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Totem Talk: Loot to maximize your elemental shaman's mastery
Joystiq Mastery is my favorite stat in World of Warcraft because it's the only stat that actually changes function from class to class. Haste might speed up rune regeneration for death knights, or fire mages might view a huge critical strike chance more … |
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Phat Loot Phriday: Yakety Yak (Don't Talk Back)
Joystiq Phat Loot Phriday brings you the scoop on some of the most … interesting … loot in the World of Warcraft, often viewed through the eyes of the stalwart Throgg and indelible Lolegolas. Suggest items you think we should feature by emailing … |
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Small Talk – Daniel Radcliffe (1 of 3)
andPOP Nick plays World of Warcraft. Not only that, he's the head of his guild, demonstrating that it IS possible to juggle being a hardcore gamer with being a top-selling recording artist. During a LIVE interview on andPOP.com Nick Carter gave out a number … |
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Totem Talk: 4 ways to increase your Shaman DPS
Joystiq by Josh Myers Jan 28th 2012 at 6:00PM Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Josh Myers once only tackled the hard questions about enhancement but has recently expanded his sphere of … |
It’s hard for me to believe that Cataclysm has only been out for slightly over one year, especially given how we’re already on the last raid of the expansion. It’s been a turbulent year for the shaman class, and elemental as a spec is no exception. Between legendaries, highly fluctuating DPS, and more tweaks to AoE then I care to count, elemental has had more than its fair share of ups and downs this year.
Tier 11: The lows
Elemental was not a strong DPS class in the first tier of Cataclysm raiding. Fights like heroic Halfus, Maloriak, and Sinestra brought our lack of competitive AoE damage into the limelight, while Cho’gall, Conclave of Wind, and Ascendant Council all highlighted how elemental’s mobile DPS was terribly low. With Unleash Elements and shocks being our only mobile cast — not to mention low levels of haste that left us with terribly slow Lightning Bolt casts — and we really struggled to pump out respectable numbers on any fight that wasn’t Patchwerk-esque.
Continue reading Totem Talk: 2011 in review for elemental shaman
Filed under: Shaman, Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, (Shaman) Totem Talk, Cataclysm
Totem Talk: 2011 in review for elemental shaman originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and co-host of the For the Lore and Raid Warning podcasts), shows you how.
The siege is, by now, well under way, and now that you’re done playing with slimes, it’s time to move forward. Your next opponent is Hagara the Stormbinder, a shaman who has fallen under the sway of the aspect of death and now works toward the destruction of the world. Luckily for you, she’s an enhancement shaman, so she’s pretty easy to deal with.
The major theme for this boss is movement. Every major ability that Hagara has boils down to your moving in the correct manner in order to avoid what would be absolutely lethal damage. Moving and healing has never really been a shaman’s strong point, but if you use your abilities wisely, you’ll have her down in no time. (For full details of the encounters or full raid strategies, please read Ready Check for WoW Insider’s boss guides.)
Continue reading Totem Talk: Healing Hagara the Stormbinder and Ultraxion
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Totem Talk: Healing Hagara the Stormbinder and Ultraxion originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. This week, Josh Myers, the dean of DPS shaman, and Joe Perez, the Robespierre of restoration, do a Dragonball-Z style fusion dance and combine their class knowledge to bring you a concise shaman leveling guide.
So, young padawan, you want to play a shaman. You’re following in the footsteps of some of the greatest characters in World of Warcraft lore — Nobundo Farseer, Thrall, and yours truly. Just know that you have the full support of myself and Mr. Joe Perez, and we’ll only judge you a very small amount for not choosing shaman sooner.
The shaman class has three distinct specs that each fulfill very different roles. Enhancement, which we’ll talk about first, is a melee DPS class, which means standing very close to bosses and whacking them repeatedly with blades or maces imbued with flame and wind. Elemental is a ranged caster DPS class, preferring to stand at a safe distance while hurling balls of lava and electrocuting enemies. Restoration, the last spec we’ll talk about, is a healing spec, revitalizing friends by creating super-soothing puddles for them to stand in. Seriously.
