Classic/Vanilla WoW Shaman Tanking Guide

disclaimer this guide us for the purposes of fun and generally is targeted for hobbyists and those interested in class fantasy shaman tanking is not widely accepted nor is it viable for high-end content this guide works best for people that wish to try something new with friends and enjoy themselves do not expect be invited to raids or even dungeon groups as a shaman tank that being said have fun and enjoy tanking as a shaman hello hello hello everyone melter on TV here today I'd like to discuss something that I find very interesting and is also highly controversial something in the same vein as my rest there shaman leveling guide I think this one takes the cake however as I've decided to analyze capability for shaman to tank and vanilla yes you heard me right shaman tanking you see the thing is there is a boatload of evidence that shaman were supposed to mirror paladin's in every way even in tanking potential we all know however that blizzards favorite class death camp best fan I'm looking at you guys ouch on shaman in many ways the same can be said for tanking even if paladin tanks aren't the best so what evidence do we have that shaman were perhaps originally built to have tanking capability well the first is rockbiter weapon enhancement as it causes additional threat with each attack number two is earth shock which in addition to doing a good amount of damage and being an interrupt produces a high amount of threat as an intentional effect number three is Stoneskin totem which reduces melee damage taken for you and all your party members number four is the talent in in the enhancement tree shield specialization which when fully ranked increases chance to block by 5% and increases the amount blocked by additional 25% number five is the enhancement anticipation talent which increases your chance to dodge by 5% when fully ranked number six is toughness also in the enhancement tree working in the same way as in warriors increasing the armor contribution from items by 10% when fully ranked and finally at number 7 we have parry as an enhancement talent which is not passively learned in shaman this gives shaman another potential basis for damage reduction of course there are other situational perhaps non direct points of evidence like stone call totem for keeping mobs busy and off your party members and grace of air which increases your dodge and armor via agility so going over that list I say that there is or at least there was a ton of thought going into shaman providing a tank role or at least an off tank role in early vanilla so what happened why aren't shaman tanks viable or heavily played to answer that extremely complicated question we must dig deeper let's first look at the pros and cons of shaman tanking for this section of the video now let's give a huge shout out to Elysium forum poster and player totem tank I would definitely check out his guide there will be a link in the description totem tank has personally tanked all pre raid 5 and 10 man content with his shaman and his guide is a huge inspiration for this video also some of the footage you are seeing is from the classic well youtuber mages who has vods of tanki on a shaman definitely go check out his channel for more all right let's go over the strengths number 1 shaman have high avoidance in totem tanks blue bis and BOE gear he claims approximately 26% dodge 8% parry and 15% block number 2 shaman have probably the most opening threat potential of any tank with Chain Lightning earth shock and lightning shield number 3 an interrupt in a short 6 second cooldown in the form of earth shock number 4 higher DPS that protection warriors and perhaps even at best above weren't worse on par with feral druid tanks damage keeping the increase with magma or fire Nova totems number 5 high utility in the form of totems as you probably already know shaman have a totem for almost every situation so you can help your healer or DPS out depending on the situation well that seems pretty peachy right hold on we haven't gone over the weaknesses the first weakness is that shamans will never have the damage mitigation that a warrior will Warriors have higher armor and the potential for more blocks and damage reduction by a shield block and shield wall shaman really don't have any oh crap buttons like a warrior does number 2 is lack of an actual tunt yes we have stone claw but that isn't this greatest taunting the mob immediately off the healer stone claw isn't foolproof and once the totem is destroyed the mob will move right back to the person with the highest threat on the table however the good news is you will not be tanking raised as a shaman so this shouldn't be an issue in essence earth shock is your taunt but we will go over that later number three is the high mana cost of spells this limits your damage our thankfully not your threat as much however this does mean more downtime between poles and you will need the drink often like a paladin make sure to bring some mana potions with you before embarking into the dungeon and grab at least two to three stacks of water number four is the lack of any tier raid gear without high end gear providing tank specific abilities or increasing threat generation shaman to left in the dust this is particularly damning as according to totem tank this is the only real thing to prevent shaman from tanking raids finally number five is the lack of acceptance for shaman tanks you will be met with adversity when others in the group count the amount of people in their group and can't find the tank then they will be even more mad when you tell them you're the tank I will stress again that this is a venture that I would embark on with friends and guilties before really trying it out with bugs hopefully approve some people wrong okay so we went over pros and cons let's talk about talents I have found a total of two builds which could be viable for tanking five and ten minutes the first comes from totem tank the villa is 820 914 and focuses on damage mitigation with some self-healing potential and utility first in the enhancement tree we will put in five points in the shield specialization for increased block chance and block effect next put five points into thundering strikes for an extra 5% crit remember them will recreate the more attacks we get per unit time with flurry and the more attacks per unit time the more threat per unit time via rockbiter after this put five points into anticipation for 5% extra dodge now it's time to fill up