Enhancement Shaman DPS Guide (Legion 7.3.5)

Table of Contents

• ×Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. What has changed in Patch 7.3.2 (Antorus Launch) for Enhancement Shaman
  • 3. What has changed in Patch 7.3 Changes for Enhancement Shaman
  • 4. What has changed in Patch 7.2.5 Changes for Enhancement Shaman
  • 5. Enhancement Shaman's Strengths
  • 6. Enhancement Shaman's Weaknesses
  • 7. Viability of Enhancement Shaman in the Current Patch
  • 8. Contents
  • 9. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics for Enhancement Shaman
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Talent Choices
  • 3. Enhancement Shaman Stat Priorities
  • 4. Enhancement Shaman Basic Rotation
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Spell Summary
  • 1. Enhancement Shaman Spell Summary
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman's Main Resource
  • 3. Enhancement Shaman's Basic Abilities
  • 4. Important Procs for Enhancement Shaman
  • 5. DPS Cooldowns for Enhancement Shaman
  • 6. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Choices
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Talent Cheat Sheet
    • 2.1. Raid Encounters
  • 3. 1 (Level 15) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 4. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 5. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 6. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 7. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 8. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 9. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Enhancement Shaman
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Enhancement Shaman Artifact Progression
    • 1.1. Early Progression
    • 1.2. Patch 7.2 Post 35 Trait Path
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Artifact Ability
  • 3. Enhancement Shaman Relic Choices
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths
  • 1. Optimization between Light/Shadow Tier 2 and Relic Tier 3 Choices for Enhancement Shaman
  • 2. Tier 2 Trait Priorities for Enhancement Shaman
    • 2.1. Best
    • 2.2. Good
    • 2.3. Weak
  • 3. Tier 3 Trait Priorities for Enhancement Shaman
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Enhancement Shaman Ability Priority List
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Opening Rotation
  • 3. Important Notes for Enhancement Shaman
    • 3.1. Doom Winds
    • 3.2. Crash Lightning Explained
    • 3.3. Tier 2 Talents
    • 3.4. Tier 5 Talents
    • 3.5. 7.2.5 Ascendance vs. Earthen Spike
    • 3.6. Pandemic
    • 3.7. Healing Surge
    • 3.8. Lightning Bolt
  • 4. Enhancement Shaman Core Concepts
    • 4.1. Maelstrom Management
    • 4.2. Buff Uptimes & Proc Management
  • 5. Enhancement Shaman Tier 19 Set Bonuses
  • 6. Enhancement Shaman Tier 20 Set Bonuses
  • 7. Enhancement Shaman Tier 21 Set Bonuses
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. The Basics of Stats for Enhancement Shaman
    • 1.1. Breakpoints & Ratios
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding of Enhancement Shaman Stats
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Enhancement Shaman Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Enhancement Shaman Consumables
    • 3.1. Potion Choice
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Recommended Addons for Enhancement Shaman
    • 1.1. ElvUI
    • 1.2. Weak Auras
    • 1.3. Boss Mods
      • 1.3.1. BigWigs Bossmods
      • 1.3.2. Deadly Boss Mods
    • 1.4. Name Plates
      • 1.4.1. KUI Nameplates
      • 1.4.2. TidyPlates
    • 1.5. Damage Meters
      • 1.5.1. Skada
      • 1.5.2. Details
    • 1.6. Extra AddOns
      • 1.6.1. Mik's Scrolling Battle Text
      • 1.6.2. Death Note
      • 1.6.3. Doom CooldownPulse
      • 1.6.4. Angry Assignments
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Macros
    • 2.1. Generic Macros for Shamans
    • 2.2. Wind Shear
    • 2.3. Purge
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Raid Best in Slot List for Enhancement Shaman
    • 1.1. Tier Bonus Combinations
    • 1.2. Evaluating Upgrades with dynamic Item Levels
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Racial Bonuses
  • 3. Enhancement Shaman Legendaries
    • 3.1. 7.1.5 Legendaries
    • 3.2. 7.2 Legendaries
    • 3.3. 7.2.5 Legendaries
    • 3.4. 7.3.2 Legendaries
    • 3.5. Recommended Choices
  • 4. Enhancement Shaman Loot Competition
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Battle for Azeroth
  • 1. Foreword
  • 2. Enhancement Shaman Core Ability & Mechanic Changes in BfA
    • 2.1. New as of June 20th Update
  • 3. Talent Changes for Enhancement Shaman in BfA
    • 3.1. Level 15
    • 3.2. Level 30
    • 3.3. Level 45
    • 3.4. Level 60
    • 3.5. Level 75
    • 3.6. Level 90
    • 3.7. Level 100
  • 4. Enhancement Shaman Azerite Traits
  • 5. Basic Rotation for Enhancement Shaman in BfA
    • 5.1. Multi-target Rotation for Enhancement Shaman in BfA
  • 6. ChangeLog

