For several hours I have been killing elites and placing down Searing Totem before the fight starts. For 100% of cases putting down Searing Totem before attacking an enemy mob or before the mob hits me results in the Searing Totem not attacking at all. The mob has to hit me first then i must drop the Searing Totem for it to attack.
12 Likes
I’ve experienced the same bug as of the release of 1.13.6. It’s rather annoying.
3 Likes
I’ve not had a 100% hit rate, but maybe a 50% hit rate where a searing totem just won’t attack when it’s dropped.
1 Like
It appears to not function if I pull a mob toward it that was out of range, but usually functions if I drop it while already in combat with that monster.
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Same problem here. Searing totem won’t attack in most case since a few days, probably patch 1.13.6 as said earlier.
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Same exact behavior - confirmed w/guildies. Started last patch. 
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Absolutely a change from this patch. I played immediately before and after and the change was very noticeable. You can no longer place searing totem down before an attack comes from the mob. The totem when it works is also limited in distance far more than it used to be. You can keep it going by pulling another mob while in combat with your first mob when it is working but cannot kill a mob then move on to the next or it reverts back to inactive. This change is seriously irritating.
2 Likes
Was leveling an Ele Shaman before and after the patch and it was night and day. Hard to do mana-efficient damage when it wont acquire new targets properly.
1 Like
Having the same issue on my shaman. Searing totem will only attack if I cast after the mob is in range, and if there is a second mob nearby after the first one dies it won’t attack the second one.
This bug and change is likely related to all Guardian AI being messed up.
the current function of the totem does not match the tooltip. it is supposed to attack all targets within a 20y ranged. pre-toteming is an entire technique that our class is based around and now it’s been spagettified.
Please fix searing totem AI !!!
The guardian AI is messed up as of last patch
while you’re at it, could you also fix the +undead spell power affecting our fire totems? a bit like you did with the warriors and their bloodthirst.
I have noticed the same problem, searing totem will sometimes stay idle and not attack even if there are multiple enemy targets nearby.
I’ve had this same problem, and sometimes even when in range and attacking a mob I will have to drop several totems before one of them begins attacking!
Adding my voice to the pile. Whatever changes were made that affected Searing Totem’s target acquisition, they’ve rendered the thing nearly unusable.
I can only assume this won’t be fixed since it’s been the case for most other Guardians since Phase 1. My guess is that it’s a bug on Blizz’s list but is flagged as a very low priority fix. Hence the year+ silence.
Or…maybe because it has now crossed over to even Shaman Guardians Blizz will finally address all of the AI issues with ALL guardians…? One could hope, right?
I would happily break all the pet trinkets if it would fix a core spell.
+1. The totem now works like a pet in assist mode, it doesn’t attack what I’m attacking, only what hits me. I couldn’t get it to attack when targeting, casting, /startattack, no matter what, it didn’t seem to shoot until the mob got to me and hit me.
The way it works. Is this how it worked in 2006?
This sounds a lot like the bug affecting summoned pets like dragonlings and ony offhand. I think its supposed to be fixed on the PTR … which has sat there for 2 months now