Continue reading Totem Talk: Leveling a shaman in the Cataclysm era
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk, Cataclysm
Totem Talk: Leveling a shaman in the Cataclysm era originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Totem Talk: Leveling a shaman in the Cataclysm era
Joystiq You're following in the footsteps of some of the greatest characters in World of Warcraft lore — Nobundo Farseer, Thrall, and yours truly. Just know that you have the full support of myself and Mr. Joe Perez, and we'll only judge you a very small … |
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement and restoration shaman. Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration, brought to you by Joe Perez (otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and co-host of the For the Lore and Raid Warning podcasts), shows you how.
The Siege of Wyrmrest temple has begun, and with Morchok and Zon’ozz down, it’s time to begin stepping it up a notch. Dragon Soul offers so many fights that are just absolutely fun for restoration shaman. Yor’sahj the Unsleeping is a great example of a great healer workout. His mechanics are simple from a DPS and tanking aspect, but for healers, you will constantly have to be prepared to adapt to different slime combinations. Make no mistake, knowing your blobs is key to success.
Every raid team will have a different way of handling the oozes and setting priorities on which to burn. As a healer, though, you’ll have to learn what each blob is capable of and the effect that the certain combinations of globules will have. Each wave of oozes summoned by the boss will have three oozes on normal and Raid Finder difficulty, and your raid will have the option of killing one of the oozes each wave. (For full details of the encounters or full raid strategies, please read Ready Check for WoW Insider’s boss guides.)
Continue reading Totem Talk: How to heal Yor’sahj in the Siege of Wyrmrest
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk
Totem Talk: How to heal Yor’sahj in the Siege of Wyrmrest originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Totem Talk for elemental, enhancement, and restoration shaman. Josh Myers once only tackled the hard questions about enhancement but has recently expanded his sphere of responsibility to all shaman DPS specs. (And no, two-handed enhancement is still never coming back.)
So, you want to queue for the Raid Finder on your enhancement shaman, but you don’t quite have the required 372 item level for it yet. We’ve all learned tips and tricks over the year since Cataclysm launched to cheat the ilevel restrictions, like wearing restoration gear to inflate our ilevel. However, if you want to actually benefit the raid and increase your chances of downing bosses, those tricks are not the best way to go. There are multiple accessible 378 items for near every slot.
The first rule of getting geared for Raid Finder is to avoid Hour of Twilight like the plague. There’s seriously only one drop in the instance that’s worth getting, and that’s the Clattering Claw. Dawnslayer Helm? Both our Erupting Volcanic Helmet and Scalp of the Bandit Prince put that ugly hit/haste helm to shame. Betrayer’s Pauldrons are a possible good choice, if only because extensive testing by yours truly has proven that Mantle of the Fiery Protector does not actually exist. It’s a myth. Flickering Shoulders of the Zephyr/Windstorm are both good choices to use over the Hour of Twilight shoulders, but getting a useful random enchant on an already random drop is not a sure bet.
Hour of Twilight also has the Cinch of the World Shaman as a quest reward. I’m so glad Blizzard decided to create an agility belt with shaman in the name and itemize it to be absolutely awful for the only spec of shaman that uses agility. Well played, Blizzard. If you’re fresh to 85, this will unfortunately be your main belt choice, as the Firearrow Belt requires you to be honored with Avengers of Hyjal. However, you’re a lucky shaman who has to run Firelands to deal with the itemization woes of the 4.3 heroics anyway, so you should be honored in no time at all!
Continue reading Totem Talk: Gearing your enhancement shaman for Raid Finder
Filed under: Shaman, (Shaman) Totem Talk, Cataclysm
Totem Talk: Gearing your enhancement shaman for Raid Finder originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 17 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.