Poster: Tafari at 5/2/2005 6:47:06 PM PDT
Subject: The Big Bad List of Shaman Issues |
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We're a solid class, certainly, and other classes are far more deserving of attention at the moment. But that's not to say improvements can't be made. Therefore, I present a compiled list of Shaman issues for our friend Blue, whoever you may be.
If I've missed something, feel free to reply:
Spell Issues:
Chain Heal: This spell can be difficult to use due to its incredibly small bounce range.
Reincarnation: Displaying the cooldown on this ability would be very useful. Soulstones still interfere with this ability by consuming an ankh when used.
Healing Wave: The efficiency of this spell has been called into question. Many Shaman prefer Lesser Healing Wave for their healing needs, since it is faster and almost as mana efficient. Most Shaman simply use this spell in conjunction with Nature's Swiftness.
Frostbrand Weapon: Probably the least liked of our weapon buffs. Rockbiter is useful for drawing aggro and for it's high, consistent damage. Windfury is useful for it's unpredictable burst damage. Flametongue is great for its armor-piercing qualities. Frostbrand's effect is seen as rarely needed, since we have Frost Shock or Earthbind at our disposal.
Totem Issues:
Flametongue Totem: Since our other fire Totems have the possibility of breaking crowd control spells, Flametongue looks to be an attractive option. However, the buff effect from this Totem has terrible stacking issues with Warrior and Rogue specials. This severely hampers the utility of this Totem, and most Shaman prefer the benefits of the Windfury Totem regardless.
Magma Totem: This Totem was changed without warning several patches ago. Before, it was a useful contribution to Area of Effect encounters. Now, it rarely lasts more than several seconds without drawing aggro from a target. Considering the fast damage of the Fire Nova Totem, and both Totem's identical taunting effect, the slower acting Magma Totem is far less desirable. Why weren't Shaman notified about this change, and why was it done in the first place?
Grounding Totem: There has been much debate surrounding this Totem and it's intended functionality. It can be quite frustrating for a Shaman to drop this Totem with the hopes of stopping an effect, only to have the Grounding Totem bypassed. Shouldn't the designers rethink this Totem? Why must the Shaman constantly baby-sit this Totem, as it usually gets blasted out of existence seconds after it is placed? The effect is nice at times, but its application is very inconsistent, and thus can lead to confusion.
Tremor Totem: There is some debate about the effectiveness of this Totem. Its benefit tends to be inconsistent; sometimes it will stop fear immediately and sometimes the shaman will run right out of the Totem's radius. This may be due to the Totem only removing magical forms of fear.
Windwall Totem: Many Shaman feel this Totem lacks any utility whatsoever, and that's putting it nicely. Why do we have this totem?
Stoneclaw Totem: At high levels, this Totem has no chance of lasting more than a single hit against a creep. This severely limits any crowd control application this Totem may have, and thus it's only useful for making a quick escape from creeps or buying a fire Totem an extra second.
Mana Spring: Many Shaman consider this Totem's effect lacking.
Resistance Totems: Is it intended for Mark of the Wild NOT to stack with these Totems?
Talents:
Improved Stoneclaw Totem: A 5 point talent that's dubious in usefulness. I have never heard of a Shaman investing in this talent and being satisfied with the results.
Improved Stoneskin Totem: This talent's description can be misleading, since many players do not realize how Stoneskin's effect is applied to damage. Many are disappointed when they learn the true effects of this talent, and how the bonus is actually applied.
2 Handed Axes and Maces: Shaman lose all of their 2 Handed Mace and Axe skill if they respec, even if they respec back to 2 Handed Weapons at a later date. No other class has to consider re-training two weapon skills if they decide to respec. Not a class-breaking problem, but it is quite annoying.
Improved Frostbrand Weapon: An unpopular talent for an equally unpopular spell. If a Shaman wants to bypass armor, I imagine they'd use the higher damage Flametongue Weapon. Buffing Frostbrand's damage with this talent isn't very helpful.
Improved Grounding Totem: Having an improved Grounding Totem can have it's uses in dungeons, but more often than not, a stray enemy spell destroys the Totem very quickly. This talent's boost to the Grounding Totem is largely seen as unhelpful.
Stormstrike: Many Shaman are displeased with this ability, complaining that it is too easy for the target to resist the damage, and that it costs too much mana for what it does. Other talents, like Nature's Swiftness, are considered far more flexible and useful. This ability is also bugged, and will inflict Lightning Shield damage on the Shaman from time to time.
Improved Healing Wave: This talent does not do enough to improve Healing Wave over Lesser Healing Wave, according to the numbers I have seen. Most Shaman opt for Tidal Focus in nearly every case.
Combat Endurance: The unpopularity of this talent probably stems from the unpopularity of Spirit.
Flurry: Windfury consumes Flurry's charges. Is this intended?
Class Issues:
Our End-Game Role: Some Shaman are dissatisfied about being pigeon-holed as a second-rate healer in high-end raid content. Elemental and Enhancement abilities are usually frowned upon in these areas. How do the designers feel about the Shaman's role in end raid content?
The Shaman "Look": There is quite a bit of disagreement concerning Shaman equipment. Some people are happy with the heavily armored look of most mail pieces, and yet some people prefer the Warcraft 3 Shaman art. What is the stance of the designers? How do they plan on balancing the very distinct art styles of each race's Shaman? For example, a mask wearing, voodoo-clad Troll looks quite different from an animal-skin wearing Orc, and even more so than a totem wearing Tauren.
The Missing Shock: Many of us know the history behind Lightning Shock, but new Shaman still wonder why only 3 of our 4 elements are represented in our Shock line. Will we ever see an Air Shock in any form?
Shaman Quests: The Air quest feels terribly unfinished compared to the others. In addition, our class content essentially ends after this quest. We were given a new quest in the last patch, but many feel this was "tacked on" so the Horde could have access to the Deathknight's loot table.
No Spells For You: Like many other classes, new spells and abilities fizzle out when we reach our mid 40s.
Reap the Whirlwind: Windfury Weapon's signature whirlwind effect was removed with the latest patch. We all understand if Windfury required reworking/bug fixing, but we miss the whirlwind graphic.
And last, but not least:
Bloodlust![ post edited by Tafari ]
| | | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-shaman&t=118979&p=#post118979 | | | Poster: Eyonix at 5/7/2005 4:02:12 PM PDT
Subject: Re: The Big Bad List of Shaman Issues |
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Nice, thank you very much guys! There was some extremely good information contained in this thread, both in the original post, and in many of your responses. I will see what I can do about getting you guys some answers at some point in the near future.
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| | | http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-shaman&t=118979&p=#post123811 |
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