Looking for a new pvp group for cata.

[Shodokan]

I am torn, no idea what to level next. Paladins are in the process of being completed 100%, shaman i really don't want to play all that much.

What i have to work with
4x 80 shaman
5x 80 paladin
80 dk
4x 68 hunters
3x 72 mages
4x 68 druids
4x 68 warlocks
4x 68 rogues
4x 68 dks

What i'm willing to make
1 priest or warrior ... i don't have the money for multiple toons and x-fers.
Another druid
Another mage

Ideas
4x dk + priest
Warrior, Enhance shaman, Ret Paladin, DK, Priest/Resto shaman (actually thinking resto shaman more)
Warlock x 4 + Priest/Druid
5x druids
4x mages + priest
4x huntard + something

I'm actually thinking something like warrior, enhance, ret, dk priest would be GREAT. I know people are running that now but in cata it would have extra attacks, multiple pets, MS (25%), anti-healing dk strike.... yeah.

[zenga]

I'm having much fun with my ret (also tank), 3x dk and priest. 3x deathgrip on round robin is just ... amazing.

[Ualaa]

Not sure if I can give you a better combo then the DK/Rets.

I like the idea of: Enhance Shaman, Death Knight, 2x Ret Paladin, Warrior... but am not sold on so many different classes.

My 5x Feral is a very fun team, and isn't weak.. but probably won't match the DK/Ret team either.
They have a lot of toys, like Flight Form (awesome for gathering ground spawn items) and Aquatic Form, Stealth etc.
Berserk is fear immunity, combined with the trinket and diminishing returns, virtually negates the largest boxing weakness.
For PvP, I think round-robin Battle Rez will be nice too.

The 4x Affliction with 1x Resto Druid or Disc Priest, is a rather mobile team.
I wouldn't think it to be as strong as 5x Shaman, but the mobility is nice... you can dps and never stop moving, which can be fun, not to mention filling someone's screen with dots.

[Shodokan]

Not sure if I can give you a better combo then the DK/Rets.

I like the idea of: Enhance Shaman, Death Knight, 2x Ret Paladin, Warrior... but am not sold on so many different classes.

My 5x Feral is a very fun team, and isn't weak.. but probably won't match the DK/Ret team either.
They have a lot of toys, like Flight Form (awesome for gathering ground spawn items) and Aquatic Form, Stealth etc.
Berserk is fear immunity, combined with the trinket and diminishing returns, virtually negates the largest boxing weakness.
For PvP, I think round-robin Battle Rez will be nice too.

The 4x Affliction with 1x Resto Druid or Disc Priest, is a rather mobile team.
I wouldn't think it to be as strong as 5x Shaman, but the mobility is nice... you can dps and never stop moving, which can be fun, not to mention filling someone's screen with dots.

i would be running resto shaman over the 2x rets.

[Mosg2]

With my DK/War/Sham/2x Rets in BG's I do much more damage than just the DK+Rets. I get all the totem support plus MS effect and the overall damage output is high for them.

/shrug

[genocyde]

I run a Ret, DK, Enh, Rogue, Feral Team for PvP. Currently Most of them are undergeared. (DK and Sham are naked in a lot of slots) but thats partially made up for by my feral and rogue being over 1100 resil even with PvE weapons thanks to solo arena.

This team covers any buff you can get for a melee team for the most part. They lack the wow factor of my 4xmage, priest team in BG's but that team is fully geared and still lacks survivability. Once fully geared I fully expect this team will wreck in PvP as even now they can chew up fairly large numbers.

At the moment I wish I could drop the DK for a warrior but as of Cataclysm I'm not sure that will still be the case. Only time will tell and I'm too lazy to roll another char right now.

Edit: I also think a 5 feral team will be a wrecking ball in Cata. With the changes to health totals and healing and some of the druid class changes. (Feral interrupts, Mangle damage buff, etc.) This team could become pretty amazing.

[Sephice]

Hi

Druids are hard as moonkin to box and with cata its getting harder, i stop playing my dr00ds when cata come

but for PvP are 4 or 5 Priests really cool, healing ( and damage ) with Holy Nova is funny and with the haste change in cata i things its fucking great, but the mastery ... we will seee, i wish i can keep themn, they have style and are really funny

4 BM Hunters can be funny too, many Instants and strong Pets and one negativ thing for me atm would be mana, but in cata its removed, so i think this would work and i am stillt thinking about it

4 mages could be interresting and burst is good

try the same i try in cata
4 rogues with the bomb ( and that 4 times you are save from casters and they get now ability to life longer, i think this could be very interresting

[Boylston]

I've been doing a lot of thinking about this topic as well for Cataclysm. With the changes announced to Arena/BG gearing routes, my new priorities are the following:

PvP Battleground Performance must be very strong!
PvE Heroics must be doable as a viable gearing, farming, leveling path.
PvP Arena performance is optional, although a nice to have.

I've run both Shamans+Tank and DK+4xRet Pally so far, and my current main team is the DK+Rets setup, which I like quite a bit. I have available at my disposal a L80 Druid, Shaman(s), and Warrior, however. So I've been thinking about the options for a melee team.

