By Jen Lyons
The Shaman class in World of Warcraft is an interesting hybrid class. They
can invest their talent points in order to wield two-handed swords and axes, and
can wear cloth, leather, or even mail. This makes it possible for them to act as
a secondary "tank" effectively, but they also have an additional
feature that makes them unique: Shamans can cast totems which have various
ranges and properties. One totem, for example, can cast bolts of fire at an
enemy, while others can be used to heal party members within a certain radius.
The ability to throw down totems makes the WoW Shaman different from the Shaman
classes I've encountered in other MMORPGs.
There are two other hybrid classes in WoW, the Druid and the Paladin. The
Paladin is probably the most similar to the Shaman, with their abilities to
tank, heal, and buff party members. The Auras they can cast may sound similar to
the concept of totems, without the physical object appearing on the screen.
However, Paladins have the advantage of being able to train to wear plate armor,
and they have abilities specific to combating the Undead, which can be
especially useful in areas like the Plaguelands. On the other hand, they don't
have the Enhancement abilities which can protect against elemental types of
damage.
The third hybrid class, the Druid, differs from the Shammy quite a bit. While
Druids also have healing abilities, they can only graduate to leather armor.
Their melee strength lies in being able to transform into a bear, and when in
cat form they can stealth. However, their healing abilities are limited to being
in their own natural form, so this adds a restriction that the Shaman does not
have. The Shaman instead is restricted by their totems' area of effect.
Interestingly enough, all three hybrid classes have a spiritual slant, whether
it's the elemental magic of the Shaman, the nature magic of the Druid, or the
holy magic of the Paladin.
The Shaman is a great class for both solo players and group players. Because the
Shaman class can wear leather and eventually mail, they have better protection
than other healers. In addition, they can use their totems either as an
additional defense (somewhat like a warlock or hunter would use their pet) or
for healing, which is handy if none of your primary healer buddies are online.
In a group, the Shaman's strengths can lie in acting as a substitute tank, or a
healer. In addition, they have other specialized totems which can increase party
members' frost or fire resistance, damage resistance, agility, strength, and
even remove damaging effects cast by mobs.
Because a Shammy has so many options, it can be a difficult to decide how you
want to spec your talents. Like all WoW classes, you have a choice of three
talent trees. You can choose to get a low-level smattering of two or three
talents, or focus on maxing out one and putting leftover points in the other
two. As a Shaman, you can choose from the Elemental tree (mostly focused on
damage dealing both in melee and in improving casting and totems), the
Enhancement tree (just like it sounds, this can enhance your abilities and the
abilities your totems grant to party members), and the Restoration tree, which
focuses on healing, resurrection, and protection. When attempting to decide
which path to tread, I would recommend playing with the talent calculator on
Blizzard's site, as well as consulting other Shamans, whether by talking to
players in-game, or visiting online forums.
One of my favorite things about playing a Shaman is the class-specific starter
quests. The quests to earn the four different types of totems (Air, Earth, Fire,
and Water) have a non-denominational but still very spiritual feel to them.
Similar to the Druid quests, you often need to speak to specific spirits to
progress. Your power comes directly from the spirits giving of themselves. If
you're a player who actually likes to read the quest text, I think you won't be
disappointed. I felt that it added to the feeling of accomplishment when I had
earned my totem in the eyes of my spiritual guides.
Formerly, you could only become a Shaman if you rolled a horde character,
specifically a Tauren, an Orc, or a Troll. As of the Burning Crusade expansion,
you can also create an Alliance Shammy if you choose the Draenei race. If you
are a fan of lore, and are attracted the elemental and spiritual nature of the
Shaman, I would personally recommend choosing either a Tauren or a Draenei. Both
of these races have starting areas which include quests that complement the
class quests nicely, and interesting storylines.
The Shaman class can be a lot of fun, but can be difficult to play well. If WoW
is your first MMO, you probably don't want to choose a Shaman for your first
character. As with most classes, there is a "flavor of the month" when
it comes to talent builds, which changes as patches make adjustments to the
game, which can be discouraging for new players who lack confidence in their
abilities. However, if you are an RPG veteran and you're looking for a
challenge, this would be a great choice. Also, if you've played WoW all the way
to level 60 without the expansion, or are now maxed out at 70 and bored,
consider trying out this class if you never have before. Take the time to read
the quests, and take the time to explore a class different from any you have
played before.
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