How to Improve Shaman in PVP

The biggest problem enhancement Shaman have in PVP is not our ability to deal damage, it isn't even really the ability to take damage. Its a lack of escapability and therefore a lack of survivability.

All other classes have ways to escape encounters, some from a single target others from multiple targets.

Paladin - The mighty bubble
Priest - Shield and Fear
Mage - Iceblock, dropping some frost and blinking.
Rogue - too many to count, vanish, gouge-n-run, sprint, CoS.
Hunter - Traps, Feign death fake-out
Druid - form switch / travel form
Warrior - Fear, switch target - intercept escape
Lock - Fear for days
Shaman - Frost shock / Earthbind totem?

I didn't include sheep or cyclone intentionally. While they can help you get out of a situation I just look at them differently than a "Holy Sh!t! Run away!" ability. For the arguements sake you can lump them in there as well though.

So Shaman basically have Frostshock and Earthbind. Earthbind totem can be nuked by whoever's killing you and they can be back on you without blinking an eye. Frostshock is good, provided you can put distance between yourself and the person(s) killing you before you're worm food. From experience in fighting those with equal gear to me I lose that fight a whole lot.

So I have a couple of suggestions on how to fix this. I don't think Shaman should have CC. (at least before the expansion) I do think we need some escapability / survivabilty as soon as possible, especially enhancement shaman.

1 - Shamanistic rage (This has been suggested elsewhere) should be non-dispellable and remove various debuffs ala CoS or druid shapeshifting. At first glance it may seem overpowered but considering this buff is useless in PVP right now due to it being gone from one click by an opponent and the fact that other classes have similar abilities in addition to other forms of survivabilty it really isn't all that bad.

2 - Add a spell - Blast of Air - 150 - 250 damage. (Less even if need be). Between a 30 sec - 1 min cooldown. Instant cast. Hits any opponent in a 5 yard radius with a blast of air, knocking them back 10 yards and taking minimal damage. (A dazed or slowed effect would be nice here but I think it could be a bit much)

Pro's - gives A shaman the chance to put distance between himself and opponents and therefore gives time to either get a heal off, cast frostshock and run, or generally do more than get burned down instantly.

Cons - People might worry about the knockback in places like the AV bridge or in EoTS at the flag. However the same type of problem exists with Priest MC, as a target can be MC'd and forced to jump off of whatever precipice the priest chooses.


Personally I think those dangers only add to the game, it would make opponents have to think about how to deal with shaman differently. Fighting a shaman in the arena on the bridge in BEM might be tricky if you get blown off and are now out of LoS to either heal or be healed. In AV it would actually take some smart folks to focus fire the shaman on the bridge before running across.

The hilarity of running in to the turtle at IBGY and watching bodies flying in the air would be priceless.

Hopefully my 6 readers check this out, I'd love to get some thoughts on this. I may even consider posting this on the cesspool that are the WoW forums.