Shaman: Totems and Relics and Patch Notes, Oh My!

Taking a recent look at the patch notes gives you the impression that some pretty nice updates are coming for shaman everywhere. So, let's start off the bat with some of the things that shaman can expect in 3.3.

Default Equipment: Starting weapons are now more uniform. Rogues now start with a pair of daggers equipped. All other classes except shamans start with a 2-handed weapon equipped and the required skill already known. Shamans start with a 1-handed weapon and a shield, as they benefit more from the shield than they would from a 2-handed weapon.

Not much of a change here, but shamans now get a 1-handed weapon and a shield. I guess this one is for those players that really, really struggle with levels 1-5. Still, it seems like an appropriate change.

Orc and troll shamans now have their own unique totem art.

A cosmetic change, but definitely a fun one. As you may already know, dwarves will be the new shaman race for the Alliance, and we got a sneak peek at these totems even though they won't be in the game for quite some time. As the saying goes, pictures speak louder than words. (Or video, if you prefer.)

Dwarf



Troll



Orc



Fun, yes?

Fire Nova Totem: This totem has been replaced with a new spell, Fire Nova, which is available at the same ranks as the old Fire Nova Totem. Existing characters will automatically learn this new spell in place of the totem. With a Fire Totem active, shamans will be able to use Fire Nova (fire magic) to emit the same area-of-effect damage as the old Fire Nova Totem from the active Fire Totem, not consuming the totem in the process. Fire Nova will activate a 1.5-second global cooldown when used and has a 10-second spell cooldown. The caster must be within 30 yards of the totem to use this ability, but does not need to be within line of sight of the totem.

Improved Fire Nova Totem: Renamed Improved Fire Nova. This talent now provides an additional 10/20% damage to the spell and reduces the cooldown by 2/4 seconds.

Glyph of Fire Nova Totem: Renamed Glyph of Fire Nova. This glyph now reduces the cooldown of Fire Nova by 3 seconds.

This will allow elemental and enhancement shaman to use this AoE effect as a spell with a 10 second cooldown and a 1.5 second global cooldown, removing the totem itself from all of our totem bars. The end result will allow us to actually use this talent rather than substituting it for the more powerful and beneficial Magma Totem, Flametongue Totem or Totem of Wrath.

Reincarnation: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 60 minutes down to 50 minutes (Improved Reincarnation will continue to lower the cooldown by 10/20 minutes).

When fully talented, that's a free self-resurrect every 30 minutes. With plans to reduce the cooldown on the warlock's soulstone ability to 15 minutes, this means quicker wipe recoveries all around. Updated: Ghostcrawler has stated that they are considering lowering the cooldown from 60 minutes to 30, talented to 15.

We've also been fortunate to get a sneak peak at some of the latest T10 set bonuses:

• 2 Pieces (Enhancement): When you activate your Shamanistic Rage ability you also deal 12% additional damage for 15 second.
• 4 Pieces (Enhancement): Each time the beneficial effect of your Maelstrom Weapon talent reaches 5 charges, you have a 15% chance to gain 20% attack power for 10 second.
• 2 Pieces (Elemental): Your Lightning Bolt spell reduces the remaining cooldown on your Elemental Mastery talent by 1 second.
• 4 Pieces (Elemental): (Updated) The cooldown on your Lava Burst ability is reduced by 1.5 seconds.
• 2 Pieces (Heal): Your Riptide spell grants 20% spell haste for your next spellcast.
• 4 Pieces (Heal): Your Chain Heal critical strikes cause the target to heal for 25% of the healed amount.

For Enhancement, we see some really nice damage increases when Shamanistic Rage pops and a good reason to wait until Maelstrom Weapon to hit 5 charges. The changes to Shamanistic Rage are probably the most interesting since the cooldown was reduced with the last patch, so you'll have more incentive other than damage reduction and mana replenishment to pop this every chance you get.

With Elemental we get a nice little cooldown on Elemental Mastery. Each lightning bolt you toss will take it down another second, which will provide significantly faster recovery time. (On a side note, I'm not specced Elemental... how many lightning bolts does one throw in 3 minutes?) Lava Burst gets reduced down to 6.5 seconds from 8, and you should be able to throw hot liquid magma a bit more often. Say it with me... Mag. Ma.