General Information

Welcome to our Enhancement Shaman DPS guide for World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5. Here, you will learn everything you need to know about playing an Enhancement Shaman in a raid environment and in Mythic+ dungeons.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Wordup, a frequent theorycrafter involved in a number of class communities. He is also an experienced player who has been in the world top 100 since the days of Sunwell, currently raiding in Echoes. You can also follow him on Twitter.

1. Class Overview

Enhancement Shaman has undergone a wide variety of changes in Legion. Many of the lengthy cooldowns that were limiting to the rotation in past expansions have been removed, replaced by an entirely new resource limited rotation. The result is a specialization that is very flexible and streamlined, with a much faster pace of play that can be applied in a variety of ways. Enhancement has very much shifted into a single-target specialist with some cleave aspects added in, replacing the older sustained AoE that was present in Warlords of Draenor. Coming primed with an impressive priority burst toolkit and the ability to set up damage prior to a target spawning, alongside having some powerful proc based tools make it incredibly versatile, and easily able to tackle the majority of raid situations. Whilst not strictly an AoE powerhouse, it still brings a slew of extra tools in dungeons alongside respectable damage for Mythic+ as well.

2. What has changed in Patch 7.3.2 (Antorus Launch) for Enhancement Shaman

Enhancement remains similar to previous patches, with the addition of new items from Antorus and the Tier 21 set bonuses, alongside the new legendary ring Insignia of the Grand Army.

3. What has changed in Patch 7.3 Changes for Enhancement Shaman

Enhancement currently has received nothing new leading into 7.3 aside from the addition of the Netherlight Crucible.

4. What has changed in Patch 7.2.5 Changes for Enhancement Shaman

Enhancement has received a significant number of changes, effectively overhauling the spec in many cases this patch. This includes the following:

• Two new Legendary items have been added, Smoldering Heart in the Gloves slot and Soul of the Farseer in the Ring slot.
• Damage of core abilities increased by 10%.
• Damage of Earthen Spike increased by 25%, Hailstorm by 11%, and Fury of Air by 10%.
• Numerous talents have been moved around and reworked, including Landslide, Boulderfist and Ascendance — see the talent section for more information.
• Crash Lightning damage and on hit effects increased by 20%.
• Hot Hand proc rate reduced by 29%.
• Flametongue on hit damage has been increased by 28%.
• Rockbiter has been reworked, convering it into the old Boulderfist design. This now deals significantly more damage, but has 2 charges with a 6 second recharge; whilst also generating additional Maelstrom.
• Stormbringer now triggers from all weapon attacks rather than just Main Hand hits.
• Stormstrike cooldown reduced to 15 seconds (from 16).
• Wind Surge increased to 8% per rank (from 5%).
• Wind Strikes now increases Attack Speed by 3% per point (down from 10) but now lasts from 6 seconds (up from 3).

