Back at Blizzcon, some improvements were previewed for Enhancement shammies that were going to go in "a future patch". It has become apparent as things progress that this patch is probably going to be 2.3, and now we have confirmation of that from Eyonix. Specifically, the details he confirmed for patch 2.3 are as follows:
- Shamanistic rage will also reduces all damage taken by 30% for the duration of the ability (30 seconds), in addition to its current effect
- Spirit Weapons will also reduce melee threat by a total of 30% rather than 15% (source)
- There will be changes that benfefit [sic] the elemental and restoration shaman as well. And yes, more enchancement improvements are absolutely going into patch 2.3. (source)
- Yes, all shaman will be able to equip 2-handed axes and maces (proper training required of course), without having to spend a talent. In it's place, a seemingly solid replacement talent called elemental focus. Basically, what it offers is this -- after landing a melee critical strike, you'll enter a "focused state". The focused state will reduce the mana cost of your next shock spell by 60%. (source)
There is some confusion over whether Spirit Weapons' threat reduction affects yellow damage; Eyonix reports that extensive internal testing shows that it affects white damage and Stormstrike and Windfury procs. He also promises to drop in on a thread discussing Elemental improvements, so keep an eye out for that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-26-2007 @ 3:53PM
mcclary said...
/roll shammie
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9-26-2007 @ 4:12PM
Razhlok said...
Woot, anything that encourages more enhancement Shaman and keeps them ALIVE longer so I can benefit from their sweet, sweet buffs is OK with me. Even though if they do tend to roll on my phat lewts. :)
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9-26-2007 @ 4:12PM
Biguglyshrek said...
Great, Hunters will never see 2H Axes that actually suit em.
Resto Shammy says: I can use the mana per second on Legacy.
Elemental Shammy says: Please let me have Legacy I can my stamina is really low.
Enhancement Shammy says: I'm Melee DPS, I deserve it even more than our hunter, then when gorehowl drops I'll take that too!
The poor Hunter that finally sees Legacy after 4 months of raiding kara says: I'll just wait for the haulberd of desolation when our guild sees BT in 5 months, pass!
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9-26-2007 @ 4:20PM
Akirahawk said...
I raided as enhancement up until about 2 months ago. I am Resto now and actually like it quite a bit. I may have to go back to enhancement after 2.3 comes out.
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9-26-2007 @ 4:21PM
Biguglyshrek said...
^^ No Shammy in my guild would snatch Legacy from a Hunter but I see it happening.
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9-26-2007 @ 4:23PM
briker said...
2.3 comes when? Too little, too late. I quit 3 months ago due to Blizzard's slow response to any shaman concerns. While this will be a welcome addition to the Shaman in the game, it doesn't make up for the 2 years of nerfs. GG Blizz.
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9-26-2007 @ 4:23PM
Wulfhere said...
Most enhancement shammies are going to want to dual wield.
Also, boo hoo for hunters. You're so starved for loot choices, I know.
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9-26-2007 @ 4:23PM
Angus said...
This won't help the real issues.
I'm not sure how spirit weapons could be working on WF and stormstrike considering how much omen shows either of them spiking my threat.
SR is nice. Yeop. It'd be great for a paladin. You know, the defensive hybrid.
You pop SR in PVP and hope it lets you survive long enough to get into melee.
That's nice, unless you are fighting a mage or priest or a warlock with fel puppy or another shaman. If it's a mage, they get to laugh at you as they take your damage reduction for themselves. Others just laugh because it won't last long enough to really matter with CC and snares being better for all other classes except Paladins.
Enhance Shaman need: % of AP to convert to spell damage. A way to get into melee and stay there.
Elemental: Another school for damage so a lockdown stops all but 2 shocks. An effective snare not tied to a totem or a diminishing return.
Resto: A heal over time that isn't a totem or a mana hog.
All shaman: Better co-efficients on other weapon enchants. Bloodlust moved to physical spell again instead of nature. Windfury to work on yellow attacks outside the arena. Some CC that can be used to even odds OR anti-CC that isn't a joke.
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9-26-2007 @ 4:44PM
Razhlok said...
@3
What on earth are you talking about? Resto or Elemental shaman rolling on Legacy should be shot. It has nothing for them and the guild that lets them loot it should just /gdisband. Just about every decent enhance shaman knows dual wielding does better damage than 2hand.
