[SHAMAN CLASS] Let's Fix What TurtleWoW Never Finished

[Thrazz]

Shaman 1.18.1 Review & Suggestions

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 one of the following options:

• Apply a 50% reduced healing done modifier while Rockbiter Weapon is active in Battlegrounds or against player targets.
• Disable the Earth Shield pushback reduction while Rockbiter Weapon is active. Pushback protection is an essential part of Restoration Shaman's PvP toolkit, so forcing players to give it up in exchange for Rockbiter's defensive benefits creates a meaningful trade-off and makes Rockbiter a far less attractive choice for Restoration in PvP.
• Armor talents such as Ancestral Guardian and Spirit Armor are only active while Rockbiter Weapon is detected on the Shaman. -> This is my least favorite option as Paladin healers have high plate armor.

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

Healing Identity – Healing Wave, Chain Heal & Tier 1

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 largely become the premier raid-wide AoE healers thanks to Circle of Healing being castable across party boundaries. At the same time, Restoration Shamans received several indirect nerfs:

• Chain Heal's healing power coefficient was reduced.
• The original Tier 1 Restoration 8-piece bonus was removed.
• Totems remain limited to party-wide effects instead of raid-wide utility.

While each of these changes may have made sense individually, together they have left Restoration without a clearly defined role in PvE.

Historically, Restoration Shamans sacrificed strong single-target healing in exchange for excellent multi-target healing through Chain Heal. Today, Priests outperform them in raid healing, while Paladins continue to dominate efficient tank and single-target healing.

As a result, Restoration Shamans now sit in an uncomfortable middle ground. They remain capable healers, but they no longer truly excel in any area. Their primary utility comes from totems, yet those are still restricted to a single party, limiting their overall impact in 40-player raids.

Rather than trying to push Restoration back into becoming a one-button Chain Heal specialization, I believe the goal should be to strengthen the entire healing toolkit.

Healing Wave should once again feel rewarding as the primary single-target heal, while Chain Heal should remain the signature spell for efficient raid healing.

Suggested solution

• Increase the effectiveness of Healing Wave to make Restoration Shamans more competitive at single-target healing.
• Increase Chain Heal's healing power coefficient from approximately 60% to 70%. This restores part of its lost scaling without returning it to its previous strength, while the Healing Wave buff helps compensate for the remainder.
• Instead of restoring the original Tier 1 8-piece bonus, replace it with a simpler bonus such as +100 Healing.

The original Tier 1 8-piece bonus became problematic over time, not because the concept itself was inherently overpowered, but because TurtleWoW introduced numerous custom items and effects that could interact with and repeatedly proc from it. Those interactions pushed the bonus far beyond its original intended power level.

Replacing it with a straightforward +100 Healing bonus would preserve the set's healing value without introducing proc-related balancing issues or limiting future item design.

These changes would also create healthier gear progression. Restoration Shamans could naturally transition into later raid tiers instead of relying on Tier 1 because it compensates for weaknesses in the baseline healing toolkit.

Most importantly, they would help restore the specialization's identity. Paladins would remain the premier single-target healers, Priests would continue to excel at large-scale raid healing, while Restoration Shamans would once again occupy a unique middle ground—strong single-target healing through an improved Healing Wave combined with powerful, intelligent Chain Heal for stacked raid healing situations.


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.

[Dzielkus]

Nerfing EQ really hurts me but other changes was needed.
I'd rather like to leave it as it is now.
Fire enh/ele build was a freaking joke in PvP.

[Thrazz]

Nerfing EQ really hurts me but other changes was needed.
I'd rather like to leave it as it is now.
Fire enh/ele build was a freaking joke in PvP.

I agree that some changes were necessary for PvP balance, but I think the implementation could have been much better.

With proper scaling and more thorough testing before release, Fire Enhancement/Elemental could be balanced without making abilities feel unusable. The current Elemental Weapons interaction with Flametongue Weapon is already a step in the right direction, as it naturally discourages Fire Elemental Shamans from mindlessly spamming Molten Blast from the backline.

The issue now isn't the concept, it's that Molten Blast has been nerfed so heavily that it's no longer worth casting in almost any situation. I think there's room to make it viable again without bringing back the original PvP problems.

[Doom]

Played pve on turtle as enhancement and elemental, done alot of raiding.

Enhancement is pretty good, i like how it works. Good dps, very good utility.
The one thing i would like to change is shaman does not get benefits from windfury and flametongue totems, but have to put it most of time.

