Viability of Mana Tide Totem

[Watto44]

It's been a loooong time since I dusted off my shaman and actually played him, but I figured I'd throw my two cents into the mix.

For most of my shaman's life he was 9/21/21, which was a great build and very enjoyable to boot. (Grabbing Concussion and Convection in the Elemental Combat tree.) Incidently, if you're going into enhancement, grabbing Two Handed Axes and Maces is really worth it, particularly once you hit the higher levels. Despite the it's recent "nerf" The Unstoppable Force is a damn sexy shaman weapon. (Hehe, a shaman buddy of mine was wandering around with an Earthshaker. Damn that thing HURT.)

I'd definately agree on Tidal Focus over Improved Healing Wave. Knocking the cast time of healing wave down to three seconds doesn't really make that much of a difference when you're in a group, and for PvP even three seconds seems waaaaaaaay too long. As for Totemic Focus, I loved it, although I guess it's more a PvP talent, because that's when you're throwing totems around like there's no tomorrow.

When I realised that I was spending most of my time healing, I respec'ed to a 14/5/32 point build, which was great, but to be honest, Mana Tide Totem isn't that sexy at all, and the ten points you spend to get it are just downright ugly. If you're thinking of speccing for healing, I'd ignore it and grab purification instead. Happily, this would let you get parry as well! :D

If PvP is the way you swing, I'd seriously consider investing some points in the Concussion/Convection/Reverberation string, particularly the first two. My stat focus was almost entirely int and stam and I still burnt through mana at a frightening rate. As for reincarnation, it's like oldmandennis said: unless there's only one opponent and they're really, REALLY close to dying, it just gives them the chance to get a second HK off you.

Anyways, to sum-up...mana tide totem is kinda like a spade: handy to have every once in a while, but not that sexy and you'd rather keep it in the shed than in your lounge room. Nature's Swiftness...ooh, you touch my tra-la-la. (I know I didn't mention NS earlier, but it's just suuuuuuch a good talent I couldn't imagine playing my shammy - or druid for that matter - without it.) Purification...combined with tidal focus makes you a really nice healer, and would be great to have in pvp when you couple it with improved lesser healing wave. As for parry, it's more like a nice old chair: not much to look at, but you'll miss it when you go to sit down and it's not there.