5punk

shot2bits wrote:ive not read your entire post FJ but i think you have missed out the reason for stamina boosts on warlocks. this is due to their ability to convert health into mana, the warlock doesnt want a mana reserve from the amount of intelligence they have like the mage does rather they want shit loads of health so when they are running low on mana they can sacrifice health for mana.

as i said i could be wrong and you could have already mentioned this in your post im just too lazy to read through it all

Thanks, I'd talked about the application of Life Tap in the Casting Cycle and Emergency sections, but I've added your tip to the Equipment section near the bottom, too.

Dog Pants wrote:First of many edits to the Shaman guide, expanding on useful spells.

Interesting reading, it's been a very long while since I dabbled in Shamanism. I think all these guides are going to make me want to try every class out again, but I don't have the space on Emerald Dream. Also you've made me want to put colours in mine.

I'd previously seen totems as a kind of turret, but it's clear they offer a wide range of effects, much like a caster's selection of spells. How do you cope with them being static, though - do you entice mobs to come to you, or recreate them every few steps? Are they something you lay down as a matter of course, when grinding for instance, or do you stick to "regular" attacks and spells in the main and only totem in special cases?

As with any class that has a healing spec, do you feel pressured to follow that track, so you can fill that role in parties? I've been down that road with every healy-type I've played across a variety of games and really struggled to progress when I'm not in a group.

Usually with totems, you try and pull the mob into where you have set them until they run out, then you either set them again, or move to the next area you want to make your kill zone

As to the healing spec, I was never pressured into taking it, most people see Shamen as a self healing second tank/dps unit and get a shock when you show up as healing spec shaman. (I played a tauren shammie until 55, then the guild collapsed, this was 2 years ago, so it may have changed.)

Due to the self res ability Shamen have, they are very useful to have as healing spec, as once they pick themselves up and drop a mana wave totem, you will be ready to go again so much sooner.

At the present moment shamans (at least at a high level) are possibly the best healer class and reasonable at both support DPS both ranged and melee. Totems are static but cost relatively low mana costs compared to the bonus they give the entire group/raid. Totems can be placed in fours, based on their element be it fire, water, earth or air. So at any one time you can have one totem from each element.
The effects gained can be offensive (usually a fire totem) or in the form of a buff such as increased mana regen, increased spell damage etc. They make solid solo classes as they are quite a hybrid, and are possibly one of the most armoured spellcasters given their ability to wear mail armour and use a shield.

FatherJack wrote: Interesting reading, it's been a very long while since I dabbled in Shamanism. I think all these guides are going to make me want to try every class out again, but I don't have the space on Emerald Dream. Also you've made me want to put colours in mine.

Yeah, I get that. I think I'll be mostly sticking to the stuff I can solo though - I just can't see how a mage could be solo without something to tank, and I've tried a few and not liked them (rogue, warrior).

FatherJack wrote:I'd previously seen totems as a kind of turret, but it's clear they offer a wide range of effects, much like a caster's selection of spells. How do you cope with them being static, though - do you entice mobs to come to you, or recreate them every few steps? Are they something you lay down as a matter of course, when grinding for instance, or do you stick to "regular" attacks and spells in the main and only totem in special cases?

I only use totems in tough fights personally. Usually I'll sling them down then stock up on mana again (they don't cost much but the ones I use last for 5 mins so I might as well) then use a ranged spell to pull whatever nasty it is I'm worried about. As an enhancement spec I don't really have any talents that boost my totems thoughm so they're not that effective. I also use them when I'm in a group to enhance my usefulness by buffing my party (a have a few combat skills/spells that do that too), or drop them in Thrall's room when the Alliance are twatting about in there. For general use you'd spend too much mana having o recast them as you move.

FatherJack wrote:As with any class that has a healing spec, do you feel pressured to follow that track, so you can fill that role in parties? I've been down that road with every healy-type I've played across a variety of games and really struggled to progress when I'm not in a group.

I don't feel pressure at the moment because I'm still levelling, but once we start doing level 80 instances together I might start feeling it. I get hassled to heal in groups a lot, and I've read that resto Shaman are pretty much the best AOE healers in the game. There's always the option of soloing as enhancement then respeccing to restoration at 80 for the raids.

Added professions to Shaman guide.

Redone enhancement Shaman to be actually useful.

Also, anyone know what makes for good healy kit? MP5, spell crit, int, spirit, +heal? Anything else, and in what order? And should I care if it's mail/cloth/PVC?

For a shammie, mana regen is always handy, as you are the only casting class (last time I checked) to not get a handy talent that lets you still regen mana whilst casting, making that game mechanic of 'no mana regen for x seconds after casting' a real bane to a healing shaman

+spirit is also a good combo with this.

