So if I am picking up all the BoA gear for my enhancement shaman, I want the +AP trinket and +AP mail armor, correct?
I don't think there is an AP trinket, is there? Just haste and SP? And if you're going enhancement, you probably want two of the haste ones, although one of each could work if you already have them.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
So if I am picking up all the BoA gear for my enhancement shaman, I want the +AP trinket and +AP mail armor, correct?
I don't think there is an AP trinket, is there? Just haste and SP? And if you're going enhancement, you probably want two of the haste ones, although one of each could work if you already have them.
You're right, the Swift Hand of Justice is haste. It's not unique though, so I could pick up two if you recommend it.
Basically every emblem I make between ow and Cata's release is going in to BoA gear for my Shaman, because I plan to level him in Cata, so I don't mind splurging.
GrobianWhat's on sale?Pliers!Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
We don't really know which trinket will be better. I leveled my Paladin with dual spellpower trinkets, just because mana was the more valuable proc. So I think the decision should be based on the mana situation while leveling and since they haven't finished the numbers it's hard to tell.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
We don't really know which trinket will be better. I leveled my Paladin with dual spellpower trinkets, just because mana was the more valuable proc. So I think the decision should be based on the mana situation while leveling and since they haven't finished the numbers it's hard to tell.
Hmm, yah, I can see that. The health proc is pretty useless for a Shaman (and a Paladin I guess), because I can just heal myself. I may end up going one of each.
Yep, you can heal yourself, but on the other hand, mana isn't really a big issue either if you keep up Water Shield. For a paladin, it will be even less of an issue with JotW at 10. If enhancement doesn't get decent mana regen in Cata until that "mana procs on auto-attacks talent," then it might be better to get one of each.
Does anyone have a gauge on what Shammy healing is like in Cata?
I want to roll a bad-ass 5-man healer for Cata, and I'm torn between pretty much all of them (Druid lower on the list, I think, because I dislike the pewpewpew of rogue/cat form, and Tree of Life is gone now anyway).
If you want to pull threat of the tank, Frost Shock is one way to do it.
As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be much change in Shaman healing aside from some stat changes and a bit more help in mana returns from casting offensive spells.
You'll also probably be casting Wave spells a bit more, as I don't think ES + Riptide + CH + shaman passive healing procs will be able to get you as far (as in you'll actually have to cast more than those three spells to heal a heroic).
And, at least for now, they're not kidding about differentiating the three direct healing spell classifications. LHW is damn expensive and HW is slow and has pretty lousy throughput.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Yep, you can heal yourself, but on the other hand, mana isn't really a big issue either if you keep up Water Shield. For a paladin, it will be even less of an issue with JotW at 10. If enhancement doesn't get decent mana regen in Cata until that "mana procs on auto-attacks talent," then it might be better to get one of each.
Enhancement Shamans use Water Shield? I always just assumed they all used Lightning Shield while leveling.
Yep, you can heal yourself, but on the other hand, mana isn't really a big issue either if you keep up Water Shield. For a paladin, it will be even less of an issue with JotW at 10. If enhancement doesn't get decent mana regen in Cata until that "mana procs on auto-attacks talent," then it might be better to get one of each.
Enhancement Shamans use Water Shield? I always just assumed they all used Lightning Shield while leveling.
Not at at low levels when you don't have the good mana regen talents and abilities.
I stopped playing back at the end of Vanilla and only played for one month during TBC. Toying with the idea of coming back into the fold for Cata, but I just wanted to say i'm quite upset that the resto tree still has Restorative Totems. Perhaps it has changed, but back when I was playing I feel like it was largely regarded as a waste of talent points that basically had to be spent to get to manatide.
Huh, static shock now has a big ol' chance to proc off two of your melee abilities. (well 3, but Stormstrike replaces Primal Strike)
Elemental
* Hex now lasts 1 min. Up from 30 sec.
* Searing Totem now prefer to target enemies that are afflicted by your Flame Shock or Stormstrike effects.
* Reverberation is now a Tier 2 talent. Down from Tier 3.
* Improved Fire Nova is now a Tier 3 talent. Up from Tier 2.
* Elemental Warding now reduces magical damage instead of all damage.
* Ancestral Knowledge is now named Acuity and Increases your critical strike chance with all spells and attacks by 1/2/3%.
* Convection now Reduces the mana cost of your damaging offensive spells.
Enhancement
* Heroism's "Exhausted" debuff now also affects Time Warp (Mage)
* Static Shock now procs from Primal Strike, Stormstrike, or Lava Lash (Old - All melee attacks and abilities). Chance to proc increased from 2/4/6% to 15/30/45%.
* Totemic Reach *New* - Increases the radius of your totems' effects by 15/30%.
Restoration
* Totemic Focus is now a 2-Ranks talent, down from 3-Ranks. Now also increases the duration of your totems by 20/40%.
* Cleansing Waters *New* - When your Cleanse Spirit successfully removes a harmful effect, you also heal the target for [ 1093 to 1164 ]/[ 2187 to 2330 ].
Thanks! It's always annoying being at work and seeing people post "OMG look at X new talent!" And I'm all, "I can't!"
Well I had you in mind when I was making that post.
Also I miss the oldest of old windfury weapon, when it would proc off its own procs and included the swing animations for the extra hits. Nothing was more satisfying than hearing a rapid series of CLUNKS and THUNKS from your hammer.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Yep, you can heal yourself, but on the other hand, mana isn't really a big issue either if you keep up Water Shield. For a paladin, it will be even less of an issue with JotW at 10. If enhancement doesn't get decent mana regen in Cata until that "mana procs on auto-attacks talent," then it might be better to get one of each.
Enhancement Shamans use Water Shield? I always just assumed they all used Lightning Shield while leveling.
Not at at low levels when you don't have the good mana regen talents and abilities.
Ding ding ding we have a winner.
Any time there was a major change to the shaman's abilities / talents, I rolled a fresh shaman to see how it impacted things on the whole scale (not just the end-game like everyone focuses on). When they made Water Shield available at low levels, it made the leveling course REALLY fucking easy and speedy too. Lightning Shield doesn't provide enough impact in grinding / questing encounters with its damage, but the Water Shield orbs replenishing your mana sure as hell does. Allows you to heal up and throw out shocks more often. It's just too nifty.
Granted, with the new talent that allows for mana regen on random attacks, this could change up.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
I guess I find the statement "Lightning Shield doesn't provide enough impact" kind of strange. With the Lightning Shield talent, on my 36 Shaman, it's a big source of damage for me. I guess I should try Water Shield, though I really don't find myself having many mana problems at 36.
Also I miss the oldest of old windfury weapon, when it would proc off its own procs and included the swing animations for the extra hits. Nothing was more satisfying than hearing a rapid series of CLUNKS and THUNKS from your hammer.
The days when lucky Windfury procs could murder someone in seconds. The moon was full, the stars aligned, you hit attack, and they just died.... horribly.
These are also the days of the Paladin's Reckoning Bomb.
Static Shock change is interesting. Looks like part of an effort to reduce the RNG in enhancement damage and to deemphasize the power of haste for enhance.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I guess I find the statement "Lightning Shield doesn't provide enough impact" kind of strange. With the Lightning Shield talent, on my 36 Shaman, it's a big source of damage for me. I guess I should try Water Shield, though I really don't find myself having many mana problems at 36.
That's what I thought too, but I put in a real effort behind trying out Lighting Shield and Water Shield for stints at a time (within the same level as I was leveling) to see how things were working out, and Water Shield was just making things great.
When your bonus to magic damage starts getting significant enough and your mana isn't too much of an issue, Lightning Shield can take center stage.
And yeah the static shock change is kind of significant. 45% chance when using your two most frequent abilities to make an orb do damage (without using that orb! unless they changed that back) is way the hell better than 6% on any attack to make it happen.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
Also I miss the oldest of old windfury weapon, when it would proc off its own procs and included the swing animations for the extra hits. Nothing was more satisfying than hearing a rapid series of CLUNKS and THUNKS from your hammer.
The days when lucky Windfury procs could murder someone in seconds. The moon was full, the stars aligned, you hit attack, and they just died.... horribly.
These are also the days of the Paladin's Reckoning Bomb.
It was always great kind of getting an idea of who understood the threat a shaman could present and those who didn't. If someone was making more of an effort than usual to keep their distance from your melee, they knew. The absolute best moment were when people would try to gank me and a windfury bomb would explode in their face, and they get into the biggest hurry to get the fuck out of there.
Incidentally, I was never a victim of it. Then again, I only played Horde back in those days and this was at a time when shaman and paladins were exclusive to each faction.
Static Shock change is interesting. Looks like part of an effort to reduce the RNG in enhancement damage and to deemphasize the power of haste for enhance.
It fits their earlier statements, too. Less emphasis on autoattack procs, meaning less punishment on DPS due to mobility.
Hope windfury doesn't suffer the same fate.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
I dont think there is supposed to be a "making up for" lost boring stats in trees.
WTF is up with blizz going backwards and adding more boring straight to stats talents in our tree? acuity has to be a placeholder...
Hmmm...I see what you mean. A universal near-mandatory talent is pretty much the definition of boring. Could use something more interesting.
Well, the "remove boring talents" thing was a hard stance they were taking until the 31 point thing came to be. The trouble is the first 2 tiers of all class trees have to appeal to the other two specs you might choose. Like the first 2 tiers of frost talents have to appeal to fire mages somehow. And the easiest way to accomplish this is to make the first 2 tiers of any given tree the boring percentile stuff.
The more unique talents will kick in at tier 3, which is your specialized talent tree.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
Uh I'm on the talent tool for MMO Champ and according to it Acuity is 5 / 10 / 15 % increase crit chance. No way in hell that's right.
I dont think there is supposed to be a "making up for" lost boring stats in trees.
WTF is up with blizz going backwards and adding more boring straight to stats talents in our tree? acuity has to be a placeholder...
Hmmm...I see what you mean. A universal near-mandatory talent is pretty much the definition of boring. Could use something more interesting.
Well, the "remove boring talents" thing was a hard stance they were taking until the 31 point thing came to be. The trouble is the first 2 tiers of all class trees have to appeal to the other two specs you might choose. Like the first 2 tiers of frost talents have to appeal to fire mages somehow. And the easiest way to accomplish this is to make the first 2 tiers of any given tree the boring percentile stuff.
The more unique talents will kick in at tier 3, which is your specialized talent tree.
True, which is why I understand things like convection and concussion, but they CAN do a little better than straight crit.
Word is we're the class that got concentration aura. It's a water totem, too; gives us something from that school to drop in PvP again.
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HenroidMexican kicked from Immigration ThreadCentrism is Racism :3Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
I noticed in the latest beta update stuffs that relics are in right now and the shaman ones count as earth / fire / water / air totem. Is that applied in live right now too, or is that an upcoming perk?
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reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
Yeah, it's been in since late TBC, I think.
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Kai_SanCommonly known as Klineshrike!Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
Im sorry i will jump up to updating the main post more soon, I just got married last week and just got back from my honeymoon today to some pet troubles.
Things should finally be slowing down now so I can update this shit today or tomorrow, but no real "shaman" major changes have hit lately, just a few talent tweaks and the stat stick relics they told us were coming anyway.
I'm fairly certain back in TBC it wasn't the case (the only time I took my shaman far enough to get relics; didn't play my shaman much in WotLK). I remember them specifically adding a totem later on in the game (late TBC or early WotLK) that covered the 4 totems you originally get.
I still have a screenshot laying around from when you turn in those four totems for the one but can still go get your earth totem again. <_<
Shaman
Elemental
Magma Totem now costs 18% of base mana, down from 27%.
Lava Burst damage has been increased by 25%.
Restoration
Totem of Tranquil Mind *New* - Summons a Totem of Tranquil Mind with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 5 min, causing party or raid members within 30 yards to lose 0% less casting or channeling time when damaged. (Value NYI, Concentration Aura)
Enhancement
Maelstrom Weapon now also reduces the mana cost of the spell.
I'm fairly certain back in TBC it wasn't the case (the only time I took my shaman far enough to get relics; didn't play my shaman much in WotLK). I remember them specifically adding a totem later on in the game (late TBC or early WotLK) that covered the 4 totems you originally get.
I still have a screenshot laying around from when you turn in those four totems for the one but can still go get your earth totem again. <_<
I'm fairly certain back in TBC it wasn't the case (the only time I took my shaman far enough to get relics; didn't play my shaman much in WotLK). I remember them specifically adding a totem later on in the game (late TBC or early WotLK) that covered the 4 totems you originally get.
I still have a screenshot laying around from when you turn in those four totems for the one but can still go get your earth totem again. <_<
So I just bought Dual spec for my lv 48 shammy to give him an enhance spec. Not really sure if i've been doing it right though. i pretty much drop totems then fire nova, flame shock, lava lash and stormstrike on cooldown. Is there more order to it like a do a then b type of thing or is it just a cluster of ability CDs?
I can live with a Concentration totem. It sorta seems like an appropriate utility totem to have.
The Maelstrom Weapon change is pretty hot.
Indeed. Can't see how we'd have been able to use anything aside from Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst without it.
The lava burst buff is droolworthy, too. Easier to see how things are gonna pan out, though it's still not much to address the enhancement mobility issues they're so obsessed about. Still have a bad feeling that their "fix" involves a windfury nerf.
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Kai_SanCommonly known as Klineshrike!Registered Userregular
edited August 2010
Im pretty sure the lava burst buff is after it had a relatively large damage nerf prior. To make up the the overload procs it can get.
Posts
You're right, the Swift Hand of Justice is haste. It's not unique though, so I could pick up two if you recommend it.
Basically every emblem I make between ow and Cata's release is going in to BoA gear for my Shaman, because I plan to level him in Cata, so I don't mind splurging.
