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Wow Cataclysm Shaman Changes
Written by WoW Cataclysm.

Shaman have had to endure alot of pain over the past several years and have been promised many things. While they did get some major attention in the recent patch with their ‘totem fix’, they still need alot of work. In WoW Cataclysm, Shaman will hopefully get the fixes that they’ve been asking for. There’s already signs that developers are working on the Shaman class in Wow Cataclysm.

List of new additions and changes for Shaman in WoW Cataclysm:

  • Mana tide totem will likely have the option to remove group utility for increased effect on a solo Shaman.
  • Enhancement Shaman will be similar to Retribution Paladins in WoW Cataclysm. Intelligence will come mainly from talents and therefore Shaman can continue to share loot with some Hunters who no longer require mana. 
  • Enhancement Shamans having to run in and out of melee ranges to redrop totem and sacrifice DPS is a legitimate problem, they don’t want enhancement to have to run out like that.
  • Elemental Shaman in WoW Cataclysm will see changes to no longer be a long range turret that enemies always aim and easily take out first.
  • Shaman Healers in WoW Cataclym will be much better main tank healers
  • AoE Healing will also be imporoved, as Blizzard would like that aspect of the Restoration Shaman to improve
  • With Battlegrounds gaining more importance in Cataclysm, they should be much more useful in PvP than today even with no changes. Shaman have always had a variety of tools and different options in battle but the burstiness of arena and crowd control never favored them much. Hopefully the new expansion will make Shaman of all sorts be viable and competitive. Check back later with more Shaman news for WoW Cataclysm.

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    40 Comments so far

    1. Shamanguy
      September 6th, 2009

      | 3:47 pm

      First!

    2. Mike
      September 6th, 2009

      | 11:18 pm

      “AoE Healing will also be imporoved, as Blizzard would like that aspect of the Restoration Shaman to improve” ?

      Umh ok.

      btw, fix “imporoved”

    3. hmmm
      September 14th, 2009

      | 12:14 am

      must admit, this is super shmexy from my shams point of view, Cataclysm seems to be great for every1 but locks :(

    4. Rawrasaurus
      September 27th, 2009

      | 11:47 am

      GIVE US 2H VIABILITY FOR PVP =)

    5. October 7th, 2009

      | 9:11 am

      Hi when beta comes out i gonna hack all computers then destroy the world of world craft cataclysm go a why or i kill the captain of BlizzArd

    6. devilz
      October 19th, 2009

      | 11:44 am

      took them long enough to decide not to force ele shamans into being turrets anymore.

      How bout they do this, get ride of elementals summoned by totems.

      Replace them with weaker elementals that support the shaman and are magical and not physical targets. LIke the old totems were. These elementals can only be summoned one at a time and have different raid buffs and adds dps/heals to shaman ( not a huge increase)

      For example:

      Wind Elemental
      Increase dodge chance of raid (1%)
      casts lightning at shamans target (nature damage)

      Fire Elemental
      Increase Parry chance of raid (1%)
      casts fiery flares at shamans target (fire damage)

      Earth Elemental
      Increase Defense chance of raid (1%)
      casts shards at shamans target (physical damage)

      Water Elemental
      Increase spell resistance of all magic for raid (1%)
      casts heal over time on lowest health in raid

      Summoning elementals will use a reagent. These reagents drop from elementals throughout the world.

      Basically this idea adds another layer of buffing to shaman and strategy to playing the class.

      But this is just an idea..its pretty similar to how imp is to warlock.

    7. October 28th, 2009

      | 11:05 am

      i think shamans are great already and now u make it easier but not for warriors i thing u must just go and just give worriors as much as u give the rest :( so far it sucks to be a worrior when cataclysm comes out

    8. October 28th, 2009

      | 11:07 am

      please make shamans not able to wear mail :)

    9. Martin
      November 5th, 2009

      | 5:00 am

      Taking mail from shamans… you’re joking right? it’s not like we’re getting beaten to death by melee classes as it already is lol, and giving us leather… don’t even want to think about it

    10. lazy
      November 16th, 2009

      | 12:19 pm

      wow devilz are you seroius thats dumb how all thoes tings are to help tanks they already are buff with raid buffs and totem buff andy more then raids would be easy.. and why not think of something like for pvp we need more survivabilty every class has more cc than shammans do which they need to fix

    11. Windfuryrape
      December 7th, 2009

      | 6:51 am

      Why Enhancement shamans never buffed? Always nerfed! WTF I like SHaman very Much i have a enchancement shaman, I play with DW and 2H Please! Buff 2H shamans! and DW too for PvE and PvP ! Shamans only are “good” in Elemental / Resto, not enhacement… Its’s funny. . .Thanks for your reading, Windfuryrape.

