Shaman Lost Lava Burst: WoW Forever Deleted It 2 Days Before Launch
Blizzard's last development notes before launch (posted November 2, Pacific time) removed Lava Burst from the elemental Shaman in WoW Forever: "Lava Burst: Removed. Replaced with Call of Thunder", a 5% critical strike bonus to Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, and "All references to Lava Burst removed." The same notes put the new Lightning Bolt at roughly 78% of the Classic Era version's base damage, with a shorter cast. No reason is given. The forum thread asking for it back passed 149 replies in nine hours. An obituary for the shaman's one fire button, and one request: put it back, or post why.
Read flat
Lava Burst: Removed. Replaced with Call of Thunder, which increases critical strike chance of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 5%. All references to Lava Burst removed.
Sources
Every claim in the transcript below points at one of these. The quote is the source's own words.
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Blizzard forums · Kaivax (Blizzard) · 2026-11-03
Lava Burst: Removed. Replaced with Call of Thunder, which increases critical strike chance of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning by 5%. All references to Lava Burst removed.
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Blizzard forums · Kaivax (Blizzard) · 2026-11-03
Each rank’s new base damage is roughly 78% of the base damage as the Classic Era version (but cast time is lower than Classic Era).
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Blizzard forums · forum players (thread opened by xyrian) · 2026-11-03
Why remove lava burst? It added so much flavor and class fantasy to elemental.
Clips and footage
Shown under criticism and commentary, credited on screen and here. They belong to their creators.
- xpygx: “Ele Shaman Gameplay Post-Nerf - WoW Forever.” (YouTube, 2026-10-17)
Transcript
Obituaries — Lava Burst
Lava Burst, the only fire button an elemental shaman had, died on November second, two days before launch1. I played a shaman in the beta for one reason, and it was orange.
Obituaries — the records
And Blizzard didn't stop at deleting my fire. "All references to Lava Burst removed."1 That's not a nerf, that's witness protection.
Obituaries — the thread
By the time I found the thread called Bring back Lava Burst, it had a hundred and forty-nine replies in nine hours3. The notes don't give it one reason. Put it back, or post why, you lot.
Obituaries — cause of death
My shaman gets Call of Thunder instead, five percent more crit on Lightning Bolt1, and a Lightning Bolt doing about seventy-eight percent of Classic's base damage2. Cause of death: being fun.
I'll be here. Forever.