Speaking of Shaman

[Kevin]

Hmm, call me crazy, but I believe we've got entirely oppisite ideas for what would be a damn fine spec. Heres my take on things: Talent Spec
I dunno, maybe its just me but enhancement was just really, really dull for me. Maybe its because I didnt get high enough or that I've already got a warrior, but this one seems like a damn fun (and useful) build to me

Edit: Though thinking about it, the two resto points in healing grace may be better served in healing focus or imp reincarnation. Thoughts?

As for a melee-focused build... perhaps something like: Build Might work rather well, though you could swap in and out points from resto to elemental as you see fit. Like TheseStill think enhancement/resto would be a better fit while duoing.

Edit Edit: Though thinking about it, This dosent seem too bad for a solo build

Damn... There area whole lot of good build ideas arent there? Just thought of This One when I further thought of your concept

Thanks for the input. It got me thinking more and helped me clarify what I think I want, even though I don't think I'll end up with anything like what you came up with, I don't think those are what I want for play style. I've "locked down" 39 of the points. I don't see me changing any of these, even if, as mentioned elemental devastation won't really do much in practice. So I'm pretty much working from that as a base template now. In thinking about it and clarifying what I want, Elemental Devestation seems to help embody what I think I want from the playstyle. Elemental and melee damage synergized as the focus with the ability to heal. So that talent stays even if it might be 3 essentially wasted points. :)

Much of what you have are what I call end game builds. I don't need any extra healing power right now. It doesn't matter. Most of the healing that I need to do is after everything is dead and I'm just cutting out down time or if we are dealing with +3 or +4 elites where I will heal during combat. Healing talents are mostly a waste while leveling in a duo since adding that other's persons DPS drasctically cuts the healing needed. Not to say that I won't likely respec and pick many of them up when I get to end game. The use of NS and so many other shaman talents is great.

Right now because of flurry and windfurry with the same 2 handed weapon I out DPS the warrior. My melee DPS is higher because the swing damage is pretty much the same since a low level warrior still doesn't have a good way to convert rage to damage, the extra attacks and the faster attacks after crits just widen the gap. On top of that I get to work in instant cast shocks for even more damage. Warrior damage doesn't really start to scale up until they get past L40. Heck most paladins can keep very close to warrior DPS up through level 45 or so given the same level of gearing and paladins are not good at DPS.

Mav's build is very close to what I was thinking about doing had I stayed a solo build. But I don't see the value in lightning bolts in the duo as the melee DPS will likely be higher and then I still get to throw in the shocks. And as mentioned thanks to looking at other builds and other ideas I realized that while they offer a very fun playstyle it isn't the play style I want.

Since I'm convinced from my experiences leveling druids, paladins, and priests that my healing is more than adequate for a duo, and probably even for a well played 5 man that it isn't the stuff I need to spend the points to improve. Melee damage gets a large boost early from the talents, I've already seen the effects of that first hand. My damage is greater with 19 points in enhancement than it was with 19 points in elemental. End game scaling and gearing will certainly change that but I've got 30 more levels to get there. :) So pre end game what seems the weakest side of the shaman is melee and elemental damage. The healing seems pretty strong (but again I grew up as the only healer in an instance on my paladin and shaman and feel that any spec priest healing a level appropriate 5 man is easy mode :)).

So yeah I'm clarified but just not sure on how deep for either. The appeal of a split build is that I feel it will keep the damage from either source, melee or elemental, very reasonable. What I'm kinda stuck on is that if you ignore the lightning talents, elemental fury is the best damage scaling talent for elemental damage and weapon mastery is a good scaling damage for melee DPS. And while you can get them both maxxed it leaves you with a floating point in elemental (after what I locked in) and means I'm not maxing weapon totems (and if I'm that deep in enhance I feel I should buff up the party totem) or my weapon self buffs.

I'm still kinda turned off by call of flame because most of the fire totems don't do a heck of a lot of damge anyway, not sure if 15% more really matters. I'm still debating on the value of improved fire nova totem as well. If there is CC around it's completely wasted, but from what I've seen (though I don't have a lot of experience) having it go off 2 seconds after you drop it as opposed to 4 seconds can be a very big deal. But how often will it get used?

And while I said I don't think healing needs that much help I did think about this build if I really do want to go mostly melee. The 3% chance to hit is a very nice talent for later on. I get some added oomph (or mana reduction) to my DPS and get the mana reduction on the heals and totems as well as the larger area of effect on the totems.

However I think what I'm looking for is more rapid burn of the mana pool. I guess it's my approach to duoing. Dump the mana and wipe out the tough mobs, then I can just use the passive boosts to melee DPS to burn down a few of the easier mobs without taking a break. If I have to drink the warrior can still go kill something while I'm doing that so the longevity talents that are in that last build don't seem helpful until I get to the point where I'm doing end game instances. This is also why I like the idea of the strong elemental crits.

I think I'm going with my 2nd build. 19/32. Melee + shocks. That makes gearing choices mostly focusing on melee damage, the mana pool will be pretty small but again I won't need to do a lot of healing.

So now the question is talent order. I've got flurry already so the question is how soon do I want stormstrike to play with or the silly elemental devastation talent that I'm drawn to just because of the concept even if the practicality sucks. :)

I'm thinking.
L30 Parry - it just adds to survivability too much
L31-35 - Concussion, up the elemental damage a bit
L36-40 - Convection, mana pool seems fine now but I'll bet I'll be glad to have the shocks be a bit cheaper
L41 - Elemental focus. I can be a monkey and pull just because I had a clearcast available. :)
L42-43 Improved Weapon totems. I bet the warrior would like having that better windfury in Uldaman.
L44-46 Elemental Weapons. I'm betting my melee DPS will start to feel a bit lagging at this stage and I'll want the boost
L47-50 Weapon Mastery. Same deal, keep that melee DPS happy
L51 - Stormstrike
L52-54 Reverb, while I want it now to help shut up casters better the warrior can still pummel and shield bash
L55-58 Elemental Devestation.
L59 Weapon Mastery
L60 Reverb

Sure a little odd and really getting the improved weapon totem even earlier is the biggest wonder I've got. Give a little more to the warrior than just strength of earth, boost that windfury totem some more, have it be stronger in SM and RFD. The clear casts are fun and all but make em wait. And I can wait 11 levels for storm strike, I want elemental dev early too simply because it's my silly talent that will likely get wasted most of the time becuase of when the crits happen but I know that already. :)

Ah well more musings but my thoughts did get clearer. I think I do want to go the mostly melee route. Be in there alongside the big ole tauren warrior. :)