Enhancement Shaman DPS Mythic+ Tips — Dragonflight 10.2

Last updated on Nov 10, 2023 at 02:00 by Wordup 34 comments
General Information

In this guide, you will find tips and advice to tackle Mythic+ dungeons with your Enhancement Shaman in World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2.

1.

Unique Challenges of Mythic+

In Mythic+ Dungeons, in particular at higher key levels, you will be presented with some of the most challenging and competitive PvE content available in WoW alongside Mythic Raiding.

In keystones, when playing as Enhancement, your responsibility to contribute to the group's success will be higher than in most raiding groups due to the smaller size. Therefore, skill and execution of strategy are crucial. Being versatile and able to adapt to any situation is a key factor here and one of the main things that differentiate it from the more specialized builds used in raiding.

On top of damage, you will also be required to interrupt, dispel, and support the group at the same time. That means some of the abilities you otherwise would not use often can be invaluable to your group, so make sure to utilize your entire suite of tools.

In this guide, we will be discussing the finer points of Enhancement Shaman and how to get the most out of it, how to gear and set up your character, and some tips to push yourself further.

If you are unfamiliar with Mythic+ and its associated general mechanics, you can read more about it on our Dragonflight Season 3 page below.

2.

Enhancement Shaman Mythic+ Talent Builds

If you want more information about talent options and whether some could be useful in certain situations, you should use our dedicated Talent page.

In Season 3, the dominant Mythic+ build for Enhancement seems to firmly be the Elementalist archetype we have played throughout Dragonflight with some slight adjustments to go with the new Talent Tree changes. It works both with the Tier 31 and Tier 30 set bonuses, and also has a variant that only works with Tier 31. Due to it still being a popular option, I will also list appropriate Storm builds to use, but be advised that this season, it seems much less likely to be worth using. A quick import link for the recommended build is:

  • Elementalist: BcQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIRSKRCCJhcgk0QJRCAAAAAAAAAAAAoEhkQiSKiCJtkkCgSQCBC
3.

Build Deep Dives

Elementalist M+ Elementalist (Frost) Storm M+ Storm (T30)
4.

Deep Dive: Elementalist M+

A mainstay throughout Dragonflight, and Season 3 only leans further into its strengths. Alongside some very welcome updates to the tree to open up flexibility, the Tier 31 set bonus synergizes with it perfectly (although the build still works perfectly fine with the Tier 30 bonus as well). It provides excellent AoE and Cleave, potent funnel, high burst, and now also a reasonable single-target profile. It specializes in flexibility, bringing something to the table in nearly every situation.

Its gameplay centers around Flame Shock Icon Flame Shock spreading to grant increased access to Lava Lash Icon Lava Lash, allowing us to apply Lashing Flames Icon Lashing Flames to multiple targets quickly. Alongside that, Crash Lightning Icon Crash Lightning significantly increases Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon generation, raising the frequency of Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit casts, and to cap it off, we have explosive Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave moments for burst.

3.1.

Talent Considerations

Thanks to changes in the talent tree in Patch 10.2, there are now a number of available options for us depending on your group and the damage profile and how much utility you wish to bring:

  • Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon Generation - a problem previously, we now have multiple options to increase this, especially in single-target between Swirling Maelstrom Icon Swirling Maelstrom and the updated Elemental Assault Icon Elemental Assault. Depending on other choices, you will have 1-3 points to spend on this, and my personal recommendation in order of strength is:
    • 1st pt Elemental Assault Icon Elemental Assault > Swirling Maelstrom Icon Swirling Maelstrom > 2nd pt Elemental Assault Icon Elemental Assault
  • Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast - Can now easily be accessed for just one point. While this is very single-target focused, it raises our funnel potential and cleans up some of our single-target problems when forced onto bosses, making it an extremely good investment.
  • Sundering Icon Sundering - Now more of a utility option, bringing some good burst AoE but mostly granting us an extra AoE stop. This can be dropped, but if you are still using the Tier 30 set make sure to take this.
  • Windfury Totem Icon Windfury Totem - This is now much more difficult to fit into a build due to the easier access to high value points. Should your group heavily lean into these benefits such as if there are Rogues present, you can consider it, but it is less of a lock-in in Season 3.
4.