And last, but certainly not least, Resto gets some nice buffs to Riptide and Chain Heal. The 20% haste is a nice buff, especially since I usually use this mana expensive talent to provide a quick HoT in those "Oh, #^$!" moments. I've been trying to figure precisely what happens with the Chain Heal, but it sounds like an extra 25% healing done to any target that crits. Nice buffs all around, if you asked me.

We also got a look at some of the new T10 relics available:

Elemental - Your Earth Shock, Flame Shock, and Frost Shock spells grant 73 critical strike haste rating for 15 sec. Stacks up to 3 times. (Edited)
Enhancement - Your Stormstrike ability grant 146 attack power rating for 15 sec. Stacks up to 3 times.
Restoration - Your Riptide spell grants 85 spell power for 15 sec. Stacks up to 3 times.

It's not entirely clear to me if the Elemental relic will be better for either Enhancement or Elemental, but it seems that the 219 crit rating is a significant buff and may grant more DPS than 438 AP on face value. Both have a 15 second duration, and I'm not quite if it will constantly replenish like Maelstrom Weapon. (Maybe I should get on the PTR and test it out, huh? =D) Of course, 255 SP is good any day of the week for your healer. It will be interesting what comes out of the PTR testing and simulations. I'm sure the guys at Elitist Jerks are already on it.

Now there's lots of other changes not specific to the shaman class that are covered, particularly for low-level characters to make the race to level much easier. In addition to Icecrown and its multiple 5-man dungeons and some really fun daily and heroic quests, there's lots of changes to other classes and some well-needed bug fixes. Feel free to check out all of the patch notes yourself for the latest official updates.

Impending Doom

With Cataclysm upcoming, I've decided to revive the blog. I'm also working on my stories again, and in the time since the last post I've been developing some alts. Who knows, I may be even writing some stories for them, too!

I'll let you all know how that is going and keep you up to date on some of the latest stuff from the next patch. Icecrown is right around the corner (even though I haven't yet stepped foot into Ulduar) and there's sure to be lots of interesting things in the next month. I'll mostly be focusing on changes to the Shaman class, but I'll try and give a little love to the rest of you.

It's good to be back!

Stuck in Gear

To put it bluntly, I've had very little luck in getting the gear I want. For those of you who don't know, I'm a rather new(bish) player who joined in around patch 2.2 in the middle of Burning Crusade. I wasn't 70 when Wrath hit, so I spent the first few weeks or so leveling Thargnik through Outlands while everyone else was racing to 80.

Well, here I am and at level 80 and continuing in pursuit for the benchmark of 1500 DPS to start running Heroics. As it stands, it seems that I'm pulling about 1250 DPS with my current gear. Now, there are still some more upgrades I can get, including a nice off-hand weapon which is a reward from Ebon Blade rep, the Unholy Persuader. This should up my DPS significantly over my currently equipped weapon, the Drakonid Arm Blade. (I was carrying around a tanking axe because of the DPS and the expertise, but switched back to this one for the time being for the stats.)

One of the things I have yet to test is the effectiveness of Magma Totem. I have been dropping Flametongue Totem in all of my instances to increase the effectiveness of everyone's stats, not just my own... but it may be that the Magma Totem is all I need to push myself over that "magic number" and convince me that I can hold my own in a Heroic dungeon.

Yeah, I know, it seems noobish to think that all this time it all came down to a simple totem switch that was holding me back. Who knows how much DPS this will actually add to my stats, as I have yet to test it.

Edit: I'm a noob.

There is also the possiblity that my measly 57 hit rating is not providing much in the way of consistency, as enhancement shamans are very dependant on their elemental damage from procs and special abilities to be a consistent factor of their overal DPS. I'm also going to be crafting myself some Dragonstompers, as the Husk Shard Sabatons just aren't doing it for me. Then there's the socket I'll be crafting on to my belt, as well as the various enchants I'm planning on placing on all of this gear (have mats!)

So what do you think? Is it just my gear? My totems? Hit rating?

Edit: So, after making some modifications, I was able to up my hit rating to about 120, and made some changes to the way I drop my totems. I ran my first heroic last night and pulled a little over 1500 DPS. (3/23)

Enhancement Shaman Gear, Part 1: Last of the Regular 5-Mans

So, I'm a big fan of Excel. So much that I even bothered to create a spreadsheet with drop lists for each of the bosses inside normal 5-man, heroics and even into the larger raids. So, I figured, why not post what I have so far on my blog? I've run into a sort of a standstill trying to sort through all of the gear that drops in Naxxramas, but I've been able to compile my list up to and including all Heroics.

