Last Try: ShamanFollow

Hi!

First of all sorry about my english...:/

I can say i love WOW, but im a kind of altaholic person... actually i dont even know if its the right word to describe myself since i dont even have a 'real' main toon. So far, after playing a few months thats what i have:

- Hunter 70 (was my first toon, as alliance, but don't like to play as alliance anymore)
- Warlock level 66
- Rogue level 64
- Shadowpriest level 52
- Feral Druid level 40 / balance druid 33 (2 different toons: alliance/horde)


and a few other lower levels toons (mage, warrior, pally,..)


Problem is: i like to play almost all the classes. I mean, each class has something unique that i like a lot...But, im getting tired of my own stupidity - new expansion is on the way and i still didnt even started the TBC raid context cause i cant stick with one class. So, sometimes i feel like i'm wasting my time and should quit the game...:/


Maybe this will be my last hope: now im trying to level a shammy (the last class to try)... I wanna be an elemental shammy...i like to do melee, but i really prefer to be a caster. He's at level 21, so of course i still have a lot to learn, but I have a few questions:

1)It will be really hard if i decide to level as elemental? Elemental is what i want to be, but everybody keep saying u should level as enhance. Well, im not in a rush to level this toon, so i dont mind to level a little bit slower if I decide to go all the way as elemental. I know that at lower levels gear sucks for elemental shammy... i guess it shares the same drama that balance druids have (i have a balance druid level 33 too)... i had to need a lot of cloth items in the instances and of course always had someone crying and complaining...lol.. But ok, if i decide to go as enhance, when it will be ok to switch to elemental? As soon as i reach Outland? Does it make a huge different in the playstyle (enhance vs elemental)?


2) About PVP, how is a pvp game for an elemental shammy? I keep reading posts where ppl say that elemental shamans are great for BG, but i want do understand how it works: which spells do we have? Only the lightining stuff and the shocks (beside the totems of course)? Isn't it boring? But since shocks have a cd and lightining has a 'huge' (at least for pvp) casting time, what else can we do? Also, We dont really have any real CC stuff, so i guess we have to choose carefully our fights and try to avoid melee combat? Or elemental shamans do melee too (is our melee damage ok with the buffs we have or it would be like a mage trying to hit with his staff)?


3)About the end game/raid context: what can u tell me about that? Whats our rule?


Hum.. i guess thats all...

Thanks in advance for any reply!

;)=

Well, in context to the post above, I leveled as enhancement till bout 60. Its hard till you get dual wielding and stormstrike. But its perfectly possible to solo as elemental, I just preferred to have talent points before I tried. Once I hit 60 and switched over, I cant' believe how much fun it is.

Bah. Even though I perfer enhancement for bgs, an ele shaman is not someone to mess with. You do not need to rely on someone else anymore due to diminishing returns being removed from frosk shock. Kiting works well against melee classes, and for 70 you have elemntal mastery, natures swift, chain lightning, which is an isntant 2000 damage even with crappy gear like mine. Elemental can deal massive amounts of burst damage due to their ability to crit. Lightning overload helps alot. On lower level pvp you will have much more trouble. Enhancement is really the way to go on lower levels. My advice for pvping elemental low level is puting points into improved fire nova totem.

Leveling elemental involves spamming lighning bolt and frost shock. SEARING TOTEM WORKS WONDERS!!!! I have soloed 72 elites as elemental with only searing totem and earth elemental. But, as for low levels... gear is somewhat lacking. Try a dagger and shield, or a staff because finding a good dagger and shield can be hard. Up at higher levels ST and Mara will be your best friends in terms of gear. Low level instances would include WC and SM, but thats really it (if I missed some I'm sorry).

Questing has been fine for me as well as I leveled a bunch as elemental (not just outlands). However as elemental is good for low levels, Enhancement is better. The is just do much more gear. That is really the only reason why.

