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Mephisto

Elemental Macro

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Hey guys, I currently have a lvl 88 Elemental Shaman and I'am looking at starting up some dps macro's as I get closer to 90.
Theres one I saw on a guide that looks like this:

/cast Ascendance
/run UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/cast Spiritwalker's Grace
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Lava Burst

Looks good but I came up with this home grown one:

/cast Ascendance
/run UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/cast Spiritwalker's Grace
/use Potion of Jade Serpent
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Unleash Elements  (I'am using Flametongue Weapon)
/cast Elemental Mastery
/cast Lava Burst

I just dont know if thats too much for a macro but the dps looks good on paper.
I'am not sure either if I have all that in the right order.
I would have Flameshock up before using this macro.

On the guide it also recommends Echo of the Elements which I have used up to now but I think Elemental Mastery would be a bigger overall dps boost using this macro.

Any feedback/suggestions/changes would be most welcome, I havent had a chance to try this out yet so its purely theory based in my head.

Thanks.

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We don't have that many spells, no buffs off the gcd, and there aren't any on use raiding trinks for dps. Just key bind all your abils and then press them in the right order.

The most important macro for ele is /stopcasting - put it before shear, purge, sham rage, astral shift, and health stone.

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A couple of points to be made re: yours.

 

For any macro, the only things you want included are skills off the GCD.  This leaves Lava Burst and Unleash Elements out.

 

You'll almost never be using Unleash Elements.  It's a very poor skill and it results in a DPS loss unless you're specced into Unleashed Fury, which is typically a loss vs Elemental Blast unless you're at a fairly high gear level.

 

You also don't want to include Lava Burst just because you should never include a DPS skill in a CD macro.  You'll be able to hit the skill right after, and need to have another bind anyway, so why have it there?

 

Binding an Int pot to Ascendance is also a poor decision, for a couple of reasons.  One, you don't ALWAYS pot with Ascendance.  For example, double mines on H-Siegecrafter (heavy AoE for around 30 seconds), I'd use a potion for that instead of my next Ascendance.  Two, you want to use your potion before you enter combat in order to get two during the fight.  So you'll need it on another button or bind anyway.

 

And finally, Elemental Mastery.  For some reason, Ascendance sometimes triggers a hidden half GCD, and sometimes won't use Elemental Mastery.  To prevent it from being skipped, you can instead put it ahead of Ascendance.  If you're using Elemental Mastery, make sure you're tracking it's CD with a button as well, because it comes up twice for every Ascendance, but you always want them to line up.

 

This is the macro I use:

 

#showtooltip Ascendance

/cast Elemental Mastery

/cast Ascendance
/cast Spiritwalker's Grace
/use 13
/use 14

 

Echo is better always.

This is not true, particularly in Challenge Modes or on bosses that have a temporary damage increase phase that you wouldn't normally get Bloodlust/Heroism for.  IE: Jin'Rohk's second puddle.

 

Even at mid gear levels, before you get the LMG, Elemental Mastery's value isn't that far below Echo.

Edited by Hybrys
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in challenge modes it's best to macro a talent change, and in all aother situations it's more complicated than echo for a slight potential gain. not somethign i'd recommend to a fresh ele.

 

and although you wouldnt use a pot in a macro, you would use your on-use trinkets? we really dont have that many buttons. 

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in challenge modes it's best to macro a talent change, and in all aother situations it's more complicated than echo for a slight potential gain. not somethign i'd recommend to a fresh ele.

 

and although you wouldnt use a pot in a macro, you would use your on-use trinkets? we really dont have that many buttons. 

That's probably a fair first point.

 

And yes, I would rather a Pot outside of a macro, but the trinkets left in.  Typically, trinkets are a secondary stat and not Int, AND there are very few available for MoP.  If the trinket was Crit, I'd also leave it out.

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Hey guys, thanks for the feedback plenty of food for thought.

 

I've always used a pot in a dps macro so was really surprised to see it not seen favorably.

 

Also the comment about not using Unleash Elements was interesting.

Whilst leveling in 5 man instances I'd always use it when available with Lava Burst, sometimes even waiting for it when Lava Burst was already ready to combine the two together for what I thought was a dps boost.

With the 30% boost to my next fire spell, Lava Burst, I thought that was a good thing.

 

Should I not bother with it at all, is it taking up casting time I could spend on something else?

 

The other thing I'am confused with now is Elemental Mastery or Echo of the Elements, had 2 different answers on this one.

