Loot Rank Forums

To skip right to the LootRank template: http://www.lootrank.com/wr.asp?Cla=64&Max=40&Gem=3&mh=1.2&mcr=0.5&spd=1&mhit=1.6&Int=0.17&Sckm=130&Ver=6

This stat weighting is for an Elemental shaman wearing approximately Naxx-10 to Naxx-25 gear, not spellhit-capped, to MAXIMIZE THEIR PvE DPS. It is normalized to 1 point = 1 spellpower. The Metagem value of 130 assumes you are using Chaotic Skyflare Diamond (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41285), the only one really worth using as Elemental.

Weapon Imbue: Flametongue, 274 spellpower with 3/3 Improved Elemental Weapons (also potentially 2% spellcrit with the Glyph, but there are better Glyphs to use)

Spell Priority/Rotation: I am approaching this section in a general "priority" way -- if you know your character very well you might have a specific casting rotation that might occasionally not follow this priority but provides slightly more DPS, these things change varying on haste and talents/glyphs though...
(higher on the list = more important)

Lava Burst (only if target has flameshock DoT!)
Flame Shock (only if target has NO flameshock DoT)
Chain Lightning
Lightning Bolt

NOTE: In the case of mana problems, do not use Chain Lightning. Also, depending on your haste (and possibly certain talents) you may find certain times where waiting half a second for your Lava Burst to come back on CD is better DPS than throwing another Lightning Bolt.

Talents: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hih0qrdftGfzAo0xxco:kbp

I personally think the Improved Fire Nova Totem talent is very good, both in PvP and PvE, as many AOE mobs are stunnable.

Note that this talent build has 3 UNSPENT talent points, and there are also about 6 points (Convection / Eye of the Storm / Unrelenting Storm) that are placed solely to allow you to progress further down the Elemental tree. Elemental has a good bit of freedom of talent points, and you should feel free to move non-DPS-affecting talent points around to match your preferred build (grab some PvP talents?). In general, you do not need many mana regen talents, but the very point-efficient ones (such as Shamanistic Focus) should be taken. Having INT on your gear is unavoidable (and you might even find Mp5 is similarly unavoidable at times!) and mana is rarely a concern.

Totem(relic): Totem of Hex or Thunderfall Totem

(NOTE: If you are wearing a totem relic, you can put your 4 Totem items into the bank (they're indestructible) and still cast totems -- note how totem relics now read "counts as air/earth/fire/water totems")

Totems to cast:
FIRE: Totem of Wrath (or possibly Fire Nova Totem or Magma Totem if helping AOE),
AIR: Wrath of Air Totem, but if no Enhancement Shaman and if the raid is very melee heavy you could drop Windfury
WATER: Mana Spring (or healing stream or cleansing),
EARTH: whichever Earth totem actually helps in the situation: earthbind/tremor/stoneskin/STR of Earth

Glyphs: Flame Shock, Lightning Bolt, Totem of Wrath

(Glyph of Lava is the next best, but it is only comparable to the previous three Glyphs at very high levels of spellpower, such as >3500, currently not feasible)

NOTE: While almost every Minor Glyph really only provides something convenient, such as removing the required component of casting Water Walking, there is a Minor Elemental Glyph that can be viewed as style-changing and PvE affecting: Glyph of Thunderstorm (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=44923). While this does increase your mana regen, depending on the circumstance it is situationally very useful for your Thunderstorm to have a knockback, in both PvP and PvE. In other situations, like a raid AOEing a pack of mobs, it can be much more important to NOT have a knockback effect. Your decision to use this Glyph must be well thought-through.

Spellhit: You must obtain 17% spellhit to never miss casts on bosses. 3% can come from three ranks of Elemental Precision (always taken, as it gives both threat reduction and spellhit), and an additional 3% spellhit can be given from a Shadowpriest's Misery or Moonkin's Faerie Fire. Here is a +Hit rating to spellHit% breakdown:

17%: 446 hit rating
14%: 368 hit rating (assumed 3/3 Elemental Precision)
11%: 290 hit rating (use this if you have a Shadowpriest or Moonkin in your raid)

(I do not like the Alliance or Draenai. Go learn your own hit caps.)

Again, here is my LootRank stat weighting: http://www.lootrank.com/wr.asp?Cla=64&Max=40&Gem=3&mh=1.2&mcr=0.5&spd=1&mhit=1.6&Int=0.17&Sckm=130&Ver=6

Note that in general the most important stats for Elemental Shamans are (most important first, and normalized by the "cost" per iLvl point):

SpellHit (worthless once you reach the cap!)
Spellpower
Haste
Crit
Int

Anything else = 0. If you fear death, weight some STA. If you go OOM, weight some Mp5.

Curious why Crit seems under-represented? Flameshock's DoT can't crit (exception: 2-piece tier-8 bonus, and Flame Shock DoT crits cannot proc Clearcasting by the way) and EVERY Lava Burst you throw automatically crits. Spellpower makes every spell of yours more powerful, crit only REALLY helps Chain Lightning / Lightning Bolt.

These values were generated through some simulation-style testing I did using EnhSim, a DPS-Shaman simulator that also has (most) Elemental Shaman functions in it. Take the results with a grain of salt, and always keep in mind that my shaman's LootRank will almost NEVER match your shaman's customized LootRank -- you should try the simulator out and generate your own stat weights. Start by going to http://enhsim.wikidot.com/.

For some additional information, visit the ElitistJerks Theorycrafting Think Tank at: http://elitistjerks.com/f47/t20914-shaman_elemental/.

Disagree with me? Comments / Praises? Look me up on US-Cho'Gall or post a response.

Good Luck!
-Hungraa