End game most shamans will heal. Only a few will dps. Elemental shamans have out dpsed mages sometimes, but it is rare. Basically shamans are needed because of their totems. TOTEMS ARE INVALUABLE! Otherwise there is not much that I can say, since I am not really a raiding person (I perfer pvp).

Thats really all I can help with good luck! :)

After a "few monts play" you have all of that! That is incredible. I have been playing over a year and all I have is a lvl 67, 61, 44 and a handfull of 20 somethings

The bitter guy who said eles have no place in arena apparently doesn't know that elemental shamans are so crucial to the most powerful and successful 5v5 make up that the team is named after them. its called 2345, warr/pally/priest/ elesham/ mage-or lock. Armory the top 5v5 teams, and notice that like 4/5 have an elemental shaman, and be confident you can have success in pvp.
As for leveling, elemental is fine, but like you said it's not quite as fast.

And if you were wondering why it's called 2345-
2345 is the number keys most shamans press to win in 5v5=
2-bloodlust, 3-elemental mastery, 4- nature's swiftness, 5- chain lightning = win
This the reason the vast majority of the best 5v5 teams bring an elemental shaman- he can instantly increase the DPS of his team by 30 percent, as well as delivering a massive burst himself, also instantly. The best teams are built around the massive damage an elemental shaman can create so quickly, which often overwhelms targets and wins games. Maybe Guadion should consider the rest of the world, rather than his own experience, before telling everyone how bad elemental shamans are.

Maybe you should consider some actual experience of your own instead of armory searches and videos.

Yes, Elemental Shaman have a place in 5v5. Unforunately, Heroism/Bloodlust is the only thing that gets us there. Your job in a 5v5 team is to hit Heroism/Bloodlust and then try for the love of God not to die.

But in 2v2 and 3v3, and in any situation you might find yourself in 1v1, Shaman fail. We can not control space, we have no defense other than our armor, and we have no offense other than pure damage and Purge. The higher you get in the game, and the higher you climb in the arena ratings at 70, the more you learn that PvP is all about control, spacing, damage mitigation, and the ability to mitigate your opponent's control and spacing. Pure damage is about the least important thing when it comes to high-level PvP, even when you're hitting Bloodlust/Heroism. Shaman as a class simply do not have the tools they need to compete right now.

I'm not saying Elemental Shaman can't be effective. It's just rare outside of 5v5/BG's, and not for lack of good players. If you see an Elemental Shaman and a Rogue above 2000 on the 2v2 ladder, his partner is probably one hell of a Rogue. If you see a Shaman above 2000 on the 3v3 ladder, the Disc/Holy Priest and Warrior with him and probably great players. The Elemental Shaman himself actually contributes very little. He's a purge/earth shock bot that slings lightning when able.

If the OP is looking for a dynamic, raw, effective PvP DPS experience, Shaman is not the class to go looking for it in.

Hmmm I pvp as resto and currently rated 1805 in 2v2, so while I'm not as high as I'm sure you are, I do have a little experience- and I don't watch videos. As far as armory searches, if you know a better way to find out what the highest rated teams are composed of I'd love for you to share. Yea it takes an exceptional player to be successful in 3v3 and 2v2, but you characterized elemental shamans with one word- "terrible", and the fact is that's a clueless way to describe the class. You said the only chance they have in arena is to find good teammates, and while that may be true in your case, it's not true in the real world.

Benzzo...
1. Learn to fragment your paragraphs! The enter key is there for a reason you know.

2. World of warcraft isn't the real world. Get out more often.

3. You misunderstood Gaudion. He wasn't saying they are hopeless at PvP, more the fact that if an Elem shammy gets any sort of melee dps on them they are pretty much screwed.

A frost shock + earthbind totem might let em run away long enough to get off 1 Bolt or Chain, that's if they aren't snared.

The reason lots of 5v5's take em on is because Chain lightning can absolutely rip through a 5v5 team, and with 4 other people on the team, there's more chance for the shammy to survive.

