Origins of the Shammy+Pally Fad/Phase/Craze/Insanity(?)

[Remote]

This is an interesting thread. When I first started, the only multiboxer I had ever heard of was Xzin. I didn't really think there were other people out there who did this stuff. I actually didn't know about this website at first either...I didn't find it until I was at least in the 40s.
So obviously, videos had no influence on my decision to roll five shaman. However, I did just level a Pally because Vyndree is awesome and I want to cash in on some of that epic-ness. ^_^

Also I want to run Kara. Heehee.

[cepheus]

Also I want to run Kara. Heehee.

I would advice you not to go for a tank there. One thing is multitasking tanking and dps, another is possitioning.

If you're going for a dual-role for pve, I would chose healing+dps since then all could stand ranged. Being a maintank would quite cripple your ability to be mobile.

And to all others:

Whats up with the whole "I did that first, I was not influenced by others" attitude?

Isn't the whole point with a forum like this to share experiences so we all can be better at what we do?

Sure, I agree that it would not be fun if just about everyone was running around with 5 shamans, but thats not the case as I can see either

[Remote]

I would very much like to try. I may have to get very creative to make it work, but it is my goal.
Also, that is not my attitude at all. I just said that I copied the pally idea from Vyndree. It is simply fact that I started multiboxing before I ever realized there was a multiboxing community.

Edit: Oh, I may have read your post wrong. Sorry if that wasn't directed at me.

[Kyudo]

Hmmmm.

Well my 1st group was based around 2 things:

1) The aim of getting classes to 70 that I didnt have previously
2) the intention to balance out my current roster of 70s and head for heroics solo. But I jumped in at the deep end for a first timer, with 3 different classes. Yes, I enjoyed it, but it gave me a headache They are now parked at 42 or so.

I'm unashamed to say that I am now loving my 4 shammy team. Yes, the videos have influenced me. But in my opinion, it's the relative simplicity of setting up shammies for multiboxing, and their great synergy in numbers that makes them the most appealing. They are great fun, relatively easy to set up, relatively easy to gear, and basically OP in groups. So why not.

It's a game I am enjoying it more than ever. I pick up tips and tricks from other players and their vids, be they shammies or otherwise, but the learning I've done for myself.

My 2c

[Squiggoth]

To be honest, Remote's Slavepens video is what kickstarted me, I didn't even know about dual-boxing. I saw he had 5 shaman, and went "Gee, that is too cool, but I think I'll go 4 shaman and 1 Paladin, since that way I can aoe tank heroics easier and take much more damage".

I never knew about Ellay, Vyndree, I had heard a bit about Xzin due to his "infamous" High Warlord stuff, but knew he used squishees which wouldn't work. I never knew about Ebola, or any of those other guys.

So I think Paladin + 4 Shaman is just "smart" and "logical" for PvE, not that everyone copied. Although I guess there is a large amount of "wow cool vid, I'll do that!!".

[aetherg]

I had heard of multiboxing years ago, and read some stuff on XZin, but I didn't think much of it until I saw the Motes on Suramar. I was kinda bored at the time, and it seemed like a great challenge. I originally started 5 shammies, but one of my main goals was to be able to do every instance, heroic/nonheroic. I also wanted to do them the 'classical' way (not using cheap tricks or crazy kiting). And that requires a tank.

So I asked here, and did some research and a pally was to me clearly the best possible tank for my group, in many different ways.

[Suribusi]

I'm no expert on shaman, nor on WoW. I'm not even sure if I understood you correctly here, but Lightning Overload and Wrath totems is what gives the multi-shaman crew its power, yes?. The amount of focus fire a shaman can do with these abilities can trump 4 mages.

http://www.sk-gaming.com/arena/5/us/shaman/all/all/

Popular builds for high ranked teams (over 2200 rating)
40/0/21 = 45.1%
41/0/20 = 5.6% (+5.6%)

Popular builds for all teams (over 2000 rating)
40/0/21 = 40.5% (-3.7%)
41/0/20 = <2.9% (i.e. not represented)

(Above taken from all 5v5 shaman)

So the answer is no. No serious PvP shaman specs Totem of Wrath over nature's swiftness.

Forgive me here. Are you telling me if you went to the arenas you would not take wrath totem, or not recommend it to another multi shaman crew? Like I said, I'm not shaman expert, but that doesn't sound like a good move to me. 13%+ spell crit is huge. We're talking about a multiboxing team, not 1 shaman with a mix of other classes (possibly with a melee or two). So I would easily see where a normal pvp shaman would not go with Wrath totem.

