Which one is overall better?
-raid dps
-raid healing
-raid tanking
-raid utility
-pvp
They are pretty similiar… I would say the Ret pally has an edge in PvE while the Ehanc shaman has an edge in pvp
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Raid dps- Push (they’re both pretty bad)
Raid healing- Pallies have better single target heals, shaman better group heals. Due to how pallies heal, they will have more throughput.
Raid tanking- Pally by a hair maybe, but they will both be pretty horrible
Raid utility- Shammy by a nose due to WF totem, but they are both awesome
PvP- Pallies are possibly the best pvp healers in vanilla, shaman have some of the best burst dps in vanilla.
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Generally you won’t see either in raids. I don’t know pallys well so let’s talk shaman.
Raid dps- bad.
You can’t use stormstrike nor flame shock. Earth shock generates extra threat so you need to be very careful with that. You need to save your mana for totems. And shaman gear is very lacking in +hit. All this means your damage is terrible.
Raid healing- great!
Rank 1 chain heal is super spammable and easily the best aoe heal in the game. If you want to run enhance and do some good heals, look for the 0/22/29 build. This gives you imp weapon totems + maximizes your chain heals.
Raid tanking- actually doable
Yes it’s kind of a meme but it CAN work.
Things to remember: you don’t have a taunt; unlike druids you can block and party, but you can’t push off crushing blows like warriors.
If your guild let’s you, it can happen, it’s just tough and really suboptimal.
Raid utility- super amazing great.
Imp windfury, agi totem, Mana spring. So good.
Pvp- need gear but it’s also great.
It won’t be a constant high light real of windfury crits, but it will be mega fun if you’re patient and have decent gear. Get a weapon like unstoppable Force and gap closers from engineering
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You don’t PvE as either unless you want to be carried hard.
You play as Resto/Holy and use your amazing heals. LHW in Classic is one of the most effecient heals in the game. Drop WF as a shaman in group and boost your rogues/Warriors.
Paladin, god tier buffs.
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Both Enhance and Ret are garbage PvE DPS, but Enhance shams scale better with gear (A Might of Menethil wielding Shaman will do interesting things to a boss’s HP).
Not sure why you’re asking about tanking/healing for Enhance and Ret as both are garbage at the role (seeing as that’s not the right specs for those roles), but Ret will probably win out tanking with a Sword and board by sheer virtue of having AoE threat gen and plate armor while a Shaman only has single target threat and mail.
For raid utility, both are very strong. WF totem is a massive boost to melee DPS, whereas Blessing of Wisdom is a massive boost to healer mana sustain.
For PvP, it’s kind of a toss up. I’ve seen Ret pallies geared out with R14 weapons or T2+ raid weapons absolutely crunch people with SoC procs and Reck bombs, but Enhance Shamans can do the same with big Windfury procs on a hard hitting 2-hander.
With Blessing of Freedom and HoJ, ret paladins can provide other players with significant support, while Shamans can counter with purges, interrupts, and slows.
At the end of the day though, given the proc reliance from both, a slug fest between the two comes down to who gets lucky first, when every swing is a pull of the slot machine.
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dps - tie
healing - tie. shammy=best aoe healer, pallys= best single target healer
tanking - both would be offtanks. pally would take the lead due to plate vs mail.
utility - paladins by a slight edge.
pvp - depends on your personal playstyle. Sham is a one shot meme spec. Pally is a defensive team support machine.
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Shaman buffs are generally stronger than paladin buffs, but paladin buffs can be given to the entire raid while shaman buffs cannot.
Ret is a lot better in PvP than Enh
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Thanks for all the replies. I’m trying to figure out which one to play next. I don’t mind playing support, but just curious what my options would be if I decide to do something besides heal.
They both suck. If you don’t want to heal roll a dps class thanks.
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Their damage is similar.
A Ret Paladin brings far more utility just in the way of maintaining JoW.
Have a Holy Paladin try and do it means a significant mana drain or constant melee…neither is all that viable.
JoW is raid wide mana regen that stacks with everything. That and Imp Bow being available to everyone, and Salvation in play means Alliance ranged classes are in top form.
Imp BoM is worth the talents when you factor in a full raid force…but JoW, Salv, and Kings are what makes the alliance powerful for PvE.
Well, if people would get over bringing enh shaman, they can totem twist Tranquil air along with windfury.
Classic has a pretty limited DPS roster. I like having some variety in my groups, so dps shammies make things a little more interesting.
You can stick an enhance/resto shaman in a melee party for a raid. First priorty is to keep the group members up with heals.
First priority is to bask in the glory of windfury goodness. ftfy
That’s what the points in enhance are for. To buff windfury totems for the warriors and rogues!
Any benefit warriors and rogues receive from my windfury goodness is just collateral.
Enhancement shaman sole purpose is to be a buffbot. They are just paladins who do better damage.
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Enhancement shaman sole purpose is to enjoy basking in the glorious light of the windfury.
Well while you are basking in the glory of an extremely lucky triple windfury crit that only does a total of 2400 damage I will be soulfire critting every six seconds for over 5000.