Nathrian Usurper's Mask	Halls of Atonement
Neck	Momma's Mega Medallion	Operation: Floodgate
Shoulder	Fangs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Cloak	Reshii Wraps with Pure Energizing Fiber	Campaign
Chest	Furs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Bracers	Glyph-Etched Vambraces with Writhing Armor Banding, Versatility and Mastery	Crafted — Leatherworking
Gloves	Claws of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Soulbinder Naazindhri in Manaforge Omega
Belt	Clasp of Furious Freedom	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Legs	Tassets of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Loom’ithar in Manaforge Omega
Boots	Interloper's Chain Boots	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Band of the Shattered Soul	Dimensius The All Devouring in Manaforge Omega
Ring #2	High Nerubian Signet	The Dawnbreaker
Ring #2 alternative (if using Trinket #2 alternative)	Radiant Necromancer's Band	Priory of the Sacred Flame
Trinket #1	Araz's Ritual Forge	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #2	Diamantine Voidcore	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #2 alternative	Azhiccaran Parapodia	Eco-Dome Al'dani

Raid only BiS List for Elemental Shaman

This list contains only items from the Manaforge Omega raid.

Slot	Item	Source/Note
Weapon	Voidglass Kris	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Off-hand	Event Horizon	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Helm	Bite of the Astral Wastes	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Neck	Chrysalis of Sundered Souls	Soulbinder Naazindhri in Manaforge Omega
Shoulder	Fangs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Cloak	Reshii Wraps with Pure Energizing Fiber	Campaign
Chest	Furs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Fractillus in Manaforge Omega
Bracers	Arcanotech Wrist-Matrix	Plexus Sentinel in Manaforge Omega
Gloves	Claws of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Soulbinder Naazindhri in Manaforge Omega
Belt	Clasp of Furious Freedom	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Legs	Tassets of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst, or Loom’ithar in Manaforge Omega
Boots	Interloper's Chain Boots	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Band of the Shattered Soul	Dimensius The All Devouring in Manaforge Omega
Ring #2	Logic Gate: Omega	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #1	Araz's Ritual Forge	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Trinket #2	Diamantine Voidcore	Fractillus in Manaforge Omega

Mythic+ only BiS List for Elemental Shaman

This list contains only items available in Mythic+ dungeons.

The main focus of this list is targetting Haste and Mastery pieces. It is not meant as an "equip all these items together" list. You still need to get some Versatility and a little Critical Strike after that.

Slot	Item	Source/Note
Weapon	Soul-Scribe's Tabiqa Dagger	Eco-Dome Al'dani
Off-hand	Sanctified Priory Wall	Priory of the Sacred Flame
Helm	Nathrian Usurper's Mask	Halls of Atonement
Neck	Cabochon of the Infinite Flight	Tazavesh: Streets of Wonder
Shoulder	Fangs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst
Cloak	Reshii Wraps with Pure Energizing Fiber	Campaign
Chest	Furs of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst
Bracers	Consecrated Baron's Bindings	Priory of the Sacred Flame
Gloves	Claws of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst
Belt	Discount Mail-Order Belt	Tazavesh: Streets of Wonder
Legs	Tassets of Channeled Fury	Revival Catalyst
Boots	Sabatons of Measured Time	Tazavesh: Streets of Wonder
Ring #1	Signet of the False Accuser	Halls of Atonement
Ring #2	High Nerubian Signet	The Dawnbreaker
Trinket #1	Lily of the Eternal Weave	Eco-Dome Al'dani
Trinket #2	Azhiccaran Parapodia	Eco-Dome Al'dani

Static Best in Slot lists are only an indicative tool in a vacuum; we recommend using the following tools: Raidbots Top Gear and its Droptimizer options.

10.

Useful Leveling Items for Midnight

As leveling is quite different from instanced content, some adjustments might help out. Most notably, anything that takes time to "ramp" is going to be bad for leveling, and more generally things that give you power slowly or require movement, such as Astral Antenna Icon Astral Antenna. The opposite can also be true, in that because most content in leveling is pretty easy and fights are short, things giving you too much power often end up overkill. You will notice this when you blow Ascendance Icon Ascendance and Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust/ Heroism Icon Heroism for some boss who ends up dying before Ascendance is even close to ending for example.

