Grow Shamans (or Shamen. or Shaman.) for Fun and Profit!

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.