06-03-2008, 03:04 PM
Gurgthock started a post on the EJ forums to discuss group synergies and inviting ideas on how to minimize their effect on raid composition (the goal being to discourage raid stacking).
http://elitistjerks.com/f15/t26275-consoli..._vulnerability/
Some of the driving forces at work in high end raids, not that every raid does this to an extreme, but the forces exist and have affects:
Warlocks: Given equal gear and skill, add more raid DPS than any ranged class. Might seem obvious for the first three warlocks you add, that all drop curses to buff the raid (CoS, CoR, and CoE). However, it is interesting to note that even after the first three, the fourth warlock and beyond all get to use damage curses, and should out-dps mages at the same gear and skill levels, so there is no real reason to stop adding warlocks in favor of mages, even after three.
Shaman: Bloodlusts and more bloodlusts. Enhancement shaman is an obvious requirement for any melee group, adding ridiculous amounts of raid DPS by buffing the other four in their group. Bloodlust rotations add a lot of DPS as well though, in addition to the usefulness of totems being spread around the raid.
Add chain heal to that list, in addition to the prevelance of raid-wide damage going out in encounters where you can stack folks into groups, and you see another good reason to stack shamans.
One interesting side-note on the shaman stacking that exists is that some of it is a result of encounter make-up. If TBC raids didn't have as much raid-wide damage going around, or required a lot more spreading out, extra resto shamans would be in less demand, unless simply for totems/bloodlust. Gurgthock himself points to resto shaman as the worst healers in the game on single targets, in situations where chain heal won't be effective.
Melee Groups and the Death Knight: Note that if things don't change in WotLK, and assuming the DK needs windfury totem to be effective, and assuming he benefits greatly from attack power, there is a very real possibility that raids in WotLK might look to run two enhancement shaman as a matter of course. As is, with enh-shaman + arms warrior + ret paladin + rogue + rogue groups running around, you often have a 3rd rogue or bear in a secondary melee group. Add DK, and there is a pretty st rong driving force behind wanting not just a shaman in melee group number 2, but an enhancement shaman for the extra buffs he provides.
http://elitistjerks.com/f15/t26275-consoli..._vulnerability/
Some of the driving forces at work in high end raids, not that every raid does this to an extreme, but the forces exist and have affects:
Warlocks: Given equal gear and skill, add more raid DPS than any ranged class. Might seem obvious for the first three warlocks you add, that all drop curses to buff the raid (CoS, CoR, and CoE). However, it is interesting to note that even after the first three, the fourth warlock and beyond all get to use damage curses, and should out-dps mages at the same gear and skill levels, so there is no real reason to stop adding warlocks in favor of mages, even after three.
Shaman: Bloodlusts and more bloodlusts. Enhancement shaman is an obvious requirement for any melee group, adding ridiculous amounts of raid DPS by buffing the other four in their group. Bloodlust rotations add a lot of DPS as well though, in addition to the usefulness of totems being spread around the raid.
Add chain heal to that list, in addition to the prevelance of raid-wide damage going out in encounters where you can stack folks into groups, and you see another good reason to stack shamans.
One interesting side-note on the shaman stacking that exists is that some of it is a result of encounter make-up. If TBC raids didn't have as much raid-wide damage going around, or required a lot more spreading out, extra resto shamans would be in less demand, unless simply for totems/bloodlust. Gurgthock himself points to resto shaman as the worst healers in the game on single targets, in situations where chain heal won't be effective.
Melee Groups and the Death Knight: Note that if things don't change in WotLK, and assuming the DK needs windfury totem to be effective, and assuming he benefits greatly from attack power, there is a very real possibility that raids in WotLK might look to run two enhancement shaman as a matter of course. As is, with enh-shaman + arms warrior + ret paladin + rogue + rogue groups running around, you often have a 3rd rogue or bear in a secondary melee group. Add DK, and there is a pretty st rong driving force behind wanting not just a shaman in melee group number 2, but an enhancement shaman for the extra buffs he provides.
Jormuttar is Soo Fat...