What do u think about shaman in PvP grp?

[serjons]

I was into Priest/Shammy... but i think i will do a Shammy coz more funny for me...

But its Shaman useful in grps? how are totens in PvP grp? what is the main function to do with a shammy when going to kill ppl with a fg? what skills are the most useful at high lvls?

Thx :]

[Nastrand]

I am not sure of their current status but you could ask Kaiser or Bubbles as both of them are/were very good shaman.

Bubbles is Kafka now on Server 6 Central if you want his opinions.

[Jumai]

I know one of the shaman on this board runs a pure elemental build.

Shaman are very strong in pvp. Your staple PvP totems will be earthbind and resist and grounding, all are powerful aids to your group. Healing, casting shocks to inturrupt or snare, and keeping the totems down (people love wanding them) will keep you busy and useful.

[JonChron]

Shaman are a must have in group pvp, in fact, I would prefer to bring a couple. Every shaman you have is another battle-altering advantage you have over the enemy.

Last night 7 of us swam to westfall (lvls 16-27) and had some kick ass pvp all over darkshire and westfall.

There was one point where we killed 22 people by some miracle.

As a shaman I had almost every heavy melee double snared + mage's blizzard for a triple snare. I kept healing totems up in the back, and a frost resist up too.

With my hefty 2h axe I made sure to keep moving, spinning, and jumping so I could continue to chop up gnomes, break casting, and take down targets with low hp. I would only pause for the periodic bomb drop for some nifty AOE dmg. Through out the fight I was rarely targetted, luckily neither were my totems.

I was one of the last ones to die, berserk quick heals are too insane to pass up being a troll. :)

The only issue I had was with my mana. I'm pretty sure with a more stable build I could maintain my pool. -Currently specced mostly stamina.

My only question has to do with the fire nova totem. This seems to be a decent damage to mana ratio, considering it isn't destroyed first. Are the talents for this worth getting? I'm hoping to get high enough to try it for myself before beta ends.

[Shotai]

Shaman are a must have in group pvp, in fact, I would prefer to bring a couple. Every shaman you have is another battle-altering advantage you have over the enemy.

Last night 7 of us swam to westfall (lvls 16-27) and had some kick ass pvp all over darkshire and westfall.

There was one point where we killed 22 people by some miracle.

As a shaman I had almost every heavy melee double snared + mage's blizzard for a triple snare. I kept healing totems up in the back, and a frost resist up too.

With my hefty 2h axe I made sure to keep moving, spinning, and jumping so I could continue to chop up gnomes, break casting, and take down targets with low hp. I would only pause for the periodic bomb drop for some nifty AOE dmg. Through out the fight I was rarely targetted, luckily neither were my totems.

I was one of the last ones to die, berserk quick heals are too insane to pass up being a troll. :)

The only issue I had was with my mana. I'm pretty sure with a more stable build I could maintain my pool. -Currently specced mostly stamina.

My only question has to do with the fire nova totem. This seems to be a decent damage to mana ratio, considering it isn't destroyed first. Are the talents for this worth getting? I'm hoping to get high enough to try it for myself before beta ends.

Much agreed here, shamans definately add alot of flavor to a fight, assuming you have a shaman who knows how to use all of his/her totems efficiently.

[CuriousJorge]

I've never pvp'd at low levels, but come endgame, most totems are worthless. You only use earthbind and grounding and occasionally a resist totem.

[Envie]

Nurfed didn't have enough Shamans in beta testing, IMO, so I'm glad to see more of our team is going shaman for final now that Horde is the definite final pick.

They REALLY add versatility and tactics to any PvP group and are a must have as said by others here in far more detail. While I believe the Paladin is a stronger PvE asset to the Alliance, I believe the shaman is a PvP asset to Horde.

What the debate for us boiled down to was: Allliance overall, based on their racial and class talents seems to be a more defensively powerful team, while the Horde seems geared more for offensive power. The shaman follows this trend. Shamans are awesome pvp tools, use them and be one -- the more the better!

-

[JonChron]

Usually persistance over comes resistance, but I've noticed in WoW and most other MMORPGs that a strong defense often seems to win over offense simply by attrition.

