Chain Lightning is the iconic spell of a shaman

[u/ArmJitsu]

Max rank Chain Lightning in Classic hit for 505-564, more than Lightning Bolt. In Forever it hits for 120-134, which is less than Lightning Bolt. It does cast faster now (2 sec instead of 2.5) and costs about half the mana granted

I get that Lava Burst is meant to be the new big hitter, but Chain Lightning is the spell shamans have been known for since Warcraft 3

Give us back the big zap pls

[u/Eccmecc]

Core question is, how good would be a Classic Ele with infinite mana? Their goal is to make Ele a visable spec in a raid environment. An high damage aoe spell will be problematic in that context.

If chain lightning is part of the core rotation, their single target must be lower than every other class because otherwise they would be just uncontested the best class in all scenarios.

For the 100% crit on Lavaburst. This is really bad desgin because with better gear Lavabrust becomes weaker since it gets no scaling from crit. It is one of the reasons in later expansion Ele would almost always prefer haste and mastery - two stats which doesn't exist in classic.

Elemental Mastery is objective better for raiding. The classic variant was always a pvp talent. Is it fun - yeah, is it problematic - potentially. I don't think many player not from original classic would like the old EM especially as a capstone talent.

The devs are in a tough position with hybrid classes in general. If they tune them wrong, they will really quick be overpowering.

[u/blighte → u/Eccmecc]

how good would be a Classic Ele with infinite mana?

still worse than classic warriors, rogues, mages and warlocks.

[u/Undercosm → u/Eccmecc]

For the 100% crit on Lavaburst. This is really bad desgin because with better gear Lavabrust becomes weaker since it gets no scaling from crit. It is one of the reasons in later expansion Ele would almost always prefer haste and mastery - two stats which doesn't exist in classic.

This so called "bad design" is what makes old WoW such a great game. Guaranteed crit still opens up for different itemization choices even without haste and mastery. Maybe ele shamans will prioritize getting pure spell power over crit? What you call bad design is what I call interesting design. Your good design is why retail wow is so boring.

[u/ValidSignal → u/Eccmecc]

Just up damage on lava burst and reduce crit chance so crit on gear still is worthwhile.

Give chain a decent cool down, but make it hit like a truck and adjust mana so it's good in aoe but not always a go to in single target but rather if you can manage mana for the duration of the fight.

[u/themoosh → u/ValidSignal]

This seems like the obvious solution, so why hasn't blizz done this. There must be a reason

[u/ValidSignal → u/themoosh]

My hopes are they are really looking at numbers and ideas from the beta.

But if not. Well then shamans will be relegated to heal duty like in 99% of end game in vanilla.

I rerolled in vanilla due to that.

At least its better than druids very early vanilla when you could stay outside combat and run in and combat res them. And then relieve other healers. It was some bad designs early on.

[u/FL14 → u/Eccmecc]

I raided on my alt ele shaman in classic. I min/maxed with consumes and buffs. I held my own on fights, especially fights with cleave, until I went OOM. You fix the mana issues only, and the class is vastly improved