Totem Talk: 21 to 40 the Shaman way

Totem Talk talks leveling again with a discussion of the changes in 21 to 40 since the last time we discussed it. Matthew Rossi wanted to use this picture sent in by a reader, however. It has nothing at all to do with leveling. but it's a happy shaman with two 171 DPS 2.6 speed mugs. What more can you possibly want? Thanks to Russel Jones for sharing it.

I considered doing a big loregeek post this week while waiting for the 3.2.2 changes to continue shaking out for shamans. So far in my experience (raiding as enhance/resto, PvPing as resto/elemental) elemental seems to have had a nice little buff that, while hardly game breaking, helps bring caster shamans closer to other ranged DPS. Didn't really see the point of posting that again, so instead I considered doing a "Famous Shamans of WoW" post that talked about the impact shamans have had on the Warcraft setting for good and ill. I mean, Ner'Zhul alone gives shamans some serious lore cred, not to mention Thrall, Drek'Thar, Nobundo, and even Gul'Dan.

But then I remembered that we were talking about me leveling a baby shaman when stuff started hopping again. I got sidetracked leveling in AV, but that's no reason not to start talking about shamans and leveling again.

This is the original 21-40 Totem Talk leveling column. As you can see, it was written two years ago (well, almost) and while it's not entirely inaccurate now (shamans do still cast spells and drop totems) we still should talk about all the ways things have changed. 

Heirloom items are one big change, of course, but we did cover those in our first foray back into leveling. It does bear repeating that if you can get heirlooms for your baby shaman (that is to say, if this shaman is your alt and not your main or only character) then by all means you should do so.

First up, for you leveling shamans, you'll get your first mount at level 20 and your epic mount at level 40, the same level as Dual Talent Specialization. DTS is a huge deal for a shaman, although the 1000g cost puts it out of reach of the average, this is my first time playing character. But for an alt, DTS will make soloing and grinding much more pleasant while also allowing you to have a healing spec in case you want to run a dungeon as a healer. 

Also new this time around are the new ways to drop 4 totems at once. We've covered these before, but to specifically cover the ones 21 to 40 shamans will be seeing, you'll get Call of the Elements at level 30 and Call of the Ancestors at level 40. These make dropping multiple totems at once much less painful, removing the GCD issues that made shamans plonk plonk plonk one totem at a time while everyone else got to cast or attack.

The abilities you get at your level are pretty much unchanged otherwise. Totem Consolidation has given us a single Cleansing Totem which you get at level 38. This means you won't have the totem at level 22 to cleanse poison. (You should have Cure Toxin from level 18 on, so you'll just have to target and cleanse until level 38.) Similarly, while Windfury is still a popular totem it's nowhere's near the clamorous "gimmie gimmie" that melee used to regard it with now that it's a pure melee haste effect. 

Call of Water remains unchanged for both Horde and Alliance with the Alliance one still being a trifle easier. Likewise, Call of Air is still a lot more fun and seems a lot more integratedAlliance side.

As far as what talent specialization to use between 21 and 40, that's still pretty much up to you. It's easier with heirlooms to build an elemental set for a lower level shaman and the changes to talent trees, while not ridiculously different at the levels described here, do allow you to feel more like an elemental shaman than was possible at the time I wrote the original post. By the mid 30's you can have talents like Elemental Fury, Call of Thunder, Elemental Reach and Unrelenting Storm, with Lightning Mastery within reach. While you'll probably still have to wear some cloth at these levels, it won't be as difficult to get caster leather and then mail at 40.

Enhancement won't really feel any different at all at these levels. You still won't get dual wielding until level 40 so enhancement will still be all about running around whacking stuff with a big, slow 2h with Windfury on it, and frankly, that's still good enough. Similarly, while restoration sees talents like Tidal Force, the improved Ancestral Healing and the entirely redesigned Healing Way, these changes don't really make restoration play any differently in 2009 at these levels than it did in 2007. (It's basically just better.) You'll be able to getCleanse Spirit at level 40, allowing you to remove curses as well as poison and disease, which is very very nice. Again, though, it won't feel different, just better.

I feel amiss in that I haven't covered Sentry Totem. Yes, you still get Sentry Totem at level 34. It's still the totem I wrote an entire column about, and its magnificence has not dimmed a whit in the two years since I first wrote about leveling a shaman between 21 and 40. Sentry Totem, don't ever change. We love you for who you are.