I thought EM with Ascendance would give me a good dps burst with Lava Burst as I'd be able to cast more of them continuously.

 

Echo of the Elements is awesome when it procs but being passive you never know when.

 

I'am still not sure which way to go there either.

 

Thanks again for the help.

Edited by Mephisto

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Here's an example of why we don't recommend pot macros;

 

You're fighting Garrosh.  You prepot, pop your CDs, etc. as usual, but your raid isn't lusting until phase 3 (because that's when it gets crazy).  You get to the first transition phase, get to the part where he's slamming everyone and pop spiritwalkers grace + ascendance because you can tunnel.  Now, here's the point; if your pot is macrod, it will be used here.  It's good here, and gives you a sizable dps boost... but you really want to stack it with Bloodlust too during phase 3, where your burst is so much more important.  Since Ascendance kinda uses a GCD, even if you're clicking you can click one and then the other without losing uptime.  It's not horrible to macro them, but you can do better if you control when you use it.

 

As far as unleashed elements, it's not a huge loss if you use it while moving (or vs Thok, certainly better than not casting), but you really don't want to delay Lava Burst to cast it.  The issue is basically that it eats a whole GCD, but our cast times aren't much longer than a GCD anyway; to be dps-netural, if would have to cause as much damage as a GCD's worth of spells, and it just can't do that.  If flame shock did more damage, or it cost half a GCD, it would be worth using, but you just get more damage out of spending that time casting (even lightning bolt, but especially lava burst).  If you do use it, use it to double-buff Elemental Blast + instant Lava Burst or Flame Shock, but even then the gain is pretty minimal and it's unfortunately easy to mess up while trying to game it.  Far easier to miss out on the tiny potential gain in favor of having less to worry about.

 

I only cast it on Thok, or when walking over toward the Siege Engineers on Garrosh.  It has its situational uses, but it is generally a dps loss to cast it.

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I am not too familiar with macro's since I don't use many however if you cast UE you are gaining a minor buff to 1 lava burst and using 1 global CD. Depending on your haste combined with Elemental Mastery an extra lave burst over UE would be a dps increase. Also once you get to 90 and get trinkets from SoO (lfr or above) you can take out the trinkets lines as most SoO trinkets do not have on use bonus'.

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Hey guys, thanks for the feedback plenty of food for thought.

 

I've always used a pot in a dps macro so was really surprised to see it not seen favorably.

 

Also the comment about not using Unleash Elements was interesting.

Whilst leveling in 5 man instances I'd always use it when available with Lava Burst, sometimes even waiting for it when Lava Burst was already ready to combine the two together for what I thought was a dps boost.

With the 30% boost to my next fire spell, Lava Burst, I thought that was a good thing.

 

Should I not bother with it at all, is it taking up casting time I could spend on something else?

 

The other thing I'am confused with now is Elemental Mastery or Echo of the Elements, had 2 different answers on this one.

I thought EM with Ascendance would give me a good dps burst with Lava Burst as I'd be able to cast more of them continuously.

 

Echo of the Elements is awesome when it procs but being passive you never know when.

 

I'am still not sure which way to go there either.

 

Thanks again for the help.

And you could keep potting in your DPS macro, but know that it's suboptimal for some instances.

 

Unleash Elements, unfortunately, isn't worth the cast just because the 30% isn't enough.  Think of it this way.  If Lava Burst hit for 200k, you're adding 60k to it with that Unleash Elements.  That Unleash Elements consumes a GCD, though, which we'll assume is around 1.5 sec (no haste, for simplicity).  We can then value UE at 40k DPS.  Lightning Bolt on the other hand, hits for 80k, with a chance to crit to 160k, and a cast time of 2.0 seconds.  Using dirty and gross math, it's value is 40k DPS, WITH the chance to crit not factored in.  That LB could also give you a stack towards your next Fulmination.  At higher haste levels, it even starts to include a gap where LB becomes much better.  And this isn't even including the complexities of UE, like wasting an UE on a Flame Shock.

 

tl;dr Unleash Elements isn't worth the cast because it doesn't contribute enough damage.

 

I apologize for being ambiguous re: Echo / Elemental Mastery, but Kitsu is correct that Echo of the Elements is better 99% of the time, and it requires no thought, being a passive and all.  It's hard to notice when it procs, but it's there.

