Shaman Instance Guide

As a Shaman

* Don't forget to use your totems, particularly the ones with party-wide effects. If there is another shaman in the group, coordinate totems as the effects of party-buffing totems do not stack.

* Avoid Searing Totems as they may aggro additional mobs.

* Use Earthbind Totem and Frost Shock to slow monsters from running away.

* Unless you're a tank, avoid Frost Shock or Stoneclaw Totem as you'll pull aggro away from the tank. However, these abilities are very useful as an off-tank or in an emergency situation.

* Avoid Frost Shock like the plague, as it will draw aggro from the tank. The exception may be when you need a quick shot of threat to deflect attention from a squishy. (Edit: As above, only use on a mob that is running away.)

* Should it become obvious that a wipe is about to occur and you can use your Reincarnation, take precautionary measures and find a spot clear of mobs to die. This enables you to use your Reincarnation ability safely and resurrect the entire party.

* Keep an eye on the main healer's mana as you may need to switch to secondary healer. In a difficult fight, conserve mana by avoiding shock spells so you have plenty to heal with.

* Remember your totems have an aggro radius too. Don't set them too close before a fight. If a patrol comes, you may need to reset your totems to a new location to avoid adding them.

* Remember to clean up your totems with Totemic Call to avoid having a patrol aggro to them and attack your group at an inopportune time.

Shaman as Primary Healer

* Heal the pet! - This may seem obvious but is often overlooked. If the pet lives longer less people have to get chewed. Pets taunt so are better able to hold aggro allowing you to pump more heals into them. The more punishment they receive the less there is for everyone else. Anyway don't focus too much on pet healing because you need to give priority to heal the party and save your mana. Hunters and Warlocks usually know this and should never get upset on you if their pet die.

* Unlearn what you have learned - Stay back, give little heals to reduce threat, use your totems to bolster your team (as always!) - Stoneskin, Grace of air, Healing Stream Totem, Frost resistance (if applicable) etc. Ensure that you're totems suit to the composition of the party: usually you will have 2 casters with you, that makes Wrath of Air Totem more convenient than Grace of Air. Healing Stream Totem may appear useless to you because of the low regeneration it gives, but remember it will gain benefits from your +Healing gear. If made by a well-equipped Shaman it can often heal 100 health every 2 seconds. This can work greatly with a Shadow Priest's Vampiric Embrace, helping you not to waste mana by healing all the party members with Chain Heal and focus on the tank, allowing you to last longer in fights without going OOM.

* Mana regen - Spirit won't help you in fight because of the 5-second rule (your mana won't regen from spirit after 5 seconds from a cast). You're gear must be focused on mana/5secs, that will assure you a constant regen even while casting and after a cast. If you're specced in Restoration you will be able to set a Mana Tide Totem that will restore 24% of the whole party's mana in 12 secs. Ensure that you bring potions and a lot of drinks. Your Water Shield can also help you to regen you're mana.

* Proactive healing - You need to avoid off-tanking, even if you're a mail-wearer with a shield. As main healer, you just mustn't have aggro. If you're Restoration specced you will have some talents that will help you to cast even while taking damage. Earth Shield will also help you in you get aggro. Anyway in end-game istance this is not enough: if you gain aggro you can't resist long, as you will waste mana and time by heaning yourself instead of the tank, so it will hard to keep him up. The other inconvenient is that Shamans don't have any ability to drop the aggro, so it will hard for your party to regain the aggro of the mobs that are attacking you. You can't just Vanish, Feign Death, Ice Block or Fade as the other classes do.

* You aren't a priest - You're not going to work in the same way as a priest. Instead you must read the fight and adjust your tactics accordingly. You need to learn when it's time to wade in and smack the mobs and when it's time to hold back and heal.

* Don't be afraid - Like any healer, it is important to know when to use your smaller heals to control aggro and when to let loose with a large heal. It's far better for your tank to receive a massive blast of extra health and then have to pull the mob off you than for the tank to die and you end up with the aggro anyway. You should also have the talent Nature's Swiftness, that will help you intantly healing a target. This ability has only a 3 mins cooldown, so it will often be avaiable more than once for each boss fight.

* Wipeout! - Wipes are going to happen. It's part of the game. However, it's important to know how to handle a wipe to keep the group running as smoothly as possible. When it becomes clear that a wipe will occur, try to expend as much of your remaining mana as possible to ensure that the remaining members of your group can continue to fight for as long as possible. Make sure to die away from enemies so as not to aggro mobs after reincarnating.

* Preparation - Very often you won't be well looked as main heaaler by people, because they think a shaman can't heal as well as a druid or priest or paladin. The only way to show them they're wrong is to do your best as a healer and always get to a istance with the right preparation. This means you always need to have some Ankhs with you, some potions may be useful as well as the water to drink, if your party hasn't got mage. Even if there's a lock with you, don't forget the ankh, because you can reincarnate during a fight to save the party from a whipe so you'll spend the soulstone. The Soulstone Ressurection got a quite long cooldown so if you can count on your reincarnation your party will feel safer in case of a whipe.

Working with a Shaman

* Stay close to the totems he drops. Many of them affect any group members (or enemies) within 20 yards (distance may vary), and if you run away, drawing the monsters with you in most cases, you're basically wasting the shaman's mana. On the flip side of that, if the mobs start to stray a bit, try to draw them closer to the shaman's totems.

* If the Shaman is taking on an Area of Effect role, do not draw the mobs away from the Magma Totem which has only a 8 yard range.