Shamans and thier endless talent options >_<

[karjak]

Kaiser, I would love to see your shaman talent build, I have seen you state that you go restoration, but you also think that your options is what makes the shaman strong, so I’m interested in if spec a little in a few or mostly in one ?

I’m sorry if this has been answered before, I didn’t see it.

Also, If the grounding totem actually starts doing what it’s suppose to and the talent for it becomes relevant I imagine you would spec that way or would you remain restoration speced ?

My spec.

Elemental Combat Talents (22 points)


Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.


Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.


Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.


Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.


Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning spells by 6%.


Elemental Fury - 1/1 point
Increases the critical strike damage done by your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%.




Enhancement Talents (7 points)


Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.


Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 2 second.




Restoration Talents (22 points)


Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.


Ancestral Healing - 5/5 points
Increases your target's armor value from items by 25% for 15 seconds after getting a critical effect from one of your healing spells.


Combat Endurance - 1/1 point
Allows 10% of your Health regeneration to work while in combat.


Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.


Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.


Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.

I might drop enhancements to go further into elemental, I seem to be spread thin, ideas ?

Also, I have seen threads on race choice, do you think we will seen race/class specific spells like we did with the priest?

possibly- orc=bloodlust, troll=static trap, taren= ?

Thanks
Karjak

[Renton]

I've posted on this before, but didn't get many answers. However, it seems that Tauren win the strongest shaman award. It is afterall hard to beat a 2 second stomp every 2 minutes and +5 percent health, +10 nature resist and if youre going herbalism, +10 herbalism. I'm pretty sure ill be tauren shaman at release, if not, UD preist most likely.

[rjah]

I have asked to see other's builds and never posted my own, so I guess it is only fair.

Here she be:

Elemental Combat Talents (31 points)

# Improved Lightning Bolt - 1/5 point
Reduces the Mana cost of your Lightning Bolt spell by 3%.

# Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.

# Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.

# Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.

# Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning spells by 6%.

# Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.

# Improved Fire Nova Totem - 2/2 points
Reduces the delay before your Fire Nova Totem activates by 2 seconds.

# Elemental Fury - 1/1 point
Increases the critical strike damage done by your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%.

# Lightning Mastery - 5/5 points
Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by 1 second.

# Elemental Mastery - 1/1 point
When activated, this spell gives your next Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell a 100% critical strike chance.



Enhancement Talents (0 points)

# None


Restoration Talents (20 points)

# Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.

# Ancestral Healing - 3/5 points
Increases your target's armor value from items by 15% for 15 seconds after getting a critical effect from one of your healing spells.

# Improved Self-Reincarnation - 2/2 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Self-Reincarnation spell by 20 minutes.

# Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.

# Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.


I am an elemental spec as I am sure you can see. I find that the benefit of the Enhancement tree is by far too minimal for our class' strength (which seems to be casting) I find with elemental spec I run much more mana efficient (sp?), and I recieve a very noticeable DPS increase.

One thing I did with this (which is my final) build, was to swap out the 2 points into Improved Chain Lightning, and placed them in Tidal Focus. Now upfront if you crunch the numbers it means I am taking a DPS loss on Chain lightning. On the other hand with 5/5 in Tidal focus, I am getting 5% heal crit, 5% earth shock crit, and 5% lightning/chain lightning crit. The lightning crit bonus from Tidal Focus also stacks with Call of Thunder, meaning I have 11% crit on all lightning spells (Excluding Lightning shield which I SWEAR can not crit... damn you lightning shield).

So I mean it is mostly a playstyle change, and the other option (2 in imp Chain Lightning) is a solid choice as well. I just like the overall buff of Tidal Focus.

BTW because of the mana efficiency of this build I never have issues dropping a heal (except for the fact that it makes me cry to see so much mana go). And clearcasting has a nice little habit of coming to you in groups, normally i will get 2 in a short span of time, and on a few occasions I have had up to 4 back to back.... Oh the bliss.

