First of all, I'd like to thank the OctoWoW team for taking the time to read this post. I genuinely hope we can work together to improve the Shaman class and make it better and more balanced than ever before.
Many of the current issues with Shaman are not the result of the class itself, but rather of PvP balancing changes introduced during TurtleWoW that unintentionally broke PvE gameplay. The community spent a long time explaining why many of these changes did not work mathematically or mechanically, but unfortunately most of that feedback was never acted upon. Instead, several incomplete mechanics were introduced and left in a broken state.
I hope OctoWoW will take the opportunity to revisit these systems from a fresh perspective.
Shaman Tanking:
Elemental Weapons: Rockbiter Weapon
The original 10% flat damage reduction from Elemental Weapons Rockbiter was removed because it was considered too strong for Restoration Shamans in PvP.
To replace it, TurtleWoW introduced the current Earthen Bulwark shield-stacking mechanic.
Unfortunately, this mechanic has several problems:
- It only generates charges from auto attacks.
- Stormstrike does not generate charges, despite being melee damage.
- Lightning Strike does not generate charges, despite being melee damage.
- This makes the mechanic unreliable and inconsistent.
If this system is going to stay, at the very least Stormstrike and Lightning Strike should also generate shield charges.
The larger issue, however, is that this change never actually solved the original PvP problem.
Restoration Shamans were difficult to kill primarily because of their armor scaling from Enhancement defensive talents, not because of Elemental Weapon's 10% damage reduction.
Meanwhile, PvE Shaman tanks, already the squishiest tank specialization in the game, lost one of their most reliable defensive tools.
The end result is that PvE tanking suffered while the intended PvP problem was not truly addressed.
Preferred solution
Revert the Elemental Weapons Rockbiter part back to the 1.17 version with its original 10% damage reduction.
Also revert the corresponding Tier 2.5 set bonuses to match that version.
To prevent Restoration Shamans from abusing this and the armor talents in PvP, apply the following effect:
- Armor talents like Ancestral Guardian and Spirit Armor are only active if Rockbiter is actively detected on the Shaman player.
- 50% reduced healing done while Rockbiter Weapon is active when in Battlegrounds or when fighting player targets.
This directly addresses the PvP concern without harming PvE tanking.
Alternative solution
If the new shield mechanic is preferred, then it should at least be properly completed:
- Stormstrike should generate shield stacks.
- Lightning Strike should generate shield stacks.
- The mechanic should then be balanced from there instead of being left unfinished.
- Consider introducing a new active defensive ability similar to the Warrior's Shield Block that synergizes with the Earthen Bulwark. Activating the ability could instantly generate Earthen Bulwark charges, greatly accelerate charge generation for a short duration, or temporarily increase Block Chance, Block Value, or damage reduction based on the number of Earthen Bulwark stacks.
This would transform Earthen Bulwark into a proactive mitigation tool with meaningful gameplay instead of a passive mechanic that only slowly builds through auto attacks.
Improve Shield Block Scaling
Block is currently one of the least rewarding defensive stats for Shaman tanks.
Reasons include:
- Very few items grant meaningful Block Chance.
- Block Value contributes very little to actual survivability.
- Investing into Block simply is not worthwhile.
A possible improvement would be:
- Increase the effectiveness of the Shield Specialization talent by increasing Block Value for Shamans by roughly 25–35%.
- Introduce more custom gear that supports Block Chance and Block Value itemization for Shamans. There are currently too few meaningful gearing options to make a block-oriented build competitive.
- Build upon the existing Earthen Bulwark mechanic by introducing a new active defensive ability that synergizes with it. Similar to the Warrior's Shield Block, activating the ability could instantly generate Earthen Bulwark charges, accelerate charge generation for a short duration, or temporarily grant additional Block Chance, Block Value, or damage reduction based on the number of active Earthen Bulwark stacks.
- Alternatively, if Earthen Bulwark is eventually removed or significantly reworked, introduce a completely new defensive cooldown comparable to Shield Block or the Paladin's Holy Shield. Shaman tanks currently lack an active shield-focused mitigation ability, and adding one would create a much more engaging tanking playstyle while reinforcing the class's shield identity.
Together, these changes would turn block-focused gearing into a rewarding defensive playstyle rather than a largely ignored stat, while giving Shaman tanks a more interactive mitigation toolkit without creating significant balance concerns.
Elemental / Spellhancer
Molten Blast
Molten Blast is currently in an extremely poor state.
Originally, the spell dealt too much damage because of unintended double-dipping interactions.
Instead of correcting the scaling properly, it was repeatedly nerfed until it became effectively unusable.
This is especially unfortunate because Elemental Weapons: Flametongue now creates interesting interactions where Molten Blast weaving could become an engaging spellhancer gameplay mechanic.
Today:
- It is not worth interrupting your auto attacks to cast.
