Gearing up for PvP in WoW

[Fuzzyboy]

If you detach the issues from pvp and battlegrounds as well as leveling and gearing. Then I think your answer is, leveling in battlegrounds is perfectly acceptable along with gearing there as well. You can queue for battlegrounds remotely, do some quests if you like here and there and then at 80 hit some heroics with a tank friend and rotate your shaman around.

I would level 5 shaman, then have them go back and murder for the paladin if your inclined to have something just for heroics.

A the point where your doing the paladin leveling, that would just be for heroic badge farming. I am not sure really what that would yield for a pvp only people, perhaps just cash, enchant mats and maybe badges for gems?

Well, I guess that would depend on what you find acceptable. In my opnion it's pretty slow - and that's a shame. Levelling a pvp char in BG's should (IMHO) be the same speed as levelling a PvE char in a PvE setting. But then again I believe in a level-less system and starting new chars at max level once you have a character of that level already on the account, so... :-P

As far as badges go, you can use them to buy PvP gear - Deadly mail pieces are around 58 badges each as far as I remember. The mats and cash and secondary spec gear is just a plus

[Fuzzyboy]

You'll pvp best with all shaman's.
They have a lot of things going for them.
That isn't to say others don't have potential.
As far as world/battlegrounds go, anything works.
Arena, especially at higher ratings force more ideal compositions.

Shammies have:
Mail armor and shields.
A lot of controlled burst.
Strong support heals.

That sounds fairly sensible. Although what works seems to be highly dependible on how arenas are laid out and that seems to change with a new expansion (most likely because an expansion means a skill/spell overhaul which is at first mostly balanced for PvE and how that affects Arenas aren't really taken into account until later).

The shaman team looks like they have survived the change to WOTLK though, but still, new mb-comps seems to be emerging. Paladins for instance. Personally, I'd like to see more compositions being viable though - variation is always good :-)

[Ualaa]

Only part I don't quite get is the sentences quoted above. Do you mean set up a rotation key in Innerspace to rotate Flame Shock then target, key, target, key,... then switch back to first target to start the heavy damage spells?

For PvE play, most of us use either a castsequence or a click castsequence.
Basically you can spam the same key, and get a Flame Shock, then a Lava Burst, then a Chain Lightning etc on subsequent presses of the same key.
A castsequence is a fixed order.
A click castsequence is a priority system, with delay comma's based on our spam speed of the dps button.
Either of these casts spells in a predetermined order, which rocks for PvE but is not ideal for PvP.

In PvP, we want the ability to cast a specific spell at a specific time.
The sequence is not a good idea, other then the kill sequence (Flame Shock, Elemental Mastery, Lava Burst type thing).

If you were using a castsequence, you'd flame shock the first toon, switch to a second toon and Lava Burst them, switch back to the first and Chain Lightning, which is not that successful.

With every spell on its own key, we can Flame Shock one target.
Switch to a different target and Flame Shock again, this time on a second opponent.
Now we have two opponents with 4x Flame Shock on them.
Which means, two people have to be wary of the Lava Burst.

You wouldn't want to set up a round robin in innerspace for Flame Shocks.
You'd want every toon to Flame Shock at once, at the same target.

[Ualaa]

That sounds fairly sensible. Although what works seems to be highly dependible on how arenas are laid out and that seems to change with a new expansion (most likely because an expansion means a skill/spell overhaul which is at first mostly balanced for PvE and how that affects Arenas aren't really taken into account until later).

The shaman team looks like they have survived the change to WOTLK though, but still, new mb-comps seems to be emerging. Paladins for instance. Personally, I'd like to see more compositions being viable though - variation is always good :-)

One team has proven to be very strong at high levels.
I think a lot of people pick shammies because others have had success with them, so they know it can be done.

But, the more options we have the better.
I'm going with Balance Druids (alliance side) and Affliction Warlocks (horde side) for battlegrounds.
Both will attempt arena at some point, likely as soon as they hit 80th, to get the points started.

The Druids will be fun.
Moonkin gives them decent armor.
Like a shammy team, they can support their healer with strong heals.
Hurricane against bunched opponents, Treants on the healer for interrupts.
Cyclone and Root on round-robin, or perhaps against a Focus target.
Starfall looks nice, especially x4 or x5, but Nature's Swiftness can be very strong too.
Typhoon will be similar to Thunderstorm.
They lack fear protection from Tremors, and their dots (land regardless of facing) is only part of their dps.

Warlocks are a change of pace.
The idea of landing 20 dots on someone in a BG is fun.
Probably go with 4x Felhounds and Soul Link, and then 1x Imp for the buff but no Soul Link here.
Not sure which to drop if I arena with them seriously, would want a dedicated healer if I try that route.
Instant Cast AoE fear on round-robin, plus Death Coil & single Fear.
Seed of Corruption against bunched enemies.
No fear protection again, but dots don't need facing and this will be most of their damage.
They will lack support heals, although each can Drain Life, with Siphon Life and Haunt as extra heals.

Paladins seem a strong option.
Plate armor, potentially a shield or the two-hander.
Each can heal, and each brings a different strong buff.
A lot of bubble options.
They have stuns, snares etc.