WoW Shaman Guide

The shaman class in WoW is very unique. It is the only one that uses totems which will benefit not only the Shaman but also the raid as well. Shamans are also a very versatile class, they can take on the role of the healer, melee DPS, or ranged spell DPS. I have actually seen a Shaman tank 10 man raid bosses as well, this is definately not something that they were intended to be able to do but it is possible but definately not ideal and if you plan on playing a shaman and want to tank raids and set tank as one of your possible roles you probably wont be considered.

There are several pros to playing a shaman, you are able to wear mail armor which is useful in PvP so you don’t die as quickly. You can also wear a shield and dual wield depending on your talent specialization. The totems are a very nice thing to have for yourself and other party/raid members. You are able to take on different roles so switching things up makes it less boring than doing the same thing over and over again. The hex spell is good for pvp and pve as any crowd control ability is. You also get a Spirit Wolf Form which will allow you to run 40% faster, again, great for pvp and all around leveling.

There are a few cons to playing a shaman as well. The totems We’ve been discussing are very easy to destroy, although they are easy to replace as well it can get annoying. Shamans aren’t really great at healing and DPS but can do good if played correctly. They can only use melee weapons so no stat boosters from crossbows, bows, guns, or throwing weapons although they can do spell ranged DPS if they choose to go into the elemental spec.

What Racial Abilites are good for Shamans?

The available races of a Shaman are like the Paladin class except it is reveresed. With the Paladin calss the Horde only has the option of Blood Elf whereas the Alliance has three different racial selections. In the Shaman’s case the Horde has three available races whereas the Alliance only has one (the Draenei) It was done this was because Shamans and Paladins are believed to be very powerful but both to be somewhat equal in power so they limited it to one race on one faction for one and one race on one faction for the other with 3 on the opposing faction. This is something that I don’t like because I feel (personally) that paladins are much more powerful than Shamans but thats a whole other story.

The one Alliance race you have is the Draenei which has the racial heal “Gift of the Naaru” this isn’t a great shaman race as you already have healing abilities so one extra Heal over Time isn’t going to do a whole lot. The Heroic Presence increases chance to hit by 1% for you and all raid members within 30 yards which is useful for leveling when you aren’t already hit capped and aren’t in a raid with other draenei. So the Draenei isn’t a great shaman race and I would suggest going Horde if you are starting on a new server and intent on playing a Shaman (or any other class, Horde ftw )

The three available Horde races are the Orcs, Trolls, and Tauren. Starting with the Orc you have the Blood Fury ability which will increase attack/spell power based on your level for 15 seconds. This is nice for burst damage and healing which makes the Orc a decent choice for a Shaman. The Troll is very similar, the Berserking ability will increase attack/spell speed based on level for 10 seconds which again is nice for burst damage and healing but I would prefer the Blood Fury over Berserking. The Tauren is an alright choice for PvP shamans, the 5% increased health is nice to have and the War Stomp is good for PvP as well as it will stun nearby opponents. So when choosing a race for your shaman Tauren is good for PvP and the Orc/Troll are both good for PvE.

Which talent spec should I choose as a Shaman?

The Shaman has Elemental, Enhancement, and Restoration as it’s three choices for talent specialization. The Elemental tree is the main spec used by PvE and PvP shamans as it will do a lot more DPS than enhancement. The elemental tree is also very simple and doesn’t take a whole lot of knowledge to master if you know what you are doing with your totems. Some useful talents learned in Elemental would be the Lightning Mastery which reduces the cast time of Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and Lava Burst by .1/.2/.3/.4/.5 seconds. The Lightning Overload gives Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to cast a second, similar spell on the same target to no additional mana cost causing half damage and no threat. The Shamanism talent will make your lightning bolt spell gain an additional 2/4/6/8/10% and lava burst an additional 4/8/12/16/20% of bonus damage effects. The final talent you learn is thunderstorm which is good for both PvE and PvP. You will make a bolt of lightning strike restoring 8% of your mana and dealing 1450-1656 Nature damage to nearby enemies as well as knocking them back 20 yards.

The enhance spec is the dual wielding spec for shamans and also the main leveling spec. This isn’t great for raiding but some shamans do use it because it is pretty fun. Some useful talents learned here is Thundering Strikes which improves your chance to get a critical strike with spells/attacks by 1/2/3/4/5%. Also Flurry will increase attack speed by 5/10/15/20/25% for your next 3 swings after dealing a critical strike. Unleashed Rage increases expertise by 3/6/9 and causes your critical melee hits to increase all raid members AP by 4/7/10% for 10 seconds. Weapon Mastery increases the damage dealt with all weapons by 4/7/10%. Dual Wield Specialization increases your chance to hit while dual wielding by 2/4/6% which will reduce the amount of hit rating needed to be hit capped. Stromstrike will instantly attack with both weapons and the next 4 sources of Nature damage dealt to the target from the shaman are increased by 20%, this is one of the best enhance shaman talents out there. Maelstorm weapon, when you deal damage with a melee weapon, you have a chance to reduce the cast time of your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lava Burst, Lesser Healing Wave, Chain Heal or Healing Wave spell by 20 and can stack up to 5 times. The last talent you learn as enhance is Feral Spirit which is awesome for leveling, this summons 2 Spirit Wolves under the command of the Shaman for 45 seconds which will heal you and themselves and it is fantastic for pulling large groups of mobs.

The last is restoration which is the healing spec for shamans. Nature’s Swiftness will cause your next nature spell with a casting time of less than 10 seconds to be an instant cast. Mana Tide will summon a Mana Tide Totem with 5 hp for 12 seconds that will restore 6% of the total mana every 3 seconds to raid members within 30 yards which is fantastic for raiding and why resto shamans are loved by raid members that use mana. Earth Shield will protect the targed giving it a 30% chance of ignoring spell interruption when damaged and causes melee attacks to heal the shielded target for 270 up to 6 times. Improved Chain Heal will increase the amount healed by chain heal by 10/20%. Tidal waves will give you a 20/40/60/80/100% chance after you cast chain heal to lower the cast time of your next lesser healing wave or healing wave by an additional 30%, also your healing wave gains an extra 4/8/12/16/20% of your bonus healing effects and lesser healing wave gains an extra 2/4/6/8/10%. Riptide is the last talent you learn in resto which will heal a friendly target for 1015-1099 and another for 795 over 15 seconds and the next Chain Heal on that target will consume the heal over time and increase the chain heal amount by 25%.

What stats are important for a Shaman?

This will depend on wether you are elemental, enhance, or restoration. Elemental shamans will want a lot of spell power, haste rating, critical strike chance, intellect, spirit, and some stamina as well as being hit capped. Enhance shamans will want attack power, haste rating, critical strike chance, intellect, agility, strength, and some stamina as well as being hit capped. Restoration shamans will want spell power, haste rating, critical strike chance, mp5, intellect, spirit, and some stamina.

What Professions should I chosse as a Shaman

This is really up to you completely. You may want to go with enchanting so you can later enchant your rings or maybe pick up skinning for the increased crit chance or mining for the increased health if you plan on doing PvP. Professions are not going to have a very big impact on the way you play your character and wont really impact the results of your DPS or healing or whatever it is you are doing greatly.