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if you do like 5 mans a lot you may notice that some of them, shadow pan monastary in particular, are setup really nicely for EM because of the boss pacing and large HP that some of the bosses have. once you get into any type of raiding and the fights get longer, echo starts to pull ahead. add more mastery and haste to the equation and echo pulls way ahead.

 

things may be different once WoD starts, so stay tuned for the fun of the new expansion. right now a good thing to work on is casting on the move. get your keybindes setup so you can strafe and LB and keep in mind that if you're always casting something, you're doing it right.

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Hey guys, thank you to everyone who had participated and helped out, fantastic feedback that can only make me a better player.

I will change my macro's to exclude pots and trinkets, remove Unleash Elements and keep Echo of the Elements.

That should all make a bit of a change to my dps and a lot easier to manage.

 

The last 2 questions I have are about Blood Fury, I have an Orc, and Thunderstorm/Earthquake.

 

Firstly I would cast Blood Fury after I potted and before casting Flameshock next or would I just save it for my first Lava Burst?

I'am a little unsure now where to place it in my rotation, which at best is situational, considering the macro I had for it included a pot and trinkets....which I will now delete and just have on its own merit.

 

Secondly for AOE, I've read that Earthquake is low on dps and shouldnt be used much part leveling, is this true?

I've also read that Thunderstorm is only beneficial is you have a minimum of 7 targets surrounding you, which to be honest would be a worry to have that many surround you in the first place, for it to work correctly.

 

Do I really need either of these 2 for AOE in a raid situation or can i just rely on Chain Lightning?

I dont have the glyph for it so it will only ever hit 3 targets.

 

Thank you again for your time and help.

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Glyph CL always and cast CL only.

Thunderstorm is for knock back and earthquake is for slowing adds or finding rogues and it isn't very good at either.

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Thats interesting about Thunderstorm because I glyphed it to remove the knockback, had to many tanks get up me for sending thier target away in 5 mans which has been my primary way to level this guy.

 

I did have the CL glyph but a lot of guides dont recommend it unless your doing a lot of AoE, Locks seem to do a better job than me, so I changed it.

 

For major glyphs I use Flame Shock, Fire Elemental Totem and Spiritwalkers Grace.

For minor only the Thunderstorm one does anything, the other two are cosmetic.

 

So should I reconsider going back to hitting 5 targets with Chain Lightning?

 

Also I might remove Earthquake if its not that useful, once I hit 90 I'll be raiding so not sure if there will be a time when I'll use it over magma totem or Chain Lightning for AoE.

Edited by Mephisto

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Hey guys, thank you to everyone who had participated and helped out, fantastic feedback that can only make me a better player.

I will change my macro's to exclude pots and trinkets, remove Unleash Elements and keep Echo of the Elements.

That should all make a bit of a change to my dps and a lot easier to manage.

 

The last 2 questions I have are about Blood Fury, I have an Orc, and Thunderstorm/Earthquake.

 

Firstly I would cast Blood Fury after I potted and before casting Flameshock next or would I just save it for my first Lava Burst?

I'am a little unsure now where to place it in my rotation, which at best is situational, considering the macro I had for it included a pot and trinkets....which I will now delete and just have on its own merit.

 

Secondly for AOE, I've read that Earthquake is low on dps and shouldnt be used much part leveling, is this true?

I've also read that Thunderstorm is only beneficial is you have a minimum of 7 targets surrounding you, which to be honest would be a worry to have that many surround you in the first place, for it to work correctly.

 

Do I really need either of these 2 for AOE in a raid situation or can i just rely on Chain Lightning?

I dont have the glyph for it so it will only ever hit 3 targets.

 

Thank you again for your time and help.

Blood Fury is one of those things that does a little, but not a whole lot.  I'd easily macro it into Ascendance and forget about it, but if you want to micromanage it, I'd use it with my first Ascendance (for it's first Lava Burst), and then again when it's back up, just before a Lava Burst or low movement phase.  You could also hold it for your next Ascendance at a small loss.

 

AoE is a funny beast for Ele.  I personally will only use Magma Totem on 10 or more targets, Earthquake on 15 or more targets.  These are because of their relatively low DPET (damage per execute time), and the relative ease AoE packs go down in raids lately. The only instance of using either of those in a raid would be on Garrosh in SoO, in the Endless Springs transition.  I've also been known to use Earthquake in Challenge Modes, for the extra stun utility.  I never spend Thunderstorm on AoE damage, saving it for the odd time it's used as utility.

