(Ele) Shamans - A pet class? Is this the future?
When I first read grumbling about shaman being a pet class in the future, my mind was boggled. Any shaman worth their salt knows that shaman have never been a "pet class." We're not favorites like mages and death knights. But when I figured out the true meaning, the wheels in my head turned even more.
Image courtesy of The Daily Blink.
When people are talking about pet classes, they're talking about classes where a pet does a great amount of the player's personal DPS. Hunters, Unholy Death Knights, Frost Mages, and Warlocks are "pet classes." Before the "Assist" change, pet classes required a bit more work to play, but now, it's divided if there is as much work managing a pet anymore.
With T12, Blizzard introduced a massive change to the play of Ele Shaman. They listened to our cries of low DPS and low mobility and offered play that neutralized those concerns at high gear levels. Average Elemental DPS shot up. 2pc allowed Ele Shaman to have Fire Elemental as a "sort of" pet, adding over 3k DPS over a raid fight. (4pc is amazing too, but that's another article.) T13 stat bonuses after T12 is frankly boring:
Will Blizzard nerf T12 into the ground like Boomkin T11?
Will Blizzard see the issues with Elemental pre-T12 and redesign Ele to address those issues?
Will T12 bonuses be bundled with Ele, and how?
The popular idea is that Blizz will bundle at least 2p T12 into the Ele tree, if not get rid of the cooldown on Fire Blob Bob altogether (so long, Searing Totem). However, this idea has some opponents. As shamans know, totems are almost uncontrollable. They're supposed to follow your Flame Shock, and yet they...don't. They attack the targets that don't need to be attacked, or worse, attack "helpful" targets, like the water totems on Halazzi.
So if that's the case, why can't Fire Blob Bob be a pet? Well, what if you don't want Ele to be a pet class? You don't like playing Warlock/Hunter/Unholy. I have to be honest, I don't understand this complaint at all.
So what do you think? What's the fate of T12 and the raiding Ele shaman?
I lied a bit when I said the last article was my last article. I couldn't leave on a non-shaman article!
Image courtesy of The Daily Blink.
When people are talking about pet classes, they're talking about classes where a pet does a great amount of the player's personal DPS. Hunters, Unholy Death Knights, Frost Mages, and Warlocks are "pet classes." Before the "Assist" change, pet classes required a bit more work to play, but now, it's divided if there is as much work managing a pet anymore.
With T12, Blizzard introduced a massive change to the play of Ele Shaman. They listened to our cries of low DPS and low mobility and offered play that neutralized those concerns at high gear levels. Average Elemental DPS shot up. 2pc allowed Ele Shaman to have Fire Elemental as a "sort of" pet, adding over 3k DPS over a raid fight. (4pc is amazing too, but that's another article.) T13 stat bonuses after T12 is frankly boring:
- Elemental, 2P -- Elemental Mastery also grants you 400 mastery rating 15 sec.
- Elemental, 4P -- Each time Elemental Overload triggers, you gain 200 haste rating for 4 sec, stacking up to 3 times.
Will Blizzard nerf T12 into the ground like Boomkin T11?
Will Blizzard see the issues with Elemental pre-T12 and redesign Ele to address those issues?
Will T12 bonuses be bundled with Ele, and how?
The popular idea is that Blizz will bundle at least 2p T12 into the Ele tree, if not get rid of the cooldown on Fire Blob Bob altogether (so long, Searing Totem). However, this idea has some opponents. As shamans know, totems are almost uncontrollable. They're supposed to follow your Flame Shock, and yet they...don't. They attack the targets that don't need to be attacked, or worse, attack "helpful" targets, like the water totems on Halazzi.
So if that's the case, why can't Fire Blob Bob be a pet? Well, what if you don't want Ele to be a pet class? You don't like playing Warlock/Hunter/Unholy. I have to be honest, I don't understand this complaint at all.
So what do you think? What's the fate of T12 and the raiding Ele shaman?
I lied a bit when I said the last article was my last article. I couldn't leave on a non-shaman article!