Enhancement Shaman DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.0.5)

Enhancement has a variety of different talent builds for single-target due to it having two separate archetypes. Currently, the most optimal option is Storm paired with Stormbringer hero talents, revolving around generating and spending as much Maelstrom Weapon as possible to trigger Tempest while weaving in magic abilities. If you are interested in alternative builds for Elementalist or details on why choices are made, check our talent page:

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

In AoE, both archetypes are equal in terms of performance, but I would recommend Storm due to its simplicity paired with Stormbringer Hero talents. The build is similar, with some small differences to pick up extra AoE tools in Crash Lightning and Crashing Storms. There are a variety of options we have for AoE, but this simple switch means it plays very similar to a single-target playstyle with slight alterations, making it very easy to adjust to. If you are interested in alternative builds for Elementalist or details on why choices are made, check our talent page:

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

Enhancement has a wide variety of talent builds with varying degrees of difficulty, and both archetypes are currently popular. Storm has the advantage of simpler execution paired with Stormbringer hero talents, which provide a very clear goal - generate as much Maelstrom Weapon as possible. This is used to cast empowered Lightning Bolts and trigger Tempest procs, which area consumed for massive bursts of damage. Almost everything else within the build plays second fiddle to this, being treated more-so as filler to get you toward your next spender cast.

Stormstrike is the filler of choice as it brings the most potential Maelstrom Weapon generation per cast, and has increased availability thanks to Stormsurge proc resets. Feral Spirit is active very frequently due to Witch Doctor's Ancestry, serving more as a rotational buff window than a large cooldown and should be cast whenever available. Finally, its big burst cooldown is the 2-minute Ascendance that floods you with resources and grants access to Windstrike, which should be used on cooldown.

Aside from this core, there are also some additional buttons and talents that are regularly taken in the sample build that you need to keep in mind:

• Tempest procs are your absolute number one priority to spend Maelstrom Weapon on quickly to avoid any wasted uses. This is our strongest damage spell and provides a variety of bonuses after casting.
• Primordial Wave is cast on cooldown, and is consumed by your next follow-up spender cast for an additional burst of damage every 30 seconds.
• Ice Strike and Hailstorm both empower Frost Shock into a powerful finisher. These are consumed ideally together but should not be prioritized over more important things, such as Maelstrom Weapon spending or Stormstrike.
• Lava Lash is more of a filler tool with this build that is used to generate Maelstrom Weapon when other, more important abilities are not available.
• Similarly, Voltaic Blaze procs are consumed as fillers in between your Maelstrom Weapon spending.

In AoE, Enhancement plays similarly, but it adds in Crash Lightning, which causes your melee strikes to also trigger an AoE splash effect that can generate Maelstrom Weapon. That means in these situations, we have significantly higher resource generation to make use of. We also replace our Maelstrom Weapon spender of choice with Chain Lightning at 3 or more targets. Due to the high volume of Nature spell casts in AoE, playing Flowing Spirits is a simpler option that removes the need to actively cast Feral Spirit as well.

Some key things to bear in mind with our AoE build are as follows:

• Tempest is even more important here, and due to the heightened Maelstrom Weapon will trigger more frequently so be on alert.
• Primordial Wave will cause Lightning Bolt to echo to other targets with Flame Shock applied, so use Lava Lash with Molten Assault to set this up for a burst window every 30 seconds.
• Chain Lightning is your spender of choice and should be cast as aggressively as possible to help cycle toward Tempest procs.
• Crash Lightning should be maintained at all times for the additional resource generation.
• Due to playing Flowing Spirits, you no longer need to actively cast Feral Spirit. The type of wolf spawned via Elemental Spirits is dictated by the spell school cast, so we aim to use as many Nature spells as possible.
• Stormstrike has less value than in single-target, but still provides a direct damage filler that can trigger Crash Lightning.
• Voltaic Blaze procs are generally consumed as a priority below fillers in AoE.

Astral Shift provides a 40% damage reduction for 12 seconds on a 1.5-minute cooldown (using Planes Traveler). This is Enhancement's strongest defensive tool, and while it has a longer cooldown than most defensives provides a lot of safety while active.

Ancestral Guidance duplicates 25% of our damage done, and turns it into healing to up to 3 allies (we are included in this pool). This is an excellent group survival tool and can be used when you are dealing high damage to keep yourself alive.

Earth Elemental grants 15% maximum health and 5% damage reduction for 1-minute, on a 5-minute cooldown. This is a "backup" cooldown when you cannot use Astral Shift, and can cover very long periods of time. It does, however, have a habit of getting itself killed due to its taunting, so be wary of using it if it will bother your tank.

Stone Bulwark Totem provides a 30% max health absorb shield, and an additional 3% shield every 5 seconds for 30 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown. This is a decent survival tool against burst damage with some additional help against rot effects, but its long cooldown makes it inflexible, so plan accordingly.

Spirit Wolf provides up to a 20% damage reduction after remaining in Ghost Wolf for an extended period. This is a last resort defensive tool if you have nothing else available, as we cannot deal any damage in this state.

Maelstrom Weapon can be used to make Healing Surge instant, providing strong burst healing to ourselves, but this comes at a very high cost of damage by spending our offensive resources to do so.

Earth Shield grants a modest amount of healing over the course of an encounter with each charge consumed, and increases the healing we do to ourselves while active. This has a high GCD requirement to maintain, but does provide some extra sustain if used pro-actively.

Seasoned Winds provides a very powerful damage reduction after successfully interrupting a spell, giving us more incentive to do so if there is a lot of damage happening.

The most versatile Enhancement stat priority when using this build is as follows:

1. Haste = Agility;
2. Mastery;
3. Critical Strike;
4. Versatility.

Stat priorities will change based on other talents taken in different builds, but, in general, this should serve you well. For finer details regarding each stat and the reason behind why they are picked can be found on our full stat page linked below.