    12. shamanking
      December 7th, 2009

      | 7:30 pm

      how many other shamans go into a BG with 20k health and get hit and first thought is i need to heal or get out of here and its kinda a pain when all i can do is anhk to survive a bit hit and come back with 5k health to be hit once and die again, ele/enh need something to keep them up and resto needs something to take an enemy out in pvp without wasting talent points.

    13. Eleshaman
      December 9th, 2009

      | 6:49 am

      Yea its great ele shaman need more damage from lighting bolt etc. than he have now. I waiting for emails from new changes about ele sham

    14. Pakami
      December 23rd, 2009

      | 3:43 am

      my enh shaman was quite good in arena when full furious was good but i would like to see 2 handers buffed.

    15. Cyanicide
      December 30th, 2009

      | 6:54 pm

      Can we resto shammys get a water elemental totem? the water elemental would be like our off heals? that would definitely cover the whole “improve AoE healing thing” would give us another version of ourselves healing… but you know..not as powerful.

    16. Bananananana
      January 2nd, 2010

      | 10:25 am

      I play an ele shaman, and am starting into arena. Damn, it is great to hear that I can finally survive as the main target in my 2v2 {With Ret Pally} and do decent. I can`t wait until Cat, it promises to be the best thing for shammies since totems.

    17. cw
      January 7th, 2010

      | 2:02 am

      I say give Shammy’s a Plate Talent, and also an elemental shapeshift form that boosts our armor so we can take even more damage. Add with that some threat boosters and we are gtg for tanking too.

    18. jb
      January 11th, 2010

      | 5:08 pm

      haha, stupid blizzard, they just buff rogues, enhancment shaman die fast, have a regular dps and realy sux in pvp comparated with other classes..
      damn i hate be a nerfed class.

    19. ele shammy
      January 13th, 2010

      | 7:46 am

      ele shammies = cake mix in pvp stun the healer for more then 3 seconds and there dead lol now survivability what so ever

    20. Darkslamer
      January 22nd, 2010

      | 2:18 pm

      they shouldnt fix rouges i hate rouges but definitly fix shamans

    21. BlissfulOblivion
      January 25th, 2010

      | 11:48 pm

      They have to be very careful how they level us. Yes, Elemental is a long range turret that gets nuked in a heartbeat. but gods forbid the enemy lets us actually get our spells off. Enhance? yup, goes down like a punk bitch, but let them build their maelstrom up and they become beasts. we’re a strong, powerful class, but it is almost entirely offensive, with very, very limited defense. i’ve been to the arena a few times with an undergeared elemental shaman. went with a prot paladin, myself, and a boomkin. many times i would be targeted first, and if i could survive for more than a few seconds, i ripped apart whatever i targetted. so yeah, my whole point is this: we’re glass cannons, just like mages or rogues, we simple are made of more fragile glass

    22. Hargar
      February 8th, 2010

      | 8:35 am

      What about for ele shamans they get a talent abit like mirror image but they change into the 4 elements and can switch between them each has different skill etc..think about it

    23. wolf
      February 8th, 2010

      | 9:27 am

      dudes when will the shamans be able to use 1h and 2h swords cause even here on cataclysm i still can*t find anything about shamans and swords.
      I red so much about this (shamans sword skill)and all say that shamans need swords.I red a thing about which need most weapon improved- did DKs need fist weapons, did rouges need axe and did shamans need sword and at the end all of us(the dudes that have write in the blizzard forum agreed that the shamans need an improve so that they can wear sword and at the end of all this blizzard gave the rogues a axe skill and the shamans -nothing. blizard just fucked us oof

    24. marr
      February 13th, 2010

      | 9:18 am

      death wind is very cool

    25. Niuman
      February 25th, 2010

      | 2:48 pm

      Id like to see a viable 2h spec for pve/pvp.

