PVEing w/ 5 shaman groups

From Dual-Boxing.com

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Popular Specs 3 PVE Tips 4 Stackable Totems Guide 5 Useful Macros 6 Instances Cleared + Strats

Introduction

5-man PVE groups in WoW often include what is called the "Holy Trinity"... Tank, Healer, DPS. 99% of people run with this kind of configuration while doing 5-man content, mostly because people don't know any better.

In 5-boxing, many people have chosen to run with 5 Shamans for their synergistic power in PVP. What people don't realize is that 5-shaman groups are excellent in all regular 5-man content (even at suggested level requirements).

Now, you may say "ZOMMGGG! Youz CANt INSTANCE W/o TankZ!", but you'd be wrong. Here is some basic math:

Lets assume that in a "holy trinity" group, there are 3 people DPS'ing and the tank is doing negligible damage (little/none). Likewise, the healer is almost never DPSing.

3 DPS'ers = 100% of the DPS in a group

Let's now assume that each of the shaman in a 5 shaman group is roughly equal to the DPS of those in any other group.

5 DPS'ers vs. 3 DPS'ers = 166.67% of the DPS. This means that you MELT mobs. You don't need a tank! 1 mob will always be dead before it even gets to you, and the others will drop so fast that you won't even need heals on most trash pulls. A mob that takes 20 seconds to kill with the "Holy Trinity" will take 8 seconds to kill with 5 shamans. 3 salvos of Lightning bolt.

Also of note: At level 70, a 5 Shaman group has 5x Heroism/Bloodlust on rotation. So, you can pop this during complete fights (rotation) for an increase of casting by 30%. 166.67% x 30% = 216% the damage of a "Holy Trinity" group.

Popular Specs

Most 5x Shaman teams are specced elemental. That way, they are all casters that profit equally from the wrath of air totem, and you can DPS while pulling. For PVE, the 41-0-20 spec is very popular, because you get five times the totem of wrath. That's 15% crit and 15% hit. With the 20 points in restoration you want to go for 5/5 in tidal mastery. An alternative (that clearly aims more at PVP) is the 40-0-21 spec, basically exchanging the totem of wrath for nature's swiftness.

Furthermore, it needs to be mentioned that some teams have a dedicated healer (deep restoration spec) or one enhancement specced semi-tank. Shamans give you many options, that's the fun.

If going 5x Elemental, it is suggested that you level this way:

• Level 10-14 - 5/5 Concussion
• Level 15-19 - 5/5 Convection
• Level 20 - Elemental Focus
• Level 21-25 - 5/5 Call of Thunder
• Level 26-29 - 4/5 Reverberation
• Level 30 - Elemental Fury
• Level 31-32 - 2/2 Storm Reach
• Level 33-34 - 2/5 Unrelenting Storm
• Level 35-39 - 5/5 Lightning Mastery
• Level 40 - Elemental Mastery
• Level 41-43 - 5/5 Unrelenting Storm
• Level 44 - 1/3 Eye of the Storm (or 5/5 Reverberation)
• Level 45-49 - 5/5 Lightning Overload
• Level 50 - Totem of Wrath
• Level 51-55 - 5/5 Improved Healing Wave
• Level 56-60 - 5/5 Totemic Focus
• Level 61 - Totemic Mastery
• Level 62-65 - Healing Focus
• Level 66-70 - Tidal Mastery

Reasons to NOT take certain talents:

• Call of Flame - There are some arguements for taking this early, but once you get Totem of Wrath, it is fairly useless.
• Elemental Devastation - You won't be meleeing very much at all.
• Eye of the Storm - I use 1/3 of this as a filler talent, but in reality, its only going to help 1 out of your 5 shamans while taking damage. Not necessary really.
• Elemental Precision - With 5x Totem of Wrath, you don't need any more +hit.

PVE Tips

Always wear a shield when doing instances. Out in the world, you can use a caster staff or whatever, but always equip a shield on all of your toons for instances. For leveling, caster cloth equipment is fine.

There are a few totems rotations that are very useful for 5 shamans instancing.

