Are shamans obsolete?

[Irhideine]

TLDR; there are no shamans.

So, recently I found an addon called CensusPlusTurtle. Let me make this clear, I'm not saying you should install it or anything. I want to tell you something.

As of this moment, the addon has collected data on 3578 characters using the /who functionality. It provides breakdowns on classes, races, and guilds of said characters, but only as part of graphs and not including any individual attributes of the characters it finds.

So there is something particularly concerning with the data I've obtained. There are only 14 shamans.

I've been standing in the middle of Orgrimmar, spamming target nearest friendly unit, without any updates to the amount of characters surveyed. This addon is cross-faction anyway.

I've noticed a lot of guilds recruiting resto shamans lately, so I guessed the shaman population was low. But I didn't realize it was this bad.

Now, it's possible this addon is wrong and not functioning properly. Still, I think this is something that should be investigated further. Is the lack of level 60 shamans really this extreme?

[Harkus]

Yes, shamans are only really brought for their totems and heals. Their DPS specs are laughable. Shamans need some love :D

[Ryo3000]

I mean kinda.

Shamans don't really have good damage in the damage specs (in comparison to other damage specs)

Their mana efficiency is non-existent

Tanking is... There i suppose.

Imo there's some bloat in the totem department (Mana Stream and Healing Stream could be combined and they'd still be "ok", same with Poison Cleanse and Disease Cleanse)

Earth Shield and Water Shield are only available at 60 (wtf is up with this)

It just feels shamans don't really have anything going for themselves while leveling but when they get to 60...

They still don't get anything.

[Bigsmerf]

They still don't get anything.

What? Pfft. Yeah, right. Shamans get plenty of things! Like, uh... Raid spots... If you're resto... And... And... Raid spots if you're resto... Dear god this class needs some work.

[Manletow]

Paladin is a better tank
and better melee DPS
and better healer (for raiding at least)
and better in PVP
and 'Buffs/blessings' are better than totems as totems have painfully short range and only affect party members.

shamans can do long ranged DPS thats their only selling point (over paladins)

why would anyone play a shaman when their alliance counterpart is superior in virtually every aspect of the game..?
theres a reason(s) paladin is the most played class... and shaman the least played

THAT ALL SAID: Shaman is pretty awesome. I like PVPing, fooling around in dungeons/raids, Tanking...

I've never really felt "weak" as a Shaman. Their main problems are 'annoyances' like having to constantly refresh wep buffs, elemental shields, and having clogged up bags (anhk + totems), etc.

Their primary weakness is running out of mana quickly and having to stop and drink constantly.

[Bigsmerf]

Paladin is a better tank
and better melee DPS
and better healer (for raiding at least)
and better in PVP
and 'Buffs/blessings' are better than totems as totems have painfully short range and only affect party members.

shamans can do long ranged DPS thats their only selling point (over paladins)

why would anyone play a shaman when their alliance counterpart is superior in virtually every aspect of the game..?
theres a reason(s) paladin is the most played class... and shaman the least played

THAT ALL SAID: Shaman is pretty awesome. I like PVPing, fooling around in dungeons/raids, Tanking...

I've never really felt "weak" as a Shaman. Their main problems are 'annoyances' like having to constantly refresh wep buffs, elemental shields, and having clogged up bags (anhk + totems), etc.

Their primary weakness is running out of mana quickly and having to stop and drink constantly.

A sad reality, honestly. I haven't played many classes high level (only 2, actually) and shaman definitely isn't one of them, but I find it quite fun regardless, at least considering the experience I have so far. Definitely deserves some love.

[Imonobor]

As a leveling shaman, this makes me sad. Yes, paladins are better in almost every way, but shaman is one of my favorites in regards to theme and playstyle. We really need some love.

Imo there's some bloat in the totem department (Mana Stream and Healing Stream could be combined and they'd still be "ok", same with Poison Cleanse and Disease Cleanse)

Earth Shield and Water Shield are only available at 60 (wtf is up with this)

It just feels shamans don't really have anything going for themselves while leveling but when they get to 60...

