Filed under: Shaman, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Burning Crusade, (Shaman) Totem Talk, Wrath of the Lich King
Well, this week we found out that we’re going to get a taste of the new talents and skills for Wrath of the Lich King, which wasn’t exactly a surprise, as we got a similar content patch before the launch of The Burning Crusade. However, as we’ve been getting quite a bit of mail asking what, exactly, it means for shamans when patch 3.0 goes live. While I always try to avoid Wrath spoilers, in this case I feel like we’re not talking about expansion secrets: there are changes that will be affecting you in your day to day playing before you set foot in Northrend. So a brief overview out in the open seems warranted.
For starters, we know that the new skills and talents for each class will be implemented. What does that mean for your shaman? Well, as best as we can tell at this point, this will be your talent tree.At level 70 (since new levels and skills that require those levels will not be unlocked) you will be able to spend 61 points, placing the 51 point talents within reach. It means that the spell power changes are certain to be implemented, since many of the talents require that new mechanic. (This is of course subject to change, but there’s been no sign that Blizzard’s thinking differently about the change.) It means that totems will most likely be raid wide, that Windfury Totem and Wrath of Air Totem will change to the haste mechanic, that enhancement shamans will now gain 1 AP per point of Strength, 1 AP per point of agility, and will be able to gain 1 AP per point of Intellect as well, changing their ideal itemization. (This may actually increase the attack power of some shaman tier gear.) And there will be entirely new abilities open to shamans of all three talent builds.
Please keep in mind that there will be changes to these trees. There’s already discussion of changes to Anticipation, Shamanistic Focus and Windfury Weapon in recent blue posts and any such changes are inherently going to be reflected in patch 3.0.
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