EP Value- EP commonly stands for “Equivalency Points,” and they’re a way to determine the weight of each stat on your gear. With EP, you choose one stat to be the base stat, which is equivalent to 1 EP. For Enhance shaman, we choose Attack Power, as it’s plentiful- most casters use Spell Power. Your EP value for attack power is never going to change, since it’s the base of all your other stats. 1 Attack Power is ALWAYS 1 EP.

The rest of your gear weight changes, and this is where EP points come in. EP is used to determine how useful another stat (such as critical hit or haste) is when compared to one point of attack power.

Here are the EP values provided by Des in Des’ Simming Service (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=20677632588&sid=1)

EP                        value     DPS       total DPS      difference

baseline                                      7925.67

ap                                              1.00      0.67      8060.48        134.81

crit rating                               1.96      1.32      7965.24        39.57

hit rating                                 1.88      1.27      7963.73        38.07

expertise rating                    1.02      0.69      7948.26        22.59

haste rating                             1.98      1.33      7965.70        40.03

armor penetration rating  1.76      1.19      7961.27        35.60

spellpower                               1.08      0.72      8034.42        108.75

mh dps                                       4.90      3.31      7950.46        24.79

oh dps                                         2.79      1.88      7939.77        14.10

strength                                      1.10

agility                                          1.72

intelligence*                             1.44
What this sim tells us is that Haste is equal to 1.98 points of Attack Power, Agility is equal to 1.72 Points of Attack Power, and Crit is equal to 1.96 points of attack power. We can then take these numbers and use them to determine how we gear. For example, 40 attack power gems are 40 EP. Right now, Des’ EP for Haste is 1.98. Since Haste gems give +20 haste, 20X1.98=39.6 So, even though it’s a small loss, Des would lose DPS by putting a Haste Gem into a new piece of gear rather than an AP gem.

The really important thing to remember about EP values is that they’re -always- changing. Every upgrade you get can and likely will change your EP. To this end, while Des can supply your ep values once or twice, you should become best friends with your own sim, because there will be times your Haste will hit 2.5 and other times you’re better off gemming AP+crit in yellow sockets.

Also, EP values will change from gem to gem, which makes it pretty impossible for us to just come out and say “if your haste is at 2.5, gem haste.” It’s possible, though unlikely, that two gems later your haste will drop crazy amounts and you’ll lose dps by gemming the next 8 gems as haste. A good solution to this, once you’ve learned to use your enhsim, is to sim that change- drop 400 Attack Power from your stats and add 200 haste (or 7.93% haste).

I highly recommend anyone who hasn’t had the chance to look at their ep values yet to drop by Des’ thread (while logged out in enh gear!) and ask for some help!

1. Cleansing Totem: No longer pulses instantly when dropped.

I will probably do a post about this change in particular later. There is no way this is not a nerf in both PVE and PVP, but I’ll be frank and say I will not tolerate whining comments about this change. When I do a post about it specifically, this might change, but for now comments like “omg blizzard is so unfair” will get deleted without a second thought.

2.  Earthen Power: No longer causes Earthbind to pulse a persistent snare immunity aura. It does still remove snares from allies as an instant pulse, but there is no lingering immunity. Earthen Power now also brings Earth Shock’s melee attack speed reduction up to -15%/-20% (with 1 or 2 points in it, respectively).

For those of us who spec into pvp for Faction champions, this may in fact be a PVE nerf. For those of us who don’t spec into PVP for faction champions, it won’t. However, this is a slight pvp nerf. It may be warranted- it still removes snares on pulse/drop, it just doesn’t allow us to hand of freedom our entire 5s team for 5 seconds at a time.

3. Bug Fixes:

• Grounding Totem will now properly protect against the Death Grip spell.
• Lava Burst can no longer deal critical damage to targets who are immune to critical strikes (due to, e.g. Roar of Sacrifice, Blessed Resilience).
• Lightning Shield: This spell will no longer set off some trinkets when it is cast.
• Stoneclaw Totem’s pulses will no longer break stealth on nearby hostile units.
• Thunderstorm and Shamanistic Rage can no longer be used while Frozen, Cycloned, Sapped, or Incapacitated.

Grounding Totem vs. DG was a big issue when 3.2 hit because Grounding Totem recognized the taunt and the pull as two seperate effects, and grounded the taunt. Lava burst change makes sense. Lightning Shield change is fun- nerf to anyone who was trying really hard to spam their lightning shield to get mana back from trinkets!

