06-18-2004, 08:04 PM
I kinda agree with Mongo here - some people may (the horror) actually like the priest play style. And shackle undead was (and someone said still is?) essentially a Sleep spell for undead. I also have seen Mongo use Mind Control quite effectively in many situations in parties; it's a good crowd control spell (in effect it can allow you to take out two monsters at once out of battle for the price of priest).
The whole channeling "nerf" - this is how channeling was in first beta push (and from what I've heard, before that too). So it's more of a bug fix if you will. Channeling as it was in second push was a bit too good. Yes, it would be nice to have some compromise - maybe make channeling cause no aggro, or half the mana cost for the channeling spells. But I would not say that it ruined warlock class; somehow people (including me) played warlock in first push, you just have to be much more aggro aware now.
I'll just add one more thing thats related to the new patch - before, druids and shamans were highly alike; hybrid classes with heals, nukes and average meleeing abilities (druid forms aside, most people did not use them in leveling anyway). Now, all the changes that were made to druid and shaman that might seem like nerfes to some people are an attempt to separate them and essentially push the Shaman into a much more melee class, and Druid into more of a healer class.
Shamans now get to wear mail at level 40, got all their weapons buffs improved, and the melee oriented totems got improved as well. The spells and heals got a bit weaker to adjust for this change. Druids got their heals improved, but their attack power in the normal form got decreased. Of course, many the former Shaman and Druid players are up in arms, since the class dynamic on which they chose to play the class last push got changed. (although I have to say I don't mind Shaman being more melee even though it clashes with his image from previous games).
So if you want a hybrid class thats more melee oriented, you can go with Shaman. If you are looking for a more of a caster hybrid, Druid is the way to go now.
The whole channeling "nerf" - this is how channeling was in first beta push (and from what I've heard, before that too). So it's more of a bug fix if you will. Channeling as it was in second push was a bit too good. Yes, it would be nice to have some compromise - maybe make channeling cause no aggro, or half the mana cost for the channeling spells. But I would not say that it ruined warlock class; somehow people (including me) played warlock in first push, you just have to be much more aggro aware now.
I'll just add one more thing thats related to the new patch - before, druids and shamans were highly alike; hybrid classes with heals, nukes and average meleeing abilities (druid forms aside, most people did not use them in leveling anyway). Now, all the changes that were made to druid and shaman that might seem like nerfes to some people are an attempt to separate them and essentially push the Shaman into a much more melee class, and Druid into more of a healer class.
Shamans now get to wear mail at level 40, got all their weapons buffs improved, and the melee oriented totems got improved as well. The spells and heals got a bit weaker to adjust for this change. Druids got their heals improved, but their attack power in the normal form got decreased. Of course, many the former Shaman and Druid players are up in arms, since the class dynamic on which they chose to play the class last push got changed. (although I have to say I don't mind Shaman being more melee even though it clashes with his image from previous games).
So if you want a hybrid class thats more melee oriented, you can go with Shaman. If you are looking for a more of a caster hybrid, Druid is the way to go now.