For PvP you may want to consider keep a level 1 earth shock on your toolbar. I find that when a good priest mana burns me (lol @ hunter mana burn) it is an awesome interrupt to their spells (for cheap) AND it can give me a clear cast, so I can drop a high mana cost spell on them. (such as a max ran earth shock)

Well I am out like disco, so have fun.

[karjak]

>_< we just have so many ways to go that are all viable :(

[Dashiva]

>_< we just have so many ways to go that are all viable

Thats how the talent system should work for every class.

[Anonymous]

yes but sadly shaman is a exception! :(

[Scrubs]

Does anyone go Enhancement and Restoration?? My girlfriend is planning on trying out a shaman...and we duo all the time. I would think an enhancement based shaman would be better for instances like this...But everyone I see goes elemental and restoration. Some feed back would be nice, also if there are any shamans that do plan on going melee and support...a good build would be nice! Thanks.

[CuriousJorge]

Sorry to say guys, but the shaman does not have endless talent options. At endgame, you really only have 2 options with slightly different variations. You have to decide whether natures swiftness or elemental mastery is better, then base your talents off of that. There are maybe 2 different viable specs under each one that you can choose from.

[rjah]

>_< we just have so many ways to go that are all viable :(

In all honesty I think elemental/restoration or restoration/elemental are really a step above in the endgame.

If you look at the shaman class, we are a caster hybrid. We are meant to cast spells, unlike the paladin who is a melee hybrid. Blizzard has stated this themselves, and when you play a shaman, you will definately understand that. While enhancement is in no way a wasted tree, it doesn't truly enhance your casting abilities. Also Stormstrike has a chance to miss... For that much mana, it should be a garunteed hit. In the end enhancement is more of a solo build as I see it. Because in endgame pvp totems are not going to be a major part of the battle. People move around way too much, you are going to be recasting your talent specced grace of air 20 or so times. This will leave you with little mana to backup heal (you know you are going to be expected to do this)....

It is hard to justify putting points into enhancement when you want to focus on group pvp. If you aren't worried about that, then go hard with the line. Just avoid the grounding totem talent for now, because it doesn't do jack.

[Zaknafien]

Enhancement is good for PvE. Not so much in PvP.

Natures swiftness is close to a must, Id say. You can use it to either deal or heal damage based on the situation, and its versatality really comes in handy.

[Jozen]

Enhancement is good for PvE. Not so much in PvP.

That's disappointing to hear. I was planning to go Enhance up to the Windfury buff and then get NS and put a few points in to Elemental as well. But it seems everyone is saying that Elem/Rest or Rest/Elem is the way to be really viable in PvP.

[rjah]

Enhancement is good for PvE. Not so much in PvP.

That's disappointing to hear. I was planning to go Enhance up to the Windfury buff and then get NS and put a few points in to Elemental as well. But it seems everyone is saying that Elem/Rest or Rest/Elem is the way to be really viable in PvP.

You don't need the talent for windfury to be mint, it's mint already. Just use a staff if you want to see 2h dmg proc with it. The talent only increases the dmg you do when you windfury proc, not how often the proc is. Don't think you can't beat the ever living hell out of someone with a 2h weapon in pvp, I just suggest you do it with a staff. (sadly less mint procs)

[Jozen]

So people don't usually go in to Enhancement that much because Shamans don't usually melee in group PvP? That just sit back and cast?

[rjah]

So people don't usually go in to Enhancement that much because Shamans don't usually melee in group PvP? That just sit back and cast?

I think the talent choices are more to play on the strengths of the shaman than anything. In large group pvp it can be damn rough to be at the front lines, and your primary healer is going to be hard pressed to help keep you alive. I mean the primary tank, and rogues are going to be pounded on, and now you as well? That is 3 targets to split healing between, and you should be the lowest one on the totem pole (no pun intended). Really if there are a bunch of casters run on up and melee them down, but if you are running into a group of rogues you are throwing your life away. It seems that no matter how well balanced a hybrid class is, you will always find those with the ability to heal called to do exactly that, nuke & heal from afar.

