What's the need for Shamans in TF?

Reason

Reason

New Member
With the expansion only days away, I was thinking about what would be the need for Shamans in TF. Are we going to really need them for end game content. What role would the Shammy play in our raids? If a member of TF has a lvl 70 Shammy and a lvl 70 Mage, who are we going to perfer they bring? Ya can't really say it depends on the group make up because we will be in a 25 man raid more than likely and we won't have but 2 or 3 Shamans in the guild up to lvl 70 anyway.


Anywho, I don't need a clear answer. Just throwing the thought out there so we can brainstorm on the topic

tBC in (T) minus 13 days
 
Same thing that shammys bring to the table for the Horde. Spot healing, totems that can do a variety of things and aid in some superior group utility if used properly, and lets not forget the self rez for a quick CR. As to the preference question, I would say that since we are not a "raid" guild, it does not matter and bring what you want. But, it is not my place to say :p

One of the many things I love about this guild is that anyone can play any way they please. If a priest wants to raid Shadow or a Druid wants to raid Feral, it is encouraged and I really dig that.
 
One of the things mentioned when it was first introduced that both horde and alliance will have both shamans and paladins is that now the devs can focus on more encounters that play to certain class strengths. This means that eventually there may be content that will require a shaman or two to overcome.
 
Shamans excel in:

Resto tree:

Area-of-Effect healing using healing wave and healing totems; Mana Tide Totems are also a huge asset -- it's like everyone in your party being 1/3 innervated all the time. Also, although the current version doesn't quite work this way right now, in the beta Earthen Shield is awesome because it reduces damage and does feedback damage like thorns on steroids (if they keep it the way it is, then it becomes like a targetable version of barkskin which heals some of the damage you take).

Enhancement Tree:

Basically this is like a fury warrior with spells and a few nifty tricks -- flurry, which drastically increases your attack speed when you crit; unleased rage, which basically amounts to a free battleshout every time you crit; and finally stormstrike, which is an instant attack which also makes the target nature vulnerable, empowering shamans, oomkins, and hunters. An enhancement shammy will fight a lot like a fury warrior, interspersed with Frost/Earth Shocks and of course with self-enchanted weapons.

Elemental Tree:

These are the true antithesis to the paladin -- a spellcaster who loves to get into the thick of things. With improvements to your Shock attacks like clearcasting, double damage crits, and the nifty force-a-crit-and-this-one's-on-the-house button, elemental shamans can get right into the thick of battle AND be an effective spellcaster.
In groups where you're more likely to be sitting back, elemental shammies can benefit from across the boards improvements to their lightning bolt/chain lightning attacks: cheaper cost, higher damage, longer range, faster casting, and even a chance to spawn a second, instant, free spell on the same target.


And this isn't even starting onto totems! I really don't know much about totems, but even the fact that they stack with pally auras will make them a huge bonus.
 
mana tide has a 5 min cooldown with 1100 or so mana being regened over 12 secs. Won't happen all the time, but that stacked with mana spring totem, which is all the time, makes for some nice mana regen. Mana spring being available to all shammies, regardless of spec. Glad to see there is a pure raider that sees value in all shammy specs :)

Sean
 
I think that blizz has done a good job with every class - each spec is just as important as the next for the raid. For druids, nobody can say that the feral or balance druid is useless, and that we all have to go resto. Priests can excel at shadow or holy, warriors at DPS or tanking (and sometimes both), Pallies can tank or heal, mages can be fire or ice....*sigh* or even that stinky arcane, i suppose....

Each spec has it's strengths, so play any class, spec'd any way you like. If you're good at it, nobody will complain.

Frost/Arc mages have lower burst damage, but higher sustained damage through reduced threat, better mana consumption, and use of improved survivability.

Fire/Arc mages have high burst damage, and depending on spec, pretty good sustained damage, but have poor survivability when they get agro.

