RESTO SHAMAN ADVANCED TIPS

EARTHERN WALL TOTEM

Welcome back to yet another video in our Restoration Shaman healing course. Today we're going to be taking a closer look at Earthenwall Totem.

We're going to walk you through how this works, when to use it, and of course the strategies to ensure you're going to be getting the most out of Earthenwall Totem. Earthenwall Totem is one of your strongest defensive cooldowns against Dots, Rot Pressure, and classes that have a lot of small hits.

It has a 1 minute cooldown, it lasts for 15 seconds, and it absorbs a portion of damage from each hit for everyone standing in the Earthen.

This Totem is incredibly powerful against the likes of classes like Assassination Rogues, Demonology Warlocks, and Unholy Death Knights, as they really don't have huge hits, but rather a lot of really small hits that compound over time.

Earthenwall Totem is best used as a tempo cooldown, meaning it's most effective when used proactively. This is a good thing for those who are playing a lot of Dots, and are very good at playing Dots.

This is a good thing for those who are playing Dots, and are very good at playing Dots. This is a good thing for those who are playing Dots.

This is a good thing for those who are playing Dots. This is a good thing for those who are playing Dots.

Since it doesn't completely prevent damage but only absorbs a portion of each and every hit, dropping it when someone is already low, it won't save them at all. The goal is to slow down incoming damage before it ramps up to the point that it's unhealable.

Whenever you see enemies activating cooldowns, or you anticipate getting caught in a long crowd control chain, placing Earthenwall Totem early can help prevent you from falling behind. So in this VOD here, the Shaman gets hit with Chimera Sting, which means they're going to be silenced in a few seconds.

Instead of using their Trinket, they proactively drop an Earthen Wall Totem on their team before they get silenced. This makes it much easier for the Shaman to recover once the silence ends.

In high damage situations where everyone is popping their cooldowns, you can do what's called a Double Earthen. So here's how it works.

First, drop your Earthen Wall Totem. After that, you'll immediately use Totemic Recall to reset its cooldown.

You can then place a second Earthen Wall Totem, which stacks with the first one. Against certain classes, this combo can completely shut down their damage, as the double absorption can actually be larger than their hits, which totally prevents the damage.

The biggest downside of Earthen Wall Totem is that it's stationary, and it can absolutely be hard to see on certain maps, like Nagrand Arena, where it just totally blends to the ground like you can see here. The good news is you can use Totemic Projection to relocate the Totem wherever your team moves.

Since this is one of your strongest defensive cooldowns, do make sure to position it wisely to get the maximum value out of it.

HEALING TIDE TOTEM

Welcome back to another installment in our Restoration Shaman Healing Course. In this video we're going to be continuing to break down our cooldowns, and this time with Healing Tide Totem, providing you with a comprehensive breakdown on how the ability works and the rules behind using it.

Healing Tide Totem is basically a supercharged version of Healing Stream Totem. It heals all party members and it has a 3 minute cooldown by default.

However, there are two must-have talents with this. We have Living Tide, which not only cuts the cooldown by 60 seconds, but also boosts its healing by 25% with every pulse.

Additionally, Water Totem Mastery gives us a chance to reduce Healing Tide Totem's cooldown by 3 seconds every time we consume Tidal Waves. The passive cooldown reduction really adds up here.

This makes Healing Tide Totem an incredibly powerful tool for surviving heavy damage or for moments when you're about to be crowd-gaming. We have the option between Tide Turner and Current Control and the choice depends on your matchup.

Current Control reduces the cooldown of Healing Tide Totem by 45 seconds, which makes it ideal for comps with sustained pressure like Rogue Lock or Shadow Play. Tide Turner, on the other hand, shines against burst comps with a 2 minute go.

It does more healing on the lowest health target and increases their overall healing received, which makes it perfect for surviving big burst windows. The goal for using Healing Tide Totem is pretty straightforward here.

If your team needs extra healing, just drop Healing Tide. Ideally, you're going to want to use it with multiple teammates or low since it pulses healing to your entire group.