Sorry man =/

[Jozen]

Such a pity :-/

Well, if the Talent Respec is still in then I can just Enhance for solo and then switch to something else later for when I want to PvP from then on.

Read conflicting evidence of the Talent Respec still being in. WoW website says it's for Beta only. People here said that the WoW forums said it would be in Retail.

[kaiser]

Elemental Combat Talents (21 points)


Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.


Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.


Reverberation - 4/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 0.8 seconds.


Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning spells by 6%.


Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.


Elemental Fury - 1/1 point
Increases the critical strike damage done by your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%.




Enhancement Talents (0 points)


None


Restoration Talents (30 points)


Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.


Totemic Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your totems by 10%.


Ancestral Healing - 3/5 points
Increases your target's armor value from items by 15% for 15 seconds after getting a critical effect from one of your healing spells.


Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.


Combat Endurance - 1/1 point
Allows 10% of your Health regeneration to work while in combat.


Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.


Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.


Purification - 5/5 points
Increases the effectiveness of your healing spells by 10%.

that was the last talent build i used. mana tide wasted too many points so i dropped it.

[Zaknafien]

No, but when they do melee, the talents dont suit it.

First of all, 2H weapons is a wasted talent point. Just use a staff.
Second, you wont be meleeing for extended periods of time, because you break for casting and other things. So, flurry etc isnt worth it.

Finally, stormstrike is a joke. NS and the elemental biggie are both far superior.

The only reason I would consider enhancement is for improved grounding totem, but that just isnt worth it.


Shamans in battle never do one predictable thing. Based on the battle, the groups and the techniques and styles of the people involved, shamans can be filling pretty much any role in the game. We do melee, we do kite, we do heal and we deal nuke. It all depends on the situation.

[Jozen]

Thank you for answering a question I hadn't bothered to ask but was wondering about. Just how good staves are VS other 2handers.

Is enhancement atleast worth it for the ghost wolf ability? Or does that already cast fast enough?

[Zaknafien]

I have a few enhancement talents. It just isnt worth investing heavily in. I have a few of the bottom rank talents there.

http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Templates.Detail&id=6380

Ive found staves are rather close to the DPS of 2handers, and I prefer the int/spirit to str/stam/crit chances.

[Jozen]

Interesting build. Shamans have some nice low tier talents. What would you go for first while Leveling up?

[JonChron]

Zak's build is actually alot like mine. Good call Zak ;)

For lower lvls I like to use the 2 hand weapons, this also means getting lightning shield and improved wolf which also seem decent for high lvl pvp. 2handers do a good job of making the grinding go by quicker too.

I haven't had too much experience with a 60 shaman yet so I can't be sure:

I prefer the heavy hitting of a 2hander because I don' t come into contact with enemy players much, and when I hit them, I prefer to hit them hard. But I wonder if sacraficing the dual stats I would get from a primary and a shield is worth this. But then again you say a staff is viable?

[rjah]

Such a pity :-/

Well, if the Talent Respec is still in then I can just Enhance for solo and then switch to something else later for when I want to PvP from then on.

Read conflicting evidence of the Talent Respec still being in. WoW website says it's for Beta only. People here said that the WoW forums said it would be in Retail.

I am 99% sure the respec will be in at release. If you want to double check though just hit up a level 60 Shaman trainer, they are the ones who can respec you now. Don't forget your first respec is 1g, after that it is level based, and based on how many times you have done it, so basically you are looking at some hefty G to respec after your first 'free' one.

