I have been playing Shaman since classic launched and it really seems like the only true support class since the start.
Classic was resto prison WF bot. TBC was the same but worse because you needed all specs to be underwhelming DPS for totem twisting and lust swaps and still mostly resto mains. Now in WOTLK Shaman DPS has been bottom meters all xpac with the exception of very specific fights, Resto has been okay and finally getting better now. Basically ignored balance changes by blizzard compared to what other classes got, especially the Hybrids. And the only unique buff we bring is lust and spell haste. Why bring more than 1 shaman when other classes do it better.
WOTLK has paladins being TOP TIER #1 in all 3 respective specs along with blessings, ferals are insane tanks/dps, boomkins more support for now and will probably get better, rdruid kinda lacking, but bringing Brez and innervates can make it worth. spriests will be godly with t10 and disc has been insane all wotlk.
Meanwhile Hunters out of no where just get trap launcher to increase dps by 1k+? Did the Shaman community get punished for NOT harassing blizzard like the Ferals and Rets did?
Iâm not even sure where to start with Enhance gearing also LOL. Literally cant even balance a DPS spec between Phys and SP damage. Not to mention nerfing the SP side (things like Weapon DPS nerf on Valanyr which was still BIS and no other SP weapons higher than 1.8 AS) and yet its still better to use than a phys weapon. Have to use 2 different ranks of a spell to be optimal⌠come on.
Seems like the inconsistency of blizzard really shafted shamans in terms of viability and fun and Iâm finally tired of it, hence the rant.
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And spell haste, tremor totem, and grounding totem. A superior str and agi buff is also possible along with several buffs if certain classes arenât there.
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Your single shaman in the raid can (and should) bring Spell Haste enhanced Str and Agi totem. Tremor is used in 1 fight and grounding is never used. The other buffs can be covered by simply more useful classes.
You only use tremor in 1 fight? There are tons of fights in WotLK where itâs useful. Grounding is also great especially with some hard hitting spells.
Beyond that you didnât say that a single shaman can bring spell haste you said shamans only bring one unique buff.
Its been like 1 fight / raid for tremor. in ICC thats blood queen and you immediately swap it back anyways, Ulduar was cat lady and vez trash, tgoc the pvp fight. Grounding is unreliable because its party only targeted spells, and you can just kick most of the time instead.
Tremor does more than just fear. Did you not use it on Yogg?
And grounding is very useful. Some spells are instant. Not to mention there are times people just donât kick, miss, or whatever.
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People would be much more likely to believe you if you told the truth. Shamans of all specs were very strong in TBC, they were at some points over 20% of the raid.
Enhance shaman hasnât been close to the bottom the entire expac. Enhance was very decent in naxx and fell downwards since then, you have a complete âgrass is always greenerâ attitude, ret paladins have never been top dps for a single second of wotlk, boomkins are below both enhance and ele in damage, resto druid is completely terrible, feral tanks are very mediocre, until the buffs, feral dps was below both ele and enhance, shadow priest has been on the low end til now, holy priest barely exists, etc etc, lots of classes and specs have class balance issues
Not to say enhance isnât weak now but thereâs a lot of specs/classes that are weak numerically that u just brush off as being good, when you try to tell us that resto druid is good u know its just a victim complex thread
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There is no use for it on yogg. it doesnt dispel the MC from the adds, those need to be purged. And there is no world in which you want to drop grounding on the off chance it gets used in your party over the spell haste buff.
Yes Tremor Totem does work on Dominate Mind and is very useful if youâre the only offensive dispel in a 10 man raid. Helps when youâre the one MCâed.
Even useful in 25 man as you might be out of immediate range or what not.
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I also drop Grounding all the time. Usually in 5 mans, but even occasional in raid. We have an ele shaman that usually has spell haste down.
Same goes for nature resist. Yeah hunters can do it, but itâs better for a 2nd shaman to do it.
If anything you are reinforcing the fact that they are only a support class while talking about niche situations.
Just be honest. Shamans are in a good spot. Are we top dps and best class to always bring, no but everyone canât be.
Both DPS (ele and enhance) are on the top half of the raid. Enhance is like 7 based on TOGC raid dps stats. Resto is becoming really good now with the higher gear stats.
And we bring a ton of utility!
Is your beef really just because weâre not #1 dps?
Having played every spec I am talking from my experiences, TBC they were only strong healers, Enhance barely kept up and was twist bot for the other melee, ele was barely used and taken for a lust swap.
Enhance shaman hasnât been close to the bottom the entire expac
In naxx they were basically at their peak, barely breaking top 5-7 in terms of spec.
what do you consider close to the bottom? because since ulduar if you look at overall, they are always near the bottom.
Yes rets havenât been top, but the other 2 specs have been, why do they get buffed? I spoke about druids, they have their own utility AND ferals are topping. I didnât say rdruid was good.
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DPS Stats for TOGC phase 3
classic.warcraftlogs[dot]com/zone/statistics/1018/
Enhance doesnât look near the bottom.
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Not at all. My honesty opinion is just different than yours. Shamans are not in a good spot.
Blizzard could easily fix shamans. They just donât want to. This has been true for 20 years.
Also, see more of this post for enhance specifically. State of Enhancement Shaman
I donât remember âharassingâ Blizzard with other ferals about the buff we werenât asking for, but go on. Let me get my mug to catch every last tear.
PS Buff shamans, letâs get it done.