The last two need a little more time: A) Stoneclaw totem’s aoe taunt has no damage component, nor does it debuff. There is no reason as to why it SHOULD break rogues out of vanish. Bug Fix. For the second, both of these abilities say “this spell is useable while stunned.” Cyclone isn’t a stun. Frozen isn’t a stun. Sapped/Incapacitated both break on damage and are not stuns. Once again, emphasis on the Bug Fix. If you’d like to see these changes actually implemented, post on the suggestion forums, but don’t call these nerfs. They were not working as intended.

4. The Awesomeness that is Flame Shock.

Flameshock received quite a few changes this patch. First off, it is no longer consumed by Lava Burst. Not too amazing for us, but Smellementals will love it. Second, the duration has been increased to 18 seconds- which might be awesome for us. And third, glyph of Flame Shock now allows Flame Shock dots to be critical strikes.

Now, the number crunching at Elitist Jerks is not totally finished, and we can’t be positive, so everything I say is conjecture, but it looks like we will be adding Flame Shock into the Enhancement Damage Priority system. I’m not sure how minor a dps increase this will be (it will be minor- don’t expect to be doing 1k more damage because of this)but, 200 more dps is 200 more dps! Additionally, one of the cool aspects of this is that it makes our priority system a little bit more dynamic- for something that hasn’t changed since 3.0, this is welcome.

Flame shock looks like it will be added into the rotation whenever you would Earth Shock after the Flame Shock debuff has run out. This is important, as Flame Shock will only do competitive dps if allowed to tick fully. So, you Flame Shock to get it up, and then fill in the next (3, normally, unless you get -a lot- of MW5 stacks) shocks with Earth Shock, and then once FS has fallen off you THEN add in a new Fire Dot.

To help make this easier on you, there are two addons you can configure to help you- Shock and Awe and Power Auras.

For Shock and Awe, you have to use the /saa config command to bring up the configuration interface. From there, go to your priority list section and edit in Flame Shock.

I added it in right after MW5 Lightning Bolt and before anything else so that it takes the place of my ES_SS when Flame Shock debuff isn't on the target.

From there, it becomes up to you as to where you add it in. In my opinion, you should add it in right before Earth Shock, as then it will show up on your priority frame whenever Earth Shock would and the Flame Shock debuff is not on the target. This means that, if you’re using the ES_SS second priority “rotation,” you’d put Flame shock prior to ES_SS. If you’re using the cookie cutter MW5->SS->ES priority list, you’d add it in after SS and before ES.

And then, once shocks are off CD, this is what it should look like when FS debuff runs out.

SAA isn’t the only addon that can help you- and, if you’re one of the many that feels SAA is a bit “cheaty” (I’ve heard it quite a bit), there are other ways to monitor your FS. My personal favorite is Power Auras Classic.

The fireball is there to tell me Flame Shock is not on my target.

As the caption said, that little fireball is there to tell me that Flame Shock is not on my target. It does nothing else- especially not telling me where I am in priority to cast it. It just lets me know that FS is not there. How do you set one of these badboys up? It’s easy!

It looks scary, but it isn't.

To bring up the Power auras Classic screen, just type /powa. After that, click “new.” The right screen will show up. (Note- both these screens show up in the screen’s center- you can manually pull them apart, though!)

Now, to set up this debuff, first choose the image texture. As you can see, I dragged it to Texture 13, a nice fireball picture to remind me to cast my fire spell. You can then go to the little color box and choose a color- I thought orange made sense for Flame Shock. You can also choose “random color” if you want to spice it up. (You can also choose later to just make the Flame Shock icon show up. I tend to not like how that looks, though. ) Size is pretty self explanatory, x axis allows you to move the aura left and right, and y axis lets you move it up and down.

Now, head down to “activation by.” First, you want to use the pulldown bar to bring it to “debuff,” as that is what FS is. Second, you want to write in the name! After that, go to “Show when not active.” This makes it so that the aura shows up when Flame Shock is NOT on the target. If you don’t click this, you’ll have a fireball on your screen for the length of the debuff. Next, check only if in combat/ only if in raid- this will keep it from showing up while soloing and while pvping and stuffs! (If you run a lot of heroics, you might want to choose to not check only if in raid. And, remember- only use FS on fights that will last longer than 18 seconds.)

Finally, check Enemy Target. This will make sure that it’s only checking people you’re hitting for FS- otherwise, this will show up when you’re getting flame shocked by enemy smellementals.

5. Totem of the Quaking Earth now is a 400 AP proc, not 200.

This was needed to bring QE in line with DK/ret relics. This does NOT automatically guarantee that QE is better than Electrifying Wind. QE does not have a 100% uptime, as Lava Lash is late in the priority system and so isn’t used every cooldown, while LB is the core of our dps. This means EW has a 80%ish uptime, and QE has a 95%. This also means that EW is better: A) if your haste EP is over 2.1 and B) if the fight is not an aoe fight where you’ll be using Chain Lightning. For most other purposes, use QE. But own both!

