SHAMANALAMADINGDONG

Today I bring you notes from the Broken Isles, and a look at a new member of my team...


By now I imagine it's obvious I like games, my interests are diverse but I'd be lying if I said I don't have a pretty extensive background in tabletop games. Dungeons and Dragons, Warhammer, Magic the Gathering... even Battle Cattle (don't judge me). I'm not a wholly original person when it comes to naming my characters in WoW. You'd be forgiven for thinking this is because I've got so many, that eventually I'm going to have to get crazy with the cheese whiz. But, really a lot of the time I just swipe something that I think fits from some other game, book, etc. I try to avoid "main" characters when possible. I also gravitate toward the bad guys, because good is dumb. And where Khaas has his roots in D&D, Hashut is another animal entirely...

HASHUT ASCENDING
Once or twice upon a time I played a tabletop wargame called Warhammer, you're likely familiar with it even if you've never held a little plastic skeleton with an arrow in the knee. It's largely fallen out of favor with me over the years, but the imagery is quite strong. The forces of Chaos, the Dwarves especially are interesting, and there we have Hashut. A malevolent god of hellfire and darkness, also my Shaman...

My healer revealed...

There's not much story behind the name other than that, I took a fictional deity from Warhammer and just put his name in the character creation screen. In terms of appearance, I went with 9, 10, 1, 10, 1 as I've done with the rest of my Dwarves. I went male simply because I; like any right thinking person, don't care for the look of their women. Much like how I really don't like the look of male Draenei and Pandaren, not the male Pandaren specifically... just... all of those fluffy bastards. While we're on the subject of virtual racism, not a fan of Worgen either. The rest of the Alliance: Gnomes, Night Elves, and Humans aren't bad though.

I digress though, Hashut is my main healer with others on the bench for now. This account is dedicated to the Dwarves, with a Monk, Paladin, and Priest all riding the pine. Alongside one of many Druids.

THE SHAMAN EXPERIENCE
I played a Shaman in EverQuest extensively, though there's little comparison between the classes in these two games, they're still both "spiritual/tribal healers". To clarify, I'm levelling using his offspec, Elemental. At max level I expect I'll be using this for clearing trash and farming World Quests with my team. For now though, while leveling I find Elemental to be surprisingly durable. Don't ask me why, but it somehow feels less squishy than Enhancement, which is a bit vexing.

I was actually kinda looking forward to hammer smashing my way to 110, seems appropriate for a Dwarf. But, I'm not going that way if it doesn't feel right, and right now it just doesn't. Pity. As of this writing Hashut is halfway to 110. But I'm not breaking my neck getting him there. Where Khaas is a completionist, the rest of my army is all about doing the minimum necessary to advance. I'll get my levels and do Suramar for the unlocks, then the fun starts with the team... but for now, back to work.

See you in the Broken Isles!

K