Everything which made Restoration Shaman somewhat unique has been removed.
Ancestral Awakening.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Ancestral_Awakening
Ancestral Healing.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Ancestral_Healing
Crashing Waves.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Crashing_Waves
Earth Shield.
Earthliving Weapon.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Earthliving_Weapon
Nature's Swiftness.
INFO: http://wowwiki.wikia.com/wiki/Nature%27s_Swiftness_(shaman_ability)
Tidal Force
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Tidal_Force
Water Shield.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Water_Shield
Those spheres of protection (Earth & Water Shield) added class differentiation. They were amazing. Water Shield restoring mana upon being hit? That was actually pretty neat mechanic. No one else had that, nor those graphical effects.
For other healers, Restoration Druid lost their crits providing a heal the next time the target took damage. Many unique & class defining abilities is being removed ever since WoD for every expansion unto our current major fundamental issue in Battle for Azeroth.
As time went on we gained abilities only to lose them, notably:
Bind Elemental
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Bind_Elemental
Gust of Wind.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Gust_of_Wind
We even lost permanent buffing totems for temporary totems. The fantasy of totems have been largely removed, because they are so temporary. A totem may be visible for a short time, then gone quickly the next as if it never even existed.
There has to come a time when we can stop playing Ping Pong & reintroduce that which made each specialization in this video game entertaining & genuinely fun to play. Or, you can forever have BFA; this is your choice.
Earth Shield was a baseline ability added in Burning Crusade, until Legion. Legion turned it into a PvP Talent. Battle for Azeroth turned it into a PvE Talent.
Shaman used to be more interesting & engaging.
/sentry totem...enough said
Riptide & Chain Heal granting 2 charges of Tidal Waves was baseline until Legion made it into a PvE Talent Choice for Riptide only. Battle for Azeroth removed it completely.
INFO: https://wow.gamepedia.com/Tidal_Waves
Shaman used to be more interesting & engaging.
When direct heals would critical strike, you would summon a transparent spiritual ancestor to appear before above wounded companion within 30 yards. This ancestor would heal them for 30% of the crit, then disappear. It also had unique, satisfying sound effects.
Ancestral Awakening was added in Wrath of the Lich King. It was removed in Warlords of Draenor.
Shaman used to be more interesting & engaging.
Earthliving Weapon would enhance our weapons to glow with green restorative energies, increasing our Healing Power & allowing our healing abilities to infuse a HoT effect unto our target. It had unique, satisfying sound effects.
Earthliving Weapon was an ability added baseline in Wrath of the Lich King. Warlords of Draenor removed it.
Shaman used to be more interesting & engaging.
I wonder if they're listening yet.
I don't even look at my Shammy any more which is a shame 'cause he was the first toon I made. Tried to play him a few times in Legion and it just wasn't fun. Surv hunter is more fun than enh shaman now and Enh. Shaman used to be my favorite melee spec. That's just wrong IMO.
#makeshamangreatagain
/sentry totem...enough said
I get the meme, but I feel at this point it intentionally bogs down actual discussion on the state of the class.
Bringing up Sentry Totem in a thread about actual meaningful class changes derails and makes the thread seem less serious than it is.
i look at this list and details, and then i look at things like holy priest which has not lost as much, and i wonder how the healers are still balanced now mostly.
We still have so much stuff to do to keep us busy. Healing Stream Totem, Riptide, Earthen Wall, and Healing Rain are all spells we want to keep up which is quite a bit compared to other healers. This isn't even counting our short cooldown AoE heals like Wellspring & Downpour, or our offensive utility like Hex, Cap Totem, Wind Shear, and Purge.
Yes, we've lost a lot over the years but we've gained so much as well. I just feel like the numbers aren't there right now, but I still have a blast playing.
I do agree that it was an interesting dynamic between Earth & Water spells and by removing some of our old abilities it leaves a hole that needs to be filled. R.I.P Earthliving Weapon sound.
Still playing my shaman as a main, but my character does feel dramatically wrong.
I used to main heals, but I can't - it just hurts!
But GW2 has been fun in between raid days to fill in the time until 8.1 rolls out.
Tidal Force would coalescence a surging wave of water around you. For the next 3 healing spell casts, you would have a higher chance to critically strike. Critical strikes triggered other abilities, such as Ancestral Awakening, Ancestral Healing & mana regeneration.
Tidal Force was added in Wrath of the Lich King. Cataclysm removed it.
Shaman used to be more interesting & engaging.
10/30/2018 09:18 AMPosted by
Tariy
Everything which made Restoration Shaman somewhat unique has been removed.
Fake shaman spotted.
Shamans don't complain about our lot. We accept it.
You Shaman are so adorable.
10/30/2018 12:30 PMPosted by
Terrell
We still have so much stuff to do to keep us busy.
I would not argue the class can still press buttons.
I would argue the audible, visual, and mechanical appeal has degraded.
One of the ways of conveying this is to describe the original abilities, how they appeared & how their mechanics functioned. This helps new(er) players whom were not around to appreciate that which this class once maintained.
And, perhaps hopefully, ...the developers can take notice
(be nice).
after many years and many alts i finally decided to main shaman
coming back to the game after a long hiatus
i saw what blizz had done to us and it made me sad
so i played other classes for a while
but now i am determined
until the last totem is pruned
the last utility skill removed
the final bit of interesting functionality tucked away in a talent 'tree'
i will be
shaman
I wasted a month of grinding and almost 500,000 gold just to have this sub par, unfinished class.
!@#$ you Blizzard for throwing an entire segment of your playerbase under the bus for the sake of a deadline.
I used to enjoy questing as resto...
Shaman have three specs:
1) a forum posting spec,
2) a bank alt spec,
3) a back up heals spec.
Meanwhile, one can get on a DH, with 40 ilvl lower gear and self heal and dps more than a shaman can in any spec...by just mashing random buttons.
I want 2h WF! I want earth shield baseline for each spec. I want earth elemental and fire elemental baseline for each spec.
And, I want to feel like I'm wearing mail...not wet paper tissue.
/sentry totems