also blizz wants to get away from heavy passive tanking stats. with shammy they have a good class to work with that wont feel as clunky as the monk.
Only stupid thing going on here is denying that air is an essential part of the Elemental playstyle. Yes, Lava burst is the nuke, yes flametongue is the weapon imbue and Ascendancy turns you into fire - but! Ligtning Bolt doesn't have an 8sec cd, therefor you cast it a lot more, ligtning shield is just ad important as flametongue and when it comes to aoe-cleaving; CL becomes lava beam further proving that air and fire plays the same importance for Elemental.
Amazing sig, done by mighty Lokann
Shamans use to have some tanking talents, then blizzard did a u-turn and said they are never going to be able to tank. i think they should be able to using the earth element.
Elemental has more exclusive air abilities than fire:
10 Elemental Fury (Passive)
10 Elemental Precision (Passive)
10 Elemental Reach (Passive)
10 Shamanism (Passive)
10 Spiritual Insight (Passive)
10 Thunderstorm
20 Rolling Thunder (Passive)
30 Fulmination (Passive)
34 Lava Burst
40 Elemental Focus (Passive)
50 Lava Surge (Passive)
55 Elemental Oath (Passive)
60 Earthquake
80 Mastery: Mastery: Elemental Overload (Passive)
Resto has more spiritual abilities than water and also shared elementals fire nuke:
10 Ancestral Focus (Passive)
10 Meditation (Passive)
10 Purification (Passive)
10 Riptide
10 Spiritual Insight (Passive)
18 Purify Spirit
20 Healing Wave
26 Earth Shield
30 Earthliving Weapon
34 Ancestral Awakening (Passive)
34 Lava Burst
40 Resurgence (Passive)
50 Tidal Waves (Passive)
56 Mana Tide Totem
60 Greater Healing Wave
70 Spirit Link Totem
80 Mastery: Mastery: Deep Healing (Passive)
I'm not being stupid, I'm pointing out the flaw is the demand for an "earth" spec. If you want a tanking spec, fine, just say that. But the justification for it is silly.
I made a thread with a suggestion like this on the official fofums a billion years ago, but it went something like this i think
Mage - Chronomancer - healer
DK - couldnt think of anything at the time
Hunter - 1 handed guns - dual wield - no pet
Rogue - pirate ( swashbuckler ? )- dual wield a 1 handed gun and sword
Warrior -Gladiator - dual wield 1h tank - offhand used mostly for actively parrying incoming attacks ( priests have 2 healing specs as the archetypal healer so warriors as the archetypal tank.... )
Paladin - Inquisiotor - Holy dps, ranged.
Priest - Exorcist - Hybrid deals 50% the damage of a normal dps and half the healing of a standard healer at the same time.
Warlock - Fel - Permanent demon form - looks dependant on race....like fel orcs and the elves in MGT - melee spell based tank
Shaman - Earthshaker - agility tank with shield.
druid - already done
Monk - some form of ranged or even a second melee spec
Last edited by mmocc5d9fa5936; 2013-02-08 at 11:21 PM.
Sure, why not. Who cares really if locks and shammies get a tanking spec, more power to them.
I would highly disagree with that. The core to the Elemental spec is getting off as many Lava Bursts as possible while Flameshock is still on your target. Everything else is just filler until Lava Burst comes off of CD, or Lava Surge procs.
In terms of AoE you can make an argument for CL, but in terms of single target DPS and the main damage dealer for the spec, Lava Burst is the undisputed king.
I think we can both agree that FS is WAY more important to Elemental DPS than to Enhance DPS.
Those aren't air abilities. Those are passive buffs to spells. The exclusive air ability in Elemental is Thunderstorm. Lightning Bolt and Chain lightning aren't exclusive to Elemental Shaman. Now granted, Elemental has passives that buff those abilities, but its for the purpose of making Elemental a more effective spellcaster, and many of those buffs also improve Lava Burst. Like I said before, the core of the spec is Lava Burst. Which is why when Shaman enter ascendant form, they become the Flame Ascendant, not the Lightning ascendant.Also, you ignored that Elemental has more exclusive air abilities than fire.
Again, its filler. LB, CL, Shocks, etc. are just ways to pass the time until your next Lava Surge rolls in. Hell, some Ele shaman have completely replaced Lightning Bolt with Elemental Blast because it hits harder and gives them a buff. PvP Shaman especially. Despite EB's CD, Lava Surge procs so often that it doesn't matter.
---------- Post added 2013-02-08 at 11:43 PM ----------
Where did I make up rules? Enhance's exclusive passives only buff Enhance-exclusive abilities. You're pointing out passives that benefit abilities that every Shaman has.
I'm generally against new specs and classes in general. I'd rather have Blizzard using their resources towards more unique gameplay and mechanics for the different classes and specs we already have than to make more of the same. Sure, it will be tanking with earth magic but when you implement something like that into the game it doesn't really change anything. Unless there is a good way of making Shaman tanking a unique experience, I'd rather have Blizzard putting their resources elsewhere.
Besides that, I think the way the roles are devided at the moment is fine. Not all classes need a different type of spec next to dps. Let alone two!