Shaman Rant

[LavCat]

Last night in Wintergrasp a rogue apparently shaddow stepped and killed my shaman before she could inflict any damage beyond one charge of lightning shield. This is nothing new I suppose and not much grounds for complaint, except that it led to the following observation:

My enhancement shaman has lower health, moves slower, does less damage per hit, has fewer and less well controlled stuns, has less immunity to crowd control, gets fewer kills, and dies more often than my hunter's bat.

[Zyn]

Im not trolling or trying to stir the pot here - so dont take it as abusive commentary from me, plz.

None of what you said is really accurate, tbh. There are a million tools in the Shaman kit to use against all sorts of opponents (And keep in mind, you mighta gotten roflstomped in WG because of tenacity).

Shaman have Mail armor, ghost wolf, totems, heroism, 5 sec CD Ranged Interrupt, Ranged Snare, Windfury, Synergy with all classes, Dispels, Roots, 45s CD CC.

You really dont have it bad, tbh, mighta just been the way the stars aligned. Christ, I have 950 resilience on Narth and still almost get globalled in 2s if I dont play LOS correctly against Ele Sham/Destro Lock teams, or Mag/Rog, or Mage/Ele Sham (For example).

Keep yer chin up! WTB WF Procs!

-Z

[Tal]

Last night in Wintergrasp a rogue apparently shaddow stepped and killed my shaman before she could inflict any damage beyond one charge of lightning shield. This is nothing new I suppose and not much grounds for complaint, except that it led to the following observation:

My enhancement shaman has lower health, moves slower, does less damage per hit, has fewer and less well controlled stuns, has less immunity to crowd control, gets fewer kills, and dies more often than my hunter's bat.

I've not had that experience Lav. Enhancement shamans can be pretty damn scary with the dps they can put out.

[LavCat]

Im not trolling or trying to stir the pot here - so dont take it as abusive commentary from me, plz.

None of what you said is really accurate, tbh. There are a million tools in the Shaman kit to use against all sorts of opponents (And keep in mind, you mighta gotten roflstomped in WG because of tenacity).

Shaman have Mail armor, ghost wolf, totems, heroism, 5 sec CD Ranged Interrupt, Ranged Snare, Windfury, Synergy with all classes, Dispels, Roots, 45s CD CC.

You really dont have it bad, tbh, mighta just been the way the stars aligned. Christ, I have 950 resilience on Narth and still almost get globalled in 2s if I dont play LOS correctly against Ele Sham/Destro Lock teams, or Mag/Rog, or Mage/Ele Sham (For example).

Keep yer chin up! WTB WF Procs!

-Z

Ah, Windfury! True, bat does not have Windfury. Catch a priest or warlock in the wrong place at the right time, and sometime Windfury will proc. I've had a shaman since day one, but my inspiration for making an enhancement shaman for PvP came when my priest, Field Marshal Baguette of the Alliance, was lying face down in the dirt by the Farm flag, in a cloud of swirling dust. And indeed two nights ago my shaman did catch a warlock when tenacity wore off, and Windfury did proc.

But everything of what I said is true. Comparing my level 80 Bat to my level 80 Shaman:

Bat has 19980 HP, Shaman has 18620.

Bat can dive almost indefinately, even over open water. Can catch sprinting rogues, and druids in travel form. Shaman has Ghost Wolf and Water Walking. Even if she caught the druid, she would probably be dead. Or what happened tonight, when she died because her Ghost Wolf was dispelled.

I run Recount. Bat does more damage per hit and hits a lot faster too.

For stuns Bat has Sonic Blast (instant, 20 yard range) and Intimidation (also instant). Shaman has Fire Nova Totem.

To counter CC Bat has Master's Call and Beast Within (could spec Bullheaded for even more). Shaman has Earthbind and Tremor Totems. Maybe Ghost Wolf counts.

You'll have to trust me on the kills and deaths. Bat has a lot more armor too, over 10K more than Shaman.

Shaman arena was rather fun at 70, but the prospects now look bleak.

[Tal]

You'll have to trust me on the kills and deaths. Bat has a lot more armor too, over 10K more than Shaman.

Shaman arena was rather fun at 70, but the prospects now look bleak.

You're using quite a few level 70 pvp pieces, the Hand of Ragnaros and a unfriendly spec for PvP and you're complaining about Shamans in pvp?

Get the crafted pvp set, go dual wield and you'll see a surprising difference between the two. Or you could go get the crafted set, get a decent MH/OH with spell power and go elemental and WotLK people.

