So I wanted some feedback from shamans. I have been wanting to grab a caster, even though Blizzard hates alts and the idea of redoing essences makes me weep.
Elemental vs Destro lock (as I shelved this guy but might dust him off)… I kind of wanted to go ele more but I’m also sometimes terribad and like the option of a pet and the self heals of a lock.
But I’m more interested in a fun factor. Are you guys having it? If you had to regear from the start, would you do a shaman or a destro lock?
Any other feedback is appreciated.
Oh, and how is M+ for you guys?
One of my guildies just is a destro lock main, offspec demo. He rolled a shaman with his 120 boost for preorder of SL, and he’s told me it’s the most fun he’s had with a caster class.
I’m a MW monk main, but had originally rolled Aff lock back in Legion. I’ve leveled this guy to (so far) 115 as Enh, both through questing and dungeons. I’ve gotta say, I really enjoy it. I’m usually a ranged caster type in MMO’s, but Enhance has been thoroughly enjoyable as a “buff with elements and badonk baddies with stormstrike” type character.
As someone who’s played both classes, albeit neither of the specs you mentioned, I’d have to give it to shaman personally. I think my friend would agree. I think the biggest thing you need to be aware of is that even though you have to redo some of the grinds for this xpac, it’s not a race. Take it casually and just enjoy the toons. Unless you’re a cutting edge raider, it’s not really a race to the finish line.
As above, unless you’re world first, top 100 raiding/m+, you’d find Shaman to be very enjoyable.
With three separate roles for each spec (melee, ranged and healer), you have the option to switch your personal preferences up. And if you’re keen on learning how to heal, you can become desirable.
While you have a lot of time up your sleeve before SL, I’d recommend looking at the essences available, and consider the handful that you’d be willing to run the content for.
I boosted my Destro Lock at the end of WoD. At some point in Legion my Enhancement Shaman post-Legion rework was just getting beaten up by everything in PvE, so I mained my Destro Lock for about 1 major content patch. It was soooo much more powerful and I pulled off solo feats I never had been able to with my Shaman.
However, that power was just a bit too slow going for me. There were ramp issues, cast time issues, and frustrations over being Chaos-locked, and of course I couldn’t stand the low mobility. I haven’t really played my Warlock since that content patch in Legion – I mained DH the next content patch, and then Ret Paladin sooner after for a minor patch, and ended up back on my Shaman, this time as Elemental.
For all four classes (+ Unholy DK) I completed all but the healing Mage Towers: I enjoyed the Warlock experiences the least, the Shaman ones the most. Heck, I even one-shotted the Enhancement one, and once I learned how to use Stormkeeper and play Elemental properly, I three-shotted its Mage Tower.
In short, the Shaman class is very near and dear to my heart and it exemplifies everything I want in a class.
It’s always been the most fun:
- Instakilling people in vanilla, if I could get close to them and the RNG gods loved me at that moment.
- Kiting mobs during the Razorgore encounter.
- Main tanking 5-10 man dungeons in vanilla.
- Main tanking with 4 other Shaman to get our Skyfury helms.
- Preventing a raid wipe and trash reset by keeping my sole tank alive while being the sole DPS and healer alive (<3 Shamanistic Rage).
- The sole BLOODLUST in raid for an entire expansion.
- Off-tanking to protect healers and casters in TBC Karazhan when we were still learning Curator.
- Thunderstorming enemies off the flag in Eye of the Storm never gets old.
- Using Shamanism Bloodlust on friends-to-be in WPvP/BGs.
- Stormkeeper Chain Lightnings in Nighthold and cackling “UNLIMITED POWA!” every. single. time.
…albeit the most frustrating:
- Permaslowed/stunned to death by pretty much every class since forever.
- Lack of CC for many years.
- Relegated to healbot in vanilla, period.
- Being turned down for Sulfuras despite having the most DKP.
- Unable to farm gold efficiently for epic mounts until the next expansion.
- Weak solo ability until Earth Elemental was unleashed from its totem (and brought back to Enh after Legion removed it).
- Being 100->0 by many classes without having an effective response, see Ret Paladin, Assassination Rogue, Fury Warrior, BM Hunter, etc.
- Feast-or-famine Enhancement playstyle.
- Utility-heavy GCD-lockage.
If you love lightning as a natural phenomenon, the freedom to swap between melee DPS and ranged spell-based DPS (only one of two classes that can do this), and a melee spec that is more a spellcasting battlemage than a warrior, and of course you enjoy paying tribute to Thrall on a daily basis, then I am positive you, too, will enjoy the Shaman class as much as I do.
