Spirit Link and Shaman Healers

[Gdawg45]

Shamans need to have Spirit Link reworked to better allow Shaman Healers to use their totems more effectively.

Currently, Spirit Link works by displacing 15% of damage taken by the target to nearby party/raid members. The type of damage that is displaced to the other party members is categorized as spell damage.

Supposing the tank is being hit for 200 dps every swing timer from the mob he is facing then the damage that is displaced would be 15% x 200 = 30damage split by the number of nearby party members.
Assuming there are 3 members nearby, the damage is split into 10 damage per nearby party member. This damage can easily be healed by Healing Stream Totem and I believe this spell is a fantastic way to use Healing Stream Totem to a much greater effect. Spirit Link directly affects Healing Stream Totem in the sense that it suddenly becomes a VERY mana efficient way to provide healing (indirectly) to the tank by healing the displaced damage instead of directly healing the tank. The healer is essentially healing via proxy. So instead of healing the tank for 12hp every 2 sec, you heal the tank for 12hp per 2sec and heal the 15% displaced damage (30hp) every 2 sec doing a total healing of 42 per 2sec.

While this new TWOW spell is great in the sense that it allows Shaman Healers to use Healing Stream Totem to a much greater effect as described above, I feel that this needs some minor adjustment as Shaman Healers still struggle with mana regen.

I am suggesting that the type of displaced damage be changed from spell damage to physical damage. This would allow Shaman Healers to use Stoneskin Totem to passively mitigate the damage instead of actively healing it. If spec'd correctly a Shaman Healer could mitigate 19hp worth of dmg (versus 12hp per 2sec) per nearby party member without timing restrictions as Stoneskin Totem is a static damage mitigation spell so any number of mobs could be hitting the tank and the displaced damage would be instantly mitigated by proxy. Additionally, the Shaman Healer can then use Mana Spring, Fire Resistance Totem, Disease Cleanse Totem, Poison Cleanse Totem, or Mana Tide based on the situation while still doing physical damage mitigation.

Assuming these changes occur, a Shaman Healer could decrease the healing needed to the tank or targeted party members by 15% through the suggested damage mitigation mechanic thereby reducing the amount of mana needed to heal as the total damage received by the party members is substantially reduced and allows for improved mana regen using Mana Spring, Mana Tide, or Enamored Water Spirit Trinket.

As an aside, assuming the healer is also a Shaman, Shaman Tanks would benefit from this mechanic being employed as it would increase their survivability substantially as well. This would solve 2 current issues with the class and would likely make Tauren Shaman very desirable on par with Dwarf Priests for raids due to their unique racial skill.

[Burunduk]

Shamans don't use Healing Stream totem and Stoneskin Totem in raids.
No need to make changes that will create mega OP race.
Spirit Link is already good.

[Gdawg45]

To be honest... the OG Spirit Link Totem was even more overpowered compared to what I'm describing. It was a raid wide damage equalizer across ALL health pools for ALL characters within range. The alteration I am suggesting is only a damage mitigation on par with a warrior swapping an offhand weapon w/ a good shield for physical damage reduction.

If the devs want to introduce a mechanic where shamans can heal by proxy then why not change it to reduce damage by proxy instead?

[Burunduk]

Devs added some useful ability for the race that was not good for healers before, but players still complain.
For comparison, orcs have nothing.