As Priests, we’re limited to blessed with 3 forms of crowd control:
- Mind Control
- Shackle Undead
- Psychic Scream
Unlike mages, Priests are not frequently called upon to CC targets. That means some of us are a little wet behind the ears on shackles. Honestly, how often have we used Shackle Undead on the road to 70? Maybe once or twice leveling in Duskwood. Or on a ghoul out in either Plaguelands. While you don’t need to be a Gnomish rocket scientist to figure out how to shackle targets, there’s no reason why you can’t shackle better.
Shackle Position
Figure out where your tank is going to stand when he engages the mobs. It’s doubly important if you have a Paladin tank. Is your tank going to pull mobs back or is he going to charge in? Don’t forget that any kind of damage will break shackles. Ideally, you want to time your shackles to land the moment your tank gets threat on all mobs. Try to park the Shackle in an area where it can’t receive AoE Damage. If there’s two Priests and you end up shackling your targets above one another (I’ve had it happen), you can try to split them up. What you want to do is get some distance between you and your shackle, put a shield on yourself, hit it Shadow Word: Death, and then shackle it again.
In the case of a Pally tank, I shackle after he hurls his Avenger’s Shield. If for some reason the shackle ends up getting consecrated, there’s nothing more you can do but heal your Pally tank and pray.
Shackle Often
The tooltip says that Shackle Undead lasts up to a certain amount of time (30 seconds or something, but I never read tooltips). Up to is the operative phrase here. It means that Shackle could break at any moment. I mentally set up my own heal rotations so that it ends up looking something like flash heal, greater heal, renew, shackle. I might throw in a Prayer of Mending or a shield to vary it up. The point here is that shackle is not going to last the entire duration.
Max Range Yourself
I’ve gotten myself killed by loose shackles before. Why? Because I was ingrained to keep my shackle target and my healing assignments on the screen in front of me. This leads to me literally standing on top of my shackle so I can watch it and the tank at the same time. If the shackle breaks, I die since Shackle generates something along the lines of 9000 threat.
The solution is to park yourself as far away as possible while being able to heal your tanks. Remember you don’t need to look at them. Look at your shackle and use your frames to heal.
Shackle When in Doubt
I almost always defer shackles to the Shadow Priest. But if both of you are holy, then it doesn’t matter. Draw straws or something. If there’s one shackle target, only one needs to stay on it unless it breaks.
I did Hex Lord yesterday out in Zul’Aman and one of the 4 mobs was an undead ghost. My Shadow Priest guildmate locked him down for a while until he got stunned and then killed because he was not able to get the shackle off in time. I think his shackle got resisted.
That’s why it’s nice to have 2 shackles go off. If the mob is secured by you and the shackle responsibility belongs to the other Priest, let him know so he can shackle it again so that it’s on his cooldown.
Raids are no time for showing off your ego. If no one volunteers to shackle, then step it up and volunteer.
On another note, thanks for all the positive comments and emails. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to read my blog. I would not have put this much effort into it if I didn’t think the effort was worth it. Have to admit though, I’m a little surprised no one’s expressed displeasure about the ads on the side. I was expecting at least 1 or 2 people. I guess it’s because it’s out of the way and doesn’t seem to be bothering the main stuff in the middle.
You don’t need to “shackle often,” just shackle enough.
Shackle undead, at max rank, will hold a mob for 50 seconds. Periodically (I forget if it is in 2-, 4-, or 5-second intervals) there is a small check to see if the spell continues to hold. This is sometimes called a “pulse resist check”. To my knowledge, the chance that the shackle undead spell breaks on a particular pulse resist check does not depend on how long the mob has been shackled. So, the roll (or whatever it is) on the first pulse resist check to see if the spell holds (or breaks) provides the same chances as the fifth check. And the seventh check. And so forth…
You should only shackle just enough to ensure that if you hit an emergency scenario, that you would be able to do whatever it is you need to do (move, spam heal, etc.) and not miss reshackling the mob. A fifteen second buffer should be more than enough.
By reshackling every third heal, you are just wasting mana and building more threat on the mob (the threat from shackle undead is additive every time you recast it).
Love the new look:) I use a macro for shackles, since we do kara and I’m one of the main forms of CC.
/focus [modifier:alt]; [target=focus,noharm]; [target=focus,dead]
/cast [target=focus,harm,nodead] [harm,nodead] Shackle Undead
/stopmacro [target=focus,noharm]
/s Shackled %f You spank it you tank it!!
the last line can be removed if the /say spam is annoying. I also use a /clearfocus after. With this, my targeted shack becomes my focus, leaving me able to then target my tank and heal away while recasting shackle every 10-15 seconds.
MK: All I can say is, I’ve had experiences when my shackles have broken after 15 seconds and as short as 5 seconds. I don’t doubt for a second that all your points are valid. I’m not a mathematical player or anything like that. I tend to play by my gut and my instinct and I’m WAY more paranoid then most players. I probably cast PW: Shields 50% more often then other Priests. Between pots and other consumables, I don’t suffer much loss or efficiency from shackling a little more often. Of course, no two priests are exactly the same.
Use your best judgment 😀
Love the new layout also.
I also use a macro similar to Lady-Jess’s. I click it once while holding down Shift and it sets the focus on my current target, then everytime I click it, it recast shackle regardless of what I currently have targetted.
I don’t use focus macros while healing so it’s always free when I want to shackle or MC stuff (I have the exact same macro for mind control).
Hi Matticus. Happy New Year! I like the new look.
As my only exposure to playing priest is a lvl 21 alt (Stockades, FTW) I read your opening line “As Priests, we’re limited to 3 forms of crowd control” and think perhaps “blessed with” is a better choice of words than “limited to”.
First time I ever encountered a priestly shackling was in Scholomance. This guy was awesome, totally calm and cool, healing the party, and doing a great job controlling the mobs around us.
Shackle is also dependent on your +hit. When I have to Shackle in Kara, I will put on some +hit gear. If you add about 45 +hit, it will reduce the chance to break to about 3%. After doing this, I noticed my shackles lasting the whole 45 secs.
Amava: Fixed =). I remember those days. Back during Pre TBC, most of us were stuck running around Scholo and/or Stratholme. Parties usually consisted of Priest/Pally/Warrior/2DPS. Oof.
Chadd: Yes, that’s true. I’ve seen +hit gear help. The thing is, I don’t have a whole lot of (if any) hit gear at all. I would never roll on DPS cloth gear, not even for alt stuff. I’m also not sure how much +healing I’m willing to sacrifice.
That’s why I usually defer to a Shadow Priest 😀
Malva and Lady Jess: I think the macro I use is a little dated. I’m too lazy to login and fish it out, but it targets the guy I shackle, shackles it, then it switches the target back to my previous target who I’m healing so I don’t lose out.
Just popping in to make another recommendation for focus macros. Being able to use CC without ever switching your main target is such a bonus.
For tailoring priests, Netherweave Nets are a savior when a Shackle breaks at the worst possible moment. It works maybe 33% of the time, and holds for a second or two, but it’s just enough to recast the Shackles.
It’s mostly unreliable, but in “Oh Shit” situations, it can save you or another raid member from a nasty hit.
Molmyris: Of course! I completely forgot about Nets! Those’re good fail safes to have in case something bad happens.
Chadd: a HUGE thank you to you dude.
Me and my guildies ran Kara tonight, and I and another priest were on shackle duty for Moroese. I did the battle in my holy gear, and although we didn’t wipe, my shackle broke often, while the shadow priest’s did not. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. Now I know to bring at least 45 spell hit into a shackle battle. Thanks man!