I plan on rolling yet another “alt” (#9349), a rogue.
I already have an alt on that server with leather working. What is a decent alternate profession that will actually be usefull?
Blacksmithing (for making upgrades in the swords/daggers department), or Alchemy (potions)?
Did either of those two professions receive any love lately? I last played regularly a year ago, and the usefullness of those two professions was somewhat limited and situational. (Blacksmithing was, back then, just fine for Plate/Mail wearers, but not so much for other classes.)
Blacksmiths get some mail builds, so if you’re a hunter or shaman you can make yourself mail rather than plate. I just hit 300 in blacksmith and learned from the trainer a bunch of fel iron agility mail. So there are some things, but mostly it’s for plate wearers. I reoutfitted myself almost completely with fel iron plate everything that was much better than the stuff I’d been wearing, which was nice after a long time of not being able to make anything decent.
There used to be, I dunno if it is still there. It was down on the lower ring, kinda/sorta below the flightmaster’s position on the upper ring, if that makes any sense.
My main is an elemental shaman and has been for her entire life, which is pushing six years now. I enjoy the spec a great deal (obviously) as I prefer to throw lighting bolts from afar as opposed to getting those excellent boss crotch views melee types are treated to on a regular basis.
Elemental shamans can also opt for more control of their summoned elementals. They’re like pets now, in that you can direct them to a target, move them around, etc. basically making them combat pets including a pet control bar.
I do encourage you to try the elemental spec before giving up on shamans.
I figured out the dual-spec and started to give it a whirl last night. Obviously I don’t have any caster gear, so my stats are kinda low. Pretty fun though!
My problem seems to be I’m bad at kiting or keeping the enemy in place, when I’m just out questing. I guess I need to rely more on Frost Shocks and Earthbind totem, then I did as enhancement? Basically I start nuking, and the mob runs up and pounds me in the face a lot, and I’m half-dead before I kill them. Of course at that point I have heals so it’s not too bad, but it’s just different playstyle.
I remember back a while ago when I played a mage I had things like frost nova and lots of other frost tools to keep enemies far away. And my warlocks of course had a pet to try and hold aggro (as do hunters)
Maybe I just need to gear up better for casting, so I can kill faster without getting beat up as much, maybe pick up a shield to replace my dual wield. And now that I hit 40 I need to look for mail which might help.
But it does seem like a pretty fun spec. I’ll keep poking at it, I think.
Didn’t Blizzard streamline the classes so that there wasn’t melee leather/mail/plate and caster leather/mail/plate, but instead Hunter mail, Shaman mail, Rogue leather, Druid leather, etc.? And one spec would convert the primary stat to a different stat, like Holy Paladin would convert Strength to Intellect?
Or am I way off base and remembering something that didn’t happen, or at least was changed for MoP?
No, the same mail that’s great for my hunter is great for an enhancement shammy, and leather with agility is great for three different classes - caster leather, for two.
One thing they’ve done is modify what stats certain items can get. For example, you will not find a +str cloth item beyond the lowest levels (and then it’s an item that’s been around since vanilla), or +agi on plate. Also, it’s possible to “reforge” items, so for example if my +hit is low and my gun doesn’t have any, I can pay an NPC to turn some of its +mastery (example picked at random) into +hit. You may have been thinking of reforging.
I think you’re thinking of the new quest reward system, where depending on what spec you are when you turn it in you can get the same named and iLevel gear with different stats. But no, it doesn’t just auto-convert stats for you, once it drops or is in your inventory the starts aren’t changing (reforging and enchants excluded, of course).
Not really. Blizz did change some class mechanics to clean up the loot table, especially for mail-wearers. But nothing as extreme as converting primary stats.
Blizzards still wants players to collect different sets of gear for different roles. What Blizzard/players didn’t like was that there were lots of drops that would be useful to only one spec of once class.
Hunters switched from mana to focus and enhancement shaman were given new mana regen mechanics so INT could be taken off of AGI mail. Enhancement shaman used to want strength but were switched to being AGI based so STR mail could be eliminated. Druids and shaman were given a spirit -> hit talent so that healer and dps casters of those classes could use the same pieces of non-tier equipment. The end result is fewer wasted drops.
I got my first socketed gear. So, at the auction house they have all kinds of red gems and yellow gems (plus orange and green and purple). I read Gem - Wowpedia - Your wiki guide to the World of Warcraft. Can I socket any level of gems? The gloves I have are item level 88. But it seems there are cheap max level gems at the auction house, presumably because everyone is leveling their professions.
So obviously strength and stamina for my protection paladin. I grabbed a Bold Pandarian Garnet which is +160 strength for 2 gold. But what about the yellow socket? I’ve been told as a rule of thumb that primary stats are about twice as good as secondary stats like dodge or parry or hit or attack power. But there aren’t any primary stats on yellow, so I have to choose between dodge, or crit or haste.
I’m finding that the mobs are punching me in the face and I almost never get seriously hurt, I’d rather have extra attack to get through them more quickly.
Use the flametongue imbue on your weapon before starting any fights. My normal rotation when out questing is to stand off maximum casting distance, open with a lightning bolt, then a fire shock, Unleash Elements (if you have it yet), followed by a lava burst. Renew fire shock as needed, use lava burst when not on cool down, and use lightning bolt if nothing else is available.
Then again, I’ve been max level for awhile, you may need to modify some of this if you haven’t gotten various spells yet.
Use the earth elemental to “tank” when you’re playing solo. Use it against either high health or high armor or higher level opponents. Can also be useful against groups. Use the fire elemental when you need to burn an opponent down fast.
I forget when you get Thunderstorm, but you can use it to knock back opponents. The downside is the potential to aggro other nearby mobs.
Elemental shamans, due to both the casting times on many spells and their mail, don’t kite as much as cloth casters like mages. Get “Glyph of Unleashed Lightning” as soon as you can, as it enables you to move while throwing lightning bolts, which can be lifesaving.
Keep Lightning Shield active unless you are having severe mana problems (which, if you have the gear you need, shouldn’t be a problem but might be if you still have mostly melee gear). Use Healing Stream totem liberally.
Those are the basics and should help get you started as an Elemental Shaman.
Yes, being “half dead” does happen during combat. As long as you’re not “all dead” you win, remember that. You’ll do better with practice.
Really no point in gemming/enchanting ilvl 88 gear. You’ll replace it way too fast to get much benefit from it. I don’t bother with gems/enchants until I get raid/pvp gear.
On another note, I dinged 90 on my mage today. Had enough honor to get my 2-piece bonus pvp set, still got massacred. On the PVE side, I’m geared enough to start heroics. Ran Stormstout Brewery and mumble-something Monastery tonight. Got a ring off the first heroic boss I killed (Monastery run, joined in progress). MoP heroics seem much easier than Cata heroics, and I like that.
