hi,i play shaman as main and mage as alt ,both lv 85.mage with minion 8 as pet focus.
that combo ROCK HARD
get your merc tier 5,it's worth it.......
your shaman got counterbias slow? lv 83 it rock. (nm. u are lv 82,get lv 83 and get counterbias slow asap
).
only the shaman HOT combined with counterbias proc HOT = 5200 per tic overtime heal
and that s before the merc healer start to heal. (got rk 3,not sure on the number for rk 2 ).
DPS merc? he will die fast if pet tank,my mage pet is maxed on pet def and offensive aa,and the dps merc still get agro over pet and die very fast usually .
i got 2x tier 5 mercs healers ,and i don't even check heals with my shaman and concentrate on dps,,5 dots plus the fast dd when it's up plus lynx.
on tier 7 or 8 trash i use only one merc and not even check heal with shm. if i have to kill UF nameds i pop my 2nd merc.
on most converteum nameds i help on heals here and there tho ...........
good to have listleness buff on pet (help to keep agro and proc a HOT also ). and don't forget growth buff (5600hp for rk 3 ).
BTW, pet tank much better than a tank merc (at higher level ),specially with a good pet focus.