The Farseer is the hero talent tree that both Elemental and Restoration Shamans will share in WoW: The War Within. In our preview, we show you the individual talents and share our thoughts on the new talent tree so far.
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How sharp is the Farseer? We’ve taken a close look for you! (We couldn’t resist the bad pun and promise not to overuse it.) The Farseer hero talents are for Elemental Shamans and Restoration Shamans. They’re so passive that you’ll barely notice any difference from the current playstyle in Dragonflight. What does that mean for you in detail? You can find all the info here!
What Exactly Is a Farseer?
Farseers have been well-known figures in the Warcraft universe since Warcraft III. Since WoW: Legion, they have become even more prominent, especially to Shamans, as the Order Hall’s theme was based on the myth of the Farseer. At that time, there was even a Farseer title for players. Farseers are powerful elite Shamans, typically orcs, and sometimes tauren, who live in harmony with the elements of heaven and earth. They can see into the distance and perceive places far away in space or time. One of the most famous Farseers is Thrall, the former Warchief of the Horde.
To briefly address the ancestral theme of the Farseer hero talents: Contact with ancestors is important for Shamans, as many spell names indicate, such as Totem of Ancestral Protection, Ancestral Guidance, and Ancestral Fortitude. Summoning ancestors fits perfectly with the Shaman’s class philosophy.
WoW The War Within: Farseer Shaman Hero Talents
Call of the Ancestors (Keystone Talent)
Primal Wave (Elemental) and Unleash Life (Restoration) summon an Ancient to your side for six seconds. Whenever you cast a healing or damaging spell, the Ancient casts a similar spell.
Latent Wisdom vs. Ancient Fellowship
If you select Concentrated Wisdom, your Ancestor’s spells are 20 percent more effective. If you select Ancient Community, there is a 15 percent chance that a new Ancestor will be summoned when the existing one disappears.
Heed My Call vs. Routine Communication
These two talents also improve your Ancestor. If you use the hero talent Hear My Call, your Ancestor will last two seconds longer. The talent Routine Communication gives your Lava Eruptions (Elemental) an eight percent chance of summoning an Ancestor. Riptide (Restoration) has a 15 percent chance of summoning an Ancestor with this talent.
This talent empowers two of your basic spells. Lava Burst (Elemental) gains an additional charge and deals five percent increased damage. Riptide (Restoration) gains an additional charge and heals targets for five percent more.
When an Elder is summoned, the cooldowns of Fire Elemental and Storm Elemental are reduced by ten seconds (Elemental), or the cooldown of Riptide is reduced by two seconds (Restoration).
A passive talent that increases your maximum Maelstrom by 25 (Elemental) or increases your maximum mana by 5 percent (Restoration).
When you use abilities with cast time, the duration of Spiritwalker’s Favor and Spiritwalker’s Aegis is extended by one second, up to a maximum extension of four seconds.
Natural Harmony vs. Earthen Communion
Natural Harmony reduces the cooldown of Nature’s Guardian by ten seconds and enhances this talent to increase its healing by an additional five percent of your maximum health. Earthen Communion improves your Earth Shield, giving it three additional charges and healing you for 25 percent more.
When playing as an Elemental Shaman, this Hero Talent increases the damage of Earth Shock, Elemental Blast, and Earthquake by eight percent and the healing of Healing Wave by eight percent. As a Restoration Shaman, Maelstrom Supremacy increases the healing of Healing Wave, Healing Rain, Lifespring, Downpour, and Chain Heal by eight percent.
When an Elder dissolves, it casts Elemental Blast on a nearby enemy (Elemental), or when an Elder dissolves, it casts Hydro Bubble on a nearby wounded ally. Hydro Bubble surrounds the target with protective water for ten seconds, absorbing a small amount of damage.
Your next healing or damaging spell cast within ten seconds of activating this ability becomes instant and deals ten percent increased healing or damage. If you have Nature’s Swiftness selected, it is replaced by Ancestral Swiftness, and each cast also summons an Ancestor.
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Passive Healing Boost
If you were expecting the Farseer playstyle to change your gameplay as a healer, we’re sorry to disappoint you. The Ancients spawn passively in the background and do their thing without you having to do anything. It’s still unclear what spells they will actually cast and how powerful they will be. In all likelihood, they won’t just copy your abilities but will cast their own spells that have similar effects to the spells you cast. For example, if you use Chain Heal, your active Ancients will probably also cast an area heal spell. The fact that the main trigger for your Ancients is the Unleash Life talent will not be a big deal, especially for healers who love Mythic instances; this talent is generally chosen for raids and hardly ever for Mythic Keystone instances.
We also find it worrying that the Ancestor mechanic is pretty random. Both Routine Communication and Ancient Fellowship summon an additional Ancestor with a certain percentage chance. This is particularly impractical for healers. Healers, in particular, depend on their effects working reliably at the moment when they need to nurse their fellow players back to health!
Focus on the Fire
It’s clear at first glance that the Farseer Hero Talents are designed to interact with the Elemental Shaman’s fire playstyle. The most important abilities for these Hero Talents are Lava Eruption and Primal Wave; you’ll use both of them when you choose your fire talents. It’s unclear what spells the Ancients actually cast and whether there will be any interactions with the Elemental Shaman’s abilities. For example, it would be awesome if Ancients could replicate Flame Shock and cast it on a different target!
It is more likely, however, that they will get their own spells that are only similar in theme to the abilities you cast. This will make the entire Farseer playstyle primarily passive. You simply play your fire Elemental Shaman the same way you do in Dragonflight and let the Ancients be Ancients. Your abilities summon them automatically, and you cannot influence what they do anyway – it is highly doubtful that you will fundamentally change your rotation so that the Ancients cast certain spells more often.
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Weak Defensive Talents
Choosing between Natural Harmony and Earthen Communion isn’t exactly a great choice. The extra charges of Earth Shield and the 25 percent increased healing to yourself are unlikely to save a Shaman’s life – nor will the reduced cooldown of Nature’s Guardian or the five percent increased healing from this talent. Shamans could really use an extra defensive button!
With Earth Elemental and Astral Shift, Shamans are generally not that strong when it comes to survival skills. The Hero Tree’s defensive talents continue this trend. Neither of them will help you much if you get pounded to a pulp by powerful enemy abilities in one fell swoop. Instead of giving Elemental and Restoration Shamans a cool emergency button or buffing really important existing talents, both talents slightly improve skills that do nothing more than provide a little passive healing. We would have expected more here.
Conclusion on the Farseer Shaman
The bottom line is that there is little new to see with the Farseer. For both healers and Elemental Shamans, the Ancestors of the hero talent tree are a passive bonus that simply increases the damage you deal or the healing you cause. Since neither Restoration nor Elemental Shamans need additional buttons to press, this is not necessarily a disadvantage. Only those players who would have liked a little variety and a few basic new features will be disappointed.
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