by Hald Twinpack

May 10, 2024

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide

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Welcome to our Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE guide. This article serves as a comprehensive resource that contains various tips and tricks to help you become a skilled and efficient Enhancement Shaman player.

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Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Abbreviations

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Basics

Primary Skills

At level 10, when a shaman chooses to specialize in the Enhancement tree, these skills become available.

Mastery

Enhanced Elements: Mastery is learned by all classes at level 80. Each spec has a unique mastery, which is supposed to bring something “fun” to each class. While our mastery is simply a passive damage modifier, it remains a compelling stat for Enhancement Shamans.

Unleash Elements

Unleash Elements is new to Cataclysm. It will do something different depending on the weapon imbue(s) on the shaman’s weapon(s). See imbues for their respective unleash.

Windfury Weapon

The Windfury Weapon imbue is the Enhancement Shaman’s primary MH weapon imbue. The class design intends to be used on the MH in most cases (except FB in PvP; sometimes, it’s better to have it on your MH instead of your OH). WF now procs 3 hits instead of two; this secures its place as the imbue of choice for Enhancement Shamans.

The instant cast nature of the Windfury proc greatly benefits from slower weapons and their higher damage range. Since there is no way to speed up the cooldown of the Windfury proc or to proc more often by using a fast weapon, the only way to increase damage done by Windfury Weapon is to use a slow, high DPS weapon.

Unleash Wind

Unleash Wind is pretty straightforward. It’s a great buff and usable at range while running to a mob. 

Windfury Proc Rate

Analysis of the combat log shows that if you sum all hits, the proc rate while DWing is 20%, but that includes hits you make while inside the 3-second cooldown, which cannot proc WF. When you remove the ineligible hits, the observed proc rate from the eligible hits becomes 36%.

Flametongue Weapon

The Flametongue Weapon is the Enhancement Shaman’s primary OH weapon imbue. It increases the damage of LL, and causes us to proc fire damage on every OH hit. Flametongue performs better than Windfury on the OH in all cases. Flametongue scales appropriately with weapon speed. Slower weapons cause more FT damage, and faster weapons cause less damage. FT scales from AP instead of SP and increases “non-physical damage done by the wielder instead of growing spell damage. This means that FT now affects LL damage along with the damage of the FT proc.

Unleash Flame

Unleash Flame: Only LvB, FS, and FN will benefit from the UF buff, and as Enhancement doesn’t (usually) use LvB in a regular rotation, you will want to make sure that you are consuming this buff with FS every time it is up (if possible). Even if you are casting LvB, consuming UF with FS will still result in more damage.

It’s also important to note that if you spam FS at the end of your LvB cast, both spells will receive the UF benefit. If you find yourself in an AoE situation, UF’s use with FN will be significantly boosted. With the changes to AoE, UE’s usage will change with multiple targets. UE will affect the spread FS dots when you LL. It will likely be best to use FS>UE>LL and then UE for FN when not spreading FS.

Frostbrand Weapon

Frostbrand Weapon: Generally speaking, this is one of the imbues you’ll use in PvP. Can proc a 50% snare on hits. Certain situations call for it on the MH, which is better for the OH. This guide is primarily PvE-focused, and I don’t consider myself an authority on Enhancement PvP, but the rule of thumb is: if it’s heavily armored, FB goes on the MH, and if it’s not the OH.

PvE boss mobs are immune to the Frostbrand Weapon debuff; Windfury is a superior PvE main-hand weapon imbue.

Unleash Frost

Unleash Frost: Great in PvP, especially when playing with someone using frost-based snare effects.

Rockbiter Weapon

Rockbiter Weapon: No, you’re not seeing things. This imbue provides the shaman with both damage reduction and increased threat generation. This does not imply that shamans are to tank in Cataclysm. However, it is excellent in a pinch. If you’re in a five-man and have an extra weapon in your bag, it doesn’t hurt to have it pre-imbued and a macro to swap it into your OH if you need to save a healer.

