Sin dorei

Table of Contents:

I. Introduction

II. Talent Trees
1. Elemental
2. Enhancement
3. Restoration

III. Stats and Gear
1. Healer Gear
2. Caster Gear
3. Melee Gear

IV. Possible Builds

1. PvP
i. Healer Builds
ii. Caster Builds
iii. Melee Builds

2. PvE
i. Healer Builds
ii. Caster Builds
iii. Melee Builds

3. Hybrid Builds

I. Introduction

As many know, I’ve spent a very long time playing Warcraft games. The word “fanatic” has been used in the past to describe me. Several times, in fact. Through Humans vs. Orcs to Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal and up to the Frozen Throne, I loved every minute of spell-casting, sword-slashing, gnome smashing goodness that Blizzard has provided. One piece of Lore that always captivated me was that of the Shamanistic Orc, so it is no surprise that when I first joined the World of Warcraft, I found my home in the Shaman class. Though I spent two years dawdling around with other classes as well, my first 60 was a Tauren Shaman by the name of Painhoof. I’ve brought down bosses in Blackrock Mountain, Zul’Gurub, Naxxaramas, the Molten Core, and Ahn’Qiraj as both a healer and a damage dealer. When Burning Crusade was released, I called a Night Elf Warrior my Main, but it was not long before the tempting call of the Shaman drew me back to the Horde. Now, on my resurrected Painhoof (Renamed Ichne, due to an ex-guildie taking the name) I spent several months learning all the intricacies of playing a Shaman between level 60 and level 70.

So, with all that, I can comfortably call myself a shaman expert. Now, I am not saying I am the best shaman out there. I’m not saying that everything I suggest will work 100% of the time. I am, however, saying that I have the knowledge and experience to know a few things about being a shaman. What I am going to offer you is a breakdown of each shaman talent and spell and my opinion of just how useful that talent/spell is. I’m going to suggest types of armor and strategies for playing your shaman in both PvP and PvE. I present all this to you so that you can gain a background for the class before you play it, but I also urge you to experiment with it yourself. There is no better teacher than Experience, after all.

If anyone has anything to add to this thread, like corrections, possible builds, skill info, etc, please post it or PM it to me. I will look at it and, if it is valid, add it to the thread in its proper place.

WotLK UPDATE: It’s been a couple months since WotLK came out, so I’m going to go through and revamp the talents. I will not have tested every build in here immediately, so most will be based on conjecture rather than personal experience. However, when/if I do test the builds, if I find something that doesn’t work like I thought it would, I’ll update it here.

Also, if someone finds anything in here they disagree with or think I don’t understand, feel absolutely free to jump in and say so! It’s a discussion, not a monologue.

So, without any further jibber-jabber, the Shaman Talent Guide!

II. Talent Trees

Each talent tree is split into Nine separate Tiers. For every five points you devote to a talent tree, a new tier in that tree is opened up to you. There are also some talents that have prerequisite talents earlier in the tree. An example is the “Lightning Mastery” talent in the 6th Tier of the Elemental tree. In order to devote any points toward “Lightning Master,” you must have five points devoted to the 3rd Tier talent, “Call of Thunder.”

The format of each talent will be as follows:

Name (Name of Talent)
# of Points (Amount of points you can devote to this talent)
Display (Message that is displayed in game)
Synopsis (Breakdown of the talent’s usefulness)

1. Elemental

Tier 1

Convection
5 Points
Reduces the mana cost of your Shock, Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by (2-10%)
Convection is one of the most useful and most important talent a shaman can have. Any shaman that intends to do ANY damage will do so, at some time, with his shock or lightning spells. Even Melee and Healer shimmies, at some point, will use frost shock to slow and enemy or flame shock to put some extra Damage over Time on an enemy. The less Mana that is devoted to doing so, the better. No matter what your build is, I advise devoting 5 points to Convection

Concussion
5 Points
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Shock spells by (1-5%)
Concussion is less useful than Convection; however it is still a very important talent for damage dealers. A 5% increase in Shock and Lightning damage can prove the difference between badly injuring an opponent and finishing him off. I advise this talent to both melee and spell-casting damage dealers, but would not advise it to a healer shaman.

Tier 2 (Requires 5 Points)

Earth’s Grasp
2 Points
Increases the health of your Stoneclaw Totem by (25-50%) and the radius of your Earthbind Totem by (10-20%)
Earth’s Grasp is a useful talent for Warsong Gulch PvPers as well as some solo leveling builds. Increasing the health points of your Stoneclaw Totem allows agro to stay off you for that much longer, allowing the shaman to either run away unharmed or focus damage on the target without worrying about taking any. The increased radius of the Earthbind totem is useful in Warsong Gulch when a player is flag running, forcing the enemy to make a wider circle around the totem in order to escape it’s spell. This talent is useful for early BGing and Leveling, but has very little use in end-game game play.

Elemental Warding
3 points
Reduces damage taken from Fire, Frost and Nature effects by (4-10%)
I have found Elemental Warding to be very useful for a Mage-killer build, but not much else. At one time, it was a good asset to have this talent when in instances like Molten Core and Onyxia’s Lair, because a 10% reduction in fire damage was A LOT when you are facing a dragon or a towering fire elemental. However, most instances in Burning Crusade are more rounded than that, making the 3 points you would devote to that 10% reduction wasted.

