Ask a Beta Tester: Shaman, Engineers, and Feral Druids
by Alex Ziebart 
Sep 30th 2008 at 4:00PM
Elmo asked...
How are Enhancement Shamans shaping up? I heard silly things like Elemental gear is great for them or 2x fast weapons with Flametongue. Are we really gonna make that much of a turn around? In other words, is my hard earned gear all worthless? Not just the epic gems and Strength enchants.
Enhancement Shaman did hit a weird point where that was true, but I don't think it was ever intended that the 'final product' would look that way. There were some Windfury bugs and wonky unfinished tuning that caused that, but as another reader mentioned, the devs are working on getting everything fixed and proper. Things will be a little different from Burning Crusade, but not so much so that Enhancement Shaman are wearing Elemental gear to melee.
Jolly asked...
Does engineering in WotLK have an equivilant gathering skill to gas cloud mote-farming in BC?
Yep! You use the exact same extractor you did in Burning Crusade (so far) to extract the new motes from the clouds in Northrend, called Crystallized Whatevers. And, again, as another reader mentioned, you can indeed pull apart dead mechanical mobs for spare parts.
raful asked...
As the Death Knight will be a bit better then the other classes, will it replace Warriors place as MT in elite guilds?
They won't be 'better' than other classes, that's a misconception and a myth, and the goal is for all tanks to be viable main tanks.
Jankka asked...
I haven't heard much about the new siege weapons except for the part that they're used in Strand of the Ancients.
But what I'm wondering is; Are you able to take the siege weapons against keeps, such as the Valiance keep?
Siege weapons/vehicles, actual siege vehicles and not things like passenger mounts which use the same technology, are only used in Strand of the Ancients and Lake Wintergrasp. You can't take them out of those zones, and you can't use them in World PvP. Those are the only areas that use destructible buildings as well.
Mattarias asked...
Oh gods, does anyone notice that barber chair has manacles attached to it?
Yes. Yes I did. I was deeply disturbed and feared for my Priestess.
Steven asked...
Have you seen any feral tanks along your travels? How have they shaped up?
I've run a few things with Feral Druids, but most that I've grouped with are fascinated with their new Catform DPS and aren't tanking much. The runs where I did have a Feral that was willing to tank, they did just fine. The couple runs where things weren't fine were due to player skill, not an issue with the class. Fun fact: You shouldn't turn around and tank a boss that hits like a freight train with your butt while trying to reposition. You are going to die. Please, don't be stupid. Face the boss. And if you screw it up and do it once on accident? Don't do it three more times after that. Please?
james asked...
How much gold do things like dailies, quests, instance runs etc get you? Will the 5000g for mount training suuddenly become alot more affordable with everyone making much more money from quests and other sources. Seeing other big cash dump things like the dalaran ring it looks like it 5000g will not seem so much Whats your experience from beta?
You'll be getting money faster in Wrath, but I wouldn't say it's so much that things like epic flight become entirely trivial. It will still take some time. Maybe half the time, but not only a day or something like that. Daily quests are giving just shy of 30 gold, around 26 gold at max level. I don't know how much things will actually sell for on the market because the Beta Realm market is horribly inflated. Most everyone transferred over their gold multiple times, or borrowed their guild's gold for the character transfer. Everything is inflated beyond belief. Individual bars of Cobalt were selling for 300 gold last week.
The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em! And if you can't get enough Wrath, don't forget to check WoW Insider's Wrath Roundup page for anything we haven't answered here!Filed under: Druid, Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
jo Sep 30th 2008 4:12PM
why did u even put shaman in the title there mention once and you didnt say anything. i see this and think yes some one is going to adress why enhancement shamans are complete crap. no stuns maybe a 2 sec fire nova if they dont stun it but come on taurens racial is a stun thats 2 seconds. mages get 5 second stuns, ret pallys get 2 5 sec stunns and bubble. we get two wolves that get pwned by a warriors whirlwind and 30% less damage for 15 seconds. wtf blizzard give enhance something it can use! pshh earthbind totem. i guess i can drop that when im not fighting locks preists and warriors when i need my tremor down. or not using strength of earth which u just buffed for no reason i guess. give enhancement a strong 51 point talent! those wolves blow!
Robert M Sep 30th 2008 4:19PM
THANKS A MILLION JO,
I was a little worried I might have to go the enitre day without a shaman QQ.
