DPS Rotation & Cooldowns

This rotation offers a general priority list for Enhancement Shaman abilities, along with key cooldowns at the bottom. It's based on a standard build and is here to help while we work on a smarter, build-aware system. If you are very new to the game or this class, we added info on the new assisted rotation features at the bottom of this guide. Updated for the latest patch in World of Warcraft: The War Within (11.1.7).

Single Target

Ensure Surging Totem is active before the encounter begins.

• Flame ShockView detailsIf not active on the target
• Feral Spirit
• Primordial WaveView detailsTo trigger Splintered Elements
• Doom WindsView detailsEnsure Legacy Of The Frost Witch is active
• Primordial StormView detailsWith 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks
• Lava LashView detailsIf Hot Hand is active
• Sundering
• WindstrikeView detailsDuring Ascendance
• Ascendance
• Elemental BlastView detailsAt 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks
• Lightning BoltView detailsAt 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks
• StormstrikeView detailsIf at 2 charges
• Crash LightningView detailsWith Electrostatic Wager stacks
• Voltaic Blaze
• Ice Strike
• Flame ShockView detailsTo fill

Maintain Flame Shock on the target and use Feral Spirit and Primordial Wave early. Activate Doom Winds with Legacy Of The Frost Witch active, and prioritize Primordial Storm at 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks. Use Lava Lash during Hot Hand and Windstrike during Ascendance.

AoE

Ensure Surging Totem is active before engaging multiple targets.

• Flame ShockView detailsSpread with Lava Lash
• Feral Spirit
• Primordial WaveView detailsWith Flame Shock spread
• Doom WindsView detailsEnsure Legacy Of The Frost Witch is active
• Primordial StormView detailsWith 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks
• SunderingView detailsEnsure Legacy Of The Frost Witch is active
• Crash LightningView detailsMaintain buff
• Chain LightningView detailsAt 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks
• Ascendance
• Windstrike
• Voltaic Blaze
• Ice Strike
• Flame ShockView detailsTo fill

Spread Flame Shock with Lava Lash and use Primordial Wave for AoE setup. Activate Doom Winds with Legacy Of The Frost Witch active, and prioritize Primordial Storm and Chain Lightning at 10 Maelstrom Weapon stacks. Maintain Crash Lightning buff and use Sundering for burst.

Cooldowns

• Feral SpiritView detailsSummons wolves for damage and Maelstrom Weapon generation
• AscendanceView detailsUse for burst damage and Windstrike access
• Primordial WaveView detailsUse to trigger Splintered Elements and set up Primordial Storm
• Doom WindsView detailsUse for increased Windfury Weapon procs and burst

Use Feral Spirit for consistent damage and resource generation. Activate Ascendance for burst phases, Primordial Wave to set up Primordial Storm, and Doom Winds for enhanced Windfury Weapon procs.

New to Class? Try Assisted Rotation

Patch 11.1.7 introduced new features that make it eaiser to pick and play new characters. These new settings can be enabled from settings » gameplay enhancements:

• Single-Button Assistant
• Assisted Highlight
• Cooldown Manager

If you are new to World of Warcraft or a certain class, enabling Assisted Highlight and Cooldown Manager can help you learn which abilities to prioritize and use.

While the Single-Button Assistant can be a much easier and more accessible way to play the game, it does come with a slight performance hit due to a small GCD penalty, as you will have to wait 25% longer in between spells and abilities.

To see which specs are best with the Single-Button Assistant feature, you can check out our DPS Rankings which uses SimC to sim every class using this feature.