Three PVP tricks, resto shaman style

One of my favorite things to do in PVP is to trick the other side into underestimating us. (This is, honestly, why I am so stoked for camoflage — with that, a stealthy pet, and Aspect of the Beast, a hunter-druid-rogue defense would be awesome in Arathi Basin or Warsong Gulch. "Haha, those losers left their flag unguarded. I'll just grab this OHHOLYGODWTF" *dead*)

Anyway, the nice thing about leveling a resto shaman is that apparently no one does it, so no one expects you to be healing. It's pretty obvious Ahami's not an enhancement shaman, since she doesn't dual-wield, which means that (I assume, anyway) the Alliance team generally assumes she is elemental, and reacts accordingly, taking out the "real threats" first. My goal in battlegrounds has been to encourage this thought.

Please keep in mind that I am, as in practically everything WoW-related, a total noob when it comes to this, so my way may not be the Right Way — though it works for me, so far. These tips are for 60 and lower, by the way.

1. In small battlegrounds, such as Warsong Gulch or Arathi Basin, I pick a stealther (rogue, usually), and this person is the recipient of my first Earth Shield. Why? Well, when they stealth, poof, no Earth Shield in sight. I use Lightning Shield on myself — no major tipoff that there's a resto shaman about. Once they figure it out, of course, it goes on whoever is taking the most damage, but I've been through entire WSG matches where no attention is paid to me at all while the other healers spend the whole match at the graveyard. This doesn't matter so much in Alterac Valley, where you are likely in a large force with several shamans and they probably won't figure it out 'til they catch you chain healing instead of shooting out lightning or wading into melee.

2. In WSG, go ghost wolf, run up the side (to avoid the honor farmers in the middle), and communicate with your offense to figure out where they're coming out with the flag. Meet the flag carrier and run alongside, popping out of ghost wolf to heal/renew Earth Shield when needed. (This works best if you take the points in enh for instant ghost wolf — I've been having issues since I hit 41 points and respecced for Earth Shield, but should be fine in a few more levels again.) Of course, if your offense meets a decent defense, run in a few seconds after them (when the enemy should be engaged) and start popping heals. You likely won't be noticed right away. This should keep you from being noticed and neutralized until absolutely necessary.

3. Chain heal like it's going out of style, especially in Alterac Valley. Unlike in 5-man PVE, everyone will be taking damage in PVP, not just the tanks — chain healing can take care of three people at a time, which means that they can continue fighting and hopefully keep the enemy from getting to you. It's more mana efficient anyway — and since combat in PVP can last a long time, you want to be as mana efficient as possible. Let the other healers worry about single-target healing — you've got a multi-person heal and you might as well use it.

Other things to remember: You have totems. Drop them, even if you don't think your group is nearby. If someone in your group is, they benefit, and if not, at least it has the potential to occupy the other side's melee classes for a while. There's always one asshole who's more worried about taking out totems than taking out the other team. (And you took the talent to minimize their mana cost, right?) Also, Earth Shock is kind of awesome if you catch an enemy healer mid-cast, if you have the time, attention and mana to spare. Purge kicks some ass, too.