Hello everyone I found this really interesting thread on Shaman tanking. I did not make this but it is really good.
Unofficial Guide.
This guide is set up to help players both new and old with some of the most common questions and
suggestions for tanking as a Shaman.
Guide Authors- Cherokey(Elemental Shaman)/Biggie (protection warrior)
Guide Contributors- Cyrella, Junai, Sylvannus
Cherokey's Shaman Tanking 101 - shadowlabs - [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PCjrVCYe0A[/ame]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 Basics
2.0 Aggro Mechanics for Shaman
3.0 Talent Specifications
4.0 Play Strategies
5.0 Gear Choices
6.0 End Game Gear
7.0 SHAMAN TANKING HALL OF FAME
8.0 (Moved to FAQ Section, Question Video links of Shaman Tanking and 'How To' s
9.0 Note to Blizzard Developers
10.0 Effective Health
11.0 Reserved
12.0 FAQ
14.0 List of Bosses and Instances tanked by Shaman
1.0 Basics
Tanking is one of the core abilities listed for Shaman on the Blizzard Website.
WoW.com -> Info -> Classes -> Shaman
"The old phrase "jack of all trades, master of none" is an excellent way to describe the
Shaman; they are the only real "hybrid" class in World of Warcraft. While they do not excel at any one
aspect of their repertoire, they function passing well when performing most tasks called upon by a
party. Need a support healer? Looking for a secondary tank? After another damage-dealer? Have an empty slot that needs someone to support the group in general? The Shaman can provide.
It is interesting that they list tanking on an equivalent ground with healing and dps, which
the current design is far more pointed to.
As an actual role in group questing, 5-man instances up to 70, and raiding, there are
different levels of success and need that Shaman are employed for. Shaman are able to, with the right
gear, tank quest bosses. Shaman are able to OT or MT any non-heroic 70. Shaman have been able to tank non-boss mobs in Heroics and Karazhan. Shaman have also tanked individual mobs in SSC, TK, and BT.
Knowing when you can tank, with what gear, and under what circumstances can be vitally important to helping your group, your guild, and your raid. Many of the top Shaman tanks do it out of boredom, but others are in small guilds, or have limited people on, and have to cover this role
because there is no one better suited than that Shaman. This guide is for both types of players.
An excellent basic tanking guide for warriors is at
WoW Forums -> Warrior Guide Collection -- Read This Or Die. While some of it does not apply, the basic principles are the same. I have copied liberally from it, and thank the authors and warrior community for their fine work.
Tanking has three main areas of skill:
1. Keeping Threat
2. Survivability
3. Reducing Healer mana consumption
These three areas are covered in the following sections:
1. Keeping Threat: 2.0 Aggro Mechanics, 4.0 Play Strategies
2. Survivability: 3.0 Talent Specifications 5.0 Gear Choices
3. Reducing Healer mana consumption: 3.0 Talent Specifications
4.0 Play Strategies 5.0 Gear Choices.
2.0 Aggro Mechanics
Keeping threat is essentially the art of keeping the highest "threat" on each target in
combat. Threat is a basic principle of the game that most players need to know about whether they are
healers, DPSers or tanks. Below is a modified guide from the warrior tanking guide on threat:
Threat
Threat should not be looked at as an arcane, mysterious entity that can not be understood or put into
real terms. It is based on real and understandable concepts and numbers.
Let's say that 1 Damage is equivalent to 1 Threat. For the purposes of this game, this is the best way
to quantify threat, as 1 Damage will produce the equivalent of 1 Threat before any modifiers come into
play. The Shaman who is tanking will always want to make sure their threat is at a higher level than
the Threat of their party or raid members. Following this, the Shaman can make use of specific
abilities which maximize his or her Threat potential. This is done by the intelligent use of
abilities, gear, threat-producing talents, and basic positioning in relation to party members.
While 1 Damage is equivalent to 1 Threat, it takes 2 points of Healing to amount to 1 Threat. Also,
Threat is only produced by effective healing -- overhealing produces no Threat.
Threat does not decay in combat. It can be reduced through the use of several mechanics such as
Knockback. However, under normal circumstances Threat will never decay.
