A Change to Totem Mechanics !!!!!!

[Wartro]

I believe the Totem mechanics was a great idea, and a great start, but there are still issues.

The Shaman class is similar to the Ritualist from Guild Wars. and they suffer from many of the same problems.

I suggest adding more Hp and Resistance to the Totems.

change the effect of Stoneclaw Totem. change Stoneclaw Totem to Earth Elemental Totem but with a controlled Stun attack. this would allow Shamans to use Elementals more frequently and make Stoneclaw useful and cool for once. the Cool down could be increased to somewhere between 1min and 5min.

also I would like to see more life in the Totems, which is why I suggest changing the mechanics from Totems---to--> Ghost Wolf spirits. it would work similar to Totem effect, but the Ghost Wolf can move along with their Master. plus it would look cooler and less lifeless like the Magic Stick, and Magic Rock.

Stoneskin Totem:
somehow make this Spell scale with LvL. this is just really stupid.

also heading into WoTLK, I would like to see a change in the Shaman interface. give Shamans a extra action bar for totems. similar to how Hunters and Warlocks have a additional Action bar to hold Pet Spells, and Paladins have an additional bar for holding Aura spells, give Shaman an additional action bar to hold Totem spells.

[Vandir]

I particularly like the idea of the new action bar for totems. On my shaman, the actionbar keeps filling up with them!

[grellboy]

also I would like to see more life in the Totems, which is why I suggest changing the mechanics from Totems---to--> Ghost Wolf spirits. it would work similar to Totem effect, but the Ghost Wolf can move along with their Master. plus it would look cooler and less lifeless like the Magic Stick, and Magic Rock.

I'm not sure that they should be ghost wolfs straight away, but say a 15 point elemental talent for it would work. i also like the idea of an action bar so you can tell your searing totem when to fire, and who at. i've never roled a shaman so i'm probably just describing an old totem but wouldn't it be cool if there was a totem you could use as a method of scouting, so you could see stuff from the totems point of view (not that they can see lol). oh and a true sight-totem so that you could see stealthed enemys within 30 yards of it.

[Your Average WoW Player]

I particularly like the idea of the new action bar for totems. On my shaman, the actionbar keeps filling up with them!

Let me recomend Totem Timers (http://wowui.worldofwar.net/?p=mod&m=2002) for you. It's a great little addon that adds a quick and handy way to drop your totems without cluttering up your action bars.

As for the main topic at hand:
Earth Elemental Totem is fine where it is in terms of when you pick it up (that is at 66) Having the Angry Stick me the same as the Earth Elemental would be woefully unfair as the Angry stick is available very early on (level 8). What would make the Elemental (Earth and Fire ones) better is if they didn't sit on a 20 effing minute cooldown. I can understand the two minute cooldown on the one that you DIDN'T drop but a 20 minute cooldown is just plain bull.

There's also a difference between Stoneclaw (angry stick) and Earth Elemental: Stoneclaw is used to tie up one or two extra mobs so you're not overwhelmed. Earth Elemental acts as a tank for you. Be it in an instance, against multiple mobs etc. The Stoneclaw rarely lasts it's full 15 seconds. The Earth Elemental has been known to do so.

[C4RASHy]

The idea about having Wolfs instead of totems is good, but then Hunters say "I HATE YOU BLIZZ!!! WOW IS UNFAIR I CAN ONLY HAVE ONE PET BUT SHAMMYS HAVE 4"