I hope our monsterposts haven't put off people from posting guides on their chosen classes, so here's a brief guide to Unholy* Death Knighthood. Mine only hit 69 tonight, so this is mostly aimed at people new to this epic class.

Death Knights

Basically your primary stat is Strength, so look for any boosts to that in new kit - though there's little available that beats the stuff you get from the intro sections to the class. Stamina ups your HP, but hit % and critical % bonuses are very useful secondaries. When comparing weapons, look at the damage caused range under the Melee section on the character screen - I can't fathom the maths behind it, what with 1 and 2-handed weapons and differing strength boosts - so I just go with this value range as an absolute indicator of whether something is "better" or not.

Also, despite you getting a pet - you're the tank. Most of your attacks require you to be in the enemies faces, or they won't reach. You'll soon learn what pisses tanks off - enemies scarpering or going after something else, you having to weigh chasing them down against fighting the ones already upon you. Keep hurting them all, and they won't. Pluck them towards you comically with Death Grip and stop them legging it with Chains of Ice.

Basically though, you twat stuff and it dies quite quickly, but here are some handy macros (based on stuff in Jame's DK Guide on wow-pro) to get you going.

PVE Cycles

L55, noob. To start with, go for: It's simple and you can probably just press the buttons in that order for the amount of time you'll be using it, stick to one mob at a time and soon you'll be L56. If you're a button-presser, it's Blue, Green, Red, Red, Blue, Green, Skull.


What L56 already? Time for an AoE cycle, for use against multiple enemies: Not very powerful, and long on the recharge, but it's all you've got for groups for now. Stick with it until there's only one standing, then back to the normal cycle.

Fortunately, around the same time, you get the mighty Death Strike, so change your 1-on-1 cycle to: Death Strike is awesome because it heals you. Use it before your target dies, and remember it for when you're in a pinch.


Pretty soon, you'll be L57 and get Scourge Strike, so your 1-on-1 cyle changes to this: You will pwn, but don't forget Death Strike in case you have a wobbly moment.


So, L58, eh? Monster AoE cycle go time: You'll find multiple enemies drop almost as fast as single ones, and since you've got plenty of Death Strikes in there, you shouldn't be dropping anytime soon.


This has done me so far, hope it helps. After the epic battle sequence, which I hope someone else can explain the story of, since I've seen it three times and still don't know what is supposed to be happening, the sword is better, unless you're an Orc.


* My Unholy spec
3 in Morbidity
2 in Vicious Strikes
2 in Epidemic
3 points in Ravenous Dead
3 points in Outbreak
2 points in Necrosis
2 points in On a Pale Horse (awesome, speed plus legging-it stun resist)
1 point in Shadow of Death (on death, you lose all threat and become a ghoul for a while for finishing off the smegger that killed you)
3 points in Blood-Caked Blade
2 points in Dirge
1 point in Summon Gargoyle (rar!)
1 point in Impurity
1 point in Master of Ghouls (proper pet go time!)
3 points in Raping
1 more point in Impurity
5 points in Desecration
1 point in Bone Shield (cast after each fight, typically)
3 points in Crypt Fever
1 more point in Impurity
1 point in Scourge Strike
3 points in Ebon Plaguebringer
3 points in Wandering Plague
3 points in Rage of Rivendare
1 point in Unholy Blight (ultimate Unholy spell)
2 more points in Rage of Rivendare
2 more points in Impurity
2 points in Butchery [blood]
3 points in Subversion [blood]

I tend to start my attack cycle off with Plague Strike, mainly because all your subsequent attacks do more damage. My cycle is (subject to enemies of course):

Plague Strike, Icy Touch, Scourge Strike, Blood Strike or Death Strike Depending on own health, Blood Boil, Death Coil, rinse and repeat as necessary.

Although best with mobs, Death and Decay is awesome for dishing out damage.

for DKing, http://elitistjerks.com/f72/ is a bit handy (MASSIVE NERD WARNING)

Can has guides on:

Warrior (other than Protect)
Hunter
Rogue
Mage
Priest
Druid
Death Knight (other than Unholy)

please?

Remember that they're 5punky guides, so are generally aimed at solo PvE levelling for people without much experience of the game. Stuff like what each spec does and a rough guide on how to use it. I still have no idea what roles most of the above can play other than the obvious (warrior - tank, priest - healer), but I know that most classes can spec for different things. It should help people decide what they want to play from the off, and give them pointers on how to do it.

I'll have a think on the rogue one...

Warriors in a nutshell:

If you ain't tanking, you're dpsing. There are two tree to choose from for dps warriors, Arms and Fury.

Arms = Two handed weapons
Fury = Dual Wield weapons

Currently Fury puts out a lot more dps in PvE encounters than a straight up Arms build, although speccing for Mortal Strike in the Arms tree is still a viable PvP build.