I said it before - Shamans can be fierce when specc'd and geared properly for PvP. Its one of the few classes that I fear in pvp on my resto druid.

[LavCat]

You're using quite a few level 70 pvp pieces, the Hand of Ragnaros and a unfriendly spec for PvP and you're complaining about Shamans in pvp?

Get the crafted pvp set, go dual wield and you'll see a surprising difference between the two. Or you could go get the crafted set, get a decent MH/OH with spell power and go elemental and WotLK people.

I said it before - Shamans can be fierce when specc'd and geared properly for PvP. Its one of the few classes that I fear in pvp on my resto druid.

What my characters wear in Dalaran is not necessarily what they use in Wintergrasp. I suspect a lot of people's armory would show Hand of Ragnaros if they had it. Fortran does not PvP with Hand of Ragnaros. On the other hand, Baguette often seems to wear her fishing hat, but that's just her.

I never claimed that my Shaman was well geared. She turned 80 a few days ago. I am painfully aware that her 70's arena gear is not that great at 80. I've gotten her a couple of Furious pieces in the last two days. Still, she ought at least to be comparable to a hunter's pet.

On an additional note, we did a lot of AV yesterday. Things were not perfect, but she seems to do a lot better when opponents don't have stacks of tenacity. Damage per hit seemed to be higher than in Wintergrasp.

[Swiss Mercenary]

A PvP-geared enhancement shaman with wolves up is the most terrifying 1v1 character to face, for the 45 seconds they are active. Trinket the kidney, pop wolves, shamanistic rage, drop stoneclaw totem, go to town.

They can't be feared, it's very, very difficult to get spellcasts off on them, they have a snare breaker, and they can't be killed (Or kited) during Shamanistic Rage + wolves. Frost Nova Shock is icing on the cake.

Off the top of my head, stun-locks (And I suppose Death Grip and Disarm) are probably the only effective counters to enhancement. Yes - stuns are annoying - but despite your weakness to rogues, you have numerous advantages against spellcasters. Grounding Totem, depending on the situation is at least as good as Cloak of Shadows, IMO.

And if you're doing less damage then your hunter's bat... I'd have to cite user error. As a healer, a hunter pet attacking me is a non-factor. An enhancement shaman makes me scream for peels that I know won't be coming because of grounding, and trying to heal myself, which doesn't happen because of shocks... While getting purged. Enhancement arena has never been better then 3.2.

Also, consider glyphing for Stoneclaw Totem. It's mandatory for any PvP Shaman.

[LavCat]

A PvP-geared enhancement shaman with wolves up is the most terrifying 1v1 character to face, for the 45 seconds they are active. Trinket the kidney, pop wolves, shamanistic rage, drop stoneclaw totem, go to town.

They can't be feared, it's very, very difficult to get spellcasts off on them, they have a snare breaker, and they can't be killed (Or kited) during Shamanistic Rage + wolves. Frost Nova Shock is icing on the cake.

Off the top of my head, stun-locks (And I suppose Death Grip and Disarm) are probably the only effective counters to enhancement. Yes - stuns are annoying - but despite your weakness to rogues, you have numerous advantages against spellcasters. Grounding Totem, depending on the situation is at least as good as Cloak of Shadows, IMO.

And if you're doing less damage then your hunter's bat... I'd have to cite user error. As a healer, a hunter pet attacking me is a non-factor. An enhancement shaman makes me scream for peels that I know won't be coming because of grounding, and trying to heal myself, which doesn't happen because of shocks... While getting purged. Enhancement arena has never been better then 3.2.

Also, consider glyphing for Stoneclaw Totem. It's mandatory for any PvP Shaman.

Well, we have been getting back into the swing of things, if you will. She is glyphed for Stoneclaw, wolves, and Frost Shock. We've been buying one or two pieces of PvP gear per night, except I don't think we will make it today. AV weekend helped. Shaman now has more health than Bat.

By the way I did not say Shaman was doing less damage than Bat (though it may have been true). I was comparing melee white damage only, not specials.

When you say "They can't be feared," did you mean because of tremor totem? Or is there something else I may not know about?

[Swiss Mercenary]

When you say "They can't be feared," did you mean because of tremor totem? Or is there something else I may not know about?

Tremor. In the same way that "An Undead Warrior cannot be feared." Sure, a fear will peel one off for a second, and there are a few seconds every minute that a well-timed fear will send him running... But enhancement tremor is the next best thing to fear immunity.

Is it complete immunity? No. Does it make fear classes chew off their fingernails? Yes.