Fact
Wowhead's class writer Lucenia on Elemental in the beta. Reported numbers: Lightning Bolt casts in 2.5 sec (2 sec talented) and Chain Lightning in 2 sec (1.5 talented), but their spell power scaling fell (Lightning Bolt 85.7% to 71.4%, Chain Lightning 71.4% to 57.1%) and Shaman base spell damage was cut more than Mage or Priest; Lightning Overload procs at 3/7/10%; the Lava Burst capstone adds 20% damage instead of a guaranteed critical strike. The author's early sims: Lightning Overload is worth under 3% single-target damage, the Lava Burst bonus under 2%, Chain Lightning is not worth casting below about 1,600 spell power, and Mana will likely need downranking (which the beta now penalizes). Opinion: Elemental is 'rough, but easily fixed', and Blizzard has made almost no Elemental changes during the beta. The article's talent-tree claims are not recorded here; the tree read from the game client is the reference.