Enhancement Shaman Frequently Asked Questions — The War Within (11.1.7)

Right now, although the guide does support both trees, I would recommend playing Totemic in all situations. Stormbringer is still very playable and has its uses, but the flexibility on offer from the recommended choice is really hard to top.

Following Patch 11.1 this effect is not a strong pick, but it is more obvious as to how it works. It has no bad luck protection anymore, and simply has the flat chance of up to 6% at 10 Maelstrom Weapon consumed to trigger an Ascendance window. This can trigger from any instance of Maelstrom Weapon being consumed.

Flowing Spirits currently works on a deck of cards system. It has 50 cards in a deck, with 3 of these being a Feral Spirit spawn. These are triggered from any ability cast ( Windfury Weapon procs included), but not other ability procs such as Reactivity. That means the theoretical maximum wolves active at any one point is 6, as even with two adjacent weighted decks it's unrealistic to cycle an entire one within 8 seconds to 7+.

It depends on Hero Talent choice. Stormbringer should be making sure not to overcap the Maelstrom Weapon effect by going above 10 stacks. Aim to consume it at around 9 stacks, allowing room for procs to happen and pool slightly without hitting the upper limit. Totemic on the other hand will often see waste, instead prioritizing Hot Hand and using it as a way to maintain Legacy of the Frost Witch instead.

This remains a firm no. Too much of our damage is still sourced from our Main Hand, and while for Totemic deals a lot of damage with Lava Lash, it still doesn't outweigh main hand weapon DPS.

Generally speaking, this is a no. Assuming it has full uptime on a target and can live the entire duration, the amount of damage will be a marginal increase over an alternative cooldown. However, it is also prone to dying, poor AI, or disrupting a group with its taunt. It is much more beneficial to save it as a survival tool thanks to much additional health granted and Primordial Bond's defense.

Never. "Hard casting" is the practice of casting below 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon (and thus incurring a cast time). Whenever you do this, it resets the swing timer if used without at least 5 stacks of Maelstrom Weapon, so it should never be done due to the resource loss being greater than the damage benefit.

If it is included in your talent build, yes. It should be used as a low-priority filler that slots in whenever nothing else is available. With Unrelenting Storms, some builds use it a bit more aggressively, but it still remains more of a supporting strike.

With the Season 2 4-piece bonus you should aim to be casting it to consume Electrostatic Wager stacks and avoid overcapping, but otherwise still treat it as a filler.

If playing Stormbringer, 2 or more targets. With Totemic and Elemental Blast taken it should only be used if that's on cooldown.

No. Currently there is no played build that actively wants to spend its Maelstrom Weapon on Lava Burst due to other selections made on the tree.

No. The generation is always given regardless of how much is wasted due to overcapping. However, you should still try to avoid wasting any whenever possible.

Never in PvE content. While doing this does activate Elemental Weapons and grants an extra talent point, no talent really makes up for it as a second Flametongue Weapon does effectively nothing.

The answer to this question in any context will always be to simulate it. This is because what is an upgrade for you may not be an upgrade for someone else. In other words, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all answer, even when talking about 2 completely identical comparisons from you to another person. Everything in your gear affects everything else.

This applies to gear, set bonuses, trinkets, and, in certain circumstances, talents.

The only exception to this rule is when a specific fight dictates a certain set of optimal talents and gear pieces that enhance their strength. If you are curious about what kind of setup to go for a specific fight, WarcraftLogs.com's rankings and statistics are a good place to see what others are doing.

We have a guide on how to sim yourself here:

For Enhancement, there is no strict "amount" or breakpoint of any stat you are required to reach, nor are there any points at which a stat stops being desirable. In most cases, your specific secondary is less important than the volume. This is, however, another situation in which a simulation done to check your ideal gear pieces and stat values will provide you invaluable information.

Currently, races are fairly even from top to bottom, and the the choice you make will likely result in a minimal difference. Current simulations to demonstrate how low the impact is are as follows: