04-11-2007, 05:25 AM
I'm not a very good PvPer, but I've found my Shaman rides the winds...paired with a good team, my Shaman helps out with the incredible dismantling of the enemy, and in a bad team, she's free honor. The main problem is that at least from 30-45 at mid levels (don't really know any further than that), a Shaman has pretty much no defense for sheep, stuns, fear, etc. In 20-29, you have Ghost Wolf which is a HUGE advantage over everybody else at least.
I played Elemental from 10-39 and played with Elemental Mastery for a few minutes at 40. (okay, I was chain lightning-ing level 25 mobs in Redridge because I was at 20870 with Stormwind) Personally I think it's probably the best for PvP, since Shaman don't hold large mana pools and are pretty squishy in melee. I was wearing cloth rewards from Southshore, which I'm not sure was the best idea but it only cost me a few % in mitigation at the time...and I had 2300 hp unbuffed and 2800 mana. Was using Arcanist Doan's staff and...well anyway, it seems pretty good for kiting since you just slam down Earthbind and move away with a couple Frost Shocks (hopefully you can get a kill before immunity kicks in). With a good staff you can get decent burst damage in melee, which is really important against Hunters and sometimes Mages (must have something to do with when they get Blink, because I haven't seen it used much).
Playing Enhancement in battlegrounds has left me even more up to the whim of the team selectors, but that's probably partly because I'm in the low end of the bracket. You get comparable (probably greater) damage with less downtime, plus at 40 you can wear mail. Except, obviously, you *have* to be in melee range for Enhancement (caster gear for level 40 shamans is something I haven't really noticed yet) which hurts. It seems potentially viable at mid-levels but I know that most higher-level shamans complain about Enhancement being extremely lacking.
Restoration I'm not familiar with at all, but I was about to start a thread about this ("this" meaning mid-level Shaman partying) because I was really frustrated with my performance last night in Uldaman. Shaman healing sucks down the mana pool *really* fast, and Healing Wave is pretty slow in PvP, which means using the even more inefficient Lesser Healing Wave (and Chain Heal, which I haven't used much yet).
I played Elemental from 10-39 and played with Elemental Mastery for a few minutes at 40. (okay, I was chain lightning-ing level 25 mobs in Redridge because I was at 20870 with Stormwind) Personally I think it's probably the best for PvP, since Shaman don't hold large mana pools and are pretty squishy in melee. I was wearing cloth rewards from Southshore, which I'm not sure was the best idea but it only cost me a few % in mitigation at the time...and I had 2300 hp unbuffed and 2800 mana. Was using Arcanist Doan's staff and...well anyway, it seems pretty good for kiting since you just slam down Earthbind and move away with a couple Frost Shocks (hopefully you can get a kill before immunity kicks in). With a good staff you can get decent burst damage in melee, which is really important against Hunters and sometimes Mages (must have something to do with when they get Blink, because I haven't seen it used much).
Playing Enhancement in battlegrounds has left me even more up to the whim of the team selectors, but that's probably partly because I'm in the low end of the bracket. You get comparable (probably greater) damage with less downtime, plus at 40 you can wear mail. Except, obviously, you *have* to be in melee range for Enhancement (caster gear for level 40 shamans is something I haven't really noticed yet) which hurts. It seems potentially viable at mid-levels but I know that most higher-level shamans complain about Enhancement being extremely lacking.
Restoration I'm not familiar with at all, but I was about to start a thread about this ("this" meaning mid-level Shaman partying) because I was really frustrated with my performance last night in Uldaman. Shaman healing sucks down the mana pool *really* fast, and Healing Wave is pretty slow in PvP, which means using the even more inefficient Lesser Healing Wave (and Chain Heal, which I haven't used much yet).