Shaman v. Cleric Buffs
 

I got into a discussion with a friend over whether our mains would benefit from an alt popping on to buff us every so often. Essentially whether we would benefit more from lower level Shaman or Cleric buffs. Assume that the mains are ~lv34 and the alt shaman or cleric is level 14. I said that our mains would benefit more from the Ac/hp and resist buffs from the cleric as opposed to the stat buffs from the shaman. Settle the dispute!

Shaman gives hp though not much till tali. But anyway hp ac agi dex str resists regeneration which is awesome. What lvl buffer and what classes. The haste/regen is amazing

That's for you to decide, based on a number of parameters you aren't sharing.
What classes are your mains? What level will you keep said "alt" at?
Shamans get haste, clerics get res.

You can always level a "cleric" on the side, while your friend levels an "enchanter" on the side - or vise versa. Make them on different accounts and benefit equally from them. And later on realise you should bench your mains and play the enchanter/cleric duo instead :p

Haha, yeah there are a lot of variables involved. We basically conceded that the cleric would be better at lower levels and that the Shaman's utility really opens up around 30. For argument's sake, the alt cleric or shaman would be 14 and the mains would be 34; a druid, necro, and sk.

You wouldnt get much benefit from either one at level 14.

level 14 buffs from shaman or cleric won't make that much of a difference

All mana users.
If you're gonna park the alt at level 14, consider making it an enchanter and take it to 16. Breeze (while not a gamebreaker) will help you more if you're set on duoing (imo).

I know you are talking level 14 here but I hate when I get, or other people get high level Cleric HP buffs. No way as say a low level toon can you stand to sit there for like 15 minutes, regening HP with a 1,000 point buff. And even if you did after a couple of those the damn spell wears off. And if you are a low to mid level Druid or Shaman trying to heal a toon with the Cleric buff on forget that. I hate them.

So true. Pre-19 as a shaman it's more efficient for a tank to click off level 60 cleric buffs.

On what world are you two living?

First, unless you cast complete heal, healing (and keeping) someone at 100% hp is an inefficient use of mana. Let the natural regen do its work.

Second, what difference does it make if the tank has 1100 hp or 100 hp when you cast a 10 point heal (just example numbers)? Are you trying to get him to full health? Your heal does the same amount whether they have 10, 100, or 10000 maximum hp. Having your tank click off the high level buffs not only deprives the person of maximal potential hps, but it also deprives them of an AC bonus (heroism, etc).

Your heal may look like it is doing less, because you see the hp bar go up in smaller ticks, but you have the exact same healing capability whether they have that buff or not. Don't try to compete with the percentages of the hp, ask what their maximum hp is and manage your healing based on that information rather than the hp bar. It is like the difference of starting a complete heal on a best in slot tank at 20% rather than 40% on an under geared tank when they are tanking the exact same mob.

Third, if you have 500 normal hp and use a fungi to regen back up. What prevents you from regening back to 500 hp rather than 1600 (with the extra 1100 hp in buffs)? If all you need is 500, then only rest up that much. You don't have to start every fight 100% hp. Again let the regen do its work, being full hp/mana all the time is inefficient unless you expect a situation where you have to squeeze every possible hp or mana in one go.

Granted, shamans may go with inner fire for heals, but that still doesn't effect the calculations. It is more important to note the maximum hp, rather than arbitrary percentages.