Enhancement Shaman DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents — The War Within (11.2)

Prior to acquiring your new Season 3 Tier Set, Stormbringer is still the strongest option available for pure single-target scenarios. It brings a strong 2-minute damage profile while still providing good cleave when needed, making it the recommended choice in raid content.

After acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, Stormbringer grows a significant advantage over Totemic. It provides huge 2-minute burst while still bringing stronger sustained damage, while still being able to build for excellent cleave if an encounter requires it. This makes it the universal recommended choice in raid content.

Prior to acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, Totemic is extremely competitive in single-target scenarios. It has the edge on encounters with frequent add spawns due to its burst AoE tools, while also being better suited to fights that don't fit into 2-minute timers. Despite this, its overall throughput just barely stops it from being the recommendation.

After acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, Totemic begins to fall significantly behind. While the tree still provides strong burst AoE on a very desirable timer, it simply deals too little damage with those tools to keep up with the power Stormbringer has access to. Due to that, it should generally be avoided in raid content.

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All Stormbringer builds have a very heavy focus on Maelstrom Weapon to cycle Tempest, so any talents linked to spenders or generation are taken. Elemental Assault and Static Accumulation are key, dictating the amount of free points at the bottom. It always paths through Ascendance, and also both Feral Spirit and Witch Doctor's Ancestry.

On the left side, it picks up all Windfury Weapon for the additional generation, and Doom Winds for a mid-range burst cooldown. Its primary strike is Stormstrike, so talents that amplify it are also all taken. Prior to acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, while using the old Season 2 bonus it also needs the full Crash Lightning package with Unrelenting Storms. Some additional notes are:

All Stormbringer builds have a very heavy focus on Maelstrom Weapon to cycle Tempest, so any talents linked to spenders or generation are taken. Elemental Assault and Static Accumulation are key, dictating the amount of free points at the bottom. Its primary strike is Stormstrike, so all related talents are picked up.

On the left side, it picks up all Windfury Weapon for the additional generation, and Doom Winds for a mid-range burst cooldown. The Season 3 Tier Set allows you to pick either Ascendance or Deeply Rooted Elements, and pairs it with Witch Doctor's Ancestry or Flowing Spirits, respectively. Some additional notes are:

Regardless of whether you are using the new Tier Set or not, Totemic builds its tree in the same way. It has a heavy focus on Lava Lash and Hot Hand, so all related talents are picked up on the right side of the tree. Earthsurge is picked up on the Hero Tree to link up with Reactivity, giving a big payoff to each of these casts. It also makes sure to pick up Elemental Blast to give it a more powerful Maelstrom Weapon spender.

It picks Supportive Imbuements on the Hero Tree to go alongside the Windfury Weapon talents, and caps it off with a burst cooldown in Doom Winds. At the bottom of the tree, it picks up Primordial Storm and Witch Doctor's Ancestry for another 30-second burst window, alongside both points in Elemental Assault and Legacy of the Frost Witch. Some additional notes are:

• On the Hero Tree, Stormbringer always plays Supercharge. This provides a massive amount of Maelstrom Weapon, and Storm Swell is nowhere close.
• Both Ice Strike and Voltaic Blaze are always taken. These are the most powerful backup Maelstrom Weapon generators, that can be used in between Stormstrike casts.
• In cleave scenarios, Stormbringer has a handful of talents it can switch away from to pick up additional tools. Switch out Lava Lash, Molten Assault and Lashing Flames in exchange for Crash Lightning, Crashing Storms and Unrelenting Storms and use it as a backup filler.
• With the old Season 2 Tier Set, the tree is extremely point locked because it requires picking up Crash Lightning, Crashing Storms and Unrelenting Storms. It uses these as a backup strike to fill in the gaps left by dropping Lava Lash.
• Due to the high amount of Physical damage contribution the tree has, it always picks up Feral Spirit but avoids Elemental Spirits. Also make sure to have at least one point in Legacy of the Frost Witch, but preferably two.
• As a very large portion of Totemic's damage breakdown is either purely Physical, or split Physical damage, it always makes sure to pick up Feral Spirit but avoid Elemental Spirits. Similarly, it always picks up two points in Legacy of the Frost Witch to multiply it further.
• Stormstrike related talents - especially Stormblast - are still all picked up to provide a backup filler in between Lava Lash. Flurry is also taken to increase auto-attack speed, directly increasing the amount of Hot Hand triggers.
• While the old Season 2 Tier Set does involve Crash Lightning, there's simply no space to cast it in the Totemic rotation. Pair that with a lack of spare points, and it's just not worth fitting in.
• After acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, it's much more important to pick up Totemic Recall and Call of the Elements on the class tree. This gives us a fresh re-cast of Surging Totem to trigger the 2-piece bonus again.

Prior to acquiring your new Season 3 Tier Set, Stormbringer is an incredibly potent Mythic+ spec that excels in higher keys. It takes time to ramp up and requires you to pool around Tempest casts, but can deliver explosive burst when needed. Due to the extra management requirements, it is only recommended for experienced players

After acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, Stormbringer pulls way ahead and becomes the only real option for Mythic+ scenarios. The additional on-demand access to Tempest makes strong burst windows even stronger, alongside giving additional ways to trigger them. It does, however, have high execution requirements that requires buff tracking, but remains the recommended choice.

