I am really sick of being useless at PvPFollow

You know, this is getting to be very, very tiresome...I keep trying to like my shaman, and keep getting kicked in the junk.

I've spent 30+ days played on my shaman, and for what? A busted toon that is not that welcome on raids unless I spec resto to be a second rate healer, or a PvP toon that is one of the worst in the game. I would like blizzard to at least give the shaman a fighting chance in PvP. I would not say I am a great PvP player, but I am not completely clueless either...Basically our class is so broken for PvP that winning against an equally geared class with any skill is nearly impssible.

Vs Rogues, Hunters, Warriors of equal gear and marginal ability I have NO chance. I don't even try against rogues any more, it is ridiculous. Yes, I can drop poison cleansing totem blah blah, that is assuming I ever get out of stunlock, which I never do. Warriors can charge though earthbind and frostshock, so I can't kite them unless I maintain a perfect distance outside of melee but inside of charge. Hunters can kite me to death I have no reliable means to close the gap because frostshock has a range of 20 yards.

Mages, Warlocks and Priests can SOMETIMES be beat if i get very lucky and they are stupid enough to waste big spells on grounding totem.

Druids and Paladins are a nearly impossible class for a shaman to kill if they have any clue.
druids can shift forms to escape damage and come back to attack you, Paladins have plate and can outlast you, no chance.

Basically our class is so gimped, you would have to be a master tactician at all times using a variety of macros to even have a remote chance in PvP. Every other class has a panic button of some sort to either CC or escape, shaman has nothing.

I have mad love for my shaman as well. I pvp almost exclusively and have found my only viable choice is to be a visible rogue. I run in and drop a magma and earthbind and then wait like a chicken hawk in between the casters. When I see someone at about 50% they meet a ss - Frost shock cocktail. I then chase them around hoping they keep doing what they were doing and forget about the duel-wielding troll behind them. I take my kill, refresh totems and return to hiding. One on one I try to hold on until someone can save me.

I am having moderate success. As long as i stay with the group i don't get squashed too bad.

I must admit I do spend an inordinate amount of time screaming, eating grass, or recovering from the acme anvil which always seems to find my head. Like you, I know people are going to say tremor, blah blah blah but I hope one day we can all agree that it always seems like you are just out of range on that pulse that would have broke you free.

One day we will return to the old days when a shammy with a pig head on a stick could level 5 clothies in a row. Until then I will continue to duck and cover.

im not a guy who will insult others readily, so please dont take this as an insult, but if youre having trouble in pvp as a shaman its mostly you. shaman are great in bgs and world pvp, and at least decent overall in arena.

as for pve, many top end guilds have shaman healers that top the charts all the time. resto shaman are by no means "second rate". the only spec of shaman that has anything to really complain about is elemental, and thats mostly because of mana efficiency issues and how easily they are shut down in pvp, both things that can be adressed with a proper group makeup.

also, iirc taurrus, you said you dont have much if any resilience gear. that makes a huge difference in pvp, as lacking resilience makes you an easy target for pretty much anyone else.

Edited, Feb 12th 2008 2:55pm by Quor

ya, same strategy i give to warriors. bring a friend (or friends).

shaman are very much like warriors in that they require group support to play to their fullest, but when supported are devastating.

thats fine too, because the game is ostensibly built around group pvp, not 1v1.

so yeah, an sl/sl lock will crush a shaman 1v1, but a shaman/war combo will crush lock+anything else. the war keeps em snared, the shammy keeps the war and he healed and keeps totems down while providing burst support when needed. purge helps a lot too.



except when everyone has better gear than you and you shrug it off saying "meh, not worth it" then you die even FASTER than everyone else. of course, if you get the gear, then all of a sudden all the people saying "meh, not worth it" start falling to you like wheat before the scythe.

pvp gear makes a huge difference. i can take 2-3 non-pvp geared people at a time on my warrior, even if theyre wearing tier 6. im so much sturdier than they are that even if theyre putting out crazy damage ill still get at least one, often both of them. you cant say status quo if you havent even made it up to the standard of the status quo. youre intentionally keeping yourself below everyone else and for what, some lame excuse about how youll "still die?"

