Spec in Review: Enhancement Shamans

Phew boy, getting through these pretty quick.

While some would certainly disagree, Enhancement was kind of crying out for a button bloat purge. But it didn't get it (well, almost didn't.) That's right, Enhancement has pretty much every ability it used to have (I think Chain Heal might have been the only one to be cut.) Some abilities and talents have changed, though, so let's get into it:

First Things First: Haste

Enhancement was one of the few specs that really got only passive benefits from Haste. Since all your abilities have cool downs other than Lightning Bolt (and you'll be waiting for Maelstrom Weapon procs to use that,) Haste really just increased attack power.

Not anymore! Enhancement now effectively gets its own version of Sanctity of Battle, which means your Stormstrikes, Lava Lashes, Fire Novas, and Shocks can be cast more frequently as you acquire Haste. This actually feels great and speeds up the rotation.

FROST SHOCK takes over:

Earth Shock is now Elemental-only, so Enhancement will now use Frost Shock. I could be wrong, but I think the damage has been buffed to compensate.

Imbues Go Passive:

In what might be the most controversial move, Enhancement's Windfury and Flametongue imbues have gone passive. Windfury now uses the term Multistrike to describe what it does, but it's pretty much what it always was. Your main hand has a chance to proc Windfury and your offhand can do fire damage. While the effect remains, the visual is gone, which is what I think many will cry foul about. Still, give us a Minor Glyph to get it back and all will be forgiven.

Oh, and Rockbiter's gone, but did anyone ever use that?

Unleash Elements is Different:

Unleash Elements works slightly differently now, and doesn't actually have any damage effect on its own. There's a perk that comes in leveling that will make it increase your run speed for a brief burst, but it will still do things like increase your next fire spell's damage (so use it on Flame Shock) and I think grants Multistrike. One nice thing is that the fire spell buff lasts a lot longer, so you should feel safe hitting UE on cool down without worrying about lining it up when you're ready to refresh Flame Shock.

Echo of the Elements Redesigned:

Granted this is a talent, but the way it has changed is interesting. Instead of just being effectively a potential Multistrike proc, now when Echo of the Elements procs it will simply cause your next Stormstrike or Lava Lash to immediately reset its cool down.

Talents:

Elemental Fusion makes your Lava Lash (or Burst if you're Elemental) increase the damage of your next Shock by 40%, stacking twice. This should let you get in some really big Flame Shocks if you time it right, but honestly I think this one's a bit on the dull side.

Storm Elemental Totem is something I've been waiting for ever since Mages got their Water Elementals. Storm Elemental Totem will let you summon an Air Elemental who will attack foes and also heal you and allies for a percentage of the damage dealt. Like Earth and Fire, it has a 5-min CD and is put on a 1-min CD if you cast one of the other elemental totems, but this will be a pretty cool thing to follow up the Fire Elemental with or to use if you need a little extra healing. And the elemental has a Primal Elementalist variation as well.

Liquid Magma is lets you cause your Fire Totem to spew forth magma at random targets within 40 yards, with each glob of magma (isn't it lava if it's not underground?) dealing splash damage to anyone near the one it hits. This could potentially be really strong in tightly-packed AoE swarms.