1. #1
    Deleted

    Priest or Shaman fun factors?

    Hi all, I have both an 80 shaman and an 80 priest and I want to take one of them to 85 and begin PvP with. I want to heal and have the offspec dps, but I love both classes the same. So my question is, what is the fun factors about each class at 85 and does anyone have any suggestions?

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Deleted
    bubbles, so many bubbles xD I main I shaman tho, always liked the way they heal, biggest fun factor for me though is totems xD .

  3. #3
    priest has a bigger toolbox and requires a higher skill cap. shaman is simpler and easier to master as well as having a very high potential.

  4. #4
    Deleted
    This is the thing, they are both GREAT classes :/

    What is shammy dps like, I know shadow priests are viable but know nothing of dps shamans

  5. #5
    I think Spriests are top 5 in PvE dps at least as of early 4.3. In fact, I think their only behind the legendary wielding classes right now (Mage, Rogue) and maybe Survival Hunters. Not sure about Shamans but if I'm remembering right from the same data, Enh is above Elemental.

  6. #6
    The Patient Crestt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RumpleFugly View Post
    priest has a bigger toolbox and requires a higher skill cap. shaman is simpler and easier to master as well as having a very high potential.
    without providing any reasoning for why priest has a higher skill cap and why shaman's are easier to master, this post is nothing but opinion. I myself play a priest and find that playing a shaman healer to be weird and little bit different to play than my disc. You have to watch your water shield, make use of totems and know when to use em, etc. Not necessarily any harder or easier, but just different.
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Crestt View Post
    I myself play a priest and find that playing a shaman healer to be weird and little bit different to play than my disc. You have to watch your water shield, make use of totems and know when to use em, etc. Not necessarily any harder or easier, but just different.
    Priests have way more spells, and generally play way more offensively than Shamans. Shaman is really really easy in its current form. Rumple was right when he said Priests have a larger toolbox and have a higher skill cap, your personal experience having mained priest and getting confused by water shield doesn't change that.


    OT: Looking purely at the fun factors:

    Priest
    Pros:
    • Psychic Scream! Really fun CC and it always feel good when you catch lots of people in it.
    • Mind control. Another fun CC, it's hard to land but when you run someone off a cliff or drop a healer off a ledge the satisfactions is immense.
    • Shields. Using shields is really fun and acts an element to healing that other healers don't.
    • Leap of Faith can be really awesome to use. It's a spell with a huge skillcap if timed correctly (Gripping smokebombs etc), but is also just generally fun to mess about with.
    • Very offensive. Sometimes Discipline healers are like another DPS. They bring offensive dispels, mass dispel and a fair amount of burst damage.
    • Shadow: Dispersion is cool.

    Cons:
    • Higher skillcap. Learning when to go offensive with damage, learning how to rotate cooldowns and using your offensive dispel make priests somewhat harder.
    • More spells than Shaman.
    • Fewer viable comps for Priests (kind of).


    Shaman
    Pros:
    • Totems. These are really good fun, and although using buff totems all the time is kind of clunky, using Stoneclaw / Tremor / Grounding / Spirit-link can sometimes be really awesome.
    • Wind Shear. Interrupting casts as a healer? pro.
    • Ghost Wolf. I love playing my Druid, and being able to shapeshift is one of the main reasons I enjoy playing Shaman too.
    • Are currently 'top tier'. Loads of available comps provided you know a Rogue or Warlock.
    • Elemental: Thunderstorm. Is. Amazingly. Fun. Also, ele burst is good fun - and Shamans seem to be getting a lot of stuff for Elemental in MoP.

    Cons:
    • Die really easily to spike damage from Rogues and Death Knights. Without peels Shaman's aren't fantastic.
    • I don't really know anything else really. I enjoy playing my Shaman a lot.


    Personally, I'd recommend Shaman. Restoration is really fun, and a lot easier than Disc - giving you more time to actually enjoy it. It also means you can spend less time learning your class inside out and just jump into BGs / Arena sooner! Elemental is also amazing if you want to do a BG as DPS. Thunderstorming people off EotS or AB lumbermill makes everything worth it.
    Last edited by Snuggli; 2012-04-16 at 08:25 PM.

