Do not want to heal...how viable is it to play Shaman as only DPS?

[Arctestoid]

Hi, I haven't played WoW in over 7 years and have decided to come back while I'm stuck in the house due to COVID-19.

I have tried healing before, and I plan to give it another go with a Shaman, but I don't have high hopes, as I don't enjoy the stress and blame of being the one to keep people alive.

So, if all else fails...would I still be viable playing a shaman as a DPS only class?

Just want to know people's opinions before I get fully invested, my shaman just hit level 30 last night and I have been really enjoying playing elemental.

[Sluvs]

If you are not pushing any high Mythic + or on the cutting edge of mythic raiding you will be fine.

[Saltysquidoon]

Shamans are not that desirable in m+ (unless you want to play resto), Raid wise in the current tier shamans are about average or a little below and in an aggregate of all fight's I'd say enhancement is generally better then ele.

Frankly, if you're level 30 now it's unlikely you will be engaging in content where you class matters and who knows how things will shake out in shadowlands.

[crakerjack]

Any specs can be played at any level in WoW. This isn't classic where things are drastically unbalanced. There are zero limitations outside of pushing for world first mythic.

[Mirishka]

If you are not pushing any high Mythic + or on the cutting edge of mythic raiding you will be fine.

A geared/skilled Ele shaman does just fine in high keys.

[Cyanu]

it's going to be fine, especially as ele in M+, but just a clarification: you'll be playing as ele/enh but that doesn't mean that you can take healing skills off your action bars, especially in the direction shadowlands seems to be taking healers are going to dps more often and hybrid dps are going to toss a heal here and there occasionally

[david0925]

A geared/skilled Ele shaman does just fine in high keys.

I agree with you, but community perception is important if you plan on joining other people's keys, no matter how exaggerated or inaccurate that perception is.

[potis]

Hi, I haven't played WoW in over 7 years and have decided to come back while I'm stuck in the house due to COVID-19.

I have tried healing before, and I plan to give it another go with a Shaman, but I don't have high hopes, as I don't enjoy the stress and blame of being the one to keep people alive.

So, if all else fails...would I still be viable playing a shaman as a DPS only class?

Just want to know people's opinions before I get fully invested, my shaman just hit level 30 last night and I have been really enjoying playing elemental.

All classes and specs are viable for the content intended.

No, you wont get invited into a +24 but you will also probably never be near one.

Anyone declining you based on class up to +17-18 is also a noob, assuming the rest "credentials" are there.

You are gonna have trouble with community perception as a Shaman, not because the class is weak, but because the majority are terrible at the game to actually know how to play it and they will follow blindly what they see on MDI/Streams etc even for the irrelevant content.

My only actual grip with Shaman is bad tanks that move for no reason and Earthquake, they simply dont go together, thats an actual problem Elemental Shaman has in slightly higher keys where the tank might need to save his ass by moving a lot sometimes which makes me hate playing my alt shaman.

[Thunderpuss]

I've mained enhancement since beta 2004, has definitely ebbed and flowed over the years but still a lot of fun imo. I did level a vulpera elemental sham and think it's fun but will always pref my shock master

[Mirishka]

I agree with you, but community perception is important if you plan on joining other people's keys, no matter how exaggerated or inaccurate that perception is.

Yeah, that's true. Can't fix stupid, after all.

[DarkShawoman]

As others have said, you probably won't be in cutting edge raiding as ele or enh, BUT that is long over until shadowlands anyway, so play whichever spec suits you best. There are pros and cons of both, biggest is they are opposites, ranged and melee.

As for future, shamans seem pretty good so far for Shadowlands, everyone is crying because shaman numbers look bad, IT'S STILL EARLY ALPHA, damage tuning hasn't happened and won't happen until like Aug or so anyway. Also all 3 specs of shaman look solid, gameplay wise, some need tweeks but so does the other 33 specs in the game too. I play all 3 specs and love every moment of them. I have my main shaman who is ele and resto and are 465 ilvl, then my alt shaman is enhancement at 445 and its just as much fun.

TLDR: play whichever spec feels good for you, not a bad thing to be versatile and have the gear to swap if needed. Knowing how to heal is always a nice perk, then also find a good group of players in a community or guild and you will enjoy the game more

[Kyphael]

I just play for fun. No idea about mythic requirements or whatnot. My enhancement shaman and elemental shamans are determined by race/lore. For me it's fun. Zero fucks given about dps and what not.