If you head over to the front page of mmo-champion, you’ll see this little tidbit of news:

Totem of Quaking Earth now gives 400 attack power for 18 sec each time you use your Lava Lash ability. (Up from 200 Attack Power)

Now, this makes sense. If you compare that totem with the death knight and paladin relics and understand itemization, you’d know that 200 Strength =/= 200 Attack Power, so the Totem of the Quaking Earth was not incredibly well itemized for it’s tier. 400 Attack Power makes a lot more sense for an iLevel 245 item.

(For some quick math, 400 AP that is up 100% of the time-with an assumed Trueshot aura/Unleashed Rage/Aboms might-is a static 440 EP.  Haste, on the other hand, shifts ep with each few points of haste you add on, so it’s nearly impossible to develop a static ep value for the entire 200 you’d get from Electrifying wind. It’s -possible- that you EP haste at like 2.7, which I saw on the shaman forums today, where Electrifying Wind might still be better. For the most part though, the 85%ish uptime and around 2.0 EPs will mean that Quaking Earth remains on top.)

I’m not annoyed about this change. I’m glad that Blizzard listened to Enhancement shaman who were annoyed by the lackluster totem. However, I’m not a fan of how it effects those of us who already spent our first 25 emblems of triumph on the elemental totem having to spend another 25 on the next totem. I don’t feel we should get reimbursed for our totem- giving Shaman 25 free Emblems of Triumph is unfair to other classes. I do feel that the best response would be to refresh the item sellback time on all totems, so that when we log in after 3.2.2 we have 2 hours played time to trade the totem in.

Totem of the Electrifying Wind (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=47666) is somewhat comparable to quaking earth in that A) It provides a 200 pt bonus to one stat. B) Assuming 60 PPM (I sim at 61 due to gemming haste with the t8 4pc. Other people’s PPMs might be lower, but I assumed 60 for ease, because it means one proc per second, and for the purpose of napkin math I’m saying this is one static proc per second- no more, no less), you should be firing off an instant lightning bolt every 5-6 seconds, comparable to the 6 second cooldown on lava lash.  C) It has a high proc chance, albeit slightly less than Quaking Earth’s- 70%. It also has a shorter buff duration- 12 seconds, to Quaking Earth’s 18.

The difference with Electrifying Wind is that it has a 6 Second Internal Cooldown, which means assuming a lightning bolt every five-six seconds will result in your first lightning bolt not being able to renew the buff. This leaves you with one lightning bolt that CAN renew the buff before it falls off, at a 70% chance to proc. Your next chance to proc the buff would be at 15 seconds, also at a 70% chance to proc. Because it has such a high proc chance, my best guess is that you’d rarely go anymore than three-eight seconds without a proc, and at times would keep the buff up consistently. (Once again, this is assuming you had a static proc per second of maelstrom weapon- you will be seeing more and less than that at different times.)

However, this slight drop off in buff uptime can be counteracted by the fact that the buff is 200 haste, rather than 200 attack power. Assuming Unleashed Rage/Aboms Might/trueshot aura being up 100% of the time, the maximum EP you’re going to get over a 36 (Least Common Denominator FTW) second period for Quaking Earth is a static 220. I’ve seen Haste EPs of between 1.7-2.3- I’m going to assume 2 for simplicity. This means that if you get super lucky with your 2nd lightning bolt always renewing the buff, you’re going to see 400 EP from Electrifying Wind. If you get somewhat unlucky and you miss out on renewing the buff before it falls off and instead proc it at 15 seconds every time, you’re going to see an EP of 400X30(12 seconds + 3w/o + 12 seconds +3 w/o +6 seconds to the end of test uptime)/36(test length)= 333.33 EP. Still, 113.33 more than Quaking Earth. Assuming RNG hates your guts and you only proc it on your fourth lightning bolt every time, you’re still going to see an EP of 400X24 (12 sec + 8 w/o +12 sec +4 w/o)/36=266.66 EP. Even with the RNG Gods hating you (and I don’t think there’s much of a chance of you going longer than 8 seconds without seeing a proc refresh), you’re looking at a totem that packs a serious punch. (Note: On fights with a lot of AOE where you’ll be using chain lightning most of the time, Quaking Earth may be a better choice.)

Now, the irony about me writing an as-of-right-now 660+ word post about these totems is that you can read the front page of the shaman forums and see Enhancement Shaman being told to grab the Totem of Electrifying Wind. It’s easily accessible information. What is also accessible, however, is the rampant trash talking that has gone on about blizzard since this information has gone live. And, honestly, it both shocks and appalls me. I’ve heard everything from “Blizzard is lazy” to “Blizzard has no idea about how enhancement shaman work” (this one always gets me- they can make sure that pve dps for nearly every class is where they want it to be, but they don’t understand how the classes work? Dear stupids, stop saying stuff like this. <3) to “Blizzard is intentionally trying to nerf enhancement by giving it a subpar totem.