However, just don't hesitate to drop it even during heavy burst damage on a single target if extra healing is needed. Make sure to position the Totem around a corner or in a spot that's far from the enemy since they're going to be trying to kill it.

If they get too close, you could just use Totemic Projection to move it to max range to help keep it safe. If you're specced into Mana Tide, then Healing Tide functions as both Mana Tide and Healing Tide in one.

Blizzard has been consolidating some totems and abilities and now we're left with this strange kind of hybrid that restores both health and mana. And because of this, keeping it alive is really going to be crucial as if it gets killed too quickly, then you lose both a healing cooldown and your mana advantage.

Healing Tide Totem is a highly reactive cooldown, so you generally don't want to use it preemptively like our previous course, unless you're trying to use it prior to an incoming crowd control chain. Since this totem heals immediately upon being dropped, using it too early can result in wasted healing.

You can see this in action right here in this VOD. The Shaman notices their team starting to take damage and immediately drops Healing Tide Totem to stay ahead of that damage.

This approach helps conserve mana and it avoids the risk of being kicked for hard cash and low damage. If you're playing a team that's not playing a team that's not playing a team that's not playing a team that's not playing a team that's not playing a team with a

NATURE’S SWIFTNESS

Welcome back to another installment in our Restoration Shaman Healing Course. In this video we're going to be continuing to break down our cooldowns with Nature's Swiftness.

We're going to be providing you with a comprehensive breakdown on how to use Nature's Swiftness and the rules behind using it. Nature's Swiftness is a powerful ability that makes your next nature spell instant cast and cost absolutely no mana with just a 1 minute cooldown.

It's important to note though that this does not work with Hex, even though Hex is technically a nature spell. That's because Nature's Swiftness only applies to white listed abilities, and unfortunately the game doesn't specify which spells are included in that.

Shamans are extremely vulnerable to interrupts because unlike most other healers, we don't have damage reduction or a secondary school of magic to fall back on when we're locked out. This makes it very easy to fall behind in healing to the point that we either lose or force spirit link.

That's why our goal should be to cast as little as possible and rely on instant abilities. This is exactly what makes Nature's Swiftness such a powerful tool.

It gives us the ability to instantly heal without the risk of being interrupted. Using Nature's Swiftness is simple but incredibly effective.

Whenever you need instant healing or you can't safely cast, this is absolutely the ability to use. For example, if you're facing two casters with interrupts and you need to top off a teammate, Nature's Swiftness is a great option here.

Now with that said, we want to make our combos as effective as possible by abusing modifiers. At the very least, you want to combine it with Unleashed Life for a stronger heal, but on top of this, we want to aim to have Earth Shield and Riptide already applied to the target.

Remember, maintenance is everything as a healer. Using Nature's Swiftness alone with just Healing Wave often isn't going to be enough to stabilize your team.

ASCENDANCE

Welcome back to another video in our Restoration Shaman healing course. In today's video we're going to be exploring the intricacies of Ascendance, one of our core cooldowns.

You're going to gain a thorough understanding of Ascendance and its mechanics, and you're going to learn the strategies for really making the most out of this cooldown. Ascendance can be activated in one of two ways.

First, you can manually activate Ascendance, which has a 3-minute cooldown when it's used, and it provides a pretty solid heal for all allies within its range. You can also proc Ascendance passively through Riptide.

Every time you cast Riptide, there's a small chance to automatically activate Ascendance at full power, but for a shorter duration. While the instant heal is great, the true strength of Ascendance lies in its effect, which is that 70% of all healing you do is duplicated to all allies within 40 yards.

Ascendance is very similar to Healing Tide Totem, as your goal is to use this cooldown to manage spread pressure and increase your damage. Ascendance is a very similar to Healing Tide totem, as your goal is to use this cooldown to manage spread pressure and increase your damage.

Ascendance is a very similar to Healing Tide totem, as your goal is to use this cooldown to manage spread pressure and increase your damage. Ascendance is a very similar to Healing Tide totem, as your goal is to use this cooldown to manage spread pressure and increase your damage.

However, there is a key difference between these two cooldowns. You must actively cast heals during Ascendance to get the most value from this cooldown.

