[Shaman] Totally Un-viable?

[JamesDoe69]

After reading through the forums, and coming back after a long break it seems shamans are in a pretty shoddy state.
I had fun playing them last year, but it seems the devs saddled them up with multiple nerfs turning them into nothing but green-stains with no survivability or decent healing.

Haven't had much time to try it myself, and considering the slog it is to level in this game, should I bother with a shaman or just go zealot?(Disregarding the sorry state of destro all together)

Thanks! Some shaman talent and RR builds would be appreciated as well.

[TenTonHammer]

No that is compleatly false

They made the experimental changes perms any and now sham and am are good healers, more so now of that kotbs triple shatter is still gone

They ofc still excell in small scale engagements in duo or trios and also have a good role in 1-3-2 parties

[peterthepan3]

Extremely viable in the hands of a good player. Just speak to Arnagob.

[freshour]

You have to play the mechanic to a tee to heal anything remotely close to what you could with experimental mode. There are a few that can still play it well but the majority of shamans you'll see are fighting the same fight together. Lifetap playstyle is over, but if you can master the mechanic you'll be one of a handful of them that can actually still heal.

[Jaycub]

I thought they still gutted lifetaps for now? Everyone and thier mom was running am/sham in thier 6 mans for a while but not anymore.

X good player does ok on insert bad class/spec so its viable is my favorite meme btw

[peterthepan3]

I thought they still gutted lifetaps for now? Everyone and thier mom was running am/sham in thier 6 mans for a while but not anymore.

X good player does ok on insert bad class/spec so its viable is my favorite meme btw

LoB still using Arnagob to great effect, so I dunno. could be a l2p thing. it probably does need some help, but to say that it's not viable at all? meh.

[Lordeh]

I am a 71 RR shammie (Totom)

As you can see I do not post much, but had to reply to this.

Shaman ARE viable at the moment, both for healing and DPS. Yes they have weakness in some area`s and strengths in others, your playstyle has to incorporate both. After all we were not "graced by the dev gods and made White Lions "

In Direct answer to the assumption that healing is unviable last weekend in a Black Toof Clan group I did 580,000 healing in a single SC. Seems viable to me

[bloodi]

When this server started the same claim was made, un-viable, people just like with ams, proved them wrong soon enough, things like letting you cast Gorkll fix it on the move made them a bit closer to zealot/dok.

Then AB happened and well, turns out that made them completely unviable and ruined the class (i am serious, check the balance threads about it, i was tired of telling people how much better they were, there is even proposal on the balance forums about it) after a while when it was clear how much output they had made them too good and since the new devs after aza left said that they couldnt understand the code, they removed in entirely instead of adjusting the output.

Which made them unviable again! See the pattern? They never were unviable, they are actually quite good in smallscale if you are worried about your healers getting focused and can afford to drop a zealot/dok.

The other 2 destru healers are arguably a bit better but that doesnt make shamans unviable, now or ever.

[freshour]

Can anyone post their current specs and if they are ignoring the mechanic currently? Which HoT's do you use the most? other than jedi master game sense, how do you choose when to use your 2s heals? things like that. I have a pretty fair idea on my DoK but looking to master this class since it is pretty weak at the moment (in regards to where it was) - and a challenge is always fun.

Edit: so to be more specific!!!!

What are the HoT's you use in order of priority?

What are the tactics you use the most in order of priority

What morales do you use in order of priority

What non healing abilities do you use in order of priority?

- Sorry that is just how my brain works, but I want to figure this class out.

Please tag me in the reply so I can see all of these!!!

[Dabbart]

Spoiler:

Can anyone post their current specs and if they are ignoring the mechanic currently? Which HoT's do you use the most? other than jedi master game sense, how do you choose when to use your 2s heals? things like that. I have a pretty fair idea on my DoK but looking to master this class since it is pretty weak at the moment (in regards to where it was) - and a challenge is always fun.

Edit: so to be more specific!!!!

What are the HoT's you use in order of priority?

What are the tactics you use the most in order of priority

What morales do you use in order of priority

What non healing abilities do you use in order of priority?

- Sorry that is just how my brain works, but I want to figure this class out.

Please tag me in the reply so I can see all of these!!!

Pug Healer: http://waronlinebuilder.org/#career=sha ... :5306:5307:

If you're in a group that has a good toughness buff, the 2nd HoT is still worthwhile, that Chosen wont always be in range. And w/o triple knight shatter, it's pretty safe.

My cast order is: Cleanse, Bubble, Do Somthin' useful, Quit bleedin. Cleanse on CD, Bubble on CD. Otherwise just time your 2s heal. Move during the IcD, then cast. Obviously, if target is being spiked, start your 2s cast ASAP, then bubble/cleanse to keep them alive for the extra few seconds needed. Learn to time your casts. If you hit the button a fraction before the finished cast time, you will start your next very quickly. Otherwise there is a slight delay. Or, you can utilize that Delay and wait half a moment to regain AP between casts. Depends on situation.

I swap on my 4th tactic depending. PUGing, I never have enough AP, and in heal mode with <240INT, I can't afford the 55AP to have my AP leech disrupted. So, I take Restorative Burst. In a group, where I can get AP outside of Pots(which I tend to save for flee/pot moments) I'd take either auto detaunt or Green Cleanin' for a 3rd HoT. The other 3 are pretty mandatory for Healing. I guess Aint Done Yet!(+40% healing if target is below 25%hp) could be argued, but with the time between casts, you need everybit you can to get that last second save. And it stacks with Shrug it Off bonus.

Save Mork Sayz Stop! For someone trying to solo gank you. Dear god it's funny when it works. Mostly, your M2 Focused Mind is the go-to, my sham almost never gets M3 up. The CC immunity is the main key for FM. Half cast time is great, and is my main heal burst. With almost 0 morale gear, you get M2 nearly on CD. Use FM when Kiting away as a partial RD. Alongside Run Away! makes you damned hard to kill.

Cleansing WInds is a must. Even just rank 2. After that decide if you want deft defender 20, more heal crit, or capped CW, or a mix.

The hardest part is situational awareness. You have a lot of survival tools, knowing the order to drop them depending on what is attacking you is key. Sometimes getting that ST Detaunt off the BW is priority, other times you need to CW the moment you stand up from KD. Other times AoE Punt is the key to surviving. You just need to die, and figure out how they killed you, and what you could of done to see it coming. Then adapt.

In healing mode, AP drain is the only offensive spell I cast, and then only on targets I feel wont have a super high disrupt. W/o the Disrupt strikethrough on Life-tap spells, it's often a wasted GcD and AP to try and cast offensively. You can steal some DBs on zaxxond though. That kid dies super easily. But I rarely use the Mechanic Juggling in heal mode since .ab ex got removed.

Gear wise, full anni takes a few hours to gain. I stack wounds, with Winds Impervious set, and Skaven 3% reduced chance to be crit tali. If I had the cash i'd drop a few armor talis, but Wounds and resistances are more important for Shammies imo. You have other tools to handle physical damage enemies.

Note: my shammie is 40/41. My AM was 40/49, and I have played every single healer in this game. But I'm not a "master" shaman by any stretch. Mostly basic stuff.

On Topic: The shaman works just fine. .Ab ex was broken, and needed to be balanced. Hopefully, it will be later on. But in the mean time you have potent DPS and healing potential. Just play around a little bit, don't Face-Tank, and lrn2detaunt