Elemental shamans in Cata, comparable to a mage?

[dalliah1]

So... i've decided to switch to an elemental shaman in Cata. I use to play a fire mage throughout WOTLK, i've done everything up to bane of the fallen king with her and i'm use to being at the top of the meters. I haven't heard how elemental shammies are doing damage wise in the beta and i've been starting to worry that it will be nothing like my mage ( I'm fully aware that mages will always be above shammies in dps) I just got out of a voa where I did 11k dps which I guess is decent for my gear, I have maybe 5900 gs with no 4 piece, no icc trinkets.. etc.. So anyone able to give me an idea of how shamans are looking?

[Instant]

I suggest you read one of the other threads (there is like 5000 different threads about this). Are you so special that you require a separate thread?

PS.

Shamans are looking good.

[Deleted]

Shamans were great on the beta. One of the best dps specs out there.

I died a little inside at the ''I'm fully aware that mages will always be above shammies in dps'' part though. (

[Sterkrazzy]

you'll rarely be #1 on dps, but you'll be up there with the warlocks and dks...the locks and dks in my guild are the only ones that know how to really dps, our mage never beats us, the rogues are up there sometimes...no one else is really a threat to an ele shaman on the meter, but i'm also one of the most geared in my guild

[vastalant]

This is great to hear considering ele dps was low through wrath, at least it was low if you were in a competent raid :P

[altiris]

Shamans were great on the beta. One of the best dps specs out there.

I died a little inside at the ''I'm fully aware that mages will always be above shammies in dps'' part though. (

Unfortunately, that is how Blizzard thinks. Hybrids are always going to be balanced to do less damage that pure DPS classes. That is why I am abandoning my Balance Druid for a Mage in Cataclysm.

[Deleted]

Unfortunately, that is how Blizzard thinks. Hybrids are always going to be balanced to do less damage that pure DPS classes. That is why I am abandoning my Balance Druid for a Mage in Cataclysm.

That is not always true, infact u can see some pretty decent Paladins, shamans and Boomkins make alot of dps and be competetive with pure DPS classes like mages or warlocks (probrably depending how much u spam your keyboard

[Deleted]

Unfortunately, that is how Blizzard thinks. Hybrids are always going to be balanced to do less damage that pure DPS classes. That is why I am abandoning my Balance Druid for a Mage in Cataclysm.

I'm pretty sure blizzard has stated that they're moving away from that philosophy.

[Barky]

I'm pretty sure blizzard has stated that they're moving away from that philosophy.

What they state and what they actually do are two completely different things.

[Cragen]

What they state and what they actually do are two completely different things.

I'm just more sick of what they count as hybrids. Seems like a hybrid in Blizzards eye is a class that can heal and do dps. Not tank and dps like warriors.

But so far elemental is looking decent in Cata. The rotation at least is a lot more fun now. The only thing that I am really concerned about is how we will scale throughout Cataclysm. Though maybe if that is a problem they will change shamanism so it increases all spell damage by 25% like most classes instead of being just increasing the scaling off LB, CL and LvB.

[Deleted]

Shamans 4 the Win, I think the 85 Talent and the Gear will show how much will the Elemental

[Bullocks]

Unfortunately, that is how Blizzard thinks. Hybrids are always going to be balanced to do less damage that pure DPS classes. That is why I am abandoning my Balance Druid for a Mage in Cataclysm.

Uhhh, Deathknights?

[Endus]

I'm just more sick of what they count as hybrids. Seems like a hybrid in Blizzards eye is a class that can heal and do dps. Not tank and dps like warriors.

It was always "has a role other than DPS". Shaman got the short end of the stick for a long time, likely through Wrath, because another balancing concern was the buffs a class brought. Totems were the best buffs around until 4.0.1 (SoE still beat out the others), and of course, Shaman were the only source of Heroism/Bloodlust.

That said, it's entirely not an issue going into Cataclysm, since our totems are actually slightly worse than the other options, and other classes have the same haste boost. Elemental's doing fine, and Blizzard's been clear they want Enhance keeping up with Fury warriors and such; if they're not there, it's a balance issue, and they'll be working on it.

But so far elemental is looking decent in Cata. The rotation at least is a lot more fun now. The only thing that I am really concerned about is how we will scale throughout Cataclysm. Though maybe if that is a problem they will change shamanism so it increases all spell damage by 25% like most classes instead of being just increasing the scaling off LB, CL and LvB.[/QUOTE]