Solo and group advice for a new shaman?

[Snaggles]

There are some basics of playing a shaman that are either being missed or glossed over.

1.) Slow is an efficient way to mitigate incoming damage: It’s obvious but whether rooting, tanking, or having your pet tank it’s one of your few control spells. Every hit you take is a risk and at the very least it’s mana lost since the opportunity cost of hit points is being able to cannibalize

2.) Root is another way to mitigate incoming damage: It’s quick and if successful is extremely efficient…you go from taking damage to not. The only time rooting doesn’t make sense is if the npc will gate/ch, summons, or root is breaking in one server tick consistently (ie: most 55+ mobs)

3.) Your pet is marginal dps but again, a control tool: A slowed NPC attacking your pet will have its melee timer on cooldown the majority of the time. Less damage to the pet but also if root breaks and you are higher on the aggro list it’s very likely by the time it runs and reaches you the swing timer will still be on CD. That means you can root and back up before taking damage. Worst case you will take one round of damage, not two…again, less risk and at least less mana lost.

Outside stunt solo kills or green cons, a shaman should be prone to root often. Even with a JBB if root breaks on the first click you just got to nuke for 250+ for the cost of 30 mana, which is a screaming deal. Leveling up I would always root/slow and start clicking. Usually would get 2-3 before the first break…sometimes I’d get 5-6 clicks.

I wouldn’t mess around with a scourge hammer unless doing very slow stunt kills at 60. Even in Chardok it barely justifies the swap. It’s a slow drip dot so proc RNG combined with the timer means at best it’s like 4.5dps. If you really need the dps I prefer to burn a shaman DS potion which in Chardok is about 8dps even on a slowed mob. Or just do what most do and wait it out. Killing with a shaman using torp and your tools is watching paint dry…kick up your feet and just wait.