Elemental Shaman DPS Spell List and Glossary — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

If you are new to Elemental, it is recommended you read this before proceeding! In this section, we will discuss what abilities you have, what they are used for within the specialization, and how they interact with important cooldowns. If you have played this spec before or have already achieved a level of comfort playing this spec in a practical environment, it is recommended you skip this section and move on to the rest of the guide.

Maelstrom is the primary resource of Elemental Shamans. Maelstrom is essentially a clone of the Rage resource Warriors use. It is generated by casting spells and using specific abilities, while other abilities covert Maelstrom into powerful damage. Maelstrom is generated and consumed fairly slowly for Elemental, which makes the rotational priority very easy to predict and contributes to a fluid state of play.

Note that this page simply lists all the different abilities, assuming you are at max level. If you are leveling, check out our dedicated Shaman Leveling page, which has detailed information on when you unlock all of these abilities.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Call of the Ancestors	CotA	Stormkeeper calls an Ancestor to your side for 8 seconds. Whenever you cast a healing or damaging spell, the Ancestor will cast a similar spell.
Latent Wisdom	-	Your Ancestors' spells are 25% more powerful.
Ancient Fellowship	-	Ancestors have a 20% chance to call another Ancestor for 8 seconds when they expire.
Heed My Call	-	Ancestors last an additional 4 seconds.
Routine Communication	-	Lava Burst, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Flame Shock and Voltaic Blaze casts have an 8% chance to call an Ancestor to your side for 8 seconds.
Elemental Reverb	-	Lava Burst gains an additional charge and deals 10% increased damage.
Offering from Beyond	-	When an Ancestor is called, they reduce the cooldown of Stormkeeper by 3 seconds.
Primordial Capacity	-	Increases your maximum Maelstrom by 25.
Spiritwalker's Momentum	-	Using spells with a cast time increases the duration of Spiritwalker's Grace and Spiritwalker's Aegis by 1 sec, up to a maximum of 4 seconds.
Natural Harmony	-	Reduces the cooldown of Nature's Guardian by 15 seconds and causes it to heal for an additional 10% of your maximum Health.
Earthen Communion	-	Earth Shield has an additional 3 charges and heals you for 25% more.
Maelstrom Supremacy	-	Increases the damage of Earth Shock, Elemental Blast, and Earthquake by 25% and the healing of Healing Surge and Chain Heal by 25%.
Final Calling	-	When an Ancestor expires, they cast Elemental Blast at a nearby enemy.
Ancestral Swiftness	ASw/AnS	Your next healing or damaging spell is instant, costs no mana, and deals 10% increased damage and healing. If you know Nature's Swiftness, it is replaced by Ancestral Swiftness and causes Ancestral Swiftness to call an Ancestor to your side for 8 seconds. 30-second cooldown.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Tempest	-	Every Maelstrom spent has a 0.3% chance to replace your next Lightning Bolt with Tempest, which deals heavy Nature damage to your target and 65% as much to other enemy targets within 8 yards of your target. Damage reduced beyond 5 targets.
Unlimited Power	-	Spending Maelstrom grants you 1% Haste for 15 seconds, stacking. Gaining a new stack does not refresh the duration.
Stormcaller	-	Increases the Critical Strike chance of your Nature damage spells by 5% and the Critical strike damage of your Nature spells by 5%.
Electroshock	-	Tempest increased your movement speed by 20% for 5 seconds.
Lightning Conduit	-	You have a chance to get struck by lightning, increasing your movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds. The effectiveness is increased to 100% in outdoor areas. You call down a Thunderstorm when you use Reincarnation.
Supercharge	-	Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning Elemental Overloads have a 50% chance to cause an additional Elemental Overload.
Storm Swell	-	Tempest grants 9% Mastery for 6 seconds.
Arc Discharge	AD	Casting Tempest grants a charge of Stormkeeper.
Rolling Thunder	-	Reduces the cooldown of Stormkeeper by 15 seconds.
