Gearing Up the Shaman

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Gearing Up the Shaman

Angry Dread
Binds when picked up
One-Hand Mace
274 - 509 Damage, Speed 2.50
(156.6 DPS)
+31 Agility
+42 Stamina
Requires Level 80
Improves hit rating by 25
Improves critical strike rating by 29
Increases attack power by 86

There is no doubt that most games from console to computer are driven by the type of item used by the player. World of Warcraft is no different; in fact, in some ways it may be worse. It may be a little “too” gear driven. There are some complaints that gear can surpass a player’s ability to play, meaning that a poor playing, well geared individual will surpass a poorly geared outstanding player.

Unfortunately gear is what is needed to excel at WoW, so gear is what we will discuss. Gear will essentially help get a player where they want to be, the question is, will it be in a Ferrari or your mom’s car with her driving? Sure both are cars; both have four wheels and will get you where you want to go. But only one will do it quickly and in style, and be far less embarrassing. (Assuming all readers possess a driver’s license. If not I apologize for the poor analogy).

For those out there who may not be familiar with the classification of WoW items, here’s a quick little definition of the majority of items along with a little personal commentary.

Color	Blizzard’s Definition	My Definition
Green	Uncommon	Not really that uncommon, they are from almost every quest out there, not to mention random world and boss drops
Blue	Rare	Usually chain quest rewards and normal dungeon boss drops, so really not that rare.
Purple	Epic	Tiered gear, and Epic Dungeon drops, and almost everybody is full of epics, so how can epic be less rare than rare items? If that makes sense to anybody.

As I mentioned in last week’s introduction, the Shaman’s greatest blessing can be their greatest curse - versatility. Fortunately when it comes to gear, rather than being forced with three choices (Elemental, Enhancement & Restoration), the player has to essentially decide if they choose to be a caster Shaman or a Melee Shaman.

At a glance consideration for Shaman item combinations:

Build	Combination
Enhancement Shaman	One Handed Weapon, Shield
DPS Melee Shaman	Two Handed Weapon or Dual Wield
Restoration Shaman	One Handed Weapon & Off Hand

What stats are most important?

While leveling your Shaman a popular selection is the Enhancement build. It is the melee build for Shamans. The statistics that should receive focus are strength and stamina. Strength will assist in the amount of physical damage done by the player while stamina increases the total amount of health points. It is best to focus on leather gear with these statistics until level 40. Leather will provide you with greater armor class. At level 40 the Shaman can train to wear mail armor greatly increasing the player’s armor class. At this point the Shaman should focus on switching all armor to mail. It will increase your likelihood of surviving your encounters on the grind to 80. If the player decides to go the restoration route Intelligence and Spell damage should become the focus. Fortunately mana regeneration is less of a concern for a Shaman since they possess the ability to throw down a Mana Spring Totem. Blizzard has done a tremendous favor to all casters out there over the past year. In the olden days of WoW, players would have to contend with healing power versus spell damage. Now they have been merged under spell damage, it helps reduce the amount of gear a player may need to amass. No longer must you focus on a healing vs. damage set of gear. It helps out a little.

How important is the DPS of a weapon?

The actual DPS of the weapon is something to consider for a melee build of the Shaman, although DPS should not be the player’s sole fixation in choosing a weapon. A player must consider the additional statistics of an item. 10 extra DPS is nowhere near as important as 10 extra strength points and so forth and so on. I’ll share a little secret with the readers; I’m horrible at crunching these numbers. Fortunately there is ample additional Shaman coverage right here at Ten Ton Hammer, quick shout out to all the TTH contributors out there.

How important is AC?

For the Shaman, AC is only truly a focus if you decide to mix it up as a melee DPS, or off tank. If you decide to go restoration, you will be far away from the mix that AC shouldn’t be a concern. Sure it helps, but may not be worth the bonus spell power that both leather and cloth items may offer.

How to get the gear you're after?

Quest Rewards: From levels 1 to 79, quite honestly, quest reward items and crafted items will be more than sufficient. WoW seems to have a fairly balanced system of quest rewards which allows a player to stay competitive as they progress.

Faction Rewards: The whole game changes at level 80, and I believe it is here the player needs to focus. The Wrath of Lich King has introduced a number of new factions to gain reputation. A number of these factions have items useful to all Shaman builds. As an added bonus, these items are quite useful at the honored level. Gaining reputation moves fairly quickly. Just focus on those quests.

Auction House: The Auction House is always worth checking out. Sometimes you may luck out and just find somebody desperate for gold and willing to let a quality item sell for a reasonable price.

Crafted Items: High end crafted items are often expensive, but there is something to be said for the certainty of purchasing items. It’s a sure thing, no worries about being out-rolled for that drop you had your eye on. Popular choices at the Auction House these days are any items crafted from Titansteel. For the player who has specialized in the proper profession, it may be a very reasonable alternative.

Emblem rewards: The bonus of raiding is gathering currency to get your own epics. The level of difficulty of the instance will dictate the number of Emblems of Heroism or Valor the player receives. It’s Blizzard’s way of saying “hey thanks for taking the time to raid, and sorry you didn’t get any loot, but do this twenty more times and you can get yourself some sweet epics.”

Raiding: Last but certainly not least, the absolute best items in the game come from raiding. So go forth and use the gear you have already and get some epic loot for yourself.

What to roll on?

At level 80, my opinion is that if it is mail or under, and the stats work for your build roll on it. Just be a little considerate of other’s gear needs. Roll on everything that you can wear, you’ll never know when you may decide to change what role your Shaman plays. Mail is preferred, but shouldn’t be the sole type of gear to look for.

Additional hint: Wearing greens at 80 can also get you the sympathy vote on rolling for loot. A little pity never hurts. Sure you may have to be the butt of everybody’s joke. In the end you get to laugh all the way to the bank.

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Gearing Up the Shaman