Apparently Warriors have a skill called Demoralizing Shout.
I’m not quite sure, because apart from playing a Warrior for maybe one level before realizing I didn’t like it, I’ve never looked very hard at the toolbar.
I don’t ever recall being demoralized by it, but it’s somewhere on their toolbar and I know they use it, I see it in raids just before they charge at a boss.
Mind you, I have never noticed bosses being particularly demoralized either, they just seem to get angry and hit everyone they can reach.
Over the weekend I got to experience what it is like to give a really demoralizing shout.
It quickly occurred to me that I have been on the receiving end of this “demoralizing shout” multiple times in Arenas.
I know how it feels, I practically walk away from the PC when I hear the roar. I have to retrieve my keyboard from the hole in the wall when I hear my mates of vent cry in anguish...
Heroism!
Of course you may call it Bloodlust, but whatever you call it, it is demoralizing.
As the demoralized
I mentioned I have encountered this in the Arenas. When Gladius pops up and there is a shaman, a bit of me rejoices (no dispelling my Polymorphs bud!), but usually about 10 seconds later, the tears begin.
Yes, yes, I Spellsteal it, they definitely can’t have it and I have a few things I’d like to use it for, but it hurts, well it augers the hurt.
I’m not sure how many arena matches we have lost in the span of that initial Heroism, but not many survive past it.
In the charity raid spot
Squidly, as my Shaman alter ego, has plenty of opportunities to use it in raid situations, it’s almost a free ticket to a charity spot in a raid.
RandomDude: LF1M <nameyourraid>. Must have >9000 GS pst class role & LK kill achievement
Squidly: Umm Hi, I’ve got 4900gs and I my mates ran me through VoA… But I’m a Shaman!
You have joined the raid.
Then the time comes for Heroism – let’s face it, it’s always time for heroism. 5 sec in, 10 sec in, after 1 debuff, after 3 debuffs, everyone has a different time they want it and they never fail to tell you when it is used at their wrong time.
HUUURRRAAAH!
Ah yeah, Hero is up. Things are happening, the same things, but ummm, kinda faster.
To be honest it’s a bit more…
HOOOOHUUUMMM!
Yeah, I think it’s boring. I don’t feel heroic, I don’t feel the twinge of bloodlust, I just feel the same, maybe a little bigger, but otherwise… Ho hum.
As the demoralizer
Something changed over the weekend. For one thing, after replenishing Gnomeaggedon’s honor pile, again, I pulled Squidly out of the cupboard.
In fact about the only time Squid gets a run these days is after Gnome gets invited to a friend’s raid… Only to discover they need heals.
It’s all good, Gnomeaggedon gets his runs, Squidly is just my currency for an occasional raid spot.
So this weekend, I had a look at Squid. I was looking at the enhancement PvP gear I had collected in VoA, shaking my head I looked at what he was wearing.
Ok, sure, he wasn’t at square one, but he wasn’t going to win any BGs. I quickly blew my Emblems of Triumph on a couple of Furious pieces then headed off to EotS.
It took a little while for me to get back into the swing of BG healing.
I swore a lot at the DPS leaving me to watch nodes, then berating the healers for not being there to help them.
I got a bit angry that the DPS would always let me be the 1st to a node, which meant I died, which meant they berated me for not being there to heal them.
Then the Bloodlust overcame me
Yeah, alright, it was heroism, but sick of being pummeled into the ground, sick of losing the 7v5, the 5v5, the 3v5 encounters, I snapped.
I remembered the BORING BUTTON, I pressed it and I watched as the enemy crumpled in front of me.
Subsequently, when I pressed the boring button, not only would we slaughter them, but I could see the fear, I could see the slump of their shoulders as they dragged their weapons along the ground.
BATTLEGROUND MEET THE REAL DEMORALIZING SHOUT!
HEROISM!
The rest of the weekend got a bit bizarre after that. BG after BG. Elementals burning and pounding. Debuffs repelled. Fears negated. Chain heals crisscrossing the nodes and highlighting the anguish in the eyes of our opponents.
The never ending bloodlust of battle
I had raced to Fel Reaver Ruins at the start of one game with a few others. The single Horde was overcome very quickly.
The call went out that Blood Elf Tower was lost.
Our FRR crew raced to the rescue, but it was a sea of Horde.
I was playing with smart players, my mana never dropped, Druids and Priest were ensuring I never lacked for mana.
I made sure they never lacked for heals.
I don’t know how long that battle really lasted. I do know that we only spent about 15 seconds at FRR on the way to BeT. I do know that the last of our opponents fell a split second before the BG victory window appeared
I know I felt like a hero on that mound of Horde bodies.
