Shaman Tank Guide - Playing World of Warcraft as a Shaman Tank
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Intro: Can Shamans tank in WoW? The short and to the point answer is, yes. You might be rubbing your eyes in disbelief of this answer. Perhaps conjuring a ten page manifesto about how only warriors can and should tank. Although, I can go on a long rant about how there are many other classes that can tank, today, I’ll be focusing on our totemic friend, the shaman.
Video: Tank Races - Video Explanation
You’ll be staring at your character for a long time. So, consider your character’s appearance as a key factor as it may entice you to play more. All races have assets but they’re minor compared to other aspects. See Video to learn more.
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Video: Professions - YouTube
Engineering for: Goblin Sapper Charge, Masterwork Target Dummy, Force Reactive Disk, Gnomish Battle Chicken, etc… It also helps if party engineers use Gnomish Battle Chicken since Battle Squawk stacks to 25%. The other profession is to gain gold to buy consumables.
Video: Threat
Deal threat with: Earth Shock, Stormstrike, Rockbiter Weapon & Lightning Shield. Install a threat tracking addon, ex: ThreatClassic2. Consumable items deal threat, ex: Major Rejuvenation Potion based on half of the Health & Mana gained. (see Threat List). Damage items, ex: Goblin Sapper Charge deals threat equal to the damage so do reflective Buffs, ex: Thorns. Lastly, some items ex: Gift of Arthas deal threat each time their Debuff is triggered.
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Video: Ally Threat - Video
Allies can reduce their threat, through items, ex: Fetish of the Sand Reaver. Mage have: Burning Soul. Shaman: Tranquil Air Totem. Rogue and Hunter wipe threat with Vanish & Feign Death and so can Flask of Petrification. (See More). Items prevent aggro: Limited Invulnerability Potion & redirect aggro: Masterwork Target Dummy. Classes at 30-40 yards compared to melee must deal more damage to aggro.
Video: Totems
Totems can’t deal threat for you. Common totems: Grace of Air Totem, Stoneskin Totem & Healing Stream Totem. AoE Tanking: Stoneclaw Totem afterwards Fire Nova Totem. To learn more about totems, see the Video.
Video: Tank talents
The setup: (16/35/0), has steady threat per second for raids & excels on short fights.
- Pre-Pull: Cast Lightning Shield. Cast Rockbiter Weapon. Place: Stoneskin Totem, Grace of Air Totem & Healing Stream Totem. Mark the mobs in front of you by right-clicking their portrait, pick Raid Target Icon, pick from either a Skull = kill first, a red X = kill second, a blue square = Hunter trap or a moon = Polymorph.
- Pulling: Cast Lightning Bolt, followed by as many Lightning Bolt possible to trigger, Elemental Focus. Lastly, Earth Shock.
- Combat: For raids, use Nat Pagle's Broken Reel to assure the first few Earth Shocks hit. In a fight, use relevant ranks of Earth Shock that suits your mana & threat. Stormstrike can’t be downranked but is also used in similar cases. If Lightning Shield expires, cast it. If you suddenly might die, equip a defensive weapon, ex: Spineshatter w/Enchant Weapon - Agility & Rockbiter Weapon, use Masterwork Target Dummy (taunts boss), use Juju Escape, possibly Major Rejuvenation Potion & Major Healthstone.
Avoid nearing the 32 buff cap, as it may result in Buffs being mistakenly removed, the addon: Buff Cap Tracker helps. Prioritize defensive Buffs, ex: Elixir of Fortitude before Threat Buffs, ex: Juju Might. (see a detailed List of Buffs).
A max of 16 Debuffs can be on a mob. Reaching the max is major in raids. There’s defensive Debuffs: Insect Swarm & threat Debuffs: Faerie Fire among others. With the raid leader’s consent, suggest ideal Debuffs without overstepping.
Solidify defensive stats when gearing, threat is second. 4k HP & 5k Armor unbuffed for Molten Core. Blackwing Lair, ~4800 to 5k HP & 6500-7k Armor. For threat, 2% melee Hit for dungeons, raids 4%. See the Gear List. You can only equip a weapon & shield in combat, enabling the swap to a defensive weapon, ex: Spineshatter, if survival seems grim.
There are two types of enchants, defensive, ex: Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility. And offensive, ex: Enchant Gloves - Threat. See the list of Enchants.
Suggest an ideal raid comp without overstepping. In our group, Warlock: Blood Pact, Warrior: Battle Shout, Shadow Priest: Vampiric Embrace, Resto Shaman: Mana Tide Totem. To learn more, see the Group/Raid Comp List. For damage dealing classes, we prefer ranged classes over melee. If melee are needed, rogues are best.
