Should I go back to Shaman?

[Palapwn]

I'm recently returning to WoW after a year. I used to main an Ele/Resto PvE Shaman but I'm unsure if I should go into the new expansion with the same class. How are Shamans faring in WoD? Would you play a different class if you could?

[callummuppet]

I'd reroll something new, as somebody that left the game and returned I've been sorely disappointed

I mean I'm only 5/10 M BRF but I've found myself being drawn to my hunter or warrior a lot more so as of late

[Putin-Chan]

Play a mage or hunter, don't ever look back, don't make the mistake I made when I decided to not level my mage/hunter from 90.

[rpdrichard]

From the tweets and post they have made, it's pretty much likely shamans will be ready for 6.x.x in 7.x.x

[Palapwn]

Play a mage or hunter, don't ever look back, don't make the mistake I made when I decided to not level my mage/hunter from 90.

I was thinking of going either Mage, Hunter or Paladin.

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From the tweets and post they have made, it's pretty much likely shamans will be ready for 6.x.x in 7.x.x

Woah. That bad huh? No hope for at least Elemental to make a come back? I'm still attached to my Shaman!

[Deleted]

I was thinking of going either Mage, Hunter or Paladin.

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Woah. That bad huh? No hope for at least Elemental to make a come back? I'm still attached to my Shaman!

Ele has a "good" dps but we have like 0 utility. Enha is the same but with less dps. Resto is good atm.

[Palapwn]

Ele has a "good" dps but we have like 0 utility. Enha is the same but with less dps. Resto is good atm.

I see. So then why all the doom and gloom? :P

[BloodyAngel12]

I see. So then why all the doom and gloom? :P

Devs dont give a shit about Enh/ele.

[Deavane]

I see. So then why all the doom and gloom? :P

A lot of elemental and enhance player would like to see more of a reason to be brought to raid. Being middle of the pack is fine if you bring something that warrants your spot in a raid. This comes in the form of utility, which we severaly lack (in regards to anything good. We have some, but none of it is fantastic by any means).

We have ancestral guidance, windwalk, earthgrab, capacitor totem (some other stuff, nothing noteworthy). None of this stuff is that great relative to several classes that can soak mechanics (falling debris on BH mythic, etc) or other types of utility.

With that being said, we've made suggestions over several periods (WoD beta being where a lot of good stuff was suggested) and have seen little in return.

[Alltat]

Resto is fine when it comes to numbers and utility (tide, double spirit links, ridiculously good spot heals, ranged interrupt, offensive dispel, AoE stun, AoE snare), and the spec is much better than it was in MoP (though I still liked late Cataclysm resto more), but the gameplay is still a bit awkward. It's not bad enough to warrant rerolling something else, but if you have to level and gear up a character anyway, I'd pick something else. If I could class change to a druid and keep my current ilvl, followers and legendary quest progression, I would. But it's not so bad that I'd put much effort into switching; I do have a 665 druid alt that I'm not switching to.

[Deleted]

Just remember that whilst there are a couple of issues (some of which Watcher already highlighted) people on this forum always make things out to be worse than they actually are. To be fair Enhance is pretty bad right now but Elemental's in a good spot - middle of the road with really good sustained aoe. If you're a caster or healer then shaman will be fine for you, if you're a melee player then maybe think about it some more.

Bottom line though, is play what you find fun.

[Deleted]

Just remember that whilst there are a couple of issues (some of which Watcher already highlighted) people on this forum always make things out to be worse than they actually are. To be fair Enhance is pretty bad right now but Elemental's in a good spot - middle of the road with really good sustained aoe. If you're a caster or healer then shaman will be fine for you, if you're a melee player then maybe think about it some more.

Bottom line though, is play what you find fun.

There we go again. People will never learn that their #300 raiding group is not the center of the universe. Watcher didnt even talk about the core problems we suffer from, let alone his retreat from ever redesigning the Shaman class. This should be fucking alarming in everyones head, instead people still go around and say that everything is fine. Wow..

[Deleted]

If you want the class to be redesigned then the class ain't for you. I like my shaman. Go whine on the mage forums or something.

