Monday, August 6, 2012

My Thoughts on Shaman in Mists(so far!)

I have been playing a lot on the beta, and I gotta say, I am really liking where the Shaman is heading as a class. Granted, I have not tested enhance, as I really don't play much of that live. What I have done of ele and resto in questing, dailies and dungeons, has me very excited.
Specifically, here are a few things that have me excited, mostly from a resto perspective:

  • No buff totems. I always thought that they felt clunky, and it was pretty annoying to have to refresh them if one got hit, or expired, or I went out of range, etc. I know some people enjoy it, as a sort of unique, shaman mini-game of sorts, but I just feel they are distracting.
  • An abundance of cooldowns of many types(survival, utility, throughput). In live as a resto shammy, I have only a few real cooldowns: Spirit Link Totem, Mana Tide Totem, Spiritwalker's Grace(which I really mainly use for the haste, not the main benefit, being able to cast while moving), and Nature's Swiftness. Oh, and bloodlust/heroism, let's not forget that. In Mists, I will be getting ascendance form, which will basically be a green buff from ultraxion for 15 sec, Healing Tide Totem(my preferred talent on that tier), which will be a sit it and leave it strong group healing cd, and improved elementals--which can channel a buff on me which increases my healing(and in the case of the Earth Elemental, also prevents 20% damage taken). I will also be getting an aoe stun, either an aoe root, a single root, or a group movement impairment remover, and some great damage reduction cooldowns(probably going to take Astral Shift). In other words, I will be getting tons of utility and group healing from these abilities.
  • Cool glyphs. Being able to remove the cooldown on Riptide(not sure if it's worth losing the initial heal over. Will probably be very strong near end of expansion, or even mandatory. In the beginning it may just not be feasible to take advantage of it, mana- wise). Chain heal getting range buff, with short cd kind of seems weak, and not a good trade-off. Will only really be used in 10m raiding, or be fight dependent otherwise. Being able to make your chain heal look watery is a plus too.
  • Let's see, ghost wolf becoming instant across the board is amazing. For pvp, the talent which lets you relocate your totems will probably be amazing(beside that, that talent tier is totally boring).
I could probably think of other things to get excited about, but to be honest, I am way too caught up with the Curiosity landing, and I am slightly drunk from this amazing Vinho Verde wine(Gazela, check it out, seriously). Possibly later today I will get more into my UI stuff, or delve into more Mists Preparation! 

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