Enhancement Shaman DPS Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible Raid Guide — Season 4

Due to Season 4 using the Amirdrassil set bonus, we still stay firmly locked into Elementalist on all encounters due to the flexibility and damage profile it comes with. This is largely due to the fact that we have to make no compromises on the thing we are best at - boss damage - while still providing meaningful burst cleave. Our main role in the majority of compositions is to do as much boss damage as possible, and leverage our free cleave tools whenever we can without sacrificing that. As such, many encounters with adds still have us primarily focused on killing the boss and leaving them to the rest of the more efficient AoE specs in the raid.

• Kazzara
• The Amalgamation Chamber
• The Forgotten Experiments*
• Rashok
• Zskarn*
• Magmorax
• Echo of Neltharion*
• Scalecommander Sarkareth*

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Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the build directly into your game!

Much like in the previous season, Season 4 still uses a build that brings most of its cleave tools for free in single target builds. Any talents we can pick up for more tends to cost us a lot of boss damage without much worthwhile payoff. Pair this with many of the adds being low-priority fodder enemies, it means we tend to stick to what we are good at. On a handful of bosses however, it is useful to make a single swap, dropping out Swirling Maelstrom in favor of Crash Lightning as it covers the resource loss while bringing extra AoE damage. It can also go further and take Crashing Storms if necessary, which will be noted in the individual boss sections.

• The Forgotten Experiments*
• Assault of the Zaqali
• Echo of Neltharion*
• Scalecommander Sarkareth*

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Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the build directly into your game!

Kazzara is an entirely single-target encounter without any burn windows. Due to the Season 4 bonus, Elementalist is recommended both due to the damage potential and the additional ranged tools it has when forced out by certain mechanics.

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• Have Astral Shift available for Hellsteel Carnage as it is the highest damage moment of the encounter.
• Save Spirit Walk and preferably go into Ghost Wolf if you need to kite a Rays of Anguish beam into Dread Rift.
  • Gust of Wind is an alternative option to counter the knockback from Wings of Extinction, but is much less versatile.
• Wind Rush Totem is best used to help less mobile members of the raid kite Rays of Anguish if they need to travel far.
• In Mythic, if you need to kite the Rays of Anguish far out to avoid crossing leftover pools, try to make use of ranged tools to stay active without needing to stick to melee range.

For more information, please refer to our Kazzara guide.

While The Amalgamation Chamber spends half of the fight with two bosses active, they are separated by such a large distance that there is not much room to cleave. With some creativity, Elementalist can take advantage of it but regardless, it is always recommended here with a single-target loadout.

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• On the pull, try to use Primordial Wave on the side you are not assigned to go to. If you can get the follow-up Lightning Bolt off quick enough, you can get a double hit before they are completely separated. This is not realistic to do throughout the fight due to the required split range.
• Use Astral Shift on either Fiery Meteor soaks if on the Fire side, or Coalescing Void if on the Shadow. During Phase 2, use it on Gloom Conflagration.
• Try to maintain Earth Shield whenever possible (although it is expensive on GCDs) to counteract the ticking damage.
• Ancestral Guidance should be used after the Fiery Meteor soaks in Phase 1. For Phase 2, use it toward the end of the fight when the raid has higher stacks of Shadowflame Contamination gets high.
• Aim to have Earth Elemental overlap the last minute of Phase 2 for the additional Health, when the raid is in the most danger.

For more information, please refer to our Amalgamation Chamber guide.

While in most situations, there is only one boss active on Normal and Heroic, as soon as Thadrion enters the arena, Erratic Remnant adds will spawn for the remainder of the encounter. This locks in Elementalist builds that can capitalize on the funnel, with slight variants depending on the difficulty.

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• Depending on which Experiment is active, there are some extra details for managing different effects:
  • With Neldris active, use Astral Shift when Bellowing Roar is cast, or run out of melee with Spirit Walk. If you take Rending Charge hits (especially multiple), use Earth Elemental.
  • With Thadrion active, Erratic Remnants will spawn throughout when players are dispelled. Ideally, your group will dispel these in groups, so aim to spread Flame Shock and follow up with Primordial Wave empowered Lightning Bolts to trigger Splintered Elements for additional funnel.
  • With Rionthus active, save Spirit Walk and Wind Rush Totem to deal with the Deep Breath to move quickly to the safe zones in the room.
• If you have to hold high stacks of Unstable Essence Ause Astral Shift, as the dispel timing is important to maintain so they can be AoEd down efficiently.
• In Mythic, when the Temporal Anomaly are active in the final phase, be very careful bouncing them without defensive tools - it is very easy to accidentally take multiple hits and stack it up quickly. Also, be careful of the direction you send it, especially when avoiding Deep Breath.

