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Totem Talk: Enhancement talents, Page 2

Rich Maloy
Updated ·5 min read

Tier 8

Static Shock - 3 points - [PvE] - This is an excellent investment of 3 talent points for PvE and I consider it required for raiding builds. Your Lightning Shield will do passive damage -- not a lot, but from a damage-per-mana or damage-per-cooldown perspective this is a very efficient talent. For PvP this is useful only in the most aggressive builds. I skip this talent entirely on Stoney and use Water Shield for arenas.

Lava Lash - 1 point - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. While not as potent in arenas due to having Frostbrand Weapon on the offhand, Lava Lash gives us something to use in melee range when SS is on cooldown.

Improved Stormstrike - 2 points - [PvE] [PvP] - This is the second of three mana conservation/regeneration talents (again, not counting SR or MQ). In PvP investing 2/2 for the 100% chance of mana return is, in my opinion, essential. In PvE most raiding enhancement shaman opt for 1/2 counting on the 50% chance of mana return to smooth out over the long run. Whether you go 1/2 or 2/2 is a judgment call based on your typical mana situation.

Tier 9

Mental Quickness - 3 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Regen some mana and convert that AP into spell power!

Shamanistic Rage - 1 point - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Oh how I love Shammy Rage. Let me count the ways. You fill my mana pool. You save me from harm and filthy rogues. And with my 2pc tier 10 you make me a formidable damage dealing source.

Earthen Power - 2 points - [PvP] - Absolutely essential for PvP. The Earthbind pulse removing snare effects makes that totem one of the primary earth totems of choice. Plus reducing enemy attack speed by an additional 10% is an added kicker. Invest 2/2 for PvP; skip for PvE.

Tier 10

Maelstrom Weapon - 5 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. Instant cast Lightning Bolts, Chain Lightnings, Hexes, and healing spells. Yes even healing spells. Not that anyone actually uses this to cast instant heals... or do they?

Tier 11

Feral Spirit - 1 point - [PvE] [PvP] - Core talent. I love my wolves almost as much as I love Shammy Rage. Actually I love my wolves more. I was more excited about this talent than any other coming into Wrath. Absolutely required for every enhance build.

Elemental tree

Jumping into the ele side of things I'm only covering those talents that we'll actually use. This tree is where we get to complement our melee attacks with increased elemental damage. The blend of physical and magical damage is one of the reasons I love playing enhancement so much. Dive in below for some added damage bonuses!

Tier 1

Concussion - 5 points - [PvE] [PvP] - With all of our other mana conservation/regeneration talents clear the first tier by going 5/5 here and skip Convection. Extra damage is good.

Tier 2

Call of Flame - 3 points [PvE] - Did I mention extra damage? Take 3/3 here for PvE and enjoy. For PvP I find I'm spending my points elsewhere and do not always have room for CoF.

Elemental Warding - 3 points - [PvP] - This is a no-brainer for PvP, espeically arenas, put 3 points in here. Skip for PvE.

Elemental Devastation - 3 points - [PvE] [PvP] - Absolutely essential for PvE and a very good idea for PvP. This is a great talent to link our melee and magical damage together. As with most PvP builds I've seen a lot of variation and some only take 2/3 as a filler to get down to tier 3. Whether 2/3 or 3/3 these are talents well spent in the ele tree for PvP.

Tier 3

Reverberation - 5 points - Oh, Reverberation. This talent could fill an article all to itself. If you're reading this post for ideas on how to spec your enhancement shaman and you don't want to run extensive simulations then skip this entirely. It is a big investment and can have benefits, but I caution all but the most dedicated EnhSim user against investing in reverb.

Elemental Focus - 1 point - [PvE] - When Fire Nova was changed from a totem to a spell and thus becoming a part of our rotation, Ele Focus came back into fashion. In fact of the three mana conservation/regeneration talents I keep talking about (SF, ISS, and EF) I use this one and 1/2 Improved Stormstrike (ISS). In 10s and 25s I rarely struggle with mana even if I'm spamming Fire Nova on every cooldown. I highly recommend this for PvE. It can go either way in PvP depending on your mana levels.

Elemental Fury - 5 points - [PvE] [PvP]- A full 5/5 invested in in this talent will double our magical spell crits and so is absolutely essential for PvE builds. I also highly recommend it even in the most defensive PvP builds, though you may not have enough points to max it out.

Tier 4

Improved Fire Nova - 2 points - [PvE] - Last but certainly not least our new friend: Fire Nova. Mike Sacco and I feel the same way about it: BOOM! Absolutely invest in this for PvE and have fun watching yourself move up the meters on AoE trash pulls. Actually, where I see the most benefit to this are on heavy add based boss fights such as Anub and Ol' Lichy himself.

I really wanted to cover glyphs this week as well, but we're too far along already. Tune in next week as I review enhancement shaman glyphs. And if you're still reading this I commend you! +10 Achievement points for attention span.

May all your hits be crits!

Stormstrike

Show your totemic mastery by reading Totem Talk, whether reading Mike Sacco's Elemental edition, Joe Perez's coverage of Restoration or Rich Maloy's Enhancement edition, we have you covered.