Shamans as tanks

A shaman tank (or Shamatank) is a player who uses the shaman class to fill the role of Main tank or Off-tank in a party or raid. Of course, shamans are inferior to the proper tank classes and can substitute for them only in content which they outlevel or outgear. Nontheless, with proper gear and the right talent build, shamans are a good tank replacement class. All party members must be aware that the Shamatank requires more healing, needs more time to build aggro, is more fragile, and has no AoE taunt.

Generally, a shaman looking to fill the tank role will have to accept duties in an off-tank capacity. With enough stamina, however, anything is theoretically possible, so don't be afraid to make the effort -- just be sure the group you're with understands the risks!

Talents
The primary choice for shaman tanks is enhancement due to the great number of abilities that aid survivability while not reducing threat. Here are some notable tank-friendly talents:


 * Enhancement
 * Dual Wield (shaman talent) - Passive ability gained by chosing the Enhancement tree which gives a chance to parry.
 * Ancestral Swiftness - Useful for kiting.
 * Toughness (shaman talent) - Survivability increase.
 * Shamanistic Rage - Allows to you take 30% reduced damage, high up-time.
 * Unleashed Rage - Expertise is needed when hitting mobs from the front.
 * Feral Spirit - Heals you when they deal damage, meaning increased survivability. Also have a taunt ability Twin Howl.


 * Elemental
 * Elemental Warding - Reduces incoming damage.
 * Reverberation - Allows the shaman to use Frost Shock more often for threat.


 * Restoration
 * Spark of Life (shaman talent) - Increase in survivability. Must choose between this and the important Elemental talents.

Glyphs
Standard enhancement shaman DPS glyphs may be used. However, some should not be missed:
 * Glyph of Feral Spirit - Provides more healing from the Feral Spirit's attacks.
 * Glyph of Chain Lightning - Allows you to get aggro faster on large packs.
 * Glyph of Stoneclaw Totem - A small shield for extra survivibility.
 * Glyph of Healing Stream Totem - Extra resistance for use against various caster mobs.

Gear
It is not possible for Shamatanks to achieve the required 6% critical chance reduction required to tank end-game creatures, so they will be crit. Shamatanks have few options when it comes to gear, and will normally be using standard PvE armor for high damage and high threat.

Accessories such as rings, necklaces, cloaks and trinkets designed for tanks may be used. These items may have many stats that shamatanks need, such as dodge, parry and bonus armor. Shields designed for tanks may also be used.

Enchantments and Stat priority
Enchantments should be Agility, Stamina, Armor, Dodge or Parry. Reforging can and should be used to increase these stats.

Dodge is a chance to avoid 100% of the damage from one attack, while Parry is a chance to avoid 50% of the damage from two attacks. Having more Parry is likely to keep incoming damage more smooth, but the downside is that the second "charge" can be eaten by a dodge, a miss, or another parry.

Strategy

 * Also see: Shaman abilities

Overall, a Shaman will need to utilize a handful of abilities to maximize his tanking ability. These include:
 * An Elemental Weapon enchantment, Rockbiter Weapon, which allows a taunt every 15 seconds with Unleash Elements.
 * Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning for pulling
 * Frost Shock for high threat generation
 * Lightning Shield for threat generation
 * Totems:
 * Stoneskin Totem for damage reduction OR Strength of Earth Totem for increased threat, dodge and armor
 * Searing Totem with Improved Lava Lash for a damage boost.
 * Windfury Totem for melee haste AND/OR Grounding Totem for reduced incoming damage.
 * Healing Stream Totem for extra healing (and elemental resistance if glyphed)

Remember, totems do not add to the Shamatank's aggro generation!

The Initial Pull
Begin the pull by using chain lightning, and follow up with a frost shock on the target you intend to have the group defeat first. Make sure the group gives the Shaman tank time to gain aggro over the targets, just as they would with any other tank type.

Be sure to make good use of raid target icons and crowd control.

Combat
The tank should try and keep all targets to the front in order to take advantage of parry. When the tank believes the party will down the target very soon, a switch should be made to the next target to be attacked. This allows a head start in aggro generation, which is useful in the event of unexpected critical strikes by the party or when frost shock is resisted by the target.

Utilize totems that counter strengths of the particular target. This includes the totems that add resistence to a specific elemental damage type, Grounding Totem, and Tremor Totem.