Project Lore

I'm currently specced enhancement, which is my spec of choice for the time being. It's also the one I tend to recommend to shaman who are leveling up. Of course, both Elemental and Restoration have come a long way in their viability as leveling specs, but an enhancment shaman is able to solo with very, very little downtime, PvP decently, bring utility along with great DPS in groups, take on elites without breaking a sweat, heck I even tanked the ranged horsemen in 10 Man Naxx. Knowing the abilities that are at your disposal will help you make fights go much smoother. One of the key abilities available to enhancement shaman is Feral Spirit, the 51-point enhancement talent introduced in the Echoes of Doom patch. I said I would address my love for this tandem of wolves and you might have wondered what they do besides look cool and make lots of noise. I'll tell you right now - they are a versatile little cooldown that I've used in a myriad of situations. While leveling through Northrend, I used my wolves to solo most of the group quests that I encountered. My basic strategy when approaching an Elite was to start out with totems that would increase my damage output. That means Strength of Earth, Windfury, Flametongue, and Mana Spring. If I knew the enemy was a caster, I'd drop a Grounding Totem and wait for the cooldown to be up before heading in. Once set, I'd run in, let the dogs out, take some damage, heal with a 5 stack of Maelstrom Weapon when I got low on health, use my wolves' Twin Howl when I got too low on health to let them soak up a little damage, grab aggro again, and repeat. Usually by the time my wolves despawned, I was able to kill the enemy. If things got too dire, I'd use Shamanistic Rage or even Heroism, but most of the time I wouldn't need to go to those lengths. Now, while the additional DPS from the twins doesn't hurt, the real key to these guys is one of their abilities: Spirit Hunt. Spirit Hunt heals the wolves along with the Shaman, for 150% of the damage they cause, which ends up being a very nice HoT on both me and the wolves. This means that when I'm ping-ponging aggro on an elite by using their taunt, I generally don't need to heal myself during the time that they are being targeted and they don't need healing unless they're taking a severe beating. It also gives your healers a break during heavy raid damage and can give you a nice buffer in PvP so long as your wolves can stay on an enemy. Another useful ability that the Spirit Wolves have available is Bash, which is a stun. This is the only true stun that shaman have access to. It's amazing for PvE since it can give you an extra breath between damage, and in PvP, well, you can't do that while stunned. If you're a Shaman who's done any real PvPing, you know how much it sucks to be stunned, so start using it against all of those rogues and pallies. Unfortunately, the wolves will cast this as soon as they start attacking something, and although autocast can be turned off manually once the pets are out, it will turn back on the next time they are summoned. I've looked and tried hunter macros that turn off autocast, but they are not effective on the spirit wolves. Blizzard is aware of the issue and hopefully it will be fixed soon. Spirit Walk is the last of the wolves' abilities that I'll cover. It is a Sprint-like ability that increases your run speed and your wolves' run speed by 60%. It also clears any root effects on all three of you. Incoming AoE spell? Stuck in a Frost Nova? Getting kited? Running a flag? Trying to catch a flag carrier? For an enhancement shaman, if you aren't in melee range, you're missing out on a lot of your potential damage. Sure you can Lava Burst for a decent crit on top of a Flame Shock, but that's not how you get your damage done. Movement is critical especially in PvP. Spirit Walk will get you there faster than Ghost Wolf, frees you from roots, and even works indoors! (Insert Plea for Ghost Wolf Indoors, maybe a glyph? Please!). If used early enough in the wolves' 45 second duration, it can be used twice per summon. I often use it while running back in an instance if I know it is going to be a long one. Now, if only they were permanent and not just 45 seconds every 3 minutes...

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So, as most of you know from my older post about my alt I'm currently leveling a Druid. From the comments I've tried a bunch of stuff and I'm having a bit more fun, so thanks everyone! That said, I'm now spec'd balance. I know, I know, but it's a change from my Rogue so I'm really enjoying it. Recently though, I was questing in the lovely Redridge Mountains, and I got a random whisper from someone asking for my help with a 26 Elite. "Ok," I said, and I headed over. We had a full group of 5 and there wasn't a tank. So I did what any good level 27 Druid would do and *bam* bear form, growl, swipe. I have to say, it was almost a life changing experience. After such a long time trying with all my abilities to avoid aggro, it was so freeing to want it for a change. And not having the guy leave me to kill a healer was so satisfying... I think I'm going to be a Bear Tank! - Dr Dark

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Me: There are five men in this group right? You: Right Me: No, wrong You: Wrong? Me: Yeah wrong. You see that huge white tiger standing next to me? You: Yeah Me: That's f***ing Jimmy and he's my pet and he's part of this group, so that makes six of us. You: Oooookay. So what? Me: So what?!?! So he is just as important as everyone else. And because I'm a Beast Master he provides almost 35% of my f***ing dps. Not only that, but with Ferocious Inspiration everytime he crits a mob in the face, we as a group gain 3% to all damage! And trust me he crits a lot. You: Fine he the sixth man, your a Beast Master he helps your dps, and give us some Ferocious stuff. Now, why are you telling me this? Me: Because you're the healer a**hole!! Just like anyone else in the group, if you see him dying, throw a heal his way. Got it? You: Yeah, whatever. Me: A**hole.

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