Lightning Bolt: which rank to use

Shaman · Nature · 10 ranks, 5 learned by level 30.

At level 30 with 45 spell power, Lightning Bolt rank 1 gets the most damage per mana; rank 5 does the most damage per second.

Rank 1 stays the most mana-efficient from 0 to 300 spell power.

Every rank at level 30 with 45 spell power

Rank	Damage per cast	Mana	Cast	Damage per mana	DPS	Mana lasts
Rank 1 (level 1)	35 (34–36)	15	1.5 s	2.35	23.5	2 min 30 s
Rank 2 (level 8)	57 (55–59)	30	2 s	1.91	28.6	1 min 40 s
Rank 3 (level 14)	80 (76–84)	45	2.5 s	1.78	32.1	1 min 23 s
Rank 4 (level 20)	91 (87–95)	60	2.5 s	1.52	36.5	1 min 3 s
Rank 5 (level 26)	107 (102–112)	85	2.5 s	1.26	42.8	44 s

DPS counts the global cooldown. Mana lasts: casting only that rank from 1,500 mana.

Rank 1: 35 damage for 15 mana in Forever instead of 22 for 15 in Classic Era (spell power share 0.429 instead of 0.123).
Rank 2: 57 damage for 30 mana in Forever instead of 45 for 30 in Classic Era (spell power share 0.571 instead of 0.314).
Rank 3: 80 damage for 45 mana in Forever instead of 77 for 45 in Classic Era (spell power share 0.714 instead of 0.554).
Rank 4: 91 damage for 60 mana in Forever instead of 133 for 75 in Classic Era (spell power share 0.714 instead of 0.857).
Rank 5: 107 damage for 85 mana in Forever instead of 177 for 105 in Classic Era (spell power share 0.714 instead of 0.857).

From the client, for each rank: base damage or healing and its range (SpellEffect base points and variance), the extra per level up to the rank's max level, the spell power share (coefficient), mana cost, cast time, duration, global cooldown and cooldown.
No downrank penalty in the Forever client. Classic Era's client puts a penalty for spells learned before level 20 inside the coefficient (Shadow Bolt rank 1: 0.14); Forever's client gives the full share (0.486), for 80 low-level ranks across the classes. Anything else would be on Blizzard's servers, so the calculator shows Classic's rules only as Speculation.
Speculation: crits count only on direct hits, at 150%, as in Classic; the example gear (1.5 spell power per level) is not client data.