Totemic Shaman Guide - Talents, Leveling, and Rotation

In this Totemic Shaman guide for The War Within, we describe all the details of this talent tree. This system has become the most anticipated feature of this WoW expansion. But is it actually that great? Let’s find out what it brings for the Shaman class specifically.

As the name suggests, WoW The War Within Totemic Shaman makes you play around your totems more. Most of the talents you receive within this tree, including the Keystone and Capstone ones, revolve around totems. If this theme has always been of great interest to you, this is your time to shine.

You can play Totemic Shaman in The War Within if you opt for either Enhancement or Restoration specialization. Despite sharing the same talent tree, they have different effects. The main reason for this is that the first spec acts as a DPS while the second one is a Healer.

As we learn more about this talent tree, our Totemic Shaman DPS guide will be gradually updated. For now, we have covered the most vital topics, such as talent descriptions, leveling strategies, and the best rotations. Make sure to stay with us and learn the latest details of the WoW meta for this talent tree.

To enjoy an easy start in a new expansion, you can Get WoW Gold at SkyCoach. Forget about boring grinding and farming. Our PROs will make you rich instead. We guarantee the best price and the fastest delivery to any server you choose.

Totemic Shaman Talents

The Hero Talent system released in The War Within changes the way we play every class and spec in WoW. Each talent tree is centered around a specific mechanic. Speaking of Totemic Shaman talents, most of them are all about summoning totems and extracting maximum utility out of them. We have prepared a detailed description of each talent for both Enhancement and Restoration specs.

Totemic Enhancement Shaman Talents

As an Enhancement Shaman with a Totemic talent tree, you use totems and nature elements to deal devastating DPS. The Surging Totem talent is your bread and butter you start every fight with. It is further enhanced by other talent, culminating in your Capstone one.

• Totemic Keystone Talent

Surging Totem: Places a totem at the chosen location, generating a Seismic Wave instantly and every 6 seconds, dealing Physical damage equal to 130% of your Attack power. The damage diminishes when hitting more than 5 targets. The totem remains active for 24 seconds.

This ability replaces Windfury Totem.

• Totemic Capstone Talent

Whirling Elements: Whenever you summon Surging Totem, you have 3 Elemental Motes with specific abilities:

1. Air Mote boosts the damage of your next Stormstrike by 25% and lets it hit a nearby enemy at 75% effectiveness. This is considered a unique Stormstrike cast, benefiting from talents and triggering effects like Crash Lightning.
2. Fire Mote grants your next Lava Lash or Fire Nova a 15% increase in critical strike chance and a 30% increase in critical strike damage.
3. Earth Mote makes Elemental Blast or Sundering reduce their cooldowns by 12 seconds when consumed.

Totemic Restoration Shaman Talents

When it comes to the Restoration spec, the idea stays the same. Instead, you just use your totem talents to provide extra healing for allies.

• Totemic Keystone Talent

Surging Totem: Deploys a totem at the target location that casts Healing Rain for 24 seconds, healing for 30% more than the standard Healing Rain.

This ability replaces Healing Rain.

• Totemic Capstone Talent

Whirling Elements: Whenever you summon Surging Totem, you have 3 Elemental Motes with specific abilities:

1. Water Mote makes your next Healing Wave or Healing Surge also heal anyone standing in your Healing Rain.
2. Air Mote cuts the cast time of your next healing spell by 40%.
3. Earth Mote makes your next Chain Heal also apply Earthliving Weapon at 150% effectiveness. (Earthliving Weapon is applied even if you have not taken the talent.) BLOG20

Best Totemic Shaman Talents

Despite having access to all talents in the Totemic tree, some of them prove to be stronger than others. This is especially seen when you have to choose between “Choose One” talents. Once you get to level 80, you will unlock all talents from three rows. We highly recommend trying several options to see what talents suit your playstyle in particular. To help you with that, we have outlined the best Totemic Shaman talents:

1. Surging Totem
2. Amplification Core
3. Oversized Totems
4. Pulse Capacitor
5. Whirling Elements

While some of the choices on this list are obvious, others can be controversial. It all comes down to what specialization you are playing and what playstyle opt for. By taking a look at this list, you can see how much we emphasize using totems.

Here is why we have chosen exactly these talents from the Totemic Shaman WoW talent tree:

• Surging Totem: This is your bread and butter you want to start every fight with. It either damages your foes or heals your allies.
• Amplification Core: Adds extra damage or healing to your already powerful Surging Totem.
• Oversized Totems: This makes all your totems more powerful, meaning you can rely on them more often.
• Pulse Capacitor: Provides a ton of extra damage or healing to your Surging Totem, depending on the chosen spec.
• Whirling Elements: Similarly to the Keystone talent, this is your Capstone talent you benefit a lot from. Both of them are closely interlinked and do not exist without each other.

Most of the talents picked have passive effects. We have done this not to make your rotation more complex.

How to Play Totemic Shaman

Since this talent tree seems quite controversial, we cannot share how to play Totemic Shaman just yet. So far, it feels like you need to betray everything you have for the sake of totems you get in return. We understand that the entire tree is based on using and buffing your totems. However, it makes your main spec choice less significant in the long run.

