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Druid vs Shaman. Imput needed
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Post by
littleramon
So I've gotten tired of my hunter and have decided to roll a new toon, I am debating between a shaman and druid I want to be able to dps and off spec heals. So my question to you, is which is best for these options? I would rather be melee-dps with both classes, and again off spec heals. Thanks in advance for your help. :)
Post by
hashmel
both are perfectly valid choices and, i'm gonna play "that" card, it'll come down to your personal preference as the playstyles are quite different.
if you want a very complex "rotation" that keeps you interested in your job then a cat is for you
if you may change your mind about what you'd like to do they both offer a couple options but the druid offers 1 more, tanking
Post by
404185
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Post by
serow
I abandoned my cat the moment I tried heroics at 80, becoz while it was GREAT fun for leveling, the cat rotation isn't very fun for me.
Leveled a shaman and now I swear by Enhancement.
Can't comment on heals, becoz both my shaman specs are Enhance.
Post by
MegaVolt
Answered here:
http://www.wowhead.com/?forums&topic=133155&p=1630106
I guess once is enough ;)
@serow: How do you manage the slow walking? Isn't is annoying to run around as melee without the 30% movement speed buff? That's the main reason I don't like enhance. I love everything else about the class/spec and I'd love to play it more but walking so slow is just too annoying ...
Post by
windstrum
I raid as both.
My druid is feral DPS and feral tank. My shaman is elemental and restoration.
While I haven't played moonkin or restoration on the druid, I levelled 1-70 as enhancement on the shaman, raided Kara as enhancement and then later elemental, switched back to enhancement to level to 80 in WotLK and then switched back to full caster to raid at 80.
/backstory.
Enhancement and feral are equal for levelling speed, and both equally able to solo group quests (switch to bear form on the druid, pop wolves on the shammy). I honestly cannot split them. Zero downtime for either of them, and they kill things
quick
. For raiding though, I find enhancement far too boring. Hitting something for an extended period of time begins to feel like button smashing (this is also why I can't stand playing my DK, but I digress).
The druid on the other hand certainly keeps things interesting, the complex "rotation" is second-to-none.
For healing, like I said I can only speak for the shaman. I dabbled in low level druid healing and it was fun enough, but end-game druid healing doesn't interest me. It seems to be more of a "predictive" method of healing, with very little reactionary requirements (though you do have Swiftmend and Lifebloom). The shaman is a little of both. Riptide is an example of a predictive heal (in more ways than one), but you've also got a range of other heals designed for reactive healing.
TL;DR - If melee DPS is your first preference over healing, I'd roll a druid. However if the healing aspect is important to you, my subjective opinion leans toward the shaman.
Post by
serow
@MegaVolt: I've just gotten used to it I guess. Tuskarr's Vitality is the standard leg enchantment for me :)
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80642
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130626
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48495
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Post by
MegaVolt
My favorite healing role as a shaman is the "slack" healer, where I pick up either raid or tank depending on where the heals are needed. This is also great when a healer gets killed due to some general stupidity and I have to fill his role until he can get a b-rez.
Druids on the other hand, while being amazing raid healers, can have problems healing tanks, especially on bursty fights. This in mo way means they are not capable, but just have a tougher time than a pally, shaman or disc priest.
Druids don't really make awesome tank healers but I'd say for "slack healing" they are at least as capable as Shamans.
It's quite easy as a raid healing Druid to keep a few HoTs rolling on the tank and Nourish casts very fast so a Druid can pump some siginificant amount of health into a tank if needed in a short amount of time.
As a Shaman there is kind of a build up and the hardest hitting tank healing spell, HW, casts kind of slow. The main advantage a Shaman has, the Ancestral Healing proc, won't be up when "slack healing".
For full time tank healing I'd prefer a Shaman over a Druid any day. But for the occasional help on tanks heals I'd take a Druid instead.
However, those differences are so minor that in the end player skill will be more important anyway.
Post by
48495
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Post by
serow
@MegaVolt: I've just gotten used to it I guess. Tuskarr's Vitality is the standard
boot
enchantment for me :)
Fix't
Thanks!
And just a bit more regarding being melee dps, I was in ToTC10 last night with some guildies, helping the returning players understand the fight. During the Lord Jaxx fight, the rogue on interrupt duty died, and then the mage on spellstealing duty also died (they were both still unsure about the fight). I ended up being on interrupt/purge/dps duty, and it felt real fun for me :) I'm sure my dps must have been one of the lower ones on the charts during that fight... But in a way, that's why having a priority instead of monitoring comes in handy, just insert Wind Shear/Purge as when needed and return to the priority afterwards, don't have to worry about the Rip/Rake/Savage Roar timers. I'm just a little lazy that way ~
It's true that in serious raids such situations shouldn't ever occur... but often the validation of playing a particular spec comes at brief moments in the entire duration of your play, and I just felt like sharing :P
Post by
MegaVolt
It's true that in serious raids such situations shouldn't ever occur... but often the validation of playing a particular spec comes at brief moments in the entire duration of your play, and I just felt like sharing :P
Agreed. One of the things I like most about my Shaman is actually Wind Shear. Always available (as a /stopcasting maco in my spellbar), shortest CD interrupt in the game, castable on range, instant, no GCD. Interrupting is fun both in PvE and PvP and there is no better way to do it then Wind Shear.
Now if only Purge worked on friendly targets as well :(
Post by
169285
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