#0 - June 12, 2010, 6:37 p.m.
Q u o t e:
I don't think using Volley and Blizzard on every encounter is exciting either. Classes have lots of abilities and we want you to use more of them. Crowd control asks a lot more of player skill than blitzing through a dungeon as fast as you can. Single target dps generally has a lot more depth, in terms of procs, talent synergies and ability rotations, than AE.
Now, for reference, the current AoE setup for Elemental involves running into melee range, dropping Magma Totem, Thunderstorm (if minor glyphed) and then Fire Nova while running back to ranged (not necessary, but helps the healers out), Chain Lightning, Flame shock, Lava Burst, and then from then it's a priority of Magma Totem/Fire Nova/Chain Lightning/Flame Shock(on multiple targets)/Lava Burst/Lightning Bolt if nothing else is available.
Now compare that to the single target priority of Searing Totem>Flame Shock>Lava Burst>Lightning Bolt, with the majority of your time spent spamming Lightning Bolt. On average, 60-65% of my damage is LB.
It's pretty clear that our AoE damage is a lot more involved and exciting. Since it would seem the design intent is more complex single target, I'm wondering if/how Blizzard intends to make it so in Cataclysm.
So far the additions to the Elemental arsenal are Earthquake, Lava Surge, and Unleash Weapon. Earthquake is unlikely to be a single target spell since it would provide 'free' damage when multiple targets are present. Lava Surge is a great talent because it allows for a higher skill cap with rolling multiple Flame Shocks for more surge procs. However, it seems like a marginal addition from a pure single target standpoint. Being a caster spec, our time is spent almost always casting or moving (and with Spiritwalker's Grace, both at once :D). I foresee many Lava Surge procs happening while I'm just starting a Lightning Bolt, while I need to be moving, or right before Lava Burst comes off cooldown already. I haven't done the math, but I don't see it being a dps increase to stop cast half a second into a LB for a proc, but I'm pretty darn certain there's no dps increase in getting a surge proc right before the ability comes off of cooldown anyway. Unleash Weapon will probably just be cast on cooldown (depending on whether or not it's worth it to let a Flame Shock consume the 20% buff).
So far, then, it's looking like Searing Totem>Unleash Weapon>Flame Shock> Lava Burst>Lightning Bolt. Searing Totem lasts for long enough that's it's not much of a concern most of the time. If anything, it's more of a hassle than it is interesting, due to its range. Unleash Weapon's proposed 15 second cooldown means it'll only be cast something like every other Lava Burst 'rotation', and might be saved for a couple seconds for certain scenarios (like fight encounter buffs that having a +20% Lava Burst would be worth saving it for). Then you'll have the occasional extra Lava Burst. All in all, it appears that most of our time will still be spent Lightning Bolt nuking. The interactivity boils down to the Flame Shock/ Lava Burst relationship, a few (potentially annoying) Surge procs,and UW buffing the occasional fire spell.
My question for the Devs, then, is: Is this complex enough?
In my personal opinion, the current proposed Cataclysm Elemental playstyle isn't quite there. I appreciate the effort toward that end--don't get me wrong. I'm just coming from a viewpoint where the most I can do to improve my personal dps has to do with trinket procs and Elemental Mastery usage. It feels... odd to me that my largest player input seems to be from a source outside my basic class mechanics.
P.S. I know a large portion of maximizing damage as a caster is minimizing loss of dps from movement, and another instant cast in the form of UW, indoor Ghost Wolf, and moving while casting from SwG will help toward that end. I didn't mention them mainly because UW is likely required to be cast at a certain time to maximize dps, you can't cast while in Ghost Wolf (which isn't bad, just doesn't help the situation a whole lot), and SwG is on a proposed 2 minute cooldown for a relatively short duration.