Pulling and Holding Aggro (100/110/130 Rule)
Tank (Baseline) _____________________ 100%
Melee Range Aggro Gain ______________ 110%
Ranged Aggro Gain ___________________ 130%
The above chart represents the balance of when a player will pull aggro from the tank. To get aggro, a
player in melee range must exceed the total threat of the current player with aggro by 10%. If the
player is at a range, they would have to produce 30% more threat to fully gain aggro.
This has some important implications. First, it gives you breathing room to miss a few attacks and not
instantly lose aggro -- that seems to be the purpose of the 10% rule. Second, it means that ranged
classes take a heavy risk by moving into melee range with a large amount of threat built up -- the mob
will instantly change targets to a ranged target who moves into melee. Third, this means that tank
switching can be difficult in some cases.
0.5.3 Threat from Stances, Talents, Buffs, and Classes
The following chart shows multipliers to Threat values that affect the amount of Threat players
produce.
Ability Multipliers Percent Multiplier
Defensive Stance / Bear Form ________ 130% (1.3) Multiplicative
Defiance / Feral Instinct ___________ 115% (1.15) Multiplicative
Fury / Battle Stance ________________ 80% (0. Multiplicative
Rogue / Cat Form Druid ______________ 71% (0.71) Multiplicative
Blessing of Salvation _______________ 70% (0.7) Multiplicative
Tranquil Air Totem __________________ 80% (0. Multiplicative
Druid (Subtlety) ____________________ 80% (0. Multiplicative
Priest (Silent Resolve) _____________ 80% (0. Multiplicative
Mage (Frost Channelling) ____________ 90% (0.9) Multiplicative
Mage (Burning Soul) _________________ 90% (0.9) Multiplicative
Mage (Arcane Subtlety) ______________ 60% (0.6) Multiplicative
Shaman (Spirit Weapons)______________ 85% (.85) Multiplicative
Shaman (Elemental Precision)_________ 90% (.90) Multiplicative
Warlock (Destructive Reach) _________ 90% (0.9) Multiplicative
Warlock (Imp. Drain Soul) ___________ 90% (0.9) Multiplicative
Innate Threat
Many Shaman abilities are built around the concept of Innate, or hidden, Threat values. What this
means is that abilities which neither deal Damage or Healing produces Threat on the targeted creature when used. Innate Threat never replaces Threat produced from damage; in many cases, such as with Frost Shock, Earth Shock, etc... the Damage portion of the ability produces Threat in addition to the innate value.
The following chart gives detailed Innate Threat values for abilities at Level 70:
Earth Shock _________________________ +231 [possibly removed in earlier patch]
Frost Shock__________________________ +800
Purge ___________________________ +100
Storm Strike ________________________ +200 [possibily innacurate]
In addition, the following abilities give additional threat:
Earthsheild _________________________ .5 x Amount Healed
Lightning Shield ____________________ 1 x Damage from proc
The following Totems have threat values:
Fire Nova Totem _____________________ 2000
Magma Totem _________________________ 1 x Damage per pulse
Stoneclaw Totem _____________________ 2100 Threat on each taunt pulse
0.5.5 Critical Strikes & Effective Abilities
Critical Strikes have no unique impact on Threat. The extra Threat generated from a Critical Strike is
strictly from the damage produced; Innate Threat is not affected.
The Threat on abilities such as Frost Shock or Earth Shock are not affected by whether the effect is
successful or not unless the target is fully immune to the ability. For instance, Frost Shock will
deal 800 +Dmg Threat regardless of whether the target is slowed. Even if the target is immune to
slowing, the ability will still gain the 800 Threat bonus since Frost Shock also causes damage -- the
ability is at least functionally operational so the Threat is awarded.
*Edited the title. Please refrain from using all caps in titles.- Nethaera
[ Post edited by Cherokey ]
70
Cherokey
< Inertia > Mal'Ganis
2. Re: CHEROKEY'S GUIDE TO SHAMAN TANKING | 08/28/2007 09:17:25 AM PDT
3.0 Talent Specification
There are many moderate to good tanking specifications as a Shaman. Each major spec has tanking
abilities worth gaining, which we'll review here first, before offering specs:
Restoration:
Uninteruptable spells, resistance to silence, a powerful passive aggro generator, and an emergency
threat generator are all features of this talent tree. It is still the weakest of all trees for
tanking.
Ancestral Healing: +25% armor after crit heal. No verification that it works with Earth Sheild, but if
it does, this a good talent to include as a resto tank.
