[WoRBot]

Patch 3.3 - Shaman Tier-10 Sneak Peek

The shaman set is finally available on the official tier-10 page.

PTR Maintenance - 11/09/09

It's unclear if this is for a PTR build or not, but stay tuned just in case it is. The maintenance is set to last 6-8 hours, though both encounters tested Saturday were incredibly buggy, so Blizzard might be patching the PTR to test them again this week.

Quote from: Dresorull (Source)

We will be bringing down the PTR servers today for maintenance at approximately 10:00 AM PST. This maintenance is scheduled to last 6-8 hours.

This thread will be updated as more information becomes available.

[Bludstorm]

The high resolution image has two ghostly images of the helm coming out of the shoulders. Is that going to be a graphic effect on the shoulder? (kinda like the helm from Warlock's Tier 6)

[Leviathonlx]

Bludstorm said:

The high resolution image has two ghostly images of the helm coming out of the shoulders. Is that going to be a graphic effect on the shoulder? (kinda like the helm from Warlock's Tier 6)

Maybe. No way to know for now.

[Ideon]

looks pwn! is it deers that come from the sholders?

[Leviathonlx]

Ideon said:

looks pwn! is it deers that come from the sholders?

The set is based on Shoveltusks.

[columhcille]

OMG! THAT'S SIIICK! HOW KEWL IS THAT!! Brilliant! I just love the graphic on the shoulders! Wow!
How exciting to see a shammy set with a different graphic than rocks and fire!
Amazing!
holy cow that's a fantastic design!
Screw everything else. I want Icecrown.. riiight now!

like... right now! !!! /resorts to being excitedly impatient !

[zakayron]

My eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Concerned.]

I Love it! a bit druidy but its SO much better than the current t9 god-awful set.

cant wait to get that on my Dreanei!

[Leviathonlx]

Concerned. said:

I Love it! a bit druidy but its SO much better than the current t9 god-awful set.

cant wait to get that on my Dreanei!

If you're Horde you can put on Twin's Pact and have a matching set!

[lora]

why is the shaman gear on a human? :3

[slayme]

lora said:

why is the shaman gear on a human? :3

To increase your postcount.

All sets are shown on humans, big deal.

[damaniac82]

columhcille said:

OMG! THAT'S SIIICK! HOW KEWL IS THAT!! Brilliant! I just love the graphic on the shoulders! Wow!
How exciting to see a shammy set with a different graphic than rocks and fire!
Amazing!
holy cow that's a fantastic design!
Screw everything else. I want Icecrown.. riiight now!

like... right now! !!! /resorts to being excitedly impatient !

I can't believe you're so excited about that half-druid half-warlock gear.... It looks quite mediocre and has almost nothing to do with shamans.... Or you wanted to be sarcastic?

This post has been edited by damaniac82: 10 November 2009 - 06:14 AM
Reason for edit: Typos corrected.

[Concerned.]

damaniac82 said:

I can't believe you're so excited about that half-druid half-warlock gear.... It looks quite mediocre and has almost nothing to do with shamans.... Or you wanted to be sarcastic?

I would disagree with you there i think it is very shamanistic, not all shamans are elemental you know.

Quote

"Shamans are intermediaries between the human and spirit worlds. They can treat illness and are capable of entering supernatural realms to obtain answers to the problems of their communities"

Hence the ghostly shoveltusks on the shoulders as most of the shamanistic spirits were animals. Most shamans also wear animal skins and trinkets of bones skulls etc. to bring them closer to the spirit world.

All in all set fits very nicely don't see where you got warlock from just because its dark colours doesnt mean its warlock.

[Leviathonlx]

damaniac82 said:

I can't believe you're so excited about that half-druid half-warlock gear.... It looks quite mediocre and has almost nothing to do with shamans.... Or you wanted to be sarcastic?

It deals with spirits which have much to do with shamans (although its the area the player shamans don't really go into outside Feral Spirits).

[damaniac82]

Leviathonlx said:

It deals with spirits which have much to do with shamans (although its the area the player shamans don't really go into outside Feral Spirits).

Exactly - shamans became elementalits and healers (or melee warrior-like fighters for that matter) and ingame they have almost nothing to do with spirits.

