Captain tycho wrote:I would most appreciate reading your article.
One thing in particular that draws me about the shaman is ghost wolf...seems like a great spell, especially since travel times are a pain in the ass.
I advise you to take this article with a grain of salt, as it pertains to the original retail release and certain things may have been changed since then. I was answering the following question with this article:
"Why do you like playing a troll shaman, and why might I choose playing one?"
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Trolls have earned a place in my heart as sort of the stepchildren of the Horde. If you were into WC2 and 3, then you know all about their history. They really don't have a home of their own, and I think, if you're in the right mindset, it makes playing that much more fun. Without a homeland of their own, they are driven not only to serve the Horde, but make a name for theselves.
As for the shaman, I call it the best class in the game. If you know what you're doing, there's very little that should give you pause (save multiple enemies at once). Everyone's better than a shaman at one specific thing, but the shaman does it all. This confers several major advantages to the shaman:
He can use any equipment he finds. In that, I mean that any stat bonuses received from armor/weapons help the shaman out. With a warrior, it's all about the strength, stamina, and agiliity(to a lesser extent). With a mage, it's all about intelligence and spirit. The shaman takes something useless to other classes and makes it his own. In this regard, you can also customize your shaman to your own liking. Max out on strength and stamina for a melee build, or intelligence for a huge mana pool. Versatility's lovely.
Utility's the name of the game. Shamans get water breathing and water walking; two fabulously useful spells. Totems = sex in groups or solo, so you're never gonna be hurting for a party.
Maximum versatility. This should be clear right now, but there's little you can't do as a shaman. You work good solo. You work good in groups. You can tank, melee, buff, heal, nuke, DoT. You're not the best, but you can fill almost any role needed.
Of course, there are disadvantages to the jack of all trades approach:
You're not explicitly sought after. Well, hardly. Unless the quest calls for water walking or water breathing, you're not needed. When you avail yourself, you're almost always snatched up, but few groups ever want specifically a shaman.
Crowd control. Shamans suck at it. Rogues can sap, mages can sheep, warriors can taunt, but all you get is a dinky little totem to draw attention for all of 2 seconds (at higher levels). Solo, this means you have to be careful about adds. Two mobs at once are doable; three is a stretch. Any more, and you're making a corpse run.
Utility belt syndrome. In groups, sometimes you're overextended. You make a shitty primary healer, tank, nuker, etc, and the minute you try to fill more than one role, your whole group's in trouble. So if you're one thing, then focus on only being that one thing, and you might make it out alive.
As for PvP, the shaman is anti caster, all the way. Earth Shock + Earthbind totem + Windfury weapon = dead casters. There's not a goddamned thing they can do about it, either, because the earth shock disrupts their spellcasting for two seconds, and the windfury usually keeps them interrupted long enough for the spell to cooldown, and repeat. The earthbind totem, of course, keeps them from running away. Casters will be curbstomped by a shaman almost every single time.
Melee classes, on the other hand, will usually curbstomp a shaman. If you get some lucky shots in, you may be able to eke out a win, but any warrior or rogue worth his salt will down you in a few seconds. I suppose if you got enough totems down in time you could win, but it wouldn't be easy.
So, my overall opinion is that shaman makes for the most interesting experience in WoW, because 1) it's a different mindset and 2) it promotes a more indepedent play style. I personally have made it through most of my 46 levels without grouping, and that's how I envision my shaman: a lone wanderer, seeking answers to his questions from all over the world. He only fights with others when he has to; at heart, he doesn't want to be dependent upon any other person. Personally, that strikes a chord with me, so maybe that's why I've played that character far more than any other I've made during the beta.
If you love striking out on your own and having the ability to do just about anything needed of you, then the shaman is for you. If you like to be the total master of a single domain, than any other class BUT the shaman is right for you. Personally, I love 'em, but I could very easily see why people don't like playing them.
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In such cases, I found that mages would be driven before me and I would hear the lamentations of their women, but a rogue or warrior sap/charge me and I'd be dead before I could retaliate. I could see how kiting them in one on one combat would work, provided their ranged attacks aren't any good.
...I mean there are other speccs and really most are viable, but really I learned easily I'm not the damage dealer. After playing a Rogue to 40...I know our damage and DPS will never be that level.