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Posts Tagged ‘glyphs’

EJ Releases BiS List for Tier 9

AilisI, like many other WoW players, read Elitist Jerks obsessively.  I’m not the number cruncher that most of them are and some of their formulas and theories go way over my head but I like finding the nuggets of information and using their information (what of it I can actually understand) to help hone my character(s) as they progress to and through the end-game.

One post I’m deliciously addicted to is their Enhancement Shaman BiS thread, in which they talk about The Wishlist (as I like to call it).  Every tier that is released, they put together a list of the absolute Best-In-Slot (BiS) gear/gems/enchants/glyphs and build for your enhancement shaman.  I call it my Wishlist because this list is only available if you have access to every possible option of raiding – including hard modes.

With Tier 9, in case you didn’t know, all the loot is faction-specific.  Stats are identical but names and skins are different depending on your faction affiliation.  EJ wrote up their list from a Horde’s perspective so I thought I’d give some of you guys a hand and rewrite the basic gear list from an Alliance perspective.  I’m also going to write this without any profession buffs so keep in mind you’ll have an extra boost to one of your stats with Jewelcrafting, Leatherworking, Enchanting, Inscription or Blacksmithing.

To make this easy to follow we’ll do item slot followed by name of piece, the gems in order of slots available, and proper enchant (similar to EJ’s table but without the table).

You will notice that the vast majority of these items come from places like the 25-man Tribute Chest, 25-man Algalon and other hard modes.  Like I said, wishlist and only available if you have access to (and succeed at) every possible level of raiding.

It will still be my wishlist because you never know but I will try over the next week to put together a 10-man version of this for those of you in 10-man guilds (as I know there are a lot) for your BiS given what you have available to you.

Happy hunting!

Raiding Horizons Part Two: Enchants & Glyphs

I’m going to do a four-part series on getting your Enhancement Shaman properly geared, gemmed and enchanted/glyphed for raiding and then what goodies to bring to said raids.  Consider this as a guide to follow and not a strict set of rules.  You may find things that work differently or even better for you (in which case, let me know!).

Every guild has different rules for their raiders, so I recommend checking with your particular guild as to what raiding requirements they have set.  Then do your best to not only achieve those, but to exceed them.  As for this series, I’ll show you guys a few things to get that will help get your overall DPS up and situate your stats on the right path to raiding glory.

Onward to Part Two: Enchants and Glyphs!

Enchants

So you have all this fancy gear, it fits so perfectly but there are a couple of things missing.  You need some gems and some enchants.  What’s shiny gear without shiny gems and cool enchant effects?  Boring gear, I tell you, just boring.

Enchants-wise, you have some choices for each slot.  Of course, if you’re an Enchanter, you can enchant your rings.  If you are a Leatherworker, you have the nifty fur linings, and if you are a Blacksmith you can add sockets to your gear, and if you’re an Inscriptionist, you have the cool shoulder enchants.  The enchants listed below are assuming you are none of those (like me).

Keep in mind a lot of these enchants are super expensive in terms of mats needed.  If you know you’ll be replacing that piece very soon (like your weapon or chest) then get the enchant just below the one you ultimately want.  Unless, of course, you’re a never-ending source of gold then go for the top every time.

I’m going to list them in order of most beneficial/best for that slot to acceptable.  While there are a lot of enchants that are best for our class (and other melee/AP-based DPS for that matter), you should enchant (and later gem as in the next article) to attain your Hit Cap of 17% and your Expertise Rating of 26 (6.5%) first and then focus on Haste and Attack Power.

Head

Shoulders

Chest

Cloak

Bracers

Gloves

Belt

  • Eternal Belt Buckle – While technically not an enchant, this enables you to put a prismatic gem socket on your belt.  More about gems in the next post.

Legs

Boots

Weapons

Weapon enchants are really a matter of personal preference.  For an Enhancement Shaman, you will do just as well with Berserking as you will with Mongoose.   You may ask why Accuracy isn’t on the list.  Accuracy, while having nice stats, really isn’t the best for us, especially given the cost in terms of mats and the fact that we get those same stats through our gear and, if needed, other gems/enchants.

Glyphs

Glyphs-wise, I’ll only cover Major Glyphs.  Minor glyphs I see as more of the “fun” glyphs.  The majority of them are glyphs that remove reagents for various spells or add a tweak to something else.  For me, I love no reagent glyphs so that’s what I chose.  For majors, the easiest way to do this is the widely accepted tier system for our glyphs.

First Tier

Second Tier

Third Tier

Basically, how this works is, first off, you absolutely must use Glyph of Stormstrike.  It is our most important skill and the buff this glyph gives to it is irreplaceable.  Secondly, pick two out of the second tier and use them.  The two you pick are based purely on your playstyle.  If you use your LS 100% of the time, get the LS glyph.  If you pop your wolves the second the CD is done to maximize their DPS, get the FS glyph.  If you don’t do either of those, don’t use either of those glyphs.  My recommendation is, if you’re unsure, grab these glyphs and swap them out during a practice session at the training dummy and see what works best for you.

The third tier is the “meh” tier.  For one reason or another, these glyphs aren’t the best for us and you’re much better off never using any of these.

Your glyph choices are up to you and your playstyle and what you use the most in your rotation.  Play with them, get to know what they best do for you and go from there.

IMB111 on Elitist Jerks did an EnhSim comparison of glyphs using the Tier 7 4P bonus as a base.  Your numbers will change depending on your gear and stats, but this gives you a general idea:

single glyphed:
stormstrike 5978 dps
feral spirit 5972 dps
windfury 5930 dps
lightning shield 5921 dps
flametongue 5917 dps
lightning bolt 5907 dps
lava lash 5897 dps
none 5875 dps

and some combinations:
stormstrike-windfury-feral spirit: 6134 dps
stormstrike-lightning shield-feral spirit: 6124 dps
stormstrike-flametongue-feral spirit: 6121 dps
stormstrike-lightning bolt-feral spirit: 6110 dps
stormstrike-lava lash-feral spirit: 6098 dps
stormstrike-flametongue-windfury: 6078 dps
windfury-flametongue-feral spirit: 6074 dps
stormstrike-lightning bolt-flametongue: 6055 dps

Up next: Gems!

Raiding Horizons Series