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+--- Thread: Questions about a Rogue/Shaman team (/thread-7242.html)
Questions about a Rogue/Shaman team - NuurAbSaal - 01-09-2005
Howdy!
The European Final Beta Test has begun (with all servers down atm, ironically...) and my brother and I bide our time devising our future strategy for our Rogue/Shaman team (me being the Rogue). Since there is already a truckload of info on Roguebuilds (mad props to Occhi) I would ask of you to share some insights into Shaman playstyle and possibly Talent options for the class. Additional thoughts on how to effectively play those two classes in a 2-man team would also be appreciated (I don't expect a lot of trouble with the two though, overpowered as the shaman seems to be :) ).
Thanks in advance
Greetings
Nuur
Questions about a Rogue/Shaman team - iyguy - 01-10-2005
I regularly group with a rogue and a warlock to run instances and elite quests. We don't have set strategies per se; we improvise as we go. In general, though, the rogue pulls, either by sapping, or using a bow. Because of this, and because he usually does the most damage, he ends up taking most of the hits. Before level 40, this didn't make too much of a difference since we both wore leather, and he has higher dodge. Now that I've upgraded to mail, he still pulls for the most part (I always make a mess when I pull), and if we find that he can't take the hits, even with me healing full time, then I use rockbiter and cast earth shock to draw aggro away. So far, we've only had to do this once, when we were fighting an elite level 50, with the rogue and I at 47 and the warlock at 44.
For the totems, I don't use any weapon buffs since they don't stack with his poisons. Instead, I always have grace of air out, and will usually also drop strength of earth and healing stream. If we run into groups of a couple of elite and a bunch of regular mobs, I'll replace strength of earth with stoneskin, and drop a magma totem. For mobs that sap or sleep, I drop down a tremor totem. I haven't had to use grounding totem or the resist totems much, but I expect this will change as we level. Already I've ran into a handful of quests where I've had to fight dragonkin, so I got fire resistance for those occasions.
For the spells, I have the highest available rank of lightning shield, flame shock, all the heals, and purge. I always have lightning shield up unless I'm getting low on mana, and I use flame shock if I want to end fights faster. If I'm pulling, I use purge (instant cast, 30 yards, and low mana cost), and whenever I see the mob use a buff, I immediately purge it (whether it's purgable or not since the spell is so cheap). Lesser healing wave is my staple heal spell, but I'll occasionally use healing wave (casting nature's swiftness first) when LHW isn't enough. I haven't found much use for chain heal yet, but it's there in case I need it.
I keep the lowest level frost shock and earth shock for their effects; frost shock to slow runners, and earth shock to draw casters to melee range. I recently upgraded earth shock to the highest available rank to better steal aggro, although I need to find room in my toolbar to fit both versions of the spell.
Aside from these, I also have cure disease and poison, ghost wolf, astral recall, water walking and breathing, and far sight.
For my talents, I'm aiming for the following:
Restoration:
Tidal Focus 5/5
Totemic Focus: 5/5
Improved Lesser Healing Wave 5/5
Tidal Mastery 5/5
Nature's Swiftness 1/1
Enhancement:
Ancestral Knowledge 5/5
Thundering Strikes 5/5
Improved Ghost Wolf 2/2
Improved Lightning Shield 3/3
Anticipation 5/5
Flurry 5/5
Parry 1/1
Toughness 4/5
This is more suited for an off-tank, healing PvE build, which seems to be what my role in my regular group is headed. Another possibility is to take two points away from toughness and put it into improved rockbiter or improved windfury weapon.
You can view the talent builds of some high level shamans here
Questions about a Rogue/Shaman team - NuurAbSaal - 01-12-2005
Thanks, that was really helpful :)
Greetings
Nuur