Guide

This page aims to display and discuss the recommended and most widely-used Builds available to Elemental. This is not an exhaustive list of all options and does not imply that any build not shown here is automatically terrible/unplayable, in practical terms we cannot account for every build variation and effort has been largely focused on the highest performing / most popular builds. If you find something that you feel works or performs better than what is listed here feel free to contact the team on Storm, Earth & Lava Discord or Earthshrine #Elemental Channel

Note: As the builds need to be complete to display the class tree is also filled out, these are not required choices and will not suit every situation.

Click on a build banner to expand it.

Primordial Surge Builds

Most notably aimed more at the Single Target profiles these variants are used when you need to focus on boss damage by using the inherent strength of combining Primordial Surge and tools like Deeply Rooted Elements and/or Windspeaker’s Lava Resurgence to increase the value and frequency of Lava Surge. Turning your Elemental Blast and Lava Burst into powerhouses.

What does this build do?

This build works around the damage of Lava Burst and Elemental Blast, supported by the idea of Primordial Wave ‘windows’. As the name suggests this is predominately aimed at single target but due to taking Lava Surge, Magma Chamber and Primordial Wave it will naturally benefit from a couple of additional targets.

What does it look like?

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Mastery / Haste » Versatility = Crit
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from pull

FE
LvB
FS
PW
...

1 Target Priority

2 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 2 or more targets it is less than ideal.

3 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 3 or more targets it is less than ideal

4 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 4 or more targets it is less than ideal

5+ Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 5 or more targets it is less than ideal

What does this build do?

This build works around the damage of Lava Burst and Elemental Blast, supported by the idea of Primordial Wave ‘windows’. As this build takes Deeply Rooted Elements and extends to Further Beyond a fair amount of its power comes from maximising Lava Burst usage, particularly Lava Surge, to have the most chances at gambling Deeply Rooted Elements which Primordial Surge naturally assists with.

What does it look like?

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Haste » Mastery > Versatility = Crit
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

  • This variant includes Further Beyond which will inevitably increase the pull-to-pull variance in your damage that you see in-game and is not simulated with movement in mind when using default Patchwerk sims, this means it may not be the proper choice in real raid scenarios if you’re looking to do the most damage and more importantly if you need to do that damage consistently and reliably! It is however extremely fun to manage procs and highroll, best of luck to you!
  • Straightfoward loop: cast your cooldowns, use Lava Burst, use Elemental Blast, Icefury and Frost Shock become improved filler spells.
  • Icefury and Frost Shock become movement-enabling globals when more than one target is present.
  • Due to elements like Primordial Surge and Deeply Rooted Elements with its supporting talents you should continue to utilise Lava Surge procs even if you end up facing multiple targets.
  • Earthquake replaces Elemental Blast at 4 or more targets.
  • Lava Beam replaces Lava Burst at 4 or more targets.
  • Further Beyond makes you value maelstrom generation very highly during aoe, which displaces regular Lava Burst casts entirely at 4+ targets. This is predominately a single-target build so AoE is not its main function.

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from pull

FE
LvB
FS
PW
...

1 Target Priority

2 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 2 or more targets it is less than ideal.

3 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 3 or more targets it is less than ideal

4 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 4 or more targets it is less than ideal

5+ Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 5 or more targets it is less than ideal

What does this build do?

This build works around the damage of Lava Burst and Elemental Blast, supported by the idea of Primordial Wave ‘windows’. This build effectively swaps Windspeaker’s Lava Resurgence or Further Beyond for Mountains Will Fall, which reduces the perceived complexity from this build allowing you to focus more completely on the Lava Surge provided by Primordial Surge and effective spending of maelstrom.

What does it look like?

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Haste / Mastery > Versatility = Crit
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from pull

FE
LvB
FS
PW
...

1 Target Priority

2 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 2 or more targets it is less than ideal.

