Elemental Shaman DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Shadowlands 9.0.5

Welcome to our Rotation page for Elemental Shaman. On this page you will find everything you need to know about actually playing the spec in Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.

If the rotations below seem overwhelming to you, you might benefit from visiting our Easy Mode page, which outlines a close-to-optimal rotation in simpler terms.

The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.

Neither our single-target nor our multi-target rotations change in Mythic+ content. If you are looking for information and tips specific to Mythic+ content, please visit our Mythic+ page below.

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

• Static Discharge
• Elemental Blast
• Echoing Shock
• Master of the Elements
• Storm Elemental
• Liquid Magma Totem
• Surge of Power
• Icefury
• Stormkeeper
• Ascendance
• Echoes of Great Sundering
• Necrolord
• Night Fae
• Kyrian
• Venthyr

1. Apply Flame Shock (ideally with Primordial Wave if you joined the Necrolord Covenant) if it is absent.
   • Refresh it if you are about to enter Ascendance and the buff would expire before Ascendance ends.
   • Refresh it if you have no more than 18 stacks of Wind Gust.
2. Cast Fire Elemental (or Storm Elemental if talented) 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.
3. 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.
4. Cast Fae Transfusion if Master of the Elements is active.
5. Cast Earthquake if the Echoes of the Great Sundering buff is up and your next cast will make you overcap Maelstrom.
6. Cast Earth Shock if your next cast will make you overcap Maelstrom.
7. Cast Elemental Blast on cooldown.
8. Cast Fae Transfusion if you do not have Master of the Elements talented.
9. Cast Stormkeeper whenever available.
10. Cast Primordial Wave whenever available. If you get a reset from Tumbling Waves, wait until you cast a Lava Burst before casting Primordial Wave again.
11. Cast Earthquake if the Echoes of the Great Sundering buff is up.
12. Cast Echoing Shock if you have 60 Maelstrom or can cast a Lava Burst, with or without Lava Surge.
13. Cast Lava Burst if the Echoing Shock buff is up
14. Cast Lightning Bolt empowered by Stormkeeper if Surge of Power is active.
15. Cast Lightning Bolt empowered by Stormkeeper if Master of the Elements is active and you are not using Surge of Power as a talent.
16. Cast Liquid Magma Totem whenever available. Delay the usage if multiple stacked targets will be present within the span of its cooldown.
17. Cast Vesper Totem if you joined the Kyrian Covenant.
18. Cast Earthquake if the Echoes of Great Sundering buff is up and the Master of the Elements buff is active.
19. Cast Earth Shock if you have 60 or more Maelstrom and the Master of the Elements buff is active.
20. Cast Lightning Bolt if Storm Elemental is active.
21. Cast Ascendance and spam Lava Burst. During Ascendance, cast Earth Shock (or Earthquake if buffed by Echoes of Great Sundering) if Maelstrom is 90 or greater and Elemental Blast if talented whenever it comes off cooldown and it will not make you overcap Maelstrom.
22. Cast Icefury if you will need to move in a few seconds.
23. Cast Frost Shock if both the Icefury and Master of the Elements buffs are active.
24. Cast Lightning Bolt if Surge of Power is active.
25. Cast Lava Burst whenever available.
26. Refresh Flame Shock if it will expire in under 6 seconds.
27. Cast Earthquake if the buff from Echoes of Great Sundering is up.
28. Cast Earth Shock if you have 60 or more Maelstrom.
29. Cast Frost Shock if any Icefury buff is active.
30. Cast Icefury.
31. Cast Chain Harvest whenever available.
32. Cast Static Discharge.
33. Cast Lightning Bolt as a filler on a single target.
34. Cast Frost Shock as a filler while moving.

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

Note that if you are using Primal Elementalist without Storm Elemental, you can cast Meteor whenever you want, as you can only cast it once per Elemental. Since its damage is not split, you ideally want to hold onto it if multiple targets are going to be present.

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

1. Apply and maintain Flame Shock on both 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 if it will hit both targets.

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

• Night Fae

1. Apply and maintain Flame Shock on all 3 targets.
2. Cast Earthquake at 60+ Maelstrom (multiple instances of this spell overlap) if the targets are stacked.
3. Cast Chain Lightning instead of Lightning Bolt if it will hit all 3 targets.
4. Cast Fae Transfusion on the target with the most Health as the pack is a few seconds away from dying.

• Echoing Shock
• Master of the Elements
• Storm Elemental
• Liquid Magma Totem
• Stormkeeper
• Echoes of the Great Sundering
• Necrolord
• Night Fae
• Kyrian
• Venthyr

1. Cast Fire Elemental (or Storm Elemental if you picked that).
2. 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.
3. Maintain Flame Shock on one target and cast Lava Burst to buff your Earthquakes with Master of the Elements.
4. Cast Primordial Wave, (if using Master of the Elements, preferably on a second target if it is going to live for the duration and you have time to cast a Lava Burst before the first Flame Shock fades.
5. Cast Stormkeeper on cooldown.
6. Cast Chain Harvest on cooldown.
7. Cast Echoing Shock if you have enough Maelstrom to cast Earthquake.
8. Cast Liquid Magma Totem on cooldown.
9. Cast Vesper Totem on cooldown.
10. Cast Earth Shock to empower your next Earthquake with Echoes of Great Sundering.
11. Cast Lava Burst to proc Master of the Elements.
12. Cast Earthquake.
13. If using both Storm Elemental and Primal Elementalist make sure you use Eye of the Storm (but not before casting one Call Lightning).
14. Cast Chain Lightning to generate Maelstrom.
15. Cast Fae Transfusion on the target with the most Health as the pack is a few seconds away from dying.