Deep Dive: Elementalist (Frost)

New for Season 3, this is a specific alternative to the regular Elementalist build. The core structure and gameplay goals remains the same, but it trades out Lashing Flames Icon Lashing Flames as its AoE delivery method to instead focus on Legacy of the Frost Witch Icon Legacy of the Frost Witch and Hailstorm Icon Hailstorm combos. This is slightly behind in output, but is easier to execute while providing equal funnel. These two builds are close enough that, for most situations, it comes down to preference. Something to note is, this build only works with Tier 31.

The core gameplay sees a shift where, instead of making as much use out of Lava Lash Icon Lava Lash as possible to apply Lashing Flames Icon Lashing Flames; instead, it makes use of Frost damage increases. Thanks to the increased Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon generation in AoE, it can trigger Legacy of the Frost Witch Icon Legacy of the Frost Witch to comfortably buff each Hailstorm Icon Hailstorm for high burst AoE. This also extends to funnel, where back-to-back spenders can buff Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast for huge priority damage, alongside having access to Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave for explosive burst.

3.2.

Talent Considerations

Unlike the regular Elementalist build, this is much more locked in due to the constraints both in the middle and bottom of the tree. This means sacrifices like Sundering Icon Sundering have to be made to make room for everything. Two points in Legacy of the Frost Witch Icon Legacy of the Frost Witch below the 20 gate are required, meaning the only Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon talent that can be accessed is Swirling Maelstrom Icon Swirling Maelstrom which is always taken. The flexibility and utility trade-off is there, but in exchange, you get an easier-to-execute playstyle that is more frontloaded than the more complex Lashing Flames version.

4.

Deep Dive: Storm

While in Season 2 Storm was able to be reasonably competitive, Season 3 seems to have pushed it out. The main issue is how many talents it normally avoids are needed to make use of the Tier 31 bonus, which is an issue only in AoE. The previous pick-up-and-play style is largely gone, and instead, it just has too many things it needs to juggle and requires too many compromises. It can specialize well into either single-target or AoE, but unfortunately Mythic+ requires both. The best-performing build leans into AoE as follows:

3.3.

Talent Considerations

Much like Season 1, in Season 3 Storm requires specialized packages that lean in one direction or another. Sacrifices need to be made in either single-target or AoE. Due to the Tier 31 bonus requiring Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave and Molten Assault Icon Molten Assault to support it, the strain happens at two points: center and bottom. You should pick between either of the two sections depending on what you are looking for from your damage profile:

3.3.1.

Middle Block

  • Tempest Strikes Icon Tempest Strikes / Storm's Wrath Icon Storm's Wrath - This is the more single-target focused option to augment the normally weak throughput when forced into these situations. Unfortunately, neither of these provide cleave or AoE benefits.
  • Fire Nova Icon Fire Nova / Swirling Maelstrom Icon Swirling Maelstrom - This further improves the high burst AoE, and leads to even higher Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon generation. On the other hand, it confers virtually no single-target benefit.
3.3.2.

End Block

  • Primal Maelstrom Icon Primal Maelstrom / Splintered Elements Icon Splintered Elements - This plays more into the Tier 31 bonus, and the additional Haste amplifies the already very strong Doom Winds Icon Doom Winds uncapped AoE. This is generally the recommended choice.
  • Deeply Rooted Elements Icon Deeply Rooted Elements through Thorim's Invocation Icon Thorim's Invocation - The previous best, this does provide a lot of single-target and confers good AoE, it however far less reliable. This is still an option, but the talent point limitations at the bottom of the tree forces it to the second point from Legacy of the Frost Witch Icon Legacy of the Frost Witch, which is quite costly.
4.

Storm Cleave - Tier 30

This is only a consideration for builds before Tier 31, as it avoids all of the effects that enable Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave. The build itself is the previous Season 2 build Storm Cleave, which is a skinny package that brings uncapped AoE and a well-rounded damage profile. Ease of execution is also a strong point, making it a great starter build, but as Season 3 progresses, its performance struggles to keep up.