flurry for the 30% increased attack speed for the three hits following a critical strike finishes tear off with toughness for an extra 10% armor contribution items in the next year put three points into elements of weapons for a 20% increase to your rockbiter attack power bonus for additional threat and one point to gain parry for more damage mitigation in the elemental tree we will take five points a conviction to reduce mana costs of shocks and lightning spells and elements awarding to reduce fire frost and nature effects from enemies by 10% in the restoration tree on the first tier take title focus to reduce the amount of cost of all heals next take totemic focus to make placing your totems down more mana efficient after this make sure to grab nature's guidance as it increases the chance to hit for melee and all spells by 3% missing will reduce your damage and threat so this town is paramount finally take totemic mastery to increase the totemic effects of your totems to 30 yards this will allow range casters and healers to benefit from your totems at max distance if needed the second town build comes from this dalories subreddit or a troll zoo in their post entitled the shaman tank the link for this will also be in the description this build is 16350 and focuses on more damage potential coupled with a bit of control going further into enhancement than totem tanks build this takes both weapon mastering for 10% more damage with weapons and storm strike for an extra weight hit and increase nature damage taken by the target of the effect from to nature sources in this effect last 20 seconds then moving over to the elemental tree in addition to confection and elemental warding put two points in earth scratch to increase the healthier stone claw totem which will give you more time to respond to mobs a point in two elemental focus for a 10% chance of clear casting after an offensive spell hit and by ranks into reverberation to reduce the cooldown of shocks by one second which is pretty nice as the earth shock is effectively your ton okay there was a lot of good information there with talent choices I suggest picking the one that makes the most sense to you and try it out pour hey you can try to build your own next let's move on to thread generation thread is generated from two main sources rock butter weapon and earth shock toner tank explains that rock butter weapon adds threat true I've been at a rate of 74 times speed of the weapon per attack this actually means weapon speed doesn't matter as the threat per second or TPS doesn't change however haste does matter and as a shaman we get haste by a flurry flurry will allow you to increase your TPS as you will attack faster regardless of your base weapon speed our next main source is Earth shock as it produces two times as much threat as a damage of the shock itself so the more damage our shock does the more threat you will produce however as I'm sure you're thinking earth shock is also man expensive especially at higher ranks because of this totem tank recommends having three ranks of earth shock at the ready rank one which should be used strictly for interrupts rank five which should be used for both pulls and over time as you would stacks under armor if you were a warrior and finally rank seven as your taunt to pull off of others as it reduces the most threat this strategy of using multiple ranks of earth shock will ensure the most mana efficiency also remember that heeling generates threat that being said don't be afraid to heal yourself in times of desperation as well add to your TPS okay so we're moving along but there is more to go over let's take a look at tanking rotations totem tank breaks the shaman tanking rotation to three distinct phases the first phase is pre pull before actually pulling the mob drop down your totems the most common ones you will use is Stone skin as your earth for decrease melee damage taken grace of air as your wind for increased dodge armor and create a fire agility and mana spring as your water to regain mana touring the fight the fire totem slot is situational you can use fire and frost resistance for reducing elemental damage or magma and fire totem for AoE damage if you are fighting a boss or a single target mob drop searing for a single target dot if you have two shamans in your group make sure the other shaman provides strength of Earth and healing streams to both increase your damage and provide a healing overtime effect they could also drop wooden fury totem for the other melee DPS next make sure rockbiter is up and won't fade off during the fight also make sure Lightning shield is up for more initial AoE threat also before pulling make sure to have at least half mana to sustain repeated castings of earth shock and make sure to mark the kill order of your pull this is very important as a will ensure everyone is attacking the target you have the most thread on there for limiting damage going other players the second phase is the actual pull and setting up aggro to pull target the mob to be killed first which should be skull and cast chain lightning if a multi mob pull or lightning bolt for single target pulls next cats earth shock rank five on the primary target to establish threat the third phase is sustaining aggro in this face make sure to Auto Attack the main target and continue to cast earth shock rank 5 or an equivalent on the target on cooldown to maintain threat until it's dead thinks under armor and warrior then move to the next target in the kill order and rinse and repeat remember to cast earth shock rank 1 if you are just trying to interrupt the target rank 5 should be used to maintain threat there is another situational phase that hopefully won't happen all the time this phase only occurs if someone pulls off of you in this scenario use max rank earth shock which is usually rank 7 if your level 60 as your taunt to pull the mob off of the other player and continue to normal rotation remember warrior tanks also lose threat it happens the key is do not panic make sure the DPS are attacking and rape mob and use earth shock to regain control totem tank else is just limiting the amount of threat you produce on the initial mob after casting chain lightning and earth shock the reason behind this is that the first mob is usually the one that dies first and it may be a waste of mana to keep refreshing earth shock on this target instead uses time as an opportunity to establish more threat on the other targets alright everyone let's talk about stat priority the