Elemental Shaman DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities in Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.0.1

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. Patch 8.0.1 Changes for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. Elemental Shaman Strengths
  • 4. Elemental Shaman Weaknesses
  • 5. Elemental Shaman Viability in the Current Patch
  • 6. Contents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. The Basics for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. Talent Choice for Elemental Shaman
  • 4. Stat Priority for Elemental Shaman
  • 5. Single Target Priority List for Elemental Shaman
  • 6. Multi-Target Priority List for Elemental Shaman
  • 7. Azerite Traits
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Elemental Shaman Spell Summary
  • 2. Main Resource for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. Basic Abilities for Elemental Shaman
  • 4. Important Procs for Elemental Shaman
  • 5. DPS Cooldowns for Elemental Shaman
  • 6. Defensive Abilities for Elemental Shaman
  • 7. Crowd Control Abilities for Elemental Shaman
  • 8. Additional Utility abilities for Elemental Shaman
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices for Elemental Shaman
  • 2. Talent Cheat Sheets for Elemental Shaman
    • 2.1. Single Target
    • 2.2. AoE/Cleave
  • 3. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 10. PvP Talents (War Mode)
    • 10.1. Elemental Shaman War Mode Talents
      • 10.1.1. General PvP Talents
      • 10.1.2. Elemental Shaman PvP Talents
  • 11. ChangeLog
• +Azerite Traits and Armor
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. Azerite Gear for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. Recommended Pre-Raid Traits
    • 3.1. Single Target
    • 3.2. Cleave/AoE
  • 4. Recommended Items
    • 4.1. Helms
    • 4.2. Shoulders
    • 4.3. Body Armors
  • 5. Outer Ring Traits for Elemental Shaman
    • 5.1. Spec-Specific Outer Ring Traits
  • 6. Middle Ring Traits for Elemental Shaman
  • 7. Inner Ring Traits for Elemental Shaman
  • 8. Find Azerite Armor By Trait/Power
  • 9. ChangeLog
• ×Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Single-Target Rotation for Elemental Shaman
  • 2. Multiple Target Rotation for Elemental Shaman
    • 2.1. 2-3 Targets
    • 2.2. 4+ Targets
  • 3. Cooldown Usage for Elemental Shaman
    • 3.1. Ascendance
    • 3.2. Fire Elemental
    • 3.3. Stormkeeper
  • 4. Managing Movement for Elemental Shaman
  • 5. Academic Information for Elemental Shaman
    • 5.1. Maelstrom Management
    • 5.2. Lava Burst and Flame Shock
  • 6. Opening Sequence for Elemental Shaman
    • 6.1. Generic Opener with Primal Elementalist
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Mythic+ Tips
  • 1. Elemental Shaman in Mythic+
    • 1.1. Elemental Shaman Mythic+ Rotation
    • 1.2. Elemental Shaman Utility
  • 2. Mythic+ Talents for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. Mythic+ Affixes
    • 3.1. Tier One Affixes
    • 3.2. Tier Two Affixes
    • 3.3. Tier Three Affixes
    • 3.4. Seasonal Affix
  • 4. Mythic+ Azerite Traits
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Common and Worst Mistakes
  • 1. Having High Downtime
  • 2. Not Using All Your Abilities
  • 3. Overcapping Maelstrom
  • 4. Not Knowing How To Sim Yourself
  • 5. Analyzing Your Mistakes as an Elemental Shaman
• +Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1. Battle for Azeroth Frequently Asked Questions
    • 1.1. What Piece is Better, X or Y?
    • 1.2. How Much of X Stat Should I Have?
    • 1.3. What Talents Do I Use in Dungeons?
    • 1.4. What Talents Do I Use in Raids?
    • 1.5. What Trinkets Am I Looking to Get for Raiding?
    • 1.6. Is Elemental Viable?
    • 1.7. What is this I hear about 8.1?
    • 1.8. What Flasks/Pots/Food/Enchants/Gems should I use?
    • 1.9. How many targets should I cast Flame Shock on?
    • 1.10. Do Multiple Earthquakes stack?
    • 1.11. How many targets make Earthquake worth using over Earth Shock?
  • 2. ChangeLog
• +Boss by Boss Strategies
  • 1. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Elemental Shaman
    • 1.1. Generic Stat Priority
  • 2. Statistics Explanations for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems for Elemental Shaman
  • 2. Enchants for Elemental Shaman
  • 3. Consumables for Elemental Shaman
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Addons for Elemental Shaman
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. Death Note
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Macros for Elemental Shaman
    • 2.1. Wind Shear
    • 2.2. Purge
    • 2.3. Wind Rush Totem
    • 2.4. Mouseouver Earthquake
    • 2.5. Harden Skin on the same key as Earth Elemental
    • 2.6. Primal Elementals AoE macro
    • 2.7. Elemental Prepull Macro
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear and Best in Slot
  • 1. The Importance of "Simming Yourself"
  • 2. Azerite Gear for Elemental Shaman
    • 2.1. Helms
    • 2.2. Shoulders
    • 2.3. Body Armors
  • 3. Trinkets for Elemental Shaman
  • 4. Best in Slot Items for Elemental Shaman
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. A note on Racial Bonuses
  • 3. ChangeLog

