Yes, yes, I’m a complete slacker. 3.3 has been out for weeks, the second wing of Icecrown is about to open and I just now got around to updating the gear posts.
Better late than never?
Anyway, all four posts have been updated/tweaked with the latest in Shammy goodness so peruse and use to your heart’s content.
PS – Found out today I’m having a girl… Gamer girls rule!
What is the name, class, and spec of your primary dps?
Ailisbraeden, Shaman, Enhancement
What is your primary dpsing environment? (i.e. raids, pvp, 5 mans)
10 Man Raids
What is your favorite dps spell/ability for your class and why?
Stormstrike. It’s a 12 second debuff that increases all subsequent nature damage done on the target. All of my shocks are nature damage. Yum.
What dps spell do you use least for your class and why?
Flame Shock. It’s more of an elemental spell since its damage is increased off of Lava Burst which is a 2 second casting spell. As melee, casting times significantly decrease my DPS.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of your dps class and why?
Raid buffs via totems. I guess that would be said of all three shaman specs but the ability to switch out and drop a variety of totems that provide raid buffs and enemy debuffs and cleansing is really key to the appeal of my class.
What do you feel is the biggest weakness of your dps class and why?
Movement fights. I excel when I can just stand there and wail on something. I can keep a steady rotation up and really get some high damage rolling. If I have to move around with a boss, however, the DPS tends to suffer a little.
In a 25 man raiding environment, what do you feel, in general, is the best dps assignment for you?
Single target killing or interrupts/purges.
What dps class do you enjoy dpsing with most and why?
Definitely my shaman. I’ve played a mage, a DK and a Druid and, by far, the Shaman was the most fun because of the variety of things I can do.
What dps class do you enjoy dpsing with least and why?
My Death Knight. I honestly can’t put my finger on it but I just don’t get a big thrill out of killing things with her.
What is your worst habit as a dps?
Trying to tank.
What is your biggest pet peeve in a group environment while dpsing?
Assuming I’m a caster and buffing me with wisdom. I actually had a paladin ask me once if I was caster or melee. I just about kissed him.
Do you feel that your class/spec is well balanced with other dps?
For a hybrid, yes. I’ll never do as high of DPS as the “pure” classes like Rogues or Death Knights but I’m fine with that since I can bring the added balance of spot-healing if necessary.
What tools do you use to evaluate your own performance as a dps’er?
Recount, my guildmates, my husband (plays an SV hunter) and constant research into the evolution of my class.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your class?
That we’re casters. I actually had a conversation with someone who was surprised to learn I value attack power over spell power and I wear “hunter mail” as opposed to caster cloth. It made me realize that being the melee sibling in a family of casters (ele and resto) creates some confusion.
What do you feel is the most difficult thing for new dpsers of your class to learn?
Skill priority versus skill rotation. I don’t have a set rotation – I have more of a priority depending on what debuffs are still active on my target and what skills have finished their CD. I always recommend ShockandAwe for new Enhance Shammies because it helps you get into the priority groove instead of having a set sequence of keys to push.
What dps class do you feel you understand least?
Rogues. Energy and combo points baffles me.
What add-ons or macros do you use, if any, to aid you in dps?
I have macros for my “use” trinkets and I use ShockandAwe for my skill priority. Everything else is key bindings.
What stat to stack, and why?
After you are hit and expertise capped, go after Attack Power and Haste. Our Mental Quickness talent will convert raw AP into SP which helps with shocks. Haste makes everything go a lot faster. Since you want to wield two slow weapons, the more haste you have, the higher damage you will do with high damage slow weapons hitting faster. Plus, the damage from the Flametongue weapon imbue scales the slower the weapon is. It all adds up to a lot of damage.
And my own question: what’s your offspec (if you have one) and why?
Resto. Originally, it was to fill in as an extra healer if my old guild needed it. Now, it’s to help in 5mans in my new little 10 man guild I help run.
Shaman
/dies
For those of you who haven’t heard the wonderful news, my husband and I recently found out that we’re going to be having our first child in May. After the initial shock wore off, excitement, trepidation and morning sickness set in. That is the real reason I’ve been absent as of late. Due to my susceptibility to motion sickness, now heightened by the morning sickness, playing on the computer all day has been shortened to a mere few hours at best, which I reserve for raiding with my new guild.
However, as of the ultrasound yesterday, I found out I’m nine weeks along and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as far as the first trimester goes. After this, I hope to return to a somewhat more normal schedule that doesn’t involve being curled up on the couch sipping apple juice and praying it stays down.
We made the official announcement yesterday to family and friends, so here is my official WoW announcement.
In other news, I will get to all the 3.3 goodness in the next couple of days. Some interesting emblem and Shaman changes coming down the pipe and Icecrown looks to be closer than anyone anticipated. Does this mean Cataclysm could be earlier in 2010 than first forecast? Many people hope yes (myself included) but I’ll wait for a superb product than have my impatience rewarded with a subpar, buggy one.
Living Daylights is doing fantastically. We’ve finally filled our last few raid slots and began raiding about 3 weeks ago. Since then, we’ve cleared Onyxia, Vault, up to the Faction Champions in ToC, up through Vezax in Ulduar, including a couple of hard modes. For a guild playing catch up and learning how to raid as a team, I find this to be amazing progress and we are all so thrilled at the success. We only hope we’ll be caught up to current content by the time Icecrown is released, which I have a strong feeling we will based on how quickly we’re moving now. I’m so proud of the guild and really proud to be a part of it.
So that’s the short update for now. I’m going to go back to the couch and sip my tea and wait for my stomach to settle. I’ll be around more often again as this phase passes.
More news to come!
Ailis in Hunterland by Ailis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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