I've been leveling my Elemental Shaman using Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem plus Glyph of Fire Nova. It's been very fun. I aggro 3-7 mobs, plant the two totems and aoe using mostly fire nova on a 3sec cooldown. If I pull 4 or less mobs at my level, they drop dead just as the stoneclaw bubble wears off.
I've levelled alot of characters and can't remember clearing areas this fast with any other class ... and yes that includes my enhancement shaman with whom I have no complaints. The new aoe approach has been working for me since I put 2 and 2 together around level 40 (it got even better at level 60 with thunderstorm.)
It's a highly efficient way to aoe grind, unlike many other builds because the recovery period is nil. In the old days when I used to aoe grind with my frost mage, I had to sit down and drink frequently. But this elemental shaman can continue immediately without delay. His mana stays high because clearcast procs right away and stays up all the time thanks to multiple crit chances per spell. His health stays high thanks to the stoneclaw bubble.
Are these tactics widespread? I looked around the forum and didn't find much about it.
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As the Fire Nova changes are part of patch 3.3, they're only a couple months old.
That said, while there may not be much written about it, it sounds awesome to hear.
That said, while there may not be much written about it, it sounds awesome to hear.
Honestly didn't think the Stoneclaw glyph was that useful, though I heard of a lower level Shaman who used it for PvP.
When I AOE grind, I usually round up a bunch of mobs, cast Fire Nova (for Clearcasting), Chain Lightning and then Thunderstorm. Chain Lightning and Fire Nova when they get back into range. Will have to try out the Stoneclaw glyph if it's that good.
Edit: Holy crap, that's a good AOE build, for sure! I went into a Gundrak (I'm level 77) and did 2500 DPS off the bat. Due to silences and stuff along the way, plus 1700-2000 DPS on single targets, I ended up at around 1800 DPS for the entire run, some 300 DPS above my Enhancement performance. And the solo grinding is fun! Except the rotation sort of sucks. I use Fire Nova and Chain Lightning with Fire Nova getting first priority, but since both have a 3-second cooldown (CL has 3.5 seconds, but who's counting?), I get a 3-second gap after the first CL + FN combo. Not really sure what to fill in with there. Maybe nothing. Maybe an evil laugh. Maybe both - before dividing by zero.
Point is, this is an absolutely amazing thing if you're AOE grinding. The Stoneclaw shield is a little meh. 4k damage gets dealt out faster than you'd think with 3-4 mobs on you. Usually it lasts halfway through the grind, but with Healing Stream Totem, Water Shield and the occasional Thunderstorm, healing that damage back up is not an issue.
Downside is that I go OOM really fast in dungeons, but still not really an issue since with 2500 DPS, stuff falls over in seconds.
Edited, Jan 28th 2010 10:40pm by Mazra
When I AOE grind, I usually round up a bunch of mobs, cast Fire Nova (for Clearcasting), Chain Lightning and then Thunderstorm. Chain Lightning and Fire Nova when they get back into range. Will have to try out the Stoneclaw glyph if it's that good.
Edit: Holy crap, that's a good AOE build, for sure! I went into a Gundrak (I'm level 77) and did 2500 DPS off the bat. Due to silences and stuff along the way, plus 1700-2000 DPS on single targets, I ended up at around 1800 DPS for the entire run, some 300 DPS above my Enhancement performance. And the solo grinding is fun! Except the rotation sort of sucks. I use Fire Nova and Chain Lightning with Fire Nova getting first priority, but since both have a 3-second cooldown (CL has 3.5 seconds, but who's counting?), I get a 3-second gap after the first CL + FN combo. Not really sure what to fill in with there. Maybe nothing. Maybe an evil laugh. Maybe both - before dividing by zero.
Point is, this is an absolutely amazing thing if you're AOE grinding. The Stoneclaw shield is a little meh. 4k damage gets dealt out faster than you'd think with 3-4 mobs on you. Usually it lasts halfway through the grind, but with Healing Stream Totem, Water Shield and the occasional Thunderstorm, healing that damage back up is not an issue.
Downside is that I go OOM really fast in dungeons, but still not really an issue since with 2500 DPS, stuff falls over in seconds.
Edited, Jan 28th 2010 10:40pm by Mazra
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Scholar
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Yeah, I do find that the stoneclaw shield wears off if I pull lots of mobs or they are higher level. But I still like it because it's an amazingly efficient bubble for the mana cost. And while it's up, it eliminates casting bar disruption for CL. I also spam stoneclaw when soloing group quests (assuming my elementals are on cooldown.) It's a decent damage shield every 21 seconds (reduced cooldown via talents.)
As far as that first casting gap... I use it to refresh my water shield. Which is usually low or down by then because I've taken hits whilst rounding up aggro.
Edit: BTW for better or worse I usually start out with CL instead of fire nova. This gives me something to do while waiting for stragglers. If I rush that first fire nova, some mobs don't have a chance to get taunted/stunned, meaning more damage to heal afterward.
Edit2: And to further clarify, I always use Magma totem. For a while tried Wrath totem, but I like the way Magma deals with runners. And especially how it keeps firing if I get stunned or silenced. Bottom line, mobs seem to drop faster with it, at least so far. Math-wise, I notice that Magma dishes out alot more damage than the spellpower offered by Wrath, enough to balance out the 3% crit. Also, the combats almost always end before the totem expires so you can get that partial refund. Also... Magma can crit and give you clearcast before you cast your first spell....
Edited, Jan 30th 2010 12:05am by brodarus
Edited, Jan 30th 2010 12:15am by brodarus
As far as that first casting gap... I use it to refresh my water shield. Which is usually low or down by then because I've taken hits whilst rounding up aggro.
Edit: BTW for better or worse I usually start out with CL instead of fire nova. This gives me something to do while waiting for stragglers. If I rush that first fire nova, some mobs don't have a chance to get taunted/stunned, meaning more damage to heal afterward.
Edit2: And to further clarify, I always use Magma totem. For a while tried Wrath totem, but I like the way Magma deals with runners. And especially how it keeps firing if I get stunned or silenced. Bottom line, mobs seem to drop faster with it, at least so far. Math-wise, I notice that Magma dishes out alot more damage than the spellpower offered by Wrath, enough to balance out the 3% crit. Also, the combats almost always end before the totem expires so you can get that partial refund. Also... Magma can crit and give you clearcast before you cast your first spell....
Edited, Jan 30th 2010 12:05am by brodarus
Edited, Jan 30th 2010 12:15am by brodarus
You let the mobs hit the Stoneclaw Totem? From what I've gathered, it only has around 2k health or so at my level (77) and considering some of these mobs crit for 500-600 damage...
Will have to try out Magma Totem instead of Wrath. It just costs so much mana compared to (and takes away 3% crit).
Will have to try out Magma Totem instead of Wrath. It just costs so much mana compared to (and takes away 3% crit).
Please "talk up" if your comprehension white-shifts. I will use simple-happy language-words to help you understand.
Scholar
27 posts
Sure seems like the damage shield runs it's course regardless of whether the stoneclaw totem survives. So it's worth letting mobs aggro on it.
A 2k stoneclaw should soak up 3k damage, ie 2k damage diverted to the totem plus 1k of lost attacks for stunned mobs.
A 2k stoneclaw should soak up 3k damage, ie 2k damage diverted to the totem plus 1k of lost attacks for stunned mobs.
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