Witch Doctor

This seems like the post I should have written on day one of my blog, not on day… *counts on fingers* … day 129. But, as Blizzard would say: better late than never.

Why do I play a Troll Shaman?

It’s a good question actually. Why is it that I play as both the least played class and the least played race?

It certainly wasn’t an obvious choice. In these kind of games I’ve always preferred to pew pew with magic. In Ragnarök Online I was a frost/lightning mage, in Final Fantasy XI I was a Black Mage, and in Oblivion I was the Arch-Mage of the Arcane University. So when I started playing World of Warcraft, I should have picked Mage right off the bat, right? Right!

Except… I didn’t.

The reason can be found in Warcraft 3: I simply loved playing as the Orcs. Their army consists of the most charismatic races in the game: orcs, trolls, and tauren, and they also have the most awesome heroes. I usually preferred the Far Seer or the Shadow Hunter, coupled with an army of Grunts, Wolf Riders, and a handful of Shamans and Witch Doctors. Ah yes, the Witch Doctors. Weak units by themselves, but have one plant a healing sentry in a strategic place, and your army becomes virtually invincible. Toss in a few Shamans casting bloodlust on all units, and your army becomes truly invincible. Happy times, happy times.

Trolls are awesome. I’ve decided that early on, trolls are awesome. They talk funny, they look cool, and they have an interesting history. When my boyfriend bought me the trial version of World of Warcraft almost one year ago, and I was faced with the character creation screen, I just knew it had to be a troll. The female trolls looked cool and sexy enough, and, as I was happy to discover in-game, they too have the crazy Carribean accent.

I had picked a race, so the next step was to pick a class. Most of them seemed straight forward enough: the fighter, the thief, the ranger, the white mage, the black mage. But Shaman? That one didn’t fit into any RPG cliché I knew. Masters of the elements, swingers of totems, backbones of the Horde, fighters, magic users, healers, and all of that all at once? I must have had a wide smile on my face while reading the class description. This was not an RPG cliché, this was a unit from Warcraft 3!

I named my tealhaired troll girl after a brand of Scandinavian yoghurt, and one minute later I was running about in Durotar, zapping boars with my lightning bolts. And the rest, as they say, was history.

~ Epilogue ~

Over the levels I discovered that the Shaman class in World of Warcraft is far from a carbon copy of the Shaman unit in Warcraft 3. In fact, it’s a mixed bag of spells, talents and abilities of the Shamans, Witch Doctors, Far Seers and Shadow Hunters from that game. I remain mildly disappointed that we don’t get to Hex like the Shadow Hunter, but all in all, 69 levels later, I’m still happy with my choice. Shamans are positively one of the most enjoyable classes in the game.

As for the pew pewing that I loved so much in the other games, Shamans are obviously more than capable of doing just that. Interestingly enough I’ve never specced deep Elemental. I’m going to try it sometime though, and then PvP my heart out for a weekend or so.

I have also tried my hand at playing a Mage. In fact, I levelled my bank alt, a frost Mage, from 12 to 17 just last weekend. As for how I liked it… well, I have to be careful here, as I’ve been told that the frost spec doesn’t become fun until after you’ve acquired shatter. But still: I’m not enjoying it. I’m not a huge fan of the other cloth classes either, but at least Warlocks have their Voidwalkers and Priests have their heals. Mages feel so fragile, and I can’t seem to grasp their playstyle at all.

So then, what is it exactly that I enjoy about Shamans so much? The answer to that question… I will save for the next update