Shaman Totems vs Paladin Blessings

[Lissa]

Well, again, all this is hypothetical, and any change even close to this would be a huge step forward. However, if we do not make Mana Tide raid-wide (because that sounds overpowered, right?), here is how the typical raids will compare:

- Alliance will still have more manafe/spirit
- Alliance will have higher armor (thanks to Devotion Aura)

You do realize that even talented Devotion Aura is at max going to be maybe 2% more mitigation, that's about 20 damage less against a tank from a 1k hit. The top end Shaman totem that directly drops damage, can't remember the name, does more than even Talented devotion aura for a tank (which is mainly where the aura is going to be run).

- Alliance will have higher heal efficiency (Paladins)

Any healer can have better efficiency with their healing if they're willing to go with more +healing and step down ranks in spells they cast. They may not have a highest burst heal, but they can certainly last longer healing with more +heal gear and stepping down in ranks to conserve mana to using less +healing and go with higher ranks. Efficiency comes from how much the player is willing to sacrafice in other areas to get more +healing.

- Alliance will have better aggro control

Aggro reduction yes, control, that is up to the individual player. Any player with Salvation can still out aggro a tank with the right Talent build and equipment if they don't pay attention to their aggro.

- Mana regeneration will be roughly equal - Shamans have mana tide, Paladins provide JoW and BoW (that is slightly superior to Mana Spring)

JoW is only useful to those wanding or making physical attacks. Few Mages and Warlocks ever use their wands preferring to use other methods to regain mana (Evocation/Mana Gems and Lifetap respectively) and Druids really don't have an option unless they want to try and get in harms way on a Boss, same with Paladins. So that leaves only Hunters and Priests that are wanding to regain mana from JoW.

- DPS will be roughly equal - Horde melee DPS will be slightly superior, while Alliance caster DPS will be superior to that of Horde (currently, Fire Mages and Shadow Priests are not viable at all for Horde on fights of any significant length, consumables or not)

I disagree.

Mana shouldn't be an issue for a Fire Mage at all, they have Evocation and Mana Gems (you can have one of each level). If they're not willing to prepare before the boss fight to have those two items available, they need to learn their class better.

For Shadow Priest, if a Shadow Priest doesn't go atleast 13 deep into Discipline, they need to be slapped. There are a number of items out there that are +damage/healing with +mana/5 seconds (let's not forget the Blue Dragon Card as well). A Shadow Priest that sets up their talents properly and gets the right gear shouldn't have many mana issues either as Mind Flay is very mana efficient and Vampiric Embrace is also highly mana efficient. (In a raid situation, casting SW:P is basically throwing away mana as it will be knocked off pretty easily unlike Mind Flay and VE is so low in cost that the only problem to it is the cooldown.)

So when all is said and done, we get a Horde raid that, while equal to Alliance raid in some areas, is still inferior in others. Why can't Horde raids be superior in one area? Blizzard could half the effectiveness of Mana Tide, make it trainable, give it a raid-wide totem (is 600 mana to everyone in the raid overpowered?), and give Shamans some decent 31 talent instead. Raid-wide Mana Tide would be pretty great, it is one option that I can think of that will give Horde a boost in raiding while not affecting 5 mans, PvP, Soloing, Duels or anything else of consequence.

I don't see a huge inferiority in all the areas you state. There are some, I will grant you that. Some of what you call inferiorities are player driven. Alliance can cover those a little better, but if a Horde player recognizes the inefficiencies, they can work around some of the issues.

Does Horde need raid level totems, yes, is the things you listed above directly related to the powers of one class, partially, but not all, some of that lies with the player themselves and not whether they have a Shaman or a Paladin backing them up.