Shaman needs a capstone

Era

I think what the class needs most is something really unique or flavorful to look forward to.

Before I get into it, let me reflect for a sec: I played a shaman as a main to 30 during the beta and really enjoyed the ride. I loved how much value I brought to groups. I loved seeing ppl savoring the buffs, appreciate skillful saves, and all the personality and skill expression that was possible.

Which is why I feel really confused why I’m so conflicted if i still want to main it in EA. I can deal with the nerfs… the class was obliviously kinda broken. But after the re-work things are feeling balanced, but maybe flattened.

Getting myothopoetic for a sec, what’s our “miracle”? Clerics can bring ppl back from the dead, druids can whisk ppl across the world … this is the stuff of fantasy legend, and is super cool… good for them !

But what’s the shaman miracle? Shrink is fun, slow is powerful, but legends don’t get written about those things. What role does the shaman play in that heroic journey?

D&D has this design called a classes “capstone” that the class gets at max level that’s supposed to be something you are building towards that takes the class to a whole new paradigm.

I think in EQ that was torpor, which completely turbocharged everything the class did. I think there was poetry there too, kinda the legend of a deep magical hibernation.

At the start of EA I am really left wanting something like that to chase. The devs are super creative and I’m sure they could come up with something amazing, but if you were making a wish for something like this… what would it be?

Stormvale

Era

I agree.

I think the rework was good overall - but the class still feels like it is lacking some flavor and identity; I think you did a excellent job explaining why.

Deathrite

2 classes can rez, 2 classes can port, are there 2 classes that coth? or just mages?

Fell

Deathrite Mages cannot COTH -- no one can.

Personally, I think shaman and druid both should have res. Much weaker than cleric, perhaps even zero-exp ... but given the high travel times in game, the notion that only a cleric and psuedo-cleric pally can instantly reunite a person with their corpse is nuts. If you have a cleric in your group, a party death is a 60 second blip. If not, it might mean 45 minutes of travel time for the person who died and, depending on their class, might also require the entire group to fight out to reach them.

You want to distinguish shamans, give them a exponential-decay dot -- lasts far longer than any other dot, but damage tails off fast. Very useful for a shaman soloing (where they need serious help) but not unbalancing in group play.

Dalgrim

Maybe instead of a res or straight summon, we could have a spell that summons a player to their corpse, if said corpse is fresh enough. Maybe have it require the aid of one or two party members or have a cooldown as well to avoid abuse.

Thematically you could say it's a ritual to commune with the spirit world, and the shaman is able to cross over to retrieve their party member's essence. We can't facilitate the actual rejoining of spirit and body, but we can get them closer.