22-09-2011, 07:12 PM
[This is a work in progress]
The Fire Elemental has always been an awkward part of the Elemental Shaman DPS toolbox. However, in T12 it became a very large part of our total damage due to being able to keep nearly 100% uptime on him. Because of this, figuring out his actual mechanics is much more important as we have him up not just every fight now, but for almost the entire fight.
Dropping the Elemental:
The Fire Elemental takes a "snapshot" of your Intellect and Spell Power at the point you drop him. He does not scale with your Haste, and dropping him during Heroism/Bloodlust gives him no added benefit. He will maintain those stats for the entire duration he is up, so a 10 second proc trinket will last for the full two minutes. Mods such as NeedtoKnow and Power Auras or Weak Auras are recommended to track these cooldowns, as lining them up with the Fire Elemental will make a substantial difference in your damage.
Scaling Coefficients:
Int SP
Melee0.95 0.65
FB 0.84 0.53
FN 0.36 0.23
FS 0.027 0.017
The Fire Elemental's Quirks
He does not benefit from the Shaman talent Call of Flame.
He does not benefit from his own Totemic Wrath. However he will benefit from it being up when he is dropped, so having a Fire totem down before dropping him will increase his damage.
He will gain zone wide buffs such as Sinestra's Essence of the Red.
Unlike Heroism/Bloodlust, this is targeted on the room, not the raid. Raid buffs will not hit him
He will not get healed from smart heals unless he is specifically targeted. (Chain Heal will jump off of him, but not to him.)