Paladins and shaman(s), together and alive at last
Pallies and shammies probably hold more enmity towards each other than any other two classes in WoW. Both fulfill similar functions in PVE, both have extremely annoying tricks in PVP (windfury and bubble), and until recently, each faction only had one of them.
But now that pallies and shammies are guilded, raiding and living together, how are the former enemies getting along? I asked a couple long-term shammies and new pallies on my server about how their alliance was going.
Elemental shaman, guild and raid leader: Paladins are definitely a plus in raids. Blessings and stuff make them pretty awesome. I've got no problems with paladins -- they don't take my spots. We both offer a lot to raids, and with paladins being such great, efficient healers, it allows shaman to spec other ways in order to help DPS and whatnot. As for shamans, I haven't faced them 1v1 in PVP yet.
Resto shaman, officer: I hated paladins before TBC and I still hate them.They represent how one-sided this game is towards the Alliance, and they make shamans almost inferior for raids. Better healers, better buffs, and they can tank too. You can see how truly underdeveloped the shaman class is when you compare them to the pallies. I wish they weren't part of the Horde. I liked it better when everyone hated them, not just me. But it doesn't bother me sharing loot. At this point anyone who has a 70 paladin has to be either good or dedicated, and I have no problem sharing loot with good people. In PVP ... I fought a shaman and he made me sad. He had full Tidefury!
Elemental shaman: I don't like that their mana last forever, but I like them. Thanks to pallies I can go pew pew spec. And shammies still own in healing. I don't worry about raid spots and loot. Pallies rarely want to get anything that is not plate, and as for spots, I can still backup heal as elemental. We are lucky, we have two really good pallies, but I have met dumb pallies that buff my warlock with might. Shammies are entering a really good point right now, guilds have to accept that being all resto is not a requirement anymore and that shamans can do more than just heal.
Resto shaman: Blizzard fixed all claims of bias by making horde pallies and ally shammies. I no longer hate pallies. I still hate Alliance, but now I can hate them without feeling like Blizzard is helping them every time they buff pallies or nerf shammies. It's a more pure hate.
Holy/Prot paladin, formerly rogue class officer: I haven't had enough raid experience to really tell, but I've done a few five-mans and whatnot with 'em. You'd think the two classes would complement each other, they were made to sort of balance each other out on either faction. The issue is that Blizz has made it so a lot of their abilities don't stack, like the resists or the threat reduction. So it really doesn't pay to have both of them. at least not as much as one would think. For raids, paladins are better because of buffs and items. However, in five mans, I'd have to go with a shaman. Shamans might go to more of a DPS role -- you certainly won't see any DPS paladins anytime soon. I'm glad I rerolled. I feel a lot more important in raids and groups.
Holy paladin, formerly DPS warrior: I think they're working out rather well. Pallies are a new class in raids and are expected to heal, which gives shamans some versatility with their specs and whatnot. I think pallies are kind of overpowering shamans right now, a little bit anyway. The rez totems in particular don't stack with pally auras, pallies can give raid buffs ... shamans cannot. Pallies can heal mostly better than shamans, save for their healing wave, and DPS wise, well, there are mages and locks to bring up the DPS now. I don't think they're useless, but they have lost some of their usefulness.
I tried to talk to some Alliance paladins and shamans, but for some reason they killed me before I could start the interview. How are pallies and shammies working together in your guild or raid? Do you think they're competitive or complementary roles?
