Thunder

[JC McCormick]

Completely out of the blue here, but has anyone other than myself noticed that Thunder is essentially 5% bonus mana every 45 seconds?  I can't believe I missed it before, but even if you're not being gang banged in PvP, Thunder is essentially a tiny, permanent mana pot.  Instant cast, too, so you can use it on the move.

I didn't give that power enough credit.  I guess on closer inspection I would qualify Thunder as a potential gameplay changer for the spec.

[Solwolf]

Frankly that's what first jumped out to me. I'm so far out of the
elemental PvP game that the knockback seemed almost irrelevant in my
mind :)

Good to see the cooldown is 45 seconds. In WotLK, the designers
really need to do something for elemental shaman and mages regarding
raid mana - elem is darned near worthless on any boss fight of normal
duration without a spriest, and mages aren't far off. Perhaps this
will go to helping some.

However, my mana pool at 70 is around 8k, I think. Perhaps 9k. so
that's 400-450 mana every 45 secs, or 1 LB and 1 clearcasted LB. Not
really game breaking.

[Binkenstein]

For me at the moment, raid buffed I'm at 12k mana.
Works out at 67 mp5, so with the extra 4-5k I'd expect from new gear,
it'll be quite useful.

[Solwolf]

Oh, I agree it's useful for what is effectively free mana. But not
"wow, that defines the tree" useful. Still, 67mp5 is only 17 mp5 more
than a default skill, water shield, gives to all shaman.

[Mushin]

In my opinion this is one of the most promising talents in the
expansion. In PvP you get a melee push-back/caster interrupt/cliff
shove move on a relatively short cooldown. Soloing you get a low-
moderate damage aoe that isn't tied to a totem and therefore doesn't
require you to CL/auto-attack each and every mob in order to receive
loot from them. Raiding you get a mana return greater than
Restoration's "tree-defining" talent Mana Tide.

> > > > would qualify Thunder as a potential gameplay changer for the spec.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[JC McCormick]

Really, the power doesn't have to be tremendous to be a playstyle change.  All it has to do is have a clear benefit, and add new tactical value without crippling existing tactics.  I.E., Lifebloom was a playstyle change.

[Solwolf]

I stand corrected.

It is entirely possible, though, that I'm completely jaded from being
a shaman. :)

[Captain Zifna]

It is amazing for grinding, especially combined with the freeze on
frost shock. I'm not a fan of the freeze-on-frost-shock talent in
general, but it is pretty awesome to get one of those nasty pushback-
causing mobs all up on your face, knock them back 20 yards, and shock
them in the air so they're frozen in place when they land.

I'd also say it has a small amount of raid utility in that way, for
trash or for boss adds (if susceptible)... you can buy about 4 seconds
for you or a healer on a loose mob.

If they altered the rest of the tree so that 28 enhance wasn't a good
move, I'd certainly put a point into this over NS as Elemental.

[iapetes]

are you on beta zifna?

[Binkenstein]

I'm using thunderstorm in combination with flameshock, mostly because
they're dead before they get back to me.
It also works on elites too.