A few things to note:
- All totems have instant cast times.
- Up to four totems can be dropped at once.
- Only one totem per school may be used at one time per Shaman. This means that you personally cannot have two fire totems out at the same time, for example.
- Totem up time can be adjusted through the talent Totemic Focus - Restoration tree (Rank1/Rank2).
- All totems are considered to be of the physical school.
Fire Totems
Flametongue
Use: Increases spell power by 6%.
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: None
Range: 40 yards
Party/Raid: Both
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 11% of base mana
Modifications: Totemic Wrath (Elemental Only)
This is a typical fire totem for a Restoration Shaman, assuming there isn't a mage around to cast Arcane Brilliance. Elemental Shaman have a talent called Totemic Wrath that increases Flametongue Totem's spell power base to 10% instead of 6%. Demonology Warlocks have have a buff called Demoic Pact, which is the same as an Elemental Shaman's Totemic Wrath talent.
Confused on what to use when? Here's a list of situations.
A) If you have a Demonology Warlock in your raid, don't worry about Flametongue; use another fire totem instead. Searing Totem or Fire Elemental Totem are both great choices in non-AoE situations.
B) If you do NOT have a Demonology Warlock, but you are an Elemental Shaman, use your Flametongue Totem. If you are not an Elemental Shaman, but have one in your raid, see the second half of situation A.
C) If you do NOT have a Demonology Warlock or an Elemental Shaman in your raid, but you DO have a Mage, see the second half of situation A.
D) If you are a Restoration Shaman who does NOT have a Demonology Warlock, Elemental Shaman, or a Mage in your raid group, use Flametongue Totem.
E) If you are Enhancement, you get to be greedy and not use Flametongue at all. If you are extremely caster heavy though, or you're missing all spell power boosts in your raid somehow (highly unlikely, but you never know), Flametongue *might* be handy to use. It's highly unlikely that you'll ever find yourself in that kind of a pinch though.
Searing
Use: Hurls fireballs at enemies. Prefers targets effected by Flame Shock or Stormstrike.
Duration: 1 minute
Cooldown: None
Range: 0-20 yards
Party/Raid: The bad guys.
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 5% of base mana
Modifications: Searing Flames (Rank1/Rank2/Rank3)
This is an Enhancement Shaman's bread and butter fire totem. If you are an Enhancer, you should be specced into Searing Flames, as it increases the chance to "set the target aflame." If you do this, and allow Searing Flames to stack to 5 on your target and then hit Lava Lash, you shall have yourself a tasty bit of damage.
For Restoration or Elemental Shaman who do not need to use their Flametongue Totem due to that buff already being present in the raid, and find their Fire Elemental on cooldown (or waiting to be used at a certain opportune moment to release the big fire guy), this is a definite DPS option.
A fair warning about this totem: It's buggy.
You must always be aware of what target this totem is attacking, and if it's attacking a target at all. In theory it's supposed to favor targets who are affected by Flame Shock or Stormstrike, but this isn't always the case. The AI isn't the brightest in this little totem, so it must be baby sat a bit. The relaying down of this totem may be needed to fix any targeting issues.
Magma
Use: Causes 268 fire damage to all surrounding enemies every 2 seconds.
Duration: 21 seconds
Cooldown: None
Range: 8 yards
Party/Raid: All the bad guys.
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 18% of base mana
Modifications: None
The AoE (area of effect) damage totem for Shamans. It will scale in damage according to how much spell power the caster has. Works well in conjunction with Fire Nova for situations containing 3+ mobs.
Fire Elemental
Use: Summons a fire elemental to rain destruction on the caster's enemies.
Duration: 3 minutes
Cooldown: 10 minutes
Range: Longish (I assume it's 30-40 yards)
Party/Raid: The bad guys.
Health: Based off a % of the caster's health.
Mana Cost: 23% of base mana
Modifications: Glyph of Fire Elemental Totem
This is a Shaman's big DPS totem, no matter what the spec (okay, it will be a definite DPS loss for an Enhancement shaman with single target, though AoE situations are debatable I think). The fire guy is great for burst damage. His damage scales with the Shaman's spell power (perhaps AP for Enhancers?). He can be healed, is immune to fire damage, can be buffed but will not benefit from Heroism/Bloodlust. He does have a good bit of armor, but the Earth Elemental makes for a better tank. The Fire Elemental's duration can be expanded through Totemic Focus, and his cooldown can be reduced from 10 minutes down to 5 minutes via Glyph of Fire Elemental Totem.
He also makes for great party lighting.
If you're feeling especially fancy, you can now rock both of your Elementals at the same time. Though be warned, your Rock Elemental does taunt, and may not be ideal for most raiding situations. Parties in major cities though? Totally cool.
Water Totems
Mana Tide (Restoration Only)
Use: Everyone within range of this totem gains 400% of the caster's Spirit for the duration of the totem's life, excluding short duration Spirit bonuses.
