Well, first of all I must admit I feel a bit like moghedancarns. Like a bit out of faith for the shammie class.
I've also given some thought before at all the things he lists, and I understand shamans in SoD only excel at stat-buffing. The rest are just spells that patches groups when some class is missing. Anyways, I'ld like to throw a couple things to what he said. My intention isn't that of pissing others off, have that in mind
.
Heals & Slows
From what I understand, shamans have less powerful heals because they have slow. Having the mob do less damage makes our healing more valuable. Our high mana regen when not occupied also makes up for our poor heals (compared to clerics & druids). This is right, as it sounds, but there's a problem that moghedancarns already mentioned: you have to land your slow first. The high mana (compared to other slowers) and the long cast + recast makes slowing a one time hit in most groups I've played in. Something like "oh, cool, my slow landed" vs. "damn, this mob won't be slowed". Prior to the shaman earring nerf (which I totally understand, I didn't plan on changing this earring anytime soon before the nerf), I would try my spell slow once and, if resisted, would switch to the earring. Why? Mostly because the mob will die or be at low health if my second slow ever lands. And then there is the huge aggro this spell gives, which reduces the time you have to slow the mob (at least when grouping with a warrior or if you don't have a pal/sk with jb).
So, what discourages me when slowing exp mobs? The long cast + recast, the huge mana the spell costs, the huge aggro the spell generates and, even if not huge, the resist chance (this would mean nothing if it took so much to cast the slow).
And what woul I really love to see in the game (that others will see as class unbalancing)? A reduction on our best slow (Festering Insects) on mana, recast and (a bit of) aggro. Something like 225mana, and around 2 sec recast.
But this may make the spell too attractive, so maybe leave the spell at 335mana and remove the recast (and reducing aggro a bit). This last option would fit perfectly with a new high level spell (and maybe a line of spells) focused on grouping: a low % slow with fast cast, fast recast, low mana, low duration and low aggro. Something like a lvl 61 magic-based spell that slows the mob for 35%, costs 100-150mana, has a casting time of 2 secs, can be recasted instantly and lets the shaman cast it nearly after pull (low aggro ). This spell (or line of spells), along with leaving Festering Insects untouched would give us an alternative to trash mobs and exp groups, while having the big slow for bosses or hard trash mobs.
Buffing
I've already suffered with buffing, but I can understand what it feels to be single buffing every member of a group, or even a raid if going for adepts. I would suggest that all stat-buffing spells beyond lvl 19 get turned into group versions. This will make buffing less tedious, even more with the adept system that makes you start raiding before 65!
DoTs & DDs
Shamans (or at least I) base my damage on groups mainly on DoTs. The only problem in exp groups is that slowing the mob reduces the time you have for DoT'ing (you don't want extra aggro when slowing, and casting the spell and possibly recasting takes a lot of seconds). Also, if the group is good, your DoT should last just a couple ticks, reducing the effectiveness of such spells. When grouping with a wizard and a magician, I was happy to have my DoT hit twice (slowing first with Festering). This is like 1400 damage for 505 mana done in 12 seconds, not that bad, but it's a slow source of damage.
DDs would probably be an alternative, but they have, again, a slow casting time. (I recently discovered I have a rain nuke! I thought it was just an AoE nuke before , so I can't still say if this spell is an alternative to DoTs) Anyways, I don't see DDs as an option, just another toy amongst the many proficiencies we have.
Resuming
I'm a bit confused because I understand the point of those who feel the Shaman class is ok, but at the same I feel a bit OOF (out of faith) because we're not even the best slowers without our epic and I lack a clear role on parties. This is why I suggested the alternative slow line of spells that will, amongst other things, increase our healing in groups.
At the same time, I think the group buffs will be a really nice addition to lower level shamans, while not being unbalancing at all.
I've also given some thought before at all the things he lists, and I understand shamans in SoD only excel at stat-buffing. The rest are just spells that patches groups when some class is missing. Anyways, I'ld like to throw a couple things to what he said. My intention isn't that of pissing others off, have that in mind
.Heals & Slows
From what I understand, shamans have less powerful heals because they have slow. Having the mob do less damage makes our healing more valuable. Our high mana regen when not occupied also makes up for our poor heals (compared to clerics & druids). This is right, as it sounds, but there's a problem that moghedancarns already mentioned: you have to land your slow first. The high mana (compared to other slowers) and the long cast + recast makes slowing a one time hit in most groups I've played in. Something like "oh, cool, my slow landed" vs. "damn, this mob won't be slowed". Prior to the shaman earring nerf (which I totally understand, I didn't plan on changing this earring anytime soon before the nerf), I would try my spell slow once and, if resisted, would switch to the earring. Why? Mostly because the mob will die or be at low health if my second slow ever lands. And then there is the huge aggro this spell gives, which reduces the time you have to slow the mob (at least when grouping with a warrior or if you don't have a pal/sk with jb).
So, what discourages me when slowing exp mobs? The long cast + recast, the huge mana the spell costs, the huge aggro the spell generates and, even if not huge, the resist chance (this would mean nothing if it took so much to cast the slow).
And what woul I really love to see in the game (that others will see as class unbalancing
)? A reduction on our best slow (Festering Insects) on mana, recast and (a bit of) aggro. Something like 225mana, and around 2 sec recast.But this may make the spell too attractive, so maybe leave the spell at 335mana and remove the recast (and reducing aggro a bit
). This last option would fit perfectly with a new high level spell (and maybe a line of spells) focused on grouping: a low % slow with fast cast, fast recast, low mana, low duration and low aggro. Something like a lvl 61 magic-based spell that slows the mob for 35%, costs 100-150mana, has a casting time of 2 secs, can be recasted instantly and lets the shaman cast it nearly after pull (low aggro ). This spell (or line of spells), along with leaving Festering Insects untouched would give us an alternative to trash mobs and exp groups, while having the big slow for bosses or hard trash mobs.Buffing
I've already suffered with buffing, but I can understand what it feels to be single buffing every member of a group, or even a raid if going for adepts. I would suggest that all stat-buffing spells beyond lvl 19 get turned into group versions. This will make buffing less tedious, even more with the adept system that makes you start raiding before 65!
DoTs & DDs
Shamans (or at least I) base my damage on groups mainly on DoTs. The only problem in exp groups is that slowing the mob reduces the time you have for DoT'ing (you don't want extra aggro when slowing, and casting the spell and possibly recasting takes a lot of seconds). Also, if the group is good, your DoT should last just a couple ticks, reducing the effectiveness of such spells. When grouping with a wizard and a magician, I was happy to have my DoT hit twice (slowing first with Festering). This is like 1400 damage for 505 mana done in 12 seconds, not that bad, but it's a slow source of damage.
DDs would probably be an alternative, but they have, again, a slow casting time
. (I recently discovered I have a rain nuke! I thought it was just an AoE nuke before , so I can't still say if this spell is an alternative to DoTs) Anyways, I don't see DDs as an option, just another toy amongst the many proficiencies we have.Resuming
I'm a bit confused because I understand the point of those who feel the Shaman class is ok, but at the same I feel a bit OOF (out of faith
) because we're not even the best slowers without our epic and I lack a clear role on parties. This is why I suggested the alternative slow line of spells that will, amongst other things, increase our healing in groups.At the same time, I think the group buffs will be a really nice addition to lower level shamans, while not being unbalancing at all.