With that in mind, we recommend you slot the following trinkets:

Perfidious Projector does a ton of instant damage, and scales up nicely against multiple stacked enemies. You can instantly blow up a pack every 2 minutes with this.

Other than Perfidious Projector, there are many different trinkets with various value, here is a shortlist:

Gigazap's Zap-Cap is a stat stick with a raw damage proc that works even when you're not casting, and gets double value against two targets, which works nicely when questing.
Naazindhri's Mystic Lash is a solid static with a raw damage proc that scales with target number, giving consistent value.
Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope is pretty similar to the above trinkets.
Automatic Footbomb Dispenser comes with built-in Speed which is great for questing, though running on the bombs can be impractical.
If you would feel more comfortable with a strong extra defensive, you can use the healing trinket Loom'ithar's Living Silk, though you lose quite a bit of damage by doing so.
Araz's Ritual Forge: The Health loss is annoying for leveling but pressing it along with Ascendance is guaranteed to kill just about anything.
Lily of the Eternal Weave / Signet of the Priory
Other trinkets are either too slow or too annoying to use in comparison, though it is not a big deal.

At least make sure to unequip So'leah's Secret Technique Icon So'leah's Secret Technique as you lose half of its power when playing by yourself.

11.

Puzzling Cartel Chips for Elemental Shaman

This mid-patch currency is making a come-back on October 21st. Similar rules as last time will apply, any Hero track item is fair game but in order to get a Mythic raid item you will need to have killed the boss on Mythic difficulty once, and for dungeon items you will need to have cleared the corresponding dungeon at keystone level 12 or above.

You need three Puzzling Cartel Chips to buy an item. You will get three Puzzling Cartel Chip from a one-time quest immediately, then one per week from a weekly quest.

We recommend you get the following items in general order of priority though what will be best for your character is, as always, best simmed:

Voidglass Kris if you do not already have a Voidglass Weapon and have access to a Mythic track offhand (or crafted one).
Interloper's Chain Boots if you do not have them in at least Hero track.
Araz's Ritual Forge if you do not have it in at least Hero track.
Diamantine Voidcore if you have a Voidglass Weapon and do not have a strong mythic track passive trinket.
Azhiccaran Parapodia or Astral Antenna if you do not have a Voidglass Weapon.

12.

Reshii Wraps for Elemental Shaman

The Reshii Wraps Icon Reshii Wraps cloak introduced in Patch 11.2 is a Artifact obtained through the campaign and upgraded regularly. You should try to upgrade it whenever you can and use whichever secondary stat you lack, having Mastery by default is reasonable.

Note the special boots Interloper's Chain Boots Icon Interloper's Chain Boots are particularly excellent for us, while Band of the Shattered Soul Icon Band of the Shattered Soul is just okay.

For more information on how to acquire or upgrade the belt, make sure to check out our dedicated guide!

Reshii Wraps

13.

Tier Set for Elemental Shaman

The 11.2 Elemental Tier Set bonuses have been replaced for the Midnight Pre-patch by generic damage increases. You still want it equipped but it does not change your gameplay in any way. Note that they will most likely be disabled once you reach level 81 when leveling in Midnight after its full launch.

Shaman - Midnight PrePatch - 11.2 Class Set 2pc
Shaman - Midnight PrePatch - 11.2 Class Set 4pc

14.

Best Trinkets for Elemental Shaman in Midnight Pre-Patch

Raiding Trinket Tier List Mythic+ Trinket Tier List

15.

Raiding Trinket Tier List for Elemental Shaman

This Trinket Tier List is single-target biased, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Raiding. When Trinkets are equal on single-target, I will "break the tie" by looking into which Trinket performs better in AoE/mixed scenarios.

15.1.