"Shaman invoke the power of the four elements to enhance their weapon damage or spells. The most important feature of the shaman class is the totem, a small object that is summoned in combat to buff, heal or cause damage to the shaman's enemies. There are three types of shaman. Enhancement shamans favor dual-wielding weapons such as axes or fists. Elemental shamans deal damage at range with their Lightning Bolts and Lava Bursts. Restoration shamans call upon water magic to heal themselves and their allies. Shaman often act as spiritual leaders in tribal communities. They value Agility if melee fighters or Intellect if casters or healers." - class description.

In my opinion this gear does not fit for

elemental - who has nothing to do with spirits, previous tiers with red dominance in color matched ele much more

enha - kilt and a bigass helmet with lots of appandages is kinda ok for casters but a pure disadvantage for a melee fighter. Only exception would be trolls who for whatever strange reasons prefer this type of helmets.

healer - too dark for a healer imho, also resto shammies do nothing with spirits, since they are - according to lore - using water magic to heal, but that's all (as you can read above).

About how warlock came into the picture: Putress' helmet (also the lock tier) has skull (or some sort of bone) headpiece. For locks who deal with death and dark magics day by day it's ok to wear skulls as headpiece, but forgive me, i can't imagine a peaceful tauren healer for example wearing another peaceful creature's skull as a helmet...

This gear would more or less fit, if the shaman would be some misterious spirit summoner, or witch, etc - which is much closer to a lock, than to a shaman.

EDIT: A small addition. I've yet to see a tauren using skulls as shamanistic decoration... They use wooden carvings, feathers and occassionally small bones, but that's it.

This post has been edited by damaniac82: 10 November 2009 - 09:55 AM

[jardin]

damaniac82 said:

healer - too dark for a healer imho, also resto shammies do nothing with spirits, since they are - according to lore - using water magic to heal, but that's all (as you can read above).

Shamans, either ele, enhancement, or resto, all invoke the power of the spirits of the elements, earth, fire, wind, water, or even life itself.

In the warcraft book focusing on Thrall, he learns to communicate with all of them, life beeing the most important one, the one binding all lives of azeroth together.

So, beeing a Shaman is ALL about spirits, the only thing is that animally spirits thingys refere to the spirit of life, pointing to, but not only, the way of resto.

Hope this clarifies some of the shaman bg, beeing only my two cents.

PS: ya, I red those books... all of them http://new.worldofraids.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/http://www.worldofraids.com/forums/iPhorum/smilies/cool.gif

[Kody]

I think the main reason for this theme is to touch on something Ner'zhul would probably wear. The theme with this armor (most of the tier-10 sets) is rather dark. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of yourself to take down the greatest foes (in this case wear armor you might normally not wear).

Just don't let it get the best of you like Arthas did with Frostmourne!

[damaniac82]

Quote

In the warcraft book focusing on Thrall...

...Thrall used plate armor also, yet shamans are restricted to mail. Guess what, there's a huge gap between the books and the game, lore-wise. In the books for example orcs and humans could talk to each other, Karazhan had an evil mirror part lying under, etc. Also, in the books there are no resto OR ele OR enha shamans, but there are "shamans", who are a mixup of the three ways of shamanism, while such a mixup is not viable in the game (assuming you are not a DWing enha shaman who's gearing for int + agi)... When i'm facing such differences, i consider the books like an alternate universe or something, since i "live in" the world of the game, not of the books.

PS: ya, I've read those books too... all of them

Kody said:

I think the main reason for this theme is to touch on something Ner'zhul would probably wear. The theme with this armor (most of the tier-10 sets) is rather dark. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a little bit of yourself to take down the greatest foes (in this case wear armor you might normally not wear).

Sounds like a correct explanation Thanks!

Still this choice of theme leaves me a bit unhappy lore-wise that my shammy has to wear gear of the great enemy....

This post has been edited by damaniac82: 10 November 2009 - 10:59 AM
Reason for edit: Typos, typos, typos...

[Leviathonlx]

damaniac82 said:

Exactly - shamans became elementalits and healers (or melee warrior-like fighters for that matter) and ingame they have almost nothing to do with spirits.

