Just thought I'd do a quick overview of what buffs are available from totems, so you know what to ask for in a group, and why you may not be able to get it. :)
I'll leave out a lot of the utility totems, and focus mainly on totem buffs. Shamans can lay down one totem from each element (earth,air,water,fire). Most totems last 5 minutes and have a range of 30 yards.
Earth -- Strength of Earth: +173 strength and agility. This basically duplicates the DK Horn of Winter, with the (talented) totem being slightly better. Useful to any physical DPS class, this is generally my default earth totem. Stoneskin: 1150 Armor. Useful for tanks, and a good alternative if Horn of Winter is available. When I might not use one: NPC's that use fear (Tremor Totem). We need an emergency tank (Earth Elemental)
Air -- Windfury: 16% melee haste. Benefits most melee dps, though DK's may not see much benefit. My default air totem. Wrath of Air: 5% spell haste. Useful for casters/healers. When I might not use one: Big single-target enemy spell (Grounding Totem). Massive nature damage (Nature Resist Totem)
Water -- Mana Spring: 85 mp/5, roughly. restores mana, often my default as I have mana-issues. Healing Stream: 28 health per 2 seconds, roughly. useful in groups with no true healer or if there is low-level AOE damage. When I might not use one: Fire damage (Fire Resist Totem). Repeated or AOE poisons or diseases (Poison or Disease Cleansing totems) These are more efficient than the standard shammy/pally/priest spells and they cleanse repeatedly.
Fire -- Flametongue: +166 spell power. The only true fire totem buff, this is the default. When I might not use one: Frost damage (Frost Resist Totem). I'm trying to do AOE damage (Magma, Nova, Fire Elemental totems).
Thanks! I actually didn't know which were where and what you threw down.
Mattie wrote:
Air -- Windfury: 16% melee haste. Benefits most melee dps, though DK's may not see much benefit. My default air totem. Wrath of Air: 5% spell haste. Useful for casters/healers. When I might not use one: Big single-target enemy spell (Grounding Totem). Massive nature damage (Nature Resist Totem)
Although 2H DK's shouldn't go for gear that has haste, they all benefit from it (Blood, Frost and DW'ers mostly). So don't fret about throwing the windfury down – it definitely ups our overall dps. If Khris is on Dreagway, (Frost DW'er DK), he should see the biggest difference out of all the DK's.