They still don't get anything.

This is the truth. There are many half-baked ideas in this class. The damage specs are half-baked, because their DPS and mana sustain are problematic. The tank spec is literally only halfway there, they just abandoned it midway through its implementation. Totems are really janky to use due to their high mana cost and low range. The recent implementation of Totemic Recall helped somewhat, so you can at least remove your totems before they pull a patrol or something, but the mana you gain back is miserably low.

The changes proposed here are really nice, but they are mostly quality-of-life and won't do much to fix the glaring problems with the class. A major overhaul is needed, starting with making totems default to 30 yards range, buffed to 40 yards with talent or T1 set bonus.

[Irhideine]

Just to clarify, I don't currently play a shaman but I wouldn't mind doing so; especially a restoration shaman. But at this point I have no choice but to believe this class is in an abnormal state. However, I do not agree that paladins would be the only reason, even if their buffs (double meaning intended) are part of it.

Typically (at least according to what I've experienced in MMOs) some people will always choose the less optimal classes for whatever game mode they prefer, be it soloing or PvP or raiding. Simply because those classes have their own strengths, and their own unique playstyles. For example, there will always be some people who prefer to play as moonkins rather than mages.

No, I think this is a case of lacking viability. That's when I think people really stop playing a class or a spec. After all, there will always be some people who choose their class not based on performance but based on their enjoyment of the class, or any number of other reasons.

What I suspect is, shamans will not be invited as DPS in PvE. They're not just second rate; they're unwanted. As healers, their role is perhaps limited to bringing Windfury, eventually pushing healing shamans to spec enhancement. As for PvP, shamans aren't the only class affected by the paladin domination; they're pushing everyone else out as well. I'm unsure why shamans would be more affected by this than the other non-paladin classes.

Beside this, there would also have to be a lack of options for shamans as farmers, casuals, questers and so on. Or there would still be at least some shamans around.

[Akos1896]

Hey! Maining a shaman, can give my impressions.
Even if the tool you used is correct, you only see the logged in players at a given time I guess.
There are a few shamans but we are not extinct at all.
Gameplaywise... Leveling is hard. Ele is a drinking simulator mage who can be a backup healer in exchange. As a leveling enh you rush mobs like a warrior and pray that your leather (later mail) equipment is enough to survive. Frost shock and earthbind totem are not really useful oh shít buttons.
Resto feels kinda fine and viable but you have to accept that your healing is below what a priest can do and in exchange of a wf totem you are oom after healing two mob clears.
WF is by itself an interesting question. It is an extremely op totem rewarding kinda everyone except you (shamans rarely choose melee, see above).
Being a shaman has its own perks though. Immense utility. Fear, sleep, charm? Handled. Poison, disease? Handled. You need fire, frost or nature resistance? Handled. Wanna breath underwater? Handled. Shamans are great at solving problems but are also weak on their own.
What people tend to misunderstand is that shamans needn't be as strong as the others because the idea behind shamans is making everyone else stronger while contributing somewhat on their own.
Raiding is easy as a shaman, you can go to any guild but strictly as a resto.
People tend to regard shamans as utility units which have some key stuff, namely tremor, windfury, chainheal and bloodlust. As a utility unit people expect the one class from shaman which can give all of these utilitiy (bloodlust resto hybrid). Ele, full resto or full enh don't bring the same 'utility items' to the table. Maybe you can argue deep resto for better chain heals but serious raiding guilds have no ele or enh.
What I'd change is that each build gives a narrow but very good utility, so people would look for a bigger variety of shamans.
My idea is nerfing chain heal and wf totem. Resto gets a good chain heal, gets buffs to mana and life totem (maybe even 3* increase) and a new ultimate instead of manatide. Like healing rain (x min cd aoe heal which gives you 1-5 mana after each 100 health restored, making it up). Enh could get the real wf, bloodlust plus some survivability for leveling. Ele could have spell damage totem and added mana regen.

[Ataika]

There are so few shamans some people will invite you as ele or ench just for totems.
Get ele gear and destroy battlegrounds