The problem with shaman

I don't know if it really fits here but anyways
sorry if there are any mistakes in spelling or grammar I'm not a native english speaker :blobsweat:

Shaman is the 5th class added to the game, as I'm sure you're all aware. It was once arguably the most busted (and absolutely brainless) of the classes, and its definitely still as brainless. Early game, it's essentially a better mage with bad mobility, but late game, it becomes the worst class, both in terms of damage (yes I know lumina exists don't shoot me) and in defense. Shaman as a whole is defined by only totem and aura (let's be real here who actually uses uproot, you wouldn't notice if it disappeared until you did tcc)

Before, that wasn't an issue, since you could kill virtually anything by just sitting there auraing 6 times per totem then recasting totem while the aura cage is still on. But after the cci update, fighting anything with any kind of movement or speed becomes hard if not virtually impossible (ahaha antikythera) since aura relies on you mindlessly braining the enemy over and over again while it struggles in vain to try to get to you.

It also has the lowest base defense in the game, 50% (with assassin base defense as 100%). This isn't an issue in early game, as you can literally sit there scratching your back while doing aura every 2 or so seconds to kill anything. But once you actually start playing against moderately difficult bosses, its pretty evident (without tank builds) that just one hit is enough to rupture your pancreas and possibly kill you while its at it too, which isn't good for both your soul points, and, well, your pancreas.

The fact that uproot is useless doesn't help either. Uproot has no benefit over aura, it does not have better range (uproot has about as much range as the diameter of aura) or any kind of tactical use (aura pulls the enemy towards you, you don't need an extra spell with the same range to do that too)

There are a lot more small problems with shaman, but I think those are the 3 main ones, and the fact that a class is defined in the meta solely by tstack and poisonstack with a very niche group of weapons is quite concerning.

So, how do we fix this?

I think the best solution here would be to replace uproot with a different, more useful spell, like some kind of projectile. The only real solutions involving aura I can see are either making it bypass cci, either completely or to a certain degree, or buff the damage up a lot, both of which wouldn't really work since they would both make shaman op again (keep reading after this I can literally IMAGINE people clowning me then clicking off after that sentence)

We could always just double the base defense, but that's a lazy fix and isn't really hitting the root of the issue. A class with only 1 attack spell (totem doesn't really count since you only use that to cast aura) makes its gameplay both extremely boring and very stale/unchanging.

so that's why I tried my absolute worst to balance uproot gun

uproot - has a base mana cost of 8

fires a single projectile with a range of about 25 blocks. It can pass through 3 enemies, dealing 300% base damage and 100% to all subsequent enemies it passes through. At first upgrade, it deals 200% damage and does not pass through enemies, and at the second upgrade it passes through 2 enemies for 75% base damage.


like for more useless bullshit
Edit: This post is actually somewhat serious I do mean it when I say we should turn uproot into some kind of projectile and that there's an issue with shaman

 

I agree with the problems with shaman, but all I gotta say is

This I gotta disagree with
I mean mage has 1 attack spell (meteor) and it’s interesting and fun imo
Shaman, tho I’m only a low lvl 60, seems fun cause u can’t just sit there and spam aura cause one hit is death so u gotta try to avoid stuff too which makes it more interesting imo
But like I said my shaman experience isn’t that high, but I can say the 1 dmg spell thing isn’t true I feel cause of mage

 

Mage has two attack spells, meteor and ice snake. However, it's also better because you have a diverse range of spells; whether it be support for a party (heal), travel (teleport), which you can also use if you're good enough to outmaneuver enemies. Then you can go on the ranged offense (meteor) or close offense (ice snake). Basically, mage is a better shaman; shaman just revolves around the totem.

 

Ice snake doesn't really count as an attack spell, as it does essentially no damage, and its sole purpose is to immobilize enemies. For some reason, it also outranges meteor.

 

the reason mage is more fun imo is because you can easily disengage, and you're not reliant on positioning nearly as much as shaman is

 

at least ice snake has strategic value and spell mage as a whole is flexible
Uproot has no use whatsoever

and if you can't facetank CoW its skill issue learn to deal

 

Wrong, uproot does decent damage and if you sneak cast it then it will push mobs away which is really good since shaman is so weak. The ability to pull mobs is also useful for getting mobs out of walls and the floor.

 

Adding to what Samsam said, it also resets your totem timer.

 

classing and dodging (seriously are you literally standing perfectly still while doing aura)
"does decent damage" you could deal decent damage with haul if you invested enough into spell damage% and raw spell

I stand corrected the only use uproot has is to reset totem timer but at that point just recast totem

 

Why?

It doesn't break active aura (iirc) and keeps the totem at its exact position, unlike recasting it.
Also without the landing delay you can spam aura more effectively.
And lastly, it doesn't have a range. You cast the totem in SE and reset it from Bob's Tomb without any issues.

