Guide to Canni Dancing

Originally written by Stormhowl.

I was shocked to see that the only Shaman guide up didn't have one of the most important tricks in the Shaman's tool-kit: The Canni-Dance. So here's a simple guide on what it is and how to do it.

What is the Canni-Dance?

The Canni-Dance (short for Cannibalize Dance) is a trick available to the Shaman class when they receive their level 24 spell, Cannibalize, and it is the quickest way to regenerate mana rather than just meditating or just spam casting Cannibalize. The long and short of what the Canni-Dance is involves using Cannibalize then sitting down to receive your tick of your base health regen and your mana regen from Meditate, then repeating the process.

How to Canni-Dance

Simple. Sit down and wait for your mana regen to tick. Once you see that happen, cast Cannibalize, then immedietely after it finishes casting, sit down and wait for your mana regen to tick again. Mana regen ticks every 6 seconds, where as Cannibalize casts in 1.25 seconds with a 2.25 second recast time; you have just enough time to get one cast off before the mana regen ticks a second time.

1. Wait for mana regen.

2. Stand when you receive your mana.

3. Cast your best version of Cannibalize

4. After casting, sit.

5. Go to step 1.

Advantages

There's a number of reasons why you'd want to do the Canni-Dance. For one, it's the fastest way for a Shaman to regenerate their mana, because it's faster than either meditating or just spamming Cannibalize alone. In addition, you also get a tick of sitting health regen, making the cost of health to cast Cannibalize easier to manage.

Also, learning this technique is highly useful even during combat, as you can twist heals or slows or whatever in between sitting to keep your mana regeneration going even while keeping the group up and the mobs down.

Disadvantages

Canni-Dancing can be dependent on lag if you have a high latency; it's harder to get the timing right. It also requires you to actively be at the computer pressing buttons every couple seconds; you don't have time to look at websites or do chores while medding like you can do with another class.

It can also be very, very boring. :)

Macro

Macros can make this process easier to manage, depending on how you define easy. A macro makes the Canni-Dance more clunky if you get any spell fizzles or if you have issues with latency. However, here's one that may come in handy if you prefer to use a macro:

/cast X

/pause Y

/sit

X is the spell slot you have mapped for Cannibalize. If Cannibalize is in your 3rd spell slot, your macro should say "/cast 3". Y is the amount of time to wait before sitting, and it needs to be tweaked a bit to suit your needs. A good number is "25" (so it should look like "/pause 25"), but it may need to be reduced or increased depending on your latency.

This macro will cast Cannibalize, wait Y amount of time after the BEGINNING of the spell cast, and then sit after the pause interval. If you get the message "You can't do that right now.", that means you tried to sit while casting Cannibalize and the /pause will need to be increased.

Cannibalize III Macro

Another very easy macro to make for yourself which will cast Cannibalize multiple times, allowing you to sit in between each cast manually for maximum mana regeneration. Its a simple macro with all five lines of it being the same.

/pause 37, /cast # (where # is the spell gem that cannibalize is memorized to)

/pause 37, /cast #

/pause 37, /cast #

/pause 37, /cast #

/cast #

The number 37 works well for cannibalize III, but may need to be changed to compensate for server lag, a different cast for cannibalize I or II, etc. What I find most effective for this setup is to sit and med, and as soon as you see your mana tick once, start the macro. If you sit right after each cannibalize, you should get ticks of mana on the 3rd-5th cannis as well as the canni mana. I found this to be the most effective for mana regen.