Shaman Solution: Give Us Pets!
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 10th 2006 at 10:17PM
A lot of Shamans (myself included) are under the impression that they've been getting the short end of the stick lately. First, we had pretty much the rockiest respec Blizzard has done yet-- half in one patch, half in the other, and we ended up getting nerfed anyway. And then there's the news that those despicable Pallys are going to be invading our side and taking our raid spots! Well, it's enough to make us Shamans feel like we're being left out a little bit.But Hennifer of Khaz'goroth has been poking around the old Warcraft III site, and I think he's come up with a solution for Shamans that will make us all happy: Shaman pets!
Ok, well it won't make any of the other classes happy. But I have to say that giving Shamans a sixty-second summoned Shadow Wolf (say that three times fast) to use as extra DPS would be amazingly cool. And since the expansion will take all the talent trees ten points further, I think it would make a perfect addition to the Shaman's Elemental tree. Not all of Hennifer's suggestions are so great (portable totems? even I don't buy that one), but I think the Shadow Wolf is gold, Jerry, gold! After all, pallys get to summon a whole horse, don't they? We should at least get a wolf, right?
Filed under: Horde, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mgs0008b221 Aug 10th 2006 10:53PM
The point of a Shaman is to be a hybrid that can do a little bit of anything at any time without changing forms or aspects, auras, etc.
Click a button you heal, another you cast a damage spell, another you buff players, another you have fast transport, and yet another to enhance your melee.
You're not going to be better healers than anyone, or better DPSers, but you can do both at the same time better than any other class.
Some raid leaders wilkl be too ignorant to use Shamans to their advantage, rather than using role restricted classes, but to the educated player or raid leader, a Shaman has, is, and alwaysw will be a valuable asset.
I never complain about having a Shaman in my group.
mike Aug 10th 2006 10:58PM
See, mgs, I really appreciate that. Good to see someone who understands shamans. But I still want a cool shadow wolf :)
Methodical Aug 10th 2006 11:52PM
I agree. High-level hunters need to feel even more redundant than they already do.
Mordiceius Aug 11th 2006 1:47AM
While I agree shamans are great additions to raid, shamans are always left to a healing/buffing role in end game raids and that is sadly where they are outshined by paladins.
Elüna Aug 11th 2006 3:25AM
If you get pets, I want to be something other then a damn Avian dispenser. I want to be able to make portals and teleport to anywhere I want without the cost of reagents. (Yes, I am a mage).
boneyard Aug 11th 2006 3:33AM
it is hard to judge how well a class is if you play it yourself. too often people start seeing themselves as always the target of nerfs and bad changes.
Deafdumbandblind Aug 11th 2006 4:21AM
When are the Horde EVER going to stop whinging & whining???
They won't be happy until Blizz gives them all the skills and spells from all the classes.
Why don't you ask for stealth as well while you're at it? Or a backstab ability? Or retribution spell?? O hunter's mark?? Grrr
Sheesh! Give it up. Live with your lot. You've badgered Blizzard into giving the Horde a paladin class AND an elf race which has resulted in a decidely sub-standard expansion (and lessened the Alliance but you don't hear me moaning).
Alliance FTW! :p
Brohuld Aug 11th 2006 6:30AM
I think the only issue is about Shaman's role in end game PVE raiding... it is a support role, but how to improve it while not giving that class an added advantage in PVP where it already rocks.
I would suggest that raid-wide, stackable totems could be a good idea: totems that would give only a limited bonus for one totem, thus making it a good idea to have at least 2 or 3 shamans in a 40 raid...
To make sure that this does not unbalance PVP, make that a talent in restauration tree and/or a loot in MC+ instances.
Brohuld
Chaman 60
Dred Aug 11th 2006 8:34AM
The faction listed is the faction you need to be to get the pet.� http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/guides.html?guide=382
Mordiceius Aug 11th 2006 8:36AM
Deafdumbandblind, that was the most ignorant comment I have ever read.
Lonewind Aug 11th 2006 9:15AM
You want plate armor with that aswell?
How about being able to cast any amount of totem? You can have it, it is np.
twh Aug 11th 2006 10:09AM
I'm gonna have to go with #6 on this one.
We pallys have been hit harder with the nerf stick harder than the shamans EVER were.
And to say that shamans should get even more DPS is a mistake. As if they don't have enough already. Not to mention our horse is for transportation, not combat.
By the way, the Whorde can keep its dirty shaman, 'cause I ain't touching 'em when expansion comes around.
jpc Aug 11th 2006 10:26AM
A summoned wolf won't solve the shaman's problems. The shaman's problem has always been end game raid viability vs a paladin's. Instead, shaman should get a new ability that would help a raid out. A better idea would be raid-wide totems. Make the totem buffs work the way paladin's buffs work - for an entire class over the whole raid. They still wouldn't last as long as pally buffs, they still are anchored to one spot, and they still can be killed, but atleast they're useful to the whole raid - and they shouldn't be as good as pally's since shamans are a better at alot of other things than pallys. But this would give shaman the raid viability they're lacking.
Dyyne Aug 11th 2006 10:54AM
Ok. We admit that PERHAPS shamans in endgame are a tad nerfed. But in PvP, shamans rule all. So lets say Bliz DOES listen to u shammys whine and give u pets or whatever. Good for you, now ur slightly more useful in endgame. But whats this? Now we got a Mail-wearing-self healing-self rezing-DPS-casting-Totem Caster and now PET SUMMONER above all else to deal with. You guys pwn in PvP. be happy with that.
mike schramm Aug 11th 2006 11:17AM
Well look at this. I post something silly, and you guys get right to the heart of the problem. Yes, Shadow wolves are not a good solution to the shaman problem, which is really our endgame raiding viability, especially against paladins and their uberbuffs. I just thought it would be really cool :)
Skidrowe Aug 11th 2006 11:22AM
I think a lot of shamans have a misconception on how paladins are going to affect their raid viability. Raid leaders will want 3-5 paladins in their raids, but they won't drop all their shamans to replace them with paladins. It's not a decision of "should I bring a shaman or a paladin." The two are not mutually exclusive. The raid leaders decision is how many of each class will make the raid most productive. So I believe that the raid leader will bring the same number of shamans even after they have paladins. The adjustment that will be made with the addition of paladins is that one less hunter, one less warrior, one less mage, and possibly one less shaman will be in the raid.
So one of each class stands to lose a spot with the addition of paladins to the horde side. Guess what? Shamans are going to have the exact same effect on the Alliance side.
Mordiceius Aug 11th 2006 11:31AM
I can't wait til the expansion comes out and horde and alliance can get the new classes into their raids.
I can see the responses now:
Horde: Excellent! This raid-wide buffs will really help now. Now we can do even better with our unique strats.
Alliance: WTF?! Where is my awesome healing and DPS? My buffs suck!? This is lame.
twh Aug 11th 2006 11:52AM
To #14:
I had a sneaking suspicion that this whole 'crossing over' business was gonna benefit the Whorde more than the alliance, which pretty much shows whom Blizzard is catering for...
...jerks.
Captain Roach Aug 11th 2006 12:19PM
I like the idea of being able to summon a shadow wolf. Blizzard could make it very useful in raids while at the same time not making it overpowerful in a pvp situation by making the wolf die in one hit just like a totem.
Adam Aug 11th 2006 12:39PM
Reroll a hunter if you want a pet. Or if you want a 60 second combat pet summon a cooldown, take up engineering and get an Arcanite Dragonling..they hit hard.