For more information, please refer to our Forgotten Experiments guide.

Depending on both your raids needs and your current build, you will have different jobs and specialties on this encounter. Regardless of which you pick though, it will be a variant of Elementalist as it can flexibly switch between damage profiles depending on which part of the fight you are in.

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• You can two different focuses here depending on your talent picks and what your raid needs you to do:
  • You can opt into both Crash Lightning and Crashing Storms to purely focus on the AoE aspect of the encounter, dealing with the trickle of adds while funneling into the Magma Mystic and the boss when active on your platform.
  • You can sacrifice AoE talents entirely and focus purely on burning the boss and any Mystics that appear, instead using Primordial Wave and Splintered Elements funnel to transition quickly.
• Astral Shift is mostly whenever you feel in danger in Phase 1, but in Phase 2, save it for your assigned Catastrophic Slam soak.
• Similarly, save Spirit Walk to get there in good time to avoid a raid wipe. Wind Rush Totem can be dropped into the melee to help them get out, and then use Totemic Projection to speed them up on the way out.
• Make sure to Wind Shear the Magma Mystic's cast after you break the shield. Otherwise, spend your Wind Shear aggressively on Lava Bolt casts.

For more information, please refer to our Assault of the Zaqali guide.

Rashok is an entirely single-target encounter without any burn windows, so single-target Elementalist is recommended both due to the performance and the extra redundancy tools it has for situations that force you out of melee range.

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• Have Astral Shift ready for the Charged Smash soaks. This is especially important on Mythic to reduce the effect of the follow up Overcharged ticking damage.
• Save Spirit Walk in case you are targeted by Searing Slam or, failing that, shift to Ghost Wolf so you can make it to the edge safely.
• Use Wind Rush Totem during the Elder's Conduit intermission to help the raid dodge Shadowflame Fissures.
• Make use of Ancestral Guidance during the intermission, as this is the time the healers will be under the most pressure.
• Earth Elemental is best used in the intermission in most difficulties. In Mythic however, it should be used in the final minute of the encounter when the raid is running low on resources and Overcharged cannot be cleared.
• Maintaining Earth Shield is costly as this is a DPS burn fight, but there is a huge amount of constant raid damage so any time you feel unstable refresh this. The same goes for points where you drop low and can use Maelstrom Weapon to heal.

For more information, please refer to our Rashok the Elder guide.

While Zskarn is a mostly single-target encounter first, there are waves of adds that need to be dealt with. Due to this, Elementalist works perfectly but does not need to swap into AoE talents, rather relying on Primordial Wave and Hailstorm to do the work.

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• Gust of Wind is a consideration for the Blast Wave knockbacks, but Spirit Walk is the more flexible choice.
• You should aim to have Primordial Wave ready for each of the Animate Golems casts (you should be able to use it twice before the first wave spawns). Because they can spawn far apart, manually apply one Flame Shock and cast Primordial Wave on the other. If any move through the boss use Lava Lash to spread, getting as much value as possible.
• Interrupt any stray golems Activate Dragonfire Trap with Wind Shear.
• Place Wind Rush Totem in the direction the raid is moving when the Tactical Destruction pillars are activated.
• Save Astral Shift for the Unstable Embers debuff. Make use of Ancestral Guidance whenever the raid is unstable following a Blast Wave cast.
  • On Mythic difficulty, use Astral Shift while you have Unstable Embers active on you and are forced too far away from the raid. If you think you may trigger Elimination Protocol make sure to use something to possibly survive.

For more information, please refer to our Zskarn guide.

Magmorax is an entirely single-target encounter without any burn windows, so a standard single-target Elementalist build works here with a small alteration for movement options. This is due not only to the base performance value but the extra tools it has for dealing with being forced out of range.

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• Save Gust of Wind for Overpowering Stomp so you can safely stay on the platform and not lose uptime.
• Use Astral Shift whenever you are targeted by Molten Spittle. This is also a time when you may need to watch yourself and heal with Maelstrom Weapon if you are low when it is about to expire.
  • On Mythic this is instead saved for any time you are the target of Explosive Magma, as the group soak does huge damage.
• Maintaining Earth Shield here is costly on GCDs but high value due to the constant ticking damage in the raid.
• Earth Elemental should be used in the final minute of the encounter when the raid is covered in Searing Heat and raids are under the most pressure.
• Ancestral Guidance is best to help the raid recover from the Igniting Roar casts.

