New Shaman totem interface revealed
by Eliah Hecht 
Jun 17th 2009 at 1:33PM
This was sketched in outline in the massive Shaman Q&A post that went live a while back, but now we have details on how they plan on redoing the Shaman totem interface for patch 3.2. Remember these are just plans, and things may change as the development of the patch progresses, but this is the current state of things.
Shamans will get a new bar for their totems, above the main action bar, where other class-specific bars go, like Paladin auras or Druid shapeshift forms. You'll have a button for a totem of each element of your choice, a button for Totemic Call (renamed Call of Earth), and a button for a new ability, Call of Fire, that drops all four selected totems at once, in a single GCD (but for the full mana cost).
You'll also be able to set your Call of Fire to summon less than four totems if you like. Call of Fire will be trained at the same level as Totemic Call currently is, 30. At "higher levels" (I'd guess 60 and 70, or so) you get Call of Air and Call of Water, which do exactly the same thing as Call of Fire, but you can load them up with different totems. This gives you three different quick-sets of totems you can drop in one keystroke.
Well, shamans, what do you think? Is it everything you hoped for in a totem interface update?
Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!Filed under: Shaman, Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Elmo Jun 17th 2009 1:37PM
I think it will be awesome!
although I probably stick to Totemtimers, this sounds just like it.
Ookami.kun Jun 17th 2009 1:54PM
Agreed, though I probably will give it a try. I'm so used to TotemTimers by now I'm not sure if I'll totally give it up, but I also see the author making changes, hopefully, to TT so that it at least acts like Blizz's new UI upgrade. Still it sounds nice, and I'm glad Blizz is making even more changes for the better. :)
Paul Jun 17th 2009 3:10PM
Totemtimer sounds better than new totem interface, as well xD
Wulfkin Jun 18th 2009 8:17AM
Yeah, thats the thing. Although these changes are an upgrade, Totemtimers still does the job better.
Arawn Jun 19th 2009 11:33PM
Totemtimers is an addon. It's supposed to be better than the default interface.
However, that doesn't mean the default interface can't also be helpful as well. This combined with Totemtimers should make for a much better and more hassle-free interface.
Ipeon Jun 17th 2009 1:41PM
wow nice 4 totems at once will be a big plus in pvp
Heuer Jun 17th 2009 1:40PM
Meh. Too little, too late, too lame.
Ipeon Jun 17th 2009 1:43PM
stfu plx... even a small change is a big one atleast that goes for shamans
SINisterWyvern Jun 17th 2009 1:45PM
So you quit the game a long time ago right?
Lukeyo Jun 17th 2009 1:46PM
As is the case with gear: An upgrade is still an upgrade.
mediumsizedrobb Jun 17th 2009 3:17PM
And miss out on all a these chances to whine about a game? No way! That's have the fun of playing ;)
Monkeynugg Jun 17th 2009 1:40PM
Can't wait to roll a Shammy!
Abremm Jun 17th 2009 1:40PM
sounds pretty fantastic, im looking forward to it. there will still be alot of individual totem dropping, especialy in pvp, but it makes the initial drop and redrops of long duration buff totems easier.
progress!
crzyskier3 Jun 17th 2009 1:40PM
Personally, I've never really played a shaman past 40, but I feel as though I got a good enough feel for the totem system, so I think this change is great. It should alleviate the problems current Shammy's had with having to lay down all different totems individually, as well as keeping the overall feel of the class/totem mechanic that so many have grown to love.
TehAlx Jun 17th 2009 1:41PM
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
I love you, Blizzard!
Syme Jun 17th 2009 1:42PM
It sounds very good. It is especially good news that they are giving us 3 totem sets. I wasn't expecting that. I look forward to seeing it in practice. Maybe I'll be able to stop using Totemtimers.
Robert M Jun 17th 2009 2:13PM
The call spells will also help clear up the toolbars that are so cluttered with totems of every type, I'm excited!
pietrex Jun 17th 2009 1:43PM
The first part is just a Blizzard version of addon totem bars, but the Call of Earth, Fire, Water and Air spells are amazing. Finally shaman will be able to drop all totem with just one GCD! Now I really can't wait for 3.2.
JBurg Jun 17th 2009 1:46PM
Looks good to me.
micgillam Jun 17th 2009 1:47PM
As far as I'm concerned, this will do just fine, though I'd really like to see chord based hotkeys, for example: Capslock+(1, 4 in sequence) - for Strength of Earth, Capslock+(1, 2) for earthbind, Capslock+(3,3) for Windfury. To access assignable Element/Totem combinations. Then release the base key to drop them. So if the above combinations were assigned, it would be Caps+(1,4,3,3) to drop Strength of Earth and Windfury upon releasing Caps. It seems like a lot, 5 keypresses to drop two totems, but a) totems require some forethought anyway, b) once you've done it a half dozen times, the common sequences will only take a split-second to key in, and c) you could custom cast any combination on-the-fly, without reaching for your mouse.
But then, I'm really comfortable with firing off key sequences quickly, so I guess it's not for everyone.
And obviously this would mean disabling capslock for use as capslock. Although that was just an example.