[StillMcfuu]

Hi, I haven't played WoW in over 7 years and have decided to come back while I'm stuck in the house due to COVID-19.

I have tried healing before, and I plan to give it another go with a Shaman, but I don't have high hopes, as I don't enjoy the stress and blame of being the one to keep people alive.

So, if all else fails...would I still be viable playing a shaman as a DPS only class?

Just want to know people's opinions before I get fully invested, my shaman just hit level 30 last night and I have been really enjoying playing elemental.

You'll be fine regardless of what you want to do. If you are trying to do really high keys, getting an invite won't be an issue as you'll want a competent guild. Ele is your best bet, Enh does find damage wise, but takes a bit too much damage.

[kosajk]

You'll be fine regardless of what you want to do. If you are trying to do really high keys, getting an invite won't be an issue as you'll want a competent guild. Ele is your best bet, Enh does find damage wise, but takes a bit too much damage.

hard to compete with DH that can be crazy dps wise and have some neaty cds for m+
beside that enh have one of best aoe potentials and about being squishy i can argue about that (outside of pvp obviously) :P

[StillMcfuu]

hard to compete with DH that can be crazy dps wise and have some neaty cds for m+
beside that enh have one of best aoe potentials and about being squishy i can argue about that (outside of pvp obviously) :P

There are definitely better classes. Basically what I was getting at is if you are running keys where the other classes with all the tricks becomes a sticking point at "not being invited", you should probably be running with guild mates or a team that isn't going to 100% care about the class. Enh does massive aoe damage, and doesn't trade much of their ST damage for that AOE (Ele does a bit more). Enh gives up a bit of survivability and definitely some utility to have that spot. They are basically melee glass cannons. I know they can heal them selves, and you can be sneaky with wolf form for some extra protection, but a lot of other "M+" classes have multiple defensives and group defensives... and I think a more important part is they can continue to attack while mitigating and self-healing where Enh needs to stop.

I think they should move Windrush Totem to lvl 45 talents, baseline Earthshield, Baseline Feral Lunge, and make lvl 75 talents another defensive row. I'd like to see Earthen Wall Totem there for all shaman specs, not just Resto. Earthshield makes more sense baseline, just call the talent Shield Mastery and let the Shaman choose between using Lightning or Earth shield. Feral Lunge would just be a nice bit of QOL movement I think the class lacks... yeah I think Shaman, once one of the most mobile classes, lack movement. All other melee classes have either distancing closing abilities (fel rush, hook, shadow step, Leap, Charge). I think even in the middle of a pack a DK still has an advantage because they can both both Wraithwalk or use Death's Advance both of which give speed boost and immune to CC.

[Venziir]

Hi, I haven't played WoW in over 7 years and have decided to come back while I'm stuck in the house due to COVID-19.

I have tried healing before, and I plan to give it another go with a Shaman, but I don't have high hopes, as I don't enjoy the stress and blame of being the one to keep people alive.

So, if all else fails...would I still be viable playing a shaman as a DPS only class?

Just want to know people's opinions before I get fully invested, my shaman just hit level 30 last night and I have been really enjoying playing elemental.

Been playing as Elemental since the AQ patch, so I'd say it's quite viable. Not thé best dps class out there but still viable.

[callipygoustp]

At this point of BFA, doesn't matter much at all.

[Segus1992]

Any specs can be played at any level in WoW. This isn't classic where things are drastically unbalanced. There are zero limitations outside of pushing for world first mythic.

This isn't really true. For high level PvE it matters quite a bit. DPS imbalance matters more for raids, whereas utility imbalance matters more for M+. At low/medium level you can definitely play whatever though.

- - - Updated - - -

Been playing as Elemental since the AQ patch, so I'd say it's quite viable. Not thé best dps class out there but still viable.

Wow, if only I could avoid getting bored by playing the same class for that long. Pretty sure the disparity between my most played class and least played class is 50% at best.

[op3l]

I loved playing my shaman cause I can spot heal sometimes. I usually keep my eye on the healer's health bar and if it goes below 50% i'm throwing in heals. Granted this play style isn't suited for everyone but I've always liked the utility shaman brought to the party since TBC days.

DPS wise in BFA they are very comparable to other classes and unless you're pushing world 1st or super hardcore min/max guild then you'll be fine.

[valky94]

ele is a fine spec for both raids and m+, so you should be fine, and SL changes look promising aswell