      I quit playing enhancement because it was so weak.

    26. idea
      February 28th, 2010

      | 6:38 am

      why don’t they just give us a few seconds range stun. ive got a a ele sham and i got a glyph that with thunder storm enemys don’t fly away for in pve. that qlyph should be able to be turned off for in pvp

    27. Aldreasha
      March 2nd, 2010

      | 10:52 am

      I play on an enh shaman, and all i can say is “it rules”. i have extreme survivability and never running out of mana. after cata… shamans will be godlike. (I think)

    28. Teraamae
      March 28th, 2010

      | 9:00 pm

      I have a ele shaman but I see enh shamans in arenas (2v2) owning everything with those spirit wolf so I think shamans are pretty good as they are now and I dontthink any upgrades are really needed but a change always makes things a little
      funner! :)

    29. NotARealName
      April 7th, 2010

      | 9:37 am

      Haha, wow, so much delicious, retarded QQ in this post <3

    30. shamtactics
      April 8th, 2010

      | 9:48 am

      I love my shaman in BG’s I own but in 2’s I have to FS, GW kite a lot depending on the class and what totems you drop you can survive. My arena teams are just my RL buddies and not the best make up so we don’t go far at all enhance is pimp I’m usually the last one alive ele is fun doing hella damage when you get the chance but resto imo is bunk in anthing but BG’s and pve content. Resto has 1 real instant cast hot no real stuns and a crappy 45 sec CD hex, ya hex is cool and all but overall its just an interrupt on the healer when your dropping his buddy in the next two or four seconds. Maybe the new resto spells will make it worthwhile to resto sham arenas so when they try and drop my shaman like they try and drop my druid it will come down to skill not oh SH$% I’m stunned, trinked got riptide on myself stunned and now dead. I want to resto pvp I love shamans and their diversity/utility but I’m not going to get all my pvp gear up for resto like my ele set and enhance set when it is NO good in 2’s imo

    31. Hoop
      April 10th, 2010

      | 1:32 pm

      I play elem in pvp. When i started out things were very harsh. I got geared and run around with relentless/wrathfull all bought without rating. I pwn every undergeared player more or less and many good geared. Certain classes i can’t stand a chance if the player is skilled. Rogues and good hunters/mages are a pain in the ass. We will always have a nemesis class but i do agree that shammys need some great buff on the CC and defense. I run around with 1.2k res and if 2 people targets me im pretty much dead. So basicly what im saying is that shammys do need a buff compared to other classes but my opinion is to put great weight on improving our CC and defense much rather than our dmg.

    32. Dracksar
      April 11th, 2010

      | 12:18 am

      lol seriously though, how many times have shaman been promised fixes. Granted blizz has done better lately, I’ll wait till it actually happens before I decide to reup.

    33. myfirstshamy
      April 12th, 2010

      | 12:42 am

      AOE healing improved? For reals? Chain heals with riptide is OP as it is. I play resto shaman and I outheal all other healers with higher GS as it is. I just hope they know what they doing cause I love my resto shaman as it is!

    34. Sham
      May 5th, 2010

      | 8:51 am

      elemental shaman need a real shield or buble cause they alway be first to shot in pvp and is the unique class that no have a REAL protection…c’mon guys the shield provided by stoneclaw totem is really stupid

    35. Bronzehoof
      May 24th, 2010

      | 1:32 pm

      I play an enhance shammy on dawnbringer server and I pulled 12k in ICC… if you’re trying to say they need to be fixed, you might need fixed in the head yourself. I mean I can admit that I’m the only one on the server I’ve seen pulling the dps, but still it’s possible.

    36. Shaamon
      May 27th, 2010

      | 6:40 pm

      i play an enh shaman off spec’d ele…anyways i agree with most other comments. Shamans wether it be enh or ele put out some mass dps but when targeted with a skilled player or more than one enemy they are almost defenseless. i can drp someone in bg’s pretty well but its no use trying to stay alive if im outnumbered.shamans need some sort of bubble like a paladin or a new shock that can be a heal over time.(off subjct: Swords would b sweet/maybe pl8 lol) just a thought guys. hope we dont get nerf’d

    37. Wölfsong
      June 9th, 2010

      | 5:17 pm

      As far as defense goes for enh shaman, instant healing waves from MW plus Shamanistic rage are decent to an extent, but having to use that big boost in damage from MW just to stay alive is pretty annoying. Our dps is clearly fine for pvp, i would just be way happier if we could have some way to stay alive, without sacrificing so much damage.

