My thoughts and advice on Shaman: Part two

[Utakata]

Hello and welcome to my shaman guide 2.0. My old one, including the discussion on the thread, was obsolete as shaman got a lot of things changed since beta.

So here I am with another installment of my thoughts on shaman. My last guide was only written to rank 22, I am now rank 38 as of writing this guide so it will hopefully be more thorough and exact than my last guide.

Keep in mind that a lot of information contained in here can be construed as opinion, as builds and playstyles vary between players. Feel free to add your own input, I'm speaking from my perspective of leveling.

So I'm going to write this as of my level. If you don't have some abilities yet, I apologize, and just look forward to getting them :)

So basically I play differently in different situations, so depending on what you are doing your tactics can change drastically.

Solo PvE

Basically this is pretty straight forward. The only thing you have to change your tactics for at all is mobs with knockdown. I start the fight with Life Leaka (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1900) and Bleed Fer' Me (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1912). Then I drop Bunch o' Waaagh (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1903). If I'm getting hit hard I'll use Gork'll Fix It (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1898) and 'Ey, Quit Bleedin' (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1901) on myself. By this time I'm running low on AP so I'll drop Yer Not So Bad (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1911) on the mob. From there I basically restart the cycle until the mob dies, except only using Bleed Fer' Me (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1912) every other cycle. If I'm really getting hurt I'll resort to Don' Feel Nuthin (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1932) and spam myself with Gork'll Fix It (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1898) and continue as normal. For handling multiple mobs be sure to drop your detaunt on the one you aren't fighting, or if you get even more aggro use your AoE detaunt if needed. Be sure to equip Gork Sez Stop (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1964), and after every mob you kill you should have rank 1 morale, then drop it on the nearest melee mob and run in circles while spamming Life Leaka (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1900) on them. If you do not spam Life Leaka (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1900), Gork Sez Stop (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1964) will drop. Rinse and repeat. For caster mobs even though they don't hurt too hard, drop You Got Nuthin! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1917) when you can.

My recommended tactics at 40 for solo PvE:

Discipline (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=592)
Lookit What I Did! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1950) - Mastery tactic, replace with Whazat Behind You?! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=760) if you don't get this
Extra Special Mushrooms (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1940)
Mork Is Watchin' (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1942)

Group PvE

In group PvE I usually refrain from using Life Leaka (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1900) and Bleed Fer' Me (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1912). Detaunts are important and they break on damage so I usually stick to healing and spam 'Ere We Go! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1902) for a damage output, Yer Not So Bad (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1911) to regen AP faster, and Bunch o' Waaagh (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1903) if we need additional DPS but I'm usually needed to keep healing instead of damage.

My recommended tactics at 40 for group PvE:

Discipline (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=592)
Subtlety (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=588)
Extra Special Mushrooms (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1940)
Restorative Burst (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=589)

Solo PvP:

Not much to say here. Treat it like solo PvE if you're going 1v1.

Group PvP:

I play group PvP a lot like group PvE but there are some important differences. Make sure you use Yer Not So Bad (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1911) on healing classes. Make sure to make good use of your group heal since it doesn't generate ridiculous amounts of hate. If some Order is going down and they're about to die, use Bunch o' Waaagh (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1903) to help finish them off, it does nice burst damage and could mean the difference in a fight especially if the Order player that's about to die has a healer behind him with morale.

Recommended tactics at 40 for group PvP:

Discipline (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=592)
Lookit What I Did! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1950) - Mastery tactic, replace with Whazat Behind You?! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=760) if you don't get this
Extra Special Mushrooms (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1940)
Restorative Burst (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=589)

Now as for builds, well this is where a lot of people won't agree with me. I recently made a completely new build for my shaman and I LOVE it.

Here is the build:

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=7#15:8832:0:0:11:512:30

Obviously this is a support shaman build. A hybrid damage/healing shaman might try this instead:

http://www.wardb.com/career.aspx?id=7#15:8320:12:512:0:0:30

Anyway, as for my build, I chose what I did because of the following reasons:

High in Mork - Obvious, as a healing class I feel like healing spells are important. You gain bonuses for all major healing spells. You also get Shrug It Off (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1928), which is amazing for grouping in PvE and PvP. Even if you don't use it as an AoE rez and just use it on one person it's worth it because a) it has a 2s cast instead of a 6s cast, b) it doesn't cause rez sickness (1m debuff -25% all stats except wounds), and c) it heals 50% hp instead of 20%. And of course it can do that up to 5 people, and even 2 or 3 could change the tide of a battle completely so this is a must for any support shaman IMO. Lookit What I Did! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1950) because it's simply awesome. Firstly because I can spam heal myself for 15 AP instead of 55 AP so it greatly increases efficiency, and second because I can basically regen people's AP instead of just HP. Even though it regens so fast, AP still runs out on certain classes and the tide of a battle can change if you can get some AP to someone at a good time. Lastly, Do Sumfin Useful simply because it's that much more heal output.

