As much as I love the Shaman class, getting overloaded is a big fuck you. When you remove an aggressive board and then they just shit minions back out and then you're fucked next turn because you're overloaded and can at most play a 0/2 totem.
I try time and time again to come up with innovative new decks to play with Shaman, albeit always control decks, I have a large collection and most of the cards in the game, so that's not my problem. My problem are these cards that will supposedly give you tempo plays at a lower cost but then have an effect which limits your next turn and then having to pray to RNG that you get Lava Shock from another card that overloads; Ancestral Knowledge,....which I have a problem with, why couldn't they have just given Shaman a 3 mana 'Draw 2', who cares if it's the same, AK is stupid! Then there's the minions that benefit from overload, considering there are only 2 and only 1 gets used anyway...in a face deck. *sigh*
Some of it makes sense and I enjoy being able to out-tempo some more midrange decks or getting to Lightning Storm a full board of a hunter, but that doesn't mean shit when I've had to wait a few turns for him to over-extend and playing it on turn 3-4 would mean tempo loss instead of gaining any and then because I've waited I'm now on 10 health and fucked. Thanks overload.
Not sure how I would balance it, not my job, but I do think more anti-overload cards would be nice, mainly a minion would be tits. Or just getting rid of this gimmicky way for Shamans to have something different to the other classes which essentially loses them more matches than it wins.
(This comes from playing a fuck load of different Shaman decks all over HS: Arena, Ranked and Unranked)
Overload is one of those mechanics with disadvantages and advantages.
Right now there are too many disadvantages and inconsistencies. We would need more cards that have some benefits while overloaded like Unbound Elemental, Lava Shock and Tunnel Trogg
With what's released in the upcoming expansion, seems like they are limiting Overload mechanic as much as possible.
recently it looks like blizzard is avoiding the overload mechanic. Maybe they have realized it's not as much of an advantage than they original thought. Also lightening storm is still really good.
Yes, the shaman classic flavor is heavily overloaded. The weights should probably be rearranged even it is just increasing the mana cost to lessen the overload. Blizzard seems to understand these issues and appears to be moving towards a longer-game shaman like slow midrange and control rather than the aggro and fast midrange
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Wants to play Captain Cookie Druid because why not?
The main problem I found with control decks with Shaman is the coinflip you have almost all the turns you want to clear a huge board... where the result of the game almost depends of that and you can't control it (in my case I almost lost all my coinflips). I'm refering to cards like Elemental Destruction or Lightning Storm.
By the way, I think they are giving a nice push for the Shaman control decks in the new expansion... I hope it will work well.
I think maybe just having more cards that synergize with overload would make it better. Some examples off the top of my head would be like "costs 1 less per overloaded mana crystal" or "battlecry: gain x/x per each overloaded mana crystal". I think the way the shaman class is designed is for a think ahead kind of playstyle where you need to be planning out a few moves in advance and budget your mana/overload efficiently. Having cards that interact with overload in different ways provides more options to think about and makes it a more skill oriented class to play.
Right now we only have cards that get buffed when they're played before overload, I'd look fotwards to cards that get buffed after your mana is overloaded. Especially since crystals are overloaded during 1 turn and stay overloaded the next turn.
How to actually design cards that would be balanced for this is an entirely different story tho, would probably seem a bit broken.
Yeah, although I feel like overload is an interesting and flavourful mechanic. But Blizzard need to fix it somehow or make more playable cards which can benefit from it.
Personally, I stopped playing Shaman cause of rng-based cards. Rng - board clear, rng - hero power, crackle etc. But as someone above said: shaman is getting good cards with no overload this expansion.
I'm a dedicated Shaman player. I have been since day one. It is my favorite class by far. Here are some observations that may help you.
1. Somebody has to be the worst class. Right now it is Shaman. Accept that. You can still make legend, but it is a challenge.
2. Overload is not a tempo play as Blizzard intended. It is a combo play. The main benefit of overload is being able to play a lot of powerful cards in one turn. Yes, your next turn will suck, but combo decks don't care about the next turn. You will say, "but Shaman sucks as a combo class!" I know. I know. I'm just saying that thinking of overload as a combo enabler will help you play better.
3. Doomhammer is the best Shaman card. The only other canidate is fire elemental, but Doomhammer has a slight edge. It is NOT used for control. It is used to go face and finish the opponent. This is key. In a control deck it is crazy powerful to nuke the board with elemental destruction then run out Doomhammer and start going face. You would be shocked by how often you just win as your opponent has no answers.
