Elemental Shaman DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Dragonflight 10.0.7

Last updated on Mar 20, 2023 at 14:16 by Stormy 59 comments
General Information

On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Elemental Shaman in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.0.7.

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Elemental Shaman rotation.

1.

Elemental Shaman Rotation

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.

Due to simulations still being a work in progress and the many changes, these lists are a work in progress. Additional details for Fire-focused are coming soon.

1.1.

Easy Mode

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.

1.2.

PvP

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

1.2.1.

Mythic+

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.

2.

Tier Set Bonus for Elemental Shaman

Our tier set bonuses should not change our rotation much overall.

Elemental Shaman 2pc Icon Elemental Shaman 2pc makes it more important not to cast more than 5 Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning and Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst without casting a spender, but in practice it should not really happen anyway.

Elemental Shaman 4pc Icon Elemental Shaman 4pc is similar, in practice this should be up most of the time and does not change our priorities.

There is some awkwardness for AoE, Elemental Shaman 2pc Icon Elemental Shaman 2pc leads Echoes of Great Sundering Icon Echoes of Great Sundering users to try to game the stacks by using single-target spenders with as few stacks as possible, meaning ideally right after Earthquake Icon Earthquake. The anti-synergy with Elemental Shaman 4pc Icon Elemental Shaman 4pc is pretty clear. In practice if you have both, you are probably better off ignoring Elemental Shaman 2pc Icon Elemental Shaman 2pc and focusing on maintaining Elemental Shaman 4pc Icon Elemental Shaman 4pc uptime, particularly if you use Echo Chamber Icon Echo Chamber and Mountains Will Fall Icon Mountains Will Fall.

3.

Single-Target Rotation for Elemental Shaman

The rotation of an Elemental Shaman revolves around the following priority list. Note that for the special "rotation" involving Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper, Surge of Power Icon Surge of Power and Icefury Icon Icefury, we assume you are using Eye of the Storm Icon Eye of the Storm, Flow of Power Icon Flow of Power and Swelling Maelstrom Icon Swelling Maelstrom. If you are not, adjust accordingly.

Note that this does not currently support all the viable fire build variants introduced with the latest hotfix, this is currently a work in progress and will be updated for Dragonflight's release.

  1. When in Ascendance Icon Ascendance form cast Earth Shock Icon Earth Shock whenever available, but always alternate it with Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst.
  2. When in Ascendance Icon Ascendance form cast Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast whenever available, but always alternate it with Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst.
  3. Cast Earth Shock Icon Earth Shock if your next cast will make you overcap Maelstrom.
  4. Cast Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt as a filler on a single target.
  5. Cast Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock as a filler while moving, unless Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave will become available
  6. Cast Frost Shock Icon 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 Icon Primal Elementalist without Storm Elemental Icon Storm Elemental, you can cast Meteor Icon 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.

4.

Multiple Target Rotation for Elemental Shaman

Note that this does not currently support all the viable fire build variants introduced with the latest hotfix, this is currently a work in progress and will be updated for Dragonflight's release.

  1. Cast Earth Elemental Icon Earth Elemental if it is off cooldown and you either are not using Primal Elementalist Icon Primal Elementalist or your Fire Elemental Icon Fire Elemental is not currently active. You cannot have 2 Primal Elementals active at the same time.
  2. If all targets are split, keep Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock up on as many of them as you can as long as they will live for the whole duration.
  3. Cast Earthquake Icon Earthquake.
  4. Cast Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst if there are 3 or fewer targets and if a Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock is up
  5. Cast Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning.
  6. Cast Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock when moving
4.1.

AoE Target Caps

  • Tempest Icon Tempest has no target limit, but does reduced damage beyond 5 targets.
  • Meteor Icon Meteor is limited to 8 targets.
  • Earthquake Icon Earthquake and Liquid Magma Totem Icon Liquid Magma Totem have a soft-cap at 20 targets. This cap is high enough that it should rarely matter.
4.2.

"Funneling"

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 Shock Icon Flame Shocks running on several targets and using the additional Lava Surge Icon 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.

4.3.

Master of the Elements

If you are using the talent Master of the Elements Icon Master of the Elements you may want to try to use the buff on the most appropriate spell for the situation, usually your spender. From best to worst, you ideally want to use Master of the Elements Icon Master of the Elements on:

  1. Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt empowered by Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper
  2. Earthquake Icon Earthquake if it will hit 4+ targets or 2+ if empowered by Echoes of Great Sundering Icon Echoes of Great Sundering.
  3. Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast
  4. Earth Shock Icon Earth Shock
  5. Frost Shock Icon Frost Shock empowered by Icefury Icon Icefury
  6. Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt empowered by Power of the Maelstrom Icon Power of the Maelstrom
  7. Icefury Icon Icefury
  8. Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt
  9. Frost Shock Icon 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 Icon Earth Shock if you have 90 or more Maelstrom or that casting Elemental Blast Icon 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.

4.4.