There are not any real talent swaps worth considering as the build is fairly robust, with good synergies throughout. Its AoE is a cycle of Crash Lightning Icon Crash Lightning, Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning and Stormstrike Icon Stormstrike to fish for Deeply Rooted Elements Icon Deeply Rooted Elements procs, alongside big burst moments with Doom Winds Icon Doom Winds and Sundering Icon Sundering. Single-target also largely plays like a regular Storm build, with most of the key elements present focused around the same Ascendance proc fishing.

3.4.

Tier Set Gameplay

Depending on your currently equipped set bonus, there are some small considerations. Due to there being a gap in acquisition at the start of the season, some small tips to play around them in Mythic+ are as follows:

4.

Tier Set Details

Tier 31 Tier 30
4.

Amirdrassil Set: Tier 31

The Amirdrassil bonus heavily improves Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave, both adding an extra damage window to it and significantly reducing its cooldown. For Mythic+ this is perfect, meaning you are cycling between burst cooldown windows roughly every 25 seconds (or less, depending on Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon generation). This means you will usually be able to open on every pack with heavy burst to get started quickly with the extra Haste from Splintered Elements Icon Splintered Elements.

Due the two-way cooldown reduction between the 4-piece and Primal Maelstrom Icon Primal Maelstrom with Witch Doctor's Ancestry Icon Witch Doctor's Ancestry, it means that you will regularly be reducing both of these. Some CDR will always be wasted between these two, but in Mythic+ it is generally preferable to prioritize Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave here for additional burst moments.

Lastly, a final consideration is that Alpha Wolf Icon Alpha Wolf in Storm builds does impact the 2-piece Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit spawned, so provides some extra synergy in AoE.

4.

Aberrus Set: Tier 30

While soon to be retired in Season 3, for the early weeks, this is still relevant. This requires you to take Sundering Icon Sundering in all builds, which limits some options but still provides the excellent burst AoE boost that we had throughout Season 2.

Elementalist still generally aims to overlap this with each Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave cast for the added Mastery, while Storm makes sure to align every other cast with your Doom Winds Icon Doom Winds window. The 4-piece, on the other hand, largely plays itself, as we generate so much Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon that Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning casts are very frequent.

4.

Affixes in Dragonflight Season 3

As your key level climbs in Mythic+, you will encounter additional affixes each week throughout the season. The first activates at level 7, adding effects that trigger during combat, and the second begins at level 14, that trigger on enemy health thresholds or death. Enhancement has some unique tools to deal with the following affixes, and those not mentioned require no change:

5.

Dealing With Affixes as Enhancement

Afflicted Entangling Incorporeal Bursting Sanguine Spiteful
4.1.

Afflicted

Afflicted spawns up to two Afflicted Souls throughout the dungeon when in combat. These have a 10-second cast Afflicted Cry Icon Afflicted Cry that, if successful, reduces the Haste of all players by 100% for 10 seconds that can stack.

This can be stopped through any friendly dispel effect or through healing the souls. Enhancement brings multiple tools to deal with this, with the strongest being Poison Cleansing Totem Icon Poison Cleansing Totem that will clear up both, allowing your healer to focus on the group instead. Cleanse Spirit Icon Cleanse Spirit also works, alongside using Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon as a last resort to heal them quickly.

4.1.

Entangling

Entangling periodically snares all players in the group, spawning a circle around you and snaring you by 30%. If you do not snap the vine by getting out of the area within 8 seconds, you will be stunned for 3 seconds.

Enhancement has no real issues dealing with this, thanks to Ghost Wolf Icon Ghost Wolf which suppresses the slow, allowing it to get out easily. It also has two active options to clear it with Thunderous Paws Icon Thunderous Paws and Spirit Walk Icon Spirit Walk, which are both recommended as backups when this is active.

4.1.

Incorporeal

Incorporeal spawns up to two Incorporeal Beings roughly every 45 seconds. These begin a 5-second cast Destabilize Icon Destabilize that, if successful, reduces the damage and healing done of all players by 50% for 10 seconds and can stack.

These enemies are vulnerable to all crowd control and interrupts, therefore Enhancement should always play Hex Icon Hex during these weeks. You can drop Winds of Al'Akir Icon Winds of Al'Akir to path through Hex and Voodoo Mastery Icon Voodoo Mastery to Spirit Walk Icon Spirit Walk to make the cooldown more comfortable. If it is not ready, use Wind Shear Icon Wind Shear to buy time and prevent any casts going off.

