People wanting SoW at camps

[Oblivion]

I've grouped with a cleric once in my short time grouping so far on my shaman (currently level 19), so I've been main healer/buffer most of the time. This is fine. I usually rotate buffs so I'm not oom buffing everyone at once, but what gets me is people wanting SoW at static spawn camps. Group in HHP for instance, killing orcs, at the zone line, and people want SoW. I have such a huge mana cost for everything (untwinked) I cannot SoW everyone and heal and buff essential buffs. What do!?

Is this normal? Are people just clueless? Am I clueless and should buff SoW no matter what? HALP

[Cillaz]

You should SoW the puller - if he out runs the pulls, he takes less hits, which means you heal him less and save mana. Others in the group - depends if there will be a long run to get to safety - in HHP, you should be able to run to safety without SoW - so tell them if they all want SoW then you will SoW them but then have to hold pulls so you can med up before you are able to heal again. This will normally stop the people who dont really need it.

[Ahldagor]

what's your mana total? sow ends up being a very low cost spell in a couple more levels though.

[blondeattk]

Avoid grps where you are main healer, if there is no crack present....

[Tecmos Deception]

Originally Posted by Ahldagor [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

what's your mana total? sow ends up being a very low cost spell in a couple more levels though.

Mana total doesn't mean squat in this situation. What matters is wasting mana on unnecessary (even pointless, perhaps) buffs just because means the group will have more downtime waiting on him to med up for meaningful heals, buffs, etc.

[skipdog]

In lots of dungeons, people want SoW so they can zone in case of a nasty train. I think this really gets ingrained in their minds, so even when they are in a safe spot like HHK orcs near zoneline, they don't realize that SoW isn't necessary and still ask for it out of habit.

[Nekkojakk]

Originally Posted by skipdog [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

In lots of dungeons, people want SoW so they can zone in case of a nasty train. I think this really gets ingrained in their minds, so even when they are in a safe spot like HHK orcs near zoneline, they don't realize that SoW isn't necessary and still ask for it out of habit.

This, my I'm only lvl 20 and all i pretty much do is cast and sit back down in most groups at this point. Yet I still keep SoW on myself and gate mem'd. Just stagger buffs/don't use the crappy stat ones outside of str.

[DrKvothe]

Just do it. 30 seconds of downtime an hour is better than lfg for 15-30min because of min-maxing arguments. Also, you don't want to be known as the shaman who doesn't sow.

If you really hate buffing people against the group's best interests, you'll be a fantastic soloer at 34 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Oblivion]

I wouldn't buff everybody, especially at that level. If you were grouped with the cleric, shouldn't he have been handling most of the healing duties? Sow is incredibly important as it can mean the difference between life and death, but use your judgement to assess the camp and danger.

I usually try to fully buff whoever is tanking. Then melee usually only get str/dex. Perhaps Agi/turtle if they're off-tanking enough. I always SoW the puller, though I've been kind of lucky and following a bard leveling so he always has movement song going. I also meant that in the groups I've had so far, I've only seen one cleric. Its either been me in the healer role, or me and a druid sharing the responsibility.

what's your mana total? sow ends up being a very low cost spell in a couple more levels though.

My mana total is something in the 400s IIRC. Fully buffing the tank takes me to 50% easily. So then I'm left with 200 mana with a 60 mana heal. I understand SoW ends up not costing very much, I even noticed it. But casting it on 6 people that do not need it DOES still cost a lot of mana.

Just do it. 30 seconds of downtime an hour is better than lfg for 15-30min because of min-maxing arguments. Also, you don't want to be known as the shaman who doesn't sow.

If you really hate buffing people against the group's best interests, you'll be a fantastic soloer at 34

I actually really enjoy being a main buffer. Its one of the reasons I chose Shaman. But I have to disagree with being in the group's best interest to "just do it". As stated above, fully buffing the tank takes me to 50%. Everyone wants SoW which will probably drain me. Now only the tank is buffed and I'm OOM. So we have to wait on my mana. Pre-Canniblize is rather slow. And of course people are pulling anyway. So as soon as I get 60 mana its probably going to a heal. Still OOM and no one else has buffs yet.


I usually cast it on the people that insist, just because. But it was just a gripe I've noticed since level 9. Just irked me when people want SoW at static camps such as the ones in HHP and others.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

[Bossman]

Don't fully buff tank. Most buffs will have little or no impact at that level!