Using Totems While Leveling

June 29, 2010 at 12:59 | Posted in Leveling | 7 Comments

Totems, the most promiment feature of a Shaman. They are unique per class, in my opionion the Troll ones look awesome hihi.
They give nice buffs, provide for some health and mana, summon Elementals to fight for you or make sure you can escape when you (accidentally?) overpulled to many mobs. Especially that last bit will help you get through the lower levels.

Ideally, you should put your totems down all the time. They are just that usefull. However, on the lower levels, especially up to level 20 about, putting down Totems is (in my honest opinion) a waste of mana. Except for the Earthbind Totem which slows your attackers and therefore let’s you escape nasty things.
When you are low level, your mana pool isn’t that big. Especially for all you folks leveling without leveling gear. Putting totems down every pull will drain your  mana faster than Cookiemonster can eat a bag of Chocolate Chip Cookies. Why then do you learn totems so early on? Because from about level 20 onwards, when you learn water totems and your water shield, it gets beneficial to put your totems down because you have the mana to support it. And from level 30 on you get an ability that will give you mana back when you resummon your totems. I will discuss that in more detail in the Leveling section tho.

All in all, totems are a fun tool. When you’re leveling up to level 20 you have to think of them as lifesavers, used when you’re in dire trouble. From about level 20 on they become indispensable tools helping to get the best out of your shaman. And you must admit, they look hella funny no?