4.1.

Bursting

Bursting causes each non-boss enemy to apply a stack of Burst to all players, dealing heavy Shadow damage over 4 seconds, and can stack. If this happens, it will refresh to the full duration.

The best way to counteract this is to stagger your damage carefully with your group, however if a large number are set off at once, then using Astral Shift Icon Astral Shift to take pressure off your healer can help. Alongside that, dropping Healing Stream Totem Icon Healing Stream Totem and spending excess Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon to assist in healing while the group stabilizes is recommended.

4.1.

Sanguine

Sanguine causes all non-boss enemies to leave behind a pool of Ichor, dealing 15% of players health in Shadow damage per second while inside. This also heals enemies by 5% while inside, and pools last for 12 seconds. Pools no longer stack if they are connected in Season 3.

Managing this is largely on the group and the tank moving enemies out of the area, while you aim to avoid them. Some will always slip through, however, so removing Thundershock Icon Thundershock so you have access to Thunderstorm Icon Thunderstorm to knock them out can be very helpful.

4.1.

Spiteful

Spiteful causes all non-boss enemies to spawn a Spiteful Shade, which fixates on a random player in the group. These slowly lose health, and deal heavy melee damage if they get close.

Due to how dangerous these are, having some form of control or escape when each group of enemies die is advised. Earthgrab Totem Icon Earthgrab Totem can be helpful here to buy some time quickly, but if you are forced to tank them for long then Astral Shift Icon Astral Shift is advised.

5.

Rotational Considerations for Enhancement Shaman in Mythic+

The main rotation will be very similar to the one outlined in our rotation page for either single-target or AoE situations. However, unlike in raids, the majority of pulls are much shorter than raid encounters, and there is downtime between them that can be leveraged for extra benefits. This also means you should consider holding high-damage tools such as Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave and Sundering Icon Sundering for a fresh pack if the current one is about to die.

The details below are primarily specific to the make-up of dungeons, so if you are looking for a general overview instead, then use our Rotation page:

6.

Mythic+ Opener for Enhancement Shaman

While we previously offered an opener here for Mythic+, the Rotation page update for Patch 10.2 now comprehensively covers different scenarios for opening in both single-target and AoE. We recommend heading there to get more detailed information depending on your build and loadout.

The general rule to keep in mind for Mythic+, though, is that you want to get your 6 Flame Shock Icon Flame Shocks active as quickly as possible, Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirits active and use Primordial Wave Icon Primordial Wave. The order in which you do this depends on your set bonus, and other effects dictate how you weave it in, but this is the main goal when entering into a pull. Make sure to check the main page as mentioned for details on this order:

6.1.

Maelstrom Weapon Management

Starting a pull with some Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon left over from the previous pack is usually very helpful for smoothing out the opening. If a pull is about to end and mobs are dying, avoid overspending stacks to finish them off and instead carry them to the next group of mobs. This advice also extends to Hailstorm Icon Hailstorm stacks if you expect to chain pulls together.

7.

Cooldown Usage and Optimizations

Planning your cooldown uses throughout a dungeon is a major part of optimization when considering Mythic+ routes. Knowing the strengths of each and how to make the most of each window is covered below:

8.

Major Cooldowns

Primordial Wave Doom Winds Feral Spirit Ascendance
7.1.

Primordial Wave

This is one of our strongest Mythic+ tools and, as such, is the thing you should play around the most. Your entire opening sequence should be setting up for as many Flame Shock Icon Flame Shocks as possible and then casting this for a strong Splintered Elements Icon Splintered Elements window to get yourself started. Due to its low cooldown, this is used as often as possible to avoid wasting uses unless a pack is about to die and the follow-up buff would be wasted.

In boss encounters, this is simply a burst tool, so if there are adds that are going to spawn, then make sure this overlaps with them to gain additional damage from hitting extra targets - it is almost always worth delaying it to do so. Also, make sure that Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit is on cooldown when you cast this to avoid wasting the cooldown reduction provided by the Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon it generates.

7.2.