3 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 3 or more targets it is less than ideal

4 Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 4 or more targets it is less than ideal

5+ Target Priority

If you find yourself using this build on 5 or more targets it is less than ideal



Wildfire Builds

Predominately aimed at M+ content these build variants focus on the power of Flame Shock and its supporting talents to deal AoE damage, all variants include Deeply Rooted Elements by default as the build spends a lot of its time using the Lava Surge procs it generates so it provides a lot of value on average but is not the focus of the build - if desired you can swap this point to a more consistent option.

What does this build do?

We heard you like Flame Shock and Lava Surge so this build is entirely committed to the idea of maintaining Flame Shock on multiple targets and utilising all the benefits associated with consuming Lava Surge.

Staples of wildfire as a M+ include Skybreaker’s Fiery Demise, Splintered Elements, Stormkeeper. There are more swaps you could make within this archetype like Surge of Power swapped for Aftershock which significantly simplifies your perceived gameplay, but in reality is weaker in most ways so all the variants below use Surge of Power.

What does it look like?

Note: There are multiple possible variants of this build that do not include rotational priority changes, these will all play similarly and you can choose between them based on personal preference and/or sim results. The three linked above are, at least in my opinion, the ‘standard’ setups with one taking Improved Flametongue Weapon with Power of the Maelstrom another opting to go for Flow of Power and Swelling Maelstrom, and one simply taking Searing Flames instead of Echo Chamber.

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Haste / Crit > Mastery / Vers
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

  • If targets will survive for a while you will want Flame Shock ticking on them, don’t forget to monitor this particularly on higher keys where you can get real value!
  • Despite a lot of Liquid Magma Totem use being to setup a pull, because it scales with Haste if you can manage to do so then having Splintered Elements active before placing Liquid Magma Totem will increase its damage. Note: you can and should still use Liquid Magma Totem to help setup a pull if you need to act fast, this is just something to keep in mind for value optimisation when you’re comfortable.
  • Surge of Power is there to amplify what you’re already aiming to do at different target counts which can be quite handy
  • Deeply Rooted Elements procs do not really change the priority of what you’re doing, they mainly act to provide value from not having to manually refresh your current Flame Shock dots and that translates into more Chain Lightning casts which leads to more Earthquake casts. Note: Lava Beam replaces Chain Lightning in the priority when Deeply Rooted Elements procs are active but you should ensure you have enough time to finish the cast inside the Deeply Rooted Elements buff otherwise the cast will cancel.
  • It can be tempting to try and use every Lava Surge proc during mass aoe but generally you’re going to use them when you have to move when aoeing or when you’d have enough maelstrom to Earthquake afterwards which benefits from Master of the Elements. This strikes a better balance between fishing for Deeply Rooted Elements procs and reliably good aoe damage. Feel free to prioritise Lava Surge more if a priority target is up and needs to die fast!

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from boss pull

FE
LvB
FS
PW
...

AoE openers are less rigid than boss openers. Keep in mind that these will change simply based by what cooldowns you have available on a pull-by-pull basis and you should aim to maximise the value from what is available at that time. Here are some general rules:

  • Pool maelstrom at the end of a current pull to have resources available at the start of the next pull, this dramatically improves the consistent performance from pull-to-pull and eases the feeling of ‘ramp’ time in the rotation.
  • Though spreading Flame Shock to multiple targets is good, it should not be viewed as a requirement to reach 6 before doing damage in all cases. In cases where you have Liquid Magma Totem and Totemic Recall available, this is quite achieveable, in cases where you don’t you should be prepared to trigger Splintered Elements’s effect with 4-5 targets. If you have maelstrom left from a previous pack (and you should!) this process becomes more fluid and you can spread Flame Shock whilst the tank is gathering mobs.
  • On pulls that include 6+ targets it is ideal to have Surge of Power active for both charges of Stormkeeper and given the maelstrom generated you can cast Earthquake twice between them, this means that if you do not have maelstrom from a previous pack you may need to hold Stormkeeper until slightly later in the pull or simply forego this value in favour of using Stormkeeper without Surge of Power.
  • Avoid placing Liquid Magma Totem prematurely, if the tank does not have sufficient aggro then its possible for it to be killed directly by mobs which greatly reduces its value

1 Target Priority

Note: You do not play around Power of the Maelstrom procs in single target.

