[Squeek]

Our skills are laughably cheap. Lightning bolt doesn't even cost 400 mana.

I can easily do a timed CoS or non-stop VH without drinking, ever.

Thunderstorm, while terrible during group combat since it pushes enemies away, is effective for downtime as it regens 8% of my mana, which is about 1,500 for me. I can only use it every 45 seconds, but it's irrelevant. And even with this, I don't ever have to use it, because I have yet another skill that makes that super-cheap Lightning Bolt even cheaper. Every time I crit (note: pretty damn often), Clearcasting enables (also enabling more Crit) and that makes the next two spells 40% cheaper. I start every fight with Lava Burst after Flame Shock, which is a guaranteed crit, so right away I'm making each successive Lightning Bolt only cost ~160 mana. Water Shield has a passive 100mp5 and every time I take a hit I regen 500 mana.

It's been a long, long time since I ended a non-boss fight without 90-100% mana. During a quick Nexus run I just did, I even ended every boss fight with 100% mana.

So to answer your question, no, I do not need mp5 as Elemental.

ps - outdpsed another mage in that run. She was trying to be cute to surpass me by blowing her summoned cooldowns right off the bat but it soon became clear she wasn't going to beat my 2,700dps, even with those cooldowns. And I don't have anything that boosts just my own damage like she does. All I have is something that improves crit chance and lowers mana cost by 20%. I've been stacking Haste for a while now since I realized I have no use for crit chance with a guaranteed-crit skill (though I do still have crit since EleSham gear is SP/Haste/Crit). Therefore, I rarely ever use this skill. I have nothing else that could potentially boost damage for a short period of time on myself.

I have the feeling we're going to get a nerf sooner or later.