Doom Winds

Make sure to get as many active Crash Lightning Icon Crash Lightning casts inside the window as possible. This usually caps at 2-3, so long as you have spare Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon to activate the cooldown reduction from Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning, so have this ready as you cast it. Try to also sync it up with Sundering Icon Sundering as this also triggers Windfury Weapon Icon Windfury Weapon in AoE. If you are playing Splintered Elements Icon Splintered Elements, aim to fit these windows in during the buff, as it lasts 12 seconds and makes it significantly easier to get extra Crash Lightning Icon Crash Lightning casts in.

7.3.

Feral Spirit

If you use the base Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit or Alpha Wolf Icon Alpha Wolf talents, you will gain a multiplicative stacking buff to your physical abilities for each active wolf. As a result, you should try to align your Sundering Icon Sundering and Doom Winds Icon Doom Winds casts with these windows to capitalize on increased burst damage from stacking cooldowns. Alpha Wolf, on the other hand, should naturally be getting activated by your rotation.

If you have the Elemental Spirits Icon Elemental Spirits talent instead, then the buff provided by your wolves will depend upon the type randomly summoned, increasing the damage done by your Fire, Frost, or Nature abilities by 20% stacking multiplicatively per wolf of the same type. Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast derives full benefit from any combination of these buffs, so you should bank your Elemental Blast Icon Elemental Blast charges to unleash into Elemental Spirits Icon Elemental Spirits windows where possible if you have incorporated it into your build.

Additionally, all versions of Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit serve as a significant source of Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon stacks and contribute a bit of extra single-target damage with their attacks. This ability should be mostly used on cooldown, especially if you are talented into Witch Doctor's Ancestry Icon Witch Doctor's Ancestry as this effect will rapidly refresh the cooldown of your wolves, and thus, any time spent sitting on a Feral Spirit Icon Feral Spirit cooldown is time spent, not reducing its cooldown - resulting in a significant DPS loss over time.

7.4.

Ascendance

Ascendance Icon Ascendance generates a powerful AoE Nature damage explosion from the on-cast burst, so if you are anticipating the arrival of a large pack of enemies, it may be worth holding off on using it right away in order to benefit more from the explosion. If talented into Thorim's Invocation Icon Thorim's Invocation, make sure that your Windstrike Icon Windstrike is primed to fire the correct Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon spender (either Lightning Bolt Icon Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning Icon Chain Lightning) for the situation you are facing before you use the cooldown - otherwise, your Windstrike Icon Windstrike casts will not convert your Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon stacks into damage as efficiently as possible.

8.

Enhancement Shaman Survival and Mobility in Mythic+

Having access to some strong movement and survival tools is necessary for success in Mythic+, but usually, the most important is your defense out of the two. You should only take as much mobility as you need to get through rather than what is comfortable and focus the rest on defense to survive punishing mechanics. For defense, considerations are:

  • Astral Shift Icon Astral Shift + Follow-up Talents - Always taken, it is our strong off-GCD defensive tool and is the staple for surviving dangerous mechanics.
  • Brimming with Life Icon Brimming with Life - a flat 8% Health bonus is mandatory in higher keys.
  • Spirit Wolf Icon Spirit Wolf - a consideration if lethal mechanics are too frequent to cover with active defensives but do cost damage to make use of.
  • Earth Elemental Icon Earth Elemental - the flat HP boost can be used alongside damage reduction tools to survive extremely high damage events and has a long duration, but the cooldown can be restrictive depending on the dungeon being run.
  • Earth Shield Icon Earth Shield - Provides a small amount of bonus healing at the cost of some GCDs, alongside boosting our off-healing on ourselves. Worth taking due to being a low-cost point.
  • Ancestral Defense Icon Ancestral Defense + Elemental Warding Icon Elemental Warding - passive damage reduction tools that work at all times at a low point cost. Over the course of a dungeon will grant a lot of additional survival, so it should always be considered.

For mobility, we can usually get away with just Ghost Wolf Icon Ghost Wolf and Spirit Walk Icon Spirit Walk to deal with most situations, but consider Thunderous Paws Icon Thunderous Paws if you need an additional root break or Gust of Wind Icon Gust of Wind for some displacement. After that, points should be spent on some of our utility options.

9.

