Which is easier to play?

[Durkstar]

I'm trying to go for an alt

Both shadow priest and elemental shaman are something haven't played in a long time. Both themes would be something i enjoy.

Now raises my question:

Which spec would be easier to play?

[ZazuuPriest]

I think this question is highly subjective but I play both classes as alts and I find Ele to be both more fun and easier than SPriest plus if you want to heal Resto is way easier and more viable than disc and just better than holy at a lower skill level (skill level/experience on the class/spec is more punishing on a priest)

That being said SPriest feels better than it has since WoD possibly better than ever.

This response probably didnt help sorry.

[TyloBedo]

Easier is subjective and can depend on the content you're doing but in my opinion Shadow has a more difficult AoE and burst rotation so I voted for Ele being easier.

[Gestopft]

I think Elemental is easier to play in terms of doing the rotation well, but also comes with a shitton of extra key binds/utility.

[Topornic]

I would say it depends. Icefury elemental shaman is probably the most difficult ranged spec just because of sheer number of buttons to press and switch between st/aoe. Priest is way more simple.

[Durkstar]

Yeah sorry if the question is to subjective.

Just dont wanna spend alot of hours on a spec which would be to hard to play. Mostly pve

[Skylarking]

Shadow priest. Once you understand devouring plague uptime there isn't much else to the spec. SWD sniping as well but easily covered with macros and good name plate addon. Elemental has a lot of depth to the spec especially in multi target situations so I wouldn't recommend it.

[Shadowsgrace]

I'm trying to go for an alt

Both shadow priest and elemental shaman are something haven't played in a long time. Both themes would be something i enjoy.

Now raises my question:

Which spec would be easier to play?

easier is subjective, if you're good at Tracking multiple dots on multiple targets, Then Shadowpriest, if not, then ele shaman.

[Utrrabbit]

I think this question is highly subjective but I play both classes as alts and I find Ele to be both more fun and easier than SPriest plus if you want to heal Resto is way easier and more viable than disc and just better than holy at a lower skill level (skill level/experience on the class/spec is more punishing on a priest)

That being said SPriest feels better than it has since WoD possibly better than ever.

This response probably didnt help sorry.

While I agree with you for most of it. Disc is the #1 healer at the moment. So saying resto is more viable is not true.

[Adam Jensen]

Having played both, I find elemental shaman easier than shadow priest.

But . . . YMMV.

[callipygoustp]

Yeah sorry if the question is to subjective.

Just dont wanna spend alot of hours on a spec which would be to hard to play. Mostly pve

Both are easy. Both are fun.

[ZazuuPriest]

While I agree with you for most of it. Disc is the #1 healer at the moment. So saying resto is more viable is not true.

re-read what i said.

"Resto is way easier and more viable than disc and just better than holy at a lower skill level (skill level/experience on the class/spec is more punishing on a priest)

Yes by the numbers disc might be the best ever but its way harder for most people not because disc is particularly hard in theory but you do have to play at a respectable level and have a good understanding of every single thing in every single dungeon and raid boss to be good at it.

Plus you can get by on a lot less gear healing on a shaman than you can as disc AND Necrolord is amazing for Ele and Resto whereas you kind of have to pick your covenant/content with a priest.

But we're getting off topic here talking about an offspec of this persons possible alt character.
Ele is easier imo and has much better utility than SP

[Neuroticaine]

I'm trying to go for an alt

Both shadow priest and elemental shaman are something haven't played in a long time. Both themes would be something i enjoy.

Now raises my question:

Which spec would be easier to play?

At their base levels, Elemental is easier. However, with talent choices, I wouldn't necessarily call Elemental more difficult, but it can be made very... clunky.

Neither are necessarily difficult, but Shadow can take some nuance to maximize.

[caramel0rar0]

In PvE scenarios, every spec is easy to learn.

[Danuel]

In PvE scenarios, every spec is easy to learn.

watch out we got a PVP badass over here

[Biomega]

I'd actually say SPriest. It has a very simple rotation with very simple rules, and actually not that many buttons to press. While Elemental is, of course, not amazingly complicated or anything either, it has more things going on than SPriest.

[Rusken]

Ele is much easier than Spriest at a base level. It has a super simple priority and only one DoT to track on multiple targets. Spriest I feel requires a fair amount of precision in its casts to optimise and juggling 3-4 DoTs on multiple targets is often way too much to think about if you're not already used to it. Overcapping Insanity is also WAY more punishing on your DPS than overcapping Maelstrom.

At an advanced level, Ele has the ability to do a lot more than Spriest can. Through its off-healing and utility a good Ele sham is far more valuable than a good Spriest. Most times they out-DPS them too. It's also by far the most mobile caster, with tons of instant casts (even more with Icefury) and Spiritwalker's Grace on a 2m CD there are very few situations where you actually have to stop DPSing in order to move, and for the times you do you've got Ghost Wolf to move much faster. Spriest really struggles with movement without Insanity to spend on Devouring Plague.

And as mentioned in an earlier post, Shaman's healing is much MUCH easier than Priest healing. Disc requires near-perfect Atonement and Absorb management to get through tough encounters, Holy has a LOT of spells that all do slightly different things and you need to know all of them well ahead of attempting anything difficult (although it is much easier than Disc to learn). While Resto can pretty much put down Cloudburst and spam Chain Heal/Healing Surge and it handles everything up to +10s, so if you ever want to Heal dungeons I'd strongly suggest Shaman over Priest right now.

I've personally always found Ele to be one of the most fun specs in the game. It's a very thematic spec, it feels great to throw out 4-5 Lava Bursts with a single cast and Stormkeeper is possibly one of the strongest burst CDs around. Its aforementioned utility means it can solo tons of open world group content and Torghast is a breeze with a certain combination of powers. It's nice that it's strong enough now to be viable in early tiers. Traditionally it's quite weak until stats scale up in later patches but we're in a good spot right now.

[Aucald]

"Help Me Choose" type threads don't tend to produce much in the way of constructive discussion or debate. Please check online resources or the class-specific subforums if you have further questions. Closing this.