What do I need to know never playing a shaman before?Follow

Level up enhancement if you have never made a shaman before, level it to lvl 20 and if you like it, keep going. Use searing totem when you fight (not EVERY fight though, you might go OOM pretty fast), healing stream and SoE/GoA help too, but put them up only if you know you will be able to pull, say, 3-4 mobs without refreshing totems.

Good luck, and read the FAQ's.

Don't buy in to the irrational fear of using mana. Mana comes back by drinking. If you can kill mobs faster by burning mana, you'll have extra time to drink - and oftentimes your overall rate of killing will be faster as a result.

Which isn't to say that every mana expenditure is "worth it". Some aren't. But Searing breaks even in value-per-mana-cost faster and easier than any other totem a shaman has.

Edited, Mar 27th 2008 3:20pm by Axehilt

Make a plan for how you're going to spec, etc, but don't be afraid to re-spec occasionally to try out new stuff. I started out Enhancement, but I've been Restoration for the past 20 levels or so, and love it.

Also, as Raglu says, don't use all your totems on one target--but if you can (if the mobs aren't too tough and there are a lot in one area) try to set up all of your totems in one spot and then pull the mobs toward you one at a time. Since most of the totems last a good long while, this will mean you get the most use out of them, and not have to drop new ones as often.

Edited, Mar 27th 2008 6:21pm by isyris

i would so oll elemental is there was no resiliance..

If memory serves there is one or two pieces of Shaman gear in every branch of LW, but all for different specs. In my humble opinion, LW is a complete waste of time for a Shaman. There is not enough good gear that comes out of any of the three branches, at least not good enough that it won't be easily replaced in heroics or Karazhan, and past that... well... You do the math. You don't even need it to gear up for Karazhan, pre-heroic instance drops and rep gear will accomplish that easily.


If only it were that simple.

If there is anything you need to know about playing a Shaman before you go into it, it's this: You had better make sure that you like the concept of the class and want to settle into it for the long haul, otherwise it'll be an exercise in disappointement. Enhancement doesn't truly come into its own until the low-to-mid 40's, Elemental shows up to work when the day's almost over in the low 60's, and Resto levels just as slowly as every other healing class/spec in the game levels.

Yes, as Axehilt says, you can expedite the process by drinking constantly, but it's still a royal PITA and will grate on you if you've ever leveled any other class that doesn't have to buy and consume water on a nearly fight-by-fight basis. Which is pretty much all of them.

Anyone ever pvp with enhance?
Can you be good in pvp as enhance?

Oh I dunno, there were very lengthy & passionate arguments that says otherwise, but yeah short answer, no.

On Water
It does help to have mage friends for free water, but store-bought water is dirt cheap.

On Drinking
When I first leveled my shaman long ago, I was very inefficient in my early levels because I tried to limit mana usage so that I wouldn't drink often and would constantly be fighting mobs. This was a bad idea.

If you kill a mob x seconds faster, you have x seconds to drink water. So if you drinking for 5 seconds gives you 100 mana, and you can spend 50 mana to kill mobs 5 seconds faster, that's a very worthwhile mana expenditure.

On Leatherworking
Leatherworking makes awesome 3-pc sets for Enhancement and Elemental. It's a bit harder to find the Resto stuff because it's not learned from a trainer and so you have to go out of your way to purchase/find recipes.

I've been using my 3-pc epic Ele set a long time, and the only class that outdamages me in the dungeons I do (Kara/ZA/Gruul/Heroics) are Warlocks; and only high +dmg warlocks with a specific build (0/21/40). The set's lasted me forever with no sign of being obsolete in the near future, and hardly took much time to farm the mats for.

So you won't miss out on much crafted mail if you plan on being Resto, but for Enh/Ele I highly recommend it.

Edited, Apr 4th 2008 11:08am by Axehilt

I, like a lot of other end-game shaman, have PvP'd in all 3 of our talent specs.I can give you a brief overview of what I have found. If I am wrong, or someone reads somewhere where I need to be more specific feel free to correct me as I am still learning myself.

Enhancement: My preferred spec. As an enhancement shaman you can do amazing burst damage even taking into account Resilience. Many go about this by dual-wielding WF, others use a massive 2h with WF. Either way, Windfury is king. While enhancement you are very mana-efficient and have ways of tearing thru your opponents. Here's the downside; If you play against -any- competent kiting class you will find it nigh impossible to stay alive. Giving we have no CC and at the best 2 slow-downs, keeping shaman at range is no problem. PvP trinket works great here but the 'every two-minute' thing seems like an eternity when floating around in a Cyclone or wondering aimlessly while blinded.

Elemental: I personally have PvP'd with this spec more than enhancement and have much better gear for it. The damage you can cause is pretty remarkable. Standing behind a group of friends while unleashing a Lightning Bolt followed by an instant Chain-Lightning and finishing with a shock (if said target is now coming towards you) is a feat to see. /sigh...if only every situation could be like this. Again, no CC. Keeping melee users at range is a very challenging thing to do. Your, now 50%(once was 70%..why blizz!! why change that!) S1, Lightning Bolt push-back resist isn't enough. Nor can you avoid the Kicks, Gouges, Bashes, Pummels, Kidney Shots, Counter Spells, Hammers of Justice, etc. that like to mess up your pretty crits. Overview: Amazing damage..until you are singled out. My advise is to you Lightning Bolt and save Chain Lightning til you see your opponent look at you. A huge, hurting beam of light normally gives you away.

Finally Restoration: Now, as you can imagine, not a very good solo PvP class. Yet, for anyone who cant dispel, spell steal, arcane shot, purge, etc. your Earth Shield you will be very hard to take down. Your best bet is to (in BGs) find the best geared DPS class and follow them around as a primary healer. Keep Earth Shield on yourself, you will need it. You can also (in Arena) pair with a good CC dps class. A rogue, with his blind and very good damage, would be a good choice. Be prepared to take Improved Ghost Wolf in the enhancement tree to make your survivability in arena a little better but be prepared to Nature's Swiftness - Healing Wave when you get back. That's about all I can think of.

Well, I said a brief overview and there it is. This is all concerning End-Game pvp. Here is a much briefer Pre-60 break-down.

Enhancement: Once you get Windfury you are greater than all. Seriously, you will really be able to take down anything in your way especially at the 49 bracket.

Elemental: Uhh..I hope you have some serious gear\enchants. Not much mail gear for casters at these levels. Good luck.

Restoration: Hey, everyone loves a BG healer. Hope you enjoy it. Getting a Killing Blow will be a rare occurrence.

Hope you enjoyed.