Enhancement Shaman Utility in Mythic+

Another important aspect of Mythic+ comes in the form of utility. These are tools we come equipped with that allow us to interact with each pull (mostly) unrelated to damage, but instead pull management and control:

10.

Utility

Crowd Control Offhealing Other Utility
9.1.

Single Target Crowd Control

Wind Shear Icon Wind Shear is your interrupt tool and is one of the best available to any class. Being both ranged and having such a low cooldown makes for an excellent tool to disrupt targets with interruptible casts continually. You should be the one aggressively going after dangerous interrupts; allow other classes with longer interrupt cooldowns to handle less frequent casts or to be saved for emergencies if possible. Coordinate this with your group before starting the dungeon.

Lightning Lasso Icon Lightning Lasso can be used as a single-target stun, but the damage it deals is nowhere near as much as you would be doing when not channeling. This is moreso used to interrupt a cast than canceled to continue dealing damage through other methods and has a very contentious choice on the node, which makes it more niche.

Hex Icon Hex is somewhat similar to Wind Shear Icon Wind Shear as it allows you to either control a dangerous enemy before combat begins or interrupt a cast in an emergency. This cooldown can be reduced by 15 seconds if you talent into Voodoo Mastery Icon Voodoo Mastery, or it can be made to apply a 70% slow to an enemy after the polymorph effect expires with Enfeeblement Icon Enfeeblement.

9.2.

Area of Effect Crowd Control

Sundering Icon Sundering is an incredibly versatile tool, often able to act as a pseudo-interrupt against multiple targets that are otherwise immune, and does so while also delivering a huge burst of damage. While it will not work on every target, be sure to pay attention to enemies that it does incapacitate so you can effectively use this feature in the future. With the Tier 30 set bonus being retired, this returns as something we can hold for high-impact stops, but is no longer always taken - instead, it is a utility pick for some builds when you need extra control.

Capacitor Totem Icon Capacitor Totem is your AoE stun tool to lock down mobs as you begin a pull to stabilize. This tends to be extra useful on larger pulls to allow the tank to grab aggro before enemies begin casting or to prevent key effects. This can be further enhanced with the Guardian's Cudgel Icon Guardian's Cudgel or Static Charge Icon Static Charge talents. Guardian's Cudgel Icon Guardian's Cudgel is extremely potent in spawning a second Capacitor Totem Icon Capacitor Totem when the first one triggers, increasing the stun duration (at the cost of additional diminishing returns), while Static Charge Icon Static Charge will reduce its cooldown per target struck.

Thunderstorm Icon Thunderstorm (with Thundershock Icon Thundershock) is another powerful AoE pseudo-interrupt, being able to knock several enemies up into the air and disrupt spells that cannot be cast while moving. Be sure to practice using it to learn which enemies it works against and which are immune. For the vast majority of the time, Thundershock Icon Thundershock will be the preferred form of this ability, as keeping enemies together will make follow-up crowd control more effective and maintain DPS uptime on targets in AoE. In niche situations, you may need to utilize Thunderstorm Icon Thunderstorm's knock-back effect to deal with a specific mob or group of mobs or to move enemies out of Sanguine Icon Sanguine pools.

Earthbind Totem Icon Earthbind Totem and Earthgrab Totem Icon Earthgrab Totem can significantly impair the movement of groups of enemies, aiding in your tank's ability to kite them should it be required. Hailstorm Icon Hailstorm is also useful as a constant slow while executing the rotation if talented.

9.3.

Offhealing

While healing is not your primary role, we can use multiple tools to help the party in deadly situations. A Maelstrom Weapon Icon Maelstrom Weapon empowered Healing Surge Icon Healing Surge or Chain Heal Icon Chain Heal can help to stabilize you or an ally and should be used in emergencies. Healing Stream Totem Icon Healing Stream Totem can be taken and used whenever a gap in your rotation happens to help out, but points are usually too tight to be able to take this. We can also talent into a powerful healing cooldown with Ancestral Guidance Icon Ancestral Guidance, which provides huge group healing during situations where we are dealing AoE damage.

Being proactive with healing tools is an effective skill to learn as an Enhancement Shaman, and while you should not be taking responsibility for the group's health, recognizing when you can jump in at critical moments can be the difference between life or death for the party.

9.4.

