So semi-professional prognosticators are posting suggestions based on numbers that everyone knows aren’t final?
Posting suggestions based on numbers for future tuning is not the same as saying “elemental shaman is going to be bad in SL”
There will be tuning passes before SL hits. There will be tuning passes after SL hits up until raid opens.
Any numbers you see now are not the final form, and shouldnt be used in making a final decision on playing a spec in SL or not.
The general rule of thumb is that they work on a spec mechanically first. Then tweak the numbers. Doing it opposite would be silly.
Basically. I’d expect shaman to perform the same they did in EP if tuning is roughly the same.
Yeah but to be clear, I’m not looking at numbers (you’re telling me they are so lets assume that’s true), I’m looking at things like this:
- Huge changes to Elemental, all to be reversed as the SL drop date comes out.
- Other classes getting reviewed on mechanics (SL priest most notably)
- Major “influences” if you can use that word, are making a “what are you maining” videos and I haven’t seen one include a Shaman.
It’s possible they just don’t like Shaman, so I’m taking this with a grain of salt. And my man Tiqqle seems to be going full steam ahead on Shaman in SL, but theres too much static out there to ignore for me. And the reversal was just a table-flipping event for me.
Generally. I am basically thinking a little worse in ST. Better in AE.
Tuning can change things. But mechanically, its looking like we will be better in AE (relative to everyone else) going from BFA-> SL.
The changes weren’t suddenly reversed. They kept changing fulmination until it was basically MS already. MS worked. We didnt need our resource changed.
Major influences are the last people I take seriously.
I greatly suggest you join the EarthShrine shaman discord. You can do it via the browser. Even if you don’t want to talk, there is a beta channel that has a TON of information and others asking questions being answered. A ton of theorycrafty by some of the top shaman in the game. A ton of great info.
I will generally trust the opinion of other high end shaman over general “influencers”.
Elemental without borrowed power, at its baseline, is currently in a great spot. There’s many talent choices to choose from. And the stuff they’ve added make the spec even more promising in SL, all thanks to reverting elemental back to using Maelstrom
I’ll try that. Thanks for the suggestion. Honestly, I hope you’re right and I’m wrong because I can’t find another class, and its not from a lack of trying.
But I do remember you saying a few months ago you felt the changes were a return to WoD and you hated Shaman then. Do I have that right?
So then two questions:
-
Why was IP 3 stacking a requirement? That’s not a snarky response, it’s a genuine question. If we’re fine baseline shouldn’t that have opened up more options?
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Am I missing all the Shaman on competitive teams in both Arena and Mythic runs?
I don’t believe that would have been me. I disliked WotLK shaman greatly due to the overly reliance on buff totems. But I don’t believe I ever mentioned WoD.
x3 IP isn’t a requirement. The Storm Ele build atm uses 0 IP and its the top parsing spec for raiding right now.
That sounds right, actually. Because I find non-buffing totems to be absurd. Hence my “remove totems” post that ended up netting me some fruit loop chasing me around the forums posting “delete totems” in my threads about completely different topics for months afterwards.
Edit: Do you have a link for the Discord?
Its a really great place for resources and to listen in on conversations. See what some of the top end guys say on things.
And I am not trying to say that their opinion is perfect, or godlike. Only that they are smarter than me when it comes to the numbers and how mechanics play out.
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You’re right, M+ representation currently isn’t great, especially for resto. However, with the changes currently in the pipeline, I think elemental is going to be in a good spot.
All I’ll say is there is a difference between doom-and-gloom and constructive feedback, I’ve seen more of the former. Speaking generally as well not just in reference to this post.
And the reversal to Maelstrom was warranted, echoing whatever it was called certainly didn’t work and fulmination wasn’t much better.
As for the conversation about numbers, tuning passes are happening now. Elemental will undoubtably be nerfed- the question is whether it will just be the EQ leggo or if they’ll take a bite out of the core kit. As I said earlier, barring some random unwarranted over-nerf, shaman should be just fine.
I hope you’re right.
No there absolutely is. And all of my posts are written with the hope that the comments refine the sentiment or correct falsehoods. I’m hopeful about the spec now, and I’m less angry than I was when I wrote the post originally.
I seem to remember warriors in Vanilla, sometime in 2005, grouping up to crash a server as a means of attempting to get buffs. It worked. Of course, I can’t find a link now, but if we aren’t half as unified as they are, I guess I’m concerned.
That said, given the thread, I’ll see what SL holds before making more posts.
Well I love enhancement shaman so I will be maining one most likely 
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If I had a zTroll I’d love it to. That has to be the best model in the game.
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I have been lurking in all of the healing classes forums trying to see what people thought about the classes so I could get an idea of what would be a great addition to my M+ crew, but more specifically for the classes I actually enjoy playing more than one aspect of (for example, I hate all other specs of druid but resto).
The one common theme I’ve seen is that every class has a ton of threads about how their class is getting screwed, lost its competitiveness in one or more areas of the game, or is being nerfed to the point that it will only get “7%” of player representation.
Yeah but this is where Shaman are historically.
Hard agree! Some of their combat animations are pretty silly though. Luckily their dual wield ones are good!
Oh really? Like with 2h you mean? I’ll look up some youtube animations.
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Ele shaman honestly feels pretty good mechanically in pve, right now on PTR. It just needs the flame shock nerfs reverted (really not sure why they did this), and some numbers tuning.
For PvP it really needs some defensive help. But this is really just shamans in general.
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