Shammy Positioning

[Revlo]

I've been playing a shammy in some form for quite a while now, though not as long as others here. Really I've settled into resto for most of my playing. I was wondering what people's thoughts are on positioning. In general obviously a healer ought to stay out of harm's way and find a nice spot where they can reach their team and not be easily reachable by the opposing team.

That being said, as a shammy a couple of key abilities in our toolkit require us to be 25 or 30 yds from an enemy target (purge/wind shear). It's also nice for mana regen to take some regular hits during a drawn out fight. For those of you with a lot of experience in this, do you find it worth it to put yourself more at risk by sticking close to the front line to add in purges/shears and to recoup some mana? Or do you forgo using those abilities all together in a realistic tight fight?

Would this change against a premade? Oftentimes I question the strategies that I employ in a standard PuG when up against a skyping premade. I've always felt that a resto shammy makes up for what they lack in escape abilities and heals, with the increased armor, purge, and wind shear. Are they truly a front-line healer, or are they just more of an incomplete spec at this level compared to a priest, hpally, and resto druid? Hoping for some veteran resto shams to put in their thoughts here. Phron, Riptides, Goesid I'm looking at you.

 

[Riptides]

[MENTION=9577]Revlo[/MENTION] My comprehension skills are pretty shitty, so i didn't really understand if you were actually asking a specific question or just asking if what you are doing is correct.


I'd say for the most part the way you approach playing resto shaman is correct. I think for the most part positioning is totally dependent situation. Positioning didn't come natural for me like it does for other people.

Once i gained a certain level of experience in the bracket, and pretty much met every player in the bracket, i was really able to tell which players were going to give me competition when it comes to my positioning, and which players i can slack off on and just go crazy with free casting/purging/shear spamming.

For the most part in premades, shamans are more so used for their utility rather then their healing, since any decent resto druid will be covering almost all the healing.

I'm not sure if this answers anything you asked so i'm sorry

But welcome to the bracket, and many good wishes to you and your resto shamaning.

 

[Allybeboba]

As a shaman, we can take more chances than some healing classes. Shaman have the highest armor of all healer with the exception of a paladin. If you keep riptide rolling on yourself you can insure that you have a constant ancestral vigor up to increase your health pool. Just have enough situation awareness to be able to know when to back out and head for the hills. That is what 30% increase movement speed ghostwolf is for. I am constantly repositioning my totem(s) as well. If a melee or caster takes them out, great. It was worth the GCD, that is one shot a teammate or I did not take.

Sweetsydney...

 

[Stamm]

It's not a good idea to stand at the very back of the pack unless you're pushed against your GY since most smart players tend to flank the main fight, and if no one sees you getting hammered in their tunnel vision, you likely won't get any peels from pugs.

 

[LZ]

I'll just jump in and say that if you aren't purging and wind shearing, you're playing the class incorrectly. You seem like you know what you gotta do.

 

[Revlo]

Thanks guys, this is the input I was looking for. I'm always trying to improve and make sure I'm providing the best support that I can. Recently, I was questioning myself in regards to getting too risky with my placement. I love to step right up to the enemy, especially spriests to try and control their damage a bit by interrupting Mind Blasts and getting their shields off of them near instantly. Though in general I've been trying to strike a balance to when this is appropriate and not. I think I just need to keep plugging away at it and get more experience reading situations. I can especially see how in a premade with another healer to back me up this would be very plausible/valuable. I think when solo healing is when I need to dial things down a bit and make sure I'm focusing more on straight healing.

I welcome any further advice/strats/thoughts. Thanks again!

 

[Kirise]

PuG'ing battlegrounds vs. playing in a premade puts resto shamans in two very different situations. Be careful, because you can learn some appropriate tactics in PuGs that will get you killed in premades.

In PuGs, resto shamans make a great lure. You can kite melee, and live much longer with your surprising survivability, augmented with Ancestral Vigor and the Stone Bulwark Totem. While your heals can't compete with other healers, your heals often don't need to. Most opponents won't put out such heavy damage, and the ones that do will outdamage any healer anyway. Wind shear and purge remain powerful tools as you bait opponents from the front lines to overextend while trying to attack you.

In premades, your opponents won't fall for the lure, and focus fire can blow anyone up in a couple of globals. Stay away from the front lines, in the thick of your team so they can peel for you. Your purges make a greater impact for your team than any tool you have. Resto shamans work like an anti-healer, removing all the bubbles and HoTs that keep your team from exerting full pressure. Every interrupt and purge you do, every Flameshock DoT on a rogue, every cleansed fear or stun keeps the door open for your team to push forward and win a fight.

I always use lightning shield (as resto in a PuG) for a little extra damage against attackers, since I rarely run into mana regen issues. When mana gets low, I switch to water shield for a short time, then back to lightning shield. For premades, you'll probably need to stick with water shield when the fights go long, since you won't play in the line of fire anywhere near as often.

 

[Revlo]

Thanks Bwappo. Thanks for all the info and in regards to playing against premades, your response answers what I was wondering there. I wonder with a 2 per class rule with organized premades if us restos would not be preferred. 2 ele might be more of a value to the team since they can purge/shear and put out valuable burst. At least one hpally could be used for heals so the team still gets their stun cleanses. The question would be if Ancestral vigor is enough of a value to keep us in the lineup. Just thinkin.