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

[Remote]

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!!!

It has been discussed at some length in several threads. It isn't necessary to dig them up though.
First of all, you cannot rely on crits in PvP. While 13%-15% is a huge buff, that is going to be diminished when you're facing opponents stacking resilience. Also, your crits won't hit as hard.
Second, being able to take one of your opponents out immediately at the beginning of an arena match is more or less the only chance you have of winning against a skilled/geared team.
5x LB + 5x NS EMCL + Shock = minimum ~20k damage. Nothing can survive that.

[Boylston]

5x LB + 5x NS EMCL + Shock = minimum ~20k damage. Nothing can survive that.

Ok, Thanks. I had assumed this would be the case.

[Vyndree]

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.

Yes, 13% spell crit is huge. I took it as a leveling shammy because of the +hit as well and that's part of the reason why I was able to shock some 70 gankers in my low 60's.

However:
1) Shaman have no CC
2) Searing totem is more dps than ToW, but breaks CC
3) NS can be used as a way to pump out instant burst or an instant heal

Because most arena matches are decided after the first face-off (granted, you have your gauntlet-style defensive teams to face, but for the most part, it's the moment a fight becomes 5v4), the fastest burst damage a shaman can do is Lightning bolt, EM, Chain Lightning, NS Lightning Bolt, Shock

Agreed that ToW is not taken in groups that have only 1 shaman, and that there is a difference (since it stacks) with a multiboxing shaman. However, it's utility is mana efficiency and a passive (crit-based) increased damage over a period of time. NS is controlled burst damage or burst healing, which, much like EM, is more effective in PvP situations. Besides that fact, resilience really screws with crit based damage anyway, whereas the extra "fluff" damage from searing totem/magma/fire nova (how many people do you see that walk up to a searing totem or wand it?) isn't terribly reliant on crit.

[Contents]

Initially I started with a pally/3xmage/priest setup and as much as I liked them, starting out the macros were a bit above me. So I decided to try 5x something I had never played before...Shaman. To be honest, I havn't seen any of the videos of the shammies, but now that my shamans are in their 40's I'm seeing that for heroics I'm definitely going to need a tank. So I started levelling my pally.

I'll admit I did PM Vyndree once to see if she had any suggestions/pointers since upon searching the site was lacking in the pally + shaman department. ..

...which is strange considering the sheer amount of people playing the setup, but I digress...

As far as the fad issue, I'm positive within the next major patch/expansion something else will become more popular. (Maybe Wilbur's 5x Boomkin)
It's just the nature of the game. Whenever something changes people tend to shift to the class that they believe to be OP at the time.

[Eteocles]

I was a Boomkin before it was popular! D: lol(I also rolled my shamen before I saw the vids but that's besides the point)

I've seen what Ebola can do with his Boomkins and I know what I can do just by myself as a lone Boomkin, it may very well be the next thing ;p The only problem is Druids are a BITCH to lvl before 40, and Boomkin isn't all that viable till Outlands gear(Leather casting gear before then? hahahahahaaaa...); not to mention "free" flight form at 68 + flight form being insta-cast shifting, not cast-time like mounts.

[Boylston]

I am wondering when someone is going to step up and tell the truth. Let's stop dancing around what we know is the real reason.

4xShaman,1xPally rise in popularity can be directly tied to Vyndree's belly chain pictures appearing on the web, not any video(s).

[marvein]

I had plans for a long time to level a shaman to 70 next after my druid. I then caught a glimpse of multiboxing (had been running two accounts for some time) which made me want to do that. Then I saw the herioc 5box shaman clears on youtube and it simply reaffirmed what I had already assumed "this is going to kick ass". And that is how I arrived at my current setup. Plus I have a druid who is almost 70 (67 with full rested) that if I want I can use to tank. Then what I will do when I want to try something else I will do a 3+2 box, creating 3 new characters on my 3 alt accounts and use 1-2 shamans on my main to boost them up, giving me an even wider range of classes to use. the 3 other characters will likley include a paladin/lock/mage or paladin/mage/priest and then joining with my warrior when they reach that leve. Giving me the option of using nearly every class (hunter, rogue, druid, shaman, warrior, paladin, mage/priest/lock). Because while 5x shaman is ezmode(and it is beautiful) and I still intend to do as many instances as I can I still wish for a greater challenge of truly running a balanced party and doing PvE rather than the pewpew-run away-pewpew that 5 shamans resembles. I personally feel I have well gotten the hang of 5 boxing and it was pretty easy to do it again so after I challenge myself with getting to 70 and doing as many heroics as possible I want a new challenge of filling every role in a party at once.

[efwee]

Shamans were pretty much the only class I hadn't leveled up before I started 5boxing, Xbr's movies in AV were quite neat aswell so after trying out both locks/priest and shaman setups I went for shamans.

Combination of 'new' and a fun movie I suppose.

[Vyndree]

I am wondering when someone is going to step up and tell the truth. Let's stop dancing around what we know is the real reason.

4xShaman,1xPally rise in popularity can be directly tied to Vyndree's belly chain pictures appearing on the web, not any video(s).

:shock:

That must be the link between the videos and the popularity, since it's only on my stage6 and I used a different pic on these forums.

Excellent deduction.

[Eteocles]

I would go look but I'm at work and stage6 is blacklisted on the firewall ;p It better be there when I get home, my curiosity is piqued, I never paid attention to the non-video stuff lol