Shaman Building part I

So yesterday I touched base on what I think is the best class to use as a shaman on Horde (Tauren!) and talked about some of the aspects of the Alliance race that can carry the mantle of a Shaman.

The difficulty in having a Shaman at a low level is that there are no totems, at least not until level 6 or so when you get the Earth Totem and you get the Stoneskin spell totem. I know that many Shaman don’t use it after a certain level, they feel they can get better use out of the Strength totem but honestly, when you are a low level, you should be popping this out every time you’re in a fight. Let me tell you why.

You’re health is low at this point, you get five six good shots on you and you’ll be running back to your body in no time. The other part of this equation is also that your mana pool isn’t very big either. You don’t have intellect buffs on your armor, you don’t carry around Scrolls of Intellect, you’re still too low to even garner something like this and even if you do, it’s not going to amount to much. So that means that the resources that you do have you’re going to be using to heal yourself, which will take a big chunk of your mana with it.

The Stoneskin totem gives you durability. It allows you to really deal with the melee crap that you have to throw out until you start getting higher level. You look at any shaman starting area and you’ll notice that they are all doing melee damage and little casting.

So recommendation: Even before you get into it with a mob, drop a Stoneskin totem. Yes I know that it’s obnoxious, and that you have to recast every time that you move however, it’s going to help last longer in a fight, especially if you accidentally agro more than one mob at a time. You’re going to be tempted to drop the strength totem when you get it, don’t. It’s not going to give you survivability in the least. Yes it’ll help you with mobs but bottom line; it’s not going to make your health any higher. While Stonekin won’t either, it’ll help you’re survival rate.

If you can try to stick to the Mace and Shield combo as your weapons, the reason being is that at a low level, you’re dps is going to be low in any event. The shield will also help you in the living longer area of your gaming. I used a mace and shield until about level 50 and then went dual weld and eventually switched to a two handed mace. I can’t tell you the amount of times I was grateful for the hateful looking shields that would drop for me as a low level. Shaman can also use staves but with the exception of a stat that one might carry as a low level this is a waste. You can’t do any damage and it doesn’t help you when you’re trying to save yourself.

At about level 10 you’ll get the grounding totem. This is when you’re going to be alternating but you also have to really start paying attention. Many of the mobs that you’re going to be facing at this stage are going to be hostile and runners. The grounding totem will help you in making sure that they don’t run around and bring more friends with them when they do. It’s excellent for when you’re attacking a humanoid mob, I’m thinking of the Moonkins in Darkshore and of the pirates over in Rachet. They’re usually grouped close together and easily brought into the fight.

As you start, at least until level 20 or so, these three are your bread and butter. You NEED these in order to effectively make it that far without having to Rez a billion times during the time that you’re going to be working your way up.

While this should give you some of the tools needed to start up. Next time I’ll break down some zones for you that would best work with your new Shaman.