Unleash Earth

Unleash Earth: Yes, that’s a taunt. As stated above, when prepared, it can be utilized successfully in a pinch. Also, possible implications for gimmick fights. These gimmicks likely involve a ranged Elemental Shaman instead of an Enhancement Shaman, but we can dream. Please note that this unleash is a Mocking Blow effect, not a true taunt.

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Talents

All talents available to an Enhancement Shaman are covered here.

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Priority Queue

Like many classes, Enhancement Shamans don’t have a set rotation and instead use a priority queue. This concept is straightforward – the higher the ability in the queue, the higher its priority. If it’s off cooldown and available, use it; if not, go to the next ability; if it’s unavailable, go to the next, etc.

Here is what a level 85 priority queue might look like. Sim your setup to find an optimal list. Don’t be afraid to mess with MW5/4/3_LB! Please note that when using the sim, if you use sub 5 Maelstrom LB casts, it will automatically check for all stack numbers above that which you entered. So, for example, if you want to include MW4_LB, MW3_LB, and MW2_LB, it’s only necessary to include MW2_LB unless you want them to occur at different places in the list.

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: AoE

Enhancement AoE gets a massive overhaul. Rejoice! Now that Improved Lava Lash spreads FS from the current target, Enhancement can effectively cleave with massive ramp-up and pitiful results.

At the very basic level, you will want to FS>LL>FN. However, using UE and dotting extra mobs in between cooldowns will significantly help your output. Note that UE will affect the FS damage of the initial application, but it will also affect the dot damage if you spread flameshocks. In addition, it will damage FN. 

The best way to AoE will likely be to UE before spreading FS with LL. In between LL cooldowns, you should also be able to effectively multi-dot FS onto un-debuffed mobs. Here are some helpful mouseover macros for multidotting. This will simply apply Flame Shock to your mouseover, provided it is alive and an enemy.

#showtooltip Flame Shock
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead] Flame Shock

In addition to the functionality of the previous macro, this will start your swing timer and Flame Shock, which are your primary targets if you do not have a valid mouseover target.

#showtooltip Flame Shock
/startattack
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Flame Shock

Grabbing Reverb and the Glyph of Flame Shock will help your AoE significantly. You should CL when possible and drop MT with 6+ mobs. This threshold is significantly dependent on Searing Totem‘s AI functioning correctly.

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Stats and Gearing

Hit and Expertise Caps

Before focusing on anything else, an Enhancement Shaman should work on being spell-hit-capped and expertise-capped.

Hit Cap

All raid bosses are treated as +3 mobs (or 88, in the case of Cataclysm). While dual-wielding against a mob that is +3 levels, players have a 27% chance to miss with white attacks. In addition, players have a 17% chance to miss with spells against +3 mobs. Finally, special attacks (Stormtrike, Lava Lash, etc) have an 8% chance to miss against +3 mobs. Generally speaking, Enhancement Shamans only need to worry about the spell-hit cap. The exception is when approaching the crit cap, which is discussed later.

Expertise Cap

Expertise mitigates both Dodges and Parries; however, since parries can only happen when attacking from the front, and melee should always be behind their target, mitigating Dodge is our only concern. +3 mobs have a 6.5% chance to dodge, translating into 26 expertise. However, Unleashed Rage grants the shaman 8 expertise, meaning that to cap, we only need 18. Dwarves wielding Maces and Orcs wielding Axes or Fist weapons only need 15. It is also important to note that, for Orcs and Dwarves, sometimes it might be only worth it to Expertise cap one of your weapons (if, for example, you’re an Axe/Mace combo). As always, sim it!

In case you want to know the parry values.

Crit Cap

For all melee classes, being over the Critical Cap is where a portion of the player’s critical strike chance does not benefit a part or the whole of their DPS.

Two kinds of melee DPS exist: white auto-attacks and yellow special attacks. When talking about the Crit Cap, only white auto-attacks are relevant.

