[TLDR] In short this is a Solo-PVE quality of life complaint,
Support classes need some solo questing zone/rep-quest chasing buffs. If we are not with a team we should not have to have the worst experience there is in the game.
[Long version]:
My tank wasn’t this hard, but boring play style
My hunter was not this hard, but too many compete for end game to want to be DPS. (See long waits)
Proposed Solution have an un-grouped buff for support classes. Auto applies as soon as you break a group, or log in.
For shamans… basic buff to damage stats all 3 classes, or even enough mana to keep ourselves healed in combat, and fire/earth elemental timer reductions.
They really should not exceed one minute when running solo. Buff naturally cancels if anyone groups with us… Then normal mechanics apply.
This really applies when you are talking PVP servers. It is just not even a match against other classes. I wont even join those servers because the imbalance (1v1) is too significant.
For purposes of showing how I use my shaman:
Current DPS rotation is Prebuff lighting shield and flametongue, healing stream totem. the other totems may as well not exist without a group.
Then active engagement rotation. Frost shock, flame shock, Lava burst, frost shock, echoing burst, stormkeeper, lava burst, ice shock,flame shock. isnta-lightning, insta-lightning. Use insta-flame shock and insta-earth shock from rotation. There is more buttons I could add to rotation but honestly Watching my bar timers and looking at the mob effect timers plus watching the environment. It is getting pretty ridiculous. The shaman needs to get a simplification buff. Whats worse is now we have extra buttons for coven crap. Just maintaining rotations is getting more complex that the most difficult button combos in games like mortal combat. Which is my point below about trying to watch the environment attacks. We are too busy watching around 10 or so timers and rotations. You can’t even enjoy the games art because you don’t have time to look at it.
There is not enough toolbars with so many tools. Some things just need to be combined into a single actions Insert [pre-buffs button here]. Simplify, there is just too much BS going on with buttons in an action movement environment. We have to watch handfuls of timers in different segments of the screen. It is ridiculous. How are we supposed to maintain good rotation while environment holding the mouse to move?
Next up of BS statements about our supposed validity.
Our elementals are a rubbish tool and are not countable in PVE, at best they are a rescue tool. With timers of 2 and 5 minutes. They are not unmentionable.
You take that away and you see a real DPS factor. Which is our Median not max factor.
DPS ELE shaman Maximum is 13.96-median 9.85, Enh Maximum is 11.52, median is 9.08.
Resto shaman isn’t really a thing to measure in this argument but if I was going to I would say it needs a major buff in ALL 3 classes, there is not enough mana to sustain yourself in most PVE environments.
Part of my argument is the time to level argument. This doesn’t mean just getting to sixty. It means reputation related things as well as that is the same thing required to level them… quests and mobs.
NOBODY wants to group in this game for basic PVE stuff that means solo is solo.
So our DPS is trash, our heals is trash. That means the whole class is trash.
I get it our heals are okay in group. I wont argue that because I can’t level enough to get there and see for myself. I am literally stuck on random things for the covenant.
Literally the heals are so trash I have to stop between every mob to eat or drink. Mana is not enough to full bar, or maintain self. So I may as well not have it.
Timers make elementals useless.
**DPS solo regular rotations is around a minute to kill most regular mobs with half or less life at the end of each one on one mob fight. Then stop to eat to take on just one more single mob.
I know other support classes also suffer this and they need love too.
I am not proposing an all the time buff mechanic. I am asking that when we are not in a group we have some normal zone buff mechanic that allows our class and other support classes to enjoy the game more.
All support classes look on as the tanks and true DPS classes outclass us in all ways in solo PVP. Then at the end we are getting buffs if we are geared specifically for our contributive role. While being expected to suck it up to improve other players capabilities.
I love being a resto-shaman, but the game punishes us for being support, even if we switch to DPS classes for PVE purpose. No one wants to share gear so we can have the necessary equipment to do both. Without our elementals we have no real DPS to speak of. Since elementals are too long to wait they are not a real function of the class.
i have a lot more to drone on about regarding this but this is my version of the short and sweet.
I am literally at a game stoppage because I cannot complete a solo quests, and no one will group with me because I am geared as DPS because the game is to hard to solo-pve as a resto shaman. Which means extra challenging for building up the anima reservoir… since I cannot complete 1 in 5 quests for that sort of thing. I can start them I can do part of them. Then I get to the last steps and start a group to watch everyone leave once they get in group and see the I-level of the shaman… How the hell can we even level if everyone is being snobs about grouping with us?
Current DPS rotation is Prebuff lighting shield and flametongue, healing stream totem. the other totems may as well not exist without a group.
Then active engagement rotation. Frost shock, flame shock, Lava burst, frost shock, echoing burst, stormkeeper, lava burst, ice shock,flame shock. isnta-lightning, insta-lightning. Use insta-flame shock and insta-earth shock from rotation. There is more buttons I could add to rotation but honestly Watching my bar timers and looking at the mob effect timers plus watching the environment. It is getting pretty ridiculous. The shaman needs to get a simplification buff. Whats worse is now we have extra buttons for coven crap. Just maintaining rotations is getting more complex that the most difficult button combos in games like mortal combat.