This will be part 1 of a series outlining the gear for Enhancement Shamans. Part 2 and 3 will cover Heroics, and I'm not sure how many more segments will be necessary. I am not including any quest drops here, just straight up boss gear. Kill the boss, and you may be lucky enough to receive the following loot.

(Please note: I have not included any leather armor on this list. If you are the type of shaman who likes to wear leather or cloth instead of mail, I have otherwise ignored you. "Why hast thou forsaken me?" you ask? Because as a melee class, you should want to mitigate as much damage as possible, that's why. Besides, the options below provide a significant stat boost without sacrificing the armor rating that comes with mail. If you can find me an outstanding exception, please let me know.)

So here it is, my list of useful Enhancement gear from Gun'Drak to Caverns of Time: Stratholme:

Gun'Drak (level 76-78)

• Amulet of the Stampede (Neck) A nice little amulet with some Haste, Expertise and a moderate amount of AP. Might be an upgrade if you're lacking in these areas. Source: Gal'darah
• Cannibal's Legguards (Legs) AP and hit rating in addition to the STA/AGI/INT attributes you'll see on most enhancement gear. A better option is the Leather Braced Chain Leggings that drop in HoL (see below), but for most lower-levelled characters, these should be a significant upgrade. Source: Slad'ran
  

Ulduar: Halls of Stone (77-79)

• Embrace of Sorrow (Back) Stam and Agility here, nothing special. Definately roll need on this if it's an upgrade. This should be replaced by the Centrifuge Core Cloak from the Oculus if it drops. Source: Maiden of Grief
  
• Linked Armor of the Sphere (Chest) I wanted this to drop pretty badly until I ran Utgarde Pinnacle, which had a quest chain inside the instance that granted me a quest reward alternative in the form of the Gilded Ringmail Hauberk. Still, a good mix of stats, hit rating, and AP doesn't mean that you should hold out if it's an upgrade. Source: Tribunal of Ages
  

Utgarde Keep: Utgarde Pinnacle

• Tear-Linked Gauntlets (Hands) Best gloves outside of questing and/or crafted items at this point. Nice stats, hit rating and AP. Source: Svala Sorrowgrave
• Vestige of Haldor (Trinket) Now this isn't necessarily an Enhancement Shaman trinket, nor is it necessarily something you might actually need. It's a random damage proccing trinket that may or not give you another source of damage. It provides you with no stat boost (which is why I passed on it) but you might actually be interested in it. Source: King Yrimon

Ulduar: Halls of Lightning

• Leather-Braced Chain Leggings (Legs) Here's the upgrade I mentioned earlier, and the legs I am currently wearing at the moment. It even has socketses! Standard stats, crit and AP makes these sexy legs a winner. Source: Loken
• Tornado Cuffs (Wrist) You know how a tornado basically rips through a city, leaving a path of destruction... and you always see those houses next door that don't have a scratch? I'm the guy living in the unscathed house. I can't get these wrists to drop for the life of me, but they're the best instance loot for this slot pre-Heroics. Stats, crit and AP. Yummy. Source: Ionar
• Bjarngrim Family Signet (Ring) A very nice ring that drops from Mr. Bjarngrim. Best non-heirloom heirloom ring in the game. Stamina + Agility + haste + AP = good times. Source: General Bjarngrim (Duh)

The Nexus: The Occulus

• Centrifuge Core Cloak (Back) This upgrade was mentioned earlier, and has some nice stats to boot. Get it if you can. Source: Varos Cloudstrider
• Headguard of Westrift (Head) All the stats you'll need, another red socket, and some hit rating and AP. Very nice pre-Heroic upgrade. Source: Ley-Guardian Eregos
• Spaulders of Skillful Maneuvers (Shoulders) Very nice shoulders with haste and AP added in there for good measure. All the cool kids are wearing them. Well, until they find something cooler. Source: Mage-Lord Urom

Caverns of Time: The Culling of Stratholme

• Necklace of the Chrono-Lord (Neck) I'm not a big fan of jewelry. So if I had to wear some, I'd probably choose this one just because of the name. Agility, Stamina, Haste and AP means fun and bling for you and me! Source: Chrono-Lord Epoch
• Waistband of the Thuzadin (Waist) This just sounds like something a dwarf would wear. Yech. Lots of good stats, some crit and AP. Despite the name, something you should nab should it drop. Source: Salramm the Fleshcrafter

"But wait!" you cry. "That's not even a full set!" Well, fill in the pieces yourself. There are plenty of nice trinkets and rings and all sorts of goodies you can find by questing, crafting or even turning in emblems. But, if you happen to be dungeon-diving, this should serve as a pretty good guide to all the best loot available to before you decide to hit Heroics. Hope it was useful!

