tl;dr → What’s a mana efficient way to keep the party alive in PUGs when the tank pulls too much? I’ve been using all CDs then spamming chain heal, but then I’m out of mana for the rest of the dungeon.
Hello there,
I’m a fairly casual player, so I won’t pretend I’m good at the game by any stretch of the imagination. I seem to be doing something wrong, because I’m having a problem that I didn’t have in previous expansions.
In PUG dungeons, when the tank pulls too much trash, I’ve been having a very difficult time keeping everyone alive and still having mana. In previous expansions, I’ve been able to outheal the antics of crack tanks and hover around 50% mana. Has something changed when I wasn’t looking (which is most of the time, to be fair; I don’t read the patch notes)?
If not, I assume I must be doing something wrong. What cooldowns do I need to use when there’s too big of a pull and everyone is taking damage? What can I do when every cooldown has been used and people are still taking terrible, terrible damage?
For reference, when it comes to that panic mode, the buttons I press first are Spirit Link, Healing Tide, Earthen Wall, and Ascendance before spamming Chain Heal. I’ll also try to keep Healing Stream and Surging Totem active as much as possible, but I feel like that’s a given.
chain heal drains your mana for breakfast , if u want to go CH i guess u playing totemic
use your totems for free chain heals , mana is gonna be an issue no matter what
remember that riptide activate mana regen if u choose the talent on class tree
don try to keep everyone at 100% thats impossible w/o going oom
other advice is saying on group MANA , and if they stop good , if not good too , go drink and let tank die if needed…ppl only learn that way sadly. Or try to save tank and waste all mana again…
Found the issue. Chain heal is a mana demolisher. It’s okay to use chain heal when the time is right and it’s boosted by procs from your talents but spamming it is inefficient and will zero your mana quick.
Hopefully not blowing all your CDs together. You should cycle through them. Also, as others have stated, you should play Totemic for Chain Heals. I honestly have to chain heal very little, and only when buffed. Your Surging Totem, rip tides, earth shield, healing stream totems should take care of 80-90% of damage.
Something else you need to consider is your utility kit. You have some ways to stop damage instead of healing through it. I’m Tauren, so I get a third, but Cap Totem, War Stomp (Tauren), and Thunderstorm can stop a lot of damage going off. Also, don’t forget low CD Wind Shear.
I play totemic and it can be made to not be too mana draining. My chain heal is usually my 4th or lower on my overall healing. Alot of time Healing Stream, Healing Surge, and Riptide are higher for me.
Make sure you use your Healing Stream Totems to proc free Chain Heals. Use Downpour, it heals nicely but also provides a HP% boost. Don’t be shy to use Healing Tide, Spirit Link, and Ascendence on big pulls. Try to not use them all at once if it can be avoided. Make sure you use your Stone Bulwark Totem and Astral Shift on big mob pulls. Avoiding alot of damage yourself with defensives can make it easier to heal up the other 4 party members if you don’t have to worry about yourself. Use your Nature’s Swiftness free cast ability on your Chain Heals to make them free. Im not sure if Unleash Life is the way to go over Undelation. I known it buffs Chain Heal a bit but having to use it first and wait for a Global Cooldown to use Chain Heal next isn’t worth it imo, especially with alot of damage going out.
Also as a shaman, you have alot of cc ability to slow down incoming mob damage. If there is a massive pull and you have time, throw in a Capacitor Totem and the Thunderstorm knockup. Each can give you a couple seconds break from incoming damage. Interrupts too help midigate damage a bit if you can get them in.