That's about all I've got on this very old topic for now. The struggle is real, but I have a feeling Blizzard is about to boost Shaman.
The real problem about overload cards is that their ONLY upside is the ability to be played earlier and as we have seen, that's not enough. Every single one of them isn't really over-budget for a class card when played without overload and instead for their "real" mana cost. e.g. Totem Golem is a 3/4 for 2(+1) mana, so essentially the only advantage over a vanilla 3/4 (e.g. spider tank) is that you can play it a turn earlier. However, if you compare it with Fierce Monkey, it's objectively worse on those turns. Playing cheaper only matters when you can play more than you would otherwise be able to. Lightning Bolt is a worse Frostbolt / Quick Shot, unless you only have a single mana to spare. HS is not a game where that "advantage" is enough to not have your next turn fully available to you, meaning you fall more easily. There are just one or two cards that are better with overload than without really, namely Lightning Storm and Doomhammer.
My suggestion to fix Overload would be to fill all empty mana crystals at the end of the turn with Overload.
So, if you play a Totem Golem on Turn 3, and end turn, you'll have 1 empty crystal. That crystal is filled with the 1 Overload, and on T4 you have 4 crystals.
Shaman lose a ton of games just because they're in a position where they have to play an Overloaded card, but it prevents them from playing on curve the next turn, or playing their finisher. Lightning Storm on T6 to save yourself prevents a T7 Dr. Boom or other finisher. Its just too much a penalty in the late game.
Overload is a fairly balanced mechanic. The real problem with it is that it appears on reactive cards like Lightning Storm. Having to plan your plays around overloading is fine, but the fact that you also have to predict when you'll have to use shit like Lightning Storm makes it extremely hard to plan.
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Its fangs are in your flesh before its hiss leaves your ears.
Overload cards should be choose one card, one option with overload, another without overload. Giving choose one to druids is a big missed opportunity imo.
I think this is really the solution here. Overload should be OPTIONAL.
For example...
* Totem Golem 2 mana 2/3 "Overload (1): Gain +1/+1"
As much as I love the Shaman class, getting overloaded is a big fuck you. When you remove an aggressive board and then they just shit minions back out and then you're fucked next turn because you're overloaded and can at most play a 0/2 totem.
I try time and time again to come up with innovative new decks to play with Shaman, albeit always control decks, I have a large collection and most of the cards in the game, so that's not my problem. My problem are these cards that will supposedly give you tempo plays at a lower cost but then have an effect which limits your next turn and then having to pray to RNG that you get Lava Shock from another card that overloads; Ancestral Knowledge,....which I have a problem with, why couldn't they have just given Shaman a 3 mana 'Draw 2', who cares if it's the same, AK is stupid! Then there's the minions that benefit from overload, considering there are only 2 and only 1 gets used anyway...in a face deck. *sigh*
Some of it makes sense and I enjoy being able to out-tempo some more midrange decks or getting to Lightning Storm a full board of a hunter, but that doesn't mean shit when I've had to wait a few turns for him to over-extend and playing it on turn 3-4 would mean tempo loss instead of gaining any and then because I've waited I'm now on 10 health and fucked. Thanks overload.
Not sure how I would balance it, not my job, but I do think more anti-overload cards would be nice, mainly a minion would be tits. Or just getting rid of this gimmicky way for Shamans to have something different to the other classes which essentially loses them more matches than it wins.
(This comes from playing a fuck load of different Shaman decks all over HS: Arena, Ranked and Unranked)
गञ्जा गञ्जा
Overload is one of those mechanics with disadvantages and advantages.
Right now there are too many disadvantages and inconsistencies. We would need more cards that have some benefits while overloaded like Unbound Elemental, Lava Shock and Tunnel Trogg
With what's released in the upcoming expansion, seems like they are limiting Overload mechanic as much as possible.
recently it looks like blizzard is avoiding the overload mechanic. Maybe they have realized it's not as much of an advantage than they original thought. Also lightening storm is still really good.
Yes, the shaman classic flavor is heavily overloaded. The weights should probably be rearranged even it is just increasing the mana cost to lessen the overload. Blizzard seems to understand these issues and appears to be moving towards a longer-game shaman like slow midrange and control rather than the aggro and fast midrange
Wants to play Captain Cookie Druid because why not?