Voltaic Surge	-	Chain Lightning and Earthquake damage increased by 5%.
Conductive Energy	-	Lightning Rod targets now also take 10% of the damage that Tempest deals, and Tempest also applies the Lightning Rod effect.
Nature's Protection	-	Lightning Shield reduces the damage you take by 3%.
Surging Currents	-	When you cast Tempest you gain Surging Currents, increasing the effectiveness of your next Chain Heal or Healing Surge by 20%, up to 100%.
Awakening Storms	AwS	Doubles the proc chance of Tempest.

These abilities are available no matter what talents you choose and form the bread and butter of this specialization.

Elemental's Mastery is Elemental Overload. It increases all Physical and Elemental damage dealt and gives your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Lava Burst a chance to trigger a second cast called an overload on the same target, dealing 25% of normal damage and generating less Maelstrom. The Physical/Elemental damage, as well as the chance to overload scale with your amount of Mastery.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Lightning Bolt	LB	Your main filler. It deals low damage and generates 6 Maelstrom. It can become quite strong with a Lightning-focused build.
Flame Shock	FS	A damage-over-time spell you should keep applied to your primary target at all times. It deals weak damage over time but has important interactions with your Lava Burst: it guarantees that all Lava Burst casts will be critical hits and can proc Lava Surges . Flame Shock generates 3 Maelstrom has a 6-second cooldown.
Lava Surge	LS	Makes your Flame Shock have a 10% chance to activate Lava Surge, which resets the cooldown of your next Lava Burst and makes it an instant cast.
Healing Surge	-	Heals for a significant amount with a fast cast time. It costs 10% of your base Mana pool. Do not hesitate to use it on yourself or others. Particularly useful for solo content, especially with the Swelling Waves War Mode talent.
Bloodlust/ Heroism	BL	Formerly the signature Shaman cooldown, increasing the haste of all your party and raid members by 30% for 40 seconds, with a 5-minute cooldown. Presently available to Mage, Hunter and Evoker.
Reincarnation	Ankh	A passive ability allowing you to raise from the dead with 20% of your Health and Mana. This has a 30-minute cooldown, which does not reset on a wipe. This is a unique and incredibly powerful ability when it is available.
Earthbind Totem	-	Projects a totem that slows everything around it by 50% for 20 seconds. Very useful, especially if you kite around the totem.
Lightning Shield	-	A maintenance buff that needs to be refreshed every hour when using the Lightning Conduit talent or for fights where there is a risk of getting hit in melee. When hit, you generate 5 Maelstrom and deal minor damage. It only stacks with Earth Shield if you have the Elemental Orbit class talent, so keep that in mind.
Skyfury	SF	Harness the fury of the Windlord to grant a target ally 2% Mastery and empower their auto attacks to have a 20% chance to instantly strike again for 1 hour. If the target is in your party or raid, all affected party and raid members will be affected.
Ghost Wolf	-	Transforms you into a wolf, preventing you from casting but increasing your movement speed by 30% as long as you stay in this form. In addition, your movement speed cannot go below 100% while in this form.
Thunderstorm	-	Calls down a bolt of lightning, dealing minimal Nature damage to enemies within 10 yards of you, reducing their movement speed by 40% for 5 seconds and knocking them away from you. Can be used while stunned.
Ancestral Spirit	-	Allows you to resurrect allies after a very long cast. It is not usable in combat.
Astral Recall	-	Is essentially a second Hearthstone charge, with a 10-minute cooldown. It is still linked to your Hearthstone, and you can only use this to teleport back to the location you picked with your Hearthstone.
Far Sight	-	Is one of the least useful spells in the game; it allows you to see at a distance. You can safely remove this from your bars.
Water Walking	-	Allows you or whoever you target to walk on water as long as no damage is taken.
Inundate	-	Makes your successful Purge, Cleanse Spirit, Healing Stream Totem, Hex and Wind Shear casts generate 8 Maelstrom during combat.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Chain Heal	CH	Is the only multi-target heal Elemental Shamans can get, it heals one target for a moderate amount, then jumps on up to 3 nearby allies, the healing amount decreases by 30% with each jump. It costs 15% of your base Mana pool.
