In an interview with Wowhead (https://www.wowhead.com/news/wowhead-exclusive-interview-with-ion-hazzikostas-and-morgan-day-private-auras-343147?page=2#comments) , Ion is quoting saying:
“We need to look at diversity and want to make sure that classes like Shaman and Death Knight are bringing tools to the raid that make them valued members of a raid group or valued in dungeon groups. That’s not to completely close the door on a new raid buff ever coming to them, but our hope continues to be to use the other knobs that the team has at its disposal to get them to a place where they feel equally valuable without just needing a raid buff.”
This statement is both frustrating and insulting to the elemental shaman community that has been asking, no, pleading for some changes that would make a mythic raiding guild or high level mythic plus team to want to bring an elemental shaman. It seems the above quote solidifies what most of this community has been dreading: no meaningful changes to elemental shaman for The War Within expansion.
Shaman players have been asking for a raid buff or a unique raid tool since season one of Dragon flight. We have been ignored. A mythic raid only has 20 spots and with the classes that already bring buffs, have a ton of damage reductions and are also top damage, why bring one an elemental shaman at all? Elemental is far from being the top damage.
If elemental shaman spec is not going to get a raid buff, then from your statement above elemental should bring damage or a specific niche like a warlock brings gates and health stones or a death knight brings AMZ, grip or tons of defensives. This is not the case at all! To date there has been nothing added to the elemental shamans tool kit that is desired or necessary in any encounters.
As of now, I feel elemental shaman is no where near being “equally valuable” without given a raid buff, changes to their damage or some new “tools.” The spec is in a horrible place right now in the war within and has been totally neglected. The spec is in a horrible place going into the new expansion.
I have been playing this game since Vanilla and have been enjoying it most of that time. I have been playing elemental shaman since Mists of Panderia and have to say the current version of this spec being formed for The War Within is the absolute worse for where the game is headed. I have given A LOT of money to Blizzard (feel free to look it up) over the years and I have to say this is probably where I will stop being a Blizzard customer.
Ion, the developers need to turn up the “knob” on elemental shamans or you will be losing another customer.
12 Likes
I think the most infuriating part of this is most classes have a raid buff AND other useful utility. It’s not an either/or for most classes.
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They don’t want to design a new raid buff? Fine.
Make shamans jack of all trades and give them a totem to mimic each existing one.
3 Likes
i honestly find wild that shaman is so neglected in wow.
If you ask me, wow shaman is like their iconic class, no other game define shamans like the way we see in wow, its unique and the core concept and religion of one of the factions, we have so much lore and mechanics to draw upon.
But noy only the shamanistic horde is gone, the shamans are in this state… Sometimes i think either Ion like too much how shaman plays and don’t to change so he doesn’t like or he actively hate it after mainning resto.
Everyone have bloodlust, even the dracthyr for no reason, paladins are paired with druids now, its depressing
Seeing how shamans master all elements and the forces of nature, why is that hard to add a party bufy? seems like a non-brainer to me, like lighting aura giving everyone haste
As a side note, i always though we should get a spirit raven like the spirit wolf and fly with it, but guess only druids deserve it.
4 Likes
20 years later surely its easier to impliment spells and visuals. Maybe something like: if earth shock crits then give raid +10% to crit damage like boomies starsurge or something
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Honestly, they either need to give all shamans Windfury totem in the class tree and have it effect all dps instead of just melee.
Or, they need to give all shaman Spirit link. That is the only ability I can think of that is truly unique utility that other classes don’t have. It’s a great ability. But it may be too powerful for dps specs to have.
They could also just give shaman a better bloodlust than the pretenders. But that would be boring and kind of a half assed solution.
1 Like
this is honestly infuriating . many people loved the actual original lore.
shamans are like a cornerrstone of warcraft.iconic class should NEVER ever feel neglected like this. we did NOT need evokers or this travesty that is augvoker.
we needed a better balance in the preexisting classes and add new and exciting gameplay. not this
atm shamans and druids are all but forgotten by blizzard.
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please gods just give us 1 more defensive for keys T.T everything else can stay mediocre if thats all u give us
I honestly just can’t think of any reason to take a Shaman over any other class in a Raid, outside of Windfury Totem:
- Mage, Hunter, and Evoker can all Bloodlust with better DPS, utility, and survivability
- Shaman brings no raid buffs
- Rewind and PW: Barrier are, imo, better than SLT
- Ancestral Protection is extremely niche and requires the Shaman to time dropping the totem before someone dies in order for it to rez them. Otherwise, it’s a wasted CD
- Source of Magic restores more MP than Mana Spring AND increases the target’s healing and damage
Unless your Shaman is a god-tier healer, the Raid is most likely just better off taking an Evoker instead.
For DPS, unless you really need that Windfury… better off just taking a Mage.
I wouldn’t quite lump druids in with shamans 
.
Druids get plenty of special treatment
4 Likes
If Ions quote is gonna be the case, they should atleast compensate the lack of what shaman brings to the team with higher dps/hps numbers for the class. It doesnt have to blow other classes out of the water but it should atleast be in the top 1/3 of classes for numbers output.
Whats the point of bringing a class if another class outputs the same numbers or better and ontop of that brings some kind of party/raid buff.
It seems we’re still paying the “hybrid tax” years after it was suppose to stop being a thing.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I really doubt that wind fury is even remotely as good as mark of the wild, arcane intellect, fort, brand, etc.
It’s not. Hilariously prot warrior benefits more from it in terms of damage than most melee.
It baffles me that Windfury Totem is STILL, to this day, restricted to the 4 other people in the same party group as the Shaman. It’s just… WHY? No other class has this restriction that I can think of.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTQhODRm-54&t=4500s @1:05:46s
Even a top raiding guild leader and WoW influencer is dumbfounded by Ion’s comment. Max’s comments are on point.
This would be my vote. Put it in the class tree to where all shamans can access it, make it raid wide, and make it buff haste, crit, mastery, or whatever else that benefits everyone.
Wow, his response to the raid buff question was insane. Max’s criticism was absolutely on point.
In so glad the people in charge of this game are so out of touch. Mr Ion ‘I totally main a shaman’ Hazzikostas.
i think you are arguing just for the sake of it , the guy just said that they want to make shaman valuable with other means , so give them time to do that , you got your answer
To be fair, shamans do bring a lot of utility. The problem is that its all either so situational (poison and tremor totems) or so weak (mana spring and healing totem) that its just irrelevant.
The 400% buff to our healing totem may end up being pretty nice (assuming it applies to the totem itself and not a resto passive). This with AG could be a decent amount of off healing for both ele and enh.
I say just redesign primal fury, Time warp, and fury of the aspects and make them personal buffs.
Buff drums to 25% and Let shamans have bloodlust / heroism. We had it first.