• Until you hit lvl 50, use Searing Totems. After 50, always have 5x Totem of Wrath.
  • Speccing into Totem of Wrath gives your group +15% hit and +15% crit, saving you talent points because you don't have to spec into Elemental Precision for the +hit.
• Always have 5x Grounding totems or 1 Wrath of air and 4 x grounding totems up and make a specific button to repopulate only grounding totems. Having them up means elite caster mobs = kittens.
• Have 4 shamans put down Healing Stream Totems, and 1 put up Mana Spring Totem.
• Use 1 Stoneskin totem to reduce melee damage taken, and use 4 Stoneclaw Totems to "tank" mobs for a few seconds. Some encounters may also require tremor totems.
  • Make sure to cast Stoneclaw Totems right before you pull as they only last for 15 seconds.

A few more tips regarding kill order...

• Always kill the biggest baddest melee mob first. It will die before it gets to you, and then you can take care of the rest.
• If there is a caster that you know that does AOE or Fear, put that one at that top of your kill order as well.
• Save casters (single spell casters) for last, as Grounding Totems will keep them busy.
• DO NOT use Chain Lightning until your Stoneclaw Totems disappear. You want little/no aggro on the mobs that you are not initially targetting so that they will whack the Stoneclaw Totem and get stunned.

Stackable Totems Guide

This information is gathered from Boom over at Twenty Totems.

Multiboxing with all Shammies is fun. Period. Why? Because Shammies get so many cool tools and toys, meant to buff a group of other classes. So when you stack those buffs with muiltiple Shaman, it gets really fun. (not to mention cool to see!)

Earth Totems

• Earthbind Totem - Does not stack.
• Stoneskin Totem - Does not stack.
• Stoneclaw Totem - Stacks! Multiple totems does wonders for CC.
• Strength of Earth Totem - Does not stack.
• Tremor Totem - Stacks! Dropping these in a staggered fashion will make your group nearly unfearable.
• Earth Elemental Totem - Stacks! Not really a "stack", but 5 x Tanking Elemental = Awesome.

Fire Totems

• Searing Totem - Stacks! Each does its own damage. They have a mind of their own.
• Fire Nova Totem - Stacks! Same as the Searing Totem. Drop 5x of these to ward off melee.
• Magma Totem - Stacks! Same as the 2 above.
• Frost Resistance Totem - Does not stack.
• Flametongue Totem - Does not stack.
• Totem of Wrath - Stacks! +15% crit and +15% hit total. No need to spend talents on hit, or gear.
• Fire Elemental Totem - Stacks! Just like the Earth elemental, but 5x DPS pets.

Water Totems

• Healing Stream Totem - Stacks!
• Mana Spring Totem - Does not stack.
• Poison Cleansing Totem - Stacks! Just like tremor totem, stagger the timing of these.
• Disease Cleansing Totem - Stacks! Same as Poison.
• Mana Tide Totem - Stacks!
• Fire Resistance Totem - Does not stack.

Air Totems

• Grace of Air Totem - Does not stack.
• Windfury Totem - Does not stack.
• Grounding Totem - Stacks! Caster mobs = ezmode
• Windwall Totem - Does not stack.
• Sentry Totem - Utility Totem - You can place them at different positions to watch over a flag in pvp.
• Nature Resistance Totem - Does not stack.
• Tranquil Air Totem - Does not stack.
• Wrath of Air Totem - Does not stack.

Useful Macros

For PVE, always have your Totems in a /castsequence macro. This way you can just tap 1 button 4 times to start a fight.

/castsequence reset=combat Totem of Wrath, Healing Stream Totem, Grounding Totem, Stoneclaw Totem

Chain Heal is a great tool for trash pulls, but I have found the following setup to be very effective for boss healing where 1 specific toon is taking a lot of damage:

Each Shaman has 5 macros dedicated to healing. I have these set up on the keypad. They will all be the same keys for each shaman. These are made using /focus for targetting. See the macro section of the main wiki for help on that.