5. Enhancement Shaman's Strengths

• Exceptional priority burst in single target
• Flexible, able to adapt to a variety of different encounter types
• Great target swapping and damage on high priority targets
• Good group utility for both dungeons and raids

6. Enhancement Shaman's Weaknesses

• High variance in burst due to Stormbringer
• Reliant on uptime so can be punished in very high movement encounters
• Weak defensives so cannot take a lot of punishment

7. Viability of Enhancement Shaman in the Current Patch

Enhancement in the tail end of Tomb of Sargeras showed how powerful its single target and low target cleave was, and proved to be a good pick for melee from a raw DPS perspective. The tools that make it strong remain as powerful as ever in Doom Winds and the high rolling aspect of Stormbringer give it explosive potential, whilst Crash Lightning remains a great source of converting AoE into single target DPS. The new set bonus accentuates this, though we do lose the extra burst AoE potential from Tier 20. Unfortunately, despite all of this, the survival issues that have plagued Tomb of Sargeras may show up again in Antorus, but the extent to which that hurts Enhancement is unknown.

8. Contents

To make it easy to navigate the guide, we have split it into 11 pages:

• Easy Mode: TL;DR to own without reading much;
• Spell Summary: see a summary of all your useful spells;
• Builds and Talents: learn how to choose your talents;
• Artifact Traits and Relics: discover how to level up your Artifact;
• Netherlight Crucible Relic Paths: choose the right paths on your Netherlight Crucible;
• Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities: master your rotation and your cooldowns;
• Stat Priority: read up on the respective values of your statistics;
• Gems, Enchants, and Consumables: choose the best gems, enchantments, etc.;
• Macros and Addons: step up your game with useful macros and addons;
• Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot: find the best gear you can wear;
• Battle for Azeroth: learn how to play your class in Battle for Azeroth.