For more information, please refer to our Magmorax guide.

While the most important part of this encounter is boss damage, there are some extremely high-importance adds that spawn that need to be burned down quickly. They also allow for funnel and cleave effects to be activated, so the flexibility of Elementalist makes it recommended here. Due to no longer having the Season 2 set bonus, it is generally preferred to just play single-target and rely on Primordial Wave for AoE.

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• There are a number of specific things to consider when optimizing DPS here:
  • Make sure in Phase 2 to maintain Flame Shock on the boss and Voice From Beyond adds whenever possible. You can also apply Flame Shock to allies for funnel, but DO NOT trigger the Lightning Bolt casts until their mind control is broken.
  • Try to have Primordial Wave ready for these add burns both for the burst damage and to get multiple Splintered Elements activations.
  • Can spread Flame Shock to the max of 6 Twisted Aberration spawns for extremely high boss funnel in Phase 3. Use Primordial Wave with these spawns as well, holding Lava Lash if needed to spread quickly.
  • Crash Lightning is an option for additional generation in Phase 2 and 3, but the sporadic uptime on adds makes it hard to make full use of.
• In previous seasons careful planning of Primordial Wave was required, but with the Season 4 set, you should be able to cover every major add spawn with rotational gameplay as none are less than 20 seconds apart.
• Plan out your cooldowns so you can overlap Earth Elemental with higher stacks of Umbral Annihilation in Phase 2, and aim to use Astral Shift for the final pulse before the transition, which is the most deadly.
• In Phase 3, try to overlap Astral Shift uses with the Ebon Destruction casts, as when you are soaking Sundered Reality pools you will take constant, high, ticking damage.
  • In Mythic difficulty, make sure to have it ready for the third Umbral Annihilation at roughly 4m20s, as this is the most lethal part of the second phase.
• If you are struggling with the knockbacks, you can consider Gust of Wind to avoid getting knocked through the walls and triggering Shatter but you are often GCD locked as this is happening and cannot react in time. Spirit Walk is generally preferred for the majority of the fight, especially Phase 3 to reach Sundered Reality pools.
• Mind Control Tech: in Mythic it is possible to abuse the Corruption mind control effect for additional damage on the Voice From Beyond adds. To do this, spread Flame Shock to allies but do not consume Primordial Wave. When the mind control ends, cast Lightning Bolt onto the add, and it will generate all excess echoed bolts and send them to the add.

For more information, please refer to our Neltharion guide.

While the majority of this encounter is spent focused on boss damage, an important aspect of the fight is dealing with the waves of Null Glimmer which Elementalist is suited well for. Thanks to the addition of the Season 4 set and the lack of the previous Season 2 bonus, we can cover most of the things we did previously without needing to spec into specific AoE talents so a pure single-target loadout is recommended.

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Phase 1:

• Use Astral Shift aggressively when clearing your Oppressing Howl effect in the Searing Breath cast.
• Both Astral Shift and Earth Elemental should be used as the phase ends (roughly 1:40 into the fight) during the Glittering Surge cast. Ancestral Guidance is also worth using here as well.
• Drop Wind Rush Totem during the intermission when the group reaches 9 stacks of Oblivion to speed them up when going downstairs.

Phase 2:

• Each Null Glimmer wave spawns after Abyssal Breath, which is roughly 40 seconds apart. You should aim to have Sundering ready for every one of these, alongside Primordial Wave to burst them down quickly.
• While Gust of Wind can be taken to counteract the Infinite Duress knockback, Spirit Walk is much more flexible. Just position correctly to not get knocked off.
• Capacitor Totem, Thundershock and Wind Shear can be used to control the Null Glimmers when they attempt to cast. Thunderstorm can also be taken to knock them into the Desolate Blossom.
• Primordial Wave should be available for every wave of Null Glimmer spawns, and it is worth holding to make sure you cover this. We are excellent at dealing with this add wave so make the most out of the set. These are triggered at roughly 2m15s, 3m and 3m35s at which point the phase ends.

Phase 3:

• Be very wary of the frontal from the boss during this phase as it is extremely dangerous.
• Save Spirit Walk for Cosmic Ascension if you are having issues getting out. Similarly, use Wind Rush Totem here to help the group.
• Null Glimmer spawns are more spread out here, with the first two coming a minute apart and then another 1m40s until the third. Plan your Primordial Wave casts around these to make sure it is ready.

For more information, please refer to our Scalecommander Sarkareth guide.