Call of Flame
3 Points
Increases the damage done by your Fire Totems by (5-15%)
Call of Flame is very useful to the PvE spell caster. The added damage from a fire totem hammering at a mob every few seconds is useful for long pulls. Also, the bonus to damage is useful for the two AoE totems shaman are given, allowing them a short burst of AoE damage for any non-elite pulls. In addition to PvE, Call of Flame can be used by PvP casters for the simple fact that most players in PvP will overlook most totems dropped by a shaman, allowing the shaman to still do damage if his casting is compromised by a rogue or warrior.

Tier 3 (Requires 10 Points)

Elemental Focus
1 Point
After landing a critical strike with a Fire, Frost of Nature damage spell, you enter a Clearcasting state. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next 2 damage spells by 40%.
Elemental Focus is a must have for any damage shaman. All damage shaman use offensive spells like shocks during a battle (Unless they are also serving as a back-up healer, in which case they would be in mana-conservations AKA white damage only) and any reduction in mana cost allows the shaman to go on for that much longer.

Reverberation
5 Points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by (0.2-1) sec.
Reverberation is important to any damage dealing shaman because it allows for more shocks to be cast. Shocks are a major part of Shaman damage and the more a shaman can dish them out, the better.

Call of Thunder
5 Points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by an additional (1-5%).
Call of Thunder is required for any spellcasting build. The increased critical chance will allow Clearcasting to proc more often and five points in this talent opens up the ability to devote points to the Tier 6 talent, Lightning Mastery.

Tier 4 (Requires 15 Points)

Improved Fire Nova Totem
2 Points
Reduces the delay before your Fire Nova Totem activates by (1-2) sec. and decreases the threat generated by your Magma Totem by (25-50%)
This talent, combined with Call of Flame (Tier 2), is useful to PvP caster shaman, as it allows an enemy only a one second window to destroy a Fire Nova totem before it will set off. It is also allows PvE shaman to prevent their Nova and Magma Totems from being destroyed by stray non-elites when clearing a large group with AoE.

Eye of the Storm
3 Points
Gives you a (33-100%) chance to gain the Focused Casting effect that lasts for 6 sec after being the victim of a melee or ranged critical strike. The Focused Casting effect prevents you from losing casting time on Shaman spells when taking damage.
EotS is another talent that is necessary for a casting shaman in both PvP and PvE. When facing more than one enemy, it can become impossible to cast a spell. It is also noted that this effect works on healing spells as well as damage spells, allowing for quick, uninterrupted healing of the shaman in tight situations.

Elemental Devastation
3 Points
Your offensive spell crits will increase your chance to get a critical strike with melee attacks by (3-9%) for 10 sec.
This talent has a very limited use; though in the right build can create a formidable and dangerous foe. Obviously useless for a straight caster-type build, if put into a hybrid elemental/enhancement build, a melee shaman can potentially increase his melee crit chance for 10 seconds every time he gets a spell crit with a shock, which, with reverberation and a bit of spell crit gear, can be quite often.

Tier 5 (Requires 20 Points)

Storm Reach
2 Points
Increases the range of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by (3-6) yards.
Storm Reach is a requirement for any elemental caster, as range allows you to be further away from both your target and other party members, allowing the player to avoid both melee and AOE attacks from any opponent.

Elemental Fury
1 Point
Increase the critical strike damage bonus of your Searing, Magma, and Fire Nova Totems and your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%
Hands down, this skill is necessary for any caster shaman and is well worth the one point you must devote to it. That point also opens up the Tier 7 talent, Elemental Mastery.

Unrelenting Storm
5 Points
Regenerate mana equal to (2-10%) of your Intellect every 5 sec, even when casting.
This talent is useful to any casting shaman, but is required for a raid damage dealer, as mana conservation is important on some of the longer pulls.

Tier 6 (Requires 25 Points)

Elemental Precision
3 Points
Increases your chance to hit with Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by (2-6%) and reduces the threat caused by Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by (4-10%).
Elemental Precision is a necessary talent for any raid caster for two reasons. First, when you miss with a spell, you have wasted the mana that was required to cast that spell (unlike melee swings where all you waste is a 2-4 second attack). Second, threat control is a large problem for many end-game shaman casters, as elemental damage can get very high and very difficult for the tank to control. For only three points, this will make you a better damage dealer and your tank will thank you for it.

Lightning Mastery
5 Points
Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by (0.1-0.5) sec.
Like Reverberation, Lightning Mastery is a required skill for any damage caster simply because it lets you cast your damage spells that much more.

Tier 7 (Requires 30 Points)

Elemental Mastery
1 Point
<Spell>
Instant
3 Minute Cooldown
When activated, this spell gives your next Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell a 100% critical strike chance and reduces the mana cost by 100%.
This skill, when combined with its prerequisite, allows the caster to cast a Mana-Free, Triple Damage spell that can end a fight before it even begins. A MUST have for any elemental caster.

