Guide for the Raiding Shaman?

[Gloriana]

I found this great old post from Fenira on the Crucible. It was originally written in 2002 and could use some updating. Anybody feel up to writing up a new good guide for the raiding shaman (big raids, family raids, whatever). It is fun to see how much of this guide is still applicable!

This is for the true newbie shaman, or more experienced shaman that might want tips. I wrote this for the shaman in my guild a while ago. Please reply with other suggestions/ideas for the New Shaman on Raids.This is my personal opinion and how I go about handling things on a raid;

Bring Shrink potions to every raid. It's one of your contributions. Most big tanks should have their own, but in case they don't, it's polite to have a couple 10s to pass around. If they want to buy it, fine, that's nice, offer them a raid discount, but don't expect to get paid for it. It'll let you shrink 'em down in outside zones and without the hassle of having them in your group on indoor raids. Always keep yourself shrinked. (Caveat; It's not always a good idea in Kael, you can't get up the stairs without jumping ;P).

When the raid leader announces groups, WRITE THEM DOWN. Also note what everyone's class is (hopefully level wont' matter, but if they're less than 42, any of your 50+ buffs wont' work on them ). Tanks like to feel that you care, so ask them what buffs they really want/need. Plus some of them might max in something and not need it. If you're the only shaman, don't be afraid to tell them they can't have the dex buff - or, if you have JB pieces, use 'em to cast the lower level buffs. Most tanks have no clue if it's your 40th level buff or your 50th level buff ;P. And if you're casting HoS/Focus, it'll top 'em out most likely anyways. (Note; Dex & Str buffs don't stack with HoS/Focus anymore). Write the buffs they want next to their name in order that you'll be casting them. Do one type of buff at a time and if you can cast one on yourself to set the timer first, do so. Then you know when to start buffing everyone else when it fades from you. If it's a buff you don't want to waste the mana on yourself for, ask one tank you can rely on to be your timer and cast on them first. With HoS & Kragg you will have to stagger them. Far too mana intensive to do a full round. Again, make a couple tanks be your timers to let you know when they're fading.

If you're doing Group Versions of the buffs, just make sure the Group leader /tells you when they need new ones and have them make sure everyone is in range. That's part of the Group Leader's job.

Never unmem slow (or whatever your spell you need for your debuff job) or your heal spell once in the raid area. At least one other shaman should be the back up slower and keep it memmed in case the primary slower dies. Don't expect to be able to mem a spell in an emergency. You never know when you will need it. (And if you ever unmem Canibalize other than when you die, you've failed Shaman school, go make a cleric or druid).

For the first pre-raid round of buffs, wear wisdom/mana gear. After the raid starts, get on your ac & resistance gear. You'll never see full mana again anyways, so your pool size won't matter. Only how fast you can get your mana back will. And when you get summoned in the middle of the mosh pit and can't get out and are taking 150+ hits, you'll be glad you're wearing your armor.

Rangers are your friends. They don't have a lot to do with their mana during a raid, and their heals are just a little bit more than your Canibalize is usually. They can basically give you their mana. Use it, ask for the Rangers to heal you when you are down low and just stand and chain Canibalize. Don't bother dancing, it's faster this way. And NEVER Canibalize below 1/2 health in a raid. Mobs like people that are injured, they're smart that way. If you get to 2 bubs of health some mobs will turn on you and kill you, even if you've done nothing else to them.

If there are multiple shaman on the raid, the higher level ones should cast the buffs that they have that the lower level one's dont. Coordinate and talk to the other shaman. Usually it's polite to ask the higher level one what they want you to do. Ie; Focus & Avatar (lvl 60), Group Stam & Agi (57), Group Regrowth (56), Acumen (lvl 56), Kragg (lvl 55), Riotous Health (lvl 54), Deliously Nimble (lvl 53), Regrowth (lvl 52).
Main tanks and pullers should have every bit of Hit points and ac you can muster. So Kragg, Stam and Agi are musts. MT also needs to keep aggro, many times they use procs to do this, so Dex is a must. And Str might help them hit for more.

If you do not have Focus available, HoS is good for your damage dealers who shouldn't be getting hit. But it's also 50mana more than Kragg, so if you're the only buffer and have to buff 10 tanks, Kragg gives more HPS and is probably your best choice.

All Enchanters and Clerics should have Agi & Stam on them. It's just a little bit extra that might help them survive. Their own shield buff will not stack with HoS or Kragg, and it will overwrite it, so don't piss them off by casting it on them unless they ask. Some Enchanters prefer the extra hps to the ac of their own buff.