Because of this, it's crucial to avoid using crowd control or getting crowd control during its window. Your primary focus should be healing, unless your team is already fully topped off.

Although the tooltip doesn't mention it, Ascendance is affected by line-of-sight. This means that while it duplicates healing, healing to allies within that 40 yards, your teammates must be in line of sight to actually receive that healing.

But here's the trick here. You can use this to your advantage.

Activating Ascendance behind a pillar is going to cause the healing to affect only you. This can be a lifesaver when you're being focused by a cleave and you really need to survive.

SPIRIT LINK

The last cooldown we're going to be exploring in detail for this course is Spirit Link Totem, along with the various interactions that it has. Spirit Link Totem is an ability that most Restoration Shamans are going to be familiar with.

When placed, it redistributes the health of all allies within its radius every second for six full seconds, balancing everyone to the same health percentage. Now this comes with a three minute cooldown and Spirit Link Totem is truly going to be your last resort button.

It should only be used when you have exhausted every other option or when a teammate is certain to die within the next global or two. It's usually best to save your Trinket for a Trinket Link.

Now what this means is that when you use your Trinket, you should be ready to immediately drop Spirit Link Totem. If you Trinket before using Spirit Link, you're going to have no reliable way to save your teammates in those critical moments.

You could try to preemptively drop the Totem, this is all up to you. But if you're not ready to use it, you should try to use it before you get the Trinket.

To get the absolute most value from Spirit Link Totem, you want to always aim to include all three teammates in the link. Here's why.

Let's say you're at 100% health and your teammate is at 20% health. Spirit Link will put both of you at 60% health.

But if you include a third teammate at 100% health, it balances everyone to around 73% health. This makes it much easier to recover since there's less healing needed, and you can save your teammates.

Spirit Link doesn't really work on a single target though. If you drop it without catching at least two players or you miss your target, it won't redistribute health.

So let's see this in action right here. In this VOD, the Mage is being heavily bursted and the Elemental Shaman has Ascendance active.

The Healer has no way to top the Mage time, so they drop Spirit Link Totem to give them a chance to recover. Even though it was only on two targets, it was enough to save the game.

This is exactly the situation where you should use Spirit Link. When in doubt, drop Spirit Link.

It can be the difference between a win and a loss.

SURGING TOTEM

In the next part of our Restoration Shaman course, we're going to be diving deeper into each and every one of your cooldowns. We're going to go over what each one of them does, when to use them, and how to cover any key goals, plus a few tips and tricks on how to maximize their use as well.

So we're going to be starting off with Surging Totem. While not all Shamans spec into Surging Totem, it can be an incredibly powerful tool, especially against Cleaves and Rotcoms.

The Totem has a healing rain around it, which heals at 30% increased effectiveness. The good news is that the cooldown of Surging Totem is nearly identical to its duration.

It has a 30 second cooldown, and it lasts for 24 seconds. But with Totemic Surge, the cooldown is reduced by 6 seconds, which brings it down to 24 seconds.

This allows you to use it off cooldown consistently throughout the match. And that truly is our goal, using Surging Totem off cooldown.

When using it off cooldown, you can use it off cooldown consistently throughout the match. Surging Totem makes sure to drop it where your teammates are most likely to fight, so that you don't have to waste Totemic Projection to move it.

But if needed, you can absolutely reposition it with Totemic Projection. If your team is constantly moving, and you don't have Totemic Projection, just try to communicate and encourage them to stay near your Totem.

If that's not possible, it is better to hold the cooldown for a few seconds until you're certain that they're going to remain in range to fully benefit from its healing. Surging Totem does have some unique interactions, that make it incredibly powerful.

First is Amplification Core, which increases all of your healing by 3% during the Totem's duration. Now while that might not seem like much, it definitely does add up over the course of a match.

Then there's Whirling Elements, which causes your next healing wave or healing surge to cleave onto a nearby ally standing in the Totem's area. Both of these effects together make Surging Totem especially effective against teams with heavy cleave or rot pressure.

