The Shaman

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, Expansion Fatigue, the first character to step up for the adventure was my Shaman. Shamans are one of my all time favorite classes, and was actually the very first class I played 10+ years ago.

History Lesson

Back in the day Shaman’s were a Horde only class to counter the Alliance only Paladin. A hybrid class, Shaman’s could melee, cast spells from range, or heal. Lobbing lightning bolts, throwing down totems with elemental powers, and dual-wielding weapons infused with fire, Shaman’s were and still are bad-asses. Originally available only to Tauren, Trolls and Orcs, I went with a large Tauren Shaman. (Fact: my original character is still around and at max level, though he’s on a different server and now an Orc.)

I recall that at times I laughed out loud (ok, maybe just to myself) about how awesome the class was. This video sums it up:

The Race and Spec

I hadn’t played a Shaman in quite a while, and none of my characters past level 20 are cute and cuddly pandas, so I rolled a Pandaren Shaman. It was as simple as that.

I’ve played all three Shaman specs before: Elemental, Enhancement and Restoration. My original Tauren Shaman leveled through the years switching between Elemental and Enhancement until Mists of Pandaria was released, and then I found the sweetness that is Enhancement. Sure, Chain Lightning in dungeons is fun. And come on, who doesn’t like to pop Thunderstorm in the midway of Eye of the Storm or at the Lumbermill in Arathi Basin, watching your foes plummet to their deaths. But there’s something about the non-stop button mashing, with lights flashing, and sounds like you’re in the slot machine section of a casino, of the Enhancement spec that pulled me in. I might not be putting out the damage of my Warrior or my Paladin when I come across a lone soul in PvP, but damn it’s fun to wallop on them.

Since I was going to level solo Restoration was out of the race, so for this toon I decided to go back to Elemental.  For two expansions I leveled as Enhancement and wanted to get back to tossing lightning bolts and lava. LAVA!

Leveling

With full heirlooms on The Shaman leveled real, real fast. I was sitting in Eastern Plaguelands before I knew it. I even took the time to level professions like Fishing, Cooking and First Aid.

(I really don’t know why I level First Aid on classes that can heal. I can’t recall ever using a bandage on my Priests, Shamans, or Paladins. I think I still do it out of habit, and to give me something to do with all the cloth I accumulate.)

I also leveled Mining and Jewelcrafting along the way. Since my heirlooms leveled me out of an area before my gathering professions were up to level, I’d hang around a bit longer and grind them out.

Status and Opinions, At This Time

The Shaman is sitting in Ironforge at the moment at level 47, having just finished up all of the quests in Eastern Plaguelands. Her next stop is Burning Steppes. I’m a couple of levels below the zone, and I haven’t gotten the Hero’s Call yet for BS, so I may poke around Searing Gorge for another level and work on my Mining. (I completed all of the quests in SG a few years ago, so there isn’t a real need to go there.)

As I mentioned above, leveling has been fast and fun. I also realized I missed the Elemental rotation, and I’m actually using my totems. (I do miss the ability that let you throw down four totems at once!) Seems when I leveled 90-100 in Enhancement I never needed a totem. I usually don’t now, but I’m finding it fun to have some of their utilities.

So, to recap… The Shaman was the first toon created, and was my ‘main’ until the adventure came around and I started needing to level other characters to do all of the quests in the lower level zones. I’ve had a blast on her, and have no doubt I’ll continue to do so, but I don’t know if she’ll be my ‘main’ going forward and the one to make it to 100 first. I’ve found another class/spec that I’m giggling with joy over, but you’ll need to wait to my next post to learn more about it!