9. ChangeLog

• 21 Jun. 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Updated for new changes as of last Beta build.
• 30 May 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Added talent tree image.
• 29 May 2018 (Battle for Azeroth page): Page added.
• 18 Jan. 2018 (rotation page): Small update to rotation regarding Rockbiter & Flametongue priorities.
• 18 Jan. 2018 (Netherlight Crucible page): Streamlined Murderous Intent/Shocklight values.
• 12 Dec. 2017 (rotation page): Updated note for Maelstrom dump point for clarity with Fury of Air.
• 12 Dec. 2017 (gear page): Updated Trinket & Pantheon value images.
• 05 Dec. 2017 (gear page): Changed recommended bracers to Kin'garoth.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Updated for Antorus values.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (enchants page): Updated for Antorus.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (easy mode page): Checked for 7.3.2 and opening of Antorus.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (talents page): Updated for Antorus opening.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (rotation page): Updated for Antorus T21 set bonuses.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (artifact page): Updated for Antorus release.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (this page): Updated for Antorus release.
• 27 Nov. 2017 (gear page): Updated for Antorus release.
• 25 Oct. 2017 (gear page): Updated to account for Convergence of Fates nerf.
• 10 Oct. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Relic values adjusted.
• 09 Oct. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Updated with more recent values including Dark Sorrows buff and higher assumed item level.
• 12 Sep. 2017 (Netherlight Crucible page): Added Netherlight Crucible page for Enhancement Shaman.
• 10 Sep. 2017 (enchants page): Altered gems to highlight Saber's Eye no longer being ideal.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (this page): Updated to indicate no new changes for 7.3.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (talents page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (rotation page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (enchants page): Added Lightforged Augment Rune and new 7.3 epic gems.
• 28 Aug. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
• 14 Aug. 2017 (rotation page): Updated rotation for new Earthen Spike information & re-arranged certain parts of the rotation regarding buff management.
• 10 Aug. 2017 (talents page): Edited Level 100 talent section to explain Earthen Spike and Ascendance parity.
• 18 Jul. 2017 (gear page): Re-added Sephuz/Prydaz to legendary list.
• 09 Jul. 2017 (talents page): Updated to reflect Tomb talent choices in the current environment, in particular Fury of Air.
• 19 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Small changes in opener to prioritise buffs.
• 17 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Added note regarding Overcharge & Akainus legendary.
• 16 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Moved Crash Lightning buff maintanence up over casting Ascendance to be active for burst.
• 15 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Clarified Earthen Spike in the opener & moved above Doom Winds for syncing purposes.
• 14 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Added note regarding Tier 19/20 2/4pc combinations.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (enchants page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (stats page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 to note Haste and Mastery being equal.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (rotation page): Updated Patch 7.2.5 rotational changes, added details regarding Tier 20 set bonuses and Ascendance overview.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (artifact page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 with new Relic recommendations.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (talents page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 changes to talent tiers.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (spells page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5 talent choice changes.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (this page): Updated for Patch 7.2.5.
• 12 Jun. 2017 (gear page): Updated for new Patch 7.2.5 Tier 20 gear and additional Legendary options available.
• 28 Mar. 2017 (enchants page): Updated with new Feast information.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (easy mode page): Very slight change in the default build and priority.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (artifact page): Updated for 7.2, rewrote some sections.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (talents page): Updated talent recommendations for Tier 1, 4, and 6.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (this page): Added summary of Patch 7.2 changes.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (gear page): Updated 7.2 Legendary changes.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (rotation page): Slight changes to account for Hailstorm's return in patch 7.2.
• 27 Mar. 2017 (stats page): No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 14 Mar. 2017 (artifact page): Updated Relic values.
• 25 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Updated for Nighthold trinket changes with new recommendations.
• 21 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Added Tier 19 4-piece set bonus sections: rotation/opener.
• 21 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Added Tier 19 4-piece set bonus specific builds.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (rotation page): Large update with changes to rotation to factor in 7.1.5 updates.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (enchants page): Checked and confirmed for 7.1.5
• 09 Jan. 2017 (artifact page): Checked and confirmed for 7.1.5
• 09 Jan. 2017 (this page): Updated with 7.1.5 changes.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (gear page): Updated for 7.1.5 and added in trinket simulations.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (spells page): Wordup's rewrite of several spell descriptions.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (easy mode page): Updated for 7.1.5 with new talent selections.
• 09 Jan. 2017 (stats page): Checked and confirmed for 7.1.5, changing Vers vs. Crit
• 09 Jan. 2017 (talents page): Update for 7.1.5 with new talent changes and recommendations.
• 27 Nov. 2016 (easy mode page): Added section for easier playstyle.
• 30 Oct. 2016 (artifact page): Edited Artifact pathing and Relic choice as Gathering of the Maelstrom is now a much weaker trait.
• 28 Oct. 2016 (enchants page): Updated consumables and added a section on potion usage.
• 28 Oct. 2016 (stats page): Updated stat priority and descriptions (Vers>Crit)
• 28 Oct. 2016 (this page): Updated the strengths and weaknesses section.
• 28 Oct. 2016 (rotation page): Updated priotity system to include Alpha Wolf mention and cleaned up the opening sequence for additional clarity.
• 28 Oct. 2016 (gear page): Added Spontaenous Appendages as a Best-in-Slot trinket.
• 25 Oct. 2016 (this page): No changes to Enhancement in 7.1, so the guide remains unchanged.
• 14 Oct. 2016 (gear page): Updated BiS.
• 11 Oct. 2016 (stats page): Updated stat priority to note Mastery:Haste ratio is no longer present.
• 26 Sep. 2016 (gear page): Updated trinkets.
• 18 Sep. 2016 (enchants page): Updated food and potion choice as well as neck enchant.
• 18 Sep. 2016 (enchants page): Reverted change on food after more testing.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (this page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (gear page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (artifact page): Added
• 29 Aug. 2016 (spells page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (stats page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 29 Aug. 2016 (talents page): Updated for Legion's launch.
• 24 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Improved clarity in some sections.
• 24 Jul. 2016 (this page): Fixed typos, improved descriptions.
• 24 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Improved clarity and updated talent balance.
• 24 Jul. 2016 (stats page): Addendum with mastery haste scaling.
• 20 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Removed trinket sims and added trinket recommendations.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (stats page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (enchants page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (addons page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (rotation page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (spells page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (gear page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (this page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.
• 18 Jul. 2016 (talents page): Updated for the Legion pre-patch.

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