High in... Da Green?! - Initially I built myself around Mork/Gork because I used Gork all the time. As I played more RvR and played in groups more, I found myself unable to really use damaging spells at all because I was too busy healing. I think I could get a lot more use out of the increased effectiveness of 'Ere We Go! (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1902), Mork's Buffer (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1910), and the hands down awesome skill You'z Squishy (http://www.wardb.com/spell.aspx?id=1916), which is a great way to, as a group, end up doing even more damage than you would have gained from speccing Gork.

Renown build:

http://www.wardb.com/renown.aspx?id=7#::f4cef9df4afcf5ef8cf12:

I completely neglected intelligence since I'm neglecting damage spells. This is mostly to make myself less squishy since I've always had major problems with dying too easily in group situations. I'm giving up damage for survivability which is good for me since in the long run I won't be using damage too much but more survivability means a lot.

If on the other hand you're looking for a more balanced Gork/Mork build you may consider this instead:

http://www.wardb.com/renown.aspx?id=7#::df2acdf11df10ef8cf12:

Take my advice for what you will, I'm enjoying it and feel like I'm a great force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Most of my damage may be indirect but it could arguably end up doing more than even a Gork specced shaman, while healing a lot more effectively.

Good luck, get out there and smash some stunties!

-Peanut

[Aisu]

No "RUN AWAY!" ? I can understand maxing out healing is good and all, but wouldn't maxing out your survivability be better so you can stay alive longer to keep people up?

[Utakata]

I don't see the usefulness in Run Away at all. Maybe It's just the way I play but I don't move around a lot even if people are hitting me. The only thing I can really see it useful for is actually running a beeline away from an Order zerg, in which case you aren't healing and are probably screwed anyway. When you're healing, you should have better heals and more heals, thus the AP regen and healing in general.

If people get on you, you don't generally run away or move because they'll just catch you anyway. It's better to get better heals and more heals, because then you get approximately the same survivability of healing yourself, and much better usefulness when you're NOT getting hit.

Basically on a scale of 1-10 I'd rate my chosen tactics all 10/10 obviously that's why I chose them, Whazat Behind You?! is about a 7/10, Pass It On is also about 7-8/10, and Run Away! is down there at about a 4-5/10, along with the rest of the tactics. I just don't see myself using a slight run speed buff in any situation ever. Running away only makes it harder for backup to help you out.

[Rax]

I agree with Aisu. RUN AWAY is a great tactic, especially for PVP (although used with Gork Says Stop, it means you can kite +kill champ mobs solo with relative ease). Not getting hit because you are out of range of the enemy is better than mitigation. Of course, it won't help you against ranged casters so much, but you really only need to worry about the melee. This tactic has been the sole reason I have lived to fight another day in many, many situations.

As for your solo PVE tactics, you made a glaring omission but not having divine fury in your tactic line up. How is 25% more damage not useful for solo grinding and questing? Drop discipline from your solo pve. Extra willpower is useful for keeping a group or warband healed, not for healing just you. If you require that much healing while solo, you are fighting too tough of mobs, in which case it will take you 5 min to kill one. My solo tactics are as follows:

Mork is Watching (extra damage for faster killing)
Divine Fury (extra damage for faster killing)
Whazat Behind You (for when I get adds, saves a GCD of casting detaunt)
RUN AWAY! (for when discretion is the better part of valor or solo kiting champ mobs w/ GSS)

Also, why do you open up a pve fight with dots? You should use a long cast time spell since the beginning of the fight is the only chance you have without spell pushback. If you are far enough away, you can get 2 full brain burstas off before the mob even gets to you. Then load them up with dots, bunch o waagh, ere we go.

[Marty]

Edited for content.

[Gundrik-WHA]

Let me remind all of you of the strict guidelines of the Class Guides section: http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/announcement.php?f=210

Utakata, I suggest you re-read the guidelines and edit accordingly.

[Marty]

Well that was the first time in 13 years of playing MMORPGs, and posting to forums, that I have ever had a Moderator voice an issue with one of my posts. I guess there's a first time for everything. But, I have to admit that I did not read the board rules, so that's on me. I think the problem was that my comment was too short and did not contain enough analysis. Let me elucidate.

I do not agree with the original poster's choice of tactics for the Shaman class. In particular, I believe that this tactic:

Dat Makes Me Dizzy

is the most useful tactic to the class, regardless of whether you are specced in Gork, Mork or Da Green. The ability to instantly resurrect a player during RvR is priceless, and the 3 second stun is nothing. There is simply nothing so frustrating as when an enemy (or several) works hard to kill a player, only to see them instantly resurrected and back in the battle. Because the target resurrects with minimal health, you need to throw at least a HOT on them, and maybe a bubble or more heals. You also need to be far away from the action. If not, the will simply drop dead again a few seconds after you rez them.

The same holds true for PvE (except for Boss fights, where resurrections are not allowed - pick a different tactic set for those fights).