well, you will "still die" but the time it takes that death to come will be extended by quite a bit, and in many cases itll be enough to pull you through long enough to either A.) kill them first, or B.) make your death worth 2 or more of them.

i refer you to my first and second pvp truisms:

Ok, you must not get this. SHAMAN ARE NOT BUILT FOR 1v1! We are a support class, built to scale much better with a group. If you want to be 1337HAXORZZZ in 1v1, then reroll a lock or hunter. If you're ok with bringing some buddies around with you, then you've found the right class.

In summary:
Shaman v any class 1v1= probable death
Shaman+friend(s) vs any 2(+) classes=much better chance of success.

1 on 1 Shamans are no big deal, you have to know when to time your trinkets and such. Arenas are a different story however.

I've beat every class you've listed one on one, learn when is the best time to bust your trinket, what shields to use, and what totems are important.

Shaman are one of the best PvE DPS classes out there, with huge DPS on their own and the plethora of buffs they provide, having them respec against their will is just plain old dumb.

I agree, we are screwed in Arenas, but all your complaints about PvE and 1v1 in your post are easily addressed.

Thread Summary:
"- Shamans are gimp in PvP!
- Uhm, no, they are not. Here are the various strats and things to make you shine: (...)
- Nah, they suck in 1v1, they are gimp in PvP
- True but nobody cares about 1v1, in all other settings they can do the following (...)
- Shut up, shamans suck at 1v1 and therefore are gimp in PvP.
- Well if it's really only 1v1 which concerns you go play a hunter or a lock, those classes own that aspect
- You're a noob, shamans suck at PvP."

You just want to QQ. Go ahead. You're right. Shamans are horrible at PvP. And since you don't want to listen to advice nor consider rerolling, there's nothing anyone can do to help you. It isn't shamans in PvP that is the problem. It's you. And only you can solve that one, sorry. Whereas our only recourse is rating your whining down.

@Taurrus

You're bad.

Now, I make no claims to be fab at PvP and I can't do anything in the Arena if there is a rogue/anything mix 2v2. That aside in a 1 one 1 duel, i have a pretty good track record with my Shaman because i refuse to believe that every person i ever dueled sucks harder than i do. Yes there are multiple things i'd like to see tweeked with the class but I can say they do NOT suck 1v1 PVP, Shamans are GREAT against Mages and Priests, Warlocks i'm hit or miss on, I have destoyed a few paladins (long epic battles, i love fighting pallies 1v1), and a number of rogues, even a hunter or two (but i really feel they weren't good pvp).

Some classes I really depend on kite room to win, ALOT of kite room, I ran across an eighth of a zone once while fighting a pally.

Like most of these people say, you need to learn how to fight the class, but even more so, you need to learn to fight your opponent.
Chances are if your into dueling 1v1 than you will fight the same person multiple times, use that to learn how they play and find weakness. And gear is Sooo important to successful PvP, it's mostly about lasting power from my experiance, more so than +dmg you need to be able to take a hit. It's hard to win if a crit hits you for half+ on your HP.

It does suck a bit that much of our totem powers are useless in BGS because people move spots so quick, but even then you NEED to stay with a group in BG, no matter what your gear or how good you are I found it's mathematically impossible to survive 4 on 1. And fact is, Death is assured in BG, everybody dies especially if you make yourself a target or if a few people decide to specifically target you.

I'd also like to point out that Blizz has specifically said 1v1 is not meant to be balanced (I read it on the internet!).

And lastly, the OP keeps saying YOU always die and YOU are useless. Well Taurrus, I doubt you are aware of every Shaman that has/will read this thread and I'm fine with you saying that YOU stink PvP but don't tell us that WE suck because i'm sure there are some bad-*** mofos sitting in their dim room reading this right now that can beat any class with any class.

second rate healer? wtf?