- It has no meaningful place in any rotation.
- It occupies an ability slot that players simply ignore.
Suggested solution
- Increase Molten Blast's scaling moderately for Elemental.
- Restore its ability to critically strike on refreshing Flame Shock with the Improved Molten Blast talent.
Allowing Molten Blast to crit when it refreshes Flame Shock is especially important because it enables Elemental Focus procs, giving the spell an actual role within the rotation again.
Earthquake
Before Patch 1.18.1, Earthquake was one of the defining spells for Elemental Shamans.
It was worth casting on both single target and AoE.
Patch 1.18.1 fundamentally broke the spell.
Instead of triggering four waves, it now only triggers two.
The developers attempted to compensate by increasing the damage per hit. Unfortunately, the math simply does not work.
The result is:
- Earthquake is no longer worth casting on single target.
- Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning outperform it in nearly every situation for single target.
- Even the Blackwing Lair Earthquake Totem has very little value because the spell itself is underperforming.
Suggested solution
- Slightly reduce the damage per hit if necessary.
- Restore the original behavior of triggering 3–4 damaging waves after the initial impact.
That restores both the gameplay feel and its place in the rotation.
Nature Resistance in PvE
Nature damage suffers heavily in PvE because there is currently no equivalent to resistance reduction mechanics available for other schools.
Examples:
- Fire/Frost has Curse of Elements.
- Shadow/Arcane has Curse of Shadow.
- Holy generally does not deal with resistance in the same way.
Nature, however, often remains highly resisted.
This negatively impacts:
- Elemental Shamans
- Spellhancers
- Shaman Tanks
- Balance Druids using Wrath
Suggested solution
Add a Nature Resistance reduction effect to Faerie Fire.
This would also benefit Druids, whose Wrath spell suffers from the exact same problem.
It creates useful class synergy while improving two underperforming damage profiles at once.
Restoration Shaman
Chain heal and T1 full set bonus
I also believe Restoration Shamans deserve another look, as the specialization currently feels like it's having an identity crisis.
With Patch 1.18.1, Priests have effectively become the premier AoE healers thanks to Circle of Healing now being castable across party boundaries. At the same time, Restoration Shamans were hit by multiple indirect nerfs:
- Chain Heal's healing power coefficient was reduced.
- The original Tier 1 8-piece Restoration set bonus was removed.
- Totems remain party-only instead of raid-wide.
Individually these changes may seem reasonable, but together they've left Restoration in an awkward position.
Shamans no longer excel at raid healing, as Priests now outperform them in sustained AoE healing. They also don't compete with Paladins in efficient single-target healing, especially after the numerous buffs Paladins have received over the years.
As a result, Restoration Shamans currently occupy an uncomfortable middle ground, they're decent at everything, but no longer exceptional at anything. Their remaining niche largely comes down to party totems, which themselves lose value because they are not raid-wide.
Ironically, Paladins, the traditional Alliance counterpart, have continued to receive improvements over multiple patches and are now arguably the strongest healing class in the game, while Restoration Shamans have largely moved in the opposite direction.
It's worth remembering why the original Tier 1 8-piece bonus became so valuable in the first place. It wasn't inherently overpowered; it compensated for the shortcomings introduced when Chain Heal's healing power scaling was reduced. The set bonus helped close the gap Restoration Shamans had developed in PvE healing performance.
Suggested solution
- Restore Chain Heal's healing power coefficient to approximately its pre-nerf value (around 80% instead of the current ~60%, if those values are still accurate).
- Restore the original Tier 1 Restoration 8-piece set bonus.
Restoring Chain Heal's scaling would allow Restoration Shamans to naturally progress into later raid gear instead of remaining locked into Tier 1 simply because the set bonus compensates for a weak baseline spell.
Rather than artificially tying the spec's performance to a single armor set, improving the core spell would create healthier gear progression while restoring Restoration's identity as the premier chain-healing specialist.
General PvP Philosophy
Many of the current Shaman problems exist because PvP adjustments unintentionally damaged PvE gameplay.
Rather than altering abilities globally, I would encourage OctoWoW to explore PvP-specific balancing where possible.
Examples:
- Healing reduction effects that only apply against player targets.
- PvP-only modifiers.
- Player-target-specific debuffs.
This allows PvP balance to evolve without repeatedly harming PvE gameplay.
Closing Thoughts
The Shaman class does not need a complete redesign.
Most of these issues originate from unfinished or poorly implemented TurtleWoW balance changes rather than flaws in the class itself.
Many of the proposed fixes are relatively small, but together they would dramatically improve the feel, consistency, and viability of the Elemental/Enhancement/Restoration Shaman specialization.
Thank you again for taking the time to read through this. I truly hope OctoWoW can succeed where TurtleWoW left many of these mechanics unfinished, and I would be more than happy to help test or provide further feedback if needed.
