How effective is Shaman? Should I even bother?

[xruptor]

I'm a little torn here guys and I was hoping I can get a bit of feedback and advice. I'm currently leveling up a Shaman and enjoy the race/class combo. I don't seem to be having issues healing, but I've already come across a few people that have said the following.

• 1) Re-roll, Shaman is garbage and useless. Play a Zealot or DOK.

• 2) Your class mechanic is Broken, you are a broken class, play another healer.

• 3) You cannot withstand bursts you are useless, roll a DOK instead for group heals.

I've even had people tell me, "haha a healing Shaman? you are joking right? most of them DPS." I've played both the Zealot and DOK and it just doesn't feel as fun as Shaman is to me. I don't really like the melee oriented skills of the DOK and the Zealot seems a tad boring. Then again I suppose I can put more time into them.

So should I even bother continue playing my Shaman? There seems to be A LOT of negativity towards them. Like I said I thought I was doing okay, but they said the class takes too much effort to get the same benefits that a Zealot or DOK would bring. No point in leveling it. So I'm at an impass if I should work on my Shaman, even though I find the class fun. Any advice would be great!

[farng84]

Overall they say shaman is better than AM and AM is not bad at all both as healer and as dps, see related posts.
I saw good shamans heal quite a lot and pack some serious damage on top of it (probably not easy to do but why not aiming at being good?).
Overall, if you like the class and have fun with it why should you stop playing it?
I love BG and IB mechanics, and I prefer playing that instead of BO or kotbs (that one never...), although both are claimed to be a better tanks.
It's a game, the main point of it is that you should have fun...

[xruptor]

Overall they say shaman is better than AM and AM is not bad at all both as healer and as dps, see related posts.
I saw good shamans heal quite a lot and pack some serious damage on top of it (probably not easy to do but why not aiming at being good?).
Overall, if you like the class and have fun with it why should you stop playing it?
I love BG and IB mechanics, and I prefer playing that instead of BO or kotbs (that one never...), although both are claimed to be a better tanks.
It's a game, the main point of it is that you should have fun...

I have been having fun. I've come across a small handful of people that have said the same, "play what you like and have fun."

I get that, but if I'm going to have fun to a point where I will be shunned by folks whom would prefer to have a DOK or Zealot. When I reach that point, I won't have any more fun. I haven't really spoken to or gotten feedback from endgame Shaman's, so I don't entirely know if that's true. I see quite a number of them, so it's odd. I don't know if they are doing DPS or Healing. That's why I'm asking here, to get some opinions and feedback.

Those that are vocal and I do come across, usually mention one of the three things I mentioned in my list above.

[Sulorie]

When you like the look and feel, stick with it.
Don't play something you dislike because some random tells you class x is useless.
It's a very flexible class with multiples spec options between heal and damage.
As a new player it helps to start with healing first.

[farng84]

I have been having fun. I've come across a small handful of people that have said the same, "play what you like and have fun."

I get that, but if I'm going to have fun to a point where I will be shunned by folks whom would prefer to have a DOK or Zealot. When I reach that point, I won't have any more fun. I haven't really spoken to or gotten feedback from endgame Shaman's, so I don't entirely know if that's true. I see quite a number of them, so it's odd. I don't know if they are doing DPS or Healing. That's why I'm asking here, to get some opinions and feedback.

Those that are vocal and I do come across, usually mention one of the three things I mentioned in my list above.

No, you won't be rejected in endgame because you are shaman, unless you become infamous for being really bad, but that's a different issue.
Also, if you play a class you don't enjoy usually you end up being worse (or at least I do) because you don't like playing.

[xruptor]

I have been having fun. I've come across a small handful of people that have said the same, "play what you like and have fun."

I get that, but if I'm going to have fun to a point where I will be shunned by folks whom would prefer to have a DOK or Zealot. When I reach that point, I won't have any more fun. I haven't really spoken to or gotten feedback from endgame Shaman's, so I don't entirely know if that's true. I see quite a number of them, so it's odd. I don't know if they are doing DPS or Healing. That's why I'm asking here, to get some opinions and feedback.

Those that are vocal and I do come across, usually mention one of the three things I mentioned in my list above.

No, you won't be rejected in endgame because you are shaman, unless you become infamous for being really bad, but that's a different issue.
Also, if you play a class you don't enjoy usually you end up being worse (or at least I do) because you don't like playing.

I guess you are right. I'll stick to it. But there sure is a lot of negativity towards Shamans, most notably the ones that heal in game. Folks are very vocal about it in General, LFG, and Advice channels. Which is why I wondered what folks would say here in general.

[Satarial]

Are you ready for the first half of honest, bare truth? Shamans can heal as much as DoKs and Zealots.

Are you ready for the second half? You will be putting in far more effort and be less consistent at achieving the same healing numbers as DoK and Zealot.

The way Shaman(AM) is designed requires a far greater understanding of everything occurring on your screen at any given moment to utilize the class mechanic at an optimal level. But with that mechanic comes a greater varied style of play and utility for many situations, such as respectable healing AND damage, group-wide kiting utility and the coveted near instant resurrection.

Understand that not every situation or group will call for a Shaman, shrug your shoulders and move on to another group or situation better suited for the class. Which is something that can be said for just about every other class in the game.

if you enjoy Shaman, play to the strengths of the class and accept the limitations, you'll soon find yourself breaking through those limitations with enough practice and adaptation. Don't let negativity hinder you, understand the basis for it and you'll be better for it.

Good luck

[TreefAM]

played right, a shamy can top the healing meters in cities with FotG spec, but a lot of shamans end up being catfood and do less healing than SMs

[Mikrofalon]

No one can realy decide for you wheter you will enjoy a class or not. If you like shaman i would say stick with it, but before you do, please realize that our core class mechanic is rather broken... cause a lot of the times it feels like youre fighting against it, rather than it working in youre favor. For example: Youre in a fight and the damage is heavy, you heal a lot and got 5 red WAAAGH stacks, before you even get 1 yellow stack you have to use 6 dps spells, that are not that useful for heal speced shammy. You will also find out that you just dont have the time to do this, and before you burn trough half youre red stacks someone needs healing and youre back at 5 red stacks again... A much better system would be to simplifie it by droping the redirecting part, like you use a dps spell you get a healing stack you use a heal you get a dps stack and then you spend them. I know its not perfect but at least it would be much more useful than its current form.

[storm]

As an 80 shaman I will be totally honest with you, they are more work and need support to maximize their healing potential. Good shamans can hit top heals even over DoK and Zealot. Learn the mechanic of mork/gork as it is essential to reduce cast times. Practice and more practice, make friends with Choppa's and Black Orks they both have skills that also reduce your cast times. Use Furry of the Green and get used to it's mechanic and use it on cooldown. Always have ap drain up and time your m2 (focused mind) for burst when you anticipate your team needs it. Yes it is a lot more work, but if you get good, it is the most rewarding.