Maybe I did misunderstand him- I thought he said shamans were terrible at pvp, and that they must rely on good teammates to be worth anything. My fault. And no, chain lightning is not why teams want an ele sham in 5v5, not specifically anyway- they are wanted for exactly the reasons i said. Bloodlust, switch target, purge,
EM, NS, boom. No team is going to allow an elemental to "rip through" them with chain lightning- shaman are focused from the get go because they are so dangerous relative to their survivability. But you are right about one thing- WoW isn't the real world. This is a wow forum, so I think most will know what I mean.

no, go with what you want. Do you want to melee or cast?

Enhancement is certainly easier to gear and slightly faster to level, but as said you aren't in a rush.



oh? and i suppose being the top with pretty much everything in BGs is due in part to teammates? If by this you mean i stand in the back and attack the other players like a mage does then yes. But no elemental is certainly better for BGs than enhancement. You just get kited and being kited in a huge enviornment like AV sucks.



You are fine if you're getting melee'd if you dont get poisoned or hamstrung. Frost shock and run away. But if they are smart enough to stun/snare you you are pretty screwed. if you're fighting a caster you will probably win the encounter, even against warlocks. Hunters and melee will be you're biggest pet peeve as elemental.



With the talent lightning bolt has the quickest cast time next to a druid's wrath.



spot on.



spot on.



i'm going to have to agree with gaudion here, my 2v2's rating has plumeted down to around 12k because i server as the teams paper tank.

edot : typos

Edited, Jan 17th 2008 9:59am by Draeneipally

Objectively speaking, yeah... Elementals are terrible. Maybe you and a few other people don't like to hear it, but it's the truth. 5v5 arena is not PvP in general, despite the fact that Blizzard claims they balance PvP around it.

Right now Elemental fails completely in 1v1 situation and struggle immensely in 2v2 and 3v3. You can easily replace them in any of those situations with another DPS class and usually be better off.

They can succeed in 5v5 because class matrixes really don't matter there. It's like a mini-BG cluster!@#$, just five people slinging as much damage and healing at each other as they can.

They can't control space, they have no defense other than their armor, zero mobility, no CC, no way to stop incoming CC other than fear (and our fear counter sucks), all of our main spells have cast time and are of the same school making us stupidly easy to shut down, we have the worst snares in the game, the worst interrupt in the game... I mean, Christ, we are completely incapable of even getting our primary spells off at all without our four-piece gladiator set bonus and we can't get a heal off without Nature's Swiftness.

Again, I'm not saying Elemental Shaman can't succeed. But compared objectively to any other DPS class, and we are found to be severely lacking. Go search any 2v2 or 3v3 (where individual class ability matters the most) arena ladder on any battlegroup and tell me how many Elemental Shaman you see at higher ratings. It's not for lack of players or lack of skilled players. The class and spec itself is simply lacking tools.

And yet blizzard has been buffing hunters every patch since summer?

I think blizzard has lost it's touch with the gaming community and just wants our money. Success leads to greed, greed leads to crappy mistakes in online games, crappy mistakes make people quit.

Gaudion you just destroyed blizzards interperetation of the shaman class in one fel swoop. /bow


RE: OP

THe shaman class is INSANELYfun to play, i got wow a week after christmas last year and spent the next 4 months finding my perfect class. around june that became the shaman simply because of how much fun it was playing it.

But a word of advice, try not ranting about us sucking on WoW, many idiots think we're the most OP class in the game. "wtf? are you reterdedz? if shaman had CC mages better get plate armorz, you do too much damage" "well my magey friend, kinda hard to have all that damage and not be able to use it..." "omfg you idiotz you have frost chock/EB. damn retarded person..."

If we had even a lesser CC... things would be different, we would be a balanced class instead of the insane nerf wall class.

Edited, Jan 18th 2008 9:42am by Draeneipally