The real star of the show is the Totemic Projection, which is a very common item in the Totemic Projection. The real star of the show though is Totemic Rebound.

With this talent, Chain Heal jumps to a Totem, causing the Totem to cast Chain Heal as well. This interaction becomes even stronger with Coalescing Water, which boosts the initial healing of your next Riptide after casting Chain Heal.

Combining these two effects allows for some pretty powerful burst healing, making Totemic Rebound an absolute game changer in high pressure situations.

DON’T JUST HEAL!

As a Restoration Shaman, you absolutely should not focus solely on healing. Now that might sound confusing and I understand that, since you chose the healer specialization here.

But here's the thing, Shamans consistently have some of the weakest healing output among all healers. So why do teams ever really want a Restoration Shaman?

Well, it's all about the incredible utility they bring to the fight. From powerful crowd control like Hex and Lightning Lasso, to interrupts with Windshear and game-changing totems, Shamans offer tools that can completely shift the momentum of a match.

A common mistake many new Restoration Shamans make is sitting back and truly only focusing on healing. Since you can be out-healed by other healers and even out-mannered by most, you need to play to your strengths and push in and play aggressively when it's possible.

Once your team's topped off, you've placed Earthen Wall Totem, dropped Healing Tide Totem, or just stabilized after heavy damage, it's the perfect time. To push in.

By constantly threatening Windshear and Hex, you force the enemy healers and casters to play defensively. They're gonna be trying to juke interrupts and even trying to line-of-sight you, which makes it a lot harder for them to keep up with your team's pressure.

Your presence alone can really disrupt the entire enemy team, and you should be taking advantage of that. Knowing when to back off is just as important as knowing when to push in, though.

If the enemy team starts focusing you while you're playing aggressively, it is a clear sign. You're gonna have to get out of there.

As a Shaman, you are especially vulnerable because you don't have any defensive cooldowns that can be used while you're stunned. Staying overextended can quickly lead to getting killed, so position wisely and retreat when necessary to stay safe.

PURGE LIKE A PRO

Purge, Purge, Purge. Every Restoration Druid's worst nightmare.

But with so many buffs in the game, how do you know which ones are worth purging? It all comes down to understand your opponents.

So let's break down some key buffs you should always be looking to purge in Arena. Against Paladins, Purge is your best friend.

Always look to remove Blessing of Protection and Blessing of Freedom. This is especially important if you're running with a melee cleave.

These blessings can completely shut down your team's damage and make it nearly impossible for your melee to reconnect to their target. Against Mages, Purge, Alter Time.

When your team is applying pressure, Mages often use Alter Time to safely rewind back to high health. But if you purge it, the Mage loses that safety net and might panic and ice block, forcing even more cooldowns.

When facing Druids, purging Lifebloom is a smart move, but don't just purge randomly here. Instead, wait for when the Druid is crowd controlled and your team is preparing to go for a kill.

This can help secure the kill for your team here. But if the Druid isn't CC'd, they'll just reapply their hots.

Our final tip is to purge Reversion from Evokers, Enveloping Mist from Monks, and Earthshield from Restoration Shamans. These buffs significantly increase healing received by the target, but just like with Druids, it's best to purge these during a go when your team is setting up for a kill.

Thanks for watching!

KEEP UP FLAME SHOCK

So you might think you clicked on the wrong course here, but hear us out. As a Restoration Shaman, it's crucial to keep Flameshock active, as it helps your team deal additional damage.

Lava Burst can hit incredibly hard, so you really don't want to overlook this powerful ability. At a minimum, make sure to keep Flameshock up on the kill target.

This helps you proc Lava Surge, which gives you instant cast Lava Burst that can be used throughout the game. In fact, during a go, you can hard cast a Lava Burst, and if Lava Surge procs, you can immediately recast Lava Burst, allowing both hits to land at the same time for maximum damage.

If you have free Globals, consider applying Flameshock to additional targets. As you might have guessed, this is going to proc Lava Surge more frequently.

By helping your team deal damage, you're going to increase your chances of closing out the game and securing the win.

