My view on Elemental Shamans

[Rehea]

after doing a toc 25 run with another equally geared ele shaman i noticed we are (afaik) the only class that have to gimp their personal dps in order to increase the raid dps, we have to use our gimped (compared to a demo warlock ) spell dmg buff (ToW) instead of using magma/searing/fire elemental.

recount on northrend beast looked like this.

1) Arcane Mage
2) Unholy dk
3) Destro warlock
4) Elemental Shaman (me) using Fire elemental and Searing totem all over the fight
.....
just above tanks ) Elemental Shaman (had to keep up tow )

my ideas to buff elemental shamans just a bit in order to keep up with other classes would consist on 2 points:

1) buff ToW to make it equal to Demo Warlock Spell dmg buff ( this is currently the only buff/debuff that is diferent depending on your class )

2) make ToW work like a searing totem aswell using a fire attack on nearby enemys, and maybe even add talents so they give a small spell dmg buff to the shaman whenever the ToW fire attacks crits.
for example. Lava Flows added effect: When your Totem Of Wrath fire attack crits your next spell dmg is increased by 2/4/6% or 3/6/10%


opinions ?

[lyradude]

i wouldnt mind a small pve boost but tbh L2 live whit the fact we are mostly their for the buffs and totems just like we all have to live whit it

i also wouldnt mind a bigger range on the totems:P

[Swagger]

People have been suggesting both of these options forever, and to be honest as an Elemental Shaman I'm a fan of both of them.

But in the end I could do without the "All Fire Totems give the Totem of Wrath Buff" (even though I'd love it).

I'd rather just have our "Totem of Wrath" (our useless 41st talent in the elemental tree when raiding with a Destro Lock and Ret Pally) be based off our spell damage so it is identical to the way the Demo Lock works.

It would in no way buff our own personal DPS in the raid environment because we always have a Demonology lock regardless, plus I wouldn't have to listen to the warlocks complain that they don't want to gimp their own DPS to spec Demonology.

It's a win/win for everyone...

[cyloria]

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...sid=1&pageNo=1

A long discussion with GC posting multimes today. On this exact topic.

[tacklebox]

We've all been yelling for ToW to not be a separate totem, but something all your fire totems give. And all totems, including ToW, scale better with gear, particularly spell power and haste.

[AltraSeckz]

You're right this should happen. Because doing top damage is what matters the most. And hybrids are supposed to put out the same amount of dps as pure deeps classes. Amirite?

[Fen]

You're right this should happen. Because doing top damage is what matters the most. And hybrids are supposed to put out the same amount of dps as pure deeps classes. Amirite?

Good trolling there. The point is that, with equal gear and skill, a shaman who is on ToW duty will do MUCH less dps than one who isn't. It's not getting top dps as much as it is putting out competitive dps while still buffing the raid.

[BenBMW]

In regards to the original posters and probably a few other ppl who posted:

I for one am always the shaman who puts down ToW for the raids that I'm in. I'm still usually pushing 4-5.5K DPS depending on the fight as well and I'm by no means top-end geared. I don't even have the 4-piece T9/9.5 bonus. I'm often very high on the DMG Done meters so I'm not sure what all these other shamans are doing wrong. I think a good majority of it is an L2P issue but perhaps there is another issue. I've never gotten the chance to drop searing totem or what not while another ele shaman drops ToW but I'd sure like to do that and see what my dps is. Just for the record, I typically beat any elemental shaman in the raid even if they don't drop ToW (why would they anyways? lol).

Anyone else have similar experiences and are still in the top 5 of the DMG-Meters? Assuming there isn't like a massive amount of AoE stuff, 'cause our AoE dmg is nothing too special.

[Deleted]

In regards to the original posters and probably a few other ppl who posted:

I for one am always the shaman who puts down ToW for the raids that I'm in. I'm still usually pushing 4-5.5K DPS depending on the fight as well and I'm by no means top-end geared. I don't even have the 4-piece T9/9.5 bonus. I'm often very high on the DMG Done meters so I'm not sure what all these other shamans are doing wrong. I think a good majority of it is an L2P issue but perhaps there is another issue. I've never gotten the chance to drop searing totem or what not while another ele shaman drops ToW but I'd sure like to do that and see what my dps is. Just for the record, I typically beat any elemental shaman in the raid even if they don't drop ToW (why would they anyways? lol).

Anyone else have similar experiences and are still in the top 5 of the DMG-Meters? Assuming there isn't like a massive amount of AoE stuff, 'cause our AoE dmg is nothing too special.