• Eye of the Storm is now limited to 6 targets per tick. This is a very significant nerf to the Storm Elemental build's AoE capabilities.
• Meteor is now limited to 8 targets.
• Earthquake and Liquid Magma Totem now have a soft-cap at 20 targets. This cap is high enough that it should rarely matter.

Funneling means using the fact that there are multiple targets present in the fight to gain damage on a single target. For Elemental Shamans, this means having multiple Flame Shocks running on several targets and using the additional Lava Surge procs to gain a significant amount of DPS on one target. If this is an important part of the fight, you may want to gear toward Haste, as this is a very good stat for this strategy.

If you are using the talent Master of the Elements it becomes very important to try to use the buff on the most appropriate spell for the situation, usually Earth Shock. From best to worst, you ideally want to use Master of the Elements on:

1. Fae Transfusion if you joined the Night Fae Covenant.
2. Earthquake if it will hit 2+ targets or is empowered by Echoes of Great Sundering.
3. Lightning Bolt empowered by Stormkeeper
4. Earth Shock
5. Frost Shock empowered by Icefury
6. Elemental Blast
7. Icefury
8. Lightning Bolt
9. Frost Shock

Note that the list above is what will give the most value for the proc, but IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THIS IS THE ACTUAL SPELL PRIORITY IF YOU HAVE A PROC. It should not override the fact that you should cast Earth Shock if you have 92 or more Maelstrom or that casting Elemental Blast should generally take priority over everything else if long term efficiency is the goal. Obviously there are plenty of situational exceptions, but it is impossible to give static priorities for every situation.

In most scenarios, especially in a raid, there are two main uses for Surge of Power. Either you use it on Lava Burst in order to get a full additional use of Fire Elemental, or, if the fight will not last long enough, you use it on Lightning Bolt for additional Mastery: Elemental Overload procs.

In addition, against exactly 2 targets within 8 yards of each other, you want to use Earth Shock to empower your Flame Shock to hit both targets, but only if Flame Shock is not already present on both or is within the pandemic window.

Finally, if you are using Stormkeeper as well, you will generally want to pool Maelstrom before casting it, so that both Stormkeeper-empowered Lightning Bolts become also empowered by Surge of Power.

Here is an example:

1. Pool Maelstrom until you have 96
2. Cast Earth Shock
3. Cast Stormkeeper
4. Cast Lightning Bolt
5. Cast Lava Burst
6. Cast Earth Shock
7. Cast Lightning Bolt

This talent has some interesting synergy with Primordial Wave and Skybreaker's Fiery Demise for heavy multi-dotting of split targets.

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.

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

• Ensure Flame Shock is present on as many targets as possible.
• Ensure no boss mechanics will interfere, such as intermissions, boss movement, or mechanics that will force you to move. It can be a good idea to use Spiritwalker's Grace to ensure full DPS uptime.
• 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.

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. Remember not to use Earth Elemental when Fire Elemental is still around if you use Primal Elementalist.

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 can be a good idea to delay your Stormkeeper until you are able to Chain Lightning the adds.

Elemental is a lot more mobile in Shadowlands, largely because of Spiritwalker's Grace. Icefury further helps with making Elemental a fairly mobile spec, especially when combined with utilizing your instant spells to adjust your positioning. 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.

You should avoid casting Lava Burst above 90 Maelstrom and Icefury above 75 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 75 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.

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 5 seconds. Flame Shock ticks every 3 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 5 seconds or less remaining, and it will be extended by 18 seconds. For example, if your Flame Shock has 5 seconds left and you refresh it your new Flame Shock would last 23 seconds.

Note that, because of the new changes, this is a work in progress.

1. Cast Vesper Totem 6 seconds before the pull if you joined the Kyrian Covenant.
2. Cast Stormkeeper 4.5 seconds before the pull.
3. Cast Fire Elemental/ Storm Elemental 3 seconds before the pull.
4. Use Potion of Spectral Intellect.
5. Pre-cast Elemental Blast 1.5 seconds from the pull ( Lava Burst if not using that talent).
6. Apply Flame Shock (with Primordial Wave if your pre-cast was Elemental Blast).
7. If your pre-cast was Lava Burst, cast Primordial Wave.
8. If your pre-cast was Lava Burst, cast Lightning Bolt.
9. Cast Echoing Shock, if talented
10. Cast Lava Burst.
11. Cast Lightning Bolt.
12. Cast Lava Burst.
13. If your pre-cast was Elemental Blast, cast Lava Burst into Lightning Bolt to use your second Stormkeeper charge.
14. Cast Icefury, if talented.
15. Cast Ascendance, if talented.
16. Proceed with normal priority.