Lava Burst	LvB	Is one of your main damage spells, technically dealing less damage than Lightning Bolt; however, when used on an enemy afflicted by Flame Shock, it always critically strikes. Because we always take Elemental Fury and other talents increasing Critical Strike damage (up to 325% or 330%), this makes Lava Burst inherently powerful . Generates 8 Maelstrom.
Chain Lightning	CL	Is your main Maelstrom generating ability for AoE/Cleave It deals decent damage and generates 2 Maelstrom per target hit. It can chain to up to 5 targets.
Earth Shield	EaS	Places a shield that heals its target for a small amount whenever they take damage. This healing can only occur once every few seconds and has 9 charges. Your healing is increased by 20% on whoever has this spell active. It costs 5% of your base Mana pool.
Frost Shock	FrS	If you have the spare talent points, it is your filler spell during movement. It also slows the target by 50% for 6 seconds. It deals a mediocre amount of damage and generates 3 Maelstrom.
Spirit Walk	SW (rare)	Removes all movement-impairing effects and increases your movement speed by 60% for 8 seconds on a 1-minute cooldown.
Gust of Wind	GoW	Hurls you forward (similar to Hunters' Disengage but forward) on a 20-second cooldown.
Astral Shift	AS	Is a 1.5-minute cooldown reducing your damage taken by 40% for 12 seconds. It is your main defensive cooldown, and you should use it often.
Healing Stream Totem	HST	Does minor healing within 40 yards over 15 seconds. It costs 5% of your base Mana Pool. It can be useful between fights or when moving.
Wind Shear	WS (rare)	Is your "kick." It is fairly unique in that its 30 yards range and 12-second cooldown are shorter than most other ranged characters. This makes Wind Shear one of the best interrupts in the game, and you should use it's a lot.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Earthgrab Totem	-	Summons a totem at a target location for 20 seconds with a 30-second cooldown. Every 2 seconds, all enemies within 8 yards of the totem is rooted in place for 2 seconds. Enemies previously rooted by the totem instead suffers a 50% movement speed slow.
Capacitor Totem	Cap totem	Is your only way to "stun" targets. You cast it at a target location, and after 2 seconds, it will stun enemies within 8 yards for 3 seconds. This ability has a 1-minute cooldown, which can be reduced by using the Static Charge talent.
Cleanse Spirit	Cleanse	Removes all curses from a friendly target within 40 yards, with an 8-second cooldown. It costs 10% of your base Mana pool.
Wind Rush Totem	WRT	Summons a totem for 15 seconds that increases the speed of allies within 10 yards by 40% for 5 seconds. The speed buff is continually refreshed, as long as they are within range.
Earth Elemental	EE/Steve	Is a summon that is primarily used to help with tanking for 1 minute. It can taunt and take quite a bit of punishment before dying and also deals decent damage. It has a 3-minute cooldown.
Purge	-	Removes 1 beneficial magic effect from an enemy target. It costs 14% of your base Mana pool.
Greater Purge	-	Removes 2 beneficial magic effects from an enemy target. It has twice the mana cost of Purge and a 12-second cooldown. Currently does not seem to have a useful niche. It costs 21% of your base Mana pool.
Hex	-	Is the Shaman equivalent of Polymorph. This spell transforms 1 enemy into a frog for 60 seconds, preventing it from attacking or casting spells as long as you do not attack it. It only works on humanoids and beasts.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Spiritwalker's Grace	SWG	Allows you to cast while moving for 15 seconds on a 1.5-minute base cooldown (usually reduced to 1 minute by Graceful Spirit). It also increases your movement speed by 20%. It is a very helpful tool for movement, which should be used to kite or to keep dealing damage when you have to move a lot.
Totemic Projection	-	Is a 10-second cooldown ability that allows you to move all your active totems to a location within 40 yards.