The main problem I found with control decks with Shaman is the coinflip you have almost all the turns you want to clear a huge board... where the result of the game almost depends of that and you can't control it (in my case I almost lost all my coinflips). I'm refering to cards like Elemental Destruction or Lightning Storm.
By the way, I think they are giving a nice push for the Shaman control decks in the new expansion... I hope it will work well.
I think maybe just having more cards that synergize with overload would make it better. Some examples off the top of my head would be like "costs 1 less per overloaded mana crystal" or "battlecry: gain x/x per each overloaded mana crystal". I think the way the shaman class is designed is for a think ahead kind of playstyle where you need to be planning out a few moves in advance and budget your mana/overload efficiently. Having cards that interact with overload in different ways provides more options to think about and makes it a more skill oriented class to play.
Right now we only have cards that get buffed when they're played before overload, I'd look fotwards to cards that get buffed after your mana is overloaded. Especially since crystals are overloaded during 1 turn and stay overloaded the next turn.
How to actually design cards that would be balanced for this is an entirely different story tho, would probably seem a bit broken.
I always thought that overloard could be used/gone if you have that many full mana cristals by the end of your turn.
For example: If on turn 4 all i do is Ancestral Knowledge(not even hero power). There is no reason to me being overloaded the next turn for 2 again.
This way you could use, say, Fireguard Destroyer on turn 5 and Fire Elemental on 6, assuming that i don't use that 1 mana left from turn 5.
Yeah, although I feel like overload is an interesting and flavourful mechanic. But Blizzard need to fix it somehow or make more playable cards which can benefit from it.
Personally, I stopped playing Shaman cause of rng-based cards. Rng - board clear, rng - hero power, crackle etc. But as someone above said: shaman is getting good cards with no overload this expansion.
I'm a dedicated Shaman player. I have been since day one. It is my favorite class by far. Here are some observations that may help you.
1. Somebody has to be the worst class. Right now it is Shaman. Accept that. You can still make legend, but it is a challenge.
2. Overload is not a tempo play as Blizzard intended. It is a combo play. The main benefit of overload is being able to play a lot of powerful cards in one turn. Yes, your next turn will suck, but combo decks don't care about the next turn. You will say, "but Shaman sucks as a combo class!" I know. I know. I'm just saying that thinking of overload as a combo enabler will help you play better.
3. Doomhammer is the best Shaman card. The only other canidate is fire elemental, but Doomhammer has a slight edge. It is NOT used for control. It is used to go face and finish the opponent. This is key. In a control deck it is crazy powerful to nuke the board with elemental destruction then run out Doomhammer and start going face. You would be shocked by how often you just win as your opponent has no answers.
That's about all I've got on this very old topic for now. The struggle is real, but I have a feeling Blizzard is about to boost Shaman.
The real problem about overload cards is that their ONLY upside is the ability to be played earlier and as we have seen, that's not enough. Every single one of them isn't really over-budget for a class card when played without overload and instead for their "real" mana cost. e.g. Totem Golem is a 3/4 for 2(+1) mana, so essentially the only advantage over a vanilla 3/4 (e.g. spider tank) is that you can play it a turn earlier. However, if you compare it with Fierce Monkey, it's objectively worse on those turns. Playing cheaper only matters when you can play more than you would otherwise be able to. Lightning Bolt is a worse Frostbolt / Quick Shot, unless you only have a single mana to spare. HS is not a game where that "advantage" is enough to not have your next turn fully available to you, meaning you fall more easily. There are just one or two cards that are better with overload than without really, namely Lightning Storm and Doomhammer.
My suggestion to fix Overload would be to fill all empty mana crystals at the end of the turn with Overload.
So, if you play a Totem Golem on Turn 3, and end turn, you'll have 1 empty crystal. That crystal is filled with the 1 Overload, and on T4 you have 4 crystals.
Shaman lose a ton of games just because they're in a position where they have to play an Overloaded card, but it prevents them from playing on curve the next turn, or playing their finisher. Lightning Storm on T6 to save yourself prevents a T7 Dr. Boom or other finisher. Its just too much a penalty in the late game.
Overload is a fairly balanced mechanic. The real problem with it is that it appears on reactive cards like Lightning Storm. Having to plan your plays around overloading is fine, but the fact that you also have to predict when you'll have to use shit like Lightning Storm makes it extremely hard to plan.
Its fangs are in your flesh before its hiss leaves your ears.
Golden Heroes: Druid -> Rogue -> Shaman -> Hunter -> Warlock