 

I'm also glyphed for Chain Lightning as long as there are often more than 3 targets active when you're casting CL.  It's a small loss of DPS on 3 targets, and a massive gain on 4+.  If there's a chance that any time during the fight you're going to be able to hit 4 or 5 targets with it, it's most likely going to be a gain, or the loss will be so small that it wouldn't matter.

 

Once you're raiding, I'd also suggest dropping the Fire Ele glyph.  Typically, fights are lasting 5-6 minutes, meaning that with proper precasting, you'll get two proper Fire Eles instead of having to manage it through the fight.  I raid with Lightning Shield, Flame Shock, and Chain Lightning, trading Lightning Shield for Capacitor Totem on certain fights I can project a stun out on.  (Norushen, Sha of Pride, Galakras, Nazgrim, Spoils, Garrosh.)

Edited by Hybrys
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i always have sham rage glyphed because im lazy and theres plenty of fights to use it on.

 

most notable being sha because it doesnt give you pride.

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i always have sham rage glyphed because im lazy and theres plenty of fights to use it on.

 

most notable being sha because it doesnt give you pride.

You make a good point, and glyphed Sham Rage is quite valuable on a number of fights, such as H-Immerseus, Protectors (N or H), Sha (N or H), and Malkorok (N, make sure you run away first.  H, only use in case of emergency, or if you're sure that you're clear of everyone else).

 

It does, however, give you pride.  I did it last night and gained the normal 5.

Edited by Hybrys

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You make a good point, and glyphed Sham Rage is quite valuable on a number of fights, such as H-Immerseus, Protectors (N or H), Sha (N or H), and Malkorok (N, make sure you run away first.  H, only use in case of emergency, or if you're sure that you're clear of everyone else).

 

It does, however, give you pride.  I did it last night and gained the normal 5.

My understanding is that on heroic Malkorok you can skip the whole debuff thing by dropping Windwalk Totem, but I haven't actually gotten to that fight yet.  I also raid with 3 druids who all have Stampeding Roar (not to mention the Paladins and Warriors with their silly root breaks), so it's sort of a non-issue for us regardless.

 

Glyphed Sham Rage is fantastic for heroic Immerseus, though, since thanks to echo + mastery we tend to very suddenly go from 3 stacks to 6 (or 7, which is instakill territory if it ticks) and you don't want to rely on your healers catching that in time.  Ideally you can, realistically you can't, and if you have a healer on shaman stack-watching duty they might slip up elsewhere.

 

AoE is a funny beast for Ele.  I personally will only use Magma Totem on 10 or more targets, Earthquake on 15 or more targets.  These are because of their relatively low DPET (damage per execute time), and the relative ease AoE packs go down in raids lately. The only instance of using either of those in a raid would be on Garrosh in SoO, in the Endless Springs transition.  I've also been known to use Earthquake in Challenge Modes, for the extra stun utility.  I never spend Thunderstorm on AoE damage, saving it for the odd time it's used as utility.

 

I'm also glyphed for Chain Lightning as long as there are often more than 3 targets active when you're casting CL.  It's a small loss of DPS on 3 targets, and a massive gain on 4+.  If there's a chance that any time during the fight you're going to be able to hit 4 or 5 targets with it, it's most likely going to be a gain, or the loss will be so small that it wouldn't matter.

 

Once you're raiding, I'd also suggest dropping the Fire Ele glyph.  Typically, fights are lasting 5-6 minutes, meaning that with proper precasting, you'll get two proper Fire Eles instead of having to manage it through the fight.  I raid with Lightning Shield, Flame Shock, and Chain Lightning, trading Lightning Shield for Capacitor Totem on certain fights I can project a stun out on.  (Norushen, Sha of Pride, Galakras, Nazgrim, Spoils, Garrosh.)

Absolutely all of this.  I pre-cast Earthquake, I very rarely cast it.  I don't even bother with Magma Totem most of the time, I hate the sound and its damage is lost in the sea of Chain Lightning.  My glyphed chain lighting breaks 900k on trash.  Always glyph it if it will ever hit 4+ relevant targets during the fight.  (I basically just leave it glyphed.)

