Once again, this is written for the Resto Shaman that is leveling through the LFD. I don’t cover raiding, heroics, or any other end game content.
At least not yet.
For leveling purposes I break my totems down into three catagories.
I have a handful that never even make it onto my action bars.
I keep a select few hot keyed for various “Oh Crap” moments.
Then I have a basic set I drop every time.
The basic ones I have are exactly that. They are not picked to maximaze buffs based on what classes or specs are represented in the group, simply a decent set of general purpose dungeon crawling totems. More simply, I use what benefits me.
I’ll hit up the basic set first.
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Not really a great help to me personally unless I am down to whacking things in the head with a stick. I suppose It will help out any breed of tank I might be healing though, so I guess it does help me out in the long run.
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Mmmm, yummy delicious spellpower. It tastes like… victory. Oh, and it helps out any other casters in the party too. Just let them think you dropped it for thier benefit.
Who knows, maybe they’ll make you a nice soulstone, or some food or something in return.
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What’s this? A totem that heals while I watch Mythbusters? Awesome! I might not actually get this one till level 20, but rest assured it’s on my list for the next 65 levels.
Seriously, specced and glyphed right, and with a good tank, I have made it through whole instances with this totem, Earth Shield, and Riptide.
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More haste, more heals faster. Shaving just a bit of a second off a heal can sometimes make all the difference in the world. Granted, we have to wait until level 44 to start tossing this one, but it’s worth it.
As I was saying, those are jut the four basic totems I toss for every boss fight. Usually, I don’t drop them for trash, unless it looks to be getting a bit hairy.
There are five other totems that I keep ready to go, whenever the situation calls for it. I’ll list them in the order we get them.
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Assuming you take the talent you get Mana Tide totem as early as level 47. It is pretty much exactly what it says it is. You drop this, you and everyone nearby gain mana for a short time. If you find yourself using this a lot, you may want to try using your Mana Spring totem in place of the Healing Stream totem in your basic four.
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Also availible as early as level 47 with talents, Spirit Link is our 3 minute raid cooldown. Yes, it works in 5 mans, and has saved my butt a few times. It’s a good totem to have in your back pocket, just not one I commonly use.
When I do use it, I generally combine this followed by Riptide (if not already on the tank), then Chain Heal (using Natures Swiftness first if the crap really hit the fan). If things are really going south I will use Natures Swiftness and my largest heal on the party member with the smallest health pool.
Remember with this one, it’s all about percentages. You can squeese a few more HpM out of this by hitting other targets. Just make sure you don’t play that game while the tank dies.
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Tremor Totem comes along at 52. It can be a real life saver as a fear break on certain fights. Probably my most used of the situational totems.
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At 56 we get our temporary tank totem. He can do a bit of damage as well. I generally only pull him out if we have just lost the tank for some reason.
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Lastly we get the our “DPs in a can” totem at 66. I like pairing him up with the Earth Elemental totem. They play well together. If I get to the end of an instance and still have the cooldown availible I will generally drop both of these to help speed up the kill.
I have also seen the two of them finish off a few pulls that went really badly, and ended with just me and my elementals still standing.
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All in all, tossing totems is a big part of what makes the Shaman so distinctive. There is a lot more to it than I am going into right now. As I said, this is all about leveling.
Once you get to the cap there is a whole new game waiting there for you.
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