Ok. So GU 36 has come and gone. Changes have hit and we have started playing with our AAs. (where is my [Removed for Content] card! I don't want to pay the respec'er anymore!) So now it is time to discuss our new line up...
Strength - Need some input. I spec'ed off this line to try out some other lines. Same with other 2 shaman in my guild. Have the others out there noticed much of a difference with the amount the ae prevent procs? How's the group ward? Too much of a nerf to this line?
Agility - Same as it was. No real comments needed.
Sta - The first push of this tree was "meh" at best. What they changed it to right before it went live made it a pretty good tree. Spec on tree 44772. 4th skill herbal expertise - This put my cures down to a mana cost of 28 I think. Makes those suckers really spamable. The casting time however didn't see as good of a reduction. I havent figured out the exact formula yet. But my casting is down to .58? I think. As it reads I should be down to a .3 casting time. This skill is good not amazing but not bad. 3rd skill - Originally on test this was just a bonus 1% dodge to yourself per rank. Now its that + 2% double attack. Needless to say, if you are a soloer or dps build this skill is a must have. For a raider the value of this skill is very dependent on what roll you play in the raid. 2nd skill - some damage and daze. Meh its damage, have to have a shield equiped though so if you are straight out dpsing can be a pain to use. Need to really get that club from Treah or whatever that annoying trees name is on 3rd floor of EH. 5th skill - Ok so I guess the listened when people said that just an increase to this skills size will only have a meh effect... So they made it effect the whole group! While the amazement of purple clubbing someone is taken away by this skill it gives you more hps for your entire group. This skill went from meh to a mystic to wow thats sweet! because of our normal roles (offtank or dps group). It being only single target was too much of a crap shot of who to put it on previously.
wis - They didnt change this skill line much prior to push to live. Initial build 44682. 4th skill - 1% faster reuse per rank. Awesome skill. Some people complain that it is too little, but this is one of those areas where a little goes a long way. That by the way is 8% to everything. Stones from unrest to summon people, manastone, canni-hat, wards, heals, cures, hell I think my farts were casting more often... 3rd skill - A good amount of point boost. This skill is truely a raiders skill. Groupers might see use for really difficult zones like mm castle. Otherwise our spells land easy enough. It is an "ok" skill. Honestly, cant decide if the points would be better spent here or in 2nd skill. 2nd skill - Increase a heal by x% +2% per point put in. Not a bad skill. I would love it if it effected wards and would make sure I had it in my build if it did... But as it doesnt, It becomes mostly a group heal amplifier. Its a solid skill, and getting rid of the requirement for a symbol makes it more useable then it was, or at least less annoying. 5th skill - Mini-jesters. This skill is really a powerful skill. I know some people are moaning that it sucks because you can't use it on yourself but for anyone that consistently groups or raids it is an amazing skill. It isn't as potent as jesters can be nor is it cross raid, but it does have the advantage that you can cast it and the person you cast it on has no immunity effect. This means you can couple it with jesters or other to give someone really fast reuse and cast times to keep important skills going, up damage of someone by allowing them to "nuke" more, or keep nice debuffs up more often (brig debilitate? line)
int - Did not try this skill myself. But this is the rough synopsis of some shamans I know. skill 4 - As it doesn't effect above level 70 - this skill is poopie for a raider and most grouping. Curious to see what happens when they raise the skill cap. Also hearing in general in pve enviroment its pretty useless and can't find where its actually doing anything. Alas poor yoric I knew him well! This skill is going to the graveyard. Might be good for pvp but for us pve'ers *rasberries* skill 3 - Crit nuke chance - as most mystics are CA builds this skill really only enhances the casting procs we have and whenever we can't go in on a fight. More beneficial to defilers but not horrid for a mystic. skill 2 - Ive heard mixed reviews of this skill. Some people love it now some people are meh about it. skill 5 - To be determined. Really this skill could be really good for a raider in that if it can strip the right buffs on a mob it will be a god send. Otherwise meh.
So for us mystics what I see as the most likely builds for good benefit for points spent.
Agi 44(7-8 )(7-8 )2 Sta 44(6-8 )(6-8 )2
or
Agi 44(7-8 )(7-8 )2 wis 4(4-6)(4-6)82
or
agi-str build. This build hasnt changed much so I want go over it.
for pure dps: agi 48862 sta 488 +2 extra
or
agi 44862 sta 448 int 442 (or something similar)
Edit: [Removed for Content] turning my 8 ) into a smiley!