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Getting
Off to a Good Start
Choosing your class is one of
the first important decisions you make while playing World of Warcraft.
Choosing a class that you love will help you enjoy the game more, while
picking a class you hate can ruin your play experience. In the end
it’s up to you to make that tough call and decide what class
fits your personal playing preferences.
The Shaman class may or may not be the right one for you, but in order
to help you make that tough choice here is a short list of what the
class is all about, what it’s strengths are and some of
it’s weaknesses.
- Shaman are a versatile
class. Much like Druids they can heal, do ranged DPS, and even Melee
DPS.
- Shamans can wear any type of
armor class except for Plate.
- Shamans provide various
Totems that buff the raid, or even hinder your enemies.
- Healing Shaman excel at raid
healing, while tend to be lacking in the tank healing
department.
- Shamans have a Ghost Wolf
form that allows for faster travel.
- Shamans have the ability to
give themselves buffs to their weapons.
- Shamans are able to use
Reincarnation to resurrect themselves from time to time even in combat.
So in general Shamans are a versatile class that can fulfill pretty
much any play style you could hope for (melee, ranged, healing) and
they do all three remarkably well. Shamans are not overly squishy, and
provide helpful totems to their friends. If you are still not sure if
the Shaman class is the one for you, the best solution is to try it out
for a few levels. While the lower levels certainly don’t show
you everything a class can do, you can still get a general idea of what
the class will be like.
style="font-weight: bold;"> name="mana"> id="Race">Mana
like most other caster classes rely on mana to be able to cast their
various spells and abilities. Learning how to manage your mana will be
key in winning battles and defeating your foes. Use too much or too
little and you will likely find yourself walking back to your battered
corpse. Mana can be restored out of combat by partaking in one of
various fine beverages, or in combat by taking a potion, making use of
the Shaman’s handy Mana Spring totem, or by simply standing
around and waiting.
Totems are unique to the Shaman
class and are what really set them apart from other classes. Gained
through various quests as you level Totems show up on the ground near
the Shaman and produce a certain affect that can benefit not only the
Shaman, but his entire group or raid. Different situations and even
different specs will require different totems to be dropped by the
Shaman. Learning what totems to cast and when will truly make you a
master of the Shaman class.
name="stats">Since the Shaman can melee, be
an offensive caster, or heal, the stat choice depends on which of these
three you choose to play. Enhancement Shaman will focus on typical
melee stats, Elemental Shaman will focus on more caster like stats,
while Shaman who choose to spec into the Restoration tree will be
looking for stats that enhance their healing abilities.
No matter how you choose to play your Shaman choosing the right stats
for that spec is all important.
Elemental Shamans will be interested in the following stats:
Spell Hit, Spell Power, Crit, Haste, and Intellect
Restoration Shaman look for similar stats as the Elemental Shamans:
Intellect, Haste, Spell Power, Crit
While Enhancement Shamans are the oddballs of the group looking for
stats more akin to
DPS Warriors: Hit, Expertise, Haste, Agility, Armor Penetration, and
Strength
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