This is part 3 of my guide to basic PvP Resto Shamanism. It came a bit late I suppose, and my avidity for the game of World of Warcraft is slowly dying away (but to come back very, very soon), so it’s time to wrap the guide up with a final set of information regarding your in-game experience in PvP. In Part 1, we’ve got you introduced to the beautiful Resto Shaman concept of burst healing, and we’ve got you a good set of talents and glyphs to fiddle around with. In Part 2, we talked about the good stats for a Resto Shaman and the type of gear you can choose. You got to know the research part of a Resto Shaman. But obviously this is an MMORPG; you aren’t playing against AI, so you can’t exactly predict what the player will be doing unless you’ve got experience. And experience comes with defeat, but I’ll make that defeat less common and that humiliation more sweet with some quick tips against some classes in WoW.
Obviously, each class has its own benefits and disadvantages. So naturally, you are better against some than others, and you will lose to another class. The game isn’t balanced 1v1, but based off class; in larger battlegrounds where it’s 10v10 or 40v40, the game becomes more balanced and strategy is implemented into your every move. The banes of your healing are several things: silencing, healing reduction, and mana draining for example. And thus, according to what class has what, they will deal accordingly with you.
Note: Stoneclaw Totem, which will give you a shield if you have the Glyph, is expected of every Restoration Shaman. Use it as long as its not on cooldown, as a rule for every class.
Warriors
In PvE, most warriors act as tanks, since their DPS is great but almost never on the top of the charts. In PvP, you have to watch out for the warriors. A good warrior with stacked Armor Penetration can break through your HP extremely fast. Always be on the move and away from their weapons; take the upper hand and the advantage with your long-range spells compared to their lack of reliable healing and ranged attacks. You can win this 1v1 against a mediocre Warrior but against experienced players you will probably pop all of your CDs to survive.
Common specs: Arms, Protection
Totems: Searing, Mana Spring, Stoneskin, Wrath of Air
In duels: Against the Arms Warrior, you will have great trouble surviving. The DPS against you will be exceptionally high and their Mortal Strike will reduce your healing by 50%. That means you will heal half of what you will normally heal. The Arms Warrior will almost always start with a Charge, and you can’t avoid this even if you get the first hit and put him or her in combat (they have a talent that allows Charge in combat). The good thing is, you are significantly more likely to stall out their war machine when their charging spells are on cooldown. Always keep a Flame Shock on the Warrior and Lava Burst whenever possible. You can use Lightning Bolt when you have a safe distance away from them, but never use Chain Lightning. Do not get tempted by the fast cast time; unless they are almost dead, the mana cost from Chain Lightning is simply not worth it. You will need every single drop of mana possible to keep your HP up against the Arms. Use Ghost Wolf to escape when they reach you; always drop an Earthbind Totem before you do so. That way, you can keep distance with the Warrior and let the Flame Shock whittle down their HP. Lastly, keep your Hex on cooldown at all times. That means use it every time it is not on cooldown. Another great disabling spell that allows you to Lava Burst or get distance safely.
Against Prot Warriors you will have a different problem; instead of taking tons of damage and having a severe healing disability, he will always be in front of your face with his Warbringer talent. It will allow the Warrior to use Charge, Intercept and Intervene while in Defensive Stance. That means even if the Warrior is not good enough to Stance Dance, he will still be able to reach you with little to no effort and keep you stunned with his spells. It also means compared to good Arms warriors he will have more rage to use against you since when you change stance you have to lose a part of your Rage. Be wary, use the same tactics and, as a general rule, when burst healing try to disable the Warrior as much as you can.
In battlegrounds: The Warrior will always be in the frontline of the action. That’s inevitable. What’s also inevitable is the fact that other players will heal him to keep the frontline up. Your job against the Warrior is to keep shocks on him and stay out the way. Let the other DPS kill him while you heal up your allies. Generally, if you keep your distance, a Warrior will not charge you. Do not use Hex on a Warrior in the middle of the action, it just wastes your disable. Use Hex on the people outside of the action.
Rogues
Definitely one of the most annoying parts of PvP is fighting about a Subtlety Rogue. He will keep you stunned and unable to attack while he DPS’s you down with a simple combination of stun locking and refreshing his abilities. Combat Rogues are seen less often but follow the same general rule as Subtlety and Assassination Rogues: render you useless while they DPS you down fast with poison control and finishing moves.