Elenemtal has alot to improve. Yes its not bad in naxx and k40, but at t1-t2 lvl its in bottom of dps meter.
1) Spec had alot of hard casts and no anti-pushback. Solved in 1.18.1 and i like that change very much.
2) Huge mana issues. Even with 30% ligtning crit chance rng can be against you - no crits, oom in the middle of boss fight. I almost had no mana issues only in t3-k40 level gear and having alot of tea and potions. Ele shaman needs alot of spell hit and spell crit to work properly, so in preraid-t1-t2 gear level its pretty painful.
Ele needs gear-undependent source of mana regen.
3) Good aoe and cleave, bad single target dps. Actually not a problem, devs can say its a spec purpose... but it can be tuned solving problems below.
4) Bad talent - elemental mastery.
10 seconds duration and its bonuses are minor. Enhancement use bloodlust on bosses and show good sustain dps. current elemental mastery is too weak for burst and too short for sustain. Turtle devs tried alot ways to cut off 100% spellcrit chance burst because of pvp-players cry, current version is ok but need to be tuned.
5) Bad spell - earthquake.
Devs say its purpose to be good both at 1 target and aoe, but its bad in both situations.
Bad for 1 target because of: does not benefit from cast time and crit chance talents, costs alot of mana. Lightning bolt just better - more damage, cost less, more chances to get clearcasting.
Bad for aoe because of: very long cast, cast stops if your target dies and you deal 0 damage.
Slow enemies for 15% - whats this? Kind of cc? 15% slow on 2,5 sec cast is a joke.
This spell can be tuned to be good, but honestly i would not overcomplicate rotation and give ele shaman passive damage buff, for example spell overload from tbc as 31 talent. Lightning bolt, chain lightning, molten blast, shocks and totem management are enough.
6) Bad spell - molten blast. Bad talent - Improved molten blast.
Devs should decide is it backup spell for nature immune targets only or it also should be in main rotation.
For main rotation it is too weak, almost no difference between flame shock, molten blast and lightning bolts vs just spam lightning bolts.
There is no mechanics in default ui to track flame shock dot duration, only with some addons. You want to cast molten blast when dot almost expired, but if mb is resisted, your rotation breaks, thats why ele shamans just dont bother with that spell in most situations. Improved molten blast talent should be changed. I would like molten blast to have 100% crit chance with 10 sec cd for example, so you can spam it for nature immune target or use once per 10 sec for others and get guaranteed clearcasting every 10 secs. To not waste sellcrit from stats and buffs molted blast can get spell crit % above 100 to increase its damage.
7) Elemental devastation talent proc could be changed, to be useful for ele, not only for enhancement.
8) Kind of meh tier gear. Haste is almost useles stat, we need spell crit and hit. Most of set bonuses are bad. t2 set bonus works with lightning shield but spec redesigned to use earth shield. Current t2.5 is good for nature ele (add some stats to shoulders please), t3 was good for fire ele (spec is deleted) but for nature ele its worse than non-set naxx epix, t3.5 is good for nature ele.
9) Most of shaman totems are useless for spellcasters. Some people say its class design to be melee buff machine but i dont agree. In result we have ele shamans in most cases are in melee group as wf totem bot.
10) Lack of good spell dps shields.
11) I would like clearcasting to proc from fire totem critical hits and cut the cost of nova/magma totems.

Dont have much to say about pvp. For all shaman specs lack of simple and effective cc and anti-cc, alot of hard casts to be kicked and school-locked, lack of defensive cd. Yeah ppl say "use engineering" but somehow they dont think that shaman's opponent also can use engineering.
Purge cd is a joke.

[Schwarzschild]

Shaman 1.18.1 Review & Suggestions
[...]

I am impressed by your exhaustive post but maybe a 3-top-priority bullet point list for all the TLDR folks out there would help to get more people interested in the topic.

[Ainton]

I'm not an experienced high level shaman player, so take my suggestion with that in mind. In fact, my shaman is only 23. I don't necessarily plan on tanking at high levels, but I'm leveling as one.

I think a defensive cooldown for shaman tanks sounds awesome. I've done a rough theorycraft on one.

The goal is to give tank shamans a defensive button to hit akin to the paladin's holy shield. Something relatively spammable that increases your mitigation, interacts with another key shaman mechanic, and doesn't make the mana problem worse. I came up with:

Totemic Resonance
Active Ability which replaces Spirit Armor on the Enhancement tree. 1 point. Swap places with Enhancing Totems, and change Enhancing Totems to be 3 point investment for full benefits instead of 2.

When activated, increase the Armor value of your shield by 10% for each active totem and increases threat generated by 3% for each active totem at the time of casting. Block chance is also increased by X% for the duration.

Blocks while Totemic Resonance is active restore Y% maximum mana per active totem up to 4Y% per block.

------------

With 4 totems dropped, it becomes stronger than Spirit Armor, but you will be weaker when it's down. Uptime, cooldown, and mana cost would need to be balanced around it.

The mana returns are intended to balance out the required use of totems to maximize benefits of the ability, not to mention the mana cost of the ability itself. It shouldn't necessarily make the Shaman entirely mana neutral or positive, especially while raiding or dungeon tanking. If it makes the Shaman mana positive as far as the raw cost and the totem cost goes...well I'd leave that up to the more experienced players to determine if it's a good idea.

This addition of this ability would mean the Enhancement tree has, count em, FOUR active abilities as talents. That's probably too much. Especially considering you would have an extra point to spend.

Finally, the way I have presented it makes it difficult to have progressing ranks to purchase since it's all percentages. That could all be changed to flat numbers. In either case the average number of blocks in the duration of the buff would be important to know for balance.

And speaking of blocks, this would be a Buff to Shield Specialization. More blocks while it's active means more mana restored. Of course, the problems you mentioned about block would still largely exist.