Quote:
Originally Posted by xaxis
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
Right but we also face tank better than all of those, and probably better than Rangers too, while also not having the mana efficiency or tactical abilities of most of those classes. We can't quad kite, can't charm, can't fear kite, expensive ass DD's, so while I agree that shaman probably shouldn't melee at a certain point, I would argue that a lot of your levels are going to be spent meleeing out of necessity/efficiency .
|
Agreed; again, I failed to communicate
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.] Meleeing (ie. tanking) and doing melee damage are two different things. We're great at the former (though maybe not better than a Ranger) ... but we're lousy at the latter.
Tanking is about taking hits, not giving them. In other words, it's about giving the mob something to do so it doesn't kill your pet or run around wasting your DoTs (and at high levels it's because you have no choice after being summoned).
None of that requires doing melee damage: between slows, roots, and DoTs (and Flash of Light
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]) Shaman can easily tank a mob without ever landing a single melee hit. Melee damage is just "well I'm already standing next to this mob anyway, I might as well hit the auto attack button to throw a few extra DPS in".
Again, nothing wrong with that, it's just that the "might as well" damage will normally be less than either your pet damage or your DoT damage. If it amounts to say 20% (exact % varies by level/gear) of your damage then I just don't think it makes sense to spend a lot of time/energy trying to optimize that damage, because all that effort only optimizes 20% of your DPS output. If it takes you ten hours to acquire a haste belt/better weapon, that belt/weapon has to add damage equal to 50 hours of melee damage without it (10 hours / 20%), or else you would have been better off just XPing with your old gear.
P.S. That doesn't mean a Shaman should never upgrade their melee weapon. If they can get a new weapon that adds even a small amount of DPS at level 20 and then they never look for a new weapon again, even that small DPS increase will likely be justified over the course of 40 levels. Shaman can even make a few of those "justified" upgrades as they level because they can do so without spending a lot of time/energy on them. It's stuff like getting a haste belt, or getting a slightly more optimal weapon when you already have a PWC, that I think isn't worth the trouble.