Time the MT and Puller's Regrowth with your own. No one else really needs to have it on them all the time except maybe a Necro.

The highest level shaman is always the slower. Not only is their slow a little bit better (1% per level difference) they will be resisted much less. Second highest shaman could keep it memmed for when the primary slower dies (very likely at some point in the raid). If the secondary Shaman is 54+ and has Plague of Insects, they should keep ready for magic resistant mobs. If there's a 3rd shaman, have them do the Disease debuff. Otherwise the Insects slower is gonna get the crap beat out of them cause both of those spells seem to have a higher aggro rate even than Turgur. Combined, you're looking at new bear skin rug.

Slow the mobs as they come in and are mezzed. Get the one the tanks are on first, then have an /assist key set up for your enchanter to follow them along as they tash the parks and slow them. Make sure you announce your slows, and that they announce their mezs and tashes so you know when to do your thing. Hopefully they will then mem blur the mobs and you won't get beat on when mez breaks. But if not, you've now gained more aggro on the mobs than the enchanter has. This is a good thing. You're tougher than the little guy or girl in the robe. You can take it, they can't. In a serious cluster fudge, and the enchanter is getting killed (hopefully their healer is doing their job and you won't have to worry about that), root park and slow. Move around quickly and get the mobs off the enchanter. Hopefully you're used to doing this from regular xp groups. Get yourself right up on the mob, F8 to target, root them, get aggro, and move back and slow. Give the Enchanter room to breath and do his thing. You dying on the raid sucks, but the Enchanter dying could mean a wipe out. Take the death if you have to, it's the noble thing to do. 6 Slowed mobs in camp are ALOT easier to deal with than 6 non-slowed mobs. Lets the enchanters get a mez in between hits and can make the difference between a wipe out and an amazing recovery. I've been on raids where the RLer doesn't want the shaman to slow until after the assist is called on the mob. IMO, they're an idiot and probably end up with dead enchanters all the time.

Many many mobs require you to be in Melee range to cast on them. This is especially true in the Plane of Sky and with any Named mobs in the other Planes and zones and any uber mob encounter. But you should be close when you Slow or debuff anyways so the mob won't ping pong and piss the tanks off. The mob running after you means the MT is not taunting, which is your best chance of having it gotten off you anyways. A good MT will get the mob off you in max 3 hits. Just stand there and suck it up. Don't be a little girl and run around with it. Don't be embaressed to heal yourself while getting beat on. If you can't get a heal off, go practicing channeling, you've obviously been root park/rotting too much. But healing will get you more aggro. If your healer isn't casting a quick heal on you when they see "You will not evade me Fenira!" have a little talk with them.

If you are not the main slower, do not be discouraged. You still are a secondary healer and that is an important job. If no one else is casting Cripple (lvl 53), do so. It makes a big difference on Rampaging and Enraging mobs. But it does piss them off, so watch out for it running at you or getting summoned. As a secondary healer play the /assist monster game. See who he's beating on and toss them a heal. Also babysit the enchanters and other clerics. Again, hate to say it, they're more important overall to the raid than you are. Dying to save them is noble. Pay close attention during a big pull or if the enchanter is charming for crowd control. Keep them targeted and heal them AS SOON AS THEY TAKE DAMAGE. Do not wait, do not hesitate. Especially if you are using Sup Heal. Casting time is too slow to wait on. The enchanter will be dead if you wait until they are down 2 bubs of health. Get the Fast Casting Focus Ring from Mages, it's very useful.

Since I'm not 60 yet I dont' have first hand experience with Malo and Torpor. But Malo is a 45 UNRESISTABLE Fire, Cold, Magic, and Poison Resists debuffer. It's probably the biggest aggro spell in the game. For super mobs, toss it first, then after the Enchanter has tossed their Tash or Tish on (20-40% MR debuff) and it's mezed, toss on the slow. Torpor isn't really for the fighting tank, as it slows (30%) and snares them (snare portion does not effect swimming for all of 14 seconds. Tends to piss them off. But for 200 mana you can heal 1200hps in 4 ticks! Take that cleric! Great for between pulls and so awesome for filling up your own mana pool it's not even funny. With Cani 4 you can get back almost 700 mana from 1200 hps or Cani 5 (alt ability) mana regain is just sick. Canni V takes 1924 hps for.... don't know exact number, but it's about 35 percent of a lvl 60's mana pool.

[Kubax]