Considering the amount of time that passed, the old column still lists a fairly strong selection of attainable gear for these levels, but that's not surprising since the big change to instances at those levels took place just before it was written. The real changes to the class that will have an impact on these levels are general ones (mount changes), heirlooms, and the totem interface improvements as well as changes to what totems you get when as some totems were consolidated. As long as you keep those changes in mind, it's basically still pretty much the same climb between these levels.

Next week we'll either return with 41 to 60, or we'll discuss shamans in Trial of the Crusader.

Encrypted Text: Leveling a rogue, level 51-70

Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the rogue class. This week, we talk about leveling a rogue from level 51 to level 70.

If you've ever leveled a rogue (or really any class) to 80 before, you know that there's certain spots in the leveling curve that can get downright boring. We play like a "dual wielding warrior" far too often, preferring to simply walk up to enemies and Slice and Dice our way to a kill. Rogues have a variety of skills, but it seems like Sinister Strike is really the only one worth pushing. Where's the fun in spamming one ability mindlessly until the enemy falls over from boredom?

Luckily for us, all of that ends at level 50 and above. We receive some of our core abilities via our 41-point talents, and each spec becomes a completely different playstyle from what you've been using for the past 50 levels. In addition, we pick up some of the clutch PvP abilities that were added in TBC that allowed rogues to compete in the arena environment. To summarize: leveling a rogue just got real.

New abilities:

While you've been picking up all of the new ranks of our rogue abilities, they've largely been simple "now does more damage"-type upgrades. We get to see a truly new feature added to an ability once we hit level 61 and receive Garrote (Rank 7). This version of Garrote includes an incredibly useful 3 second silence on top of the normal bleed effect. Try it on the next caster mob you attack, and you'll be pleasantly surprised to see them try to melee you with their feeble weapons. Laugh as you then smash their cloth-wearing faces in.

Immediately after receiving our revived opener, you'll pick up Envenom at level 62. It's a Mutilate raider's finisher of choice, but only if you're using Instant and Deadly Poisons, which not every rogue will have due to more attractive talents while leveling. It also requires you to get a 5 stack of Deadly Poison to deal maximum damage, and so you likely won't have time to use it while leveling on regular mobs. It does Nature damage and therefore pieces through armor, so don't knock its usefulness on highly armored targets. I just didn't use it much at all while leveling, and unless you're looking for a cool new finisher, stick to Eviscerate.

Deadly Throw is our next new finisher, received at level 64. It gives rogues their only ranged presence, and can be useful for taking out fleeing targets. DT used to be far more potent when it had the ability to interrupt via a pair of PvP gloves, but is now fairly limp outside of very specific situations (usually PvP). There are a lot of great macros that can combine Throw and Deadly Throw into one easy-to-push button. Be sure to keep rolling on guns and bows and stealing them from those dirty hunters, because DT is hardly useful enough to warrant restricting yourself to a Thrown weapon. The other PvP ability added, Cloak of Shadows, is far more useful.

Cloak of Shadows will remove nearly any magical debuff from you instantly once you receive it at level 66, as well as providing significant spell resistance for a few seconds afterwards. A magical debuff could include poisons, magic effects, diseases, and other similar ailments. It won't remove physical debuffs like bleeds or some rogue crowd-control moves such as Blind or Kidney Shot. A lifesaver against any caster you may fight, and a short enough CD that you can use it regularly when fighting a magic-using mob. Learning when to Cloak will become a big differentiator between a good rogue and a great rogue, especially in PvP, so bind it to an easy to access key and use it often.

Our level 70 class ability is Shiv, which used to see quite a bit of use in PvP and PvE alike. It was valuable for guaranteeing a poison proc in PvP, but that's been all but eradicated due tothe PPM change for poisons and Deadly Brew. Blizzard has also made it a point to completely cripple the ability in PvE, by adding several penalties and nerfs to the ability over its lifetime to ensure it's never a viable option for long. I use Shiv incredibly rarely, almost exclusively on bosses or adds with an Enrage effect that I need to quickly purge via Anesthetic Poison. Keep it on your bar somewhere, but don't worry about having it quick at hand.

Specs:

Now that we have access to our coveted 41 and 51 point talents, we can finally start the process of building the perfect rogue playstyle. I would suggest looking at two things: what are your best weapons, and what type of rogue abilities do you prefer? If you've got a great pair of daggers, Assassination will be a great way to level up. Once you pick up Mutilate, you're truly capable of dealing tons of damage, provided you have the energy to do so. You also get several useful poison effects, your CDs provide pretty significant burst damage when necessary, and you'll be killing targets before they even have a change to react. With Fleet Footed, you'll be running around much faster than any other rogue. Hunger for Bloodwill greatly boost your DPS as well, though many Assassination rogues skip it due to the bleed requirement for use. Make sure to only pull one mob at a time, as you have no AoE at all and you have the worst defenses of any rogue spec.

