Heya,
Don’t worry, the blog is not at all dead.
I’m having a bit of a hard time finding a place, but light is breaking and I might be back on the horse within a week. To be honest, WoW has been very far down my priority list and writing has not come easy with 16+ hour days.
For now, hang on and we’ll get back to write.
Heya everyone,
My college housing has run out, and I’m on a hunt for a new apartment. There’ll be no new posts for a few days up to a week. Good luck till then, and when we get back, more ENH Shaman goodness!
Farseer Nobundo, image from WoWHead
Gameplay hints are important, but I think it’s really one of the most important parts of this game to enjoy the background. WoW is a big world - no pun intended. It spands novel series, comic books, 3.5 games before WoW, plus all the events that happen in the MMO itself. That NPC you click on may just be a random person, or it could be a character with indepth story details and a fascinating history that helps make the game just that more enjoyable. In my Shaman of Note segments, I hope to start bringing these characters, specifically Shaman who are important to us as players. And I’m going to start with one of my favorites, one of the better documented Shaman in the game who helped bring us Alliance-favoring players the class, Farseer Nobundo.
Our story starts not long before the Planet Draenor, the home of the Orcs we play and where the Draenei skedattled to after the Burning Legion took over Argus, was shattered by another fallen Shaman, Gul’dan. Nobundo was a Draenei Vindicator, a type of Paladin who see it as their duty to not just stop evil, but bring retribution. The WoW roleplaying games have Vindicators as as prestige class, if that helps give you some context. He wasn’t the figure you see if you go to the Exodar now. He looked, well, like a Draenei Paladin. Go watch the video at the start of Burning Crusade, that was him basically. That’s a Draenei Vindicator.
When the temple of Karabor (aka The Black Temple where Illy S. hangs out now) and the first Shattrath City were going down, most of the Vindicators got scattered to the winds.
Fighting evil for all he was worth wore him down, and the fel energies that were everywhere twisted many draenei into what we now call Broken. As he deformed, his connection the Holy Light which Paladins so revere was severed, and the remaining Draenei were harsh to their fallen brothers and sisters. They drove them out (in one of the moves that can legitimately point to the Draenei being huge jerks, but forgive them, they just had thier world smashed, and to them, the Broken were a sign of corruption).
Nobundo would pray daily to the Light. One day, strangely, his prayer was responded to, but not by the Light at all. He heard a voice on the Wind. Draenei knew about Shamanism mostly from the Orcs (who they were friends with at one time, before they got all Bloodlusty). With time, Nobundo learned the ways of the Shaman. He taught them to other Broken (and in the Draenei community, Shamanism is still considered rather wacky and scary, and some really dislike it, though that isn’t very visible in the game).
With his new found boldness he went back to Shattrath, where Velen, Prophet of the Draenei, saw this event coming (he does that a lot in TBC). Despite the “racism” he faced, he was accepted, and in a relatively short time, Draenei started to have Shamantic insights. These are the Draenei that we play in game.
As the Draenei alligned with the Naaru (beings of pure light), they planned an attack on the housing unit of the former Tempest Keep, the Exodar. Noboundo gave the Raid all the totems and Heroism they needed, because at the end, they managed to break way and take the “ship” to Azeroth, despite the little hiccup caused by Blood Elf sabotaurs.
Nobundo now stands as the highest level Shaman trainer in the World of Warcraft for Alliance Players, and as well, is willing to tell any Alliance-friendly player who wishes about his story from his own prospective.
A more complete version of his story was written by Micky Nelson, and is called Unbroken. I heavily recommend reading it as a supplement to understanding how in depth the story of this game can be. You can, of course, always read more in depth versions of the source for this article from WoWWiki.
I’d also like to note that story’s tag line, “Everything that is, is alive.” is a personal favorite saying, and it really sums up how, if you ever want to engage in eole play with your Shaman, you should proceed. For Shaman, the stones, the stream and the sky all are just as alive as you or I. Honoring them gives you thier power. Drek’thar notes to a Young Thrall in one of the novels that while Warlocks and Mages command powers, Shaman call on the elements. Now in game terms, the Elements aren’t fickle. But remember that, should you try to RP - you don’t command or boss around the elements. You approach as a humble supplicant. They will respond.