 

Glyphing Fire Elemental is more of an enhancement thing due to Assurance of Consequence + Elemental Mastery cheese.  You cannot gain uptime by glyphing it, only lose it.  (Also a GCD, but that's pocket change.)  I can't think of any situation this tier where glyphing it lets you better line up with a burn phase.  (On Garrosh, hold off on using it until phase 2 starts, then it should be up again for bloodlust on phase 3.  Phase 1 dps is functionally irrelevant, and is all you would gain from glyphing it.)  Would've been fantastic for Magmaw or Spine, though.

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My understanding is that on heroic Malkorok you can skip the whole debuff thing by dropping Windwalk Totem, but I haven't actually gotten to that fight yet.  I also raid with 3 druids who all have Stampeding Roar (not to mention the Paladins and Warriors with their silly root breaks), so it's sort of a non-issue for us regardless.

 

Glyphed Sham Rage is fantastic for heroic Immerseus, though, since thanks to echo + mastery we tend to very suddenly go from 3 stacks to 6 (or 7, which is instakill territory if it ticks) and you don't want to rely on your healers catching that in time.  Ideally you can, realistically you can't, and if you have a healer on shaman stack-watching duty they might slip up elsewhere.

This is true, Windwalk Totem will completely trivialize the Heroic root mechanic, the same as Stampeding Roar.  But I do not typically use a stacked method for our 10m H-Malk kills, instead having a tank solo the Blood Rage phase.  So I'm usually near a wall dispelling myself.  WW would do the same thing, really.

 

I'm also quite guilty of using Sham Rage to cheese my stacks on H-Immerseus and dump more damage into the boss.  As long as a new stack applies, I believe the tick timer resets.  I've been up to ~9 stacks before. (!)

Edited by Hybrys

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Thanks guys, did a bit more changing so now it feels like I'am heading down the right path.

 

My dps  increased last night after a few tweaks mentioned here previously and made the relevant changes mentioned again here  today so looking forward to running tonight to see how it all goes.

 

I'am almost 90 so will soon be able to play with the big boys.

 

The only thing I'am not sure about now is Elemental Blast as I dont have it as yet.

Not sure where in the rotation it goes and where its best effective.

 

As an older aged player, well over 40,  I really appreciate the help and guidance on here from you guys, thanks again for taking the time to help out smile.png

Edited by Mephisto

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I'm glad you found good advice!

 

Remember to Like the most helpful posts so that the posters keep coming back and being awesome :)

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Thanks guys, did a bit more changing so now it feels like I'am heading down the right path.

 

My dps  increased last night after a few tweaks mentioned here previously and made the relevant changes mentioned again here  today so looking forward to running tonight to see how it all goes.

 

I'am almost 90 so will soon be able to play with the big boys.

 

The only thing I'am not sure about now is Elemental Blast as I dont have it as yet.

Not sure where in the rotation it goes and where its best effective.

 

As an older aged player, well over 40,  I really appreciate the help and guidance on here from you guys, thanks again for taking the time to help out smile.png

So, as you may know, most rotations have turned into a simple priority rotation, underwhich you follow certain conditions to dictate when you cast your spells.  I'm going to phrase the same rotation in two different ways, and hopefully one of them will help.

 

Apply/Maintain Flame Shock > Lava Burst > Elemental Blast > Earth Shock / Fulmination with 6 or 7 stacks > Searing Totem (only without procs) > Lightning Bolt

 

1. Is Flame Shock active or at more than three seconds?  If no, use Flame Shock.

2. Is Lava Burst off cooldown or do you have a Lava Surge proc?  If yes, use Lava Burst.

3. Is Elemental Blast off cooldown and Lava Burst is unavailable? If yes, use Elemental Blast.

4. Do you have more than 6 stacks of Lightning Shield, does Flame Shock have more than 6 seconds remaining, and EB/LvB are both unavailable?  If yes, use Earth Shock.

5. Do you currently have any procs increasing your Int/Haste/Mastery, or any fire totems currently down?  If no, use Searing Totem.

6. Do none of the other situations apply, or do you have procs increasing your Int/Haste/Mastery?  If yes, cast Lightning Bolt.

 

EB is one of those things that you really like to cast, but isn't worth delaying a Lava Burst for.  That being said, it's really nice to have it up for Ascendance, if it procs Mastery or Haste.  Typically, on the opener, I'll Flame Shock, Lava Burst, EB, Ascendance.  Once you start to get more comfortable, you can also pre-cast EB, so that it lands right after the tank pulls.  If you do that, your opener would be EB, Flame Shock, Lava Burst, Ascendance.

Edited by Hybrys
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