All is right in the world again ;)
SaintStryfe Sep 30th 2008 4:28PM
He gave the right answer - ENH Shaman is not finished yet. It will be, shortly. Give the devs some time.
here is a thought Sep 30th 2008 4:34PM
@Robert M: Hunters are getting the shaft!!!!
- attempting to gain some class balance in the QQ
%---->;P
Hilton Sep 30th 2008 7:34PM
Jo,
On behalf of the WoW Shaman community, please delete your character and stop playing.
You sir, are an embarrassment to the rest of us.
Thank you.
Arkhill Sep 30th 2008 4:12PM
While using Titan's Grip as a Fury warrior, is the extra hit needed that immensely difficult to achieve, or is it hard, but not unreasonable?
furyDPSPWNZ Sep 30th 2008 10:59PM
i got one question, in WOTLK theres gonna be 25/10 man versons of raids, is the loot any different from 10/25's?
Lucid Sep 30th 2008 4:13PM
Has anyone done any analysis about how the new talent trees and general gameplay changes will affect leveling characters? (as opposed to max level characters)
Most of the talent tree changes are understandably oriented towards balancing the level 80 game, but I wonder how many of the repositioned talents will affect my lvl 45 mage, my lvl 60 rogue, or my lvl 65 pally.
Andrew R. Sep 30th 2008 4:16PM
What's this about tearing apart mobs for spare parts? Did I miss this post somewhere?
Ametrine Sep 30th 2008 4:44PM
I've been asking for a way to scavenge parts off dead mechs for ages... nice to see they finally listened.
Robert M Sep 30th 2008 4:16PM
Since you can extract parts, exactly how common are mechanical mobs in northrend?
Is there going the be an engineering equivalent to the dead mire for engineers? Is there even going to be an equivalent to the deadmire for herbalists?
Subjectv Sep 30th 2008 4:28PM
There's an engineering equivalent in Borean Tundra. There's an entire gnomish town, and outside of the town is a giant field (literally huge) full of enemy mechanical robots.
SaintStryfe Sep 30th 2008 4:30PM
There's a large area in Borean Tundra near a Gnomish airstrip which is entirely Mechanical mobs. You can loot Northrend explosive powders, and other triggers and items that are used in Engineering.
shopshopshop Sep 30th 2008 4:21PM
I'm wondering what effect "Phasing" will have on daily quests - will they change dailies so it makes more sense to repeat them? Quests like the bombing ones in Skettis and Ogrila seem silly doing them over and over again if quests are supposed to change the way you see the world.
svenhoek Sep 30th 2008 4:27PM
Uhh dailies only give 30g? Did you mean 300g? Or is that because its beta?
phillegard Sep 30th 2008 4:54PM
one daily is not going to give you 300g
maybe ALL the daillies add up to 300g but not just one
luv2wow Sep 30th 2008 5:03PM
300g for one daily is just silly. Think before you post.
Dulock Sep 30th 2008 5:07PM
Only 30g? that's 2x to 3x more then we're making now.
jo Sep 30th 2008 4:38PM
np. why aren't ret paladins and mages crying? Or Druids and Rouges. cause the people that play them are so l33t? No beccause its unbalanced! I'm not saying it's impossible to get top tiered with shaman in 2's and 3's. But I am saying there like mail wearing glass canons! why is it easier to kill a shaman then a leather wearing rouge or all 3 of the cloth classes. Do you ever think about it? What class doesnt have stuns besides a shaman? I mean damn go look at the armory how many shaman are really tiered in pvp. Only in 5's which is really hard to organize, and when you are all on no teams are playing = (. I know shamans cry a lot. But theres a reason! It sucks seeing everyone else get all this bad ass shit and only elemental shaman's are getting anything good in wotlk! enhance is crap. Heres a question for every rouge,warrior, ret pally, and mage, and lock, and preist on average what happens when you duel an enhance shammy in beta??? I was watching my friend in PTR and hes been playing shamans for 4 years! he got absoultely smashed by mages! beat byh rouges . his two spirit wolves were wtfpwned by a warriors whirlwind and then he joined them. One win a against a hunter. Im just saying other classes are wrong! fix shamans give them something for pvp! Pve wise were really strong!
Worngear Sep 30th 2008 5:15PM
Wall of shaman QQ hits discussion.
Wall of shaman QQ crits.
Windfury procs.
Discussion dies.