Since I’ve talked about the Pappy of all Alliance Shaman, in next Shaman of Note, I’ll discuss the Pappy of all (current) Horde Shaman, Drek’thar. He’s got a possibly cooler backstory, being the teacher of Thrall and the boss we Allies have to take down in Alterac Valley. Stay tuned!
Thanks to http://1322134.com/posters/yougottado/
Professions are a complicated part of WoW. Every profession has its opportunity cost. Luckily, ENH Shaman have some pretty excellent options.
Gathering Professions
There are 3 gathering options.
Mining is likely the most profitable single profession right now. It’s materials are used in quest turnins, Blacksmithing, Engineering and with the Jewelcrafting ability Prospecting. Everyone uses it, and it’s easy to level for the return in profit. As a general rule, Ore sells better then finished bars as a result of Prospecting.
Herbalism is currently primarily used for Alchemy and making potions. Come Wrath it will be used in the new Inscription profession the way Prospecting is with metals.
Skinning is a natural match for Leatherworking, and it’s materials are also used in Blacksmithing and Engineering. it’s easy to level, as your nodes are your kills.
Crafting
Leatherworking is right now probably my favorite profession for ENH Shaman. At high levels, it produces some of the best shoulders currently in the game for ENH Shaman, it provides dozens of good pieces of armor (many BoP). It’s also profitable. And just to stack it’s benefits, Leather Working drums are so good, many high-end rading guilds have thier members drop other professions just to have them. This is an obvious choice.
Engineering is a niche choice. It has several items very nice for Shaman - Non-spell distance attacks, minor AoE using Explosives, Rocket Boots, and of course the fantastic Flying Machines. The most powerful are the Engineering Goggles, which are best-in-class head slot items through T5 content, and with the expensive but available Sunwell Patterns, through T6 as well. That said, I’m a little less then in love then when I dropped Mining for this. I think it’s fantastically fun, but realize you’re giving up a lot of possibilities for a few benefits.
Blacksmithing is less popular for ENH Shamans. It’s biggest benefits are the exceptional BOP Weapons it produces. It gives much less in the way of armor. It’s extremely nice for weapons such as the Master Axesmithing weapon, the Wicked Edge of the Planes, especially for Orc Shamans. However, you won’t get to use much of your armor, and it is insanely expensive to level. If your going to level this, consider taking mining to blunt some of the cost.
Enchanting gives you a lot of options. You get ring enchants at high levels, which are incredibly valuable in high level PVP. However, it requires a lot of work to level, and it requires (until Wrath) you to advertise to get money out of your profession. I like this, but realize the work you’ll need to put into it.
Tailoring honestly does not have a ton for ENH Shamans. It’s mostly caster gear and bags (which shouldn’t be discounted). The one good thing that Tailoring CAN do is if you match it up with Enchanting. You can collect cloth off of mobs, make greens with tailoring, and DE them for the mats you need. To me, it’s too much work.
To me, right now, the most DPS output comes from mixing Leatherworking with either Enchanting or Skinning (to feed LW). You’ll just likely find that to be the most efficent way to make your money and get the DPS we all need. Of course, as with many things we discuss, we don’t know what Wrath will bring, so please don’t get too far ahead of yourself.
Thanks, http://www.geoaustralia.com/image/Shaped%20Dice.jpg
Eighty’s TV Show references aside (and they rarely will be, I promise you), Stats are your character. A Gray-skinned, one-eyed Orc is nothing but a pile of numbers. Just like your lithe female Draenei Shaman. Just a pile of numbers.
Gear Evaluation
One thing I’m asked often is what’s the difference between a good player and bad player. I have an easy answer: Give me a player who understands how to gear themselves, and you have a good player. The basis of gear selection is evaluating what pieces of gear are better. For ENH Shaman, let’s first look at the most important.
Base Attributes
Base Attributes are the core of your character. There are 5 in WoW: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intellect and Spirit.
Strength is currently the ENH Shaman’s most important attribute. Every 1 point of STR is equal to 2 Attack Power points. (So, for example, if one piece of gear gives you 30 STR, and another gives 56 AP, you’ll prefer the STR item). STR also gives some advantage with a shield, but after level 40 when you get Dual Wielding, you will not likely be using that.