A typical Mutilate build will pick up all of the core DPS talents while also grabbing the quality of life improvements that are the most useful while leveling. Your typical fight will start with a quick opener (Cheap Shot or Ambush) and immediately start using Mutilate. Your poisons will be dealing massive damage and adding several debuffs to your target. A quick Improved(and glyphed) Eviscerate later, and the mob will be at your feet. Quick bursts via unloading all of your energy will be the name of the game. You can use Cold Blood to add some burst against a strong target, and always remember to Stealth between mobs to take advantage ofOverkill's extra energy regeneration.

Do you have better combat-style weapons, with a nice slow main hand? Combat provides very constant sustained damage, while having the cooldowns to tackle an elite or two while possessing the strongest multiple target presence via Blade Flurry and Unfair Advantage. If you enjoy a brawler or swashbuckling playstyle, find yourself a slow weapon and spec combat. You have the highest defensive capabilities of any tree via the Stamina, Parry, and Dodge bonuses from talents. You're hard to kill and will be able to easily dispatch any opponent. The downside is that Stealth becomes almost useless for you, and you'll end up just spamming Sinister Strike a lot. Even your 41 point talent is simply a DPS boost (though a huge one). At level 60 you receive Killing Spree, which adds even more potency to your AoE damage and provides another amazing CD ability.

I bet you couldn't guess, but Combat's playstyle is still pretty flat. You'll be using Sinister Strike a lot, while Eviscerating when at 5 combo points. Your white damage becomes incredibly potent via all of the Combat talents, and your critical strikes will be dealing massive damage once you reach Prey on the Weak. You won't have the quick burst of Mutilate (well, without using a CD) but you'll be able to take on mobs incredibly quick, take far less damage, and dispatch multiple targets via Blade Flurry with ease. I suggest using your cooldowns like Adrenaline Rush as often as possible, to maximize their benefit. If you're always "saving" your CDs, you're not getting the use out of them you could be. A rogue has plenty of CDs, feel free to use them all! I simply save Vanish for a bad situation and use my other CDs as soon as the situation warrants it.

Got slow weapons, but the combat way of life isn't for you? Or do you have daggers but just want to try something different? Subtlety may be for you. It possesses very strong opening burst and can give you a lot of control via Hemorrhage's low energy cost. It's also a great option on a PvP server where you may need to defend yourself from the opposite faction:Preparation is a lifesaver. Shadowstep provides a very useful tool to add to your belt while also making grinding multiple mobs just a little bit more bearable. You can also use a Dagger to unload an amped up Ambush upon your opponents, and then swap to another weapon for Hemorrhage action. Shadow Dance provides a unique CD at level 60, but it's unfortunately not that useful in a PvE environment where you are able to get into Stealth easily.

If you're wielding slow weapons, you'll typically open with a Garrote or Cheap Shot (both of which have greatly reduced energy costs) and start using your Hemorrhage ability. This will make all of your future attacks hit harder, in addition to buffing any teammates. You can quickly use a finisher and regain the energy cost via Relentless Strikes, and then start using Hemorrhage again. You'll be pushing more buttons per minute if you choose to level as Subtlety.

If you prefer daggers, a case could be made for a powerful Ambush/Backstab based build. Opening with a quick Ambush to deal massive damage while slowing your opponent and then using Hemorrhage -> Gouge -> Backstab can yield you some pretty amazing critical strikes. It will require 3 points into Assassination's Puncturing Wounds, as this significantly increases Backstab's viability (from non-viable to "kinda"). Subtlety does great damage when coming out of stealth, so try to stack as many attacks into that 6 second window of Master of Subtlety as possible.

Conclusion:

With several available playstyles to experiment with, levels 51-70 are truly the golden years for rogues. We're only really missing our true AoE with Fan of Knives and our pseudo-Misdirection via Tricks of the Trade, but you won't typically be using those while soloing anyway. Try out each of the talent trees and figure out which one suits you the best. If you're not enjoying one, simply swap to another. Weapons are typically easy to find via quests or the auction house, and so there's no reason not to experiment with a spec that tickles your fancy. Leveling is one of the only times where you can truly spread your wings, as by the time you reach 80, everything seems to take a seat unless it maximizes your DPS.