Compared to my 'locks, I couldn't imagine leveling up the mages again. They are far too squishy. Locks are amazing, leveling wise. Soulstones every 8 minutes... 4 "tanks"... mana efficient DOTs. The list goes on and on. SO much faster, partly because I remember the instances but a good amount from their inherent abilities. I hit level 29 with no real gear at all, and the gear I have is all red. Also using level 22-24 spells. It's just nuts how fast I tear through elites. 3, 4, 5 sometimes 6 at a time. Mages could AoE at 30, which helped, but still... running back sucks. Plus, it seems questing is faster anyway, pre 60.

It's a bit tricky, but even with 5 shammys, you still need to DPS and heal. Not sure 5 shammys would be THAT much easier.