Here’s a little break from the constant, “I hate boosts” “too many bots” posts! I am pretty new to wow and am having a blast leveling in classic so far. I play with my wife who is a mage. After trying basically all of the Alliance classes I have settled on Pally which I am LOVING. I really like that I have self healing, feel tanky, and can hand out powerful buffs like candy.
I’m super excited for the Draenei to be released in the pre-patch and am considering re-rolling as one (love their look and whole vibe). As someone who has never played TBC or Shaman for that matter, how does it compare to Paladin in general and at end-game?
5-man healing is very offensive on TBC Shaman. Earth Shield and Healing Stream allow you spare GCDs, either for totem-twisting your melee, interrupting mobs with Earth Shock, purging buffs off mobs, or just throwing fat nukes and nova totems.
There is no worrying about Blessings falling off, less coordinating of buffs etc.
Both class are godly in BGs, Sham is a little better in arena.
Pala are highly in demand for 5mans as tanks, since they make it easier to AOE/cleave everything down. With Pala tank and Mage you guys will already have a very strong group for any dungeon. I think Mage will be one of the least played classes
Pala of any spec is more tanky and has better defensives, when you guys are out in the world farming or PVPing.
Enh and ret are both pretty fun to play, but ENH will be more in-demand for 5 mans especially. Ret has a tough time since pala/war tanks won’t want you coming rolling on their plate stuff. However being with a Mage will probably help you if you choose Ret
End of the day I llike sham more because they feel more versatile and fun
In Classic Shaman and Paladin in many ways were designed to mirror each other because of the faction restriction, and while that was lifted in TBC the core underlying designs remained.
However while the Paladin is a defensive class, the Shaman is more of an offensive one.
You still have powerful buffs with your totems and can self heal, but you’re now using leather(mail at 40) instead of mail(plate at 40). You also don’t have Divine Shield and Lay on Hands to fall back on when things go south.
Shamans have better ranged options though as they have a caster support DPS with the Elemental tree. As healers they tend to make for better multi-target healers than Paladins do because of Chain Heal.
As a Shaman you will also generally not be taken seriously as a tank in group content, even though you get some abilities that generate threat.
Personally I plan on playing an Ele Shaman in TBC and am leveling it right now in Classic. It’s a lot of fun.
Paladins will shine with tank healing and aoe tanking as prot. They probably won’t be a main tank for raids and feral druids make better off tanks because they can dps when not tanking.
Imo shaman is the better choice all around for pve. Great healers and enhancement does well comparatively against other hybrids. Elemental does ok dps but it brings a ton of utility that healers and caster classes will appreciate.
Shamans will be very in demand in all raid content in TBC. The buffs they bring via totems and Bloodlust are more desired then any other buffs in the game and most raids will try to have 1 per party of 5. Shamans are by far the best group healers in raids too with Chain Heal and both their dps specs are solid. Elemental will be one of the better dps (outside of warlock and mage and hunter) and enhance is in a ok spot.
Paladins are by far the best dungeon tanks and decent healers in dungeons, PvP and raid. They won’t be as in demand as Shamans but will still be needed. It’s probably a little “safer” leveling as a Paladin too in Outland as you have plate and bubble to run away when it really gets rough via world mobs or PvP.
Thank you all for the info! Sounds like I will have to roll a Draenei Sham and see how I like it. It seems like such an intimidating class due to all the totems and whatnot! Its probably more straight forward than it seems considering I’ve only played against them and never with them… pre-patch cant come soon enough!!