Feedback: I want to play Enhancement, but why I don't

Classes Shaman
1

I like the idea of playing Enhancement because:

  • Melee (more active and engaging than casters for me)
  • Gameplay options to support allies
    • Totems
    • Healing
    • Interrupt
    • Dispel Magic (Purge)
  • Decent soloer
  • Mail has some pretty cool looking transmogs
  • Shaman lore and world setting

Why I don’t play Enhancement:

  • Ability bloat
    • Rotation(s) have tons of short-cooldown abilities involved, many of which require buff/debuff tracking to be used effectively.
    • Bloat gets worse when accounting to totems and utilities.
  • Talents
    • Too many 2-rank talents in the spec tree
    • Several talents feel blocked by other unrelated talents
  • Race limitations (I imagine this’ll get remedied in the near future once the Primalists are fairly resolved in Dragonflight.)

Some other suggestions that I think would make Enhancement more enjoyable to play:

  • Combine Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning. Less targets = more damage per target hit (single target is the same as Lightning Bolt’s current damage). Access to this feature can replace the current Chain Lightning talent on the class tree.
    • Offer talent option to have Lightning Bolt only target enemies affected by Flame Shock + refresh Flame Shock when struck by Lightning Bolt.
  • Molten Assault
    • Reduce to 1 talent rank
    • Offer choice node option which causes Flametongue Weapon to now apply Flame Shock to targets the first time they are struck, but Flame Shock can no longer be cast manually.
  • Adjust Windfury totem to automatically place itself when striking a target in melee if the Shaman isn’t already benefitting from its effect (can still be placed and positioned manually if desired).
5 Likes
2

I don’t agree with ability bloat that you mention.

I do think that Elemental Assault should be 1 point and Molten Assault should be baked in baseline to Lava Lash.

4 Likes
3

Legacy of the Frost Witch should be a one point node. Also should work off of 5 MSW as Overflowing Maelstrom is toxic design compared to what we had in SL.

2 Likes
4

I agree with you on Legacy of the frost witch. Also did you notice they designed it to be punishing at 1 point? Rank 1 is 5%, rank 2 is 25% physical damage… As if they wanted to force the second point in builds for some reason, seems shady.

5

I would be happy with Legacy of the Frost Witch to be 1 point. You should be able to get both max Elemental Assault and Legacy of the Frost Witch playing Thorims and Witch Doctor’s.

I agree, I really hate Overflowing Maelstrom and it needs to be removed. It the talent that is getting ENH nerfed into oblivion in Season 1 and is the talent that will continue to get ENH nerfed. People see a 10 stack and think OMG nerf them. It’s ridiculous.

6

Ability bloat is a serious issue with enh shaman

3 Likes
7

Yeah, there are a lot of talents that seem strange to not be baseline, or strange that they are 2 pointers. My major gripe is with Feral Lunge, Sundering, and Alpha Wolf.

Considering its short range, low damage, and lack of utility, I don’t understand why Feral Lunge is still a talent. I get that Enhancement is a melee/ranged hybrid spec and it’s not necessary to be in melee at every waking moment, but it’s an absolute trap to put a point into.

I’ve been on the “Baseline Sundering” train for years, and I find it really strange that the new Enhancement tier set requires you to spec into a completely optional talent. If we must have it for the bonus, then at least make it baseline, and have the talent point go into adding the incapacitate effect to it.

Alpha Wolf was a fun Artifact perk back in Legion , and there’s a reason we haven’t seen it since then. Crashing Storms, Hailstorm, and Fire Nova does enough to improve Enhancement’s cleave damage, and doesn’t require the use of one of our only cooldowns to utilize it. Not to mention it’s pitted against Elemental Spirits. I suppose a replacement talent for this would be something like the Vision of Perfection power from BfA, or the 2-set bonus from Sepulcher where using abilities / spending MSW has a chance to summon a Feral Spirit for a reduced duration.

1 Like
8

I really need people who haven’t played Enhancement for a long time like some of us, to stop saying there’s ability bloat.
The entire fun of Enhancement has always been having more to do than most classes. If it’s too much for you, please just play something else
Don’t ruin my fun because it’s too much for you to handle. This is by far the most fun I’ve had with the spec since MOP.

Thanks <3

6 Likes
9

I think the Lightning Bolt/Chain Lightning criticism is valid. They are two buttons that could just be the same button.(for enhance)

1 Like
10

Personally disagree.
I like having different spells for different situations.
Again, Enhancement has always been a busy class. It’s why I’ve mained it since WOTLK.
It’s extremely fun and fairly interesting to play compared to most classes.

4 Likes
11

If you can’t handle the abilities of Enhancement there is always DH, Fury warrior and other classes that do not use the full hotbar. Enhancement is in a very good spot but you have a lot to keep track of as well as lots of priority shifts on abilities depending on the situation.

But again if this is too much for you well as stated DH/Fury warrior and so forth are the class better suited for you.

5 Likes
12

The irony is rotationally it’s the same amount of buttons as DH and War.

2 Likes
13

I don’t know I play Enhancement Shaman. And I play a tank. Not sure how many buttons are needed for Fury Warrior or Havoc DH. I do know we have a good amount to keep track of as well as random ability priority shifts depending on the situation. Which makes Enhancement all the more fun.

14

You guys are setting up a false choice. Talents could offer a busy or streamlined dps rotation while maintaining the utility for most situations theme shaman has had for a long time.

I recall recently where enh shaman was very easy to play and centered around stormstrike mashing with crash lightening for AOE. So it’s not like enh shaman has always been like concert piano although I agree having lots of utility buttons is a shaman mainstay.

Edit: I’m not seeing many arguments to support a more busy rotation other than “I like it and my opinion is more valid because I’ve played since vanilla-beta” or something similar. That’s an opinion, not an argument and your opinion isn’t made more valid because of your /played.

3 Likes
15

I’m all for Blizzard providing an option via talents to increase “ability bloat”, if that’s what people want. I just don’t think the baseline DPS rotation (of any DPS class) should be more complex than about 4 buttons (single target generator, multi-target generator, single target spender, multi-target spender… more or less).

Complexity is fine if you can’t opt into it. It’s a turnoff for many if you can’t.

16

The enhance shaman “starter” talent setup (the default one) is pretty much what you are describing. That’s what I used to learn core class mechanics before moving on and blending in more stuff.

If you just try to jump into a build you find online somewhere, chances are you will not have a clue what you are doing. You cannot run before you walk.

17

You do recall that recently
It was the lowest Enh shaman participation as well.

18

So you think enhancement’s current popularity is due to complexity rather than tuning?

19

It’s definitely both.
It’s a fun class to play that is actually strong.
If people want less complex classes that are also strong, they’re more than available.

3 Likes
20

Yes and no. I want to play healer with a melee and ranged dps off-spec. I have no interest in tanking so that spec is a waste for me. That leaves druid and shaman. I love t-mog so that leaves shaman. I know that’s a weird line of thinking, but that’s what it is for me.

1 Like