1. I know without a doubt that dual-wield is superior to 2-handers (I'm only 24, so it's not an issue yet). However, is it superior right away? I mean, there's the improved dual-wield, which seems to make it so much better... is it still worth it with a 25% miss rate when you can first get it?
2. Is there an internal cooldown on Shamanistic Focus? I have definitely crit without it proccing, and I wasn't sure the reason for that. No, I didn't have the buff up right then, just in case you thought.
3. I put 2 talent points in Improved GW; my friend, who is now a level 46 shaman, said it's worthless, but I like the instant cast travel form. He put points into Guardian Totems and Improved TS instead; I put them into enhancing totems and, as said, Imp GW. Opinions?
Thanks all; I <3 shaman so far; lots of burst makes it fun to play, and the GW form makes it easy to get around :)
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Couple quick newbie Shaman questionsFollow
I am going to take a shot:
1. Although I think it indeed is better right off the bat, it is kind of a mute point. You will be so overwhelmed with the coolness of dual wielding that those few levels you need to max the +hit talent will fly by. Just hit 40, grab that dual wield, storm strike next then the +hit talents and rumble your way up!
2. There should not be. By the way even if the focus talent is up, when you crit the duration gets refreshed. So check your combat log whether you truely made MELEE crits and, if so, whether you did not accidently cast a shock 0,00001 miliseconds after your melee crit.
3. There was a thread a little while ago debating the use of improved GW. I will say as I did back then: I personally LOVE improved GW while levelling. It makes for fast travelling all over the world (for example: short travels within a city, between your last victim and your next, beating another faction's player to a herb/mine node and - if that is your game - get away from pesky enemy adds when needed). Couldn't live without it! When you start raiding, the talent is wasted though (or at least 99,99% of the time) as GW isn't usable indoors.
If I would have to choose between Guardian Totems + improved Lightning shield (I assume the Improved TS is a typo of yours here) or Enhancing Totems and Improved Ghostwolf it would be 100% the latter...
1. Although I think it indeed is better right off the bat, it is kind of a mute point. You will be so overwhelmed with the coolness of dual wielding that those few levels you need to max the +hit talent will fly by. Just hit 40, grab that dual wield, storm strike next then the +hit talents and rumble your way up!
2. There should not be. By the way even if the focus talent is up, when you crit the duration gets refreshed. So check your combat log whether you truely made MELEE crits and, if so, whether you did not accidently cast a shock 0,00001 miliseconds after your melee crit.
3. There was a thread a little while ago debating the use of improved GW. I will say as I did back then: I personally LOVE improved GW while levelling. It makes for fast travelling all over the world (for example: short travels within a city, between your last victim and your next, beating another faction's player to a herb/mine node and - if that is your game - get away from pesky enemy adds when needed). Couldn't live without it! When you start raiding, the talent is wasted though (or at least 99,99% of the time) as GW isn't usable indoors.
If I would have to choose between Guardian Totems + improved Lightning shield (I assume the Improved TS is a typo of yours here) or Enhancing Totems and Improved Ghostwolf it would be 100% the latter...
LockeColeMA wrote:
1. I know without a doubt that dual-wield is superior to 2-handers (I'm only 24, so it's not an issue yet). However, is it superior right away? I mean, there's the improved dual-wield, which seems to make it so much better... is it still worth it with a 25% miss rate when you can first get it?
Yes. You'll have no choice but to level two-hander until 40 or 41 depending on whether you pick up Stormstrike or Dual-Wield first, but you should start dual-wielding immediately as soon as you get it.
Quote:
2. Is there an internal cooldown on Shamanistic Focus? I have definitely crit without it proccing, and I wasn't sure the reason for that. No, I didn't have the buff up right then, just in case you thought.
None. As soon as you burn the buff it can proc again. I don't know what you did or didn't do or saw or misread, but I've never had it fail to activate. Ever.
Quote:
3. I put 2 talent points in Improved GW; my friend, who is now a level 46 shaman, said it's worthless, but I like the instant cast travel form. He put points into Guardian Totems and Improved TS instead; I put them into enhancing totems and, as said, Imp GW. Opinions?
What is "Improved TS"?
Either way, Imp. GW is a very solid talent and worth every point even if you never plan to PvP. It's convenient and useful for escaping/chasing. And if you plan to PvP at all (or are leveling on an open PvP server) then it's practically mandatory.
Gaudion wrote:
Quote:
3. I put 2 talent points in Improved GW; my friend, who is now a level 46 shaman, said it's worthless, but I like the instant cast travel form. He put points into Guardian Totems and Improved TS instead; I put them into enhancing totems and, as said, Imp GW. Opinions?
What is "Improved TS"?
Either way, Imp. GW is a very solid talent and worth every point even if you never plan to PvP. It's convenient and useful for escaping/chasing. And if you plan to PvP at all (or are leveling on an open PvP server) then it's practically mandatory.
Oops, too much Kingdom of Loathing; meant Imp. LS (Lightning Shield). KoL has an ability called Thrust-Smack and Lunging-Thrust-Smack (TS and LTS, respectively), so I must have made a mental "oops."
I guess my question is, then, is Imp LS a better idea than Enhancing Totems? And is Guardian Totems better than Enhancing Totems?
Thanks for the help, all
Imp. LS is terrible. Avoid it like the plague.
As for Guardian Totems vs. Enhancing Totems, it depends on what you want to do. For leveling and PvE, Enhancing Totems runs away as the better choice by a mile. Neither of them are worth very much in PvP, but Guardian Totems ends up a little better due to it lessening the cooldown on Grounding Totem.
