I'm Caperfin. Questions? See my Livestream: www.twitch.tv/caperfin
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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.
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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. Tauren are slightly favored for raid tanking over other races. See
Video to learn more.
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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%. As a second profession, pick an easy or high gold generating one, this helps you buy powerful potions.
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Tank Threat - Video
We can increase threat in many ways, notably: 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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Ally Threat
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 (taunts the mob). Classes in the 30-40 yard range won’t get aggro t'ill they surpass the threat level of the mob’s current target by 30%, as opposed to 10% for melee classes.
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Totems
Totems can't deal threat for you. Common totems: Grace of Air Totem, Stoneskin Totem & Healing Stream Totem. AoE Tanking: Stoneclaw Totem followed by Fire Nova Totem.
The setup: (
16/35/0), has steady threat per second for raids & excels on short fights.
1. 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.
2. Pulling: Cast Lightning Bolt, followed by as many Lightning Bolt possible to trigger, Elemental Focus. Lastly, Earth Shock.
3. 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.
Prioritise getting defensive Buffs, ex: Elixir of Fortitude before Threat Buffs, ex: Juju Might. (see a detailed List of Buffs.)
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There's defensive Debuffs: Insect Swarm & threat Debuffs: Faerie Fire among others. See List of Debuffs. With the raid leader’s consent, suggest ideal Debuffs without overstepping. We can apply Wail of the Banshee, Gift of Arthas & Stormstrike.
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Solidify defensive stats when gearing, threat is secondary. It’s advised to have 4k HP & 5k Armor unbuffed for Molten Core. Blackwing Lair, ~4800 to 5k HP and 6500-7k Armor. For reliable threat, 2% melee Hit is advised for dungeons. For Raid tanking, 4% Melee Hit. See the
Gear List. You can't equip gear in combat, except for a weapon & shield, enabling the equipping of a defensive weapon, ex: Spineshatter, if survival seems grim.
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There are two types of enchants, defensive, ex:
Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility. And offensive, ex:
Enchant Gloves - Threat. See the extensive List of
Enchants.
With the raid leader’s consent, offer 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 required, rogues are best.
Warden Discord: http://discord.gg/CJ6c893y5h
Shaman Tank Youtube: youtube.com/caperfin
Shaman Tank Gameplay: twitch.tv/caperfin
