Flametongue Weapon

Flametongue Weapon
Flametongue Weapon (10 ranks) Shaman ability 8% of base mana Instant sec cast Imbue the Shaman's weapon with fire, increasing total spell damage by X. Each hit causes Y additional Fire damage, based on the speed of the weapon. Slower weapons cause more fire damage per swing. Lasts 30 minutes.
Properties
Class	Shaman
School	Fire
Cooldown	None/Global Cooldown
Other information
Requirements	Melee Weapon

[[Category:shaman abilities]][[Category:shaman abilities]]

The flames licked the edges of the weapon as though only blood would slake its thirst.

Flametongue Weapon is a temporary weapon enhancement that does fire damage and increases spell damage for 30 minutes.

Flametongue and Spellpower

Flametongue does ( 28 * weaponspeed + spellpower / 10 ) fire damage per hit at level 60 and ( 35 * weaponspeed + spellpower / 10 ) fire damage per hit at level 70. It can crit, assumable with the same crit chance as your spells.

Flametongue thus benefits slow weapons the most.

There's one deviance from the formula above: a 1.5 weapon does more damage than the formula tells, when the wielder has very little spellpower (approximately 100, see the sampled data below).

Sampled data: http://home.c2i.net/argor/wow/flametongueparse.ods More testing and statistics would be great, my test was very limited.

This section concerns content related to Wrath of the Lich King.

In Wrath of the Lich King Flametounge was changed to give a straight buff to spellpower. In addition Enhancement shamans can spec into the spell [Lava Lash] which increases damage by 25% if the offhand weapon is enchanted with Flametounge.

Rank Table

Rank	Level	Mana Cost	Spell Damage	Weapon Damage
1	10	8% of base mana	7	4.23 - 13.04
2	18	8% of base mana	13	6.22 - 19.16
3	26	8% of base mana	16	9.29 - 28.64
4	36	8% of base mana	26	14.85 - 45.76
5	46	8% of base mana	39	24.36 - 75.04
6	56	8% of base mana	45	32.44 - 99.92
7	64	6% of base mana	96	40.35 - 124.28
8	71	6% of base mana	157	65.32 - 201.2
9	74	6% of base mana	186	77.92 - 240
10	80	6% of base mana	211	88.96 - 274

Talents

Talents that can improve the weapon buff:

	Talent Points Needed	Type	Description	Talent Points Available
	20	Enhancement	Elemental Weapons	3
	25	Enhancement	Mental Quickness	3
	35	Enhancement	Lava Lash	1

Tips

While Flametongue is useless against foes with high Fire resistance, it is not halted by those with high armour.

Flametongue favours a fast weapon - especially if you've got lots of +spelldamage.