Using DK+4xPallies as a start point, adding an Enhance Shaman gives...
...ability to have both 10% AP, Melee Haste and Str/Agi buffs without a specific DK Blood/Frost build
...Bloodlust
...Snare Resistance (EB Totem)
...Ranged Root (Frost Shock Talent)
...Another ranged snare (Frost Shock)
...PBAoE Snare (EB again)

Pulling out yet another Ret and adding an Arms warrior adds...
...3% Physical damage taken debuff
...50% Healing Debuff (MS)
..."Major" Armor Debuff
...PBAoE Fear
...Ability to intercept/bladestorm situationally
...Ability to remove invulnerability (Shattering Throw)

Peeling off yet another Ret and adding a Feral Druid adds...
...Flat Stat Add (MoTW)
...5% Melee Crit Buff
..."Minor" Armor Debuff
...Passive Healing (iLOTP)
...Group temporary speed buff (Cataclysm, on cooldown)

This starts to paint a compelling picture for the incredible buff synergy possible by expanding the melee team concept to multiple classes. (I'm not covering rogues, but you could do a similar analysis there).

Each loss of a pally does come with consequences. There's one less stun available on round robin, one less chain cleanse, one less FoL instant proc, less Divine Storm passive healing, etc. Additionally, adding another class adds complexity to playing the team well.

Perhaps most importantly, there will be one less Healing Hands for every pally you drop, the new cataclysm pally mobile, PBAoE group heal. Depending on cataclysm mechanics-- health pools, damage amounts (single vs. AoE), and a whole hose of other mechanics-- the ability to stack Healing Hands on 4-5 pallies might become a significant advantage. I'd speculate that even the non-holy-empowered Healing Hands will perform somewhat better than Healing Stream totem in terms of Heals/Sec, given the cooldown nature of the skill.

One thing is for sure, I'm definitely going to try out adding an enhance shaman to the mix soon. The team comp of DK+Enh+3xRets seems like it might be great for BG/arena, and it's an easy move for a lot of us with both melee and multi-shaman teams.

When more cataclysm testing can be done, and early during the launch, I think the power of healing hands will be the deciding factor for what kind of melee team composition will be most capable in the BGs. I'll be watching that spell's development like a hawk, for sure!

[Shodokan]

I've been doing a lot of thinking about this topic as well for Cataclysm. With the changes announced to Arena/BG gearing routes, my new priorities are the following:

PvP Battleground Performance must be very strong!
PvE Heroics must be doable as a viable gearing, farming, leveling path.
PvP Arena performance is optional, although a nice to have.

I've run both Shamans+Tank and DK+4xRet Pally so far, and my current main team is the DK+Rets setup, which I like quite a bit. I have available at my disposal a L80 Druid, Shaman(s), and Warrior, however. So I've been thinking about the options for a melee team.

Using DK+4xPallies as a start point, adding an Enhance Shaman gives...
...ability to have both 10% AP, Melee Haste and Str/Agi buffs without a specific DK Blood/Frost build
...Bloodlust
...Snare Resistance (EB Totem)
...Ranged Root (Frost Shock Talent)
...Another ranged snare (Frost Shock)
...PBAoE Snare (EB again)

Pulling out yet another Ret and adding an Arms warrior adds...
...3% Physical damage taken debuff
...50% Healing Debuff (MS)
..."Major" Armor Debuff
...PBAoE Fear
...Ability to intercept/bladestorm situationally
...Ability to remove invulnerability (Shattering Throw)

Peeling off yet another Ret and adding a Feral Druid adds...
...Flat Stat Add (MoTW)
...5% Melee Crit Buff
..."Minor" Armor Debuff
...Passive Healing (iLOTP)
...Group temporary speed buff (Cataclysm, on cooldown)

This starts to paint a compelling picture for the incredible buff synergy possible by expanding the melee team concept to multiple classes. (I'm not covering rogues, but you could do a similar analysis there).

Each loss of a pally does come with consequences. There's one less stun available on round robin, one less chain cleanse, one less FoL instant proc, less Divine Storm passive healing, etc. Additionally, adding another class adds complexity to playing the team well.

Perhaps most importantly, there will be one less Healing Hands for every pally you drop, the new cataclysm pally mobile, PBAoE group heal. Depending on cataclysm mechanics-- health pools, damage amounts (single vs. AoE), and a whole hose of other mechanics-- the ability to stack Healing Hands on 4-5 pallies might become a significant advantage. I'd speculate that even the non-holy-empowered Healing Hands will perform somewhat better than Healing Stream totem in terms of Heals/Sec, given the cooldown nature of the skill.

One thing is for sure, I'm definitely going to try out adding an enhance shaman to the mix soon. The team comp of DK+Enh+3xRets seems like it might be great for BG/arena, and it's an easy move for a lot of us with both melee and multi-shaman teams.

When more cataclysm testing can be done, and early during the launch, I think the power of healing hands will be the deciding factor for what kind of melee team composition will be most capable in the BGs. I'll be watching that spell's development like a hawk, for sure!

I don't like feral druids period, so i will likely add in a warrior. I mean it can't hurt. Lets not forget that enhance shaman = anti fear ^_^

[Mosg2]

Also the Shaman brings Purge, which fixes Hand of Protection quite nicely.