THINK BEFORE YOU HEX

So you line up the perfect Hex on the enemy healer and... It's gone.

Where'd it go? Did it break?

No, it didn't. Did they Trinket?

No, they didn't. Well, don't forget the DPS can also Dispel Hex.

If you ignore the DPS, then there's gonna be a good chance that many of your Hexes are gonna be Dispelled. Before casting Hex, it's important to identify how you're gonna prevent the DPS from Dispelling or, better yet, you can Hex the DPS that has the ability to Dispel.

For instance, if you're up against a Mage and the healer on their team isn't able to Dispel Curses, you can simply Hex the Mage. This effectively is gonna lock them out of the game for six whole seconds.

Druids can be a little bit trickier to handle, but if you catch them in Human form, you've got a chance to land a Hex. Feral and Resto Druids, for instance, need to shift into Human form to cast Clone, which makes them vulnerable to Hex during that window.

Now, on the other hand, if you're up against a Mage and the healer on their team isn't able to Dispel Curses, you can simply Hex the Mage. This effectively is gonna lock them out of the game for six whole seconds.

Now, on the other hand, Balanced Druids are essentially un-Hexable since they rarely, if ever, leave Moonkin form, which makes them immune to Hex. In these cases, though, you may need to cross-CC the Balanced Druid before going for a Hex.

When facing another Shaman, just be careful when trying to Hex them. If they Windshear your Hex cast, you're gonna be locked out of the Nature School, leaving you with no real counterplay.

Windshear and Grounding Tunnel are both Nature School, which means they can't be used when you're kicked on Nature. This can be especially dangerous if you're trying to Hex to peel during a critical moment in the game.

So to avoid this, be prepared to juke their Shear, or consider Stunning them first with a Capacitator Totem to safely get your Hex off.

USE YOUR TOTEMS

Are you getting the most out of your Shaman toolkit? Let's talk about the one thing that separates good Shamans from great ones.

Totems. No, you don't have to be running a totemic build to make the most of them.

In fact, using your totem strategically is key to stopping enemy setups and securing those game-winning plays. So let's break down how.

One of the most impactful tools in your arsenal as a Shaman is Grounding Totem. This totem will negate all incoming spells, including crucial crowd control like Polymorph and Cyclone.

As a Shaman, it is your job to keep a lookout for these casts. But it doesn't stop there.

You can also ground damage spells. If you spot a Warlock casting a Chaos Bolt or a Mage popping Icy Veins, dropping a Grounding Totem can save the game.

Tremor Totem is another essential tool in any Shaman's toolkit. Sure, most of us know it's great for removing fears, but here's where many Shamans slip up.

They assume Tremor Totem only works on fears. Tremor Totem only works on fears.

Tremor Totem only works on fear effects. In reality, Tremor Totem also removes sleeps and charm effects.

This means it can remove abilities like Mind Control, Seduction from a Succubus, and even Sleepwalk. Capacitator Totem doesn't get nearly the love it deserves, but it's a game-changer when it's paired with Static Field Totem.

So here's how. You can use Static Field Totem to group up the enemy team, then drop Capacitator Totem to stun everyone at once.

Capacitator Totem works wonders for helping to CC the healer. You can drop Capacitator Totem on him and follow up with the Hex, and this is going to most likely guarantee that it lands.

Speaking of Static Field Totem though, this is an incredible tool that can be used both offensively and defensively. Offensively, it can group enemies together, setting up massive AoE bursts.

Defensively, it's perfect for peeling, as it keeps enemies away from your team. You can also use it to group up enemies together, setting up massive AoE bursts.

You can also use it to group up enemies together, setting up massive AoE bursts. You can reposition Static Field using Totemic Projection, which allows you to grab additional enemies and lock them in place.

You can drop it on one enemy, then use Totemic Projection to move it onto another enemy, locking both of them in the totem.

RESTO SHAMAN DEFENSIVE PLAY

Welcome to our defensive play course for Restoration Shaman. In this guide you're going to be learning how to flow chart your survivability, starting from what you can do before you get attacked to what you need to do in order to stay alive while you're under pressure.

