PvP Shamans

[swirly]

I recently had a friend ask me what I know about playing Shamans in PvP. I've never played a Shaman beyond lvl 18 though and so didn't really have much to tell her. So I'm asking here to try and get a thread started that I can show her. How does a typical Shaman PvP fight go? I'm assuming my friend plays her Shaman on a PvP server and so we might be talking both 1 on 1 fights as well as group battles. Also, what builds tend to lend themselves toward PvP? I guess I'm really just asking what the general Shaman PvP thought process is. Here, I'll quote my friend asking me about things so you can get an idea of where I am coming from.

friend: i hear all this about how shamans are so good and awesome at pvp but i can't figure it out
friend: i haven't touched restoration at all but i'm thinking i should
friend: i don't really like the other stuff
friend: enhancement rather
friend: there's hardly anything useful except a bunch of crit strike crap
friend: i use my staff for a lot of things but as far as purely offensive goes i think i may be taking a bad route

swirly: I think Shamans are most known for lots of front-loaded damage in PvP.  So you will want to look at all that stuff.  I don't know much though.  I don't have a shaman over 18 heh

friend: well
friend: i have been trying to see magma totem or searing totem is better

In general, she just seems kind of lost right now with the class. So I'm hoping to gather up some info that she can read and will hopefully make her feel more comfortable with things and have an idea of where she is going. Does anyone have any Shaman advice that they could post here?

[Artega]

I recently had a friend ask me what I know about playing Shamans in PvP.  I've never played a Shaman beyond lvl 18 though and so didn't really have much to tell her.  So I'm asking here to try and get a thread started that I can show her.  How does a typical Shaman PvP fight go?  I'm assuming my friend plays her Shaman on a PvP server and so we might be talking both 1 on 1 fights as well as group battles.  Also, what builds tend to lend themselves toward PvP?  I guess I'm really just asking what the general Shaman PvP thought process is.  Here, I'll quote my friend asking me about things so you can get an idea of where I am coming from.
In general, she just seems kind of lost right now with the class.  So I'm hoping to gather up some info that she can read and will hopefully make her feel more comfortable with things and have an idea of where she is going.  Does anyone have any Shaman advice that they could post here?
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Magma Totem is horrible for single-target damage; Searing Totem is very good if you expect the fight to last 15+ seconds (e.g. equal-level mobs or single players.)

As for most PvP builds, you MUST have Nature's Swiftness (21-point talent in Restoration line), and Improved Ghost Wolf (7 points in Enhancement line) is very useful, ESPECIALLY if you are Tauren (War Stomp+IGW = you live.)

I'm probably going Enhancement/Restoration until I reach my fifties, and then respec to Elemental/Restoration. 23/7/21 ftw :)

[playingtokrush]

Magma Totem is horrible for single-target damage; Searing Totem is very good if you expect the fight to last 15+ seconds (e.g. equal-level mobs or single players.)

As for most PvP builds, you MUST have Nature's Swiftness (21-point talent in Restoration line), and Improved Ghost Wolf (7 points in Enhancement line) is very useful, ESPECIALLY if you are Tauren (War Stomp+IGW = you live.)

I'm probably going Enhancement/Restoration until I reach my fifties, and then respec to Elemental/Restoration.  23/7/21 ftw :)
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As usual, I have to agree with Artega. The two key talents to strive for as a PvP shaman are Nature's Swiftness and Improved Ghost Wolf. Going any further than 7 points in the Enhancement tree (or 10, if you can't live without Improved Lightning Shield) is not recommended for PvP -- although I don't recommend it for PvE either, unless you're shooting for being a variant.

[Artega]

As usual, I have to agree with Artega.  The two key talents to strive for as a PvP shaman are Nature's Swiftness and Improved Ghost Wolf.  Going any further than 7 points in the Enhancement tree (or 10, if you can't live without Improved Lightning Shield) is not recommended for PvP -- although I don't recommend it for PvE either, unless you're shooting for being a variant.
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Going 21 into Enhancement for Flurry and Parry works great for PvE grinding. Parry and Flurry go a long way to increasing your grind speed and decreasing your downtime. For PvP, however, Enhancement won't cut it late-game. Shaman lack the HP (and armor, if they're not using a shield) to survive long in melee combat, especially against rogues and warriors. Pallies generally aren't a major threat as long as you remember to liberally apply Purge :)

EDIT: In general, Shammies are combination healbots and nukebots in late-game PvP; use your heals to keep people topped off, drop totems to buff them (I prefer Grace of Air to Windfury, but see what your groupmates prefer), and occasionally toss in a Shock or Chain Lightning. Nature's Swiftness can be used to drop an instant Chain Lightning, and with the two crit-buffing talents (Lightning Mastery and Tidal Mastery) and the crit-increasing talent (Elemental Fury), it has the potential to hit the primary target for a huge amount of damage.