Totemic Focus: You will be dropping stoneclaw and other totems throughout your fight as a tank, and a
25% reduction is amazingly good.
Nature's Guidance: +3% to hit with melee and spells will increase your ability to hold aggro.
Remember, for mob at lvl 73, you only need 16% chance to almost never miss with a spell.
Restorative Totems: This is a weak talent for improved survivablity
Mana Tide: You will burn through mana as a tank, so this is important to have if you are a Resto tank.
Nature's Swiftness: Critical for either a big heal or Chain Lightning to keep aggro, this is almost a
must ability for Resto Tanks.
Focused Mind: A good ability that helps you keep aggro by casting your shocks.
Nature's Guardian: A poor ability for tanks, as it drops your threat with that target when it procs.
Earth Sheild: An incredible ability for tanking. 30% ignore spell interupts, creation of aggro on proc
through heals, free heals, and can be recast during combat. This is a resto-tank's mainstay.
Enhancement:
Almost all Enhancement abilities are useful for generating threat, as melee damage increases.
Enhancement also offers decent mitigation
Sheild Specialization: Finally a use for this talent. 5% sheild block, with a top end of 25% to block
with blocking gear is not going to be helpful, at maybe 200 damage blocked once every four melee
attacks. This is underwhelming, but still better than increased mana for a tank. Barely.
Guardian Totems: Very useful for reducing melee damage.
Improved Lightning Shield: Better lightning sheild = more threat. This is a decent talent.
Anticipation: +5% dodge is worth the points every time, for avoidance. If you are a stamina tank,
getting to flurry may be an even better usage of points.
Toughness: Again, finally a use for this talent. 800-1100 points of armor equates to a 7-8% reduction
in physical damage. Given a Shaman tank with 12000 health, that's like +80 stamina. A great ability.
Spirit Weapons: It's hard to choose between 5% avoidance to the front, with 15% reduced melee threat.
Enhancement Shaman will probably avoid this talent, Resto Shaman will go for Earth Sheild, but for the
Elemental Shaman, where melee damage is minimal to start, this is a great ability.
Mental Quickness: This equates to two free shocks over a battle. Good talent, but not great.
Stormstrike: You'll be carrying a sheild, but this is still a good threat generating ability.
Shamanistic Rage: If you are enhancement, this is a must ability to keep the shocks coming.
Elemental:
Convection: 10% reduced mana on shocks is a must.
Concussion: +5% damage = +5% threat. This is another great ability
Earth's Graps: Good for emergencies with stoneclaw, not a great ability
Elemental Warding: 10% vs three schools of magic is a strong talent.
Elemental Focus: Necessary for mana recapture on shocks
Reverberation: +20% damage and threat from Shocks. This is one of the best abilities in the Game.
Elemental Devastation: Weak ability unless you are enhancement
Elemental Fury: A must have, as crit damage is increased by 100%, which =s more threat.
Unrelenting Storm: Only needed if you are running out of mana alot.
Elemental Mastery: A very strong talent. Guaranteed crit is a great way to start off pulls.
Elemental Sheilds: -6% crit is equivalent to being *uncrittable* by lvl 73 mobs. This means you do not
need to have resilience gear, take eye of the storm, or have any abilities or gear that procs on you
being critted. You don't need 490 defense either. This is a STELLAR ability for a Shaman that wants to
tank.
Totem of Wrath: This is a good totem for increasing aggro from shocks. You have to go deep into the
tree for it, but it is a nice complement to your other abilities. Unfortunately, you can't take spirit
weapons or nature's swiftness if you go this far into the tree, so it's unlikely you'll see it much.
Shaman Tanking Builds:
Elemental
40/21/0 The Damage Avoidance build. Focuses on Elemental Sheilds and Spirit Weapons
40/0/21 Standard Elemental Build. Keeps most of the Elemental abilities with Nature's Swiftness for a
quick boost to starting aggro.
Enhancement
20/41/0 Elemental Damage + Melee Damage. This is the most powerful threat generating build among
Shaman. It suffers only due to the ease at which this build can be critical hit.
Restoration
20/0/41 Heal Shocka
0/5/56 Healing for Aggro
I hvve only tried the Elemental and Healing for Aggro builds, and have found that 40/0/21 is best for
aggro, and 40/21/0 is best for reducing healer mana usage.