Offensive / Defensive Dispels

Your toolkit includes an offensive dispel in Purge Icon Purge, a decurse in Cleanse Spirit Icon Cleanse Spirit, a fear, charm, and sleep break with Tremor Totem Icon Tremor Totem, and a poison removal with Poison Cleansing Totem Icon Poison Cleansing Totem. These effects are specific to certain dungeons, and you will often find yourself using these to deal with certain enemies. Be sure to adjust your talent loadout per dungeon to best deal with the most dangerous aspects of each.

9.5.

Other Utility

Earth Elemental Icon Earth Elemental is a potent emergency tool if the tank either dies or is struggling to handle a pack. It can also be used as a personal defensive cooldown to grant yourself additional maximum health. This has a long cooldown, so use it wisely. Also, be aware that the AI can sometimes be problematic, as it will rarely move with you once it has grabbed aggro - a particular problem in Sanguine Icon Sanguine weeks.

Mana Spring Icon Mana Spring can help out your healer with some additional Mana regeneration should they be struggling to keep up in a dungeon, and is an easy point to access. However, our talent points begin to get quite tight with all of the control tools we often take, so this is an optional bonus rather than a locked-in pick.

Reincarnation Icon Reincarnation allows you to resurrect after dying. This can be used to get back up after a lethal ability, or more importantly, it can skip certain packs. The ability to run ahead with your group, die, self-revive, and then resurrecting them is a niche tactic that some dungeon routes opt to use.

Bloodlust Icon Bloodlust and Heroism Icon Heroism are mainstays of all group content, and providing it is almost always a benefit to your party. Be sure to coordinate with your group when the most effective time to use it will be.

10.

Gear and Trinket Options for Enhancement Shaman in Mythic+

There are no significant alterations to the gear choices you should be making compared to normal single-target and AoE situations. However, we heavily recommend simming your character to make sure. Having Patchwerk and then Hectic Add Cleave/Dungeon Slice profiles alongside a full 5-6 target AoE profile at varying durations to see what can be optimized are the ideal profiles to use and use all of that information to make decisions. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming process, but due to the nature of dungeons, simulating them is slightly more awkward.

Trinkets tend to lean toward on-use or proc effects that are powerful in all situations rather than specific ones, so your mileage may vary compared to those picked in raids. In Season 3, there are a number of very strong options that can serve us well, with 4 particularly strong ones worth considering

  • Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge Icon Pip's Emerald Friendship Badge - this provides passive stats at all times, with occasional flare-ups into big damage moments. This makes it both consistent and potent, making it great for our high-frequency burst moments.
  • Porcelain Crab Icon Porcelain Crab - a very standard Mastery proc effect (which is great for our AoE damage). High uptime, alongside additional Avoidance to help with some of our survival issues makes this a great all-rounder.
  • Witherbark's Branch Icon Witherbark's Branch - the only strong on-use trinket worth considering for Mythic+, this provides a variable (and very large) duration Mastery buff, depending on how willing you are to play around it. How strong this is comes down to how hectic the situation is, as finding and manipulating the globes that spawn can be difficult.
  • Mirror of Fractured Tomorrows Icon Mirror of Fractured Tomorrows - while 3-minute cooldowns are less than ideal for Mythic+ planning, this is a huge amount of on-demand Mastery for 20 seconds. Similar to how strong Puzzle Box was for us in Season 1, this fills the same role of giving us an extra burst window to layer onto our other tools.

For more details on overall gear options and where to find them, you can check out our Gear page here:

11.

Changelog

  • 09 Nov. 2023: Restructured and updated for Patch 10.2.
  • 06 Nov. 2023: Updated link to Mythic+ hub.
  • 04 Sep. 2023: Some restructuring for Patch 10.1.7, added in Infurious Boots of Reprieve as a crafting option.
  • 20 Jul. 2023: Added note about Sporecloak to gear section for key pushing.
  • 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5 with shift to Storm Cleave for Storm builds.
  • 01 May 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1 and new Season 2 builds, alongside initial Tier set opener.
  • 20 Mar. 2023: Reviewed and added small improvements for Patch 10.0.7.
  • 24 Jan. 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
  • 11 Dec. 2022: Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
  • 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
  • 25 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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