Duration: 12 seconds
Cooldown: 3 minutes
Range: 40 yards
Party/Raid: Both
Health: 10% of the caster's health
Mana Cost: None
Modifications: Totemic Focus
Mana Tide Totem is a Restoration Shaman's best friend (and a dear friend to all other healers as well) in mana tight situations. This totem is similar to a Druid's Innervate and a Priests Hymn of Hope. You will need to coordinate with your raid when you should toss down this totem if you're working with multiple mana return cooldowns, but the general rule is that sooner is a bit better than later. What I mean by this is don't wait until you're OOM (out of mana) to drop this totem; use it sooner in the fight so that you can possibly have it for a second time a bit later on in the fight. This totem feeds off of the Spirit that the casting Shaman has (the more Spirit they have, the more the return to the raid will be), but it will NOT include any temporary Spirit procs, nor does it seem that it will gain an extra Spirit boost from an on-use trinket effect.
The talent Totemic Focus WILL extend the duration for the totem. Combine the reduced totem cost with the longer life duration of your totems, and you have yourself two well spent talent points for a Restoration Shaman in my opinion.
Mana Spring
Use: Restores 326 mana per 5 seconds.
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: None
Range: 40 yards
Party/Raid: Both
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 4% of base mana
Modifications: None
This totem is great for boosting a group/raid's mana return. However, unless you're experiencing severe range issues, this totem is unnecessary if you have a Paladin casting Blessing of Might (unless you die, there should be no range issues at all with this buff) or a Warlock rocking the Fel Hunter, which gives Fel Intelligence (you *might* have range issues with this guy, but it's rather unlikely with a range of 100 yards).
Healing Stream
Use: Heals party members for (28 + (the spell power of the caster) * .0827) every 2 seconds.
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: None
Range: 30 yards
Party/Raid: Party Only
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 3% of base mana
Modifications: Glyph of Healing Stream, Soothing Rain - Restoration Only (Rank1/Rank2)
In the event that you do not need Mana Spring Totem, this is typically the totem of choice. This totem will stack, but is party only. However, if you happen to use Glyph of Healing Stream, the effects of that glyph will be raid wide; even glyphed, Healing Stream Totem will still be party-wide only.
Speccing into Soothing Rain will greatly increase the healing effects of this totem, by a whopping 50%. The spell power of the casting Shaman will also effect the strength of this totem. Couple this with the Glyph of Healing Stream (resist to fire, frost, nature damage), and you have yourself a fairly strong healing tool.
Note: Resistances do not stack. The higher resistance value will always override the smaller resistance value.
Quote from the comments section at Wowhead by Biske.
-Overwrites values it exceeds (Fire, Frost, and Nature with Mark of the Wild and Blessing of Kings)Elemental Resistance
-Leaves the resistances it does not buff alone (Arcane and Shadow for Mark of the Wild and Blessing of Kings)
-Coexists with it's counterpart without stacking (Equal value as Resistance Aura in Fire and Frost, while covering Nature instead of Shadow)
It will never stack with any of these group buffs.
Use: Increases fire, frost, and nature resistances.
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: None
Range: 30 yards
Party/Raid: Both
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 8% of base mana
Modifications: None
A rather pointless totem if you are sporting Glyph of Healing Stream Totem. It offers up the same amount of resistances that the glyph gives, and you lose out on the extra healing from the Healing Stream Totem. If for some reason you do not have the glyph, nor have a Hunter to toss up Aspect of the Wild (nature resist), a Paladin to use Resistance Aura (fire/frost/shadow resist) or a Druid using Mark of the Wild (all magical resist), then help out the healing team by popping out this totem.
Note: Resistances do not stack. The higher resistance value will always override the smaller resistance value.
Quote from the comments section at Wowhead by Biske.
-Overwrites values it exceeds (Fire, Frost, and Nature with Mark of the Wild and Blessing of Kings)Totem of the Tranquil Mind
-Leaves the resistances it does not buff alone (Arcane and Shadow for Mark of the Wild and Blessing of Kings)
-Coexists with it's counterpart without stacking (Equal value as Resistance Aura in Fire and Frost, while covering Nature instead of Shadow)
It will never stack with any of these group buffs.
Use: Reduces the loss of casting or channeled time when damaged by 30%.
Duration: 5 minutes
Cooldown: None
Range: 30 yards
Party/Raid: Both
Health: 5
Mana Cost: 8% of base mana
Modifications: None
This totem can be quite handy to casters who are suffering from excessive push-back caused by taking damage. If your casters (or you) are suffering from push-back, and there isn't a Paladin around using Concentration Aura, consider using this totem.
Related Posts
Cataclysm Totem Guide: Part 1
Cataclysm Totem Guide: Part 2 (Air and Earth)
World of Saz 2011
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