[Scrubs]

Hmm well, I guess that brings me to my next quest. My girlfriend and I duo together, in open beta we were warrior and priest and it worked out decently. She really liked her healing support class except when it came down to fighting, so we've been thinkin of her going shaman so we can still duo and she can fair a little better in pvp. We'd planned on her going restoration and enhancement tho, figuring not only would that be a good duo...but better than a warrior/priest duo due to the shaman being able to do more dps n what not. But, everyone says the best bet is to go elemental and restoration and using just 2h staffs to melee. I know shamans have the rockbitter skill for there weapons but, going elemental in duo's I don't see much between a shaman or priest in that case. If shes not helping me fight, or she is but equivalent to a priest meleeing...yet a priest is far superior as far as a healer...would it even be worth it than? Not sure if she could throw totems up keep me healed and nuke it with spells effectively. Point is if thats the case tho and elemental is the way to go than, aside having a little more fun in pvp...I don't see the duo instances going by any faster or more effective...perhaps even less effective due to a shaman not being nearly as good of a healer as a priest. If anyone could prove me right or wrong that would be great, overall I'm sure shaman and priest would be awesome duo's with a warrior, was just lookin forward to having another dps and a support healer at the same time...best of both worlds. For the most part when we went warrior and priest...it was very effective but, I was the only one really doing a considerable amt of dmg.

[Zaknafien]

Interesting build. Shamans have some nice low tier talents. What would you go for first while Leveling up?

Get restoration, then enchance, then elemental. In order of their value for PvE, because thats what youll be doing most.


Zak's build is actually alot like mine. Good call Zak

Of course it is. Its the best one.


For lower lvls I like to use the 2 hand weapons, this also means getting lightning shield and improved wolf which also seem decent for high lvl pvp. 2handers do a good job of making the grinding go by quicker too.

If you want to make the levels go fast, I heavily suggest getting enhancement up to flurry, then using whatever respec options there are when you get to 60.

For PvE, Id say something like 95% of your damage is from either melee or lightning shield. Shocks are just a waste of mana against mobs. So for that, by all means, heavy enchancement/restoration(save your mana for healing, spend any excess on light shield) is the way to go.

If you keep 2H weapons and melee talents in PvP though, its going to end up hurting you. You just wont fight in a way that takes advantage of those very much.


I haven't had too much experience with a 60 shaman yet so I can't be sure:

I prefer the heavy hitting of a 2hander because I don' t come into contact with enemy players much, and when I hit them, I prefer to hit them hard. But I wonder if sacraficing the dual stats I would get from a primary and a shield is worth this. But then again you say a staff is viable?

Guiding staff of eternal wisdom:

http://www.thottbot.com/?i=24259

Dreadforge Retaliator:

http://www.thottbot.com/index.cgi?i=16014

I havent really done any instances higher than BRD, and when the choices are that close for me, I just cant justify a talent point for the 2H weapons. Hell, even if I did get the talent I might pick the staff anyway.

The differance between these two isnt that high. For DPS, I have been very content with the staff.

Checking thottbot, I have options like:

http://www.thottbot.com/index.cgi?i=18821
http://www.thottbot.com/index.cgi?i=17612

The best blue 2H is:

http://www.thottbot.com/index.cgi?i=18956

It just doesnt look worth it too me. With that kind of int, I deal more than the diffance in damage between the two.


Hmm well, I guess that brings me to my next quest. My girlfriend and I duo together, in open beta we were warrior and priest and it worked out decently. She really liked her healing support class except when it came down to fighting, so we've been thinkin of her going shaman so we can still duo and she can fair a little better in pvp. We'd planned on her going restoration and enhancement tho, figuring not only would that be a good duo...but better than a warrior/priest duo due to the shaman being able to do more dps n what not. But, everyone says the best bet is to go elemental and restoration and using just 2h staffs to melee. I know shamans have the rockbitter skill for there weapons but, going elemental in duo's I don't see much between a shaman or priest in that case. If shes not helping me fight, or she is but equivalent to a priest meleeing...yet a priest is far superior as far as a healer...would it even be worth it than? Not sure if she could throw totems up keep me healed and nuke it with spells effectively. Point is if thats the case tho and elemental is the way to go than, aside having a little more fun in pvp...I don't see the duo instances going by any faster or more effective...perhaps even less effective due to a shaman not being nearly as good of a healer as a priest. If anyone could prove me right or wrong that would be great, overall I'm sure shaman and priest would be awesome duo's with a warrior, was just lookin forward to having another dps and a support healer at the same time...best of both worlds. For the most part when we went warrior and priest...it was very effective but, I was the only one really doing a considerable amt of dmg.

