#137 - Aug. 19, 2014, 5:53 a.m.
Hey Eleshams. I'll start this off similarly to how I have with other specs tonight... Frustration is understandable, given the changes happening in Warlords. Lets have some constructive discussion.
First, I'd like to comment on the nerfs today. Nerfs can be troubling, I get that. But this is beta, and these nerfs are just number changes. They are not a bad thing. They're simple number reductions because your DPS was too high. DPS tuning will happen, and this is the first step in that. Especially on beta, it can be very hard to have a good sense of how you compare to other specs. And with the squish changing how numbers are perceived in general, most of you probably had no clue that you were a little overpowered, and that's fine. Let me reiterate that the goal here is for you to be on par with all of the DPS. You should be equal with everyone, from the Arcane Mage to the Destruction Warlock.
1. Healing Talents need immediate love/attention. Make a decision - Either boost our Single Target to match us with other Specs, or give us our Hybrid Utility back. My use in MoP raiding revolved around the power of Shaman Utility. I'm starting to worry about my impact when the entire level 75 talent line is garbage.
Simply put, we want Elemental Shamans to be brought for their strong DPS, not their poor DPS and strong offheals. We're reducing *everyone*'s offhealing capabilities, and Shamans had some of the most of anyone.
2. Level 100 Talents are filler? I'm feeling lost here about the goal to this tier. Obviously you want it to be a DPS tier but right now I see it as:
A. Shocks - always bad. B. Storm Totem - oh joy another 5 min CD that does very little damage. C. Interesting AoE Fire totem...lots of potential here but why doesn't it work with Fire Elemental?!!!
I want the talents to integrate into my rotation. I was really - really hoping that our Level 100 talents could fix the dull aspect to our rotation that is honestly...a snooze to pull off most of the time.
A. Won't be bad. Needs tuning. B. Won't be bad. Needs tuning. C. Will continue being not bad, and the bug where it doesn't work with Fire Elemental will be fixed.
3. Earthquake
OK. Earthquake is a big topic, so lets go for it. Earthquake has been around for a long time, but it's been almost as long since it's actually been used significantly. And Elemental has one of the most fun, visceral, cool AoE spells in the game: Chain Lightning. So why are we trying to force Earthquake into the rotation now, instead of just cutting it? That's a totally fair question.
There are a few reasons. Chain Lightning is great, but it can also get monotonous, spamming a single button for all AoE situations, and basically nothing else. We want to add a *little* spice to that. The vast vast majority of your AoE/cleaving should still be Chain Lightning spam, and we don't want to step on that. But we think that adding one different spell every ~10sec or so adds a fine bit of texture rotation.
Another reason is that we feel like we've failed on fulfilling one aspect of the Elemental fantasy: the elements. Fire (check). Air (check, lightning falls under this). Water (that's more of Resto's thing). And
Earth. Where was the Earth? Ele shamans were feeling too much like the "Fire+Lightning Wizard", and not enough of the "Master of the Elements". That led us to including Earthquake, and adding Molten Earth.
And finally, skill. Here's where we get into why it has all of those so-called "QoL problems". It may be hard to see this vision, because AoE DPS tuning hasn't happened yet, but here's our vision for Earthquake: You won't be able to use it in every situation. It'll take a lot of skill and planning to use effectively. It may even require some cooperation from your tank, depending upon the situation. When all of those criteria aren't met, it's fine, you still have Chain Lightning to fall back on, and you'll still do totally solid DPS that way, and it's incredibly easy to use, in virtually any situation.
But when all of those pieces *do* line up, the payoff should be extremely strong.[i] It's an additional bonus [i]on top of your expected AoE DPS.
Don't think of it as "that spell I'm forced to use and is so hard-to-use". Think of it as "that niche spell that I sometimes get to use skillfully for great gains".