Common specs: Assassination, Subtlety
Totems: Searing, Cleansing, Stoneskin, Wrath of Air
In duels: The duel against a Rogue is essentially a test of survival; once the Rogue uses up all of his cooldowns, the fight is straightforward and easy to win. Prepare for the combination of: Sap, Cheap Shot, Poison, Mutilate, Kidney Shot, Stabs, and Blind. This will normally take half of your health but if you stacked Stamina and Resilience, you can probably survive very well. The problem is after Blind, the Rogue will generally refresh his cooldowns with his Subtlety talent and do the whole thing all over again. So to prepare for this sudden spasm of DPS, it is imperative to put your Cleansing Totem down. Do not forget that or you will lose. His two major poisons will most definitely be Mind-Numbing Poison and Crippling Poison, which will slow you by 50% so you cannot escape and reduce your healing by 50%. The cleansing totem will completely rid of this every second so it is vital to place it down at all times. Once you have survived the madness of the DPS, the Rogue will have nothing left to do but use his normal attacks like Mutilate and finishing moves – no cheap disables or serious stuns. After this just keep him out of range just like a leather-wearing Warrior. As long as you finish the Rogue off before his cooldowns finish again, you will be fine.
In battlegrounds: This is where the real trouble begins. The Rogue will be the bane of your healing in any battleground. Most of the time, Rogues will travel in groups of 2 and 3 and lock a healer or caster in an infinite stun, killing the person and putting their enemies’ war machine out of commission long enough to win the game. If 2 Rogues ever show up near you and you notice, you must run away immediately. If they initiate before you notice, you are most likely dead. Doesn’t matter how good you are, as long as you are stuck in stun you cannot do anything. If 3 Rogues initiate on you, you are gone, no matter what. This is the fate of most healers, don’t worry if it happens once or many times in a battleground.
When helping other healers and casters when they are hit by Rogues, quickly put down a Cleansing Totem and disable the Rogue(s) with Frost Shock and Hex. You might be able to turn the tide on them after healing the caster with your burst heal and throwing down an Earthbind.
Paladin
Paladins: the universally accepted faceroll class is back and as dominant as ever in PvP. All three specs are common in PvP, and to be completely frank, in 1v1 you will not beat any of them. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to lose: a Restoration Shaman, as a rule, will live forever as long as there are not enough disables on him or her (provided you have mana). This is no exception against a Paladin: if you play safe and conserve your mana, you can expect to live a very long time.
Common specs: Mostly Retribution; lately Holy and Protection
Totems: Searing, Mana Spring, Stoneskin, Wrath of Air
In duels: As said earlier, you should not focus on defeating the Paladin but more on your own survival. That does not mean you should not deal damage to the Paladin. Flame Shock as always, keep Earthbind up, and avoid using Lightning Bolt often. Most Paladins will not heal with Holy Light until they are below 50%, but due to the Retribution Paladin’s talent Art of War, they are able to use a Flash of Light without casting time every now and then. If you get them below 50%, try to burst while using Hex and Wind Shear to disable their healing. That is important; if you actually manage to survive the constant burst while dealing consistent damage to get them below 50%, make the most of it and punish them for not healing. They will most likely survive, but if you catch them without mana the next time you do have a chance of winning. Against Protection Paladins, you will feel great pressure under their fast Hammer of Justices and plethora of spammable spells. Generally, keep yourself alive and follow all kiting methods. It is more unlikely that you will beat a Protection Paladin because they are capable of healing essentially all of their health using their talent Touched by the Light. And do not even try dueling a Holy Paladin, as we all know healer vs. healer is endless. Especially against a Holy Paladin.
If the Paladin uses Lay on Hands or Divine Shield anytime during the duel, that Paladin is not good at his or her class.
In battlegrounds: Again, like the Warrior, Paladins will rarely fight you unless you are in the frontline, which is unlikely. Your main objective is still healing your comrades so they can do the dirty work for you. Frost Shock and Earthbind are great ways to help your allies when their health is at full. Remember that your allies will keep you alive; they know that you are important. Another thing: if a Retribution Paladin and another DPS class manages to stun you, consider yourself gone.
Holy Paladins will stay behind the action, like you. Do not compromise them; Wind Shear and Hex is an exception. If that one Wind Shear stops the Paladin from healing his ally and thus allowing your team to kill, then it is a worthy Wind Shear.
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Anyways, these are three classes that might cause you some trouble in battlegrounds, and the Paladin is especially bad 1v1, but understand that classes have advantages over other classes (I’m saying that again) and you should never give up on your healing! Follow the ways of the waters and stay cool.
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