Elemental Shields
3 Points
Reduces the chance you will be critically hit by melee and ranged attacks by (2-6%).
Elemental Shields is useful only to PvP shaman, who need to reduce the amount of damage they take as much as possible. In a raid, a shaman should rarely get hit, making the three points that this talent uses a waste to take.

Tier 8 (Requires 35 Points)

Lightning Overload
5 Points
Gives your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells a (4-20%) chance to cast a second, similar spell on the same target at no additional cost that causes half damage and no threat.
The additional instant-cast and no threat damage this talent allows make it invaluable to a caster shaman. A must have.

Tier 9 (Requires 40 Points)

Totem of Wrath
1 Point
<Spell>
147 Mana
Instant Cast
Tools: Fire Totem
Summons a Totem of Wrath with 5 health at the feet of the caster. The totem increases the chance to hit and critically hit with spells by 3% to all party members if they are within 20 yards. Lasts 2 min.
The Totem of Wrath is a talent that many shaman think is useless. Its bonus is not substantial enough to help a soloing shaman, whether in PvP or PvE. Putting a point in the Tier 9 talent also closes the door to the hybrid options that many shaman use. However, for a purely raid spell casting shaman, Totem of Wrath is a viable source of +spell crit for both the shaman and other casters in the group, including healers.

2. Enhancement

Tier 1

Ancestral Knowledge
5 Points
Increases your maximum Mana by (1-5%).
Ancestral Knowledge is a useful talent for any build. Most hybrid caster and healer shaman use it for the mana increase as well most melee shaman, who use it to grant them an extra shock or two.

Shield Specialization
5 Points
Increases your chance to block attacks with a shield by (1-5%) and increases the amount blocked by (5-25%).
This talent is possibly the most useless of all shaman talents. Thus far, I have not found a reason to use 5 points in it.

Tier 2 (Requires 5 Points)

Guardian Totems
2 Points
Increases the amount of damage reduced by your Stoneskin Totem and Windwall Totem by (10-20%) and reduces the cooldown of your Grounding Totem by (1-2) sec.
Guardian Totems is very useful for raid builds that focus on boosting the rest of the group.

Thundering Strikes
5 Points
Improves your chance to get a critical strike with your weapon attacks by (1-5%)
Thundering Strikes is a talent that all melee shaman, not only for its increase in crit chance but also because it is a prerequisite for the Tier 4 talent, Flurry. A MUST have.

Improved Ghost Wolf
2 Points
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by (1-2) sec.
This is a good optional talent for Warsong PvPers and those without mounts.

Improved Lightning Shield
3 Points
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by (5-15%)
A good talent for any PvP shaman, whether melee or caster. Very little use in PvE.

Tier 3 (Requires 10 Points)

Enhancing Totems
2 Points
Increases the effect of your Strength of Earth and Grace of Air Totems by (8-15%)
Much like Guardian Totems, Enhancing Totems is best for those damage builds that are focused on enhancing the rest of the raid group.

Shamanistic Focus
1 Point
After landing a melee critical strike, you enter a Focused state. The Focused state reduces the mana cost of your next Shock spell by 60%.
This is a necessary talent for any melee shaman as it conserves the mana of your shocks and allows you to dish out more elemental damage than before.

Anticipation
5 Points
Increases your chance to dodge by an additional (1-5%)
Anticipation is a good talent for any PvP shaman. It has very little use in PvE.

Tier 4 (Requires 15 Points)

Flurry
5 Points
Increase your attack speed by (10-30%) for your next 3 swings after dealing a critical strike.
Flurry is another talent that is a must for any melee shaman. At higher levels, when you are dealing a crit every 5-6 swings, this talent will keep your attack speed up almost indefinitely.

Toughness
5 Points
Increases your armor value from items by (2-10%)
A good talent for any PvP build. Not useful in PvE.

Tier 5 (Requires 20 Points)

Improved Weapon Totems
2 Points
Increases the melee attack power bonus of your Windfury Totem by (15-30%) and increases the damage cause by your Flametongue Totem by (6-12%).
Imp Weapon Totems is a very useful totem for any raid shaman who are focusing on boosting the rest of their group. This talent does not increase the enhancements that a shaman can put on his own weapon, however.

Spirit Weapons
1 Point
Gives a chance to parry enemy melee attacks and reduces the threat generated by your melee attacks by 30%.
This talent is a must for any melee build, whether PvP or PvE. Parry is a necessary skill for PvP, as it causes more damage to your opponents. The threat reduction gives any PvE damage dealer an easier time keeping control of his agro during a raid.

Elemental Weapons
3 Points
Increases the damage caused by your Rockbiter Weapon by (7-20%), your Windfury Weapon effect by (13-40%) and increases the damage caused by your Flametongue Weapon and Frostbrand Weapon by (5-15%).
Elemental Weapons is useful to any melee shaman, as it ultimately increases your melee damage output. It also opens up the option to take the Tier 7 talent, Stormstrike.

Tier 6 (Requires 25 Points)

Mental Quickness
3 Points
Reduces the mana cost of your instant cast spells by (2-6%) and increases your spell damage and healing by an amount equal to (10-30%) of your attack power.
This talent is beneficial to any melee damage dealer, whether PvP or PvE, solo or raid. The mana cost reduction will help mana conservation, and the + to damage and healing will not only assist with damage, but also help the shaman stay alive while soloing or killing in battlegrounds.