Surge of Power

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

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

If you do not know what the "pandemic window" is, look here

Finally, if you are using Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper as well, you should almost always want to pool Maelstrom before casting it, so that both Stormkeeper-empowered Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolts become also empowered by Surge of Power Icon Surge of Power. The exact amount of Maelstrom required depends on the talent whether or not you are using any combination of these talents: Eye of the Storm Icon Eye of the Storm, Flow of Power Icon Flow of Power, Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast, Searing Flames Icon Searing Flames.

Here is an example assuming you use our recommended single-target build, with Eye of the Storm Icon Eye of the Storm and Flow of Power Icon Flow of Power:

  1. Pool Maelstrom until you have at least 58; if specced into Electrified Shocks Icon Electrified Shocks cast an Icefury Icon Icefury-empowered Frost Shock Icon Frost Shock just before or just after casting Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper.
  2. Cast Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper
  3. Cast Earth Shock Icon Earth Shock
  4. Cast Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt
  5. Cast an Icefury Icon Icefury-empowered Frost Shock Icon Frost Shock if specced into Electrified Shocks Icon Electrified Shocks
  6. Cast Earth Shock Icon Earth Shock
  7. Cast Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt

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

5.

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 Icon Bloodlust/Heroism Icon Heroism/Time Warp Icon 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.
5.1.

Ascendance

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

  • Ensure Flame Shock Icon 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 Icon Spiritwalker's Grace to ensure full DPS uptime.
  • Clear Lava Surge Icon Lava Surge if active, and any remaining Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst charges.
  • If using this talent, cast Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast immediately before activating Ascendance.

Do not let yourself Maelstrom cap; be sure to cast your spender when or before you reach 90 (140 with Swelling Maelstrom Icon Swelling Maelstrom) Maelstrom,. If using Further Beyond Icon Further Beyond, make sure you do not let Ascendance Icon Ascendance fade when you could have used a spender to extend it.

5.2.

Fire/Storm Elemental

Fire Elemental Icon Fire Elemental (or Storm Elemental Icon Storm 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 Icon Bloodlust/Heroism Icon Heroism/Time Warp Icon Time Warp usage. That said, we never want to lose a potential usage of Fire/Storm 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 Icon Earth Elemental when your Fire/Storm Elemental is still around if you use Primal Elementalist Icon Primal Elementalist.

5.3.

Stormkeeper

Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper is used more or less on cooldown on pure single target encounters.

On multiple-target fights, or fights with intermittent cleave and AoE, it can be a good idea to delay your Stormkeeper Icon Stormkeeper until you are able to Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning the adds.

6.

Managing Movement for Elemental Shaman

Elemental is a lot more mobile in Dragonflight, between getting Spirit Walk Icon Spirit Walk or Gust of Wind Icon Gust of Wind with some talents increasing your movement speed further especially in Ghost Wolf Icon Ghost Wolf form and Icefury Icon Icefury being a must. Fire-focused builds also have formidable mobility thanks to massive amounts of Lava Surge Icon Lava Surge procs. Elemental is at worst a fairly mobile spec, especially if you use 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.

7.

Academic Information for Elemental Shaman

7.1.

Maelstrom Management

You should avoid casting Maelstrom-generating spells above a certain Maelstrom threshold that would make you go over the Maelstrom cap. Because of all the talents and procs interacting with that threshold, it is difficult to give exact numbers without making a detailed list that would be very impractical to use. We recommend instead that you use Swelling Maelstrom Icon Swelling Maelstrom and follow our recommended priorities in order to never overcap. Keep this in mind when pooling Maelstrom as well. It is likely these spells will overload at raid levels of gear, therefore, if you cast Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst at 90/140 Maelstrom or Icefury Icon Icefury at 75/125 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.

7.2.

Lava Burst and Flame Shock

This section is currently somewhat obsolete unless Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst gets buffed.

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

  • each tick has a chance to proc Lava Surge Icon Lava Surge, which resets the cooldown of Lava Burst Icon 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 Icon Elemental Fury passive.

You should only cast Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst when Flame Shock Icon 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 Icon 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 Icon 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.

8.

Opening Sequences for Elemental Shaman

  1. Cast Fire Elemental Icon Fire Elemental/Storm Elemental Icon Storm Elemental 3 seconds before the pull.
  2. Use Elemental Potion of Power Icon Elemental Potion of Power.
  3. Cast Lava Burst Icon Lava Burst.
  4. Proceed with normal priority.
9.

Changelog

  • 20 Mar. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 05 Jan. 2022: Overhauled several parts of the single-target priority list to be more precise, fixed a couple of oversights.
  • 21 Dec. 2022: Added dedicated lines for Lava Surge and Windspeaker's Lava Resurgence. Adjusted a couple other lines.
  • 15 Dec. 2022: Removed a duplicate line from from the multi-target rotation.
  • 13 Dec. 2022: Added checkboxes to the opener section.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Adjusted some wording on multitarget rotation.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Small fix to multitarget rotation.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 18 Nov. 2022: Updated with a disclaimer on the new fire builds.
  • 07 Nov. 2022: Added Lightning Bolt with Surge of Power to multi-target rotation (2 targets only).
  • 03 Nov. 2022: Further fixes to several talent toggle issues, modification in the Master of the Elements section.
  • 02 Nov. 2022: Fixed a variety of issues, mostly with talent toggles, improved several lists, added some information on build viability.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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