Elemental Shaman PvE guide: Lava Burst and Lightning Overload at level 60

Overview

Level 60 · Elemental Shaman · DPS in dungeons and raids.

Classic Elemental was a burst spec that ran out of mana in raids. Forever gives it a rotation. Lava Burst hits harder when your Flame Shock is on the target, Lightning Overload can fire a free half-damage copy of Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning, and Elemental Alacrity shortens their cast times. Elemental Focus and Convection keep the mana cost under control. The off-tree points pick up spell crit and Intellect from Enhancement and spell hit from Restoration’s Tidal Focus, which in Forever applies to all spells.

Your job in the group

You are ranged spell damage with a totem set for your group. Keep Flame Shock and Lava Burst cycling on the boss, place the air and earth totems the raid assigns to you, and cover interrupts with Earth Shock on casting adds. Because Fire and Nature both appear in your rotation, you can keep casting the other school when a boss resists one, which makes you a useful backup when a Fire Mage or Warlock is struggling.

Why play it

• A real raid rotation. Flame Shock into Lava Burst plus Lightning Bolt filler replaces Classic’s burst-then-empty pattern.
• Free extra casts. Lightning Overload copies Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning at no mana cost.
• Totems for the group. Your totem bar supports nearby players on top of your damage.
• Two damage schools. A resist on Fire or Nature removes part of your damage, not all of it.

Weak points

• Movement: Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt have cast times; only shocks are instant.
• Threat: crits with Elemental Fury can pull aggro early.
• Fire and Nature immunity: some enemies resist one school, which removes half of the rotation.
• Path points: Tidal Mastery adds nothing to damage.

Level 60 talent build

Elemental 31 / Enhancement 10 / Restoration 10, all 51 points. The talent tree above shows the finished build.

Elemental (31)

• Convection 5/5 — cheaper Lightning Bolt, Lava Burst, Chain Lightning and shocks.
• Concussion 5/5 — more damage on Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Earth Shock.
• Reverberation 2/5 — Flame Shock back sooner for the Lava Burst bonus.
• Call of Flame 3/3 — Flame Shock and Lava Burst both gain damage.
• Elemental Focus 1/1 — free spells after Clearcasting, a large part of your mana budget.
• Elemental Fury 5/5 — much bigger crits on every damage spell.
• Call of Thunder 1/1 — crit for Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, and the gate to Elemental Alacrity.
• Elemental Reach 2/2 — more range to stay out of boss and cleave reach.
• Lightning Overload 3/3 — chance for a free extra bolt, the main damage talent of the build.
• Elemental Alacrity 3/3 — faster Lightning Bolts and Lava Bursts.
• Lava Burst 1/1 — the capstone: cast it on cooldown after Flame Shock.

Enhancement (10)

• Thundering Strikes 5/5 — spell crit from the Enhancement first row.
• Ancestral Knowledge 5/5 — more Intellect for mana and crit.

Restoration (10)

• Tidal Mastery 5/5 — no damage talent exists in this row; path points to Tidal Focus.
• Tidal Focus 5/5 — spell hit for all spells, as valuable as any Elemental talent.

Rotation and priority

1. Apply Flame Shock and keep it on the target; Reverberation shortens the wait.
2. Cast Lava Burst whenever it is ready while Flame Shock is ticking.
3. Fill with Lightning Bolt; Lightning Overload procs happen on their own.
4. Use Chain Lightning when several enemies stand together, or on cooldown on a single target if mana allows.
5. Drop totems with Call of the Elements, the Forever trainer spell that places up to four totems from your totem bar at once.
6. Save Clearcasting procs for Chain Lightning or Lava Burst when you can choose the spell.

Resources

Mana is the limit on long fights. Elemental Focus, Convection and Totemic Recall (a Forever trainer spell that refunds part of a totem’s mana) help. Do not refresh totems that are still up, and do not Chain Lightning on a single target when mana is short. Elemental Mastery is no longer in the Forever tree, so there is no crit cooldown to plan around.

Stat priority

1. Spell hit until you stop missing; Tidal Focus and the Spiritcaller’s Storm two-piece both count.
2. Spell damage and Nature damage, since most casts are Lightning Bolts.
3. Spell crit, doubled in value by Elemental Fury.
4. Intellect for mana, then mana per 5 seconds.
5. Fire damage for Flame Shock and Lava Burst once the others are covered.

Gear and set bonuses

The Elemental Tier 1 set in the Forever data is The Spiritcaller’s Storm; its item names are still withheld. Bonuses: 2 pieces +1% hit, 3 pieces 2 sec off Earthbind Totem’s cooldown, 4 pieces up to 21 spell damage against Elementals, 5 pieces 1 sec off Lava Burst’s cooldown. The two-piece and five-piece are the ones that change your damage; the rest is situational. Before raids, the dungeon sets The Elements and The Five Thunders have new Forever bonuses, including a spell damage proc at four or five pieces.

Consumables and professions

• Damage: Greater Arcane Elixir and Flask of Supreme Power if Forever keeps them; Nature damage elixirs if they exist.
• Mana: Major Mana Potions, runes and Mageblood Potion.
• Weapon: Brilliant Wizard Oil or the Forever equivalent.
• Relics: Shamans use totem relics; the Forever data adds new ones such as Totem of Elders, which extends Flame Shock when Fire Nova hits.
• Professions: Engineering for trinkets and explosives, or Alchemy and Herbalism to supply your own potions.

Sources

Rotation, stat and matchup advice adapts these Classic 1.12 guides to the WoW Forever talent trees; talents, set bonuses and new abilities come from this site’s WoW Forever data.

• Icy Veins: Classic Elemental Shaman DPS Guide
• Icy Veins: Classic Elemental Shaman DPS Stat Priority
• Icy Veins: Classic Elemental Shaman DPS Enchants and Consumables