Lvl 80 Group make up question

[adimas]

Plain and simple my shamans are almost all 80 and I was wondering who is higher dps mages or shamans in the end. I would hate to level another group but it is fun.

Thanks
Adimas

[Fursphere]

Per Blizzard's design philosophy, Mages should have higher DPS as a "pure dps" class.

[Ualaa]

One-boxed, I believe mages put out more dps.
You could check sites like www.wowwebstats.com or www.worldoflogs.com to see empirical data for yourself.

As a boxer, a shaman is far easier to macro for optimal dps then a mage. This one point, is probably all you need to know, when comparing the two as a boxer.

However, comparing the two...

A mage will bring your team summoned food/water, portals to assorted destinations, amplify/dampen magic etc.

A shammy has an extra bloodlust/heroism (on a wipe, the recast debuff is gone, but the recast delay remains), an extra set of totems, which might mean Tremor, Grounding, Healing Stream and Magma or Frost Resistance.

The comparative analysis is more in favor of the shaman over other casters, as you have fewer shaman on the team. As your team has more shaman characters, it becomes more overlap and a different toon for the last caster becomes more tempting. Assuming your tank is not a Death Knight, the Warlock and Druid classes are tempting for the final position (13% SP buff).