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Patch 3.2 Preview: New Shaman Totem Bar [screenshot]

[Jul 9, 2009] by: Jason Zimmerman

Attention all Shaman: The new totem bar is a nice feature that you are really going to enjoy.

If you are like me, you have been frustrated by running into a boss fight and trying to drop totems one at a time while waiting for their cooldown in between. This is especially frustrating for healers because you are trying to get your totems down and watch health bars at the same time. Can you imagine if other classes had to wait until a fight began before they could start buffing?

Our prayers have been answered with the implementation of the new totem bar. Once you visit the trainer you can train three abilities that allow you to have three sets of totems. Clicking the up arrow above a set or a totem allows you to set that as your current set or totem. You can then click the button for that set to drop all 4 totems at once. They’ve also added a button at the far right for Totem Call (with a redesigned icon) for calling back your totems.

I for one, am very excited about this change. No more running into fights like Kologarn or Hodir in Ulduar and trying to drop totems while the action is already underway. Thank you Blizzard.
shaman totem bar

Heithinn

I am in love with the new idea, however there is one flaw in the design that I do not like. You set your 3 Calls for your 3 totem sets, but say your group is cruising along and you run into a group with the fear mechanism. Tremor not being one of my main totems it is not in any of my presets and unless I still have it on my action barm I can’t change my totems to drop it once the pull is made. Also in fights with phases that may require other aid totems I either have to take the time to change up my presets for each phase or the group is SoL if we were relying on a resist totem not in my preset calls. Main point being, like Call of Earth – The UI this new bar is based off of, I would like to be able to quickly change a totem mid battle without having it on my action bar. It is this reason I still use TotemCaddy in conjunction with the new bar.
Heithinn

I am in love with the new idea, however there is one flaw in the design that I do not like. You set your 3 Calls for your 3 totem sets, but say your group is cruising along and you run into a group with the fear mechanism. Tremor not being one of my main totems it is not in any of my presets and unless I still have it on my action barm I can’t change my totems to drop it once the pull is made. Also in fights with phases that may require other aid totems I either have to take the time to change up my presets for each phase or the group is SoL if we were relying on a resist totem not in my preset calls. Main point being, like Call of Earth – The UI this new bar is based off of, I would like to be able to quickly change a totem mid battle without having it on my action bar. It is this reason I still use TotemCaddy in conjunction with the new bar.