Enh shamans on the PTR
so i ran across a few enh shamans on the ptr last night, one that i was watching, is just slightly better geared than stem, with the only thing better being twins shoulders. with a slow/slow setup with double windfury, she was pulling 1880-1990dps self buffed with 5x sunder on the target dummy. she switched to slow MH, fast OH with flametongue on the OH (and an unenchanted weapon at that) and was maintaining a minimum of 1930dps peaking at 2030. so looks like shammies will be able to make use of fast OH weapons now as well.

That's about where I've -*test*-('")ed myself at with only self buffs. I'm not concerned about that though. All of my complaints about the shaman changes is that the unique buffs we bring will no longer be unique. For a class and spec built around buffing, I bring very little to the table now. I -*test*-('")ed on the level 1 dummies in Theramore, and the unkillable guys in Blasted Lands. I have no fast OH, but I did try WF/WF and WF/FT. Seems like FT will be the OH flavor of choice even when double slow. I need to -*test*-('") with a mana battery, because I go OOM very very fast. I was trying to work CL in on my maelstrom procs. I found myself really watching CDs. It's not a fun way to play. But it'll take time to make it second nature. I don't know. I've taken a liking to how Ret plays. Vic doesn't have the gear, but could measure up with buffs to the output Returna has. I won't be main switching before Wrath hits, but I'll be watching both specs.

Borked
The idea isn't that shamans would be a buffing class anymore, at least not solely. You'll still give your buffs, but you'll be brought for you skill and dps rather than the buffs you give. Shaman dps is still being fine tuned, but they keep saying over and over that being a "buffing" class is a model they want to move away from. Not just for shamans, but for moonkin and Spriests as well. In a min/max situation, obviously a few classes may deal a quoted 5-7% more dps, but skill and gear should be more of the deciding factor than anything else as to the dmg you do. Thats the logic behind rolling alot of the support classes buffs into the "pure" classes. You get more dps for your buffs not being unique anymore. And you do still have heroism. Thats shaman specific.

Possibly you're missing my point. I rerolled Shaman to be a strong support class with respectable raid damage. The play style is very important to me. I know I'm skilled at the role I'm in. Obviously I wouldn't be brought to raids if the only thing I brought was what Blizzard gave me in the class. I'm upset with the direction Blizzard has taken, especially since the direction they are going hurts my class and spec to a greater degree than others. (Hurt feelings over "my class" is probably a big reason why people reroll.) I don't want to play as just another dps class. The additions they've made don't outweigh or equal the things they've taken out, in my opinion. But at this point in the game, I can't change. When Wrath hits, and I have had the time to adjust I'll better know which direction I want to go.