• Shaman #1
  • Key 1: /cast [target=focustarget] Lightning Bolt
  • Key 2: /cast [target=focustarget] Lightning Bolt
  • Key 3: /cast [target=focustarget] Lightning Bolt
  • Key 4: /cast [target=Shaman2] Healing Wave
  • Key 5: /cast [target=Shaman3] Healing Wave

The idea here is that every Shaman gets healed by 2 other Shaman when you hit a button, and the others continue DPSing. You'll have to arrange the macros on the right buttons and change the targets for healing in a way that each gets healed by 2.

You can use this method to your advantage by creating extra aggro on 1 particular character by using frostshock, and bouncing aggro around to other characters by frostshocking with them.

Along these same lines, I have 2 buttons assigned as "Rez button #1" and "Rez button #2". Each Shaman has both of these buttons, and the idea here is that by pressing Rez#1, your Shaman will all target different party members and try to Rez them. Likewise, Rez#2 is a different order of this.

/cast [target=Shaman1] Ancestral Spirit

So, if I have a Shaman die, I tap Rez#1 and SOMEONE will be rezzing him. If I have 2 die, I hit Rez#1 and depending on the combonation of targets I made up, both may get rezzed. If 2 don't start casting Ancestral Spirit, tap Rez#2 and the other guy will be rezzed by someone else. These macros make rezzing a whole lot easier for me.

Instances Cleared + Strats

Here is a list of the Outlands Instances Cleared, and tips for Individual bosses that may have given 5 boxing Shamans trouble. These instances are all done at the level range suggested by Blizzard, so it's not like a group of 5 lvl 70's rolling Ramparts.

• Ramparts
  • Last Boss - Start off at the very beginning part of the bridge leading up to this boss. When you pull his two guards, the guy will jump off his dragon, but not aggro you. Then, move up and use Grounding Totems to snuff out the Dragon's fireballs. DPS Dragon while he's in the sky, Kill him ASAP when he lands, and then kill the Orc. If all else fails, use Fire Resist Pots.
• Blood Furnace
  • Second Boss - Set up against the wall by the big lever (to avoid knockbacks). Make sure you have a button for Mana Pots, Water Shield, and Stoneclaw totems. Keep Stoneclaws up as much as you can and DPS the mobs as they come at you. Use mana pots when you can... its a long fight.
  • Last Boss - DPS him down, but if he starts to "Evocate" and become immune to damage, get your group away from him and be ready to Chain Heal. Then kill him.
• Slave Pens
  • First Boss - Be sure to kill the totems that he puts out ASAP. Other than that, basic DPS fight.
  • Last Boss - Make sure to talk to the Night Elf in the cage to the left before the boss. He gives you a huge NR buff that helps with the bosses AOE. The boss has an AOE acid spit and hits hard. Be ready with heals. Also, use NR Totem. On heroic, use Earth Elementals rather than fire, the fire elementals get pwned by the acid spit whilst Earth Elementals are immune to it.
• Mana Tombs
  • Max damage zerg
• Sethekk Halls
  • Last Boss - He aggroes searing totems after AE, so use them.
• Mechanar
  • Second Boss - His adds also aggro fire elementals which are immune to their damage
• Botanica
  • Second Boss - Max damage zerg, do not bother running out of LOS to prevent healing
• Shattered Halls
  • Second Boss - Ignore aggro game and stay closely packed
  • Last Boss - Spread out and positioning is important
• Magister's Terrace
  • Pretty tough overall, deal damage as fast as you can, focus on melees first, re-post grounding totems, use elementals for all bosses
• Shadow Lab
  • First Boss - Tremor totems for the boss and minibosses
  • Second Boss - Quick DPS
  • Last Boss - Ignore Murmur's debuff, Earth Elementals make good tanks as they are immune to his nature damage.
• Steamvault
  • First Boss - Use NR totem
  • Second Boss - Can be zerged with fire elementals and CL
  • Last Boss - Use Earth elementals, ignore his enrage
• Black Morass
  • Mana is the big issue here. Eat and drink ASAP, use your bloodlust cooldowns wisely. Do not let adds escape. Setting up at least one magma/stoneclaw totem to aggro them nearby helps.