Ive may have a solution for you. How do you like being a caster? The Shaman/Warlock combination is very strong.

First, the differance in quality between a priest and a shaman is very small. Its just that many shamans spec for things like melee. A shaman can get 8000 mana and has comparable healing/damage reduction capability to a priest, including things like resist and snare totems.

In addition, shamans can melee just fine. With mail, shields, and everything else, they can hold out against one or two opponents for a good while.

Finally, shaman melee is nothing like priest melee because, as you mentioned, shamans have rockbiter. She will make a big contribution in battles.

I am not sure exactly what she is looking for in a class, but I would say shamans sound best for her.

Of all the healing classes, shamans are the most offensive oriented. A shaman will make a sizeable dent in a mob, but they wont be dealing most of the damage. The effeciency is too low to make it worth it.

In PvP, things would look up for her. In small group combat, shamans are meleeing, they are casting, and they are very interesting to play. This is shamans at their best. They are fun, effective, versatile and hard as hell to kill.

So basically, to sum that up, if she wants a healer that deals damage, shamans are the class for her. However, you may want to rethink your plans if she wants a serious damage class, because no healer can provide that.

[Scrubs]

Thanks a lot for all the info Zaknafien, I saw your build and it did have very little to do with enhancement. I will be sticking with warrior and I think my girlfriend will definetly be going shaman now. I think a restoration/enhancement shaman will be the best bet, atleast while we're tryin to run up the levels...restoration and enchancement definetly seems more effective in PvE. After we get to the higher levels, she'll probably rework her talent tree and take away from enhancement and put it into elemental for the more pvp oriented shaman. I've seen many examples of good elemental and restoration builds but still no good feedback on how to work the talents in for restoration and enhancement. How many pts. and what skills would you figure would be a prereq. for restoration line, and what enchancement skills would you feel you couldn't live without if you were going down that line. A good build for the enchantment/restoration shaman would be much appreciated.

[Scrubs]

everytime i posts it makes doubles...well most the time

[Scrubs]

It was in open beta...I haven't heard anything about them not having it come Retail. I hope thats not an issue.

[Zaknafien]

http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Templates.Detail&id=7838

Natures swiftness really isnt required here, if you wanted you could also go and buff up your lightning spells and fire totems a bit instead. You may not need all that much healing power for a warrior.

If you arent worried about the healing, there is one other alternative. I havent really done any experimentation with this, you might want to ask someone like Sintor who has used an elemental shaman. If you as the warrior dont take so much damage, then your GF might want to experiment with a heavy elemental tech, something like

http://wowvault.ign.com/View.php?view=Templates.Detail&id=7843

I really cant say I have any experience with elemental builds, but it would make her the primary damage dealer :) The main question is if she would have enough mana to keep up the healing.

[Jozen]

Thanks for all the info Zak, you've been a great help. It looks like I'll be making a Tauren Shaman with Engineering Starting tomorrow.

[Jinsai]

Maybe someone can give me a hand placing my last 7 points? This is what I have.


Elemental Combat Talents (16 points)

# Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.

# Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.

# Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.

# Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.



Enhancement Talents (7 points)

# Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.

# Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 2 second.



Restoration Talents (21 points)

# Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.

# Improved Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Reduces the casting time of your Healing Wave spell by 0.5 seconds.

# Totemic Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your totems by 10%.

# Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.

# Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.

And I can't decide if I should go Zak's route with Improved Self Reincarnation, Combat Endurance, and Improved Lightning Shield, etc or instead get more elemental like Call of Thunder and Elemental Fury or maybe Improved Lesser Healing Wave, I just don't know which is the better route because I wasn't in CB so I haven't tested them myself.. anyone care to give some insight?

[Zaknafien]

I would say improved lesser healing wave is a much. Whatever you do with the last two points is personal preference.

