Maxus build, Open for Discussion

[techneck]

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hEcuEfMqAoxxb

[VOMP]

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hE0zqcMsAoxZx0xt0x

u need the tidal mastery from the resto tree. helps big time, but its up to u.. thats what i used an had a blast with it. just keep in mind that u will never do more dmg than a mage, but they can't heal. used to be 2nd or 3rd in dps in kara so its not bad. hafta pop trinkets every time they are up too.

[SilverTalon]

If you're planning on being a true hybrid and doing a lot of off-healing, then VOMP's build will probably serve you decently.

If you plan on grouping a lot as DPS, I'd go more with http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hE0zEcMqiotLZE00z Though I'm not going to tell you it's the be-all, end-all of specs. It's a very DPS oriented spec, and your heals will...well they'll probably suck. A lot.

I highy advise against the combination of Tidal Mastery and Lightning Overload. It'll hurt your healing a bit to not have it, but with the way things are currently Lightning Overload will hurt you more often than it will help in group situations with a high crit rate. If you're doing your job as DPS (i.e. - putting as much threat out as you can while staying behind the tank's threat) an "unlucky" LO crit will almost inevitably pull aggro. If you pause between casts to make sure you're not getting a LO, over the course of a fight you probably waste so much time that you're largely negating the benefit of LO in the first place. For example, if you were to wait .5 seconds after each cast just to be sure you weren't sending out 3 lightning bolts at once, in four casts you would have lost ~1k in damage. Over the course of 20 casts, you'll have 5 "missed" casts and 1 LO (on average) which will generally translate to a net loss of 3000-4000 damage. Of course, chance works out differently, but that's a good estimate overall. Sure sure there's tranquil air to mitigate LO, but getting the tanks to NOT BE IN THE EFFECT is an uphill battle, especially with the added totem range and especially on the Alliance side where so many people are still not used to shamans.

I like picking up Totem of Wrath instead as you can determine when you'll get the +spell crit (like if you know a tank is rock solid) or not (if you're PUGing or with a tank still learning the ropes). Throw two points into Tidal Mastery and one into Totem of Wrath and you'll end up at the same position stat-wise, plus you'll be able to buff your party's spell crit (also golden when you have a pally tank) and have two points to spend elsewhere. In general usage, the fire totems are pretty worthless, so having totem of wrath down doesn't hurt you that badly.

If you're not intending on PvPing, 3 points in elemental precision is too much. There's an innate 4% resist (which is what the talent addresses) and 2 points will overcome that. Not saying the extra point is worthless, but it could probably be spent on something else. As Skillet once quipped though, sometimes with as much threat as a shaman can put out, a few resists are a good thing.

Healing Focus and Eye of the Storm really overlap somewhat. It's a great talent to pick up if you're healing, but there are again probably better places to spend 5 talent points. If you want Tidal Mastery though, not really.

I really do prefer Reverberation since it will make you one of the fastest interrupts around. Consider it a form of healing in that the damage you interrupt is damage that doesn't need to be healed. In some places (like Mechanar), having Earth Shock up can quite easily save the healer from having to heal thousands of damage on the party.