Weapon Mastery
5 Points
Increases the damage you deal with all weapons by (2-10%).
This talent is a must have for any melee damage dealer.

Tier 7 (Requires 30 Points)

Dual Wield Specialization
3 Points
Increases your chance to hit while dual wielding by an additional (2-6%)
This is an important talent for any dual wield melee shaman, as the off-hand will often miss without any +chance to hit buffs. Dual Wield is a prerequisite, so be sure you have 4 talent points to devote to both talents.

Dual Wield
1 Point
Allows one-hand and off-hand weapons to be equipped in the off-hand.
A need for any dual-wield damage dealer. Dual-wielding is good for PvE damage dealing, but does not have the Burst damage that a 2-hander has for PvP.

Stormstrike
1 Point
<Spell>
236 Mana
Melee Range
Instant cast
10 sec cooldown
Requires Melee Weapon
Instantly attack with both weapons. In addition, the next 2 sources of Nature damage dealt to the target are increased by 20%. Lasts 12 sec.
Stormstrike is good for a raid shaman that is doing melee damage. It offers both instant melee damage and a + to nature damage, which then can be spent by either elemental shaman or balance druids.

Tier 8 (requires 35 Points)

Unleashed Rage
5 Points
Causes your critical hits with melee attacks to increase all party members’ attack power by (2-10%) if within 20 yards of the Shaman. Lasts 10 sec.
Unleashed Rage is another talent that is a must have for melee shaman in both PvP and PvE. With this bonus, a melee shaman can greatly increase other melee damage dealers’ output.

Shamanistic Rage
1 Point
<Spell>
Instant
2 min cooldown
Reduces all damage taken by 30% and gives your successful melee attacks a chance to regenerate mana equal to 15% of your attack power. Lasts 30 sec.
This Talent is useful for both PvP and PvE builds. It allows a shaman to get out of a tight spot by regenerating mana and healing, while the damage reduction protects from big hits from opponents. A must have.

3. Restoration

Tier 1

Improved Healing Wave
5 Points
Reduces the casting time you your Healing Wave spell by (0.1-0.5) sec.
This talent is a must have for any healer.

Tidal Focus
5 Points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by (1-5%).
Though this talent is useful, some argue that the mana reduction of this talent is not worth the 5 points. It is a good option if you have a spare few points.

Tier 2 (Requires 5 Points)

Improved Reincarnation
2 Points
Reduces the cooldown of your Reincarnation spell by (10-20) min and increases the amount of health and mana you reincarnate with by an additional (10-20%).
Imp Reincarnation is incredibly useful for any shaman who is going to be doing any PvE or PvP. A shaman’s Ankh can save a raid group and it never hurts to use an Ankh to get revenge on someone who caught you unaware. Imp Reincarnation allows you to do that more often and more effectively. A must have talent for most builds.

Ancestral Healing
3 Points
Increases your target’s armor value by (8-25%) for 15 sec after getting a critical effect from one of your healing spells.
This talent is critical for any shaman’s ability to heal in a raid. For either focused tank healing or off-healing the rest of the raid, the armor buffs can be all that stands between any party member and their death.

Totemic Focus
5 Points
Reduces the Mana cost of your totems by (5-25%)
Totemic Focus can be useful to damage dealers and healers as totems are used by all shaman. A must have.

Tier 3 (Requires 10 Points)

Nature’s Guidance
3 Points
Increases your chance to hit with melee attacks and spells by (1-3%).
This talent is a good hybrid talent for damage dealers. Useless for a healer shaman.

Healing Focus
5 Points
Gives you a (14-70%) chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting any Shaman healing spell.
Healing Focus is necessary for any PvP healer and is good for 5-man group healers. In raid healing, the shaman is rarely damaged, so the 5 points are wasted.

Totemic Mastery
1 Point
the radius of your totems that affect friendly targets is increased to 30 yards.
Totemic Mastery is good for both healing shaman and melee damage shaman who are focused at buffing the rest of their group.

Healing Grace
3 Points
Reduces the threat generated by your healing spells by (5-15%)
A must have for any PvE healer.

Tier 4 (Requires 15 Points)

Restorative Totems
5 Points
Increases the effect of your Mana Spring and Healing Stream totems by (5-25%)
A necessary talent for any healer, as it grants a good totem bonus as well as opens up the option to get the Mana Tide Totem talent at Tier 7.

Tidal Mastery
5 Points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and lightning spells by 5%
This talent is good for both caster and healer shaman. It is used in many hybrid Elemental builds and is a must have for any healing build, whether PvP or PvE.

Tier 5 (Requires 20 Points)

Healing Way
3 Points
Your Healing Wave spells have a (33-100%) chance to increase the effect of subsequent Healing Wave spells on that target by 6% for 15 sec. this effect will stack up to 3 times.
Healing Way is useful for PvE 5-man groups, but not much else.

Nature’s Swiftness
1 Point
<Spell>
Instant
3 min cooldown
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less then 10 sec becomes an instant cast spell.
Nature’s Swiftness is another one of those talents that is invaluable to many different builds. A must have for all healers and most elemental casters.