I have faith in the horde, and especially shamans. But I think in the long run, if you team up smart players with the ultimate defense of alliance - they will be more likely to win. (especially if zerging is permitted in battle grounds) :?

With 2 paladins in each group you already have more ac and resists than the horde could possibly have. Not to mention blessings, shields, LoH, and STUN

Alliance priest's instant cast self heals > all

Racial Invisibility is much more useful than you may think.

Granted, guilds like Nurfed will undoubtably be able to put up outstanding performances. Alliance will still have many key advantages in mass pvp. Taking down the BEST alliance guild will be a great challenge. :wink:

I would still say horde is alot more fun.
Instant cast AOE snare is phat.
Trolls and Orcs are HOTT!
:)

[kernel16]

Jon, no, true palys are a bitch but they dont effect large pvp as much as you think they might. Even witht he talents the best they got are the 10% increase holy, devotion and that 35% defense vs casting delays, but thats not nearly as effective as the totems. Also you need at leas 3 palys in each group to get the best of the paly for pvp, while you only need 1 shaman.

Also defense on the long run wont pay off, defense will just buy them a lil more time but they in the end offense will win.

Point in case, Most of the best skills palys have can only be used on them self, and the few spells they can use on others theyc an only use it on one person, thats not rly helping the group, unlike shamans. ALso for a paly to be rly effective in pvp groups he would have to sue all his skills not many palys will know how to. Palys will always be good by them self, but in the alrge BG were talking about well need shamans.

And when you look at the racial stats of the alliance, have you tried the NE stealth it sucks, the gnome thingy has a casting time.

Basicaly if it boiled down a perfect horde raid group have more pvp oriented advantages then allaicne do. Also the isntant heal of priest, thats a a long ass time, and another point also is that racial stats are a small bery small bonus, it wont even decide the outcome.

Also no one can denie a UD war/rogue, they can easly take out the priests.

And back to the point about offense vs deffence, allinnce are only good a lil bit more in deffence, while the hrode have a lot more in offense, more offense then the deffence allaicne have...

And now your arguement about zerg, so basicaly sense the allaicne will always zerg why bother, ugh there is a reason why left our old guild.

So play and have fun or play and maybe win but not enjoy the win... hmm cmon jon ~_~ :?

[JonChron]

Yea, the topic is debatable, and I would have fun where ever I played.
Max spent alot of time studying factions like Indal spent on warriors.

I double checked alot of his work, you will see what I am talking about late into retail. ~if they don't change too much

p.s You will want to play alliance when you meet OG ;)

[Stompede]

From what I've gathered it seems like the 21 points to NS is a must. Any points after that is more up to personal preference. I guess in light of all the group talk, what exactly is the shamans role in group? I played a mage all through retail and I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. CC, AOE sometimes, as well as nuking while making sure that the warrior held aggro. With the shamans versatility, either in melee, totems, healing and nuking what exactly is his role in the later levels? Especially in the higher level istances such as Stratholme and Scholo.

Am i correct in that I just drop totems, and help out with whatever is lacking? For example if a priest can't heal in time, I should pick it up of course. As well as adding nukes when possible, or possibly drawing some aggro from warrior. However I have only started playing a shaman only recently (3 days actually) and I have many questions. In the higher levels, while knowing that the warrior is the main tank, will a shaman be able to take a crit from a boss? I know that those crits can often be deadly to casters but where does the shaman fall in the group dynamic.

Thanks for all the help. Can't wait to see most of you in retail. With that list of guilds coming to server 6, it looks like there will be gnomes a plenty to punt around.

[IN-QQQQ]

I think
#1 thing is the Drop Totems.
#2 is the Back-up Heal
#3 damage out put

[Jozen]

Q: You don't think that Shamans can have a good damage output and be taking people down with 2handers and Windfury/Shocks up in the front line? You put damage 3rd. I'm just wondering what your experience is with Shamans. I don't have much myself but I'll be playing a Troll Shaman on release on central cause I want to be where all the action is.

[IN-QQQQ]

I never said they don't have good damage out put. I solo with the class all the time.

