Earthbind Totem

From WoWWiki

Earthbind Totem
Earthbind Totem Instant cast 10 yd range 5% of your Base Mana Summons an Earthbind Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 45 sec that slows the movement speed of enemies within 10 yards.
Usable by
Class	Shaman
Properties
Type	Defensive, Utility
School	Nature
Cooldown	15 sec
Talents
Improvement talents	Earth's Grasp, Mental Quickness, Totemic Focus
Other information
Ranks	1
Related debuff
Magic Earthbind Movement speed reduced by 50%. Duration: 8 sec.

"Amusing, that those who do not embrace the land will be themselves embraced by it." ^{[TCG src]}

Earthbind Totem is an Area of Effect (AoE) debuff snare. It slows the enemies in radius of 10 yards for max 45 seconds.This debuff snare is very useful against multiple mobs/players that are about to attack the caster by slowing down their running speed for 8 seconds.

Rank Table

Rank	Level	Mana Cost	Cost
1	6	5% of Base Mana	1

Notes

The totem of any rank has only 5 hp; it is easily destroyed by mobs and players.
Second longest cooldown for a totem (if we exclude the Mana Tide Totem talent spell).
Throughout the totem's duration, it casts short-duration slowing debuffs so that when a player or mob first enters the radius. It may be resistible with nature resistance.
Will aggro neutral mobs within range; thus, especially when used as an escape tactic, can draw adds in certain areas.

Talents

Talents that can improve the buff:

Talent Points Needed	Type	Description	Talent Points Available
1	Enhancement	Earth's Grasp	2
25	Enhancement	Mental Quickness	3
35	Enhancement	Earthen Power	2
1	Restoration	Totemic Focus	5

Tips and tactics

It's often helpful to drop an Earthbind totem just before you run away from a fight, to gain some distance between you and your pursuer, as well as just before your enemy is about to run away. It takes a second to have its first effect, so you should drop it a couple seconds before you need it for best effect.

When attempting to push past mobs in tight quarters (such as in a tunnel), not damaging the mob at all before you plant Earthbind means that the totem's debuff will place it higher on the monster's aggro table than you. This will buy you a second or two extra as the mob turns and knocks down your totem before pursuing you.

This totem mostly used as an escape tool among Shaman players; it is used to either escape an upcoming danger or escape from battle gone bad. Unlike Frost Shock, Earthbind totem is more suitable for escaping danger due to its low mana cost, insta-cast and convenience (since it doesn't need to target or be in front of the target).

It can also be use to snare runners from escaping you or your teammates, but the caster always runs the risk of attracting aggro from other other mobs or/and wandering mobs.

Outside of this scope, Earthbind totem has been used for kiting players, but only in conjunction with Frost Shock; Earthbind totem alone cannot keep a good amount of distance between the caster and the pursuer mainly due to its long cooldown and small radius of effect (10 yards). The totem can be used, however, as a back-up or alternative snare to Frost Shock. The slowing effect is identical for each: 50%.

Patch changes

Hotfix (2009-04-17): "Earthen Power will now properly be applied on the first pulse of an Earthbind Totem. ^[1]"
Patch 2.2.0 (2007-09-25): Earthbind Totem no longer breaks stealth.
Patch 1.2 (2004-12-18): 15 second cooldown added to the ability.

References

^ Bornakk 2009-04-17. Recent In-Game Fixes - 4/16/09. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved on 2009-05-24.

[Bornakk-0] Bornakk 2009-04-17. Recent In-Game Fixes - 4/16/09. Archived from the original on 2009-04-17. Retrieved on 2009-05-24.

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