Agility gives you a couple of bonuses. First, it increases your chance to hit critically (that is, if you crit, you do double damage). It also gives the chance to dodge some types of damage. It does not currently give you extra AP, however.
Stamina builds your HP total.
Intelligence gives you a larger mana pool, and increased mana production when you haven’t been casting for 5 seconds (MP5).
Spirit helps you heal in between battles faster (HP5), and gives you additional MP5.
Given this information, the importance should be clear: STR and AGL should be priorties, and followed by STA. INT and SPR are optional for the most part.
Secondary Stats
There are other stats that should be considered when you select gear.
Melee Attack Power - Attack power is raw damage, that causes your attacks to hurt the opponent more. AP often comes in large amounts from gear. As noted above in STR, you need to be careful when selecting between pieces of gear, AP numbers are bigger, but STR multiplies.
Melee Critical Strike % - Critical Strike directly adds a greater chance to get a crit (as explained above in AGL). It is more efficient per-point (one point of Melee Crit gives more crit strike chance then one point of AGL).
Generally, you will perfer Attributes over the secondary statistics. This is because various affects, especially Blessing of Kings(a paladin spell that is very commonly given at the start of Raids and Battlegrounds) give you a percentage increase of your Base Attributes.
The Future, Conan?
Now, before you get too comfortable, the Shaman world is getting rocked again by the changes coming in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.
Starting with the expansion, STR will be worth only 1 AP, but AGL will also become equally powerful, worth 1 AP per point. As well, with talents in the Enhancement Tree, each point of INT will be worth 1 AP as well. The end result will mean that a lot of gear that Shamans currently turn down will become much more valuable. We’ll discuss that more in the future as we discuss gearing ENH Shaman now, and as we go into WotLK.
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/~sww/classes/curiousgeorge-calculus.jpg
Windfury. The name alone has been known to make Fury warriors salivate, and Feral druids yawn. It’s swirling vortex graphic is the sure-sign that you’re making a difference, be it fighting tigers in Stranglethorn or Illidan himself in Outland. In story mechanics, it is litterally the wind cutting and slicing, bending with you to help you down your foes. It’s complexity is a blessing and a curse, and unless you wish for your best gear to read “of the Soldier“, you’ll do well to master its subtleties.
Windfury comes in 2 forms - the personal weapon imbue Windfury Weapon, and the Windfury Totem. In TBC, these act similarly - they have a random chance to deliver extra attacks with extra attack power. Windfury weapon works only on your weapons, while the totem works on your entire parties’ weapons (with the signifigant exception of Druid animal form attacks). Windfury Weapon is more powerful, offering two hits additional instead of one. Once you ding level 30, you will want to use Windfury pretty much exclusively while leveling. It simply offers more then the other weapon buffs such as FlameTongue offer.
Windfury’s trick comes in that it has much more to it than the tool tip has to say. You see, Windfury has a hidden cool down. It can only hit (or proc, in older terminology) every 3 seconds. How does this affect Shaman? So much, a community mod on the official WoW boards quit after the flack he got after the change happened without any warning (well there was a lot more to it, but that’s not important).
The end result is that while most Dual-Wielding classes prefer an average speed main hand weapon, 2.4 to 2.7 speed, fast offhand, in the 1.5 range. ENH Shaman do not. In fact, we prefer two slow weapons, perferably in the 2.6 or higher range. The reason is that a fast offhanders are more likely to hit, and proc Windfury. These weapons often have very low DPS, or Damage Per Second ratings.
As a result, the extra hits recieved by Windfury the fast offhand do not cause much damage. As well, it means your beefier main hand, thanks the cool down, can not get that benefit. The final result: You do a whole lot less damage and worse, you look like a freak’n noob for not knowing this.
There have been ways tested of avoiding this issue - but none seem to work as well as making the right gear choices. Wether or not it stays this way is up to the developers, but for now, this is your best bet to DPS-ville.
To recap, your goal is to always keep a slow weapon in each hand once you reach level 30, and don’t look back. Your party mates will thank you.