And honestly, the best thing I can say to this is “stop and think.” Please, for the sake of the mental health of everyone around you, stop being a turd and ask yourself a few questions. What is the chance of Blizzard not realizing that haste is an incredibly desired stat for enhancement, a spec that uses lightning bolt as it’s single hardest hitting ability? I’d say slim to none. Despite the fact that lightning bolt is in the elemental tree and lava lash is enhancement, and the fact that the totems respective spells on wowhead’s database say “t9 enhancement or elemental relic,” is there anything about these totems that say “limited to enhancement or elemental shaman only?”  The answer to that one is “nothing.”

Last question: In a game where half the player base is already complaining that content is “too easy,” why do we want our gear choices to be easy to choose and dictated by the fact that it “looks” like it belongs to our spec? Personally, I find that “I-don’t-want-to-have-to-think-about-my-gear-choices” mindset is pretty lame, as might be evident by this blog post. To me, the fact that Blizzard was able to design a totem that is highly desirable by both enhancement and elemental, made it ottainable through emblems rather than a competitive random raid drop, and then gave us another totem that screamed “enhancement” to fake out the shaman who don’t want to do the work to remain on top makes me applaud them. I applaud them a lot. /applaud!

Also, go go nearly-1100 word blog posts. I should be an English Maj–oh wait.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, a grave in the Sepulcher, or an abandoned area in hell known as “anywhere that is not internet accessible,” you’ve probably realized by now that the t8 Enhancement 4Set bonus (http://www.wowhead.com/?itemset=-72) is pretty much the coolest thing since me. It’s pretty common knowledge that, since Maelstrom Weapon already scales with haste, Haste Rating becomes a gemmable/enchantable option for Enhancement shaman seeking to improve their DPS. This is because EnhSim EPs rate Haste at values above 2.0, and it assumes Attack Power as 1.0. So, any +20 rating gem that sims above 2.0 is going to up your dps more than a +40 Attack Power gem. (2.1X20=42, which means that gem has an EP of 42, for example.)  It gets more convoluted then this- there are certain high and low points in which gemming haste is a VERY GOOD THING (right now, my EP for haste is 2.43, and other points) where haste is only attractive if you’re very, very drunk.

And I have to say, I hate it. Haste and I had a good run- we’ve been together a month, maybe a month and a half, and I did notice an increase in dps afterward. (However, as soon as I hit 4Pc t8 I regemmed for haste, so it’s impossible to say how much of my DPS increase can be attributed to gemming haste.) But, like Pokemon, Pogs, and Beanie Babies, my love affair with this fad of a stat has come to an end. And it’s not me, it’s Haste.

Haste just feels like RNG to me. Everytime I have windfury totem down, bloodlust up, flurry going, and a potion of speed popped and I STILL don’t see a 5 stack of maelstrom weapons every five to six seconds, I want to kill a kitten. Since I’m a dog person, this is not that much of a problem, but it’s still quite annoying. I understand quite well that Maelstrom Weapon is a ppm that scales with haste. I know that haste has other potential benefits- an increase in white damage, more Static Shock procs, more flametongue weapons going off, but I can’t help but feel that stacking haste adds more RNG to a spec that is already pretty RNG dependent. Attack Power, on the other hand, provides a static bonus to every attack, but we would lose the chance at more procs that haste does afford. And, +40 AP gems just look so.damn.sexy.

This is not to suggest that haste does not have it’s positive sides- When the RNG gods favor you, and with everything popped/procced you’re proccing 5stacks every 2-3 seconds, it’s simply -amazing.- It makes you happy to be playing enhancement. Attack Power doesn’t induce any reaction like that- I don’t know the last time I was like “WOAH LOOK AT THAT FIVE MORE WHITE DAMAGE PER ATTACK.”  Unfortunately, no one likes relying on RNG to make or break an extra hundred or so dps. If Haste ever starts EPing at numbers like 3.0 or so, I won’t be able to deny it’s usefulness. Until then, when it’s only making a few dps difference, I’m not subjecting myself to RNG. So, in conclusion:

Dear Haste,

We’re over. It’s not me, it’s you. Since you are quite useful around the cave, you’ll remain gemmed until I get Trial of the Crusader iLevel replacements, but after that it’s 40 AP or bust. Please don’t call, write, text, twitter, or leave embarassing facebook comments. Ty qt. </3

Elam.