 

I mean, it would be cool to be able to cast a golem that fightwith or protect the caster, isn't it the purpose of a shaman ?
That would be a huge game changer but idk, just an idea !

 

Assuming you trust Wynncraft's AI enough

 

Having the ability to create a helper that just does everything for you pretty much takes all the fun away from the game, not to mention, as TrapinchO said, that wynncraft has never demonstrated in the past that it is capable of creating helper mobs that have a halfway decent AI.

The thing that makes Shaman fun is the need to constantly make sure mobs are near your totem either through kiting or with Uproot, while also avoiding taking damage thanks in part to your low defense. This means choosing between using Haul with your existing totem to avoid an attack or a crowd of mobs or choosing to recast your totem and shaman fly away at the cost of your existing totem (shaman flying in and of itself is honestly insanely fun to master in it's own right). The aforementioned mechanics are pretty well balanced out by Shaman's insane damage. Overall these things combined make for an incredibly fun and engaging class, a class which I personally consider to be the best in the game.
While I haven't reached the endgame on my Shaman, I have made several endgame Shaman builds and based on their EHP, Damage, and mana costs, I can relatively confidently guess, based on my experience with the first ~70 levels with Shaman, that it's damage and just general meta-ness is just as good in the endgame as it is at lower levels. I may be wrong, but that's my assessment of the class based on my experience with both playing and building it so far.

Umm, what if a mob sneaks up behind you, Aura won't save you because it just pulls the mob towards your totem, meaning that if you are between that mobs and your totem aura will just pull it closer to you, not to mention that Aura takes time to reach you.

Then don't get hit. Like I said, Shaman makes up for it's glassiness with it's damage and crowd control. This isn't to say it can't be tanky, shaman can be insanely tanky in some situations, but generally it's quite glassy and it honestly makes the whole class a lot more fun to play. Also I've never been one shot by a "moderately difficult boss" on shaman (excluding of course attacks that are meant to be one-shots). Killed in 3 or 4, sometimes 2 hits, by a boss, yes, but you can avoid those attacks with the two strategies for avoiding attacks I mentioned above, or by pulling it away with aura or even the mostly useless uproot if the boss is far enough away assuming it doesn't have CCI.

Uproots range is literally massive compared to Aura, however I will admit it is pretty useless. I rarely use it in combat outside of resetting my Totem timer and a "instant totem reset" spell isn't really particularly creative as far as spells go.
Also add a poll

 

Uproot becoming a line burst sounds interesting, but leaving it with no other special effects sounds quite boring. Don't feel pressured to solve all of Shaman's problems with one spell change, because there are still many other things that should be touched on that just a change to Uproot won't cover, like melee mechanics, totem blocking projectiles, haul bounce, aura vertical height, and more.

 

As someone who's main class is a Shaman, I disagree with a lot of this.
The defense doesn't make us a glass cannon. Sure, we take 1.5x as much damage as assassins, but since when do assassins have the option to heal themselves?
Before level 20, Shaman... sucks. Pull through the first 20 levels and then Shaman gets pretty good as Aura is a decent spell. It's no Warrior, by any means (yes I'm using Warrior to mean good in this context look you try grinding for the first 30 levels of the game with Warrior and see for yourself), but it's good. In the endgame, our weapons have a good base which makes up for the fact that Aura doesn't do as much as other classes' RLL spells (screw you archer I'm not going to take the time to write "and arrow bomb"), and, as I stated previously, healing is useful. Haul is a totally viable combat spell I have no idea what you're talking about it does exactly half of Aura's damage but costs 8x less mana, and Uproot...
Yeah so Uproot does need a buff. As someone who uses Panic Zealot, I don't have much experience with the spell, but from what I can tell, it's not that great. The damage is less than that of Haul (which is actually the exact same as Totem ground hit), and besides resetting your totem, it isn't that useful.
My biggest complaint is the main attack. If someone got a 60k dps main attack build, a shaman would have to stand right in front of the thing they're fighting in order to get all 60k of the dps, which just isn't a viable form of combat. Aura means that shaman is amazing at grinding (I've given up on capitalizing Shaman), something pretty good to be good at, but not as great at 1v1 fights. I just think that you're overemphasizing the problems and not talking about the upsides here.

tldr: Haul is good, Main attack is bad, Uproot is also bad, Aura is good at crowd control, I think Shaman's a fine class.

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Honestly I'm constantly strafing while casting Aura idk what you're talking about and Haul does do decent damage (see my post above)

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You can't call ETW builds "skill issues"
Some classes and archetypes are just more glassy.

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mmmm flashfreeze

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Shaman does revolve around the totem; this is true. I don't think that's a bad thing though. As for mage being a better Shaman, Shaman doesn't try to be a Mage. They're two completely different things. Maybe mage is a little better, but that doesn't make it a better version of Shaman. All in all, I think that Shaman might not be as good as other classes, but it's better than you say it is.