2 Target Priority

3-5 Target Priority

6+ Target Priority

What does this build do?

We heard you like Flame Shock and Lava Surge so this build is entirely committed to the idea of maintaining Flame Shock on multiple targets and utilising all the benefits associated with consuming Lava Surge. These variants of Wildfire also include Elemental Blast for its high power in single target and low target scenarios with relatively minor impact on total AoE value.

Staples of wildfire as a M+ include Skybreaker’s Fiery Demise, Splintered Elements, Stormkeeper. There are more swaps you could make within this archetype like Surge of Power swapped for Aftershock which significantly simplifies your perceived gameplay, but in reality is weaker in most ways so all the variants below use Surge of Power.

What does it look like?

Note: There are multiple possible variants of this build that do not include rotational priority changes, these will all play similarly and you can choose between them based on personal preference and/or sim results. The two variants shown above are, in my opinion, the ‘standard’ ways to include it in a Wildfire setup - this is not the only way. The structure is similar to the variants without Elemental Blast so learning how it changes the rotation is the only real barrier. You may also prefer to include Nature’s Swiftness in the class tree if the cast time of Elemental Blast is a hindrance to you.

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Haste / Crit > Mastery / Vers
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

  • If targets will survive for a while you will want Flame Shock ticking on them, don’t forget to monitor this particularly on higher keys where you can get real value!
  • Despite a lot of Liquid Magma Totem use being to setup a pull, because it scales with Haste if you can manage to do so then having Splintered Elements active before placing Liquid Magma Totem will increase its damage. Note: you can and should still use Liquid Magma Totem to help setup a pull if you need to act fast, this is just something to keep in mind for value optimisation when you’re comfortable.
  • Surge of Power is there to amplify what you’re already aiming to do at different target counts which can be quite handy, whilst it is appreciable that Elemental Blast reduces the value gained from Surge of Power due to being more expensive and producing less buffs overall - this is only true for the 1-4 target range and the value added is still positive, AoE value from Surge of Power is unaffected at 6+ targets.
  • Deeply Rooted Elements procs do not really change the priority of what you’re doing, they mainly act to provide value from not having to manually refresh your current Flame Shock dots and that translates into more Chain Lightning casts which leads to more Earthquake casts. Note: Lava Beam replaces Chain Lightning in the priority when Deeply Rooted Elements procs are active but you should ensure you have enough time to finish the cast inside the Deeply Rooted Elements buff otherwise the cast will cancel.
  • It can be tempting to try and use every Lava Surge proc during mass aoe but generally you’re going to use them when you have to move when aoeing or when you’d have enough maelstrom to Earthquake afterwards which benefits from Master of the Elements. This strikes a better balance between fishing for Deeply Rooted Elements procs and reliably good aoe damage. Feel free to prioritise Lava Surge more if a priority target is up and needs to die fast!

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from boss pull

FE
LvB
FS
PW
...

AoE openers are less rigid than boss openers. Keep in mind that these will change simply based by what cooldowns you have available on a pull-by-pull basis and you should aim to maximise the value from what is available at that time. Here are some general rules:

  • Pool maelstrom at the end of a current pull to have resources available at the start of the next pull, this dramatically improves the consistent performance from pull-to-pull and eases the feeling of ‘ramp’ time in the rotation.
  • Though spreading Flame Shock to multiple targets is good, it should not be viewed as a requirement to reach 6 before doing damage in all cases. In cases where you have Liquid Magma Totem and Totemic Recall available, this is quite achieveable, in cases where you don’t you should be prepared to trigger Splintered Elements’s effect with 4-5 targets. If you have maelstrom left from a previous pack (and you should!) this process becomes more fluid and you can spread Flame Shock whilst the tank is gathering mobs.
  • On pulls that include 6+ targets it is ideal to have Surge of Power active for both charges of Stormkeeper and given the maelstrom generated you can cast Earthquake twice between them, this means that if you do not have maelstrom from a previous pack you may need to hold Stormkeeper until slightly later in the pull or simply forego this value in favour of using Stormkeeper without Surge of Power.
  • Avoid placing Liquid Magma Totem prematurely, if the tank does not have sufficient aggro then its possible for it to be killed directly by mobs which greatly reduces its value

1 Target Priority

Note: You do not play around Power of the Maelstrom procs in single target.

