Planning ahead: moving from 4 man to 5 man...opinions wanted

[Ogloo]

any mixed team can make it work to be honest, every group ive seen is different past the 4 shammy +1 pally tank, is different but still works, for dps, you take whatever there rotation is and make it a consequence, then you add in healing macros, and ur spamm tank macro. NEVER go with something thats easier, or "works better" just so you can do it, because if your gunna be playing the game as much as all of us do ;0, do what u like, its easy to make it work.

personally i hate locks for whatever reason, id never throw a lock in my group, but a druid OOOOO if i could have a 80 druid right now /quit 1 shammy. just ur preference and what u love to do in the game, you can make it work ;0

[Gadzooks]

Mixed teams take more work, that's for sure - just setting up your macros is a major task - but the benefits are pretty good - buffs, portals, free food and water, soulstones, fears, crowd control, ressing, DOTs, etc.

Destro and Demon locks are great for pure DPS.
Mages are great for food, slows, AOE, portals, and buffs.
Druids are great for ... everything. Heals, DPS, offtank, you name it.

[Ualaa]

The fewer toon types in a team, the easier the team is to play and run.
Because more of the buttons do the same thing on each toon.
The reuse time on Lava Burst will be the same as the other Lava Burst etc.

But the more toons you add to a group, the more buffs you get.
And not just Fort or Motw or AI, but proc buffs like Earth and Moon or whatever.

Just because there are more abilities doesn't mean a team won't work.
Just that the configuration will take longer.
Most of the dps can be boiled down to a click castsequence.
Once that's done its one button spam, be your make up 4x one class, or 1x 4 different classes.

With all shammies, you have a few things like Heroism/Bloodlust to watch.
Things which you won't put into an auto cast macro.
With say a Disc Priest, Elem Shaman, Boomkin Druid etc.
You have more unique independently activated tools to play with.
Which is both a strength (team can Mass Dispel, Battle Rez, Heroism etc), and extra abilities to configure and remember.

In the end its a preference choice.
I'd recommend fewer classes when starting.
And more classes as you progress.
Fewer doesn't mean weaker, a Pally + 4x Shammies can clear any heroic.
But it does have fewer unique abilities to track and use intelligently.