  8. #8
    I am going to repeat most of what everyone said here. Having had experience levelling, PVPing and raiding on a priest I would be able to offer some insight. However, how you define fun and can be interpreted differently by someone else. Priestly are fun because they have so many tools but they are also a hard class to master. Are you looking for a class with more through put or something you just want to get the most enjoyment from?

    hen it comes to healing, Priests do have the biggest tool kit among all the healers. However, it can get quite overwhelming. Holy is the most overwhelming healing class in the game with so many healing spells. You have to know when to use what. I will agree on one thing that it does require a higher skill cap. However, priests ain't the best tank healers nor are they the best raid healers. Holy Paladins are superior tank healers and a druid's out put is much better when it comes to raid healing.

    I also find that Priests do not have great synergy with their heals. Holy has some but not Disc. Where as Holy Paladins and Resto Druids and Shammies to a certain extent have great synergy. The other 2 classes including shamans have fewer healing abilities but get the job done. Another thing to keep in mind is that Priests is a very mana intensive class as a whole irrespective if you are healing or DPSing. All their spells cost a lot a mana. I don't find that fun at all. From my experience I never got to enjoy raiding or PVPing as a priest. When it came to raiding, I was always playing catch up and watching my mana bar. It never felt rewarding at all.

    However, the only big trump cards Priests hold over other healers is the ability prevent an instant death with Shields and also being able to dispel magic from enemy players. Priests are the "offensive healers". You do not get more offensive than a priest. Shadow Plays like a lock but with fewer DoTs and other things to keep track of. They have the added bonus of playing defensively or playing offensively.

    I have not much experience on my shaman but from when I spent time levelling my shaman I found it to be pretty enjoyable. However, resto is the best spec if you want to get into serious PVP. The other specs i.e Elemental/Enchancement lack the edge of a shadow/disc priest to put pressure on an opponent which Priests as a class excels in. Mana Burn is a very OP ability and can single handedly change the tide of a battle especially in an Arena.

    But like I said "fun" is very subjective. I found "fun" from controlling peoples minds and having them jump over cliffs off the Lumber Mill in Arathi Basin and in Eye of the Storm. That was fun for me. Or something as simple as Dispelling Wings of a Paladin or any other magic effects. However, I find shamans to be more effective at mainly healing. It lacks most of the offensive abilities of a priest.

    As DPS I find shadow to play a very unique role. It plays more of a pressure role in groups and in Arenas. Keeping pressure on the Healer with its DoTs, Fears, Mana Burn, Dispelling, etc. It plays similar to a lock. Multi dot targets and pressure the healer/DPS. Elemental/Enhancement offer more burst. Shamans can be very effective with all their CDs up. However, their big CDs are pretty long.

    Personally I recommend a Shaman. You really get to enjoy the class since you need to be relaxed when you play a class and you can do that on a Shaman and you also really get to get more out of each ability in its class. Elemental is fun. You can kite melee by running while casting Lighting Bolt.
    Last edited by wynterlyn; 2012-04-17 at 02:12 AM.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by wynterlyn View Post
    Or something as simple as Dispelling Wings of a Paladin or any other magic effects.
    Just a note: Both Priests and Shamans can dispel enemy magic buffs such as Wings/Icy Veins/Fear Ward. Priests use Dispel Magic and Shamans use Purge.

    However, Priests have the ability to Mass Dispel which can not only dispel Paladin Divine Shield and Mage Ice Block, which other dispels cant, but can also dispel multiple roots at the same time etc. (Although that isn't the recommended use because it drains mana)

  10. #10
    Deleted
    After 4.3 my friend that I 3v3 with decided he didn't want to heal as a druid anymore (getting insta-gibbed by a couple of 1600-1700 cleave teams might have influenced this) and rerolled. He tried both priest and shaman, and has settled on shaman. Priests can do a lot, but are very reliant on peels. A decent shaman can kite, shear, ground and really screw over a team's offensive in a way that a disc can't.

  11. #11
    Deathing Polys

    /thread

  12. #12
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Dossou View Post
    Deathing Polys

    /thread
    You're not a real man until you death your first blind.

  13. #13
    Deleted
    So many useful posts in here and I thank you all. Still I simply cannot choose :/ Thinky thinky

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Dossou View Post
    Deathing Polys

    /thread
    preventing polys without using a GCD is far cooler.

  15. #15
    Deleted
    My shammy has only been to RBGs and not too much arenas, but I'm quite experienced of high rated SP in 3s (mainly). If you have some good partners for peels etc SP is so much fun! You can put pressure, dispel, burst (from time to time at least..), mana burn etc. Quite a toolbox for our walk n' talk class!

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