But first we need to answer a pretty big question, who are the biggest threats to Restoration Shaman inside of Arena?

Now even though it's going to be super rare that we are going to be the main kill target in Arena, we do absolutely need to be cautious of assassination rogues or any rogue caster team in general, as well as frosty cake leaves and even fury warriors when they have high uptime.

For the most part we don't have to be worried about wizards unless of course they're playing with these specs and with that in mind let's go over part one of our flow chart which is to use positioning and mobility to avoid threats. So surviving an arena really starts by avoiding being in a vulnerable position.

If you're in a vulnerable position you're going to have to be very careful with your movements and your movements. If you're in a vulnerable position you're going to have to be very careful with your movements and your movements.

If you're in a vulnerable position you're going to have to be very careful with your movements and your movements. Which as a healer generally means playing at a pillar away from the enemy team.

If we sense a swap coming soon there's going to be a few things we can do to delay it. Number one is to first rely on earth grab totem or even static field totem to create a gap between us and our threats.

Number two is to use ghost wolf in order to maneuver to the safety of a pillar using LOS to delay a swap.

In addition to delaying a swap, we should also preemptively bulk up by applying earth shield and riptide to ourselves as well as staying in ghost wolf if you're specced into spirit wolf since it's going to provide stacking damage reduction while it's active.

Now unfortunately we can't press any of our defenses while stunned but don't worry since there's still more we can do before a stun lands. If we ever anticipate a setup there are multiple lines of defense we should take before sitting a long duration stun.

Now as we just mentioned having earth shield and riptide up while in ghost wolf are a good start but we should also be careful to not get too much of a stun. We should take the additional step of preusing earthen wall totem.

For the most part this is going to be an efficient trade no matter what as it'll mitigate damage before, during, and after a stun. In addition to pre-earthen we should also pre-trade our astral shift if we assume massive damage is going to be coming in.

The more damage you anticipate here the more cooldowns you should preemptively trade. Now let's pivot to surviving stuns though and recovering from swaps and it's not a bad idea to preemptively use our astral shift and if we're critically low on HP we'll use our bulwark totem.

The shield is going to provide enough of a buffer for us to recover. And speaking of which our goal whenever under pressure is to avoid hard casting as much as we can which means relying on any of the burst healing sequences we covered earlier in this course.

If ancestral swiftness is up we're going to combine it with a healing wave for a massive instant cast heal otherwise we'll rely on unleash and riptide to restore our HP. Now it's time to go full circle here.

We started this guide by telling you that positioning is the number one passive defense that we have and when we're recovering our final goal will be to re-establish good positioning using our ghost wolf, to maneuver to a nearby pillar all while relying on instant cast heals.

While this is happening we'll also want to explore our roots, our knocks, and static field totem if they're still available keeping targets displaced while we move to safety. Finally let's wrap up this whole course by telling you what to avoid when under pressure.

What's going to be vital to remember as a resto shaman is that trinket spirit link is our last resort combo. Our immediate snappy reaction to getting trained should be a little bit different than the rest of the course.

We're going to be using our ghost wolf to maneuver to a nearby pillar all while relying on instant cast heals. While this is happening we'll also want to explore our roots our knocks and static field totem if they're still available should never be our last resort option.

This is why proactive play is so important as a healer because bulking yourself up in advance prevents the need from using our last resort cooldown.

RESTO SHAMAN CROWD CONTROL

Alright, welcome to our course on Crowd Control for Restoration Shaman. In this guide, we're going to be focusing on a few different spells.

Earthgrab, Hex, Lightning Lasso, Capstun Totem, Thunderstorm, and Static Field Totem. But before we dive in, let's briefly cover some goals that's really going to teach you how and when to CC.

Overall, your Crowd Control needs to accomplish something for your team. It should never be used randomly or without purpose.

And to break this down, we have one main CC goal. To be as disruptive as possible, using our CC as utility to help our team win games.

We're going to be spreading our control across all three enemy targets at different times in order to accomplish this goal. But enough wasting time just talking about it all, let's dive into what it really means.