Poison Cleansing Totem	PCT	Removes ALL poison effects from a nearby party or raid member within 30 yards every 1.5 seconds for 6 seconds on a 2-minute cooldown.
Tremor Totem	Tremor	Summons a totem removing all Fear, Charm, and Sleep effects on party and raid members within 30 yards every few seconds for 10 seconds.
Nature's Swiftness	NS	Is a one-minute cooldown ability that makes your next healing or damaging Nature spell instant and cost no mana.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Ancestral Wolf Affinity	-	Makes Cleanse Spirit, Wind Shear, Purge and totem casts no longer cancel Ghost Wolf.
Fire and Ice	-	Increases all Fire and frost damage you deal by 3%.
Spirit Wolf	-	Increases your movement speed and damage reduction by 5% every second you stay in Ghost Wolf form, up to 4 times.
Thunderous Paws	-	Increases the movespeed of Ghost Wolf form by an additional 25% for the first 3 seconds and removes any snare effects on you. This effect can only occur every 20 seconds.
Elemental Orbit	EO (rare)	Increases the number of Elemental Shields you can have active on yourself by 1 and allows you to have Earth Shield cast on yourself and one ally at the same time.
Nature's Guardian	NG	Heals you for 20% of your maximum Health whenever your Health is brought below 35%. This effect has a 45-second cooldown.
Encasing Cold	-	Increases the cooldown of Frost Shock by 15 seconds but it now freezes targets in place for 4 seconds.
Arctic Snowstorm	-	Enemies within 10 yards of your Frost Shock are snared by 30%.
Winds of Al'Akir	-	Increased your movement speed by 3% per point. Also increases the movement speed bonus of Ghost Wolf by 5% per point.
Planes Traveler	-	Reduces the cooldown of Astral Shift by 30 seconds.
Astral Bulwark	-	Makes Astral Shift reduce your damage taken by an additional 20%.
Brimming with Life (2 points)	-	Increases your maximum Health by 5% per point, and while you are at full Health, Reincarnation cools down 50% faster per point.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Elemental Resistance	-	Healing from Healing Stream Totem reduces Fire, Frost, and Nature damage received by 6% for 3 seconds.
Spiritual Awakening	-	Mastery increased by 3%.
Enhanced Imbues	-	The effects of your weapon imbues are increased by 30%.
Windveil	-	Interrupting a spell with Wind Shear decreases spell damage taken by 15% for 12 seconds.
Refreshing Waters	-	Your Healing Surge is 25% more effective on yourself.
Static Charge (2 points)	-	Reduces the cooldown of Capacitor Totem by 10 seconds per point
Nature's Fury (2 points)	-	Increases the critical strike chance of your Nature spells by 2% per point.
Ascending Air	-	The cooldown of Wind Rush Totem is reduced by 30 seconds, and its movement speed effect lasts an additional 2 seconds.
Jet Stream	-	Wind Rush Totem’s movement speed bonus is increased by 10%, and now removes snares.
Primordial Bond	-	Your Earth Elemental no longer taunts nearby enemies or generates threat and instead increases your maximum health by 15% while active.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Elemental Warding	-	Reduces all magic damage taken by 6%.
Voodoo Mastery	-	Your Hex target is slowed by 70% during Hex and for 6 seconds after it ends. Also reduces the cooldown of your Hex spell by 15 seconds.
Totemic Focus	-	Increases the radius of your totem effects by 15%. Additionally, it increases the duration of your Earthbind Totem and Earthgrab Totem by 10 seconds, and the duration of your Healing Stream Totem, Tremor Totem, Poison Cleansing Totem and Wind Rush Totem by 3 seconds.
Graceful Spirit	-	Reduces the cooldown of Spiritwalker's Grace by 30 seconds and increases your movement speed by 20% while it is active.
Spiritwalker's Aegis	-	Enhances your Spiritwalker's Grace by making you are immune to Silence and interrupt effects for 5 seconds when you cast it.
Mana Spring	-	Restores 1750 mana to you and 4 allies within 40 yards whenever you cast Lava Burst.