White auto-attacks are affected by the following factors:

• Glancing blows: This happens due to the level difference between the player and the Boss. As a Boss is always considered a minimum of 3 levels above the player, all of the player’s white melee attacks will have a 24% chance of being a Glancing Blow, which is a reduced damage white attack that is unable to crit.
• Dodge: When a melee attack happens on a Boss, there is a default 6.5% chance it will get dodged, and obviously, a dodge cannot be a critical strike. This can be lowered and be negated entirely with the use of Expertise rating and talents.
• Parry: Attacking from the front of the Boss causes this and results in parries, failed attacks that cannot crit. Eliminated by attacking from behind.
• Chance to miss: The white attack’s chance to forget for a dual-wielding Enhancement shaman is 27%, which goes to 21% when choosing Enhancement spec, thanks to Dual-wield Specialization. The remaining 21% can be reduced and nullified by using Hit Rating. Misses can’t crit either. Really!
• Crit Depression: On a Boss-type mob, the ratio of white critical strikes will always be 4.8% lower than what is presented on the Character Sheet. What does this mean for the player? They just need 4.8% more Crit in their char sheet to do the desired Critical strikes on the Boss. Earlier tests claimed there was also a limit to the white attacks that could be converted to Crits. This is not the case; there is no limit; all normal white attacks (not glancing blows) can be converted into critical strikes.

These factors can be unified into a single formula like this:

Maximum Critical Chance (MCC) = 100% – (Glancing blows chance) – (Chance to be Dodged) – (Chance to be Parried) – (Chance to Miss)

This MCC number is where all white melee hits have been removed from the table. All melee attacks will be glancing blows, dodges, parries, misses, or critical strikes. At that point, one can only increase their ratio of critical strikes by adding more Expertise or more Hit rating, and only if those are not capped already.

However, there is still Crit Depression to consider when attacking a Boss. So, to reach the true MCC level on a Boss, one would need 4.8% more Crit than is shown on their character sheet. For example, if your current MCC value is 70%, you could only remove all white hits from the table by having 74.8% on your character sheet. That point is also called Crit Capped, as any additional Crit Rating past that point will not affect the ratio of critical strikes.

Crit Cap= MCC + 4.8%

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Stat Weights

While introductory stat weights can be dangerous, it does help to have general guidelines for prioritizing one stat over another. If you’re looking for a quick rule of thumb for Cataclysm, it’s safe to go with:

Agility > Hit (under spell cap) > Expertise (under cap) > Mastery >> Crit = Strength > Hit >> Haste

Don’t let this priority fool you. Str should only ever come from weapons (and only in odd cases).

As always, this comes with the disclaimer that you should Sim your current gear setup to get actual numbers. The graphing function in Rawr is excellent for seeing trends.

Agility is the primary stat for Enhancement. It provides 2 AP and .00307805% crit per point of agility. Also, thanks to Mental Quickness, it gives a whole lot of pseudo-spell power. Gem for it as much as possible.

Hit, as usual, is the most crucial stat for Enhancement until the spell hit cap (17%, 1742 rating, 1639 for Draenei). Even after the cap, though, the hit still has some value. Even though interrupts can no longer miss (making hit unimportant for utility), you should be getting hit caps from reforging and not gemming, and you can only stack Agi with gems. So, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t be hit-capped.

Expertise, like hit, is precious until the cap (541 rating). Unlike hit, though, it has zero value after the cap, which means any point over is completely wasted, so try to hit it right on the money. It is likely better to be slightly under the expertise cap than over. Check the Sim for optimal results.

Mastery is excellent for Enhancement. After Hit/Expertise caps, mastery is THE stat to refer to.

Crit edges out haste in value, but not by much. It’s still important though.

Haste is no longer remarkable for Enhancement. Long gone are the days of sub 1.0 speed 2.6 weapons. Since the 30% haste buff to DK/Pal/Druid/Shamans was reverted with 4.0, it lost much of its luster. Also, other classes have a much more exciting interaction with haste (increased energy regen, etc). Since there’s nothing like that in Enhancement, haste remains pretty “meh.”

Strength gives Enhancement 1 AP per point. It’s not worth gearing for.

