#0 - Jan. 12, 2007, 10:17 p.m.
This guide originates from a rather long-winded reply in another thread, in which I argued that, contrary to popular belief, an Elemental spec is best for levelling to at least 30 and is then overtaken by Enhancement somewhere between 31 and 40.
It is intended to give some basic tips for those new to the class, provide a spec that will get you to 30 with a minimum of fuss and clue you in on gear selection, which is a bit more tricky then for the "pure" classes like mage or rogue.
In the interest of keeping the lenght of this guide reasonable, I won´t compare Elemental andEnhancement in quite such detail. If you are interested in how I justify some of the claims I make here, please read my orignal post here (it´s near the bottom of the first page): http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=108701178&sid=1
So, on with the guide, then.
Table of Contents:
I.: (Not quite) Everything you wanted to know about Shamans, but were afraid to ask
II.: A few words on choosing race, or WOW racism: Tauren Supremacy
III.: Welcome to Totem Forest
IV.: Talents: Debunking the myth of the Enhancement Levelling Spec
V.: Shaman Gear, or Ninjaing Loot from every other Class
VI.: Strategy
VII.: Famous Last Words
I.: (Not quite) Everything you wanted to know about Shamans, but were afraid to ask
Shamans are a hybrid class, they can heal, DPS by nuking, DPS by meleeing, buff a group via totems and can also take a lot more punishment then clothies and even rogues.
Due to equipment issues, they can never be good at all these roles (let alone aproach the effectiveness of the parent classes). Note that of the 3 (4, once TBC hits) healer classes, Shamans are the most mana-inefficient, unless they invest heavily into the Restoration tree. And yet, the ability to switch from DPSing a mob to pumping out heals has saved many a group from wiping. Thus, the most important skills a shaman can cultivate is the ability to adapt quickly and choosing the correct tools from his vast arsenal.
II.: A few words on choosing race, or WOW racism: Tauren Supremacy
There is an ongoing debate on what is the "best" race for shaman. The majority seems to think that War Stomp > all. While it is certainly a great ability in both PvE and PvP (the ability to get a lesser healing wave off whenever I want has saved me quite a few corpse-runs, no doubt about it), all races have abilities that Shaman can make good use of. So my advice to you is: Take the toon you like best, and as for racials, do what shamans do best: adapt!
III.: Welcome to Totem Forest
Totems are our most unique ability, literally "spells on a stick". All of them are instant cast and you can have a maximum of 4 out at the same time (one for each element). One very important thing about totems have their own aggro-radius, so be careful where you place them in instances. Many a careless shamans has wiped his group with an accidental totem-pull.
You get your totems via quests that become available at lvl 4, 10, 20 and 30 for earth, fire, water and air respectively. If you are having problems with any of these quests, you can read up on them here: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=12881348&sid=1
Also, while I will discuss the use of totems important for solo-PvE and also give some pointers on 5-man dungeons a more complete guide on ALL totems can be found here: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=108981718&sid=1
IV.: Talents: Debunking the myth of the Enhancement Levelling Spec
As mentioned in the introduction, while most Shaman think that Enhancement is the way to go when levelling up, I contend that Elemental is better at lower levels because it has some great talents available early on while the real goodies of Enhancement tree are further down the tree. An more in-depth discussion can be found here: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=108701178&sid=1
And because someone asked in that thread: Restoration is a great tree for high-level PvP and healbotting. It offers great survivability and utility (Nature´s Swiftness!!). Before the new talents went live, it was often chosen as a secondary tree once the primary one had been maxed (30/0/21 and 0/30/21 were very popular then). Because it requires an investment of at least 20, preferrably 21, these builds are kind of on hiatus until TBC comes out, though.
However, there is just no nice way to say this: For levelling up at a reasonably pace, Restoration just plain sucks. Hard.
So here is my recommendation on where to spend your points and in what order:
(if you just want to see the complete build, click here: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/shaman/talents.html?5500110503021205000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
)
Convection: 5/5
Concussion: 5/5
Yep, the Tier 1 talents are both quite a bit better then Tier 2, because they improve your greatest weakness, mana-efficiency, by a total of 15,5%. A 5% DPS-increase is also nothing to be sneezed at.