Therazane's Resilience	-	Earth Shield no longer loses charges and is 115% effective.
Reactive Warding	-	When refreshing Earth Shield, your target is healed for a small amount for each stack of Earth Shield they are missing. Additionally, Earth Shield can consume charges 1 second faster. At 3 charges missing, it heals slightly more than Healing Surge.
Totemic Surge	-	Reduces the cooldown of most totems by 5 seconds.
Instinctive Imbuements	-	Lightning Shield increases your Intellect by 3%. Casting Lightning Shield also applies Earth Shield to yourself and any weapon imbuements if known ( Thunderstrike Ward and/or Flametongue Weapon).

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Earth Shock	ES	is one of your main Maelstrom-consuming nukes. It deals powerful instant damage has no cast time and costs 60 Maelstrom.
Elemental Blast	EB	Is a 2-second cast that costs 75 Maelstrom and replaces Earth Shock. It deals massive damage and increases either your Critical Strike or Haste by 6%, or your Mastery by 11% for 10 seconds. It has no cooldown and deals "Elemental" damage, meaning it counts as Nature, Fire, and Frost damage.
Earthquake	EQ	Is your main Maelstrom-consuming nuke for AoE/Cleave It deals good damage over 6 seconds in the targeted area (or around your target depending on the choice node you pick) and has a 5% chance to knock down enemies within every time it deals damage.
Stormkeeper	SK	Has a 1.5-second cast time and causes your next 2 Lightning Bolts to do 150% more damage and also causes your next two Lightning Bolts OR Chain Lightnings to be instant cast and trigger an additional Elemental Overload on every target hit.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Thunderstrike Ward	TW	Imbue your shield with the element of Lightning for 1 hour, giving Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning a chance to call down 2 Thunderstrikes on your target for Nature damage.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Ascendance	Asc	Transform into a Flame Ascendant you for 15 seconds, instantly casting a Flame Shock and a 100% effectiveness Lava Burst at up to 6 nearby enemies. While ascended, Elemental Overload damage is increased by 75% and spells affected by your Mastery: Elemental Overload cause 1 additional Elemental Overload.
Voltaic Blaze	VB	Replaces Flame Shock. Instantly shocks the target and 5 enemies within 10 yards, applying Flame Shock and dealing a small amount of Nature damage. Always critically strikes. Generates 6 Maelstrom.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Elemental Fury	-	Increases the damage your Critical Strikes do to 250% from the usual 200%.
Echo of the Elements	EotE	Gives Lava Burst an additional charge.
Flash of Lightning	FoL	Increases the critical strike chance of Lightning Bolt, Tempest and Chain Lightning by 10%.
Tectonic Collapse	-	Increases the damage done by Earth Shock, Elemental Blast and Earthquake by 20%.
Aftershock	AfS	Gives Earth Shock, Elemental Blast and Earthquake a 25% chance to refund all Maelstrom spent.
Molten Wrath	MW	Lava Burst deals 15% more damage.
Master of the Elements	MotE	Causes your Lava Bursts to increase the damage or healing of your next Nature, Physical, or Frost spell by 15%.
Lightning Capacitor	-	While Lightning Shield is active, your Nature damage dealt is increased by 8%.
Flametongue Weapon	-	Increases your Fire spell damage by 5% for 1 hour.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Storm Frenzy	SF	Reduces the cast time of Chain Lightning and Lightning Bolt by 15%.
Swelling Maelstrom	Swelling	Increases your maximum Maelstrom by 50 and increases the damage of Earth Shock, Elemental Blast and Earthquake by 5%.
Primordial Fury	-	Increases the critical damage bonus of Elemental Fury by 25%.
Fury of the Storms	-	Casting Stormkeeper summons a Storm Elemental for 12 seconds.
Herald of the Storms	-	Reduces the cooldown of Stormkeeper by 15 seconds.
Flames of the Cauldron	FotC	Reduces the cooldown of Flame Shock by 1.5 seconds, and Flame Shock deals damage 15% faster.