General Information

On this page, we list your Elemental Shaman core abilities and how they should be used together (rotation) in World of Warcraft Battle for Azeroth 8.0.1. We also explain when to use your various cooldowns. Then, we go deeper and present all the subtleties that you will need to know if you want to excel at playing an Elemental Shaman.

The other pages of our Elemental Shaman guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Stormy, Elemental main since Wrath of the Lich King and member of the Storm, Earth and Lava elemental theorycrafting team.

1. Single-Target Rotation for Elemental Shaman

The rotation of an Elemental Shaman revolves around the following priority list.

• Exposed Elements
• Elemental Blast
• Master of the Elements
• Totem Mastery
• Liquid Magma Totem
• Icefury
• Stormkeeper
• Ascendance

1. Cast Totem Mastery if any of the following are true.
   • It is absent.
   • You are out of range of a previous set of totems.
   • You are about to enter Ascendance and the buff would expire before Ascendance ends.
2. Apply Flame Shock if any of the following are true.
   • It is absent.
   • It will expire in 6 seconds or less.
   • You are about to enter Ascendance and the buff would expire before Ascendance ends.
3. Cast Fire Elemental if it is off cooldown. Always pair your elemental with Haste buffs (e.g. Bloodlust/ Heroism) if possible, but do not sacrifice an extra usage by delaying your elemental.
4. Cast Earth Elemental if it is off cooldown and you either are not using Primal Elementalist or your Fire Elemental is not currently active. You cannot have 2 Primal Elementals active at the same time.
5. Cast Lightning Bolt if the Exposed Elements debuff is active on the target and you have more than 60 Maelstrom.
6. Cast Earth Shock if you have 60 or more Maelstrom and the Master of the Elements buff is active.
7. Cast Elemental Blast on cooldown
8. Cast Liquid Magma Totem whenever available. Delay the usage if multiple stacked targets will be present within the span of its cooldown.
9. Cast Stormkeeper whenever available. Delay the usage if 3+ targets will be present within the span of its cooldown.
10. Cast Earth Shock if you have 90 or more Maelstrom.
11. Cast Ascendance and spam Lava Burst. During Ascendance, cast Earth Shock if Maelstrom is 90 or greater.
12. Cast Lava Burst whenever available.
13. Cast Icefury
14. Cast Frost Shock if any Icefury buff is active
15. Cast Totem Mastery if it has 9 seconds remaining or less.
16. Cast Earth Shock if Maelstrom is 60 or greater and Lava Surge is not available.
17. Cast Lightning Bolt as a filler on a single target.
18. Cast Frost Shock as a filler while moving.

For more information on your opening sequence, please refer to our dedicated section.

2. Multiple Target Rotation for Elemental Shaman

2.1. 2-3 Targets

The 2-3 targets priority list is the same as the single-target with the following changes.

1. Apply and maintain Flame Shock on all targets.
2. Cast Earthquake at 60+ Maelstrom (multiple instances of this spell overlap) if the targets will remain in the zone for its duration.
3. Cast Chain Lightning instead of Lightning Bolt as a filler.

2.2. 4+ Targets

• Totem Mastery
• Storm Elemental
• Liquid Magma Totem
• Stormkeeper

1. Preferably have Totem Mastery up (unless the targets will not live for more than 30 seconds).
2. Cast Stormkeeper on cooldown.
3. Cast Liquid Magma Totem on cooldown.
4. If using Primal Elementalist, use Call Lightning then Eye of the Storm.
5. Spend all Maelstrom on Earthquake.
6. Cast Chain Lightning to generate Maelstrom.

3. Cooldown Usage for Elemental Shaman

Before using each of your cooldowns, you should take special care to consider several factors. Our offensive cooldowns have lengthy recharge times, but when correctly utilized, can be responsible for a large percentage of our damage output. You should always take into account:

• Your raid's Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp usage.
• The mechanics of the current boss, including intermissions and abilities that necessitate movement.
• The spawn timers of any adds that might be present, as we may want to use or delay certain cooldowns with respect to cleave and AoE.

3.1. Ascendance

There are a few things to consider before each Ascendance usage.