[playingtokrush]

Going 21 into Enhancement for Flurry and Parry works great for PvE grinding.  Parry and Flurry go a long way to increasing your grind speed and decreasing your downtime.  For PvP, however, Enhancement won't cut it late-game.  Shaman lack the HP (and armor, if they're not using a shield) to survive long in melee combat, especially against rogues and warriors.  Pallies generally aren't a major threat as long as you remember to liberally apply Purge :)

I suppose I shouldn't have dismissed enhancement for solo grinding, and shamans are very useful in parties no matter how they are spec'd. Would you be using mostly a one-hander or a two-hander with that build? I could never bring myself to toss away my shield as a shaman.

[Watto44]

Agree whole-heartedly with what everyone else has said. In large scale PvP, buff, do some healing and nuking. A couple of things to note on totems. Earthbind totem will reveal rogues, and is handy when the group is in melee range (stops runners). As Artega said, magma totem's not that useful in one on one, but can be handy aoe in a large group. If things are crowded and messy in a big fight, it's worth dropping a nova totem. Chances are no one will notice it, and the higher burst damage is in general better for PvP than the slower damage over time of magma.

One on one though, things are a little different. Your totems will usually get put down pretty quickly by a skilled dueler. I've found that in one on one, shocks rule the day. Flame shock is great against rogues as the DoT stops their stealth. (On a side note, has this changed with the current patch...I haven't been doing a lot of one on one since it came out. :D ) Frost shock warriors so you can stay out of melee range. Earth shock casters to interrupt their casting and then run in close and hit them with a BIG stick. One last thing, windfury and a nice two hander can give great burst damage.

On another tangent, has anyone else noticed that windfury seems to operate on murphy's law? It only ever seems to proc when a mob is nearly dead or at other inappropriate times. I once made the mistake of using it against the princess in maraudon, and of course it proc'ed - and critted - three times in a row. :huh:

One last thing, your friend wants to play with pvp, the way I learnt was to duel a lot of guildies, even if they were waaay higher level than me. Practice makes perfect, and it can be really helpful watching how other people flight.

Hope that helps. :)

[Artega]

I suppose I shouldn't have dismissed enhancement for solo grinding, and shamans are very useful in parties no matter how they are spec'd.  Would you be using mostly a one-hander or a two-hander with that build?  I could never bring myself to toss away my shield as a shaman.
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Heater and beater for physical-oriented mobs and/or even-level mobs, stick of death for -3 or greater mobs and casters.

[Artega]

I frankly think Windfury is overrated.

With a slow weapon (3.00 or greater), it's golden; use it with a nice hammer or greataxe and watch the blood fly.

For faster weapons (2.50 or less), Rockbiter is king. +500 Attack Power is insane, and can make your damage go from 100ish a hit to nearly 200ish a hit.

I've also found that Flametongue is widely underestimated; it's not quick (like Rockbiter) or flashy (like Windfury), but it gets the job done, and plate won't stop Fire. Of course, this assumes that you'd be intentionally staying in melee range with a Warrior, and that's a very bad idea.

[playingtokrush]

I frankly think Windfury is overrated.

With a slow weapon (3.00 or greater), it's golden; use it with a nice hammer or greataxe and watch the blood fly.

For faster weapons (2.50 or less), Rockbiter is king.  +500 Attack Power is insane, and can make your damage go from 100ish a hit to nearly 200ish a hit.

I've also found that Flametongue is widely underestimated; it's not quick (like Rockbiter) or flashy (like Windfury), but it gets the job done, and plate won't stop Fire.  Of course, this assumes that you'd be intentionally staying in melee range with a Warrior, and that's a very bad idea.
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In addition, windfury was nerfed in the last patch, making it much less attractive for faster than 3.00 weapons than before.

[Watto44]

Although "nerfed" might be a misleading term in this case. It no longer gives you a third free attack, but is still very nice. Given that I don't melee that much in PvP, I'd rather take my chances with a proc than stand there swinging for an extra two shots with earth. My method is to have it turned on, but try not to use it too much except against cloth wearers. I'm still a little surprised at how often windfury procs when I'm kiting, although that's probably because I'm not very good at it. :)

Flametongue is great in instances - where I have a death grip on my shield. It doesn't have the extra agro of earth, and adds reliable, steady damage. I've never really thought about using it in PvP, as the damage with earth *seams* to be better and windfury suits the way I like to PvP. Though, as you said Artega, it's kind of pointless using it with a one hander.