Focused Mind
3 Points
Reduces the duration of any Silence or Interrupt effects used against the shaman by (10-30%). This effect does not stack with other similar effects.
This is a necessary talent for any PvP healer and a good talent to have for a PvE healer.

Tier 6 (Requires 25 Points)

Purification
5 Points
Increases the effectiveness of your healing spells by (2-10%).
Important for any healer. A must have.

Tier 7 (Requires 30 Points)

Mana Tide Totem
1 Point
<Spell>
88 Mana
Instant Cast
5 min cooldown
Tools: Water Totem
Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 12 sec that restores 6% of total mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20 yards.
Mana Tide Totem is a skill that is useful to any PvE healer, beneficial not only to the healer but also to other group members who use mana.

Nature’s Guardian
5 Points
Whenever a damaging attack is taken that reduces you below 30% health, you have a (10-50%) chance to heal 10% of your total health and reduce your threat level on that target. 5 second cooldown.
This talent is a must have for every healer.

Tier 8 (Requires 35 Points)

Nature’s Blessing
3 Points
Increases your spell damage and healing by an amount equal to (10-30%) of your intellect.
Nature’s Bless is a must have, not only for the buff but also because it is a prerequisite for the Tier 9 talent, Earth Shield.

Improved Chain Heal
2 Points
Increases the amount healed by your Chain heal spell by (10-20%)
A must have for any raid healer, also good for 5-man group healing and PvP.

Tier 9 (Requires 40 points)

Earth Shield
1 Point
<Spell>
600 Mana
40 yd range
Instant Cast
Protects the target with an earthen shield, giving a 30% chance of ignoring spell interruption when damaged and causing melee attacks to heal the shielded target for 150. This effect can only occur once every few seconds. 10 charges. Lasts 10 min. Earth shield can only be placed on one target at a time and only one Elemental Shield can be active on a target at a time. (Rank 2: 745 Mana, Heals for 205; Rank 3: 900 Mana, Heals for 270)
Earth Shield is a must have for any healer, PvP or PvE, useful when cast both on the healer himself and on a tank.

III. Stats and Gear

The word “Hybrid” is often used to describe the Shaman and, frankly, no better word can be used. Out of the Nine classes currently available in World of Warcraft, the Shaman has the widest range of possibilities and roles in the game. While much of that is attributed to a wide range of skills and talents, another contributing factor is the gear a shaman uses. From staves to maces, daggers to totems, the shaman uses a wide variety of weapons depending on the role he plays in the game. Likewise, the Shaman is unique in the fact that it is one of the only classes that can function in three separate types of armor. It is this wide selection that allows Shaman to be one of the most formidable hybrid classes in the game, when the player knows how to select his gear. Hopefully, this section will give you insight on how to gear your character.

1. Healer Gear

Shaman healers are, sadly, put in the backseat as far as gear goes until level 70. More often than not, until you get into end-game, you will be forced into picking up the mismatched scrap armor from Priests and Druids. Don’t let that fool you, however, because though you won’t be stylish, you will be a very powerful group healer. So here you go:

Healers are looking for two main stats: Intellect and Spirit. Intellect will raise your overall mana and give you a chance to crit with your healing spells. Spirit will allow you to regain mana while you are not casting, which, in most fights, you will have short periods where you take a break. It is important that you get gear that keeps these two attributes about even.

The next bonus you want your armor to have is a plus to healing spells and effects. This will increase the amount that you heal others for and is very important at later levels. After intellect and spirit, this is the most important attribute you can pick up.

Other bonuses you should keep your eyes open for are Stamina, plus to spell crit, and plus to mana per second. Stamina will increase your health, which makes you harder to kill. This is always helpful in PvP and in soloing, however, in a group, the tank should be taking the brunt of the damage, giving you the option to focus on healing him rather than yourself.

For weapons, the healing shaman has several options. A shaman can wield a staff in both hands for the bulk buffs a staff provides, or a shaman can pick up a one-handed mace or dagger and an off-hand for a mixture of bonuses. Shaman also have the ability to bear a shield as their off-hand, giving them a large boost of armor. There are plenty of caster shields out there for shaman and paladins, giving shaman healers yet another advantage.

An important thing for a healing shaman to remember is that all types of armor are available to you; you do not have to be limited to only mail, like most other classes. However, you should only roll on leather and cloth if there are no priests or druids in the group who need it or if you have stated beforehand that you are going to roll on that piece of armor.

NOTE: When choosing PvP gear, Stamina should be pushed up to same importance as Intellect and Spirit. You should only use Mail armor for PvP, as the armor points are going to be crucial in resisting enemy damage. In PvE, a tank can take your damage, but in PvP the enemy WILL focus on you simply because you are the healer. Shaman can be formidable in this arena because they can act as the self-healing tank, with all the focus on them other classes can damage the enemy without worrying about dying themselves.

2. Caster Gear

Shaman Casters are the chosen of the three shaman talent specializations. From Mulgore to the Plaguelands to Outland (and soon to be Northrend!), there is a plethora of cloth, leather and mail that give very powerful benefits to Casters and Shaman can take advantage of every one.
There are two schools of thought concerning Caster gear.