While it might not have the most obvious impact on the game, Earthgrab is our best and most efficient form of CC. As a root effect, it is a CC that can be used to kill enemies, but it can also be used to kill enemies.

Of course, exceptionally strong in a melee, keeping them pinned down to allow our team some breathing room, which also makes it easier for us to heal damage. This is good on its own, but Earthgrab's value really goes much deeper than this.

First, let's cover some basics. Earthgrab will DR with every other root effect in the game, with a few exceptions.

And with such a short cooldown, we're aiming to use it liberally throughout every single arena game, including at the very start of games, delaying enemy players from reaching our team.

Trust us, the simple act of getting melee rooted early on is more important than you think it is, but we can do even better than that too.

AoE root effects are exceptionally good as counters to pet classes, especially BM hunters, since rooting multiple pets at a time will not only stop their damage, but it's also highly unlikely a healer will ever dispel one pet, let alone five.

And speaking of healers, you should never discount the ability to root enemy healers too, as it's either going to force them to burn a dispel, or it's going to make it easier to follow up our root with another CC. There is a trick we can do to get extra value here as well.

If we cast our Earthgrab on DPS targets, we can then move it with Totemic Projection on top of a healer, rooting both targets in the process. No matter what though, Earthgrab is vital to be using actively throughout the game.

It's our gold medal CC. Now with that said, Hex is what takes silver and is a wildly misunderstood endgame.

First, to cover some basics here, Hex is on the same DR as Polymorph, Freezing Trap, and Gouge, but functions as a curse, only removable by a select few classes, including Druids, Mages, Shamans, and Evokers.

This should give you a hint as to who are the best targets to Hex, since outside of Druids who can shapeshift it, these other targets generally are going to take priority. But does that mean Mages, Shamans, and Evokers are the only good Hex targets?

Absolutely not. While it might be a good idea to have a good Hex target, it's not.

While it might be a good idea to have a good Hex target, it's not. While it might be a good idea to have a good Hex target, it's not.

While it might be tempting to push for Hexes on enemy healers, one of the best ways to use Hex in 3v3 or Solo Shuffle is on an off-DPS target. Just like Earthgrab, this will act as a highly effective peel, slowing down damage while freeing up your partners.

And just like Earthgrab, we should aim to use Hex on DR this way as it's going to be the safest option. So should you go for Hexes on healers as well?

Of course, but only when it's convenient. You should never overextend across the map to make a risky Hex play, especially if you're going to be using Hex on your teammates.

Especially if decurses are available. The best and most efficient way to use Hex on healers is as a follow-up CC, either chaining together with our partner CC first, or using our Earthgrab or Capstan Totem to initiate the chain.

So now let's move on to Lightning Lasso, which is another simple ability with tons of depth. Lasso has tons of uses in Arena, and once again, you should find yourself using it primarily on DPS targets to accomplish different tasks.

One of these tasks is to CC a target that is training you. If there's a DPS chasing you down behind a pillar, we can use our Lasso to peel for ourselves using the stun to freely move out of their LOS.

Now outside of this, Lasso acts as an alternative to interrupting. If there's an important cast you need to stop, you should always sequence through your various options, including Windshear, Grounding Totem, Lasso, and Thunderstorm.

The true benefit of using Lasso to stop a cast, however, is the fact that it means you can't give the target precog in the event you miss your Windshear. And if you're worried about the target pre-cog, you can also use the LOS to stop the target pre-cog.

And if you're worried about the target pre-cog, you can also use the LOS to stop the target pre-cog.

And if you're worried about the fact that Lasso can be interrupted, you could use it with a precog of your own, or if you want to be crafty, you can now Spiritwalker's Grace in the middle of your Lasso channel, which gives you interrupt protection while also potentially baiting a kick.

In any case, what's important when using Lasso is that you regularly try and abuse Line of Sight while channeling the ability. Try to use it on the corner of a pillar, casting it on a target, and then using LOS to avoid stops as needed.

Lasso could also be used as a setup tool, but this is, but this is, much harder to do in solo shuffle and more applicable in 2v2. Using Lasso in combination with your partner's Cross CC and offensive cooldowns is something you should be focusing on while playing this bracket.

