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[Shaman] Totems and PvP
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Post by
Nazgren
EDIT: This post is about what I think totems should do when destroyed by a player-controlled character in PvP.
Let me preface this by saying I’m not much of a PVPer but I was discussing this with a friend the other day and this is sort of what we came up with.
Earth Totems: Stuns/snares/roots the attacker (or their party) for X seconds, or boosts the shaman’s (or their party) armor by Y amount for X seconds (or give the whole party a Stoneclaw-type shield.)
Fire Totems: Cause a Flame Shock-style DoT to be placed on the attacker (or their party) or boost the shaman’s (or their party) AP/SP for X seconds.
Water Totems: Cleanse and restore X% mana/hp to the shaman’s party.
Air Totems: Slow the attacker’s (or their party) melee and casting speed by Y amount for X seconds, or boost the shaman’s (or their party) melee/attack speed by Y amount for X seconds (or give the shaman’s party a grounding-totem type buff for X seconds that ignores wand attacks.)
Yeah, it’s probably OP in this form, but the exact amounts and durations of the buffs and debuffs would need to be calculated. I believe this is a better solution than the current “Stoneclaw Totem Shield” implementation. These effects would only occur if a player-controlled enemy character including any summonable/controllable pets or trinket/weapon proc minions destroyed the totem.
Presently there is no choice required whether or not to destroy an enemy shaman’s totems because there is simply zero (or a very small) consequence of doing so.
If anyone on the Wowhead community wishes to comment or expand upon my ideas, please feel free. Constructive posts only please, I don’t want to hear about how totems shouldn’t be changed because you enjoy steamrolling an enemy shaman. :D
Post by
535390
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Post by
178827
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Post by
skribs
The OP was saying "make it so that when your totems are attacked in PvP, they result in this effect." However (constructive criticism here) that should have been at the top of the post, not in the middle, to better orient the reader as to your goal.
It's an interesting idea, but TBH I think Blizzard has made great strides in making totems much more usable in PvP (takes 1 shortened GCD to drop them as opposed to 4 full GCDs) that if people want to counter it then it's going to take more effort than it will take you to replace them down. They are also more mobile in that for 1 instant cast you can have your totems at a new location.
I think instead of your idea, what totems need are a bit of work balancing within themself. A DK can always bring Horn of Winter, but a shaman will go between SoE and another utility. Similiarly, a paladin will always keep up Blessing of Wisdom (if it is assigned to them) but a shaman will override Mana Spring with cleansing totem, mana tide, or fire resist. So you're looking at a replacement for the buff that gets sacrificed at the cost of utility as well as extra GCDs (one to place the utility and one to replace the buff) which costs in DPS/HPS. So here's what I'm thinking (unless they completely rebalance totems)
Remove Strength of the Earth Totem. When placing Stoneskin, Stoneclaw, Earth Elemental, Earthbind, Tremor (etc if I missed any) the totem also adds X Strength+Agility.
Remove Windfury and Wrath of Air totems. When placing Nature Resist, Sentry, Grounding (etc if I missed any) the totem also applies 16-20% melee haste and 5% spell haste.
Remove Mana Spring totem. When placing Mana Tide, Healing Stream, Fire Resist, or Cleansing totems, the totem also adds X mana regeneration.
I'm not sure how exactly fire totems would be balanced (because there's 2 that do SP) but something similiar for those. That way as long as you have a totem down, you get the static "buff", and allows you to get more utility. This would be in line with Blizzard's idea that talents should more utility and you get the passive buff just for having a talent point spent in the tree (so you get utility from your totems and get the passive buff just for having the totems down).
Post by
Nazgren
I like your idea, Skribs. Like I said about mine, it was a (very) rough draft that was thought up in about 10 minutes.
The multi-totem spells are nice, but it still costs a nice chunk of mana to replace them multiple times in PvP.
I was just trying to come up with a way to make totem attackers thing "Hmm...do I really want to destroy X totem and cause Y to happen?"
Thanks for the feedback!
Post by
skribs
I do think your idea is interesting, but simply having 4 totems on 1 CD means they (unless they are really fast-switching meleers) are going to spend more time destroying your totems than you will placing them. Think for example of a destro lock, who for 1.5s of standing and casting Immolate can get countered by an instant cast dispel. IMO it's a waste of time to kill all of a shaman's totems unless A) he's out of range and the totems aren't or B) you're targetting a specific totem.
Post by
178827
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472531
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