Struggling to choose race for Horde 5x Shaman group! Advice appreciated

EDITED! I'm leaving this up in case it helps anyone else who is unaware that big racial changes come with TBC. I was under the impression they all stayed the same from classic.

I still would appreciate advice but troll is looking niiiiiice for PvE.

Here's the correct info: How Each Race Changes in Burning Crusade Classic - Wowhead News



Howdy all!

Looking forward to TBC and boxing that content for the first time.

I've decided to run a 5-elemental shaman group (possibly sub a pally here or there during leveling) but I'm having a devil of a time feeling satisfied with which race.

I started 5x Tauren because I felt War Stomp might be valuable for nasty pulls in dungeons. I think that logic is still solid, except it'll be wasted on most bosses.

Then I changed my mind to Orc because of the Bloodrage ability. I didn't realize it was only a melee boost. Not much for elemental. Still love Orcs because of the savage, primalistic animations. Really fits with the Horde Shaman persona imo. Also the stun resist seems like it may be somewhat useful in PvE encounters. (I only plan to do dungeons and questing--no pvp).

And finally Troll. I have played WoW since beta in 2004, always Horde, and never created a single Troll. Then I see Berserking and it looks pretty solid for PvE. I always thought it was a passive ability but I see that it's triggered on a 3m cooldown. Looks like that may be a really good racial for strictly PvE dungeoning.

I have both groups of Tauren and Orc around 20 so I'm not too far invested to start up a troll group instead.

I'm wondering what you folks think?

Which race should I choose for my 5x Elemental Shaman group Hordeside!?

(FWIW I prefer all the same race for convenience, but if there's a good argument for multiple races I'm definitely open to it. Thanks!)

I think Orc is the best choice given the racial applies to spell power.

I still think Space Goat it better, but playing a 58 Ele Shaman in the beta is quite painful. Mana usage is just so brutal and you need to drink after just about every mob (at 70 all these problems seem go away and Ele is pretty awesome). Granted I can't multi box in the beta, but leveling a SG team from 1-60 seems like it would be brutal.

Originally for PVE Horde Shamans I was thinking Troll Beserking was best but after reading/watching multiple guides it seems like Orc may be better now that Blood Fury was been expanded to help spell damage also (plus Hardiness/etc). Additionally considering the Troll Racial needs you to be at or below 40% health to get the most out of it and has a 3 minute timer while BloodLust has a 10 minute cooldown a Horde Orc 5S team should be able to pull off:

• - every 2 mins Team Bloodlust: by each Shaman in the 5S taking turns to chain the 10min cooldown;
• - every 2 mins team Blood Fury: each Orc Shaman popping their own cooldown;

Seems to be more optimal than trying to mix/match a 3 minute Beserking timer that you need to be damaged to take full advantage from. I am not sure if on-use damage trinkets favor 2 min or 3 min frequencies but that would be something else to factor in.

Edit: Another factor is that Orc females are not as hideous to look at compared to Trolls/etc ;-)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Torgo

I think Orc is the best choice given the racial applies to spell power.

I still think Space Goat it better, but playing a 58 Ele Shaman in the beta is quite painful. Mana usage is just so brutal and you need to drink after just about every mob (at 70 all these problems seem go away and Ele is pretty awesome). Granted I can't multi box in the beta, but leveling a SG team from 1-60 seems like it would be brutal.

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Why do you think Draenei (Space Goat or SG) is better than the Horde options?

The Draenei racial is nice with the added hit bonus along with the Gift of the Naaru HoT(stackable), but it's really not a huge deal when it comes to Elemental Shamans, considering the amount of hit you get from talents and ToW already. And if you're focusing on primarily doing dungeons then it doesn't change much having it or not.

Having the Troll racial might be nice if you save it for the more difficult dungeon bosses earlier on (until you're more geared, then using it or not really doesn't matter too much) - Though stacking Berserking, Drums and Lust sounds pretty awesome. Personally i'm going Orc for their look, and because i plan on doing atleast some arenas and wpvp along with plenty of dungeons, so their racials cover everything that i'll be doing.

All things considered, in the long run any of the races are going to be more than viable for 5x Shamans, just pick what works for you.

From a pure dps raid oriented perspective, the troll boost is better than the orc on end game since it scale better.
But, i will go with the orc, i don't intend to heavily focus on pvp, but hardiness with a 15% stun resist is to good to pass.

In BC/WOTLK i was playing draeinai shamans, and it was good too, the spell hit bonus is always nice to have and the racial heal, even if all says it's useless, from a multiboxing perspective, it's always nice to have in a "oh shit" button.