Elemental Shaman Rotation-updated for 4.1 patch

I'm so tired of looking online to find an elemental shaman rotation that not only streamlines the way I DPS but also maximizes my DPS.

On this hub I will be discussing the rotation, some basic information about elemental shamans totems and shock spells

Shamans unlike any other class in World of Warcraft make use of Totems. These totems have evolved over the years, and not understanding how to properly use them will seperate great shamans from the rest.

Totems are broken down into four individual slots. Earth, Fire, Water, Air. Selecting your totems for each fight is very important. For the most part you will be using the following: Stoneskin totem, Searing totem, Mana totem, Wrath of Air totem. You will, however find situations where you will be dropping earth bind totems to slow down mobs, and Magma totem to increase your aoe damage.

The next important thing to remember about elemental shamans is our shock spells. While playing as a shaman you will be using flame shock 95% of the time. Your probably asking yourself why only 95% and we'll cover that a little later. For now lets just cover the reasons behind flame shock.

Flame shock is a DOT (damage over time) spell so it will constantly tick damaging your target, however the most important aspect of flame shock is that it will 100% guarantee a critical strike when you cast lava burst. Keeping flame shock up at all times is rule number one. With patch 4.1 flame shock will also act as a center hub for fire nova. When flame shock is applied to a target and fire nova is cast the target will emit a firey pulse damaging mobs up to 10 yards away.

One of the most important aspect of any class in wow is setting up your charactors talent tree. Follow the link below for the basic Elemental shaman raiding build, you can always drop points out of one and put in another to fit your playing style but for me this has been the best set up.

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#hhGMGRfkzGobhMb

Check list: Lighting shield is up, totems you're going to be dropping are ready, if you have to move a good distance go ahead and get in ghost wolf form. Once the battle beings and the tank sets up you will be using the following rotation/priority system.

Flame Shock>Elemental Mastery>Unleash Elements>Lava Burst >Earth Shock with fullmination>Lighting Bolt

There will be instances where you will be tasked to keep a boss or mob from casting spells and will be using wind shear, but while it's on cool down you always have time to DPS a little bit.

 AOE damage looks great on a damage meter, but knowing when to use it will make you a better shaman. When you have 3-4+ mobs you should include Chain Lighting in your rotation. It has a quick cast time and can hit up to 4 targets. In patch 4.1 Earthquake will become a cast time spell with a base cast time of 2.6 seconds. Casting Earthquake now will allow the shaman to cast it (move if needed) and continue to damage other targets with Chain Lighting or the new Fire Nova (as mentioned above).