Shaman experience?

[Reason]

Does anyone in the guild have experience in leveling up a Shaman? I've only had one up to about level 13 or 14 and I didn't find it all that fun. However, I've heard that they are going to be changing the Shaman class to a more DPS class. Can anyone verify that? The reason I ask is because I'm still on the fence about making a Draenei (Mage or Shaman). I know that leveling from 60 - 70 will be exciting, but I figure if I make a Draenei, I'll get there eventually anyway.

So, if anyone has leveled a Shammy up to level 20, or past it, please let me know what you thought of the class. I know my experience will be different than yours, but I'd like an opinion of the class after level 14. lol.

Take care all and I will hopefully see you in game on Wednesday evening.


Chris

 

[Angus_Og]

I have gotten one to around 20, can't remember exactly how far. It is more like playing a pali really. Throw a couple of totems, cast and beat them with a mace. Heal and beat them some more with a mace. As you can tell I stuck with a mace as my weapon of choice.

It is kind of a grinding experience. The only somewhat quick battles I had was killing level 1 stuff. Anything around my level seemed like a grind. I will be making one though when it comes out.

 

[SamIam]

I've leveled one to 20ish and read a fair bit about the different builds (non-TBC stuff). I have seen a blue post in forums about making shammies more DPS focused.

While playing mine, I found the fights to go very quickly. In fact, I stopped using totems except for the longer tougher fights or when taking on multiple mobs. The battle would go something like this: Lightning > Lightning > Fireshock (whatever the instant fire dot is) > melee (2h buffed w/ fire) > earthshock. The melee would only last a few swings.

Currently, the standard leveling build focuses on Enhancement (melee) and Elemental (DPS spells). Gear w/ mana regen and spirit are preferred. Since your mana pool is limited, spell damage is done bursts (ie, spells > melee > spells > melee > ad nasium).

The current raiding build (which may not apply to Alliance in TBC) is Resto and Elemental. Many shammies will actually wear mage/priest gear to help with mana regen and +dam/heal.

I fully intend to roll a shammy. I may get bored, though, because I have found few challenging battles. Keep in mind that they have no real AoE, have a small mana pool with inefficient spells, and "tank" in leather/mail.