And as a final word of caution here, be careful when using Lasso when playing with Rogues, as it could definitely mess up their stun DRs on the kill target.

And speaking of stuns here, we have our next CC, Capacitator Totem, which for the most part, performs similar functions to Lightning Lasso, but with a little bit of nuance added to it.

Again, most of the time we're going to be using Lasso to counter the damage of the target, using our stuns on enemy DPS as a peel or during our team setups, but there's one big drawback here. Our Totem can be killed before it explodes.

The workaround is to place our Totem away from the enemy team initially, and then to move it into place with Totemic Projection right before it explodes. This will require some tight timing, but it is a reliable way to make sure it isn't instantly sniped down.

One advantage of Capacitator Totem over Lasso is that it allows us to easily chain our stun into a Hex, and that's because it's a very easy way to get the enemy to get to us. So, if you're looking for a way to get the enemy to get to you, you can use Lasso to counter the damage of the enemy DPS.

You can also use Capacitator Totem over the Hex by using the trick we just mentioned, moving Capstone on top of enemy players, then using the Lockdown to secure it. Now let's move onto Thunderstorm, which is another ability with tons of nuance.

Now, of course, the most iconic use is to knock players off the Z-axis, but ever since the removal of Blade's Edge Arena, this isn't really possible on most maps.

Instead, Thunderstorm is most often used for its defensive utility, and is the only ability we can press while stunned, allowing us not only the option to peel for ourselves while under pressure, but also to peel for our allies thanks to the Traveling Storms passive.

If your teammates are ever stuck in a stun and are being pressured by melee, you should reactively press Thunderstorm while targeting them in order to briefly delay pressure. And as we mentioned earlier, Thunderstorm is also one of the many options we need to be cycling through in order to stop a cast.

If Windshear and Grounding Totem are down, Thunderstorm should definitely be next in your flowchart. Finally, we should never ignore the rare chance that we can Thunderstorm offensively.

This could be knocking a DPS away from their team and out of range of the heals, or the reverse too, knocking healers away from their team, in which case we can follow up with Earthgrab or Static Field Totem to keep them trapped.

And speaking of Static Field Totem, this is one of the most dynamic abilities we have, so let's finish this whole guide by breaking it down. Now, if you're a player who wants to play with a DPS, you can play with a DPS.

Static Field Totem is not particularly useful on its own. Sure, it's going to keep enemy players trapped in one place, potentially allowing you to cap stun or assist with your team's goes.

However, the fact that it can be instantly killed reduces some of that effectiveness. This is why for the most part we're always pairing our Static Field Totem with Totemic Projection in order to displace multiple targets to a chosen location.

But here, you need to be a little bit careful, since you can only displace targets for a maximum of 10 seconds. So, if you're playing with a DPS, you can't really use Totemic Projection to displace targets for a maximum distance.

If you try and move players super far away, the displacement can fail, which is why we advise simply using the circle effect of Totemic Projection as a guide, moving players tangential to the circle around Static Field Totem.

One thing to be cautious of, though, however, is that Static Field won't move any rooted players, so be sure to check for this first. Alright, so what are the practical uses of Static Field Totem in Arena?

Well, for the most part, it's basically just a thunderstorm, that you can more reliably control. First and foremost, it can be used defensively as a peel, using Static Field and Totemic Projection to move enemies away from yourself or your team, and then using Earthgrab after in order to keep them in place.

And just like Thunderstorm, you can even use Static Field aggressively, moving targets away from pillars and into the open, or simply keeping targets in one place while your team AoEs them down.

Before we completely wrap up, though, we want to go back to our original goal at the start of this video, which is to use your CC with purpose.

The key advantage we have as a Resto Shaman is the fact that we can influence the outcome of games with much more than just healing, and the best Shamans are proactively using every single piece of their toolkit to control tempo throughout every Arena.

This all might seem overwhelming at first, we realize this has been a long video, but as long as you follow the ways we outlined in this guide, you will feel your impact on every single game.

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