2 Target Priority

3 Target Priority

4 Target Priority

5+ Target Priority

6+ Target Priority



Lightning Builds

Exactly what it says on the tin, for the friends with a penchant for Lightning! Lightning offers a great way to cater to multiple damage profiles, rarely sacrificing single target for aoe. It also plays differently to the fire builds, placing much more emphasis on Chain Lightning to generate quickly at high target counts.

What does this build do?

This build focuses on the power of Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Elemental Blast with Echoes of Great Sundering. It seeks to empower these effects with supporting talents like Electrified Shocks, Storm Elemental, and Lightning Rod. This build will be for you if you are not a fan of Flame Shock dot management or random effects that can swing your damage like Deeply Rooted Elements, effectively being a solid and consistent way of dealing damage that is flexible to all target counts - the more targets the better!

What does it look like?

Note:

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Haste / Crit > Mastery / Vers
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

  • Master of the Elements is mainly to path to Liquid Magma Totem, once you hit 3 targets any sort of gaming the Master of the Elements buff becomes extremely bad, in practice this also makes the points spent in Power of the Maelstrom near worthless however they are also needed for Echo Chamber & Mountains Will Fall
  • Lightning Rod applies to your current target when it does not have an active buff. Earthquake has some ‘smart’ applications to apply to off-targets but results can vary. It is suggested when you are comfortable enough to do so to incorporate target swapping after each spender to increase the value gained from Lightning Rod. If done poorly (i.e. too early in the learning process) this can produce negative results, master the basics then add complexity!
  • Liquid Magma Totem is included for its raw damage, don’t start to spread Flame Shock unless you have to move - in which case it remains a good movement global when Icefury buffed Frost Shock aren’t available.
  • Surge of Power is there to amplify what you’re already aiming to do at different target counts which can be quite handy, whilst it is appreciable that Elemental Blast reduces the value gained from Surge of Power due to being more expensive and producing less buffs overall - this is only true for the 1-4 target range and the value added is still positive, AoE value from Surge of Power is unaffected at 6+ targets.

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from boss pull

SE
IF
FS
LB
...

AoE openers are less rigid than boss openers. Keep in mind that these will change simply based by what cooldowns you have available on a pull-by-pull basis and you should aim to maximise the value from what is available at that time. Here are some general rules:

  • Lightning Rod is a rather significant buff to your aoe burst via Stormkeeper, where possible try to ensure at least one Lightning Rod buff is running on a target prior to using Stormkeeper charges!
  • Pool maelstrom at the end of a current pull to have resources available at the start of the next pull, this dramatically improves the consistent performance from pull-to-pull and eases the feeling of ‘ramp’ time in the rotation.
  • On pulls that include 6+ targets it is ideal to have Surge of Power active for both charges of Stormkeeper and given the maelstrom generated you can cast Earthquake twice between them, this means that if you do not have maelstrom from a previous pack you may need to hold Stormkeeper until slightly later in the pull or simply forego this value in favour of using Stormkeeper without Surge of Power.
  • Avoid placing Liquid Magma Totem prematurely, if the tank does not have sufficient aggro then its possible for it to be killed directly by mobs which greatly reduces its value

1 Target Priority

Note:

2 Target Priority

Note:

  • Playing around Power of the Maelstrom procs is dps neutral, but generally it will be easier and less likely to negatively impact your performance if you ignore them - sometimes you will get lucky and have one during your Stormkeeper burst though!

3 Target Priority

4 Target Priority

5+ Target Priority

6+ Target Priority

What does this build do?