As for Guardian Totems vs. Enhancing Totems, it depends on what you want to do. For leveling and PvE, Enhancing Totems runs away as the better choice by a mile. Neither of them are worth very much in PvP, but Guardian Totems ends up a little better due to it lessening the cooldown on Grounding Totem.
As for the imp ghost wolf thing; It's a must-have in PvP and it's very nice when levelling. It doesn't get useless until you start raiding.
completely agree with all the OP. I leveled to about my mid 50's before I started reading posts and such, so I did not have improved GW and i did have improved LS, when I did start reading and made the adjustments, the impact was HUGE, I love GW and found there was no need for imp.LS, I almost never use my guardian totems, except grounding, so I didnt need that either.
Hey Locke,
I put a bit of a leveling talent point suggestion into the main FAQ on page 2 that might help you a bit.
DW = Win, Focus does not have a internal CD that I am aware of, Imp GW will serve you far better than imp LS ever would.
I put a bit of a leveling talent point suggestion into the main FAQ on page 2 that might help you a bit.
DW = Win, Focus does not have a internal CD that I am aware of, Imp GW will serve you far better than imp LS ever would.
Taurrus wrote:
Hey Locke,
I put a bit of a leveling talent point suggestion into the main FAQ on page 2 that might help you a bit.
DW = Win, Focus does not have a internal CD that I am aware of, Imp GW will serve you far better than imp LS ever would.
I put a bit of a leveling talent point suggestion into the main FAQ on page 2 that might help you a bit.
DW = Win, Focus does not have a internal CD that I am aware of, Imp GW will serve you far better than imp LS ever would.
Thanks Taurrus, good info.
Another question came into my head: what's the best weapon enchant to be using right now? I've been sticking with Rockbiter (which seems pretty bad, honestly :-P), but I just got Windfury. Should I be using that from now on? It looks great; free hits! Just checking on this :)
LockeColeMA wrote:
Another question came into my head: what's the best weapon enchant to be using right now? I've been sticking with Rockbiter (which seems pretty bad, honestly :-P), but I just got Windfury. Should I be using that from now on? It looks great; free hits! Just checking on this :)
Use Windfury. All the time. Never let it fade off your weapon. Windfury is your best friend.
More questions!
1. What do people do for a combat sequence? I find totems too costly to maintain most of the time, unless I know I'll be fighting 4 fights in a row close by, or multiple enemies at once. Even getting back 1/4 of the mana cost, it hurts to blow hundreds of mana... usually I just run in swinging with Lightning Shield up and Windfury enchanted on my weapon. If I crit, I use ES; if I want some extra oomph, I'll drop a Searing Totem. Is... this normal?
2. I'm approaching 40, and am thinking about weapons for dual-wielding. My server's AH is HORRIBLE for items (at 37, I'm still using a couple of items from the low 20s; I just replaced a belt from Bloodmyst). I only have 100 gold saved up, but a mount isn't a huge concern thanks to ghost wolf. Instead, I was thinking of buying dual Wirt's Third Leg(s). I realize the speed is a bit quick (2.6 and higher being optimal), but my other options... literally don't exist. There are three of these up on the AH for between 50-60 gold a piece... my other options are waiting until 42 to get a green item (28.1 DPS, 2.7 speed, +5 str/sta). I realize it might be a no-brainer, considering I still have skills and mail to get, but... I really want dual-wield to rock ;-)
1. What do people do for a combat sequence? I find totems too costly to maintain most of the time, unless I know I'll be fighting 4 fights in a row close by, or multiple enemies at once. Even getting back 1/4 of the mana cost, it hurts to blow hundreds of mana... usually I just run in swinging with Lightning Shield up and Windfury enchanted on my weapon. If I crit, I use ES; if I want some extra oomph, I'll drop a Searing Totem. Is... this normal?
2. I'm approaching 40, and am thinking about weapons for dual-wielding. My server's AH is HORRIBLE for items (at 37, I'm still using a couple of items from the low 20s; I just replaced a belt from Bloodmyst). I only have 100 gold saved up, but a mount isn't a huge concern thanks to ghost wolf. Instead, I was thinking of buying dual Wirt's Third Leg(s). I realize the speed is a bit quick (2.6 and higher being optimal), but my other options... literally don't exist. There are three of these up on the AH for between 50-60 gold a piece... my other options are waiting until 42 to get a green item (28.1 DPS, 2.7 speed, +5 str/sta). I realize it might be a no-brainer, considering I still have skills and mail to get, but... I really want dual-wield to rock ;-)
LockeColeMA just wait a little bit, get storm strike before Dual Wield keep using a 2h with wf and then get DW at level 41. This may make you sad but keep using your 2h weapon until 42 then buy the other weapon you mentioned it should still hit harder with WF for you and you will already have storm strike to help you kick even more *****
As far as totems go I say it depends, solo I wouldn't use totems unless like you said you can use totems for multiple fights which you may not always have that benefit, but in groups I would say dropping a few totems may help a lot to keep mana up and increase your groups dps. In groups remeber you generally get plenty of breaks to drink so it is not too much of a burden to keep a couple totems up.
As far as totems go I say it depends, solo I wouldn't use totems unless like you said you can use totems for multiple fights which you may not always have that benefit, but in groups I would say dropping a few totems may help a lot to keep mana up and increase your groups dps. In groups remeber you generally get plenty of breaks to drink so it is not too much of a burden to keep a couple totems up.
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