WotLK MM Hunter or Ele Shaman for PVP

[Exitus14]

Hello Warmane.

I am interested in taking up a ranged dps class for pvp. Mainly BG's as I will cease arenas once I acquire the gear. I am torn between MM Hunter and Ele Shaman atm. I like these two classes because they both have good damage output and a nifty tool box. I don't really like having to stand still and cast, but ele is an option because of the ability to stack haste so the cast times are not very long.

I like ele because it has huge burst, self heals, PURGE is great, ranged interupt, and totems provide a lot of use for many situations. I don't like the ele because of their lack of defensive capabilities.

I like hunter because of the longer range, ability to constantly move, and great CC'ing tools. I dislike that they don't have any self heals. It is bothersome when I encounter dots and then the play style becomes a race against the clock to score the kill.... before being kill eventually anyway.

In the end, I am reaching out to the community to see if you fellas could provide some more Pros & Cons of each class to help sway my decision. This is not a Hunter vs Shaman discussion. I am just looking for insight on the benefits and detriments of maining each class for BGs. I know there's going to be that one person that says "play what you like" but I truly like both classes. I do not, however, want to play multiple characters because I don't want to do the gear grind twice. Just looking for other peoples perspectives to help me make an efficient decision and possibly bring up any areas of concerns that I might have overlooked in my initial analysis.

Thank you in advance.

[ZenMaster]

It all comes down to a personal preference really.
I roll an ele shaman in pvp and I love it.
It has a variety of utilities to support himself and others. It is fun and really enjoyable to play it.
Also, the thing that has to be considered is shamans versatility. You can be a healer, melee and caster dps.
Ele shaman is one of the most useful and often seen class in 3v3 arenas.
It is great for BGs and wpvp.
Thunderstorm is the best trolling tool ingame.
Sometimes it gets annoying that you can hardly 1v1 any class with the same gear like yours, but when supported by a healer or another dps/heal class, you can easily go 2v3/4/5.
If you like to duel a lot, hunter would probably be a better choice though.

[Exitus14]

Thank you for the feedback ZenMaster. I whole heartedly agree with everything you've said. Your statement about 1v1 really put ele in perspective. I do find it troublesome when I have to go toe to toe with someone equally geared. I think that might be the reason why I contemplated going with hunter because in a pinch they can deterrence a burst or disengage out of range while shamans sort of just have to suck it up and hope LHW is enough to sustain you until you can LB.

[Jakkre]

In regards of 1v1:
On Blackrock are often 1v1 arena events and ele shami seems to be one of the dominating classes there.
They kite the opponent with frostbrand weapon around the pillar and counter pretty much everything with this pillar humping tactic.
Ele shamis are bad in duels though when there is no object to hide.

[Exitus14]

Jakkre, I agree that ele's in an arena settings are incredibly strong with pillar tactics. My concerns are more outside of arena. Like you stated, without something to hide behind they are pretty gimped. That is one of the reasons why I listed they have poor defensive capabilities. However, 1v1 with casters is a breeze thanks to their ranged interupt on a relative short cooldown. I do like the snares an ele can put out, while on the move no less (frost shock, frostbrand, earthbind). The only thing that puts hunter a step up from ele on snares is their ability to disengage and create a gap. Ele's can't do that very fast once someone gets on you (earthbind -> ghost wolf takes a few seconds).

[Luchiano]

Elewill win more fights 1v1 vs most clases.
Like you said ele can heal after a kill with a dot and ur HP 500
Ele knocks ppl off cliffs.
Ele can respec heal if it gets bored in pve.
Hunter can be disarmed and detterance negated btw.

[woocro1]

both classes are great but need to be mastered aswell :)

[Exitus14]

@Luchiano, good point about the disarm. How tanky is a fully geared ele shaman with 1200+ resilience?

@woocro1, I would agree, that's why I want to make the correct decision so I can start achieving the skill cap on one of these classes.