I wrote some suggestions in another post, I would like to add them here to enhance feedback and discussion.
(Weapon imbues) In WoD they made weapon imbues passive. Considering there are no longer alternative imbues besides Flametongue and Windfury, having to reapply them every time you swap weapons feels archaic and unnecessary. What’s even the point? They added the new capstone for imbues, which is fine, but it’s basically mandatory because of the damage increase. It doesn’t add anything meaningful to gameplay and shouldn’t really be a talent. It’s just another example of weak class design. They should simply make imbues passive again. There’s no reason to constantly reapply what is essentially a passive effect that has no impact on the rotation and doesn’t feel good, it just gets in the way when you swap gear (for example, going from PvE to PvP).
(Hybrid DPS) As a hybrid DPS, we fall short. Our off-healing on allies is very poor, so reducing our own defensives doesn’t make sense. If we’re not going to function properly as hybrids, why not just treat the spec as a regular DPS like Warrior, Rogue, or Hunter? Those classes have clearly defined passive mitigation, minor defensives, and major defensive cooldowns. Even Paladin, which in my opinion brings much more utility to others with auras and blessings, still has all these layers (healing, instant self-healing with a cooldown, absorption, Divine Shield, increased armor), not to mention the huge QoL advantage of being able to generate and spend resources at range. In Legion, Enhancement had some of that capability, which has been heavily reduced now. As Shamans in general, we only have one defensive that could be considered strong, while the rest are self-heals with a very outdated design (resource-dependent and also costing mana) and frankly weak passive mitigation. As others have pointed out, Shaman struggles a lot when it comes to surviving and urgently needs a redesign.
I won’t go into Reincarnation since it’s already been mentioned, but it’s clearly outdated and hasn’t evolved with the game. Right now it feels like it exists more for flavor than actual gameplay value.
(Interrupts) Shaman used to have one of the strongest interrupts in the game. If I’m not mistaken, with talents Wind Shear could go down to a 5-second cooldown. This was balanced by only locking the school for 2 seconds, but it was still very strong. Now it doesn’t really have any advantage over DK, which also has a ranged interrupt but locks for 5 seconds. Yes, we have the talent that reduces magic damage taken, but that talent wasn’t even used back in Cataclysm when the cooldown was shorter.
(General utility) To me, Shaman always felt like an anti-caster class, that was its strength. We had Grounding Totem (why was this removed from the base kit, Blizzard?), we had a ranged slow, a sort of pseudo-immunity to movement impairing effects, and a ranged interrupt. Even before being able to project totems, the class felt fluid when facing ranged classes. It doesn’t make sense that 13 years later the class feels more limited against ranged than ever. Lightning Bolt does no damage without Maelstrom Weapon stacks. Frost Shock is locked behind talent investment despite being a weak ability. Hex, despite having a cooldown while similar abilities don’t, cannot be cast instantly through Nature’s Swiftness or Maelstrom Weapon. Would that be too strong? I doubt it. It would simply give the class another tool instead of relying on excessive self-healing or explosive burst like in recent expansions. Other classes have multiple ways to apply CC without the same level of friction Shaman has.
I do have several suggestions. I’m not sure all of them are viable, but I’ll share them anyway in case someone wants to read them. The goal is to make the class feel more modern without losing its identity. Keep in mind I’m speaking as a long-time player, not as a top-level expert who knows every detail of the class. For PvE damage the class is fine, like most specs, but overall it could be much better, especially in PvP and solo/world content:
(1) Normalize the class compared to other DPS
Shaman should have defensives that can be used intelligently without requiring overly complex setups. My suggestion would be to increase the base healing of Healing Surge by 100% when used on yourself, without requiring Maelstrom Weapon. Maelstrom Weapon would only reduce the cast time, making it instant. The mana cost is already high, and when you heal frequently you run out of mana very quickly. Even with a 100% increase, the healing would still be relatively low (around 20% of your total HP), and since it requires casting, it can still be interrupted or punished, so it wouldn’t be abusable. This would also synergize well with Nature’s Swiftness. Requiring it to be self-cast would prevent excessive off-healing on allies. Maelstrom Weapon would then serve as protection against interrupts rather than being mandatory just to make healing viable. This would encourage smarter mana management and positioning, while giving Shaman a more consistent form of sustain similar to other DPS classes.
I would also replace Astral Shift with Shamanistic Rage, or at least give Astral Shift its old functionality (30% damage reduction, usable while stunned, 1-minute cooldown, 15-second duration). It’s honestly funny that pre-Legion Shaman had better healing and defensives than it does now.
Finally, the class needs a strong baseline defensive. This could come from a rework of Reincarnation (for example, something similar to Guardian Angel, where lethal damage instead heals you), or by making Burrow a baseline ability similar to Deterrence or Divine Shield.
I would also remove Earth Shield from DPS, as well as Chain Heal and Healing Stream Totem.
(2) Improve mobility and ranged interaction again
As mentioned before, while classes like Unholy DK or Paladin gained more tools to deal damage at range, Enhancement lost most of its own. I don’t really understand the reasoning behind this, but it feels wrong that we now have fewer ranged tools than before. My suggestion would be to add some way to deal damage and generate Maelstrom Weapon stacks at range, even if it’s minor. For example, through Frost Shock, which for some reason has a relatively high cooldown despite being a weak ability. I would also reduce the cooldown of Feral Lunge, add a short root effect to it (similar to Warrior Charge), and lower its cooldown overall. Another option would be to have Nature’s Swiftness generate Maelstrom Weapon stacks instead of its current effect.
Aside from those suggestions, a simpler alternative (which might be seen as unnecessary) would be to increase Lightning Bolt’s base damage. Right now, Lightning Bolt needs Maelstrom Weapon to deal meaningful damage, which feels more like a punishment than a rewarding mechanic, since casting it without stacks never results in a meaningful gain. Similar to the healing changes, its base damage could be increased while reducing or removing the scaling from Maelstrom Weapon. That way, if you can’t reach your target, you can still deal some damage, even if it’s not much.
I also want to highlight how much stronger short to mid cooldown mobility abilities have become compared to passive movement effects like Ghost Wolf.
Right now, having something like Divine Steed, which gives you full movement speed and immunity to slows every minute, is far more impactful than having a form that only lets you move at 100% speed.
The game has evolved in a way where active mobility tools provide immediate, reliable value, while passive movement buffs feel outdated and insufficient by comparison. Times have changed, but abilities like Ghost Wolf haven’t kept up.