Knowing the hidden mechanics of your class is the secret to playing WoW, and playing WoW well. Sites like this one are your best source of information.
In future columns, we’ll discuss Windfury totem, what it is now, what it will be come the next major release of WoW and how much the Fury Warrior and Swords Rogue in your guild slobber for it. Hint: think buckets.
I just found out that wordpress offers an iPhone app that will let me blog even on the bus to work. I hope this will help keep me posting frequently. You can help me out too! Give me the topics you’d like to see covered on NSE, and I’ll do my best to write what the readers want.
Pratt Manhattan Campus - Where I Go To School
Let’s define our spec, shall we?
Wikionary defines enhancement as “An improvement.”
…
There’s a reason that in library school they told me never to trust Wikis.
Mirram-Webster gives the defnition as “heighten, increase; especially : to increase or improve in value, quality, desirability, or attractiveness <enhanced the room with crown molding>”
M-W further defines a Shaman as a “priest or priestess who uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and controlling events”.
Well in WoW, the prior is accurate, while the latter is a little different.
In the Warcraft Universe, Shaman are a class with a very long history. Most tribal socities have them, including Orcs, Tauren, Trolls, Merlocs and even some Dwarves. As far as playable races, we’ve noted Orcs, Tauren and Trolls on the Horde side, and as well, the Draenei of the Alliance (Though they come to it in a very roundabout way, which we’ll discuss at a later date in a lore discussion). No other Alliance race, nor Blood Elves or Forsaken may be shamans.
In the lore, Shaman control the elements of nature. Where as Druids interact with the animals and plants, Warlocks consult with demonic powers, Priests with their divine sources, and Mages with the arcane, Shaman work with the very foundations - Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. Go Shaman.
As for the Spec in Wow, Enhancement is just what it’s definition suggests. We increase abilities. Specifically ability to punch people in the face with fist weapons, smash them with maces and slash them with vicious axes. While elemental shaman use the elements to attack from range, and Resto Shaman use the elements to heal, we enhancement shaman use the elements to augment our melee combat abilities. We also help the people around us with our totems and our Bloodlust/Heroism ability at high levels. It’s a powerful, powerful spec as we’ll discover as we go further on.
For now, I’d just like to bring this to a close with a little discussion of a mild controversy in the game: If you have more then one Shaman, what are they called?
M-W notes that the plural form of Shaman is Shamans. Not Shamen - the root of Shaman isn’t “Man” so multiple does not become “Men”. It’s an incorporated word from Evenki, a dialect used in Russia, Mongolia, and China. As such, when it is imported to English, it follows traditional English grammatical rules, and since we usually add “S” to a word to make it plural, that resto and elemental shaman who are screwing up your Kara pug are inept Shamans, not inept Shaman.
I will endevor to use this correct naming, but I have to admit, after thinking it wrong for so long, I do occasionally slip. I will try not to, and please, don’t feel the need to correct it.
Hello, and welcome!
Thank you for reading the first post on what I hope to be a successful new blog, with the goal of becoming a regularly updated starting point for all of the Enhancement Shaman players in the World of Warcraft.
Considering what I wanted with a new blog, that isn’t served currently, I came up with a few idea:
• Play Strategy - How can you take an Enhancement Shaman and make him invaluable to your guild, party or raid? I want to help ENH Shaman know what to do. This might be in specific fights, or more general terms.
• Gearing - How and what do you gear when? How should you gear if you’re in a certain level of raiding? What are good items and enchants? I would like to attempt to build gear guides to help ENH Shaman know what to aim for as they enter tiers.
• Lore - Shaman are a class deeply entwined with the lore of the game. In fact, I consider it the game’s signature class. I also am a fan of the lore of WoW, and as such Shaman-related Lore is of importance to me. I will endeavor to discuss this on a regular basis.
• Information - There’s plenty of good ENH Shaman info out there on the Web, but I feel it’s scattered and difficult to understand. I want to help gather this information into a single repository - not by copying information verbatim (we don’t need another Elitist Jerks page) but by linking and interpreting the information found there.
In the coming days and weeks, I hope we’ll start to get a great repository of information. If you have suggestions, please feel free to contact me with the email links on the right hand side of your screen.