    38. Roge
      July 13th, 2010

      | 2:11 pm

      So people intelligently picked to play as a shaman because it was the strongest all round class. But with every explansion the shaman has been downgraded to a point where its the good at nothing and provides unnoticed improvements to groups. The shaman was the general of a group providing the little differences to turn a battle but not anymore. Without a cleansing totem we’re just a useless member to a group providing a little damage and not much else.

    39. truthunder
      July 20th, 2010

      | 3:23 am

      ok im a enh sham have most wraithfull peices and around 1.2 resil and enh needs some sort of shield ele has astral shift resto has earth shield wtf about enhance did they forget about us’ stun is pretty much gg for us rouges shit all over us …but on the other hand let us rip and its all over most of the time AND I FUCKING LOVE PURGE mages QQ so much over it best move sham has in my opnion..

    40. TehSahman
      July 24th, 2010

      | 5:34 am

      Now i’ve read too much QQ about people complaining about Shaman having bad defences.
      Shamans have extremley good defnece versus spellcasters. They have Shear every 5 sec with Reveberation, Elemental talent (should be in both Enha and Ele pvp spec) and it’s off the CGD! And they also have Grounding totem every 11.5 sec talented and 4set from pvp.

      Elemental Shammys also have very good survivability vs many melee classes, 5 sec root every 15 sec. Elemental Shamans also have TS, which is usable in stuns. Enha Shamans have Shamanistic Rage, also usable in stuns. 30% dmg reduction! It’s almost Pain Suppression! And 5 stack MSw is very good, critting up to 10k with HW.
      Even more survivability for Ele, Astral Shift, 30% dmg reduction while in stuns and silences. Imba.

      And Woop here said that Ele Shams have trouble against Mages, Hunters and Rogues. Mages and Hunters are some of the easiest classes for an Ele Shaman. Rogues are around 50/50.

      Mage: Always dispel FoF(fingers), but don’t do it if u risk dispelling Ice Barrier. DON’T dispel Ice Barrier, i’ll explain soon. Make them use CP, if they’re stupid they will use it on LvB, then you are only locked out of fire and can LB and CL him all u want. But let’s say he’s pro. He will CP u in nature spell. Use some totems of they’re not on CD. When he has use his CP, u are free to heal up, using grounding and Shears. Then you Hex and dispel all his buffs. Then FlS, and here’s the big trick: Cast LvB, and as soon as it’s cast time is over u purge his Ice Barrier. That’s why u shouldn’t dispel it randomly. The LvB will hit him with full force. With Barrier it probably won’t deal any dmg, it’s often completley absorbed. And repeat. Try to stay close at start so u won’t have to trinket DF(using TS)

      Hunters: Get close and root. He will use Deterrence. Follow him wherever he goes in GW, When Deterrence is over use FS, switch to GW and follow him again. Do this until next root, then u can start dmging him. When the root is over cast hex and finish him off, if you can’t just run in GW until next root and then kill.

      Rogues: Have Lightning Shield and Searing Totem, and cleansing ofc. When he Kidney u, use TS. When he comes back the KS is over unless u are bad at positioning. Then do FlS and root. He will CoS and Vanish. Refresh LS, totems, and w8 for him to come again. Use trinket on the CS and FlS. Do an instant LvB on him. Refresh and just stay alive until next root, use SCT. Keep FlS at him at all times. When root is ready, you root, LvB, if he Blinds u it will be NP coz u have FlS on him ofc. He’ll be almost dead after that LvB because rogues are very fragile and your LS and Searing has taken some dmg. Hex when you see the opportunity. Just never cast any nature spell when he’s close to you, because he will Kick you and rip you apart.

      The really hard/impossible classes to beat for an Ele Shaman are DKs(hard to impossible), Affli locks(impossible), Spriests(impossible), Warriors(hard to impossible) And some healers ofc.
      -Yeman, Dunemaul. 2.2 achi in all brackets as Ele(now i’m resto

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