Do you miss totems as enhancement?

[HollyC 9]

I remember back in Cataclysm or Mists, the WoW devs were asked what makes a shaman, a shaman, and they said: "Totems, of course."

 

But I understand that in Legion, enhancement shamans not only don't have totems, but aren't even supposed to anymore? Only elemental has them? 

 

Do you agree with this decision? Please note I'm *NOT* asking if you feel we dps just fine without them. I've read the parts that say that enhancement is the "FOTM" spec for shamans currently.

 

But do you feel that even with seriously good dps, an enhancement shaman isn't just a homogenized hybrid melee dps'er, without totems? From a purely aesthetic and story/lore standpoint, do you feel enhancement shamans feel somewhat altered without them? Even in Draenor, the description was still:

"A totemic warrior who strikes enemies with weapons imbued with elemental power."

 

For anyone who does not have to compete constantly in order to be allowed to raid, I have a question: Would you sacrifice a small, modest amount of DPS (yes I realize that's relative, so by small, use your own judgment) to get totems back?

 

I always loved proper totem use being a key part of enhancement combat strategy. Learning they don't use totems anymore was sad news.

We all adapt and learn, I understand. But we don't always have to like it, right? haha :D

 

 

 

[phl0w 0]

I think it's a superfluous, and tedious mechanic. I don't miss the days of clicking one macro to set up all 4 totems in a square. What's the point? Also, "totemic warrior" doesn't mean "Warrior who uses Totems". You even quote "weapons imbued with elemental power". The adjective totemic just means, that (in this case) the class of Shamans worship a spiritual/ sacred object/entity, that in return serves as a symbol for their ancestors or heritage, if you will. That they (and their weapons) draw power from it, and use elements at their will doesn't necessarily require a physical totem in my opinion. Or, if you want to stress the lore, and demand a physical entity for their powers to work, it can be a single totem at some sacred place, or like in the case of Taurens multiple structures spread all over their land.

Like I said, setting up totems was always a nuisance, and especially for Enhancer I'm glad I don't have to put up with them, except for the occasional LS.

[Tarazet 144]

I've been playing Enhancement every day since Legion launch, and I use totems all the time, but they're not there to do damage anymore. They are utility spells. You call on the power of lightning to stun foes, which is super useful in 5 mans and on trash packs, and use the winds to speed up your allies. That's just part of the utility kit you get as a tradeoff for being as squishy as a ripe banana.

I don't miss the fire ping totem maintenance. That was clunky and annoying, and I think maintaining self-buffs on yourself is a cleaner mechanic than having to keep resummoning totems that randomly disappear for no particular reason. I wasn't fond of the Fire Elemental, either. It did a lot of damage, but it didn't really do anything to change the way you played. The way the new Spirit Wolves increase your resource generation goes a long way to making the spec more interesting and dynamic to play.

I'm pretty sure that the folks in my group have no question about where I am and what class I'm playing. The constant spam of lightning strikes and flaming hammers is unmistakably Shaman.

[Pandacho 286]

Not missing at all 'drop 100500 totems to buff your dps before starting to play'. There are enough utility totems to maintain now to help your group while being able to focus on dps/healing as well.