A Quick Note

My stories are always in a state of flux. I proofread and re-read and edit and edit again just to make sure it looks the way I want it in the end. What you read today might not be there tomorrow. When the final product is done, there will be a post with links to all of the bits of the story to keep it in an orderly fashion. Just thought I had to explain that little bit. :)

Patch 3.1 Updates

Decided to post some of my most reliable links for 3.1 content. They're presented here in no particular order. If you're looking for information, these are probably your best bet.

• World of Raids
• MMO Champion
• WoW Insider

Things I'm looking forward to? More end-game raids, dual specs (maybe I'll be doing more with Resto... something tells me I'll just need too much gear and give up,) the new Argent Tournament stuff, and some pretty nice buffs for Enhancement shamans.

Stuff I'm not excited about? Mounts going away, lame underwater mounts (which are nothing new, just regular mounts that "walk" underwater,) and more things to waste my money on.

Meh, there's much more to be excited about here than anything else, so overall I can't wait for the new patch.

Casual "Hardcore"

I tend to categorize myself in with the Casual type of player, with a "wanna-be" Hardcore tendency...What kind of player are you?

I'm mostly a casual player by necessity. I just don't have the time to be logged on to WoW the entire time.

One of the issues I run into with WoW is the fact that I currently share my computer time with my girlfriend. This limits my time to 2 or 3 nights a week alternatively, and we split the time during the weekends. (We also have a kid, so WoW definately takes the back seat most of the time.) Sometimes, by the time I get on it's 11 or 12 at night and I'm way too tired to run an instance or even do much more than log onto my bank alt for a couple minutes.

In my spare time, if I don't have access to WoW, I satisfy my urges by scouring the net for articles or information. I've even gone so far as to make a "shopping list" of sorts for gearing up for Heroics. With my Excel spreadsheet open, I can at least get a head start on the night and what remaining gear I can nab.

As a casual player, I've only recently hit 80 and I'm just starting to hit the end of the regular 5-man content. I'd like to raid one day, but my current schedule limits means I'm forever relegated to the confines of the "pickup" list for any group heading in to Naxx. So, I'm grinding rep and nabbing gear and instance runs when I can, and doing dailies when they're available.

The thing is, I'd love to have all the time in the world to do what I want in the game but I am constantly faced with the realities that life has placed on me. There are just certain things I will never be able to acheive. (Curse you, Blizzard!) I'll never be running 25 man Naxx 3 times a week, 4 hours a night. I will probably never complete a Tier 8 set. I'll never be able to own 50 mounts... (unless I come into a mass amount of money, which I'm told stacks pretty quickly once you get your epic mount.)

All is not lost, however. As is, there are more spots for DPS than any other slot so the odds are pretty good that I'll be able to jump in on a few raids here and there. I can always find a PUG to satisfy my raiding urges, if need be. There are always acheivements, vanty pets, and all sorts of trouble I can get into. And of course, I have my blog.

Such is the life of this casual "hardcore" wannabe. How about you?

Throm'ka!

Throm'ka!

I created this blog because I'm interested in the stories that people and characters create in the game we call World of Warcraft, and hopefully I can post a few of my own here and provide you with some OOC tidbits relating to the game and the people we game with.

So, I guess I should start out with a couple of modest goals:

• Write a character-driven bit, once a week as often as I can
• Provide readers with WoW and RP-related resources
• Encourage feedback

Of course, these will change with time and I'll probably end up expanding on these in the future.

As for your humble writer, I guess I should tell you all a little about myself. I just recently took up a little game called WoW at the start of this year. My first attempt at a character was a human warrior on Silver Hand, until I realized that warriors are very expensive and my guild did not RP at all. That's when I found out about Moon Guard, and I've never looked back. While I won't reveal too much about my identity just yet (a little mystery is always a good thing,) I will tell you that I play Horde-side and I'm in a fairly good-sized RP/Raiding/PvP guild that's currently got about 130 or so characters.

So, enough about that. What about you? What sorts of things do you want to see? Check out the poll and let me know!

Aka'Mogosh!