Has anyone ever thought the Shaman should have been the other class to feature 4 specializations? Kind of like the Druid, the Shaman could have an specific element correspond to a specific role.
Earth - Tank spec
Wind - Melee/Physical DPS (the new Enhancement)
Fire - Ranged/Spell DPS (the new Elemental)
Water - Healing Spec (Restoration)
Granted, it would not limit a spec to just one element, but places a large emphasis on it. Just like a Guardian Druid still has access to Cat Form and some of it abilities and Feral Druid has access to healing and Balance spells, a Fire and Wind Shaman would still have Lesser Healing Wave and a Water Shaman would still have some defense Earth-based abilities, for example.
I don’t think this game needs more tank specs. I actually think the game has too many classes/specs as it is, because every single thing has a slow, interrupt, multiple types of CC, etc., and it’s a nightmare.
Even if it WAS intended in Classic (I’m skeptical), that was 15-16 years ago. Things change.
Look me in the eyes and tell me Resto isn’t currently impacting Enh survivability at the generic Shaman class design level. If you succeed, I get to call you a liar. Blizz doesn’t have the time/effort to put into custom scaling the generic Az traits/talents to make them feel right across all specs, so they just make sure Resto isn’t invincible sitting in wolf form and move on with their day.
Why is Pack Spirit as gutted as it is for Enh as for Ele/Resto? Why isn’t Earth Shield stronger for Enh?
Each spec can definitely have an impact on the other specs, and even if they were all designed in a vacuum, it’s just one more spec Blizz has to try to give attention to, when they already can barely handle the current number of specs.
Every other hybrid spec in the game doesnt have the issues that enhancement has so you cant blame resto for one, and two wouldnt you want a tank spec if it did affect dps? Wouldnt it make them more tankier? Have more defensive cds baked into shaman
I didn’t say “responsible for”, I said “impacting”. It’s a variable in the equation. As it stands, there are traits/talents that could actually help give Enh the survivability edge it needs, but they’d have to completely separate the values/functionality from Resto (and maybe even Ele, depending). Earth Shield, Spirit Wolf, Pack Spirit, Serene Spirit. The last two benefit from Resto Mastery, it looks like, so we better neuter them in PvP.
If they built a tank spec, it would have its own tank mechanics, and it probably wouldn’t share anything with DPS. In fact, it might have the exact same issue, where some X tanky trait is extra potent on tank spec, so we better globally neuter it for the whole class and leave the DPS in the lurch.
I just don’t want them to have to juggle those decisions, because instead of considering them deeply and taking the time to ensure all of the specs get what they need, they’ll patch it quickly to ensure the top end isn’t invincible and move on to the next urgent task.
I think the majority of people who are against the 4th spec have a simple mindset that they would rather blizz reimagine and fix the already existing specs, than put all effort into creating a new one (which may in turn pull abilities from all three specs and prune them from those specs due to lack of creativity).
That’s the nutshell. Historically, it’s felt like Shaman gets a wink and a nod maybe once every 3-4 expansions, why spread the butter even thinner on our milquetoast?
I mean I’m all for fixing shaman but I would love a 4th spec too. And I dont think theres too much more you can pull from the other specs without breaking them. You’d have to spend heaps of time making a 4th spec not just buffing armour, giving them a agi shield and that’s it, a lot more planning goes into it.
I’ve been maining shaman since mid tbc and if they decide to screw us over again in 9.0 then I think it’s time to give wow a break
I wouldn’t mind seeing shamans getting a 4th spec for tanking, with earth themes to it. Could lead to the other specs getting some bleed over to help with survivability which would be awesome.
People forget that ele is always bad at any launch because it’s so gear/stat dependent.
I fully agree that they need to fix the other specs. There’s 100% a ton of work to be done. This might be super wishful thinking, but the addition of a new spec could end up highlighting the shortcomings of the others. If they make a tank spec that can be up to part with existing tanks and that becomes the go-to spec for Shamans, they might start looking at why no one is playing ele/enhance/resto.
They might even see that some of the tank spells could benefit the other specs (such as defensives gasp) and let them bleed over.
Yes shaman should have a hammer and shield tank spec. It’s so glaringly obvious and makes so much sense. It’s mind boggling that it never happened in my opinion.
