Hey all returning player. Quit after omens. I love my shaman and versatility back in the day. Has things changed for the class a lot or just some. Any advice on playing styles with the class now days. I was more of a save everyones buns kinda Shaman back in the day with Canni , slow , Heals etc. even with a cleric around. Wulfgak Shaman of the 7th hammer
Tough to answer. Short answer is yes, shaman, overall, are still very similar to what they were, in general play style. That's not to say much hasn't changed, because it has. Much more varied and stronger spells and abilities (just like all classes). Heals are much stronger (meaning, faster casting, twincasting group heals, greatly increased with focus effects, etc) to the extent can main heal without a second healer for pretty much all group content. DPS is relatively much weaker, so it's a waste of time trying to do anything on your own. Many shaman have left the game, or changed to a different class, and just box the shaman, because of this. Have very desirable buffs and a few decent activated abilities that increase group's melee DPS (not near as much as a REAL DPS class adds to a group, unfortunately though), but utility (slows, malo, cripple, etc) is pretty much unnecessary in group content. DPS is king, and in that, shaman severely lack. So, while playing the shaman is doable and much the same, relatively. Expect to either join a very active guild, to consistently join groups to do anything, or box a DPS toon, in order to do anything on your own, when you can't find a group.
If you liked saving people in groups, you are likely to find that modern Shamans have gone in a direction that you like very much. Their tools in that regard have expanded significantly.
Adps shamans give to melee groups is amazing. Shm/bard/tank(not needed really can have a dps tank) plus 3 other melee dps classes can destroy any content currently. Pace is a lot faster and as a shm never has to stop.