What Im saying is that in a 5 man group dynamic, I'll use the group example that I normally run in:

1- Warrior
2- Priest
3- Mage
4- Shaman
5- Warlock or another class.

#1 Roll of a Shaman is to drop their totems.

#2 Is to Back-up Heal. We have a Priest their role is to be the Main healer, but shamans are there as back-up healers. If you have a choice between Attacking/Nuking the Mob vs Healing a group memeber......it better be to HEAL the group memeber.

#3 is to do damage. If the #1 and #2 is covered, sure go ahead an Attack.

[Jozen]

Ahh, I see what you're getting at. In a group that has your other areas covered you do the one thing they can't, drop totems.

I really like the Shaman a lot. Hybrids are so much fun to play and the Shaman can just do all sorts of fun stuff. Can't wait to play in retail.

[Stompede]

Thanks IN-Q... That's really helpful feedback. Highest instance i've been on is BRD/BRS and sunken temple as a mage on alliance so its helpful to see what I should concentrate on as a shaman in group. Especially since I solo most of the time except to group, and at level 17 as a shaman, i haven't had a huge chance to instance group yet... Thanks again for the valuable input.

[HeychP]

yo jon, your right about alliance having a great defensive system, but we have great offensive system right?

basically what it comes down to, is its all equal, they have what we dont and we have what they dont. PvP masses will be based and judged by the player and/or group skills, nothing else.

Personnaly, ive always been a defensive type of player, but i still prefer Horde side, I like horde so i will stay there, we will jsut have to work our way to fight with our advantages against our disadvantages.

And the times I've dueled you, you seem an offensive player to me, right?
so why the alliance-siding thing?

P.S Who is OG? and well since we never met him or wtv, maybe u can explain to us how he convinced you? =P

[Zaknafien]

Shamans bring a lot to a PvP group. I wouldnt say you really start with anything, but just adapt to the sitation. Your role really depends on what the battle is like, and how your group is structured.

In any group battle, you should always have 4 totems down

In giant zerg battles, you really dont belong on the front lines unless there is some critical warrior shortage. Its better to stay back where you can put your spells to good use. If you get up in front, you tend to get killed by enough focus fire, or waste a bunch of your healers mana keeping you alive. Ultimatly, you help hold the line more if you keep the guys who belong up there alive.

This doesnt mean you shouldnt act offensivly, though. Your shocks are always good, and purge is very handy. Stay at about shock range, so that you can dart in and out to do things without making yourself an attractive target.

In smaller battles, that focus fire isnt such a problem, and your damage/tanking is more important. This means you can venture forwards and melee, although you should still place priority on casting your spells.(This isnt such a problem. Besides heals, they are mostly instants) You may also want to drop back when you drop totems, so that they are more of a pain to kill.

You should keep in mind that most of your abilities are best for keeping your group alive or distrupting theirs, from earth shock to grounding totem to heals to earthbind. Dont blow all your mana trying to kill someone, focus on making your group more powerful and theirs less so.

[Dernx]

Right now shamans have one of the highest DPS in the game, rivaling rogue/mage, although I'd put them as way better than a mage because they aren't frail like all cloth casters. I played all OB with a shaman friend who got up to 40, and in pvp (I'm a priest) we dominated. At level 40 he was hitting people with shock crits, fairly often due to talents, for around 500-550 damage, with crit dmg improving talents. As they are right now, my groups will definitely have a shaman in them, and will likely still have one after the probable nerf coming to the class.

[JonChron]

You're right Heych. In the last 24 hours of beta I was fortunate enough to have a stranger swap classes with me, and I was able to test out a 60 shaman.

Too much fun to pass up being a shammy :)
I've got to play one for retail.

I need to talk to you and Arch in vent. Get in touch :P

[HeychP]

You're right Heych. In the last 24 hours of beta I was fortunate enough to have a stranger swap classes with me, and I was able to test out a 60 shaman.

Too much fun to pass up being a shammy :)
I've got to play one for retail.

I need to talk to you and Arch in vent. Get in touch :P

sure thing, i'll tell arch about it.