Touching on other notes, it makes perfect sense why shaman are now "flavor of the month". From my perspective; I hit level 70 with my first crew in, like, late feb or early march. The majority of the player base followed through the next month or two. Arenas just came out (Season 1) around that time as well. So while people figure out the arenas during season 1, and the rest of the player base starts learning level 70 gear/classes/specs and such, people start to see different things for different classes. So around season 2 (june/july) people have a lot of things figured out. People start trying these new classes because of these changes. Low and behold, new multiboxing combos. (when did they add heroics , badge gear and shit too? My memory is horrible)

Who knows, I might just be reserving room in my mouth for my foot later on :wink: . 5 moonkin druids might be the "Easy Button" that nobody knows yet, and the fad would turn to it. Post vids so I can see if they work then roll them! haha.

-S

[Boylston]

Vyndree's done some great research and digging about why this phenomena seems to have developed. I'll offer some of my own points in here.

Clearly the videos have had some good sales/marketing value for people. Shaman videos have some special appeal due to the neat looking impact of seeing 4-5 lightning bolts + 4-5 chain lightning going off nearly simultaneously. Ignoring all effectiveness (in PvP or PvE) elements, a video of a 4xlock,1xpriest DoT festival is not nearly as sexy as seeing a chain lightning barrage kill 1-2 people.

Vyndree's done a very good job of comparing and contrasting the "escape tricks" that the ranged DPS classes have. Shaman wear mail/shields and have things like defensive totems/frost shock to deal with the fact that they can be easily shutdown/interrupted when someone gets in their face. Mages/Locks/Hunters all have a unique set of escape tricks that are pretty well balanced in a 1-character, 1-player situation. As it's been said, the uniqueness of the shaman class is that a lot of these defensive tools are either passive or can easily be managed in a multi-box situation. It's a little harder to micromanage ice blocks and blinks, I think. Totem defensive synergies are great, and don't require much micromanagement (they are somewhat passive beyond the intial keypresses to plant them).

I think the combination of healing and ranged DPS is a potent one that can't be overlooked. Sure, Priests have that too, but it's a distinguishing factor between Shammies and Locks/Mages/Hunters. Multiboxed, you get synergies as well-- 4/5x Lesser Healing Waves focused on a target is a lot of healing for 1.5sec. 4-5x Chain Heals is a fantastic way to deal with the group getting hit by AoE attacks.

On the "why don't top 5v5 shamen take Totem of Wrath"? I think this one is easy-- most of them are probably the only shaman on their team. Totem of Wrath by itself is somewhat mediocre in a 5v5 context. 3% crit.... 3% hit... A big difference between the 12-15% bonus a multiboxer might be getting. The tradeoff these individual shamans are making with ToW is giving up Nature's Swiftness, a talent that is going to increase their survivability OR give them better burst damage coordination (a complete non-issue for the multiboxing shaman).

My personal story is this: I had two accounts with a L70 Pally as my main and a L70 Shaman and L70 Mage that used to be the two main characters I played. After deciding to make the plunge into multiboxing, my initial response was to make 4 Shadow Priests to pair up with my Pally for PvE fun. I also thought that 4 Priests might have some interesting PvP ability. But the more I researched here on dual-boxing.com, the fewer great 4xPriest PvP experiences I found. The 4xshammy videos and 2000+ arena rating stories got me thinking. Having played a L70 shammy, I knew a LOT about what that might look like with 3 more partners, and I knew that I could someday run a Pally+4xShammy team fairly easily (since I already had 2 of the 5 leveled to 70).

Knowing what I know about how BC end-game loot works, I knew that the only way I was going to get a 4xAnything team reasonably geared was through arena points (and BG+Badge Rewards, to a lesser extent). So I biased my decision to go with the shammies, since I thought they would be the easiest route to arena success for me.

And seriously, how sexy is 4xChain Lightning...?

[Remote]

41/0/20 is not an acceptable PvP spec for a 4/5 shaman multiboxing team.

[Boylston]

41/0/20 is not an acceptable PvP spec for a 4/5 shaman multiboxing team.

I'd love to see you comment on why you like 40/0/21 vs. 41/0/20 for arenas, perhaps in a different thread!!!