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Casstor · 12/14/07, 10:21 PM

I guess I could throw something together for the pvp elemental shaman thread, since that's what I've been playing as of late.

To answer your questions:

My keybindings are what I've learned. Unless you need to incorporate new keybindings into your setup, don't change what you've learned, or classical conditioning will come for you.

In my experience, there isn't even a question about your tier 1 resto talent. Do the HPS numbers sometime with 2.5 sec HW and without, you'll see why. I agree with the idea of not spamming heals while focused, but that isn't really what you're healing is for. Your healing is for when one healer is being focused and another needs support while he's spell-locked/CCed/oom.

As far as elemental goes, I most often find myself thinking in terms of GCDs and 2 second cast-time spells, in which case, 6-second shocks are fine.

I gem mostly for offensive ability. I go for spell damage enchants.

I have 1 spell I downrank in pvp, and that's lightning bolt, and only for using rank 1 on totems. IMO if someone doesn't need a heal badly enough to need a max rank heal, they don't need a heal badly enough for you to be diverting your offensive/utility spells for their healing.

I generally try not to heal, as my healing is inefficient mana-wise and from a HPS standpoint. I spend the beginning of the match purging, and once my target is purged clean, I start spamming LBs, while keeping an eye on my ally's CC/life totals to see if I need to heal. I tend to blow heroism and my NS+EM combo early on, as the pressure usually leads either to an early kill, or to a team that's been mana burned to oblivion, depending on how much time they spend trying to burst down the priest. Of course, if your teams dps is interrupted or healed through, it's usually best to find an opening to drink, and be prepared for that dreadful time when your paladin is out of mana, as you'll then be the one people turn to for healing.

I don't use many mods, but I'm pretty worthless without my focus window these days. Proximo is pretty much absolutely necessary in arenas. And, of course, spellalert and cooldown timers are always handy.

Basically, the way I see it, there are two types of 5s teams for an elemental shaman: 2345 and a 4-dps caster team.

The nice part about being on a 2345 team is that your WF totem is fully utilized, and you can successfully play either an outlast or a gib approach, depending on who you're against. Also, you're rarely focused, so you're free to use all of your potential, which is always more fun than just getting hit.

The nice part about being on a 4-dps team is that, if burst is coordinated well, being oom is the least of your concerns. This certainly isn't the case in 2345 teams, where I'm often looking to take a few quick sips even early in the game if their team is playing really defensively.

Overall, I think the 2345 team is the better fit for an elemental shaman, mainly because 4-dps plays out so quickly that often times I feel the need to purge spam, interrupt heals, and keep LBs all at the same time (hence all the talk about GCD management), whereas if you need a few seconds to heal, purge or take a drink (all of which is common for me), you don't feel like you're gimping your teams overall output (which is mainly just flat damage for 4-dps, but more like overall contributive play in 2345).

Just a few thoughts.

Anyone know of any 2s/3s teams that are pretty good for elemental? I know Warrior/Pal/Ele Sham is pretty ok, but I really don't see it beating any of the mainstream comps people run into these days.

12/14/07, 10:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
Casstor Glass Joe Animiki Draenei Shaman <Aphotic Element> Mal'Ganis	I guess I could throw something together for the pvp elemental shaman thread, since that's what I've been playing as of late. To answer your questions: My keybindings are what I've learned. Unless you need to incorporate new keybindings into your setup, don't change what you've learned, or classical conditioning will come for you. In my experience, there isn't even a question about your tier 1 resto talent. Do the HPS numbers sometime with 2.5 sec HW and without, you'll see why. I agree with the idea of not spamming heals while focused, but that isn't really what you're healing is for. Your healing is for when one healer is being focused and another needs support while he's spell-locked/CCed/oom. As far as elemental goes, I most often find myself thinking in terms of GCDs and 2 second cast-time spells, in which case, 6-second shocks are fine. I gem mostly for offensive ability. I go for spell damage enchants. I have 1 spell I downrank in pvp, and that's lightning bolt, and only for using rank 1 on totems. IMO if someone doesn't need a heal badly enough to need a max rank heal, they don't need a heal badly enough for you to be diverting your offensive/utility spells for their healing. I generally try not to heal, as my healing is inefficient mana-wise and from a HPS standpoint. I spend the beginning of the match purging, and once my target is purged clean, I start spamming LBs, while keeping an eye on my ally's CC/life totals to see if I need to heal. I tend to blow heroism and my NS+EM combo early on, as the pressure usually leads either to an early kill, or to a team that's been mana burned to oblivion, depending on how much time they spend trying to burst down the priest. Of course, if your teams dps is interrupted or healed through, it's usually best to find an opening to drink, and be prepared for that dreadful time when your paladin is out of mana, as you'll then be the one people turn to for healing. I don't use many mods, but I'm pretty worthless without my focus window these days. Proximo is pretty much absolutely necessary in arenas. And, of course, spellalert and cooldown timers are always handy. Basically, the way I see it, there are two types of 5s teams for an elemental shaman: 2345 and a 4-dps caster team. The nice part about being on a 2345 team is that your WF totem is fully utilized, and you can successfully play either an outlast or a gib approach, depending on who you're against. Also, you're rarely focused, so you're free to use all of your potential, which is always more fun than just getting hit. The nice part about being on a 4-dps team is that, if burst is coordinated well, being oom is the least of your concerns. This certainly isn't the case in 2345 teams, where I'm often looking to take a few quick sips even early in the game if their team is playing really defensively. Overall, I think the 2345 team is the better fit for an elemental shaman, mainly because 4-dps plays out so quickly that often times I feel the need to purge spam, interrupt heals, and keep LBs all at the same time (hence all the talk about GCD management), whereas if you need a few seconds to heal, purge or take a drink (all of which is common for me), you don't feel like you're gimping your teams overall output (which is mainly just flat damage for 4-dps, but more like overall contributive play in 2345). Just a few thoughts. Anyone know of any 2s/3s teams that are pretty good for elemental? I know Warrior/Pal/Ele Sham is pretty ok, but I really don't see it beating any of the mainstream comps people run into these days.