04-25-2004, 11:10 PM
I've played the Shaman class to level 9 (almost 10) and am liking it so far. It's versatile and does a good job both soloing and in a party. I have not yet played a druid, so I can't rate it vs. that, but I did play Rogue to 12, Warrior to 14 and Warlock to 8 in the previous push.
The Shaman is supposed to be the Horde's answer to the Paladin, and I think that's pretty accurate. They're a combination of melee and spellcasting, with combat buffs, ranged damage spells and healing in their arsenal.
Shamans can wear both cloth and leather armor, which helps a lot vs. other spellcasting classes. I don't know if the opportunity to learn to wear Mail will present itself. If it does, I'll be tempted, since the Shaman spends a fair amount of time in melee. I'm also looking forward to learning to use a real shield instead of a buckler.
Shamans start out with the ability to use staves, maces and something else I forget. :) I have tried both staff and mace, and prefer mace at this point. Not only does it allow the use of a buckler, giving an armor boost and chance to block, but maces hit faster, and since one of the combat buffs is a +4 damage per hit, hitting more often results in greater DPS.
The spell selection is interesting. At this point, I have most of the available spells (I've bypassed a couple of the totems). I have:
- two ranged damage spells, one lightning and one fire
- a combat "instant" that does damage and disrupts spellcasters 75% of the time
- a "totem" I can cast that reduces damage to all in the party by 3 pts per hit
- a nice heal that restores about 20-25% of warrior health per cast
- a weapon buff that adds +4 damage per hit
- a "lightning shield" that causes anyone hitting me to take damage
My usual tactic when soloing is to cast the lightning shield, pick a spot, cast the totem, then fire off a couple of ranged damage spells while a mob is on the way in, then go toe-to-toe with it, firing off the instant as it recharges. I sometimes have to heal after combat, but usually only if I get three equal-level mobs or two one-up on me. I handled two L8 Durotar Tigers and a L8 Razortail in this way at level 8 without working up a sweat even though I only got to soften up the first one.
That's not to say I can tank very well -- if I get sandwiched between a couple of monsters, particularly ranged attackers, I can get into trouble really fast.
The Shaman reminds me a bit of the Assassin from D2 -- tactics are important. I suspect that as I add more totems the parallels will get even more pronounced.
Anyone else playing the Shaman have observations? I'm particularly interested in the higher-level play, as I'm not there yet.
The Shaman is supposed to be the Horde's answer to the Paladin, and I think that's pretty accurate. They're a combination of melee and spellcasting, with combat buffs, ranged damage spells and healing in their arsenal.
Shamans can wear both cloth and leather armor, which helps a lot vs. other spellcasting classes. I don't know if the opportunity to learn to wear Mail will present itself. If it does, I'll be tempted, since the Shaman spends a fair amount of time in melee. I'm also looking forward to learning to use a real shield instead of a buckler.
Shamans start out with the ability to use staves, maces and something else I forget. :) I have tried both staff and mace, and prefer mace at this point. Not only does it allow the use of a buckler, giving an armor boost and chance to block, but maces hit faster, and since one of the combat buffs is a +4 damage per hit, hitting more often results in greater DPS.
The spell selection is interesting. At this point, I have most of the available spells (I've bypassed a couple of the totems). I have:
- two ranged damage spells, one lightning and one fire
- a combat "instant" that does damage and disrupts spellcasters 75% of the time
- a "totem" I can cast that reduces damage to all in the party by 3 pts per hit
- a nice heal that restores about 20-25% of warrior health per cast
- a weapon buff that adds +4 damage per hit
- a "lightning shield" that causes anyone hitting me to take damage
My usual tactic when soloing is to cast the lightning shield, pick a spot, cast the totem, then fire off a couple of ranged damage spells while a mob is on the way in, then go toe-to-toe with it, firing off the instant as it recharges. I sometimes have to heal after combat, but usually only if I get three equal-level mobs or two one-up on me. I handled two L8 Durotar Tigers and a L8 Razortail in this way at level 8 without working up a sweat even though I only got to soften up the first one.
That's not to say I can tank very well -- if I get sandwiched between a couple of monsters, particularly ranged attackers, I can get into trouble really fast.
The Shaman reminds me a bit of the Assassin from D2 -- tactics are important. I suspect that as I add more totems the parallels will get even more pronounced.
Anyone else playing the Shaman have observations? I'm particularly interested in the higher-level play, as I'm not there yet.
Of course, your mileage may vary.