The first believes (as I do) that the most important attribute a caster shaman can have is Intellect. Intellect increases your total mana as well as grants you a bonus to your spell critical strike chance. This is a valuable asset as it allows you to cast more spells, and it allows those spells to hit harder more often.

The second believes that while Intellect is an important attribute, it is more important for a caster shaman to have plus spell damage, as it will make their spells always hit harder. If you hit hard enough, you won’t need to have mana to cast another spell because there won’t be anything to cast it at.

Secondary attributes for a caster shaman are Spirit, Stamina, plus to spell crits, and mana per second. Spirit increases the amount of mana you regenerate when you are not casting, however, unlike a healer, a caster shaman gets very few breaks during a fight to regenerate mana, so this attribute takes a backseat. Stamina increases the amount of health you have, letting you stay in the fight longer. Spell crit chance increases the times you get a spell critical strike, which cause certain talents to activate and do double damage. Finally, mana per second acts just like spirit, regenerating mana when you are not casting.

Caster shaman have the same basic weapon choices as healer shaman: Staves, a mace or a dagger with a shield or an off-hand. Each individual has a preference for what type of weapon he uses and each can arguably work better than the others.

NOTE: When choosing PvP gear, Stamina should be pushed up to same importance as Intellect and Spirit. You should only use Mail armor for PvP, as the armor points are going to be crucial in resisting enemy damage. Shaman will often be the main targets in a large group fight, so pack as much armor and stamina as you can into your character, then nuke away as they do the same to you.

3. Melee Gear

Shaman Melee is very much unlike the Caster and Healer roles that other shaman fill. Using a mixture of instant-cast damage spells, enhancement totems, and melee damage, the melee shaman deals a lot of damage and is prepared to take it.

Melee shaman have two primary attributes: Strength and Stamina. Stamina increases the shaman’s health, allowing him to survive a wide range of magical and physical attacks. Strength increases the shaman’s attack power which allows him to do more melee damage.

The secondary bonuses that melee shaman gear have are Agility, plus to crit chance, health per second, and attack power. Agility increases the amount of armor the shaman has as well as the chance the shaman has to get a critical strike with a melee weapon. Plus to crit chance only adds a bonus to the chance to get a critical strike. Health per second increases the amount of health a shaman regenerates out of combat. Attack power directly increases the attack power of the shaman, causing him to do more damage.

Early on in the game, Melee shaman are only able to use Leather and Cloth armor. This changes at level 40, when the shaman trainer can teach the shaman to wear mail. Melee shaman should only use mail armor after that point. The armor points will be important as they will take damage quite often. Even in raid groups, melee shaman are susceptible to AoE spells and swipes from bosses and mobs as well as occasionally off-tanking a mob during larger pulls. It is no different in PvP, where the shaman will, as always, be the focus of the enemy’s attacks.

The melee shaman has a wider range of weapon choices than the Healer and Caster shaman. In addition to maces and daggers, the melee shaman can use two-handed maces, one- and two-handed axes, and fist weapons. Also, through talents, melee shaman can learn to dual wield, opening another door to them for dealing damage.

1. i. PvP Healer:

The idea behind the PvP Shaman Healer is very simple: Heal very quickly and spread the healing out among lots of people, including yourself. The talents in most PvP Healer builds are placed in areas that will allow the shaman to take a lot of damage while still effectively healing himself and his allies.

A good build for just this is a 0/15/46 build, meaning 0 points in Elemental, 15 in Enhancement, and 46 in Restoration. The talent placement should be as follows:

PvP Speed Healer

Enhancement:
Tier 1:
Ancestral Knowledge: 5/5
Shield Specialization: 5/5

Tier 3:
Anticipation: 5/5

Restoration:
Tier 1:
Tidal Focus: 5/5

Tier 2:
Totemic Focus: 5/5

Tier 3:
Healing Focus: 5/5

Tier 4:
Restorative Totems: 5/5
Tidal Mastery: 5/5

Tier 5:
Nature’s Swiftness: 1/1
Focused Mind: 3/3

Tier 6:
Purification: 5/5

Tier 7:
Mana Tide Totem: 1/1
Nature’s Guardian: 5/5

Tier 8:
Nature’s Blessing: 3/3
Improved Chain Heal: 2/2

Tier 9:
Earth Shield: 1/1

This build is designed with long, restless battlegrounds in mind. We improve our mana totems and gain the mana tide totem spell, which coupled with the reduced mana cost provided by Totemic Focus (Tier 2 Resto) will give a quick boost to mana reserves. Favoring speed over amount healed, we avoid any talents that use Healing Wave or focus on healing a single target, instead focusing on Lesser Healing Wave and Chain Heal. For defense, Anticipation and Shield Specialization increase the dodge and block rate of the shaman, significantly boosting his survival time.

