Totem Talk is written by a shaman for shamans. What does that mean? Well, it means that Matthew Rossi is currently healing with a level 70 resto shammy, and is leveling up a 47 enhancement shaman as well. In fact, the only reason he stopped playing said shaman to write this column is out of his deep sense of commitment to you. Oh, and they shut down the servers for a couple of hours. But mostly deep commitment to you.

I hated my first shaman so much I left him at level 16 for five months.

It was hard to figure out for me. I was so used to warriors that I couldn't wrap my head around how to play a mana-using class, especially one that lacked all the abilities I'd grown so used to and dependent on. I tried a mage, a warlock, a hunter and a shaman, and none of them really worked for me. So I gave up on the shaman, and went and rolled up a new tauren warrior and leveled him up post haste so that I could join in on the fun reindeer games on my new horde server. (The server's not horde, but I was horde on it.) Every so often I would try another character... I made a druid and a priest but didn't get that far with them... but in the end, once I hit 60 and with the expansion looming, I decided to go back and give the shaman another try and I discovered the spec that changed everything for me.

Enhancement. Say it with me. Enhancement. To make things better. And boy, in my case, enhancement delivered all the better I could possibly have needed. A lot of folks make a typographical error and call them enchantment shamans, and in my case that's apt, because the first time I saw a windfury crit I was indeed enchanted. Rapt, even. One moment I was fighting a hyena outside of Gadgetzan and the next... I wasn't. It fell down. Fell down and went boom, even. I'd had that happen to me in battlegrounds, mind you, but I'd never really imagined that I could do it to others.

I admit now, trying to go elemental was a mistake for me. It's an excellent spec, but it's a caster spec. And I, my friends, am not a caster. I am melee in my heart, and so, I needed a melee spec to level. And with dual wielding, weapon enchants like windfury and rockbiter, and totems like grace of air and strength of earth, the enhancement shaman is a melee spec that makes other melee better to boot. How, I ask you, how can you go wrong with enhancement?

Reader Marty sends us this shot, showing off the how impressive it can be running through lower-level content at level 70. Here we have a level 70 mage bringing down dozens of mobs in Scarlet Monastery at a time. There's something very satisfying about seeing an Arcane Explosion cause all of your enemies to drop instantly to the ground.

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My little blood elf pally has finally hit 40 and got her free mount, and with it comes a new goal -- collecting the entire Chain of the Scarlet Crusade set from Scarlet Monastery.

I probably would have never thought of doing it until I got the only BOP part of the set during my first Cathedral run. Then I got the Aegis of the Scarlet Commander and Herod's Shoulder, and realized that I was starting to look pretty cool. At that point, it became a quest. I knew it would be difficult -- and that I'd even have to go back at 70, most likely -- but I still want to do it.

As I write this, I'm off to tag along in Armory with a 70 rogue from my guild who is doing silk farming in hopes of getting the Ravager or the mail helm from Herod. All in all, I only need the helm, chestpiece and boots to look like a real Scarlet Crusader. The tabard would be nice but not necessary. The boots are extremely rare, so I'm either going to have to do a lot of farming or plunk down some money from my epic flying mount fund. But it'll be worth it when I can stand in the lobby of Scarlet Monastery and taunt the Alliance. Hmm, the Ashbringer would also be a nice fit ...

Have you ever wanted to collect the full set of something, whether it be from BRD or Naxx? Have you ever bought an item just because it was cool to have it?

Kellhan sends in this shot of a pristine Herod kill in Scarlet Monastery. I'm really not sure you could get it any prettier, unless you actually manage to complete the smiley face of dead Scarlet Crusaders. But until we see a screenshot of that, this one is awfully pretty!

Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part.

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Paladin Regis of Sunstrider (EU) offers us this sample of a paladin's abilities at level 70. And while you may believe that Scarlet Monastery isn't the most challenging place to test your skills, I'm not certain which classes, other than the paladin, have the ability to take out the whole instance at once, even at level 70. Warriors could equal them in damage mitigation, but don't have the same AoE options. And mages could certainly best paladins at the AoE game, but probably couldn't take that much of a beating.

Am I wrong? You're welcome to prove it with a video of your own!

Previously on Moviewatch...

Reader Joanna sends in this nice view of the cathedral section of Scarlet Monastery. As unfriendly as they are, those Scarlet Crusade fellows know how to decorate, fountain, fish and all. (They probably never meant for adventurers to go wading through their lovely fountain in an effort to avoid aggro from patrols along the sides, but if they didn't want us to do it, they shouldn't have made it so cool and inviting!)

Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part.

See more of your pics from Around Azeroth.