Set Bonuses

Tier 11

These are the Enhancement Tier 11 pieces:

• Helmet of the Raging Elements
• Spaulders of the Raging Elements
• Cuirass of the Raging Elements
• Grips of the Raging Elements
• Legguards of the Raging Elements

For most, it’s a close margin between running two piece and 4 piece. The only way to tell for yourself is to sim it. The 2 piece bonus is fantastic, and the 4 piece is mediocre at best. Shoulders and Helm are the best-itemized pieces, so that would be a good place to start.

Tier 12

These are the Enhancement Tier 12 pieces:

• Erupting Volcanic Helmet
• Erupting Volcanic Spaulders
• Erupting Volcanic Cuirass
• Erupting Volcanic Grips
• Erupting Volcanic Legguards

The 2 and 4-piece bonuses are both incredible. Get them asap!

Tier 13

These are the Enhancement Tier 13 Pieces:

• Spiritwalker’s Helmet
• Spiritwalker’s Spaulders
• Spiritwalker’s Cuirass
• Spiritwalker’s Grips
• Spiritwalker’s Legguards

The two-piece bonus is excellent. It should be your number one priority. The four-piece is mediocre at best, but it will be worth running only because there is only one offset option in Heroic. Running a double two-piece on the t12>t13 transition is viable.

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Glyphs

Enhancement Shamans are lucky enough to have many useful Prime and Major glyphs. Figuring out which is best for you will require some individual simulation.

Prime Glyphs

You’ll want LL and two of the three others listed. Sim to know which ones:

• Glyph of Lava Lash
• Glyph of Stormstrike
• Glyph of Feral Spirit
• Glyph of Windfury Weapon

While it’s a zero DPS increase, dropping WF or Feral Spirits for Glyph of Unleashed Lightning can benefit some fights with much movement.

Major Glyphs

The most exciting glyphs we have. CL, LS (and FN, a bit) potentially provide the only actual DPS increase. However, the utility brought by the other Majors is hard to beat.

• Glyph of Chain Lightning: DPS boost, but only in AE situations.
• Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem: Currently doesn’t scale, but it probably won’t be worth much after the first tier. It’s still useful as a very minor damage reduction.
• Glyph of Lightning Shield: It will save you a global now and then and be beneficial.
• Glyph of Ghost Wolf: Provides that much more mobility!
• Glyph of Healing Stream Totem: Provides the same buff as Elemental Resistance Totem.
• Glyph of Totem of Wrath: Very situational in PvE. Awesome in PvP.
• Glyph of Mana Tide Totem: Very situational.

Minor Glyphs

Choose your own adventure!

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Gemming, Enchanting, and Reforging

Gemming Guidelines

Meta

Agile Shadowspirit Diamond is the best meta to use by a long shot.

Matching Socket Color

Socket bonuses in Cataclysm are huge compared to those in WotLK. As such, you will want to match more socket bonuses than before. Since mastery is very good for Enhancement, matching a yellow socket with an orange gem (or even yellow) is almost always a good idea. For bonuses that are 20+ Agi or Mastery, match blue sockets (match them regardless if under hit cap). Other than that, go straight to Agi. So far, there isn’t a new version of Nightmare Tear, but if one crops up, we’ll probably want to use it.

Enchanting Guidelines

Note: The sim is now modeling all weapon enchants correctly. Generally speaking:

landslide > avalanche > berserker > mongoose > hurricane

Reforging Guidelines

Since Agility is not a stat that can be reforged, you want to free up as many sockets for Agi gems as possible. As such, reforging for Expertise and Hit caps is ideal, rather than gemming for them.

After achieving caps, reforge to as much mastery as you can. Depending on the values of Agi and Mastery, this is subject to change.

Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Consumables

Consumables are pretty similar to WotLK, in Cata; you’ll need a Potion, Flask/elixirs and food for every fight.

Flask:

• Flask of the Winds

Potion:

• Potion of the Tol’vir

Food:

• Skewered Eel
• Fortune Cookie
• Seafood Magnifique Feast

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Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE Guide: Professions

Here is a quick run-down for players interested in the stat increases (and other bonuses) that the various professions provide:

Conclusion

Thanks for checking out our Cataclysm Classic Enhancement Shaman PvE guide. If this article has been a helpful resource for you, please share your feedback with us!