Stats Stacking

Levelling: Strength (Attack Power) > Hit > Agility (Crit) > Haste

Heroics+: Hit Cap (8.2% or 263 Hit Rating) > 33% Crit > Expertise Dodge Cap (26 Exp) > Str/AP > Haste

Whilst levelling you can pretty much just stack Strength or Attack Power at the expense of everything else. There's not a lot of plate gear with crit on it, but don't be afraid to wear leather if the stats are better at the time.

You'll want to cap out your Hit eventually, as missing the target will nerf your dps much more than not being able to hit it quite as hard. Then get 33% or so Crit for maintaing Flurry uptime, and a enough Expertise to prevent the mobs dodging. The rest is Strength and/or AP (Strength is generally better as it scales with talents and other skills, but AP is 'cheaper' to acquire). Haste is good for when you're wielding 2 slow 2H weapons after getting Titan's Grip at the end of the Fury tree.

Playing a fury warrior is simple a matter of charge in, Bloodthirst, Whirlwind, repeat. Slap any other abilities such as Rampage while those two are on cooldown. Keep battle shout and demo shout up, and only use Heroic Strike when you have lots of rage or you'll run out very quickly.

Take plenty of bandages and food to heal up between fights. Alchemy is useful for the healing pots because you tend to get through a lot of them. And never pull too much, cos unlike every other class you have no oh shit abilities to get you out of trouble and you can't self heal.

Cheers guys. I wondered what the third role was for warriors. Turns out it was two DPS.

In most cases there only two roles for each class. Droods and Paladins are the only exception as these hybrids can do all 3 roles reasonably well.

Cheers for that Friz. Gives me a rough idea what to aim for.

Droods have four roles :D

Killavodka wrote:Droods have four roles :D

Apparently so, according to Anery. Tank (bear), healer (umm, tree thing), melee DPS (feral cat) and ranged DPS (Boomkin)?

Dog Pants wrote:Apparently so, according to Anery. Tank (bear), healer (umm, tree thing), melee DPS (feral cat) and ranged DPS (Boomkin)?

Yup indeedy, you can fill every role with a druid, not all at once of course, that would be a bit schizophrenic (yeah, I did check that with dictionary.com) there are a few teams out there that run full druid teams.


Caster DPS
The most common flavour to be found in PvP and PvE, a good boomkin can produce very good dps and no are able to crowd control with tangled roots being able to be cast indoors as well as out (previously could only be used out doors) In PvE the typhoon spell is good at blowing the opposition off cliffs to a splatty death below. Boomkin aura is also very good for a party, it grants +5% crit chance on spell and a mana regen buff too.

Healer
Tree form, probably not the most common use for a druid outside of the large raiding guilds. Debate rages about whether druid healers of shamen healers are better at raid healing, my money rests with the druid, the low cost HoTs (heals over time) are insta-cast and can keep a raid going for a fair length of time and the big heal (healing touch) can cope with most damage spikes on party members. Tree aura causes additional healing on targets.

Tank
Probably the second most popular flavour of druid. Bear form. Bear form grants the druid taunt and other aggro abilities very similar to those of a warrior, and also boosts health and armour stats. in Bear form you have no mana, instead you have rage - just like a warrior.
Leader of the pack aura grants the party a +5% crit chance on melee. Improved leader of the pach heals for 4% damage taken on getting hit by a critical.

Feral DPS (melee dps)
The most uncommon type of druid to find. This is the flavour of my druid. Like bear form, mana is replaced when in cat form - only in this case with energy (thats the yellow stuff) This form is most like a rogue and if kitted out and specced correctly can do insane amounts of damage (the last time I killed patchwerk I came top of the damage meters - ahead of a fury warrior, a rogue, a hunter and a mage) The same aura as bear applies as it is something you spec into in the feral tree.


Levelling a druid
This can be a weird experience, with several respecs along the way. Bear form is available after a quest chain at level 10 but cat form not until level 20 (if I remember right) and as bear form is not big on the dps front you are going to want to spec into the balance tree (boomkin) to make the most of your damage and either stick with it or respec at a later date. Tree form and boomkin form are talents that you will need to spec into later on in your levels - should you wish to do so, both grant bonuses to the druid respective to the talent tree.

Dual speccing a druid
Is a fucking pain in the arse. Each build needs spcialist armour for it to be effective.

Druids are commonly referred to as the jack of all trades - master of none. This is because we do not get the full range of skills available to any of the classes we impersonate - for example: feral dps druids cannot sap targets, boomkin crowd control does not last for longer as a mages nor is it quite as robust. Yet quite often druids are prefferred in raids to other classes that do the same job, this is for a number of reasons that I am not going to go into as they can be quite complex and I'm a lazy fucker.