Random patch thought...

So I finally got everyone specced and glyphed. My shammy and priest were first. Resto-ele and disc-shadow. Healing was great. Mana seems limitless. Even using healing surge on my shammy, I'm hard pressed to run out. As ele and shadow, dps is awesome. That seems to be where it ends though. My MM hunter, arms warrior and unholy DK suck. I can barely generate anything. I did the HH and i was doing under 1k dps on arms warrior. Maybe it's the mechanics of the fight, I did notice that generally dps is atrocious for most party members. But even on the dummy it wasn't easy to get 2.5k dps. On brewfest boss, my arms warrior was doing 3.5-4k easily (moderately geared). My MM hunter was too (low-moderate gear). I can't break 3k on the dummies. Did I miss the patch notes that said the plan was to lower everyone's dps? Now I'm spending all my time trying to figure out how to fix this....

PS- K, enjoy the next chapter, hope to see you around some time. Somebody has to defend those delicious little gnomes.

PVP update and Strand of the Ancients

So, on the excellent advice of Shamrockgirl, I added the glyph of stoneclaw totem and now drop stoneclaw at the intro to any pvp encounter. Generally I follow it with earthbind, but if fears are eating me and the group up I will drop the tremor totem. I'm not sure if I can quantitatively evaluate how it's working, bit a 15 second shield that absorbs almost 4.4k damage can't be bad. In the last couple days, I've been in a few BG's where horde was really getting smashed by a superior alliance force and I was able to keep myself alive and the teammates around me as well. At times I would have multiple opponents on me, but using the stoneclaw whenever cd was up as well as keeping earthshield up I managed to frustrate the hell out of some people! Survivability on a resto sham is nice. It almost makes me want to look into Arenas. Don't know alot about them but I've pretty much maxed the gear available to me without doing them so.....Anyone on Bleeding Hollow looking for a resto sham? Now onto SOTA.
As a healer there isn't alot to do on defense. I usually get on a canon at the beginning and try to take out tanks. I also try to call out tank positions and throw out the obligatory "focus on tanks not individual players!" mantra. If defenders really have the offense locked up somewhere, I'll join the battle and heal, but truthfully the secret to this battleground is the tanks.
On offense it's much the same. I may try to hex someone who is taking out tanks or throw out heals to those who are actually defending tanks. Again, tanks are really the main focus. One tip however is to always have a bomb on you. Whether you are in a tank or not, have a bomb, place it at a gate. Easy.
As far as strategies go, there are a few. Hitting one gate. Hitting both. Which graveyards to turn and when. The truth is I think the primary strategy is to destroy tanks on defense and defend tanks on offense. The team that does this without getting caught up in little pvp battles along the way will win, no matter what.
I'd say for the resto sham, heal when things are under control, focus on tanks and drop totems that best empower your team mates to do the same. SOTA isn't the most exciting BG for the healer, but I seem to get it quite a bit on random, so a comment on overall strategy seems warranted! Any resto sham specific additions for this BG are welcomed!

Warsong Gulch and the Resto Shaman.

So I have read a number of strategy guides discussing how to win at each BG. I have nothing better to add to that. What I'll do is discuss each battleground as it pertains to the resto shaman.
The resto shaman is a powerful BG healer. We have incredible survivability and combined with totems and a great set of healing spells, we are a force to be reckoned with.
Step 1- Sounds silly but make sure you have Earthliving on your weapon. Many is the time I have gone through a battle with flametongue still on.
Step 2- In WG I usually start with earth shield on myself. In WG I always heal the flag carrier. You should too. It should be your sole purpose. Of course throw some heals around as you are doing so, but the flag carrier is your focus. Keeping earth shield on myself until someone picks up flag keeps me alive. Once someone picks up flag, put earthshield on them. The amount of healing from this spell is awesome and it can save you fc's life. As you can only have earthshield on one target, put water on yourself. Mana generation is your friend. If your fc is dead or not in range (and you haven't applied it to them yet) keep earthshield on yourself. A dead healer is a useless healer.
Step 3- Totems. You have a lot of choices. In WG i tend to favor the pvp type totems. Earthbind is usually my first choice. Slowing down your opponents is very useful. For fire I usually go with searing. I don't find myself lacking in healing power so I usually go with searing totem for the disruptive quality. However, flametongue is certainly a viable option. For water you can go with healing or mana. Both are useful. In long battles, mana is very helpful. Don't forget to have your big mana totem on your action bar so you can pop it when mana drops too low. The cleansing totem is a nice alternative too if you have a lot of rogues against you. I typically go with my wrath of air totem for the haste although being able to pop a grounding totem here and there is nice (to absorb enemy spells). I usually keep the totems that I like to pop at opportune moments right there on my action bar. That way I can drop my pre-sets and then change as needed.
Step 4- Spells. For me, riptide and lesser wave are my bread and butter. Riptide is great because of the substantial instant heal and some pretty decent HoT as well. Lesser healing wave I use alot because of the quick cast time. If I'm getting nailed and I need to get out quick relatively potent heals, LHW is the way to go. Particularly in WSG. By the time you cast CH, your flag carrier is out of range already. Chain heal is an awesome spell. And if you can stand back and the other team is foolish enough to ignore you, CH is the way to go. You can throw heals around to multiple people right in the heat of battle. If your opponents catch on to you, you will be interrupted every time you try to cast, so at least LHW is a much shorter cast time. At some point you may be stuck in a relatively static battle (defending your FC in your base for instance) and chain heal works great. But, again as you are healing the FC on the run, riptide and lhw are the way to go. Anyway, keybind all three spells and figure out what works best for you.
Step 5- If you don't already have clic/grid or healbot or whatever healing add-on you choose, get it. Now.
Step 6- Non-healing spells. I keep hex and frostshock close by at all time. They are great to slow down pursuers or to get someone off you FC or yourself. Damage is not your goal, but distraction is nice!
Step 7- Follow the FC. Make sure earthshield is up all the time. Hit riptide when it's up. LHW as needed.
That's all my brain is allowing me to write at this time. I'm sure I have forgotten a number of good tips but...meh. Feel free to add any of your own! Up next...Arathi Basin.