Prior to acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, Totemic has extremely potent 30-second and 1-minute burst, making it very easy to plug into any composition and perform. It can adjust to most routing comfortably, while still being easier to execute than the alternative. That makes it the general recommended choice.

After acquiring the Season 3 Tier Set, Totemic begins to fall significantly behind. While there are good AoE benefits provided by the Tier Set, they are far weaker than the alternative, and it pushes the tree out of the running. Due to that, while it's much more comfortable to play, it's not recommended.

In AoE the goal of Stormbringer is to generate and spend as much Maelstrom Weapon as possible to fuel Tempest. It uses Crashing Lightning to generate this actively, so picks up Crashing Storms both to boost its damage and improve Chain Lightning casts. The entire Windfury Weapon package, including Doom Winds, is also picked up to support this. Its single-target is covered by Stormstrike, so supporting talents (in particular Stormblast) are picked up.

At the bottom, it avoids Feral Spirit so it can pick up the entire Ascendance leaf, and pair it with Primordial Storm. The remaining two points are spent on Elemental Assault and Legacy of the Frost Witch to cover its resource needs. Without the Season 3 Tier Set, there are no special build concerns. Some additional notes are:

At the bottom, it avoids Feral Spirit so it can pick up the entire Ascendance leaf, and pair it with Primordial Storm. The remaining two points are spent on Elemental Assault and Legacy of the Frost Witch to cover its resource needs. With the Season 3, you also have the option to play Deeply Rooted Elements instead, for less consistent but more frequent burst windows. Some additional notes are:

Regardless of whether you are using the new Tier Set or not, Totemic builds its AoE tree in the same way. It has a heavy focus on Lava Lash and Hot Hand procs to trigger Reactivity to trigger Earthsurge on the Hero Tree. It also picks up Sundering and Molten Thunder as an additional way to proc this effect. It also makes sure to pick up Elemental Blast to give it a more powerful Maelstrom Weapon spender.

It picks Supportive Imbuements on the Hero Tree to go alongside the Windfury Weapon talents, and caps it off with a burst cooldown in Doom Winds. At the bottom of the tree, it picks up Primordial Storm and Witch Doctor's Ancestry for another 30-second burst window, alongside both points in Elemental Assault and Legacy of the Frost Witch. Some additional notes are:

• On the Hero Tree, Stormbringer always plays Supercharge. This provides a massive amount of Maelstrom Weapon, and Storm Swell is nowhere close.
• Lava Lash and Molten Assault are both mandatory pickups for AoE, as it's needed to set up Primordial Wave quickly. Additionally, Voltaic Blaze is picked up as both an extra AoE tool and another way to quickly apply Flame Shock.
• With the Season 3 Tier Set, you have one floating talent point. This can be used on either Sundering for more AoE and an extra stop, or Ice Strike for more single-target comfort. It's all up to preference here.
• Totemic requires Crash Lightning , allowing your Lava Lash casts to splash for additional damage and Maelstrom Weapon. This also provides extra triggers of Windfury Weapon and, by extension, Imbuement Mastery, which is a large component of its AoE.
• Totemic also has a few choices when it comes to its last 4-5 points, after its core is built. The following talents are less important than the core, if you're looking to experiment:
  • Lashing Flames - a great all-rounder talent that converts to AoE well. Is heavily target capped, and deals damage over time. Generally recommended.
  • Elemental Assault (2nd point) - makes Maelstrom Weapon generation more consistent for single-target. Extremely good for comfort, generally recommended.
  • Flurry - Increases auto-attack speed and, by extension, Hot Hand triggers. Generally recommended.
  • Crashing Storms - Increases Crash Lightning damage and Chain Lightning target count. While it doesn't spend on Chain Lightning often, it does affect the Primordial Storm trigger, so is often a good pickup.
  • Storm's Wrath + Stormblast - gives ample access to Stormstrike as a single-target filler. Much more niche, but fills issues of downtime.
• The Season 3 Tier Set makes it much more important to have Totemic Recall and Call of the Elements. This allows you to quickly reset Surging Totem, getting two triggers of the 2-piece off in quick succession. Also has the added benefit of flexible utility if needed.
• The Shaman Class tree is very loose, with a lot of spare points for needed utility. Many niche talents such as Earthgrab Totem and Purge can be shifted around without impacting pathing, so don't be afraid to switch these around if a dungeon requires it.

Stormbringer is well suited to Delves, due to its ability to pool damage around key moments. Its robust cooldown options and extremely high AoE burst make it a strong option, but does require a bit of extra management to get the most out of it. The additional Maelstrom Weapon to fuel healing is also very welcome, making it a strong option.

Totemic is extremely well suited to Delves, being able to deploy huge AoE burst whenever needed due to its short cooldowns. The flexibility of Surging Totem, Primordial Storm and Doom Winds, paired with a damage profile that deals strong AoE and priotity damage fits almost all Delve situations perfectly. Due to that, it's the recommended choice.

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