[Deleted]

If you like the new visuals a lot and don't care so much about dps, then go shaman. Same with resto, it's an OK healer spec, nice CD's and such, looks cool etc. etc. etc.

If you want to do dps, then play a mage/warlock/hunter.

[Wengel]

Resto is in a good spot, Ele isn't as bad as many make them out to be (main resto, ele offspec myself).
I actually find myself longing for the shaman whenever i go heal on one of my other healers. The mastery-powered spot heals are ridiculously good currently (who said 250k+ surges?) and other healers won't even get near that level of power for that task.
We also have a lot of raid cd's which are very potent (double link, htt, ascenadance+SWG etc).

Enhancement is in a niche spot at the moment and lacking significantly behind the rest except in very exceptional cases.

[Palapwn]

It seems the general consensus is to reroll. I think I'll level my Shaman towards the end of the expansion, hopefully things will get better!

[Deleted]

If you want the class to be redesigned then the class ain't for you. I like my shaman. Go whine on the mage forums or something.

Too bad for you then, since the community and the devs are more and more shifting to the redesign direction. The Shaman community, especially the Elemental branch, is getting smaller every day. This week we lost another discussion medium (Summon Stone) and there's only one active theorycrafter for this spec, who publishes his results.

Not wanting a redesign and activily pushing against it, is like trying to stop globalization. Modern Elemental Shaman, who raid in high end progression guilds, like me, have a Balance Druid "offspec" since late WoD beta.

[Deleted]

Too bad for you then, since the community and the devs are more and more shifting to the redesign direction. The Shaman community, especially the Elemental branch, is getting smaller every day. This week we lost another discussion medium (Summon Stone) and there's only one active theorycrafter for this spec, who publishes his results.

Not wanting a redesign and activily pushing against it, is like trying to stop globalization. Modern Elemental Shaman, who raid in high end progression guilds, like me, have a Balance Druid "offspec" since late WoD beta.

I’m not sure the core rotations of either spec need an outright “rework,”

So there's your first point proven as complete bollocks. And as for the boomkin offspec, that's an issue with balance druids being overpowered, mostly due to the nature of how starfall interacts with the add encounters.

The totem system will get reworked somehow, that much we know, but the rest of the class mechanics are fine.

[Deleted]

I'm recently returning to WoW after a year. I used to main an Ele/Resto PvE Shaman but I'm unsure if I should go into the new expansion with the same class. How are Shamans faring in WoD? Would you play a different class if you could?

I switched mains from resto druid to resto shaman very recently. PVE resto is the only purpose I'd roll shaman for. Well, and enhance for CM time-runs. If you are looking for a constantly well-performing dps class by god stay away from shaman.

[Deleted]

I’m not sure the core rotations of either spec need an outright “rework,”

So there's your first point proven as complete bollocks. And as for the boomkin offspec, that's an issue with balance druids being overpowered, mostly due to the nature of how starfall interacts with the add encounters.

The totem system will get reworked somehow, that much we know, but the rest of the class mechanics are fine.

Yeah, using ultimate words wont actually make your arguments better. We're due for a rework since Cataclysm, and the atmosphere since your very quote was posted just went even more downhill in every Shaman forum. We'll see next expansion what they will do. A Shaman rework is needed, since this class is stuck in 2004, whereas every other class got new mechanics and a more refined toolkit with every expansion.

As for your Balance comment, dunno what your point is - but your definitely missed mine. The reason because Balance trumps Elemental in every aspect (except for sustained AE dps, which is like needed on 2/10 bosses in BRF and on 2/14 bosses in HFC) is because they got actual attention and careful changes every expansion. Their toolkit is perfect. Ranging from their high survivebility with off heals, guardian, higher HP/armor to having 2-3 DPS CDs which are so ingenious designed that you can adjust to every encounters need perfectly. Not mentioned their insane burst potential, while still having strong dots. This were so many words and I didnt even mention Starfall.

They can leave the iconic dropping totems to the ground (making them immune to dmg/untergetable) and still attach skills to them. Ability pruning failed because we got even more spells as Shaman and not less.