2. ii. PvP Caster

There are two ideas behind the PvP caster build. One focuses on all out, burst elemental destruction while leaving defenses wanting. The other, less popular build takes the same idea as the Speed Caster: Cast quickly while still being able to take a beating. The fundamental goal of either build, however, is to deal as much elemental damage as you can over a short period of time before your enemies can get to you. Here they are:

Shield Elemental (42/19/0)

Elemental:
Tier 1:
Convection: 5/5
Concussion: 5/5

Tier 3:
Elemental Focus: 1/1
Reverberation: 5/5
Call of Thunder: 5/5

Tier 4:
Eye of the Storm: 3/3

Tier 5:
Storm Reach: 2/2
Elemental Fury: 1/1
Unrelenting Storm: 5/5

Tier 6:
Lightning Mastery: 5/5

Tier 7:
Elemental Mastery: 1/1

Tier 8:
Lightning Overload: 4/5

Enhancement:
Tier 1:
Ancestral Knowledge: 5/5
Shield Specialization: 5/5

Tier 3:
Anticipation: 5/5

Tier 4:
Toughness: 4/5

The idea behind the Shield Elemental build is to deal a lot of damage while still devoting some talents and gear choices toward defense. As the name suggests, a shield is required for this build. It is advised that armor heavy mail gear be used for this build, as Toughness will increase it by a percentage. Using Elemental Mastery to cast high power, no cost spells is an invaluable ability of the PvP caster, giving him an immediate advantage over his opponent. With an increased dodge and block rating and high critical strike talents, he will burn through any opponent to emerge unscathed in the end.

Burst Damage Elemental (40/0/21)

Elemental:
Tier 1:
Convection: 5/5
Concussion: 5/5

Tier 3:
Elemental Focus: 1/1
Reverberation: 5/5
Call of Thunder: 5/5

Tier 4:
Eye of the Storm: 3/3

Tier 5:
Storm Reach: 2/2
Elemental Fury: 1/1
Unrelenting Storm: 2/5

Tier 6:
Lightning Mastery: 5/5

Tier 7:
Elemental Mastery: 1/1

Tier 8:
Lightning Overload: 5/5

Restoration
Tier 1:
Tidal Focus: 5/5
Improved Healing Wave: 5/5

Tier 3:
Nature’s Guidance: 3/3
Healing Focus: 2/5

Tier 4:
Tidal Mastery: 5/5

Tier 5:
Nature’s Swiftness: 1/1

The Burst Damage Elemental is the most popular of the PvP builds because he can burn through an enemy’s health before that enemy can even get within melee range. Combining Elemental Mastery, Lightning Overload, Nature’s Swiftness and Lightning Mastery gives the shaman the opportunity to cast four separate lightning bolt spells in the same time and for the same cost it would require to cast a single bolt, with a cooldown of three minutes. Add superior control over shocks, allowing the shaman to perpetually frost shock an enemy, the shaman, theoretically, will never be touched by a single enemy. The only problem with this build lies in its mana conservation, primarily because it has very little of it. To compensate for this, shaman of this build often wear Balance Druid leather, for the plus to spell damage and intellect.

1. iii. PvP Melee

Like the PvP Caster, the Melee Shaman is presented with two main builds. The first focuses on staying alive longer and damaging the enemy in large, slow bursts while the other focuses instead on quickly dealing a large amount of damage on the enemy. And now, here they are:

Long Live the Shaman Build (0/40/21)

Enhancement:
Tier 1:
Ancestral Knowledge: 5/5

Tier 2:
Thundering Strikes: 5/5

Tier 3:
Shamanistic Focus: 1/1
Anticipation: 5/5

Tier 4:
Flurry: 5/5
Toughness: 5/5

Tier 5:
Spirit Weapons: 1/1
Elemental Weapons 3/3

Tier 6:
Weapon Mastery: 5/5

Tier 8:
Unleashed Rage: 5/5

Restoration:
Tier 1:
Improved Healing Wave: 5/5
Tidal Focus: 5/5

Tier 2:
Ancestral Healing: 3/3

Tier 3:
Nature’s Guidance: 3/3
Healing Focus: 5/5

The basic idea in this build is to stay alive for as long as is physically possible while still dealing a great deal of burst damage (Hints the name!) A two-handed mace or axe is required for this build, enchanted with Windfury Weapon for large, sudden crits between heals. Improved Healing Wave and Healing Focus allow the shaman to cast large healing spells quickly and without interruption and Nature’s Swiftness allows for a single heal to go off in a tight situation. Ancestral Healing allows the Shaman to increase his own armor rating occasionally. Combined with the awesome melee damage that his weapon does, this shaman will be more work than most alliance are willing to put into a fight.

Dual Wield Shocker Build (19/42/0)

Elemental:
Tier 1:
Convection: 5/5
Concussion: 5/5

Tier 3:
Elemental Focus: 1/1
Reverberation: 5/5

Tier 4:
Elemental Devastation: 3/3

Enhancement:
Tier 1:
Ancestral Knowledge: 5/5

Tier 2:
Thundering Strikes: 5/5

Tier 3:
Shamanistic Focus: 1/1
Anticipation: 5/5

Tier 4:
Flurry: 5/5

Tier 5:
Spirit Weapons: 1/1
Elemental Weapons 3/3

Tier 6:
Mental Quickness: 3/3
Weapon Mastery: 3/5

Tier 7:
Dual Wield Specialization: 3/3
Dual Wield: 1/1
Stormstrike: 1/1

Tier 8:
Unleashed Rage: 5/5

Tier 9:
Shamanistic Rage: 1/1

The Dual Wield Shocker Build is designed to do exactly what its name suggests; deal damage through quick, one-handed weapons and instant-cast shocks. With a mana-conservative talent placement and a huge bonus to shock damage in addition to the traditional melee damage placement, the shaman can pack a huge punch, not only during the first swings, but through the entire fight. The shaman wields two weapons to add to mana gain when Shamanistic Rage is used as well as the burst damage granted when Stormstrike is used, which also increases the nature damage of Earthshock. With this build, players should focus on strength and agility rather than the normal, stamina-heavy PvP gear. This optimizes the shaman’s crit chance and attack power, making him the ultimate killing machine.

2. i. PvE Healer

The PvE Healer is similar to the PvP Healer build, with a few differences. One difference is that while the PvP Healer must worry for his life, the PvE healer is covered by a tank, allowing for talent relocation away from self-protection and into more focused healing. There are two types of PvE healing: Focus Tank Healing and Raid Healing. The difference comes in how the build is played, but the talent placement stays the same.

Dungeon Healer Build (0/5/56)

Enhancement:
Tier 1:
Ancestral Knowledge: 5/5

Restoration:
Tier 1:
Improved Healing Wave: 5/5
Tidal Focus: 5/5

Tier 2:
Improved Reincarnation: 2/2
Ancestral Healing: 3/3
Totemic Focus: 5/5

Tier 3:
Healing Focus: 5/5
Totemic Mastery: 1/1
Healing Grace: 3/3

Tier 4:
Restorative Totems: 5/5
Tidal Mastery: 5/5

Tier 5:
Healing Way: 3/3
Nature’s Swiftness: 1/1
Focused Mind: 1/3

Tier 6:
Purification: 5/5

Tier 7:
Mana Tide Totem: 1/1
Nature’s Guardian: 5/5

Tier 8:
Nature’s Blessing: 3/3
Improved Chain Heal: 2/2

Tier 9:
Earth Shield: 1/1

This is one of the simplest, most straight-forward builds a shaman can have. Most talent points are placed toward improving the speed and effectiveness of the Shaman’s three healing spells. Improved Reincarnation is taken to allow the shaman to use his ankh every 40 minutes, rather than every 60, which can be pivotal in tough boss battles and longer instances where repops can be an issue. Ancestral Healing grants an armor bonus that is necessary for the shaman to be an efficient tank healer. Finally, the focused healer uses Healing Way and Earth shield to significantly boost their single-target healing.

2. ii. PvE Caster Builds

PvE Casters are the true damage dealers of the shaman class. They are ill-equipped to survive in a fight alone, but when there is a meat shield in front of them, they create a constant flow of damage that is unstoppable. Whether it is in a 5-Man instance or a 25-Man Raid, the Caster Build is guaranteed to be in the Top 5 on the damage charts.

Elemental Damage Build (56/5/0)

Elemental:
Tier 1:
Convection: 5/5
Concussion: 5/5

Tier 2:
Earth’s Grasp: 1/2
Call of Flame: 3/3

Tier 3:
Elemental Focus: 1/1
Reverberation: 5/5
Call of Thunder: 5/5

Tier 4:
Improved Fire Nova Totem: 2/2
Eye of the Storm: 3/3

Tier 5:
Storm Reach: 2/2
Elemental Fury: 1/1
Unrelenting Storm: 5/5

Tier 6:
Elemental Precision: 3/3
Lightning Mastery: 5/5

Tier 7:
Elemental Mastery: 1/1
Elemental Shields: 3/3

Tier 8:
Lightning Overload: 5/5

Tier 9:
Totem of Wrath: 1/1

Enhancement:
Tier 1:
Ancestral Knowledge: 5/5

This build focuses completely on every sort of Elemental damage a shaman can do, both with spells and flame totems. Improved Fire Nova Totem allows the shaman to be a formidable source of AoE in 5-Man groups, while Elemental and Lightning Mastery, mixed with Lightning Overload, makes the Shaman’s Lightning Bolts a force to reckon with. Ancestral Knowledge, Convection and Unrelenting Storm serve as mana conservation for longer boss battles. Earth’s Grasp, Eye of the Storm and Elemental Shields are used to give the shaman minimal defenses, in the case of 5-Man group when a stray mob gets loose, but should not be depended on for multiple targets at once.

NOTE: Totem of Wrath is often seen as unnecessary outside of a Raid environment. Its point can easily be reallocated into Earth’s Grasp to complete the bonus for PvE leveling or 5-Man groups.

PvE Melee Builds

PvE Melee is split into two categories: Solo Damage and Group Damage. Solo Damage focuses on increasing the shaman’s individual damage output as well as making the shaman a fighting entity that can survive in solo play. Group Damage focuses on increasing a group’s total damage, making the shaman a support damage platform that operates optimally in 5-Man Instances as well as larger Raids. Both builds deal an incredible amount of damage while preserving the shaman as an individual, allowing the shaman to break away from needing a tank in order to survive.