This build focuses on the power of Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Elemental Blast with Echoes of Great Sundering. It seeks to empower these effects with supporting talents like Electrified Shocks, Storm Elemental, and Lightning Rod. This variant of Lightning includes Skybreaker’s Fiery Demise to further empower your Liquid Magma Totem per-use value in addition to increasing the uptime of Storm Elemental which gets more relevant when pulling high target counts as the majority of your time is spent pressing Chain Lightning when you hit 5 or more targets. This means that movement globals or Surge of Power buffs between 3-5 targets can be very beneficial despite Flame Shock not being the main focus.

What does it look like?

Note:

Stats

Always remember to sim your current options appropriately

Simplified

This is quick and dirty, your sims will take priority in your gearing process.

  • Haste / Crit > Mastery / Vers
  • Remember that generally Haste will make the rotation easier to execute and further improve your ability to adapt to movement so will always be a solid stat to go for, and more flexible than Mastery given Haste is also very good in all AoE-focused builds

Rotation

Key Notes

  • Master of the Elements is mainly to path to Liquid Magma Totem, once you hit 3 targets any sort of gaming the Master of the Elements buff becomes extremely bad.
  • Lightning Rod applies to your current target when it does not have an active buff. Earthquake has some ‘smart’ applications to apply to off-targets but results can vary. It is suggested when you are comfortable enough to do so to incorporate target swapping after each spender to increase the value gained from Lightning Rod. If done poorly (i.e. too early in the learning process) this can produce negative results, master the basics then add complexity!
  • Liquid Magma Totem is included for its raw damage, don’t start to spread Flame Shock unless you have to move - in which case it remains a good movement global when Icefury buffed Frost Shock aren’t available.
  • Surge of Power is there to amplify what you’re already aiming to do at different target counts which can be quite handy, whilst it is appreciable that Elemental Blast reduces the value gained from Surge of Power due to being more expensive and producing less buffs overall - this is only true for the 1-4 target range and the value added is still positive, AoE value from Surge of Power is unaffected at 6+ targets.

Opener

Follow the cast sequence below for your opener. A red arrow indicates the time the boss is pulled. Please note that openers are a very minor and nit-picky increase (or sometimes decrease!), and adapting to the fight is much more important.

~3.5 seconds from boss pull

SE
IF
FS
LB
...

AoE openers are less rigid than boss openers. Keep in mind that these will change simply based by what cooldowns you have available on a pull-by-pull basis and you should aim to maximise the value from what is available at that time. Here are some general rules:

  • Lightning Rod is a rather significant buff to your aoe burst via Stormkeeper, where possible try to ensure at least one Lightning Rod buff is running on a target prior to using Stormkeeper charges!
  • Pool maelstrom at the end of a current pull to have resources available at the start of the next pull, this dramatically improves the consistent performance from pull-to-pull and eases the feeling of ‘ramp’ time in the rotation.
  • On pulls that include 6+ targets it is ideal to have Surge of Power active for both charges of Stormkeeper and given the maelstrom generated you can cast Earthquake twice between them, this means that if you do not have maelstrom from a previous pack you may need to hold Stormkeeper until slightly later in the pull or simply forego this value in favour of using Stormkeeper without Surge of Power.
  • Avoid placing Liquid Magma Totem prematurely, if the tank does not have sufficient aggro then its possible for it to be killed directly by mobs which greatly reduces its value

1 Target Priority

Note:

2 Target Priority

Note:

  • Playing around Power of the Maelstrom procs is dps neutral, but generally it will be easier and less likely to negatively impact your performance if you ignore them - sometimes you will get lucky and have one during your Stormkeeper burst though!

3 Target Priority

Note:

4 Target Priority

Note:

  • Icefury becomes a dps loss at 4 or more targets, you can use it when you know movement will be needed and it serves as a reduction in loss incurred by movement. Try to utilise Spiritwalker’s Grace where possible.

5+ Target Priority

6+ Target Priority

Note: