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Should I start a shaman?
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Post by
447120
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Post by
Haxzor
Pros: we pwne
Cons: Blizzard hates us
Post by
alpha5099
I'm a big advocate of Enhancement, but Ele has its share of fans, and I think both sides insist there's is the best for leveling, so you certainly have options. (Someday I'll try Ele, I swear, maybe when I roll a Goblin Shaman). Personally, I was drawn to Enh for the same reasons you were: it's different from what I'd done before. My old main was a mage, so melee was new to me. As I said, I would recommend going Enh, but if you're looking for something different, Ele should be fine.
From what I've read about Ele leveling, it honestly sounds quite boring to me. Mainly Lightning Bolt spam with the occasional Chain Lightning for multiple mobs. Not a whole lot changes until 75 when you get Lava Burst. (Ele shamans, please correct me, I'm sure I've done your spec an injustice.)
What I loved most about leveling Enh was the number of new tools and abilities (and procs! Sweet Jesus, so many procs, how I love them all!) you receive as you level. Every 5 or 10 levels, you'd get a new ability to add to your rotation, and it was quite fun to see how the generic early Shaman experience of Lightning Bolt, Lightning Bolt, Shock, Melee slowly evolved into the Enh playstyle. Some of the abilities were just trained, but an awful lot require talent investment in the Enh tree.
Fun things you get while leveling Enh: Instant Ghost Wolf, Windfury Weapon (not talented, but an Ele shaman won't be using it), Dual-Wield, Stormstrike, Lava Lash, Shamanistic Rage, Maelstrom Weapon (such a game changer; suddenly we go from using LB to pull to tossing out insta-LBs all the time, and healing ourselves in a clutch, making Enh an incredibly hybridized spec), and of course, Feral Spirit, for my money the coolest goddamn 51-point talent in the game. Awesome looking wolves that bash your enemies, heal you, and give you a sprint. Yes please.
If you can't tell, I love Shamans. I think you should play one. Now, someone with Ele experience, tell him what that's like.
Post by
195614
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454091
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Post by
MegaVolt
I leveled 1-63 as enhancement and it was great fun and very strong. I'd say it's one of the strongest (or even the strongest) leveling spec in the game. Even with crappy quest gear (my main is a Night Elf, my Shaman is an Orc - so sadly no heirlooms for him) mobs in Outland die within seconds. Not even my DK (who had way better gear) could come remotely close to that in leveling speed. On top of this the Ghost Wolves allow me to solo any group quest without losing health - even 3man quests that are 2 levels above me ;)
That being said I just re-specced elemental. The thing about enhancment is that it plays just like any other melee class. I am also leveling my DK and having both a dual wielding DK and a dual wielding Shaman just feels redundant - and boring. I have to admit I like my Shaman more but I just can't change the DK to be a ranged caster and I don't want to play two melee classes ... so I sadly had to part with my beloved Ghost Wolves and go with elemental.
Overall I am pleasantly surprised. Yes, the wolves are missed. But even with my crappy gear (didn't collect a full caster set yet so I still have a few pieces with AP instead of SP on them) elemental kills mobs almost as fast as enhance. There are lots of gimmicky skills to play with. Thunderstorm knockback is very fun to use and the earthbind snare also rocks.
I am very happy I went to elemental. It is very refreshing to have a caster after leveling as melee all the time. Since you also have melee classes so far I'd recommend going with elemental.
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451227
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124864
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454091
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Post by
alpha5099
I'd like to reiterate what MegaVolt had to say: the %^&* you can solo as Enh is insane. The only group quest I had to actually group for before Northrend was Durn the Hungerer, and only a handful of Northrend group quests required a group (a few in Dragonblight, Arugal in GH, the Amphitheater of Anguish and Battle at Valhalas chains). Few things are as satisfying as dropping your totems, unleashing the wolves, and popping Bloodlust/Heroism and burning some giant mob to the ground.
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338789
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Post by
s4ndwitch
Until you get to at least 71 and can get Shamanistic focus, there is no real reason to use shocks except frost for kiting.
I don't agree. I'm leveling my ele shaman(currently 46lvl) and I have water shield up all the time. With this I have so much mana regen that lightning bolt spam doesn't eat any of my mana. I'm using shocks to shorten the fights and efficiently use mana regen between fights. Also I definitely wouldn't say it's boring, now that I finally got Lightning Overload. Seeing damage of 2 Chain Lightnings jump over 3 targets always makes me happy :)
Post by
321419
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Post by
MegaVolt
I'd like to reiterate what MegaVolt had to say: the %^&* you can solo as Enh is insane. The only group quest I had to actually group for before Northrend was Durn the Hungerer, and only a handful of Northrend group quests required a group (a few in Dragonblight, Arugal in GH, the Amphitheater of Anguish and Battle at Valhalas chains). Few things are as satisfying as dropping your totems, unleashing the wolves, and popping Bloodlust/Heroism and burning some giant mob to the ground.
Just to expand on that (since I leveled a bit more and have a little more experience with elemental now):
As for normal questing, elemental is just as fast as enhance in outland. My dps (in crappy quest gear) is about the same and since I don't have to run up to mobs as elemental I'd say leveling as caster may even be a tiny bit faster.
There is one major difference and that is soloing big stuff, either group quests or mass pulls. As enhance in Outland I haven't found a limit on what to pull. Any group, no matter the size, be it 10 mobs - they all go down when Ghost Wolves are pulled. Same for elite mobs (group quests). There is just nothing that can kill you while the wolves are active (well, as long as the mobs don't have a much higher level then you).
As elemental I can't nearly AoE kill stuff as fast and I can't solo group quests. Thunderstorm knockback and the totem root are nice but they are usually not enough to down the boss. Additionally the healing isn't instant (5 maelstrom healing wave is so awesome) so as elemental you can't keep yourself up while dealing damage. As enhance I could easily solo 3man quests without even losing health and without fear of pulling additional adds with the boss. As elemental I can barely do 2man group quests alone and any additional add will certainly kill me.
Still, since group quests are only a minor part of leveling and since I don't do AoE grinding I think that going elemental is a nice thing to do. Being able to pull everything at range is so much more awesome then having to walk up to it all the time. Sure, enhance can also cast LBs ... but they are slow and hit for much less. I'm really looking forward to LvB, at the latest with that spell elemental should clearly win in single non-elite mob killing speed against enhance simply because it one-shots most mobs ;)
Post by
Kibbles
Pros: we pwne
Cons: Blizzard hates us
Everyone says that.
But only druids speak the truth =D.
Try it. you never know until you try
Post by
378676
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