I know they were quivering in fear of my Heroism.
I know the best thing about Heroism in BGs… Death wipes Exhaustion (or Sated for you Horde folk), so you can use it every cooldown knowing most team mates will benefit from it (cause who doesn’t die right?) and your opponents will be demoralized.
Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!
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So that’s what the wimpy-ism icon looks like? Huh. I remember spellstealing some weird looking icon in an arena and suddenly I was casting faster. Odd.
I just have one more thing to say:
LOK’TAR OGAR!!
Can definitely attest to Heroism being a moral killer. When I hear that cheer go up, I start running for pillars and spamming Spellsteal on every ally in my way. Those guys just threw down the gauntlet, and I want to be 35 yards away when it hits the ground.
That being said, the Shaman is always the first target to be set on fire after I get out of the “OMGFLEEBBQ!” mode.
Whatever. It is freaking ON when we get Time Warp.
For the Sunwell, bitches.
*morale killer
Update:
Was doing AB last night. Big group from both teams hit BS right off the bat. The shamn on our side hits Bloodlust. Their shaman responds with Heroism. What did I do?
Spellstole Heroism off the shaman who cast it, but left it on everyone else.
Now THAT’s demoralizing.
Ha!
I hope it was an elemental Shaman… I hate elemental shaman (yes, it’s Squidly’s off spec – but that doesn’t mean I have to like Horde Shaman).
Actually I only like Resto Shaman.
Shame we can’t spellsteal & stack Heroism – THAT would be insane!
Ohhh… Did the spellstolen buff stack with your friendly buff?
That’s actually a good question. I’m guessing no, but I can’t quite remember (I don’t stop to cast much in situations like that).
I always feel arcane empowerment, so I never get demoralized!
Boom. Boom!
Pfft, Heroism. Yay guys we’re heroes! Let’s hug and build statues of ourselves and shine dazzling smiles at young children. Maybe sign some autographs.
Now BLOODLUST. That means it’s TIME TO KILL!
I do wish Shamans would HeroLust more in BGs though. It sure is a nice buff to get.
Where is my statue?
If the Gnomes don’t give me one, I’m hoping you build me one in the new Troll capital.
Oh rejoice when ye old Mages get the same execute button come Cataclysm!!
But aside the never to be debated pure awesomeness of Mages, I must say, Heroism seems a little bit pussy-ish.
You get Heroism and all the Maidens in distress around the World rejoice because soon there will be a sturdy Alliance Fighter who saves them from Gormok the Candy Machine Refiller…
After that you are exhausted. I don’t know about you, but being exhausted during a Battle could be somewhat bad, no?
We on the other hand have Bloodlust.
BLOODLUST gna-gna-gna-gna NARF!!
And we are not exhausted afterwards… No, we are sated… We peel the last Gnome from our Boots/Tusk/Hoof and go on Hiroshima-Cleaving our way towards Stables
It’s funny they have named the debuff as such, because I know I do feel exhausted when Heroism expires… Which is why I prefer it at the end of a battle.
I hate having dirt naps at the beginning of a fight.
Holy moly, this makes me want to level my shaman.
DO EET!
When my shaman hit 70 I went on an unbelievable power trip (in my head). I was like…now *I* have the heroism! I hold your heroism in my hands, and you only get it when *I SAY SO*. Yes yes…the reality is the RL calls it and you put it down but…what if I didn’t?
No longer am I at the mercy of others, not having any idea when the little hero-cheer is going to go off…POWER ALL MINE OMNOMNOM!
Yes, the power is in our hands. Always funny when I am pigging raids with mates. Don’t matter much what the RL says, it’s what my mates recommend (I trust in my mates raiding knowledge more than some strangers)
[...] answer… maybe I just found it on gnomer’s blog… PVP shaman O_O it is after all what she was rolled for originally and her levelling has [...]
Our shaman used to have “IMMA VALIDATIN MY RAID SPOT” macro-ed to his heroism
Actually the thing that always really entertains me about heroism (or bloodlust) is when you accidentally use it at the wrong time – like when you get butterfingers and hit heroism while everybody is eating their fish feast.
And I always imagine the shaman leaping to his feet (or hooves) and bellowing “HEROISM!!!!! COME ON YOU GUYS”
And everybody eating their fish really really quickly…
The accidental use of Heroism always gets an awesome response… Not necessarily good, but universal.
It makes me laugh because you can still do the encounter without the shaman and usually (say somewhere like VoA) you only get it for one encounter anyway.
I often hit the wrong ability before an encounter, but it usually won’t register, or have a bad effect… No one knows, no one cares. A fat fingered heroism, is of course, the greatest sin known to man.