I come to this forum to try to decide as to which class I should start up

I love both mages & shamans

I plan to do nothing but pvp at 80.. maybe some dungeons but 90% of my time will be pvp

But fromt hese classes I cannot decide

Mages have all these little fun abilities that are amazing. Invisibility, Mirror Image, Slowfall specailly for me anyway lol (I jump off cliffs to much)

Shamans have Ghost Wolf, Heals, Mail Armor...

Arguably the damage between the 2 is about the same in pvp...

Which one would overall eb better for pvp?

It partly depends on the type of PvP you are most interested in. e.g.

Arena?
Dueling?
Rated battlegrounds?
Non-rated battlegrounds

Also, how do you rate your own strengths and weaknesses as a player? Do you expect to be aiming for tournament invites as part of one of the top teams? Or do you just want to have a little fun with friends?

I can make a few general comments on the classes:

General:
You may want to look at:
http://www.realmhistory.net/arena-statistics/class-breakdown.html
http://www.sk-gaming.com/arena/

Mage:

- Whilst all 3 specs can be useful in battleground, only one spec (frost) has been consistently strong in arena.
- Mages only have a few viable teams at high level play (e.g. mage/rogue, mage/priest)
- Mages have a reputation for having a relatively high skill cap.

Shaman:

- Has 3 viable specs
- Can at times struggle in 2v2
- But is the most in demand class for 5v5
- Probably easier to play than a mage

It appears to me that Shaman are currently in better shape. However, if you're really serious about PvP, then you should be able to achieve success with either class, so I'd recommend playing the one you most enjoy.

Shaman can fill 3 different roles where as mages can only fill 1 role, that of dps.  Shamans, can be either ranged caster, melee or healer, so if you are looking for arena pvp then being a shaman certainly helps getting into a 3v3 or 5v5 team.  I used to prefer hybrids when i was playing WoW due to there versatility and being able to change to healer for arena is a big bonus, and then changing to either ranged or melee dps for general pvp will keep life interesting for you.  

Mages i never got into in all honesty, but again if you want to get into arena teams then you will be competing against a million other dps's.

Originally posted by Antipathy

"It partly depends on the type of PvP you are most interested in. e.g.

Arena?
Dueling?
Rated battlegrounds?
Non-rated battlegrounds

Also, how do you rate your own strengths and weaknesses as a player? Do you expect to be aiming for tournament invites as part of one of the top teams? Or do you just want to have a little fun with friends?

I can make a few general comments on the classes:

General:
You may want to look at:
http://www.realmhistory.net/arena-statistics/class-breakdown.html
http://www.sk-gaming.com/arena/

Mage:

- Whilst all 3 specs can be useful in battleground, only one spec (frost) has been consistently strong in arena.
- Mages only have a few viable teams at high level play (e.g. mage/rogue, mage/priest)
- Mages have a reputation for having a relatively high skill cap.

Shaman:

- Has 3 viable specs
- Can at times struggle in 2v2
- But is the most in demand class for 5v5
- Probably easier to play than a mage

It appears to me that Shaman are currently in better shape. However, if you're really serious about PvP, then you should be able to achieve success with either class, so I'd recommend playing the one you most enjoy."

 

 

I dont really care aobut duels since I dont get anything for doing them

But I will be doing BGs & Arenas mostly 2v2 & 3v3

& im not good enough for tournaments so thats out lol

Basicly.. which can dish out the most damage & stay alive at the end of a fight?

I have played Arena a lot in WOW.  The 2 classes are extremely different.

Shaman's are the weakest of the healing classes in arena if you go that route.  They are very limited if you choose to go enhancement (Melee) with others to play with.  They are very strong in Elemental (Magic) right now and are apart of many Wizard Cleave teams.

Mages have two different specs that are viable in Arena.  Frost mages that control battles with slows, freezing, and polymorphing foes.  They also can put out good Damage if played right.  Arcane Mages are Pure DPS on par with Elemental Shamans they can also Polymorph foes.

Shaman's in my opinion are easier to play and have a lower learning curve.  Mages have a much higher learning curve but can completely control a fight by them selves.

If you have a friend you know you are going to play with make your decision together on which class combinations work well together.  If not,  Play the Shaman cause healing classes are always in demand and it will make Lvling easier and doing raids for gear easier also. 

www.arenajunkies.com very helpful site also

yes yes arenajunkies is amazaing... I even ahve a post up ont he forums about this too lol

So how does pvp with these 2 classes look so far int he next expansion?

Originally posted by Lyoo

So how does pvp with these 2 classes look so far int he next expansion?

It's hard to say about the next expansion.  Very little has been 'added' for pvp, but a whole lot has been removed.  There used to be a lot of talents that helped you kite, or when you were kited or cc'd.  Those talents have mostly been removed, and the devs have hinted that cc's will be reduced a bit as well.  The term they used was an 'arms race' with ccs and counters that ended up costing everyone talent points and gear slots.  If they reduce cc's and anti-cc's equally, then things should be very similar as now, except less requirement for talents.   it is still really early in beta and we can't even get to lvl 85 yet, let alone test end-game pvp.

  I use a frost mage in BGs and Arena.  A frost mage is amazing in battlegrounds because you have so much control over the battlefield (and in cata cone of cold gets a freeze!!!).   It's a difficult spec to play because there are so many different buttons that you need to be able to press for survival.   Frost mage isn't so much fun in Arena because the battlefield is more limited, I actually prefer a restro druid in Arena, but my frost mage has all the gear.

I have an 80 mage. I use arcane, frost is fun and useful for survival but arcane pumps out the damage.  When I pop berserking (troll racial) the hasten thing arcane power and mirror image my dps goes up really high and people fall very fast. Advice for a mage in Battlegrounds is to always stay in packs or defend. I usually don't die much if at all defending and staying with larger numbers. I believe mages are very fun to play. Can't say much for shaman though.

Why not level both of em? I'm sure ya got enough time before Cata, especially with the new lfg system and exp in bgs. Besides, it's beneficial to run two or more toons. By the time ya reach 80 with em, you'll know which is your favorite. Give that one 2 crafting professions and the other 2 gathering professions. This will make you're main just that much more powerful.

btw jewel crafting and engineering ftw

I say play what you are better playing or what you find more fun. I personally preferred the play style of mage over shaman, but loved playing druid the most. Mages are one of the most fun for pvp imo =) 

You will get more respect for PVPing with a Shaman....especially if you go Enhancement. But all in all unless you play resto, you're a much more vulnerable class than a Mage. I played a Shaman and my regular was my 80 Spriest. And I would much rather fight a Shaman... even Elemental than a good Arcane/Frost mage. Shaman if you go offensive you have to remember you have debuffs, lots of offensive spells, but you cant cast until eternity like a Mage, your also one of the softest targets in game, not to mention the Horribly low HP% you have compared to other classes. 

Dont get me wrong Shaman are great, but a Shaman as is good as the person playing it, you just cant smash keys or faceroll with one. Prepare to hotkey alot of keys and macros.