We still consider this talent tree to be one of the most powerful additions for Shamans in The War Within. If you like the totem theme, you should definitely try it. Once our team runs some tests, we will update this section of the guide right away.

Totemic Shaman Leveling Guide

Whenever you enter the latest WoW expansion, you need to make it to the level cap ASAP. In The War Within, this threshold has been changed once again. Now, you need to level all the way up to 80 to reach the final point. To help you with that, you can read our separate Totemic Shaman leveling guide we have prepared below.

Once your Totemic Shaman leveling in WoW is over, you are free to tackle all types of endgame content. You are mainly interested in conquering M+ dungeons and raids to get the best gear. To get to level 80 quickly, you can use our WoW Power Level deal. Skip the boring grind and let our PROs take care of this job for you instead.

Here is how to level up as a Totemic Shaman in WoW The War Within:

Levels 1-10:

• Master key abilities like Lightning Bolt and Primal Strike. Regular use of these skills will speed up and improve your mob farming.
• Complete all quests in your starting area to gain experience and familiarize yourself with the surroundings.
• As you level up, you will unlock new abilities. Integrate these into your routine to boost your farming and exploration efficiency.

Levels 11-20:

• Transition to more challenging zones as you advance. Your new abilities will help you tackle tougher enemies.
• Experiment with your new skills and different combinations to find what works best for you. This is a great time to test out various strategies.
• Do not skip low-level dungeons and group activities – they are excellent for extra XP and adding variety to your gameplay.

Levels 21-40:

• Refine your ability rotation and incorporate new skills to enhance your farming speed and questing efficiency.
• By level 40, you will have a solid set of core abilities. Use them strategically to excel in mid-game content.

Levels 41-60:

• Consider joining a guild as you approach endgame content. Being in a guild can increase your chances of tackling endgame challenges and earning valuable rewards.
• Engage in higher-level dungeons and raids to level up more quickly and gain significant experience.
• As you unlock more abilities, choose those that best fit your playstyle and integrate them into your strategy.

Levels 61-80:

• Focus on completing high-reward quests for experience and optimize your ability rotation for peak performance.
• Once you reach the level cap in The War Within, you will have access to all PvE and PvP activities. Choose the ones that interest you or target specific rewards to enhance your character further.

We can conclude that Totemic Shaman in WoW 11.0 is quite strong for early leveling. However, it is not the best pick in terms of accumulating XP too fast compared to many other classes.

Totemic Shaman Rotation Guide

With our Totemic Shaman rotation guide, you can learn what abilities to each in what order to maximize DPS or healing done. While Shamans do not have too difficult rotations, many new players might struggle to master them. By following the tips outlined here, you can learn the best rotations for both Enhancement and Restoration specs.

Depending on the specialization chosen, your WoW Totemic Shaman rotation differs a lot. As an Enhancement Shaman, your primary goal is to deal the greatest damage possible. As a Restoration Shaman, you want to heal up your allies to keep them alive throughout a fight. BLOG20

Totemic Enhancement Shaman Rotation

Here is an example of a Totemic Enhancement Shaman rotation to use in WoW TWW:

1. Primordial Wave
2. Feral Spirit
3. Flame Shock
4. Lava Lash with Hot Hand active
5. Elemental Blast with 5+ Maelstrom Weapon and at 2 charges
6. Lightning Bolt with Primordial Wave active and 8+ Maelstrom Weapon
7. Lava Burst with 5+ Maelstrom Weapon
8. Elemental Blast with 8+ Maelstrom Weapon and Feral Spirit ready
9. Lightning Bolt with 10 Maelstrom Weapon
10. Primordial Wave
11. Ice Strike
12. Frost Shock with Hailstorm active
13. Lava Lash
14. Stormstrike
15. Sundering
16. Lightning Bolt with 5+ Maelstrom Weapon for Hailstorm
17. Frost Shock
18. Crash Lightning
19. Flame Shock

In most cases, you want to opt for this rotation to dominate single-target fights.

Totemic Restoration Shaman Rotation

As a Restoration Shaman, you can use this rotation alternative for the Totemic talent tree:

1. Chain Heal with Unleash Life if High Tide is active
2. High Tide and Chain Heal if at least 3 allies need healing
3. Wellspring after AoE damage
4. Downpour after Healing Rain for extra AoE healing
5. Riptide on cooldown
6. Earthen Wall Totem on cooldown
7. Healing Wave within the next 15 seconds
8. Do not overcap charges of Cloudburst Totem or Healing Stream Totem
9. Healing Rain on cooldown
10. Unleash Life on cooldown
11. Earth Shield
12. Chain Heal if at least 3 allies need healing
13. Healing Wave or Healing Surge if fewer than 3 allies need healing

This rotation heavily relies on using Chain Heal and all the abilities to make it stronger.

Conclusion

To sum up our WoW Totemic Shaman guide, we hope you have found everything you need. We have covered all the important aspects to enjoy playing this talent tree. No matter if you wish to play Enhancement or Restoration specs, we have outlined all that matters. As we learn more, we will update this guide to keep you informed of the latest changes. This is it for now, heroes, and we will see you in Azeroth!

F.A.Q.