4 or 5 boxing shamans?

Hey, folks.
I've decided to expand my three shamans to four or five. I'm going to PvP on them, but I don't really know if I should take four or five shamans.
Soooo, what would you suggest?

Who is going to be filling the 5th spot if you opt for 4 shaman?

I'd probably recruit a healer, or get one of my friends to fill the spot.

This question has been pestering me as of late too, with the expansion coming up and the gear reset it is quite easy to roll out another Shaman to the arsenal, but I am trying to decide what I would actually gain in such a scenario.

The only advantage 5 > 4 is more cohesion in bg's, much more powerful. Instances able to be solo'd a lot more effectively, and you can always drop down to 4 whenever you deem necessary so you don't actually lose out on anything.

Arenas, 4 will always be better than 5, due to the way the game is played. 5 still performs well as some have shown on here they have gotten pretty close to 2k with it, just depends on what your goals are. I'm still not sure what mine will be in the xpac :)

I think it really just depends on your intentions. I personally run 5 Shaman. I think it adds alot more flexibility in what you can actually do. I can run instances easily by myself and BGs are a piece of cake.

For PVE content I dont see ANY disadvantage at all.

For BGs I get the advantage of having tons more dps but there are also downsides. For WSG and AB you end up being most of the team so people tend to QQ about you even more then they would if you had 4 (granted it is always the Multiboxers fault if you do lose). You also have the disadvantage of keeping track of another toon if you are feared. Sure trinkets help the first time however after that its a fearfest, good luck getting them all back together if you didnt have tremors down. All in all I think 5 for BGs is better anyway.

For Arena I really dont think 5 is a good idea. I run 4 of mine and a friend as a healer. I just make sure to keep track of my games and rotate my toons in and out keeping the games at the correct percentage to ensure ALL of my toons get points. Since all of my toons have the same gear/stats rotating 1 of them in and out doesnt effect the team either way. This way they all get the same arena points and stay on a path for still having the same gear. For now this seems to work for me but it may not be so easy once the rating goes up.

The rotating idea sounds good, but would probably turn into a nightmare once your trying to purchase items that require PR.

I think I'm going to run 4 shaman and a pally in xpac.

You really need a dedicated tank in xpac for instances since resil does not work in PVE. Maybe if you're supremely geared it will be less of an issue.

For BG's I'll put healing gear on the pally and set him to auto-heal when I spam attacks on the shaman.

That's my plan right now. I tried 5 shamans in a 80 instance and I just got creamed - it just didn't work.

So pally tank, 3 shaman dps, 1 shaman healer for PVE.

4 shaman dps, 1 pally healer for PVP.

is my plan ATM.

I'm finally home from summer seasonal work, and can devote a lot more time to Warcraft.

I'm the process of leveling (RAF) A-D and C-E, four shaman's, with my already 70 on B for boosting.
I'll also boost hunters, hopefully getting both teams to 70 prior to the expansion.

I'll run 4x Shaman's A/C/D/E as my arena team, with a healer friend.
For BG's, it will be shaman's x5.
My B account has my Pally tank on it, for my PvE group (Pally, Heal-Druid, Mage, Warlock, S.Priest), so she could easily tank something for the four shammies.
I haven't decided yet, if my Warlock or Shaman will be my raiding toon (guild wants one main for raids, but can bring alts for farm content).
Whichever toon is the raider, will level first with the shammies x4, so they're ready to raid asap *and* the shammies can begin the pvp gear up quickly too.

Nice to see another boxer so close to my home!