Elemental Focus: 1/1
I can´t repeat this enough: Mages spend 5 points for the same benefit, and walk away smiling!! A theoretical 10% increase in mana-efficiency, under real-world conditions its probably more like 7%. For just 1 point, that´s an awesome return on investment!
Call of Thunder: 5/5
A straightforward crit-booster of your primary nuke, by 6% instead of the usual 5. Not exceptional but quite solid.
Eye of the Storm: 3/3
While the DPS and efficiency benefits are marginal (it will allow you to get a Lightning Bolt of in melee every now and then), this talent will save you quite a few corpse runs. (Healing Wave ftw!)
Whatever You Like: 1/1
There aren´t any clearly superior talents available right now. Just avoid Elemental Devastation, it is quite horrible. I took Call of Flame.
Elemental Fury: 1/1
Have you ever heard Destruction Warlocks go on and on about how great Ruin is? Well, this does the exact same thing! Once again, mages need to spend 5 points for the same benefit, and they still do it without hesitation. You. Need. This.
Storm Reach: 2/2
More range means more Lightning Bolts before the mob reaches you. LB is your most mana-efficient nuke. Also, if the mob is extra-crispy before he reaches you, you take less damage und thus spend less time healing it. You do the math.
Interlude: When to switch to Enhancement
By now you will notice an steadily increasing strain on your mana-pool. You will spend more and more time drinking. Also, many of Enhancements goodies become available now. Thus, somewhere between lvl 31 and 40, Enhancement will overtake Elemental as the levelling-spec of choice. When exactly depends on one thing: Gear. Thus, the key is starting to stock up on Agi and Str gear and switch once you figure you have 4-5 good pieces. See also the gear-section, below.
Unrelenting Storm: 2/5
This talent only begins to truly shine with imba raiding gear, however, considering how notoriously mana-starved Elemental is, every little bit helps.
Lightning Mastery: 5/5
This is what drives your DPS through the roof. If you want to aquire your Enhancement gear via BGs, lvl 39 is the time. Also some efficiency benefit, for the same reason as Storm Reach.
Elemental Mastery: ?/1
A great PvP talent, but does nothing for levelling speed. Meanwhile, Dual Wield, Dual Wield Spec. and Stormstrike become available over in Enhancement, completly blowing Elemental out of the Water PvE-wise. So, if you are going to switch at all, do it now.
V.: Shaman Gear, or Ninjaing Loot from every other Class
Enhancement in particular is very gear-dependant. Flurry, a core talent, won´t do much without a decent crit-rating. That means Agi, and lots of it. Str shouldn´t be neglected either if you are going for a pure Enhancement build. And Sta is just as important as for every other class. Finally, before you get Dual Wield you´ll need a decent 2hander. All of this means you will be competing with warriors (for weapons) rogues, hunters and feral druids for gear. Once you hit 40 and switch to mail, druids and rogues drop from that list (you will still compete with Warriors for weapons and Hunters for Armor).
All of this is yet another reason why you should stick to Elemental early on: You need Int, Spi and Sta. You only need to wrest a decent staff from the mages, druids and ´locks. For armor, your only competition would be Balance Druids, but those are quite rare below lvl 40. And post-40, you´re all by yourself armor-wise.
The upshot of all this is that Elemental shamans make for much better healers in a 5-man enviroment.
As you move closer to the endgame you should work towards building at least 2 sets of gear: A DPS set and a healer set.
Tips: The staff you get as a reward from the Wailing Caverns quest "Leaders of the Fang" has incredible stats for a spellslinger, and more then 20 DPS!
There also is a 23 DPS staff with comparable stats that drops in BFD. You´d be hard pressed to find even a 2H Axe that does more damage... Yet another reason Enhancement is lackluster in the early game.
Don´t use a shield when solo! This gimps your killing speed significantly. But keep a shield and 1hander handy for 5-man dungeons, where other classes take care of the DPS. If you get aggro (which, as any Priest will tell you, can and will happen when healing) It helps to keep you alive until your tank gets things under control again; it even allows you to off-tank a mob that´s chewing on a clothie in a pinch (remember that Frost Shock now has the added threat!), but don´t bite off more then you can chew. It´s you that can rezz the party, not mages or ´locks!
