Shaman: play tips

[The Zrogfather]

From the Forum Board:

2.6 How do I play a shaman well?
Two big suggestions:


Learn your spells and totems. Versatility is your greatest assest and you should know in any situation which spells to use to be able to best aid yourself and your group.


Learn mana conservation. A shaman has some of the most mana-inefficient spells in the game, as well as having a lot of different spells to cast IE: healing vs damage vs totems. As well, given that shamans are a hybrid, some may choose equipment builds that lean away from the caster-favoured INT/SPI builds.

[malexandra]

Gear focus depends on your spec, for the most part.

Enchancement shammies will want lots of Strength, Agility and stamina. Those will help your melee, and your other spells will keep you from getting demolished. You're not as able to tank as warriors & pallies are, but your extra damage from spells and the ability to heal make up for it. The totems are a nice help, adding some strength/agility, or various other benefits. Keep in mind that groups will ask you to heal in instances, so keep some Int/Spi gear around when you need it.

Elemental shammies should gear up like mages, lots of stam, int and some spirit on the side. The shocks cost a lot of mana, and totem are a little de-emphasized (I found fire totems to be less effective than I'd like, but I haven't had too much experience with Shammies.). The plus here, gear-wise, is that you already have the stuff to heal well, just gotta remember not to try to off-tank, and save mana for healing.

Resto spec'd shammies are also similar to mages. Grab lots of Int and Stamina, and some spirit to round out a little. Remember that while you can main heal the early and mid instances, you're not going to be able to main heal the end game without at least another off-healer to lend a hand, regardless of gear.

Mind you, I'm going on the experience of playing a shammy to lvl 24ish, plus all the experience of my other classes. I'm not a shammy expert, by any means.