More input here is needed.
4.0 Play Strategies
There are four distinct phases to most tanking encounters as a Shaman:
1) The Pull
2) Initial Aggro Build-up
3) Steady Tanking
4) Switching Targets
1) The Pull
SINGLE MOB PULL: On the initial pull, for single mobs, LB or CL is a good choice. You don't want to
burn your cooldown on Shocks, and while CL is slightly more damage, it is also more mana. This is
normally followed by Frost Shock, Nature's Swiftness CL/LB (if you have that talent), and then CL or
FS again. Enhancement Shaman will be using Earth Shock with Stormstrike when possible, to take
advantage of the 20% increase in threat to Earth Shocks.
THREE MOB OR LESS PULL: Start off with Chain Lightning. Follow up with Frost Shock, then try CL again until Shock Timer is up. Again, Enhancement Shaman will be using Earth Shock with Stormstrike whenpossible, to take advantage of the 20% increase in threat to Earth Shocks.
FOUR OR MORE MOBS: Start off with Chain Lightning. Drop Stoneclaw right next to you prior to casting
CL. Shock a 4th target, hit another Chain Lighting, and then go back to Target #4. Chain Lightning
followed by Shock as often as you can, keeping stoneclaw up for other mobs. DO NOT ALLOW party members to AOE, as they will steal aggro.
Make sure you have Earth Sheild or Lightning Sheild up at all times, the aggro generated per mana
point is very good.
2) Initial Aggro Build-up
Once you have initial Aggro, You will fall into a steady stream of Shocking, Primarily Frost Shocking,
followed by CL with it's short cast time. Enhancement will want to Shock, Stormstrike, and may elect
not to CL.
3) Steady Tanking
Once you have a large lead in Aggro, dropping a magma, nova, or searing totem to add to DPS can really help. You'll have to renew your totems, keep your mana high, possibly taking a pot or dropping a mana stream totem or water sheilds. Most of the time you will struggle between Shocking, Sheilds, totems, and CL, with the GCD getting in the way of smooth sequences. However, once you are familiar with it, you should be able to go through a full cycle in about 6 seconds.
4) Switching Targets
When switching targets, you may have to mark the new target, or hit it with a Frost Shock to start off
the tanking switch. I recommend moving up to the target and *then* shocking, to ensure you get the
maximum threat and placing on the aggro list.
Totem Choices:
A standard complement of Totems for tanking would include:
Earth: Stoneskin (primary choice for reduced damage), with tremor for fear mobs and stoneclaw used for more than 3 mob pulls.
Fire: I like flametongue, magma, and fire nova, but it really is a matter of personal choice. Only
flametongue adds threat, about 2%.
Water: Healing Stream or Mana Stream (Depending upon your mana usage)
Air: Wrath of Air (primary choice for increased shock damage) or Wall of Air (if ranged mobs like in
SH) Grounding Totems verses spell casters are an great choice.
Tools: I recommend Omen or KTM Threat meter for all party members to help them identify how much
threat they can do. Please note that the innate threat of Frost Shock and Earth Shock are not included
in their formulas.
Other Notes:
There are two styles of tanking with regards to mana usage for healers. Shaman are not like Warriors
or Paladins, where they can essentially reach 102% avoidance, and not take crushing blows. Similarly,
Druids and Shaman do not have high avoidance rates, primarily because Druids only get dodge and chance to miss (from Defense), while Shaman have no abilities to increase their base avoidance.
Never-the-less, a high avoidance geared shaman can reach 60% avoidance with enchants, end game epics, ablities, and other items. The issue is that their mana will be so low as a result, that they will be
unable to use their aggro abilities, unless they are enhancement.
The other strategy, as outlined in Section 9.0, Effective Health, is to maximize armor and stamina.
Shaman can reach 14000 armor and 17000 health, buffed, or 12k and 14k respectively, unbuffed. A shaman will still have 25-30% avoidance which is similar to that of druids, with this gear. Druids have far more armor and health than we do in equivalent gear.
Shaman do have a few strengths in tanking. Our Aggro generation is second to none. Not even
equivalently geared Warriors can out threat a Shaman on a single target.
We have very good mitigation from our totems, including -90 damage from melee and -100 from ranged, as well as grounding totems to assist with spell damage.
Shaman suffer from survivability issues, above Kara geared warriors and Druids