Seriously though, you shouldnt have your talent tree yet. Decide as you go, to fit your playstyle, otherwise youll end up hurting.

[undie]

mmn, rockbiter huh ?


What about windfury, that skill is alot better than rockbiter = all i hear...


and i also hear shamans in pvp only use instas, but why ? Hard to believe they can't get a few hits in.... they have massive armor and a bit of melee won't keep you from doing alot of shocks...

And although i like staves very much, this weapon with windfury seems totally overpowered .. http://www.thottbot.com/beta.cgi?i=16569
i have a feeling windfury will be nerfed a bit ^^

Also for pve i'd go enhancement any day of the week..... you can pull off some massive dmg with melee and ghost wolf = safety at a click on a button. (especially if you combine with a potion if possible ! :)

[Anonymous]

id like to see a shaman with http://www.thottbot.com/beta.cgi?i=Arcanite%20Reaper

[Jozen]

First thing I'll admit is that I've never used a weapon with procs on it. But as has been stated many times, Blizzard has a code in for a certain amount of procs allowed over time. And I would think that using that hammer and procing windfury wouldn't work quite well together as only one or the other would get the proc. But I could be very wrong and they allowed for things to have seperate proc timers and if that's the case then yes, that hammer and windfury would be quite powerful.

[undie]

And you're right. This 'bug' makes ppl proc like 8 hits at a time..

[Apotheosis]

Question for Zak --

I'm aiming for the essentially elemental/restoration build that most of the best shamans seem to use, but I'm having a little trouble deciding on the final few points. Specifically, I've spent the points on Ancecstral Knowledge and Improved Ghostwolf, and would like to spend the 3 on Improved Lightning shield, but doing so leaves me with 3 ponts left over (22 in the usual places in restoration, the usual 16 for elemental) that I can't seem to use efectively. Another option would be to skip Lightning shield and spend the six total points I would have on lightning mastery and the improved crit follow up. Its difficult to pass up something like lightning sheild that is so very powerful so early in the tree, but its also painful to feel like those last 3 points are poorly distributed. Which would you suggest?

Now a comment, instead of a question: I've found the enhancement especially 2h weapons) are excellent for PvE and mediocre for PvP. With that in mind, I might recommend using an enhancement build up to level 60, then wiping it and switching to an elemental/restoration build. For me, this has accomplished two things: it gets me to 60 (almost certainly) faster than the elemental/restor build would have; and it makes the elemental/restore build seem fresh and new once 60 is reached. I think this is a good option now that we can be sure that talents can be wiped and redistributed.

[Zaknafien]

I agree with you about enhancement to 60.

I would suggest the 3 in shield, and then uptting the last 3 somewhere else. Things that I find useful additions, but not necessary, include:

1. Imp fire nova. Makes this many times better in PvP.
2. Lowered self res
3. The lower talents that you can skipped.

However, Im not sure there will be much differance in power between either path. I think this one should down to personal prefence, because you really wont go wrong either way.

[thglid5]

Since im a shallow whore, I'd like to use a 2h just for looks. Well no, but look thru some items, I really think there are some very nice 2h axe/maces there that can helpp a shaman tremendously. So I came up wiht this, any thoughts? Spread out a bit. Troll Shaman


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Elemental Combat Talents (18 points)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.


Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.


Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.


Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.


Improved Fire Nova Totem - 2/2 points
Reduces the delay before your Fire Nova Totem activates by 2 seconds.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Enhancement Talents (11 points)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.


Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 2 second.


Improved Lightning Shield - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by 15%.


Two-Handed Axes and Maces - 1/1 point
Allows you to use Two-Handed Axes and Two-Handed Maces.


~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Restoration Talents (22 points)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.


Improved Healing Wave - 3/5 points
Reduces the casting time of your Healing Wave spell by 0.3 seconds.


Totemic Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your totems by 10%.


Improved Self-Reincarnation - 2/2 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Self-Reincarnation spell by 20 minutes.


