Shamans + AoE = Dead

[Gares]

I am thinking of maybe doing this as well, but it would require to rework my macros which I really hate doing sometimes.

[Otlecs]

Thread necromancy

Bear with me here - I'm thinking out loud so this is all a bit stream-of-consciousness, and is as much about me writing it down for my own reference as anything else!

The shammies dinged 80 last week (I worked on my hunters and druids first) and I did my first AVs with them over the weekend.

As you'd expect, I died - alot - and I can only blame gear for SOME of those deaths. Most of them are just me having to learn how to PvP with a shammie team.

In order to learn, I need to survive so I'm going to go ahead with dual spec on all of them, with my resto spec being a pure survival build, which is what we were talking about towards the end of this thread.

So, if anybody feels so inclined please do critique my proposed PvP sruvival build, but be mindful of what my goals are.

It's an odd build, and I realise that, but its sole aim is to give me PvP survivability.

The tactic would be to dump my totems down (healing stream and magma totem being the key, but supplemented by grounding and tremor) and then just stand there and basically heal through whatever damage I'm taking while the fire totems do their job and the AoE mages kill themslves on my reflected damage from Lightning Shield.

I used this tactic to defend towers over the weekend and it was stunningly successful even without a dedicated survival build. I struggled out in the open though.

For me, the highlights of this very odd build are:

• Instant Ghost Wolf is an absolute must for me. It's non-negotiable, but I'm open to ideas on the rest!
• 15% increased damage from fire totems so my totems basically kill for me. Ok, that might be optimistic, but it's still a big "passive" damage boost.
• 50% extra health for Stoneclaw, which will increase the shields I get from Glyph of Stoneclaw (is that right? Google says that it is!)
• Improved shields for the extra 15% reflected damage to help those pesky mages kill themselves (15%x5 remember!).
• 5x mana tide totems on a round-robin.
• Earth shield + improved earth shield for when I'm not being AoEd.

Glyph-wise, I'll be taking Glyph of Healing Stream Totem, Glyph of Lightning Shield, Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem, Glyph of Ghost Wolf and Glyph of Renewed Life.

I'm really going to miss Thunderstorm, especially on Dun Baldar bridge, but it's only while I learn and gear up, so I'll just have to get used to that. I'll also have to give some thought as to whether I'm going to drop Tremor or Stoneclaw for my earth totem. That will be very situational, and something I'll just have to learn to judge.

That's pretty much it. All constructive criticism is very welcome, but please remember that this isn't intended to be a traditional healing spec - it's ALL about staying alive in PvP.

Thanks in advance!

edit: hmmm... maybe I'd be better off with Glyph of Earth Shield over Glyph of Stoneclaw, and move the two free points into Elemental Weapons. I suspect that proper theorycrafting will show that the Stoneclaw route is more "effective", but going this way removes one decision branch for me (whether to drop stoneclaw or tremor).....

[asonimie]

edit: hmmm... maybe I'd be better off with Glyph of Earth Shield over Glyph of Stoneclaw, and move the two free points into Elemental Weapons. I suspect that proper theorycrafting will show that the Stoneclaw route is more "effective", but going this way removes one decision branch for me (whether to drop stoneclaw or tremor).....

I concur