With twelve different classes, balancing everything out in World of Warcraft has proven historically difficult, and an ever-changing landscape. At any given time, there’s usually a strongest class and a weakest class, depending on the metric.
Of course, it isn’t as simple as just twelve classes. Each class has different specializations – three each, except for Demon Hunter and Druid, which have two and four respectively. Additionally, each race has its own racial abilities and characteristics that further affect balance.
With so much to consider, it’s no wonder why balance is constantly changing. Keeping everything fine-tuned and working in perfect order is a tight rope walk, to put it lightly.
Throughout recent months – for pretty much all of the Battle for Azeroth expansion, really – the Enhancement Shaman specialization/class has been widely considered to be among the weakest options in the game.
The good news is this has led to Blizzard completely reworking the specialization for the upcoming World of Warcraft: Shadowlands expansion! Wowhead’s Wordup, a resident Enhancement Shaman expert, provided a fantastic writeup on the incoming changes and impact of said changes.
Enhancement Shaman State on Shadowlands Alpha – Reworks, AoE Improvements and Covenants By @von_wordup#Shadowlands#Warcrafthttps://t.co/WUWsGDbYEv pic.twitter.com/bbDf3NJfZS
— Wowhead💙 (@Wowhead) June 28, 2020
One of the primary changes coming is the removal of the Maelstrom resource that Enhancement Shamans utilize. Generally considered to be low in actual function, the resource has been completely removed for the upcoming expansion.
In return, abilities like Maelstrom Weapon will be used to occasionally make certain shaman abilities an instant cast. The weapon enhancement abilities Rockbiter, Frostband, and Flametongue – long-standing trademarks of the class – are being removed, while Frost and Flame shock are both returning.
Of course, with abilities being added and removed, there’s an upcoming rehaul of the talent tree as well. Multiple talents have been removed and replaced with other, more thorough abilities or simply reworked into a better version.
For example, the level 35 tier (currently level 60 on BfA) has been entirely reworked into three new talents, each of which will enhance the shock abilities of the shaman. There’s still a great amount of time for Blizzard to apply more changes, so none of these are final as of yet!
If you’re interested in seeing all of the changes, Wordup’s full writeup – linked above – provides a fantastic and easy-to-read summary of the changes that players can expect. The writer focuses in deeper on incoming Covenant Abilities as well, so if you’re interested in seeing the Enhancement Shaman return to prominence, it’s a fantastic guide to help you discover what you should expect in the Shadowlands.
