Patch 2.3 has been out for a week now, and players have seen the impact certain changes are making in the Arena scene. From Hunter changes of Aim Shot and Arcane Shot, to the hemo change for Rogues (which has raised a lot of controversy among many). There was one big change I know I was looking forward to however, and I am sure many other healers were, the addition of spell damage to healing gear. Theories were brought up of how much of an effect it actually would have in arena play, ranging from “it wouldn’t be great at all because without the spell damage talents it won’t matter”, to “classes such as Shamans could spec Elemental and just wear Restoration gear”. This weekend however, I put the theories to test, playing a restoration Shaman in a 2v2 makeup paired with a Rogue. Pre 2.3 this lineup was not popular for several reasons, however now I have experienced several scenarios to take advantage of the patch changes. Read More

Tags: Shaman · Rogue · 2v2 · Articles

The 2.3 patch notes have brought a lot of focus on making certain class and class specs more valuable in the Arena PvP setting. As we have witnessed from season 1 to season 2 of the Arena, several lineups have been created and made popular along with certain classes and specs becoming more popular for it. Four DPS lineups with Rogues were discovered in season 2 for 5v5 Arena, and have changed how other teams makeup their lineup as well, such as using a Druid healer instead of a Paladin. Evolution exists everywhere, and the WoW Arena scene is no exception. Changes happen and new ideas are discovered to bring lineups and class specs into play, even with so much previous doubt. Patch 2.3 has many changes for the rare specs and low populated classes in Arena play, so let’s take a look at some of what may be up and coming class/spec combinations. Read More

Tags: Shaman · Articles

The last spec to talk about for the Shaman class in arena play is the Elemental Shaman, aka master of burst. The Elemental Shaman when BC came out was perhaps the least preferred spec for most Shamans when it came to BG and PvP in general, and a large reason for this was the lack of gear for it. With the introduction of countless pieces of mail spell damage gear, the Elemental Shaman has grown into one of the most valuable class/spec combos in competitive 5v5 arena play. The “cookie-cutter” lineup, or most popular, consists of Paladin/Priest/Mage/Warrior/Ele Shaman. This 2.5 healer lineup has developed into a very strong team and the Shaman is the backbone of it. Being able to burst damage when needed, and to spot heal when needed are huge assets this spec brings and there is no reason for this breed to die out in Arena play anytime soon.

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Tags: Shaman · Articles

The next spec for arena pvp shamans is the Restoration spec. Although this spec for shamans is not largely popular in arena play, it is still used on several top teams, including “We Lose Cause Daorok Sux”, the recent champions of Blizzards official season 1 5v5 world finals. Because of this, restoration shamans in 5v5 play especially, have grown. They still are by no means the preferred healers for most, and there are several reason in why this would be the case. In 3v3 and 2v2 arena though, restoration shamans are the preferred spec for shamans interestingly enough. According to geekboys.org, restoration shamans make up more than 90% of 2v2 and 3v3 teams with a shaman. They are also a lot more popular in these brackets on top teams because of the great support they still bring, while also being great healers if played right and matched up right. This article will look into the arena scene with restoration specced shamans and there benefits and lacking compared to others. Read More

Tags: Shaman · Articles

Before TBC came out for World of Warcraft, the Shaman class was very limited in its spec when it came to the scene of battlegrounds. Most specced enhancement, and just went around swinging their big two-handed weapons hoping for wind-fury procs, then screaming out “Oh my god, that wind-fury crit was insane” after walking up to a mage and dropping them in one swing. The few other shamans were specced restoration for pvp, and that was only because they had to be restoration if they wanted to raid at all. And Elemental shamans were few to be found, simply because mail gear did not add enough spell damage to make them effective. The shaman class was very limited and because of this, it became less popular.

Since TBC however, shamans have been able to choose from several valuable specs for both pvp and pve. Restoration brought some very nice pvp talents such as Nature’s Guardian and Enhancement introduced the use of duel-wielding on shamans and made it useful for pve raiding as well with talents such as Unleashed Rage. The third tree however, Elemental, was given the largest upgrade out the three, and as weeks passed since the release of TBC, more and more shamans began to realize this. Read More

Tags: Shaman · Articles