Hurray, you're top 5 in recount. You're sooooo good. Like.. totally. And it's in no way, form or shape anyhow related to your guild being bad.

I could easily get out of my top guild and go into a stupid scrub guild, where I'd totally pwn everyone in terms of DPS. Like... literally destroy them.
But that's not the point. Most people fail to realise that they shouldn't be allowed to talk about their situations, just because they raid with other people who fail.
If you're mediocre and the rest of your raid fails, then you'll of course top the meters. That doesn't mean your class is in the right spot or anything, because your meters are shit and don't prove anything.
Do you remember the times where Ferals pwned everyone and everything by a huuuuuge margin? (Ulduar... 7.7k DPS @Mimiron P1 and so on)
You might not believe it, but there were guilds where the Ferals were only able to pull ~4k DPS or something with the same gear as those 7.7k ones.
If those QQ'd about their damage being too low and if Blizz would listen to any of them, then Ferals might get totally overpowered.

Mediocre players who have no idea where classes are when PLAYED BEST AND GEARED BEST should not try to get their mediocre situations into those situations. It's the same as asking for new imbalances to be added to the game.

[Amana]

Hi, I'm an elem with very competitive gear, I usually pull around 7k dps in raid when I'm lucky. I play the way GC intended the class to be: by putting ToW.
I'm almost never in top 5, well that's too bad for me, but I really feel like I'm behind the raid. That's sad.

[comablack]

You don't know much about other classes?
Locks lose agony/doom to up elements
rogues/wars lose dps to put up expose/sunder
a smart hunter will use a wasp if no druid to provide FF
mages lose casting time putting up scorch

after doing a toc 25 run with another equally geared ele shaman i noticed we are (afaik) the only class that have to gimp their personal dps in order to increase the raid dps, we have to use our gimped (compared to a demo warlock ) spell dmg buff (ToW) instead of using magma/searing/fire elemental.
..........
opinions ?

[Starstruk]

i only feel sorry for ele shams because like boomkins there is nearly no prefectly itemised gear for them in ToC

[boneschaman]

if a wl goes demo he gimps his dps as bad as we are

[Spectrez]

I usually pull 5.5k + dps in my raids and maybe top 5 - 10. I am full t9 and 1 t9.5 though and some naxx gear and a few uld pieces. There is absolutely no gear in toc for ele shamans though. you are righ ton that. at least in 3.3 they are adding mail gear with sp/crit/haste for emblems, for ele shams! wewt!

[Rehea]

You don't know much about other classes?
Locks lose agony/doom to up elements
rogues/wars lose dps to put up expose/sunder
a smart hunter will use a wasp if no druid to provide FF
mages lose casting time putting up scorch

curse of elements can be replaced by an unholy dk/oomkin
tanking warriors are meant to be using sunder armor
u are doing a 25 man raid without a single druid of any spec ? : o
and u dare to compare the dps gimping of having to use tow the whole fight instead of magma totem to have a fire mage casting scorch every 20-25 seconds, i quite didnt know this would gimp a mage dps by almost 20 %

[Mudkiper]

My view on elemental shamans as a healer in arena. Partner 100% HP, 0.5 Seconds later... "Wtf? How did you die?"

[wisniak]

I usually pull 5.5k + dps in my raids and maybe top 5 - 10. I am full t9 and 1 t9.5 though and some naxx gear and a few uld pieces. There is absolutely no gear in toc for ele shamans though. you are righ ton that. at least in 3.3 they are adding mail gear with sp/crit/haste for emblems, for ele shams! wewt!

Ye they do add some gear for emblems, but not in all in icecrown citadel almost every mail gear is with mp5 there that's sad

[Shornaal]

And don't forget a lock going demo provides a buff better than ToW. It's not up 100% of the time? ToW neither, because it's static nature means someone will be out of range for a few moments. And the 3% crit part is shared with retris/assass.

The question is: why elemental shamans have to lose SO MUCH personal dps to buff the raid? Other classes/specs lose really less dmg, or even don't lose ad all (blessings, fortitude, motw etc.). Blizz knows it, GC said it's something they want to fix, but have many things to do so we probably won't see much until Cata.

[Chainz]

dont make tow attack , make tow a aura like demo sp aura. maybe combine the aura with the 5% crit we give.
and make it scaling with sp like demo's do

[wisniak]

don't forget about nerfing our t9