The Days of Pure Shaman DPS Are Numbered

[Rin]

I think Hachoo stated this well. Multiboxing multiple classes is only for certain people. Look around on the forums; you'll notice that only a few of us have hybrid composotions, and most of us who have mixed groups (more than 2 classes in our group) do it with 10 characters. Having all of one class is great for learning, fun, and "instant" gratification. You press 1 key, you get the same result 5 times. It makes macroing a lot nicer, and it's a great way to experiment with multiboxing. For someone new to multiboxing, I would strongly advise them to stay away from a giant mixed group; mainly because there's so much synergy required and I can't even count the number of hours (I'd guess around 30-40) I spent setting everything up, learning how to work with my characters, toying with agro, casting, and forcing them to work together as a team.

The original poster raises a good point though, and that's something that has been discussed here before - the viability of an all shaman team at level 80. It's mostly speculation now, but we are seeing tanks that are averaging 20k hps with blue gear. What this means is that we're going to see a shift in the way instances are dealt with, especially given the fact that Blizzard seems to be re-emphasizing the role of a tank especially in WoTLK. Will a 5 shaman team be viable? I don't know; from the looks of things I'd lean closer to saying no, rather than yes, only because warrior NPC types are surely going to be buffed up. I would imagine that 5 shamans could do instances with their burst dps, but I still think it may be a LOT more effective if a 5 shaman team put a tank class in the mix. Only time will tell if our theories hold true though.

Personally, I picked my 10 characters (4 of which are shaman, 2 pallys, 2 mages, 1 priest, 1 druid), to help support each other - especially in WoTLK. I could run ten shaman, but I don't think that would be very useful outside of pvp - in my opinion, there are major gains that can be accomplished by adding other classes into your group. Having mixed classes is not for everyone though, it can feel like more of a job (especially until you get familiar with it), than a fun experiment, but if you can endure it, the payout is sweet.

Cheers!

[Vyndree]

To be succinct the point is a group with 4 Shaman in it WILL do substantially less damage than a mixed group. To my mind that is beyond debate.

I would agree with this, particularly with caveat that the "ideal" dps is a single boxed mixed group. (since they can ACTUALLY maximize their dps thanks to individual focus on their characters)

Given the nuances of classes and whether or not they require an advanced DPS rotation, you logically COULD pull down their DPS enough due to poor micromanagement that a homogenized group would end up coming out on top thanks to simplification of the rotation. Not likely, but possible depending on the person and their "mad micro" or lack thereof. ;)

[Flight]

I'm not sure why anyone is saying shaman DPS is going to DECREASE from 70-80...In fact the devs have stated our damage is going to INCREASE more than most other classes, as we get one of our new primary DPS spells (lava burst) at 75.

Theres a lot of hard data, at lvl 80 and including our new abilities, in the previously mentioned thread here : http://elitistjerks.com/f31/t27016-e...iscussion/p59/

The consensus is that Shaman DPS in no way backs what you are saying here. Quite the opposite.



Now this is conjecture. to an extent. Afterall, WotLK isn't even live yet. And at the end of the day theorycrafting is pure conjecture. What I do suggest is beyond question is that the previously mentioned simple Shaman DPS spell rotation will become a redundant with lava burst and that Shaman DPS will also become more reactive, based on crits etc This has always been one of the great strengths of Shamans and why they are so popular for boxing. Good boxers will be able to adapt to this, but the days of a simple LB, LB, LB, CL rotation will be a thing of the past.

[Crucial]

Not being one of those people who enjoy countless hours of setting up macros and configuring their setups with multiple classes and figuring out all synergy that goes with that. I do it to an extent, but only for what's necessary to get the job done. I already know that the first few 5 mans are totally doable in the beta. Worst case I've seen so far multiboxing with 5 shamans in the beta is some of the bosses are just hitting too hard or the fights are slightly more complex that requires some fancy footwork or clever thinking to overcome. Last boss of Nexus for example, you have to keep moving or you'll get too many debuffs stacking on you. So you have to tap your movement keys on all toons in between casting. More than likely the only major tweak necessary will be to roll a tank and subsitute one shaman where required (or overgear the instance) to overcome some of the ball blocks.

Do you really think it will ever be mandatory to have 3 or 4 different clases just to beat an instance(in the case of pve)? No way. Maximum dps is only relevant if thats your end goal or if its a requirement to beat the encounter, and last I checked we aren't talking about min/maxing for raid dps.

[Sarduci]

A buddy of mine just dinged 70 with his 5 shaman team. They aren't very well geared (~400 sp). His old main was a warlock. He said bringing in a warlock brought his shamans DPS from 700 to around 1k. I am going to try to run a heroic today or tommorrow to see what my dps does when we include a warlock to the bunch.

Am I reading it correctly that if you wanted to switch out a dps you should include a warlock over a boomkin?

Has anyone tried any heroics with 5 mages or 5 warlocks? Ya gotta think that granted they might put out more dps than a shaman but can they survive as long as a shaman? (mail+shields seems to mitigate alot of damage)

If pets are suppose to be viable OT's, then 5 warlock teams should be fine.

[Dominian]

I belive i read that each rep faction gives out a tabard and when you wear that you will earn rep towards THAT singel faction even when in "another" dungeon, you will however earn abit less rep then you would normaly.

To able to do a instance once is enough for me since i most likley can choose the instances i like and feels easy enough and still earn the rep i like.

Im in my STRONGEST doubts that 5 mans and heroics will require you to synergy buffs.

I also been toying with the idea to change one shaman for a paladin but tbh it would only destroy the fun in bgs because the power of 5 feels insane compared to 4...

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Im in my STRONGEST doubts that 5 mans and heroics will require you to synergy buffs.

I doubt they're gonna "require" buff/debuff synergy to complete heroics at 80. If they did that, they'd limit heroic groups to either all melee synergy groups or all DPS synergy groups, which would needlessly limit the valid PUG configurations and cause (more) discontent among the playerbase.