When to respec?Follow

Go for a the elemental pvp build with some small tweaks.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=hE0zE0MsioxZxfczoxo

This is more content-driven than spec-driven.

There are many times in Heroics where if your gear doesn't totally outstrip the place offhealing is awesome (when the healer has to move, is CCed, or his HPS is outstripped by incoming DPS). It doesn't happen in typical 5-mans because incoming DPS tends to be significantly lower than a typical healer can heal, but it does have it's place in the game. It doesn't happen in raiding usually because with so many players you have a lot of people around who can heal, and are more efficient at it (which I feel is one of the many ways 25-man content creates less interesting gameplay)

That said, you don't spec or gear for hybridity. You always specialize. By the nature of gear and the way each spec works, specializing results in a modicum of hybridity. For example an ele shaman's gear will be spelldamage gear that also increases his healing spells, and he'll have 20-21 points into resto which are mainly for damage purposes but it also results in better healing capabilities (such as Nature's Swiftness)

If you want to ensure viability as a healer up through level 60, just make sure you get 5/5 Imp Healing Wave. That single talent is easily accessible and provides a significant increase to healing capability. I'd get to this spot first before worrying about those 5 points, personally, but it's up to you. (not sure but I might try to fit Eye of the Storm in there over other talents; I forget how useful it is in solo PVE...been a while since I took it.)

Immaterial; whatever "drives" the effectiveness of current specs is not mutually exclusive. The current content of the game is what it is, and hybrid builds simply do not work in it.


On the general scale Shaman have an extremely shallow mana pool. The smallest, actually, compared to all the other classes/specs that actually gear for mana. Your crit helps keep that mana pool going if you're Elemental and slinging LB's, but it'll tank like an M1 Abrams if you start healing full-tilt.


There is no "hybrid role" for Shaman outside of five-man content. Which, to be fair, I will admit is a substantial portion of the game, but once you progress to heroics, ten-man, and 25-man content, there is zero demand for "hybrid roles". If an Elemental Shaman starts healing, a wipe is probably coming up in PvE or a loss in PvP.


No, it's not. Again, past normal five-man content, if you're not specced to heal, your heals blow, and when a DPS spec from a hybrid class capable of healing starts to do so, it's usually a very, very bad sign. And that goes for PvP as well as PvE. I won't get into the merits of whether or not Shaman need CC here, but...

Bottom line, do not go into any Shaman spec thinking you're going to be a jack-of-all-trades-but-master-of-none. If you do that, the only thing you're going to be the master of is not getting party invites.

Edited, Mar 18th 2008 12:25am by Gaudion

One quick question, why no Totemic Focus? Not taking a stab here, just genuinely curious.

FTFY =)

I'm at 56 right now (been slacking off in levelling because I haven't been on as much as I used to). But I've been reading things, and resto has been looking more and more appealing as of late. Still haven't respecced though, but we'll see once I'm hitting outlands.