Originally Posted by Marius

Just a few ideas that would make our class less "lack luster" not that we are ineffective, i just think we could be less boring. But maybe thats just me. Perhaps its a difficult task to balance one class in comparison with 2 others. We're both the mystic & templar counter parts so it would stand to reason that we would need to be in line with both, while not being overpowered.

Most of our interesting class skills have either been completely taken away or nerfed to near uselessness.

1.) The fear component on our Countenance line. Previously a 10% chance to proc a fear on attack. Being as though we aren't a melee class i didnt think this was overpowered at all. OK...so somebody thought so...well why not just nerf it to 5% instead taking it away all together?? It chips away the "flavor" of the class as a whole and in essence chips away at the fun.
I would actually dislike this feature. In PVP it's important to time our fear correctly. If people are constantly immune to fear from a short duration fear off a proc, it would cause more harm than good.

2.) Purulence. Whoever initially designed the class knew what they were doing in some respects. This was extra dps for a class that lacked it. Previously purulence had an effect that spawned 3 avengers to dps whenever the ward was broken. ( sorta like brigand thugs) Overpowered for one of...if not the slowest dps class in game?? I think not. OK...so somebody thought so. Well why not just nerf the fuckin dps instead of removing flavor from the class??
Would be cool, but would have to be pretty limited DPS. How many times does your group ward get dropped in a raid setting? Usually several seconds after it's cast. Would also make encounters like Drusella Sathir a bit more difficult.

3.) Malignancy...omg. Biggest nerf ever~ was a 32% stat debuff OP?? A debuff we had for 2 expansions?? Apparently somebody thought so...but even 'IF' it was, why nerf it to a set value & in the same stroke give mystics a counter buff that increases stats by 20% at M1 lvl. ?! Wouldnt it stand to reason that we'd get it nerfed to 20% at most? /Boggle I seriously had to think about even putting this spell on my hot bar in its current form. No joke. Again...chipping away at our options is bad.
%-based spells are usually faulted, and I can see why it was nerfed. HOWEVER, the nerf was much larger than it ever should have been. Keep it a set value, but increase it by 50% at the least.

Good ideas gone to waste...

1.) Dont know how many times this has been posted about so i wont beat the horse too much. MAELSTROM. Probably the most "defiler" like ability we have & its fuckin useless. Our least used spell could, in one stroke become our most used spell. The idea is just awesome but the stun duration is stupid ridiculous. Some ppl say remove the stun...personally i would wanna reduce the duration to where, with aa's, we'd have a 10 sec. stun duration.
The regen speed is more important imo. We'd see a faster power reduction because of it but with Canni...no problem. It would turn into a skill where you'd see immediate results that would make a difference in an encounter.
Don't think any defiler will argue against this

2.) Crystalize Spirit... Another potentially good spell. Its been changed once & the change has moved in the right direction but it still needs one more step imo. Not enough group members use the 'crystals' to maximize the use of this spell.
Our weakest area of healing is group healing...why not just turn this spell into a buff that has a % chance to automatically heal the group when a mob dies?? How many multiple mob encounters do u normally have seriously? Not all that many in a raid. It wouldnt be OP & would add more 'flavor' & flexibility to our class while maximizing an under used ability.
Your idea is already in game, but it's a templar ability. Healing Fate is a debuff placed on the mob, when it dies it heals the group for somewhere near 1400 HP at master level. Crystallize Essence is pretty flawed, especially with the Coil of Vile Spawn being used. However, you can teach your group to put it on their hotbar and use it in shakey situations.

3.) Invective line...actually this spell is pretty much solid as is. But what irks me is the 80% of mana taken from health...how the hell is a 20% increase overpowering to a class that lacks dps?? Most in game mobs dont use power anyway...so wtf. Consider that it has to actually proc in order to be useful anyway. Just make it 100% already /shrug
Invective is fine as is

4.) Immunities...i sorta lean towards the fact that the Int. line is geared towards Defilers so i see this as an improvement for us. DITCH this goddamn spell...either change it back to its former buff, or....IMO change it to a spell cast time increase like clerics!!!! Nuff said
Immunities is a pretty worthless ability, I agree with you there. Spell casting speed would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

5.) The latest edition to good ideas gone to waste is Deathward...the name of the spell alone is pretty snazzy but WTF. How in the hell is this spell in line with other new t8 heal spells??

The question isnt whether it could be made use of....for fucks sake i can make use of my t5 Ward if i cared to...does that make it viable in a t8 setting with the way mobs are hitting atm? NOPE
So...make it insta cast or reduce the recast...make it a group ward spell with less healing power....just change it!
Yes Deathward needs to be instant or 30s recast, or both. Not necessary to be a group spell, I like the utility of being able to cast it on an over-agroing DPS class outside of my group.

Couple of new ideas on the fly...

1.) This first one is probably more useful in pvp. We obviously lack utility but that fact is more apparent on a pvp server.
Alot of shamans kinda hate the fact that a pet was forced down our throats, like it or not, SO...why not give our dog a limited track capability...it would give us a viable utility as shamans.
Our dog can sniff out enemies/npc's. Put some sort of cap on it if need be but for christs sake throw us fuckin bone...we have to put up with the mutt anyway right?
Unique way of going about what every non-scout on PVP begs for, track.

While im on the dog....since its our "Spirit Companion" (which would imply that it takes on aspects of our spirit ) why dont our buffs affect it?? Atleast have our personal group buffs FULLY apply to the dog...mitigation increase, the whole 9.
The base hp/ mit value of the dog can remain the same but plz just make it less of a headache. Not asking for all group buffs to apply...just ours.
I don't know the last time you've actually targeted your dog, but group buffs do affect it.

2.) It would be nice to have a snare in pvp...we just dps way too slow to ensure a kill. Add a snare component to any of our debuffs. Dont care which one tbh. Somebody musta thought this was worthwile because mystics have one.
We get a pretty nasty fear, and can get a melee root from AGI line. Snares would be nice but again, not holding my breath.

Shit thats broken/questionable!

1.) Abhorrent Shroud...wtf devs get on the ball ! Im tired of recasting this spell every 10 sec. And does the extra healing items no longer apply to the buff? Surely the AA enhancement still does but its shakey atm.
Not sure what you mean here.. Why are you recasting it? It's a regenerating ward...

2.) Soul Ward is questionable...maybe mit IS being taken into account but it should be looked at for sure.
/agree

3.) Crits are not applying normally!
Most ppl agree thats its only on our Sacrificial line but...im not all that sure about that one. But wtvr...needs to be looked at.
Havn't really noticed this personally, so I don't know.

Aight...im late for work but i just wrote this out because i wanna see our class continue to get better & more importantly...remain interesting/engaging.

Originally Posted by mongole

What annoys me the most for sure, is the fact that sacrificial xxx line can't critheal, and has been broken since RoK launch. I bug and petition this 5-10 times a day thu, maybe sometime around next xmas they will get tired of it and fix it.

The abhorrent Shroud issue, very annoying too. Recast when a pet dies, when a member dies, when someone comes out of range, after zoning, sometimes after griff / sokokar rides etc etc etc.....waste of time.