Hmm, yah, I can see that. The health proc is pretty useless for a Shaman (and a Paladin I guess), because I can just heal myself. I may end up going one of each.
I want to roll a bad-ass 5-man healer for Cata, and I'm torn between pretty much all of them (Druid lower on the list, I think, because I dislike the pewpewpew of rogue/cat form, and Tree of Life is gone now anyway).
Also: Frost Shock! (am I doing this right?)
As far as I know, there doesn't seem to be much change in Shaman healing aside from some stat changes and a bit more help in mana returns from casting offensive spells.
And, at least for now, they're not kidding about differentiating the three direct healing spell classifications. LHW is damn expensive and HW is slow and has pretty lousy throughput.
Enhancement Shamans use Water Shield? I always just assumed they all used Lightning Shield while leveling.
Not at at low levels when you don't have the good mana regen talents and abilities.
Well I had you in mind when I was making that post.
Also I miss the oldest of old windfury weapon, when it would proc off its own procs and included the swing animations for the extra hits. Nothing was more satisfying than hearing a rapid series of CLUNKS and THUNKS from your hammer.
Ding ding ding we have a winner.
Any time there was a major change to the shaman's abilities / talents, I rolled a fresh shaman to see how it impacted things on the whole scale (not just the end-game like everyone focuses on). When they made Water Shield available at low levels, it made the leveling course REALLY fucking easy and speedy too. Lightning Shield doesn't provide enough impact in grinding / questing encounters with its damage, but the Water Shield orbs replenishing your mana sure as hell does. Allows you to heal up and throw out shocks more often. It's just too nifty.
Granted, with the new talent that allows for mana regen on random attacks, this could change up.
These are also the days of the Paladin's Reckoning Bomb.
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I write about video games and stuff. It is fun. Sometimes.
That's what I thought too, but I put in a real effort behind trying out Lighting Shield and Water Shield for stints at a time (within the same level as I was leveling) to see how things were working out, and Water Shield was just making things great.
When your bonus to magic damage starts getting significant enough and your mana isn't too much of an issue, Lightning Shield can take center stage.
And yeah the static shock change is kind of significant. 45% chance when using your two most frequent abilities to make an orb do damage (without using that orb! unless they changed that back) is way the hell better than 6% on any attack to make it happen.
It was always great kind of getting an idea of who understood the threat a shaman could present and those who didn't. If someone was making more of an effort than usual to keep their distance from your melee, they knew. The absolute best moment were when people would try to gank me and a windfury bomb would explode in their face, and they get into the biggest hurry to get the fuck out of there.
Incidentally, I was never a victim of it. Then again, I only played Horde back in those days and this was at a time when shaman and paladins were exclusive to each faction.
Hmmm...I see what you mean. A universal near-mandatory talent is pretty much the definition of boring. Could use something more interesting.
Steam: pazython
It fits their earlier statements, too. Less emphasis on autoattack procs, meaning less punishment on DPS due to mobility.
Hope windfury doesn't suffer the same fate.
Well, the "remove boring talents" thing was a hard stance they were taking until the 31 point thing came to be. The trouble is the first 2 tiers of all class trees have to appeal to the other two specs you might choose. Like the first 2 tiers of frost talents have to appeal to fire mages somehow. And the easiest way to accomplish this is to make the first 2 tiers of any given tree the boring percentile stuff.
The more unique talents will kick in at tier 3, which is your specialized talent tree.
True, which is why I understand things like convection and concussion, but they CAN do a little better than straight crit.
It's not, it's the old percentages of Ancestral Knowledge. I think it's supposed to be 1/2/3.
Steam: pazython
Things should finally be slowing down now so I can update this shit today or tomorrow, but no real "shaman" major changes have hit lately, just a few talent tweaks and the stat stick relics they told us were coming anyway.
I'm fairly certain back in TBC it wasn't the case (the only time I took my shaman far enough to get relics; didn't play my shaman much in WotLK). I remember them specifically adding a totem later on in the game (late TBC or early WotLK) that covered the 4 totems you originally get.
I still have a screenshot laying around from when you turn in those four totems for the one but can still go get your earth totem again. <_<
All 4 sound like varying degrees of awesome.
The Maelstrom Weapon change is pretty hot.
e: actually, they were in once TBC was released, as evidenced here.
I'm pretty sure those were changed retroactively.
Indeed. Can't see how we'd have been able to use anything aside from Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst without it.
The lava burst buff is droolworthy, too. Easier to see how things are gonna pan out, though it's still not much to address the enhancement mobility issues they're so obsessed about. Still have a bad feeling that their "fix" involves a windfury nerf.