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If this is your focus, Shaman is a good class.
Ele is a fun ranged spec. Enhance is a fun melee spec. And though I’m not much into healing, of all the healing I’ve done (yes, I’ve actually TRIED them all), Resto is the one I would enjoy the most (if I was more confident of a healer to do it more).
For fun, you can’t go wrong with Shaman, IMO.
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Fun is subjective with anyone, shaman can be fun just like warlock. Try them out in the class trial.
For normal content they are both good in general.
Personally i would go warlock over shaman because they have better mog options and destro are a monster in pvp.
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Personally I would go Lock for fun. I really like how Demo plays. Ele is fun but I don’t like how it handles AoE. I mean it’s strong, I just don’t particularly enjoy it. Chain Lightning only hits 5 and EQ can be tricky to time. For EQ You have to build up your maelstrom to cast it on a large group of enemies but sometimes the group is almost dead by the time you cast it, which sucks because its not burst damage so half of it goes to waste. Otherwise I think Ele is pretry fun. I really like the Master of The elements build where you get to buff your next spell after casting Lava Burst. The RNG gods can really shine upon you when you get to constantly weave lava burst in between spells via procs back to back.
ele is fine for m+ but dont expect much for pvp from shamans they die so fast.
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Ignoring the guy above that doesn’t play shaman, and doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Elemental is great for raiding and m+. Its not one of the most common high end PVP specs, but there regularly has been ele shams pushing into the arena tourney’s this expansion.
RIght now, Ele offers a ton of variety in how you want to play. That is what I am enjoying. You can pick an option with more mobility via more instant cast spells. More burn potential with ascendance or storm ele. And they all sim at least at very comparable levels.
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listen to this guy he only plays ele.
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I recommend Shamans. Especially Enhancement Shaman. A couple things if you decide to go Enh though.
1- Very gear dependent.
2- Positioning is KEY.
3-Knowing mechanics, is a must.
As an Enh Shaman, you wont have the benefits of sleeper classes, such as hunters, DH’s , etc. You will have to pay attention to detail.
Once you get enough practice, and stick with it long enough, it all pays off.
1925 R io score. 3/12 M All Enhancement Shaman =p
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I’ve mained probably 75% of the classes in WoW over the years and Shaman is definately one I always come back to. Healing is fun as Resto, Ele can be fun depending on the expac and Enhance is generally quite a good melee spec in most expacs.
I would recommend it to all players if they are looking for a hybrid class and don’t want to tank.
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My understanding of Destro is that it’s boring and predictable. Elemental is very RNG-oriented. So, depending on how you feel about that it might be a plus or a minus.
I mainly BG and quest, so in that regard I would say this.
- In BGs, once you have the gear and you’ve got the hang of the spec, you have a lot of options. I really enjoy the shaman because of the quick CD interrupts, the massive AoE in the node matches, and the glyphed and talented Spirit Wolf which means anyone training on you is going to have a hell of a time taking you out. I’ve probably baited people into being picked off by allies more than I’ve killed people. As a healer, this is somehow ever better.
And if you’re Ele, it goes without saying the Thunderstorm is just absolutely spectacular.
- Questing. It’s not great. Frost Shock is going to be your most useful talent, but it’s all a bit tasteless. I find questing to be more of a chore than I do on other classes, and as I go for Loremaster I find a lot more enjoyment grinding out zones with other classes.
Same with old raids. I tend to use an Affliction Warlock but that end up being a trade for movement speed and kill efficiency. Both pale in comparison to the warrior.
Since I main BGs, it’s very fun to just swap healing/casting and be good at both things, but depending on what you’re looking for that might not be relevant.
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I rolled a resto shaman for an alt and became addicted.
Healing in dungeons is really fun with totem buffs and chain heal.
It takes at least 3 people to take me down in a BG.
And the utility, man, it just makes people love you: water walking, reincarnation, wind walking totem, and more.
Pve? Yes, they are fun. Pvp? Hell no
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Fun is subjective … Destro is a lot of fun to play . And certainly takes less work than Ele. Just standing and melting the face of anyone who stands in front of you is a lot of fun .
Ele is more of running around using a no of things to draw the fight out. Certainly much more work involved . But a lot of fun too .
this if you want to pvp dont play enhance…lol.
Got to 1400 arena primarily using enhance.
and 1400 is nothing almost the lowest arena rank,.
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looks at Kelgar’s arena rank
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