Amped Up	-	Increases your haste by 3%.
Elemental Resonance	-	Increases your Elemental damage by 3%.
Path of the Seer	-	Increases your Intellect by 3%.
Elemental Unity	-	While a Fire Elemental is active, your Fire damage dealt is increased by 6%. While a Storm Elemental is active, your Nature damage dealt is increased by 6%.
Searing Flames	-	Gives Flame Shock damage a chance to generate 2 Maelstrom.
Power of the Maelstrom	PotM	Gives your Lava Burst casts a 15% chance to cause your next Lightning Bolt, Tempest, or Chain Lightning cast to trigger an additional Elemental Overload. Stacks up to two times.
Earthshatter	-	Increases the damage of Earth Shock and Earthquake by 8% and increases the stat bonuses granted by Elemental Blast by 25%.
Storm Infusion	-	Increases the damage bonus of Elemental Resonance by 2% or the chance from Thunderstrike Ward procs to occur by 30% and their damage by 75%.
Echo Chamber	-	Increases the damage of your Elemental Overloads by 10%.
Everlasting Elements	-	Increases the duration of your Elementals by 20%.
Earthen Rage	ER	Your damage spells incite the earth around you to come to your aid for 6 seconds, repeatedly dealing Nature damage to your most recently attacked target.
Lava Flows	-	Lava Burst damage increased by 5%. Lava Burst and its overloads generate 1 additional Maelstrom.

Ability	Abbreviation	Description/Effect
Fusion of Elements	Fusion	you additionally cast an Elemental Blast at your target at 40% effectiveness.
Eye of the Storm	-	Reduces the Maelstrom cost of Earth Shock and Earthquake by 5 and reduces the Maelstrom cost of Elemental Blast by 10.
Inferno Arc	IA	Lightning Bolt, Tempest, Chain Lightning, Earth Shock, Elemental Blast, and Earthquake deal 10% increased damage to targets affected by Flame Shock.
Flames of the Firelord	-	Flame Shock damage increased by 100%.
Lightning Rod	LR	Causes Earth Shock, Elemental Blast, and Earthquake to designate a target as a Lightning Rod for 8 seconds. Lightning Rods take 20% of all damage you deal with Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning.
Mountains Will Fall	MwF	Allows your Earth Shock, Elemental Blast and Earthquake to trigger your Mastery: Elemental Overload at 50% effectiveness. Overloaded Earthquakes do not knock enemies down.
Call of Fire	CoF / Fire Ele / Fred	Casting Ascendance also summons a Fire Elemental who attacks enemies for 20 seconds. It also increases the damage of Flame Shocks by 33% and the duration of newly cast Flame Shock casts by 100%.
Charged Conduit	CC	Increases the duration of Lightning Rod by 4 seconds and its damage bonus by 25% (to 12.5% of damage taken).
First Ascendant	-	The cooldown of Ascendance is reduced by 60 seconds.
Preeminence	-	Your Haste is increased by 20% while Ascendance is active, and its duration is increased by 3 seconds.
Primal Elementalist	PE	Increases the damage to your Earth, Fire, and Storm Elementals by 80% give them additional abilities and give you direct control over them.
Crackling Fury (2 points)	CF	Voltaic Blaze's cooldown is reduced by 3 seconds per point and its instant damage is increased by 50% per point.
Purging Flames	PF	Voltaic Blaze causes your next Lava Burst to fire at 5 additional targets affected by Flame Shock at 80% effectiveness with reduced Maelstrom generation. Lava Burst damage is also increased by 10%.

For a more in-depth look at all the Elemental Shaman talents, visit the link below.

For more information on how to use these abilities together in your rotation, please read our rotation page.

Once you reach max level, it can be somewhat overwhelming to completely change the way you play by suddenly implementing a large number of addons in a short space of time, especially if they have a heavy visual impact on your UI. We recommend using some of the more basic addons recommended on our Addons Page below while leveling so that you have more time to get used to them during the easier phases of playing your class. You will want at least some of our Macros as well!