How Blizzard Plays - The Tauren Shaman

One of the consequences of Blizzard making World of Warcraft the kind of "friendly" MMO where (according to the developers) "you can get something accomplished in a lunch hour" is that a lot of people are going to be playing the game who have never played an MMO before. As a result, many of these players may be unfamiliar with the basic terms and concepts of MMOs, to say nothing of the higher level strategies and combinations of skills and equipment that can make you a truly formidable player. That''''s why we asked three of Blizzard''''s Community Team to give us some advice based on the way they play the game.
Today''''s entry comes from Caydiem who has clearly attended one too many Earth Days - thus the decision to tread softly on Azeroth as a Tauren Shaman. Tauren Shamen are actually a very versatile class, tough enough to hold their own in a scuffle but also very welcome in groups because of their healing abilities. If you''''d like to be in harmony with the Earth Mother (which always seems to entail lots and lots of monster - killing_ then listen to Caydiem who''''s going to tell you how to make the most of your Tauren Shaman.
Walking the Kumbayah Trail
Hello! I''''m going to guide you on the path of the noble Tauren shaman. The shaman is a very versatile class; you can certainly hold your own when soloing, and you''''re also extremely group-friendly. In order to gain access to the plethora of skills a shaman can use, however, you have to get through the first few levels. Onward!
The Tauren start in the modest Camp Narache, where two quests will be immediately available to you: The Hunt Begins, given by Grull Hawkwind directly in front of you, and A Humble Task, which Chief Hawkwind gives you in his hut. Once you have these two quests, start heading east out of the camp. Don''''t forget to add your special War Stomp racial ability (exclusive to Tauren) to a hotkey!
The Hunt Begins sends you to fight the plainstriders surrounding the camp. Fight them as you go, using Lightning Bolt to pull. Once they''''re in close, club them with your mace. As a Tauren, you have increased health, and shamans are excellent secondary melee fighters regardless, so you should have no problem with these creatures. Collect the feathers and meat you need for the quest as you head east; soon you should see a small Tauren-style structure. This is the well for A Humble Task.
Speak with the Greatmother and grab the water pitcher that fulfills the second part of your task. Once you have that, start back to Narache, killing plainstriders as you go. Keep whacking them until you have all the feathers and meat you need, then speak with the quest-givers back at the camp.
Grull should have a quick quest for you to speak with your trainer. Do that now, and train up Rockbiter Weapon while you''''re there. Rockbiter enhances your attack power and will help you immensely on this next leg of the journey. Take the next quest from both Grull and the Chief - as last time, you can head one direction and fulfill both quests. Sell any loot you salvaged from the plainstrider bodies, and start walking south.
Soon, you''''ll be in the foothills of the cliffs, and you should see a small Tauren hut nearby. Kill the mountain cougars along the way as you approach, grabbing the pelts you need for Grull. At the hut, you''''ll find Seer Graytongue, who sends you on the Rite of Strength. This sounds like an interesting quest, but finish up your cougar hunting first! There are other tasks waiting for you back at the camp that complement the Rite quest nicely. Make sure you''''re refreshing Rockbiter on your mace - you''''ll be able to finish the quests much more quickly if you''''re hitting harder.
Once you have the pelts you need, head back to the camp and speak with Grull to get the Battleboars quest. There should also be a brave, named Windfeather, with a newly-yellow exclamation mark patrolling the camp -- speak with her also.
At this point, you should be through a good part of level three. While other classes could probably handle this next journey without a problem, as a shaman you have an extra quest in the same area, and that means getting to level four. Head east again, past the well, and you should soon find yourself in a sea of battleboars. Be careful - these boars are aggressive! Take them down, fighting until you hit level four, then go back to Narache. Train up Earth Shock and get the Call of Earth quest from Seer Ravenfeather. Now, at last, you''''re ready to go to Brambleblade Ravine!
Run back to the battleboar area and start heading northeast. You should soon see a cave - this is your entrance to Brambleblade. Go through and start beating up some quilboars! Be mindful of the torches, and follow them deeper into the ravine as you continue your slaughter. These will guide you right where you need to go. The quilboar keep battleboars as trained fighters, too - these will drop the items you need for the battleboars quest. As you''''re fighting, remember your War Stomp ability - it helps when dealing with multiple enemies, as it does area-of-effect damage.