S-Tier

Araz's Ritual Forge — is our strongest, most desirable trinket this tier. It synergizes well with our Ascendance burst, especially for Farseer. The cooldown is unfortunate but may make First Ascendant more desirable.
Diamantine Voidcore WITH SET— Note that Voidglass weapons do NOT grant shields to Elementals after a hotfix but they do more damage instead. Very strong trinket if you have the set, especially in single-target.
Azhiccaran Parapodia — is a generally superior Ara-Kara Sacbrood, and our best proc trinket, though it has the unfortunate issue of being more delayed than most, meaning there is a significant chance you get little benefit from it on pull, but it is overbudget otherwise.

15.2.

A+-Tier

Astral Antenna — Strong trinket overall but you have to deal with the screen clutter purple ball (and you see the balls of whoever else also uses the trinket!) chasing you and if you have to move around enough you may lose procs altogether.
Lily of the Eternal Weave — This is just House of Cards. Very strong but you may want to build less Mastery if you have it.
So'leah's Secret Technique — This is functionally a stat stick where you need to find someone who has the secondary you want and give him a small boost. It is generally strong since in raid you will always find someone with the secondary you want.
Ara-Kara Sacbrood — The king is back, except it is not the king any more, as it is generally a little worse than Azhiccaran Parapodia but it remains a strong alternative.
Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj — This solid trinket is back, though we generally have stronger alternatives available.

15.3.

A-Tier

Signet of the Priory — Is like Lily of the Eternal Weave but with a slightly longer effect and cooldown, which is generally worse unless you use First Ascendant, in which case it is likely better.
Observer's Soul Fetters — Is a slightly worse version of Araz's Ritual Forge without the downside.
Naazindhri's Mystic Lash — Very reasonable trinket, Mastery scaling is good for us.
Gigazap's Zap-Cap — Remains strong on two targets and weak in other scenarios.
Depleted K'areshi Battery — Reasonable though very unspectacular.
Incorporeal Essence-Gorger — Awkward to use depending on your stats but solid, works well with First Ascendant.

15.4.

B-Tier

Diamantine Voidcore WITHOUT SET — Without the set bonus, this trinket is just okay at best.
Mereldar's Toll — Works in an odd way; gives reasonable benefits in a raid or at least party setting, but little personal gain.
Harvester's Edict — Has fine numbers but having to actively catch the orb is annoying, especially since you cannot predict when it will proc.
Perfidious Projector — Does a LOT of immediate damage, but after that is just a Haste stick for 2 minutes. Maybe there will be a niche for it, and it is nice for solo play, but the numbers are not there for long single-target fights.
House of Cards — Even at a lower item level is still strong, but with the Season 3 nerf you will most likely replace it fairly quickly.
Mug's Moxie Jug — Remains a reasonable option until you can get an A or higher tier trinket in the 690s.
Sunblood Amethyst — Is much like Perfidious Projector except its damage does not scale up with more targets, but the Intellect proc makes it vastly superior in pure single-target. However, you need to stand in a tiny, 5 yards circle that is often hard to see for 15 seconds, which is extremely problematic. If it is not a problem (say, for farm or if you know you can stand still when using it), then the trinket goes up a tier or possibly two.
Soulbreaker's Sigil — Is simply too weak to choose unless you have little else
Essence-Hunter's Eyeglass — Slow-stacking Critical Strike is bad and you rely on luck to keep all your stacks up, as this one trinket for some reason refreshes each stack's duration with each proc.
Automatic Footbomb Dispenser — Has a fairly easy to use special effect but the damage seems to be less than advertised. It comes with a lot of guaranteed speed giving 10% movement speed on top of a potential regular tertiary roll, which is nice but it simply does not do enough damage in single-target.
Screams of a Forgotten Sky — Badly designed but has reasonable numbers after the scaling fix.
Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope — The numbers are simply nowhere near enough.

15.5.

C-Tier

Harvester's Edict — Has fine numbers but having to actively catch the orb is annoying, especially since you cannot predict when it will proc.
Void-Touched Fragment — Not good if you are not killing adds very regularly.

16.