Huge Wasted potential with Shaman (Mana and Attunement)

Feedback and Suggestions
1

A lot of people agree that Shaman is weaker than Beastmaster and Druid and that it is in dire need of a rework.
One huge missed potential I find with Shaman is Mana and specifically Attunement.
Shaman can hit 52 Attunement with just base passives and the class bonus but what is this bonus good for? a pinch of increased damage on skills and increased freeze rate multi on few spells, poison chance on a couple of minions… Maelstrom has a node that gives it 40% more damage at 60 attunement but there is no reason to stack attunement past that.

There are two major attunement stacking builds Judgement Paladin and Frostbite Swarmblade. It just seems odd that the main Attunement class does not have any good Attunement stacking synergies.

Attunement also gives 104 mana and there are other nodes in Shaman for more mana and mana regen. But what is the point of all this mana and mana regen?
Mana regen gets easily outclassed by mana generators if you want to spend mana, since there is no source of Flat mana regen.
Shaman also has no real use for a large mana pool. In comparison a Sorceror has damage absorbed by Mana, ward gained per mana used, ward gained for using high cost skills, etc. Even Marksman has some increased damage based on mana cost and mana consumed.

Adding some more Caster/Mana based synergies may be good for Shaman(especially since main Primalist defenses are based around melee). Maybe even better to ditch the whole melee/caster schtick and just make Shaman a powerful ranged alternative to Beastmaster/Druid.

2

I agree with everything else but find this odd. Why do you think that a Pally isn’t a “main attunement class”? All of the non-void spells are attunement-based and the Pally arguably does a much better job of being an attunement-based caster by getting healing effectiveness per attunement and Judgement scaling with that.

Perhaps the Shaman’s mastery bonus should have an additional effect based on attunement like the Pally’s does (but different)?

3

Yeah Paladin is definitely an attunement centric class.
I just meant that since Shaman gets 52 base attunement and Paladin can get a max of 28, it feels like Shaman should be the top dog or atleast a good pick for attunement stacking builds.

Yeah, something like flat mana regen per attunement would be cool or Mana efficiency could be interesting if it could make stuff like Earthquake, Tornado, Avalanche actually spammable(Shaman can finally be the storm) and would give an proper reason over Druid/Beastmaster(since you can skip a mana generator and add more support skills)

4

Well this thread is dead now.

2 Likes
5

First thing I thought seeing this comment

2 Likes
6

That’s pretty funny.

I was more talking about how often this is requested and the ish-show that follows. EHG has said no. There are other more inventive ideas for improving Shaman. Unless this thread is just a facade to request, AGAIN, more mana regen.

1 Like
7

Well, I think it also talks to how lackluster stats are, as a whole. I mean, if you’re stacking, that’s one thing. But most builds don’t go out of their way to fit in stat affixes, other than vit for extra eHP.

8

I agree that mana regen would be a bit boring.

but mana efficiency on the other hand would be really cool. There is already the avalanche set which has some on its items.

I think it would be an interesting way to have mana scaling added to shaman. Shaman would have big mana pools and more efficient mana use letting regen work better without actually giving shamans mana regen as a unique stat.

At 1% per attunement, at 100 attunement you are only cutting mana costs in half, does not seem that overpowered. Tornados base cost goes from 15 to 7.5, with some mana regen through gear and passives you might be able to actually spam tornados as a shaman without needing to complicate your life.

2 Likes
9

Yeah I’m not stuck on mana regen, though it does feel like a wasted stat in the game. The difference between -5 mana cost rings and just mana regen rings felt immense on my Electrify Javadin.

My main point is all the attunement and mana in shaman can be put to better use like sorceror(mana) or paladin(attunement).

10

Hmm… idk I find Strength pretty damn good on builds using strength skills since its both damage and defense if you are using thick armor bases(and flat armor blessing) which most of my Str builds usually are.
Intelligence is also pretty huge on ward generating builds since it usually beats ward retention passives.

Stats are also particularly good for minion builds or builds with a support minion as it boosts your damage/defense as well as the minions. For example on my low life Abom build, Intelligence is the best stat as it gives me ward reten, abom damage and health(increases health of minions absorbed by Abom) essentially 3 stats in one.

1 Like
11

Yea, this doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

Overall, I don’t think the Shaman has diverse enough skills. Most of them just seem like big mana spenders that deal damage. I’m sure there is some little niche things in some of them, but not enough for the skills to not feel same-y.

I think more than having an attunement matters thing, which could still work, I would rather see the skills reworked so that the entire mastery doesn’t feel gimped due to mana costs. Other than Storm Totem, which by definition other masteries can’t do, what does Shaman do that Beastmaster and Druid can’t do better?

Shaman needs better identity and a real reason to spec the mastery. The other thread had a really cool idea of having Shaman take advantage of overcapped resistances like a few pieces of gear do.

If it were my game, I would scrap Storm Totem as the mastery specific skill. Make “Tempest Strike” the new mastery skill (I would rename it). Instead of the junk tree it has now, make it so you can spec it to trigger the “big 3” skills that the Shaman has. Earthquake, Avalanche, or Tornado. I would probably rework those skills a bit too.

Tornado should be more impactful so it is more inline with Earthquake and Avalanche for big damage. Each should also have a spec that makes them cheaper, lower CD, but smaller size and damage.

Each should have a defensive spec. Each should have base damage of just the element with the option to spec into either of the other 2 elements or physical. For example, Tornado should have base damage as lightning only, with options in the tree to change its damage to fire, cold, or physical.

To me, the Shaman should be a force of nature. Conjuring the elements of the planet to strengthen his attacks and defense.

If they want to keep the totem theme of the Shaman, each of the big spells for Shaman should have a totem spec like Upheaval does, although I don’t know how popular that would be.

3 Likes
12

Most builds I’ve seen go for the dmg increase affixes (crit chance/multi…% , penetration, atk/cast spd or +skills), and then Vit for more HP on the boots. Unless there is a side benefit from the passive tree, or skills, associated with a stat, or one of the above mentioned affixes isn’t necessary (crit in an affliction build). I haven’t seen (or played) any minion builds that went for Int or Attunement to boost their minion dmg or defenses. It’s very rare you’ll see +stat chosen over any of the usual dmg increasing affixes. But, maybe that’s just the bubble I’ve been playing in… :\

13

Well, attunement possibly is the worst stat of the game, on the other side, you have strength, 50 strength gives you the whopping 200% increased armor, which is huge and universal, 50 attunement gives you 100 mana, something completely useless if you don’t have class synergies (mage).

Hopefully shaman gets a rework anytime soon, I feel druid is quite complete, and Beastmaster could see some adjustments, and minor reworks, but shaman by comparison is in shambles.

1 Like
14

It’s not completely useless but it is definitely the weakest benefit. If you’re a build that stacks attunement then you’re a caster that probably uses mana and having more is generally good (unless you spam a zero cost/generating spell like Smite).

15

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.