• Ensure Flame Shock will last for the duration of Ascendance.
• Ensure no boss mechanics will interfere, such as intermissions, boss movement, or mechanics that will force you to move.
• Try to begin with as little Maelstrom as possible.
• Clear Lava Surge if active, and any remaining Lava Burst charges.
• If using this talent, cast Elemental Blast immediately before activating Ascendance.

It is always worth it to recast Elemental Blast during your Ascendance. Do not let yourself Maelstrom cap either; be sure to cast Earth Shock when or before you reach 90 Maelstrom.

It is more efficient to spend your time in Ascendance casting Lava Burst instead of Lava Beam. Even if there is intermittent cleave on an encounter, try to use Ascendance during single-target portions of the fight.

3.2. Fire Elemental

Fire Elemental has a long cooldown, and its usage should be considered carefully. The best time to use this cooldown is always during periods of increased Haste or damage, and therefore we typically will pair it with the Bloodlust/ Heroism/ Time Warp usage. That said, we never want to lose a potential usage of Fire Elemental by delaying it for maximum efficacy. For example, on an encounter that lasts 3 minutes, you would use Fire Elemental immediately on the pull and once again as soon as it is off cooldown, regardless of when Bloodlust/Heroism/Time Warp is used.

3.3. Stormkeeper

Stormkeeper is used more or less on cooldown on pure single target encounters, provided it does not interfere with more important rotational abilities, such as Lava Burst.

On multiple-target fights, or fights with intermittent cleave and AoE, it is more efficient to delay your Stormkeeper (up to 30-40 seconds) until you are able to Chain Lightning the adds.

4. Managing Movement for Elemental Shaman

Elemental is notoriously hampered by encounters with very high movement, as much of our burst damage as well as multiple-target damage is only effective if we are able to stand still for the duration. While Icefury can mitigate this weakness to a certain extent, correctly playing around movement remains forefront to success for Elemental Shamans. Always make an effort to pro-actively position yourself to reduce potential movement from mechanics. Keep careful track of boss timers and mechanics, as they can spell disaster for your damage if you are targeted during a damage dump.

5. Academic Information for Elemental Shaman

5.1. Maelstrom Management

You should avoid casting Lava Burst above 90 Maelstrom and Icefury above 85 Maelstrom. These limits are the maximum Maelstrom you can have before casting those spells to not overcap Maelstrom without an Mastery: Elemental Overload proc. It is likely these spells will overload at raid levels of gear, therefore, if you cast Lava Burst at 90 Maelstrom or Icefury at 85 Maelstrom it is likely you will overcap Maelstrom and waste valuable resources. In practice, it is safer to cast these spells at lower Maelstrom than their limits to avoid wasting your overload procs. The key to success is managing all of your separate procs without overcapping Maelstrom.

5.2. Lava Burst and Flame Shock

The reason why Flame Shock should always be up on your target is because:

• each tick has a chance to proc Lava Surge, which resets the cooldown of Lava Burst;
• your Lava Burst will always critically hit if Flame Shock is on the target. This is very important due to your Elemental Fury passive.

You should only cast Lava Burst when Flame Shock is active on the target, or the target will live for less than 6 seconds. Flame Shock ticks every 2 seconds without accounting for Haste, meaning that you have to take advantage of Lava Surge within one global cooldown to avoid potentially wasting a new Lava Surge proc from the next Flame Shock tick. By the same token, casting Lava Burst immediately as it comes off cooldown is also imperative so that Lava Surge is not wasted while Lava Burst is off cooldown.

Flame Shock benefits from Pandemic, meaning that you can refresh it any time that it has less than 30% of its original maximum duration remaining and the remaining duration will be added to the new debuff. Therefore you are be able to refresh Flame Shocks without wasting any duration when it has 6 seconds or less remaining, and it will be extended by 18 seconds. For example, if your Flame Shock has 6 seconds left and you refresh it your new Flame Shock would last 24 seconds.

6. Opening Sequence for Elemental Shaman

6.1. Generic Opener with Primal Elementalist

1. Cast Totem Mastery 5 seconds before the pull.
2. Cast Fire Elemental/ Storm Elemental 3.5 seconds before the pull.
3. Use Battle Potion of Intellect.
4. Pre-cast Lightning Bolt or Elemental Blast if talented 2 seconds from the pull.
5. Apply Flame Shock.
6. Cast Lava Burst (twice if using Echo of the Elements.
7. If using Ascendance, cast it then activate racial abilities and on-use trinkets, and spam Lava Burst. Cast Earth Shock before you cap.
8. Proceed with normal priority.

7. ChangeLog

• 13 Aug. 2018: Updated for Battle for Azeroth launch.
• 28 Jul. 2018: Added explanation for legendary boots/shoulders usage on 4-6 targets.

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