More Totems!

I sat down tonight and worked out a chart to use for assigning totems when the patch comes out.

Couple things to note: Unessential or situational totems are in brackets, while essential totems are not. This does not take into account spatial arrangement, meaning I have not considered where shaman stand in relation to the rest of the raid or to each other.

Enhancement shaman: Strength of Earth Totem, Windfury Totem, Flametongue Totem, [Poison Cleansing Totem/Fire Resistance Totem]

Elemental shaman: [Tremor Totem/Stoneskin Totem], Wrath of Air Totem, Totem of Wrath, [Poison Cleansing Totem/Fire Resistance Totem]

Restoration shaman: [Tremor Totem/Stoneskin Totem], [Grounding Totem/Wrath of Air Totem], [Frost Resistance Totem], Mana Spring Totem/Healing Stream Totem/Mana Tide Totem


This chart makes a few assumptions as far as spec goes. For enhancement shaman, it assumes that the shaman will have full points in the following talents: Enhancing Totems and Improved Windfury Totem. For elemental shaman, it assumes the shaman will have Totem of Wrath. And for restoration shaman, it assumes the shaman will have full points in Restorative Totems and a point in Mana Tide Totem.

There is one small problem to consider. The talent that improves Stoneskin Totem, Guardian Totems, has traditionally been considered a pvp talent because it also reduces the cooldown of Grounding Totem. It is not a common talent in pve specs, particularly for elemental or restoration shaman.

I would like to see my raid provided with improved Stoneskin Totem, but I have yet to figure out how to manage it without specifically asking an elemental or restoration shaman to spec for it. The problem could be alleviated if an elemental shaman took the talent points for Enhancing Totems and the enhancement shaman would then be able to drop Stoneskin Totem instead of Strength of Earth. However, it would require the elemental shaman to stay in range of the melee.

I have yet to see the specs my shaman will choose for The Patch, so I may modify totem assignments slightly based on their specs. Speaking of, this is the spec I'm currently considering for The Patch.