The torches lead you to a large quilboar hut. Within is Chief Sharptusk Thornmantle, the brute that needs to die for Brave Windfeather''''s task. Be careful, however - he''''s level 5, and guarded by a shaman. Luckily you trained Earth Shock, so you shouldn''''t have any problems. Just pull the regular quilboar first, then run in with spells blazing. Shock the shaman if he starts to cast on you, and heal yourself if your health starts to flag. Victory will be yours!
South of this hut is a cave; quilboar shamans wander the path. These are the monsters that drop the salve you need for the Call of Earth quest. Club them with your Rockbiter-enhanced weapon and head up to the cave (make sure you have two inventory slots open, at least). The cave contains another shaman, a quilboar named Squealer, and a map. Kill them both and grab a nice belt from Squealer''''s corpse. Pick up the "dirt-stained map" on the floor - there''''s someone back at the camp who''''d like to see it. (Don''''t forget to right-click on the map once it''''s in your possession to get the quest.)
Once you''''re done with Bristleback Belts, Sharptusk, and the Salve, you can follow the torches back out of the ravine. Once back on Red Cloud Mesa, finish up any battleboar slaying you have left to do, then run home to Narache. Speak with the various quest-givers and receive your just rewards! Even though the Chief will usher you toward Bloodhoof Village, you''''re not done here quite yet. Take the sapta given to you by Seer Ravenfeather and run eastward, past the well, to the standing stone called Kodo Rock. Be careful around here - battleboars will roam through. Drink the sapta and speak with the Minor Manifestation of Earth on the south side of the rock. Once you have his gift, take it back to the Seer and receive your first totem and totem spell!
Congratulations! You''''ve completed the first stretch of the long path awaiting you. Head to Bloodhoof Village and continue your adventures in Mulgore!
Equipment
Shamans begin with a simple mace and a few pieces of clothing to protect them against the vicious attacks of their enemies. If this seems inadequate, don''''t worry -- the creatures of Red Cloud Mesa are bound to drop better armor and weapons for your use. It''''s random, though, so don''''t be disappointed if you''''re not equipped well right away. Be patient. Between monster drops and quest rewards, you''''ll be sporting a fine outfit in no time. Shamans can use staves and one-handed maces at the very beginning, but more options can open up to you later. When you get a new piece of gear, right-click it to equip, or drag & drop it onto your character in the Character window. Remember that shamans can only initially wear leather and cloth armor! Monsters also drop bags from time to time. If you find yourself lucky enough to get a bag, drag & drop the bag icon into one of the available bag slots on the lower right of your user interface.
Combat
The shaman has a generic Attack, which automatically swings your weapon if you''''re close enough. Besides that, you begin your career with two basic spells: Lightning Bolt and Healing Wave. These spells use your mana, which is indicated by the blue bar below the green health bar on the upper left of your interface. Mana slowly regenerates over time and can be replenished by drinking (such beverages as Refreshing Spring Water, for example) when out of combat or by using mana potions.
Lightning Bolt is your basic ranged attack -- it costs 20 mana to cast, and takes 1.5 seconds to fire. Abilities with casting times can be interrupted by stuns or other abilities, or delayed if you''''re being attacked. Make sure no one''''s attacking you up close when you start to cast one of these unless there''''s dire need. Lightning Bolt has a nice 30-yard range, so you can cast from afar without too much difficulty. Use this as an opening move to pull monsters to you; I guarantee it''''ll catch their attention.
Healing Wave is your basic heal spell. It takes 30 Mana and 1.5 seconds to cast. This spell heals yourself or an ally for 34-44 health points. At level 1, this is about half your total hitpoints. While casting a spell like this in combat is risky when the monster is attacking you, it can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. If you''''re close to dying and need to fire off a spell, try casting Healing Wave as opposed to Lightning Bolt. It will take longer than normal, but replenishing your health will help ensure you''''ll live to fight another day.
As a Tauren, you have one more ace up your sleeve at the start -- the racial ability War Stomp. War Stomp has a .5 sec casting time and a 2 minute cooldown, so it can''''t be used often in quick succession, but it will stun up to 5 enemies within 5 yards for 2 seconds. This is a great way to interrupt spellcasters without wasting precious mana (as with Earth Shock at level 4).