"Shaman invoke the power of the four elements to enhance their weapon damage or spells. The most important feature of the shaman class is the totem, a small object that is summoned in combat to buff, heal or cause damage to the shaman's enemies. There are three types of shaman. Enhancement shamans favor dual-wielding weapons such as axes or fists. Elemental shamans deal damage at range with their Lightning Bolts and Lava Bursts. Restoration shamans call upon water magic to heal themselves and their allies. Shaman often act as spiritual leaders in tribal communities. They value Agility if melee fighters or Intellect if casters or healers." - class description.

In my opinion this gear does not fit for

elemental - who has nothing to do with spirits, previous tiers with red dominance in color matched ele much more

enha - kilt and a bigass helmet with lots of appandages is kinda ok for casters but a pure disadvantage for a melee fighter. Only exception would be trolls who for whatever strange reasons prefer this type of helmets.

healer - too dark for a healer imho, also resto shammies do nothing with spirits, since they are - according to lore - using water magic to heal, but that's all (as you can read above).

About how warlock came into the picture: Putress' helmet (also the lock tier) has skull (or some sort of bone) headpiece. For locks who deal with death and dark magics day by day it's ok to wear skulls as headpiece, but forgive me, i can't imagine a peaceful tauren healer for example wearing another peaceful creature's skull as a helmet...

This gear would more or less fit, if the shaman would be some misterious spirit summoner, or witch, etc - which is much closer to a lock, than to a shaman.

EDIT: A small addition. I've yet to see a tauren using skulls as shamanistic decoration... They use wooden carvings, feathers and occassionally small bones, but that's it.

Don't look at it as a skull like 'hey I am gonna chop your head off and take your skull and wear it' and more from the spiritual side of things. It's a shoveltusk skull after all and not the skull of some human or orc and taurens didn't really have much to choose from on Kalimdor since a Kodo skull would be a bit big to wear (although a lot of artwork has them with bird skulls on necklaces).

You're looking at it from a gameplay perspective when in actuality you need to look at it in a broader sense and how it matches shamans.

This post has been edited by Leviathonlx: 10 November 2009 - 12:02 PM

[columhcille]

Leviathonlx said:

Don't look at it as a skull like 'hey I am gonna chop your head off and take your skull and wear it' and more from the spiritual side of things. It's a shoveltusk skull after all and not the skull of some human or orc and taurens didn't really have much to choose from on Kalimdor since a Kodo skull would be a bit big to wear (although a lot of artwork has them with bird skulls on necklaces).

You're looking at it from a gameplay perspective when in actuality you need to look at it in a broader sense and how it matches shamans.

My first reason for rolling a shaman way back when , when i first started the game was bc I hold in interest in native american healing/ spirituality...what some people refer to as shamanism -which I do not practice actively, but find I can learn a lot from...

That said....I know there are clear differences between the RL "shamanism" and the book and game "shamanism", but that aside, believe that the asumption is correct that in general, the "Shaman" person is a mediator and reader between the physical and spiritual realms. In this case, the spirit of the elements as someone said.
However, we can also asume that, similar to real life "shamanism" and taking from in game totems that are used, that certain animals are held in connection with certain "medicine" . The spirit of water is for healing.. the spirit of earth, for strength and stability, etc.
Thus, if we look at the skulls and bones of this magnificent animal that has been used as adornment for T10, we may take the same assumptions that as in real life, the animals in game may just as well be tied to some "medicine". The animal medicine.

Shaman present us with a totem each time they wish to invoke the power of a spirit of an element... in the same way, could this tier be used to invoke a certain power of a differnt kind of spirit? One that will enhance our abilities even more for the greater task at hand

So what could the Shoveltusk represent to us? What type of medicine is this beast? As we observe in the forests of Northrend, the shoveltusk is a sturdy beast; the males active in mating rituals of dueling with their horns and proclaiming a new, stronger leader; the herd is gentle and ever-alert of what dangers may lay in wait and nurturing of eachother, having a very close-knit social structure amoungst themselves... etc etc.
So what kind of medicine shall we say is represented by the shoveltusk?

What does the spirit of this animal bring to you? Only you will know, when that spirit comes to you.
Will you learn from its teaching -whether it be strength and leadership, or nurturing and tenderness etc- and and will you integrate this new power into your schemes of battle against the Lich King?

This post has been edited by columhcille: 10 November 2009 - 12:43 PM