And now here's Koraa with the Shaman forecast
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 10th 2008 at 11:00AM
Thanks, Koraa! Musolini of Uldaman-US posted a thread in the Shaman forums that is... well, pretty hilarious if you're familiar with the Ollie character they parody alongside their Shaman class. You might want to read through it just for that alone.
To discuss the actual change, which I assume is a change in Wrath (but may come sooner since Koraa didn't specify), the few Shaman I've spoken to about it seem pretty excited. It seems minor, and may be minor in the long run, but this change would allow totems to be used through Spell Lock and Silence effects. When your Shaman gets Counterspelled in the arena, they'll still be able to drop Totems at least. It certainly won't fix everything, but you'll still have some of your defenses(and offenses) available to you, and you won't be completely shut down. There's still a long road ahead, but this is a step in the right direction.
To discuss the actual change, which I assume is a change in Wrath (but may come sooner since Koraa didn't specify), the few Shaman I've spoken to about it seem pretty excited. It seems minor, and may be minor in the long run, but this change would allow totems to be used through Spell Lock and Silence effects. When your Shaman gets Counterspelled in the arena, they'll still be able to drop Totems at least. It certainly won't fix everything, but you'll still have some of your defenses(and offenses) available to you, and you won't be completely shut down. There's still a long road ahead, but this is a step in the right direction.
Filed under: Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Humor, Wrath of the Lich King, Forums
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Elmo Jun 10th 2008 11:04AM
Thanks, Ollie.
Buckshot Jun 10th 2008 11:09AM
Total bs, no totems while silenced.
myheaditches Jun 10th 2008 11:14AM
Total BS, no mage spells while silenced.
briker Jun 10th 2008 11:25AM
Might it also mean no mana costs? Anyone know of another "physical school" type ability that uses mana?
Alex Ziebart Jun 10th 2008 11:27AM
Crusader Strike, I believe?
PeeWee Jun 10th 2008 12:19PM
Steady Shot, Multi-shot, Intimidation...
CaffeineRage Jun 10th 2008 4:59PM
Stormstike is in the physical school, but still costs mana.
Dafarseer Jun 10th 2008 11:31AM
Knowing blizz they'll give us sentry totem (rank 2-4), place our totems in the keyring(which will give us back 4 inventory slots again WOOT, and make waterwalking and water breathing reagentless. We'll also get Icewalking (which will allow shamans to walk on ice >
William Jun 10th 2008 12:40PM
Yeah, and water and air elementals too. Which can be put into the fight while silenced as well. Since they ARE attached to the totems...
Barrda Jun 10th 2008 11:30AM
Do AOE's Kill totems? if not does this change that?
Starbeast Jun 10th 2008 12:15PM
So far, AOE doesn't affect Totems.
brittwilson Jun 10th 2008 11:31AM
I don't know if I agree with that or not. If dropping totems costs mana(and I'm not sure if it does), then its a spellcast, and should be effected by spell lock and silence. As a priest, when I get silenced, I don't get to do anything, offensive or defensive, and I don't see why it should be different for shamans.
innajunglestylee Jun 10th 2008 11:36AM
Actually, you can still toss out shadow spells. It may not be much, but you can toss out SW:P, mana drain...
All our heals and totems and all but two DPS spells are locked out by imp CS/Spell Lock. And those two DPS spells share a 6 second cooldown (5 secs with talent).
I don't think this is a game breaking change, and I think it's way less useful than giving us more fire/frost DD spells or shifting our heals to a different school than our nukes would have been, but it's an attempt to address an issue.
brittwilson Jun 10th 2008 11:46AM
You are completely right, but this does not explain the silence part if it, which was supposed to be the focus if my comment, but typing a post and trying to create servlets at the same time for class gets you a bit mixed up. :)
The spell lock thing I get, and I'm fine with that, but not with the silence not effecting totems.
Luciox Jun 10th 2008 11:49AM
Hunters use mana for all their physical abilities, and they can still shoot tiny pieces of wood at you when silenced, why cant shaman stick tiny pieces of wood in the ground when silenced?
scotttopic Jun 10th 2008 11:53AM
think about it though... a shaman putting totems down is practically placing an item from his inventory into play. for those who have never played a shaman, yes you do actually have to carry around 4 separate totems (one for each school) in your bag. so being able to pull them out and plant them on the ground while silenced isn't too much of a stretch in my eyes.
innajunglestylee Jun 10th 2008 11:59AM
Yeah, I thought about that as I posted, CS/SL and Silence are on different mechanics. I guess there's two ways of looking at it...
1) Crusader Strike is also a physical effect that requires mana and it works when Paladins are silenced.
2) They felt bad for us.
Grubbus Jun 10th 2008 11:37AM
i agree with post #8. You also forgot to mention that enhance will get a buffed Rockbitter and another secret nerf to WF, which consists of receiving 50% more dmg every time it procs.
Ele will get Totem of the Broken which will transform you into... a broken class, and resto will get Tidal Splash which gives you another charge in water shield but reduces charges on earth shield.
Phatlewter Jun 10th 2008 11:39AM
Can i has another Sentri totem?
innajunglestylee Jun 10th 2008 11:41AM
My totems can be susceptible to AOE when they aren't 5HP each.