Frost/Fire mages have both sustained and burst damage, but horrible mana consumption

Pure Arc mages just scare me. You've gotta be mental to pick up a spec that has moderate burst damage, high sustained damage, slightly higher mana consumption than frost, and less survivability.

But I digress. It just shows that even with only 3 trees, you can spec any way you want and as long as you enjoy it and play it well, it's viable and important to the raid.

I think that Shamen will be just as important to us as any other class.... I mean seriously, who wouldn't want Totems! Totems! Totems!... and a Frostshock! Then you can self rez and Frostshock!
 
Durruck said:
Pure Arc mages just scare me. You've gotta be mental to pick up a spec that has moderate burst damage, high sustained damage, slightly higher mana consumption than frost, and less survivability.
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

Pure Arc is a bit mana heavy but it is a fun build. And Slow is Awesome!
 
On a sort of side note: 1 on 1 vs a well geared shammy in AB, I finally beat him, 1/3 life and all cool downs burnt. I then waddle over to the flag to cap, he self rezzes and, of course gets me. Was comical actually, and I had forgotten they could do that. Next time I will certainly heal first after killing a shammy.
 
Always click to loot corpses even if you don't intend to take the money. It forces them back to their closest GY :D
 
Yeah, Elijah had the same thing happen to him in the bg's. Freaked him out when the shammy popped up after Elijah had done him in:) Now I always make sure to find shammy corpses and loot them.
 
...and then, I surprised the Shaman by activating my soulstone and smacking him with a deathcoil/shadowburn combo.

Yup, seen this one happen several times. Always suprises shammies when you can use their best move against them :)
 
Shaman always gave my hunter problems in PvP, but I must say it truly balanced out when one on one in Alterac Valley I beat a shaman with 20% health and 10% mana remaining and he self-rezzed. I immediately scattershot him and offed him again with aimed shot.

It's hard for me to say this, but that was even more satisfying than using 'scare beast' on a druid.
 
i ninja loot everything that doesn't move in the BGs. I've gotten a lot of vendor cash in WSG/AB and tons of vendor trash in AV. Adam said he's gotten a few blue items and numerous greens, if i recall correctly. Can't beat winning in AV and coming home with 15-20g of items to sell :)
 
Yup, plus I have rolled on epics in there as well (AV). I have gotten many greens (how else you think I can enchant everything ;), several blues and zero epics so far. The biggest gain you get though, rep with Iron/Storm/Darn. I am almost exalted with Rueage on these three due mostly to the hand ins from AV.
 
To be frank, I think our guild would be fine even if no one leveled a shaman. I don't think they bring a lot to the table raiding wise. Their style of healing is ok, but nothing that priests, druids and paladins don't already bring to the table. Their totems only buff a group within a raid, so they aren't terribly useful for the most part, and most paladin buffs are actually better (though stacking them is nice). Not to say that 1-2 shaman wouldn't be nice to have around, but they aren't as great as they once were. /sigh
 
I plan on leveling a Shaman at some point in time. It is my goal in WoW to have one of each class. I want a Gnome Shaman, a Dwarf one at the least.
 
lol! Gotta love that video.

Shamans have a reputation for being a strong class, I think in large part due to the fact that for quite a while when the game was new they dominated. Now they are more of an average class overall, better than average (or perhaps even just average now, hard to tell) at pvp, worse than average at pve (instances greater that 5 man).

There's not much a shaman can do, that a paladin replacing him can't do... perhaps to a point though, as you can only have so many pally buffs. :p IMO, the two best buffs a shaman can offer is whirlwind totem for a melee group, and perhaps their mana spring totem (for a caster dps or healer group). They have a few other totems are ok, but certainly could be lived without. So I would say in general, no more than 2-3 shamans are useful in a 20 man group... more than that isn't much of a boon.

Having said that though, I am sure if we had a ton of shamans we will all have fun playing along with them just the same. :p
 
but really, is there any class that is sought after to have much more than 2-3 of them in a well balanced 20-man raid? shamans will find a comfortable place alongside all the other unique classes and contribute just as much im sure
 
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