stat priority looks like this with stamina being the most important followed by defense rating mitigation and form of dodge parry and agility hit both spell and melee and finally strength number one is stamina because the more hit points you have the longer you stay alive it's simple as that also a high health pool is very important as we aren't in plate number two is defense as it reduces the chance of mob or boss will critically strike you remember kids crits are bad boy number three is mitigation and agility dodge parry and agility are all forms of mitigation in their own way and mitigation is very important as it makes the healer happy and keeps you alive longer dodge and parry are of course static mitigation and are very important but agility offers us a lot as well every 20 points of agility increase your crit chance and dodge chance by 1% and increase your armor by 2 points all these factors from agility benefit you as a tank either it's providing raw damage mitigation in the form of Dodge and armor or increasing your threat generation as more crit equals more flurry procs number 4 is spell hit and melee hit these are self-explanatory as the more you hit the more damage you could potentially do and therefore the more threat you produce very important number 5 is strength of course strength is all well and good as it increases your weighted damage but agility is more beneficial in the long run as it does so much for us bottom line strength can't hurt you unless you take it in the place of agility next let's quickly talk about race selection as stated previously this build is about having fun and trying out something new because of this I personally wouldn't spend too much time thinking about what ratios are best for shaman tanking instead I would pick rachels that are helpful for raid and dungeon healing or PvP however if you really want to tank linear shaman the majority of the time then racial abilities may be important to you as in protection warriors I believe torn are the best choice because of the 5% total health increased by endurance also worsnop is amazing for situational a weave stun it is basically an oh crap button oh and nature's resistance isn't shabby either my second favorite choice is troll because of berserk King which increases your attack speed depending on your current HP the less health you have the faster your attacks become pair this with flurry for some insane threat generation and let's not forget regeneration which not only increases your health regen outside of combat by 10% but also allows for 10% of that out of combat regen to occur while in combat this isn't a ton of health but it could mean the difference between life and death as you wait on a heal my last choice is pork blood fury is great for some additional damage but it comes at a cost of reducing all incoming heals by 50% that's huge and not a great idea to use at all when tanking hardiness is great for stuns with since most mobs don't stun it's super situational and not better than the other towns we've talked about finally axe specialization is nice for some extra hit rating but again not better than endurance or berserk being in my opinion again ladies and gents when it comes down to it pick the race you like the best or if ratios are very important to your end game progression pick the race that will be most beneficial in those roles tanking should be secondary finally let's talk about gear all the best in slot items are male there is no surprise here as male provides the most armor a shaman can wear the more base armor we have the more physical damage we mitigate there is a best in slot list for shaman tanks on totem tanks forum posts that I highly suggest checking out so you can plan out the dungeons you want to run in order to get the gear don't get discouraged that all the items on this list are obtained through high-level content you can of course tank while leveling if you want as long as you have the right talents in gear with optimal stats well we've made it that sums up the shaman tanking guide I really hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed making it this is something truly interesting that I will be trying myself both on the new fresh light so observer and in classic well I hope I somewhat answered the question originally posited shaman just aren't viable for raids in the same way paladin's aren't but additionally the low base armor and lack of tier here really seals the Fate for any would-be shaman raid tank please don't forget to check out totem tanks guide as well as Magus is YouTube channel for shaman tank and content links are below I really want this video to serve as the type of sanctuary where shaman tanks or inquisitive viewers can come and discuss tanking as a shaman so that being said I implore everyone to drop as much knowledge in the subject they can in the comment section below let's make this a mecca for discussing shaman tanking also let me know if I have missed anything or if anything requires clarification if you like this video please leave a like below if you enjoy this type of content or are interested in other types of videos we make here at deaf camp and milder on TV don't forget to subscribe and stay tuned for more deaf talk interviews with black creators and enthusiasts male neurons classic well vlogs and super play brothers Let's Plays also join us on discord to be part of the Deaf camp milder on TV community and falls on to for video updates and more links are in the description thanks for watching this is Mel doron signing off peace my shaman brothers may the ancestors be with you [Music]

Channel: Defcamp & Melderon TV

Views: 103,442

Keywords: elysium, lights, hope, light, wow, world of warcraft, vanilla, private server, private, server, commentary, Nost, Nostalrius, azeroth, lightbringer, kronos, asmongold, alexensual, Battle for Azeroth, BFA, shaman, build, talents, rotation, guide, tutorial, level, dungeons, raids, tanking, tank, gear, enhancement, enhance, Orcbit, Esfand, Tips Out

Id: ej4iI-b6pXo

Length: 18min 12sec (1092 seconds)

Published: Mon May 21 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/CatManDoesnt]

This is mostly useful for RFC and WC when you're looking for your first couple instance runs to get your character's gear established. Tanks are usually the hardest role to come by, and in a pinch I'd have no problem passing the ball to our totem bros.

[u/cuddlewumpus]

No fun patrol out in force

[u/koatiz]

No because I don't hate myself and the people I play with.