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9-26-2007 @ 5:11PM
Drew said...
#9 got it right...why would a ele or a resto shammy want anything with agi/ap? And why would an enhancement spec want a two hander?
Where is the CC/Anti CC?
One of the devs needs to play a shamman every day for a year. Maybe then they will see that we need some help.
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9-26-2007 @ 5:11PM
Baluki said...
Making 2H weapons trainable (finally) is nice, but it's not going to change much. In fact, it's mostly only going to help Resto players. Yes, Resto. Enhance are usually going to go for Dual-Wielding, and no 2H weapon in the game (besides some staffs) can beat a 1H and shield for Elemental. Resto is the only spec that'll really benefit from this change, but only for grinding. In dungeons, they're going 1H/shield or staff.
Also, I'm sure someone's going to come on here and complain about shamans being buffed. For those people, let me say this: This is patch 2.3, not 1.3. Shamans in BC have been crippled in many regards, and it's about goddamn time that we got some lovin'.
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9-26-2007 @ 5:33PM
Hybrys said...
@7
Yeah, because the three hunter melee weapons in endgame, Kara-BT, are alot to choose from. And with two 1hers, all the rogues and warriors are gonna get 'em first, and they aren't even very good for us.
Look at 'em. Legacy, Twinblade of the Phoenix, and the Halberd of Desolation.
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9-26-2007 @ 5:36PM
Razzberry said...
@8 "Enhance Shaman need: % of AP to convert to spell damage. A way to get into melee and stay there."
This was one of the changes that was at Blizzcon (added to Mental Quickness), but it doesn't seem to be mentioned in this article, so I'm not sure if it was retracted.
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9-26-2007 @ 5:38PM
Urthona said...
Since my Enhancement Shaman is 24, any word on when the xp increase is going into action?
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9-26-2007 @ 5:47PM
Baluki said...
He did mention that the Mental Quickness change IS going in for 2.3 later in the thread. Much later.
And Frost Shock is no longer subject to diminishing returns. (That's from another thread.)
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9-26-2007 @ 5:50PM
Bobby Hansen said...
Ha-ha!!!
My Enhancement Shaman is 69, and I've been considering what to do - respec and rebuy armor before raiding, or just keep going. The change to Shaman. Rage is big, so is being able to swap to a two-hander.
I'm loving this.
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9-26-2007 @ 6:15PM
Wulfhere said...
@Hybrys -
Get two stellaris.
And besides which, it's not like SHAMMIES WILL WANT LEGACY! The only people who would take it, as has been pointed out, are resto shaman who will take it when NO ONE ELSE WANTS IT.
I think my elemenental shaman will roll on the Halberd of Desolation just to make your head pop.
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9-26-2007 @ 7:00PM
spetsnaz said...
Finally, some shaman love... little but still better then nothing.
1. talent free 2hander is much apraciatted. Now I can get some farming going on my resto shaman finally.
2. SR with damage reduction is a weird change. PVE Enhancement shamans with this talent are not really worried that much about taking damage: generally, if they OT, they just Ankh... It would be nice if SR can make shaman immune to fear or polymorph or both. I know, we can always dream.
3. Spirit weapon is nice bonus; it will help a bit, lets just wait and see. It is still too early to tell.
4. The new talent taking place of the 2H talent in enhancement tree is nice, the only real excitment. A well geared enhancement shaman should have lots of crit and will basically keep the shock spell at 40% at all time.
Overall, it is definitely a good news. But I have a feeling that Bliz is not really addressing the real issue. Anti-CC/CC, mana issue, totem fix, aggro management are not even mentioned; and I think that these are the biggest problems for the shaman class at the moment.
Also, is it just me or our grounding totem is working a bit weird now?
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9-26-2007 @ 8:14PM
Bobby Hansen said...
@18: Baby steps. Baby Steps. After so much ingnoring, to get SOME feedback is nice.
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9-26-2007 @ 8:55PM
Tempestion said...
Just to let you know, the mental quickness changes are going through as well, reducing instant cost spell cost by 2%/4%/6% and increasing the shaman's spell damage and healing by an amount equal to 30% of their attack power.
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