Combat Endurance - 1/1 point
Allows 10% of your Health regeneration to work while in combat.


Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.


Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.

[Zaknafien]

Get elemental focus or get flurry. Personally, I would suggest you scrap the elemental line to go higher into enhancement if you want to use 2H weapons.[/list]

[Hogart]

Hey Zaknafien, could i ask you if you would maybe write a guide like the one Kintoun wrote about rogues, but for shammies? Im doing lots of requests here in the forum, sry for that. But i think it would be cool if you did, thanks!

[Zaknafien]

Ill think about it. My fingers screwed up right now, but once it recovers I will probably have some free time.

[Hogart]

godly :D

[Chemdog]

Well this was a wonderful find by my guildmate. You answered many of the questions I was interested in asking. I previously could not decide, even with the assistance of a shaman guildmate who made it to 30 in beta, and had all 20 of my talents points saved up at my current level 29. I dreamed up this hybrid after reading your posts and deciding I would like to try some interesting things before I turn to my pvp build. Italicized are already selected.

Enhancement Mastery
Ancestral Knowledge Rank 5
Improved Ghost Wolf Rank 2
Thundering Strikes Rank 5
Improved Lightning Shield Rank 3
Two-Handed Axes and Maces Rank 1
Flurry Rank 5
Parry Rank 1
Enhancement Total: 22

Restoration Mastery
Tidal Focus Rank 5
Improved Self-Reincarnation Rank 2
Totemic Focus Rank 5
Combat Endurance Rank 1
Improved Lesser Healing Wave Rank 5
Restoration Total: 18

Elemental Mastery
Concussion Rank 5
Convection Rank 5
Elemental Focus Rank 1
Elemental Total: 11

Also, one more question, how do you guys approach a battle, particularly with more than one NPC enemy? After weapon buff, lightning shield, stone totem, I usually pick a target and lightning boltx2, flame shock (DOT), magma totem, melee, earth shock/frost shock (whichever does more dmg or if humanoid I don't want running) and then switch targets. Of course I usually throw in a lesser heal or 2 as needed. As long as they are yellow, I can usually take 2 enemies. Sometimes not even that many. I use a staff that does 21 dps, so it's almost as good as any 2 handed weapon my warrior guildmate uses, I just keep it for the +7sta/int/spi. Any suggestions?

Thanks for all the help.

[Anonymous]

Hm imo u should pick 1 main tree i dont think this combo is the best possible !

[Chemdog]

Well I was going to go with a straight pvp build, but decided if enhancements are really useful in pve, why not give it a go? I had already put those 11 into elemental, otherwise I would have skipped it altogether, but I don't see it as being that different from following Zak's suggestions and build. Just geared towards pve instead.

[Anonymous]

yea it seems to be a good allrounder Build ;) ! Give it a try !

[Zaknafien]

Well I was going to go with a straight pvp build, but decided if enhancements are really useful in pve, why not give it a go? I had already put those 11 into elemental, otherwise I would have skipped it altogether, but I don't see it as being that different from following Zak's suggestions and build. Just geared towards pve instead.

The main problem with this build is that it is missing natures swiftness.

If you really want the enhancement, then I would suggest you take the points out of elemental and use them to get natures swiftness and toughness, which will make you much harder to kill(and shamans are mainly about healing and staying alive in PvP). However, if you dont sacrafice something for natures swiftness, I think it might hurt you in the long run. Its important both to keep us alive in many duels(when we would otherwise be interupted) and to save people who get focus fired when we ar healing in large groups.

[Renton]

Personally I'm balancing mine out, going 22 elemental, 12 enchancement, and 17 restoration. That's all I'm giving away, its gonna rock :-)

Also - What are all the 'nature' spells? Example:
Tidal Mastery - 0/5 point
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 1%.

Der about healing, but what are the nature damage spells? at wowvault, the only catgeories are fire wind earth water.

-Thanks, Renton.

[Chemdog]

The main problem with this build is that it is missing natures swiftness.

If you really want the enhancement, then I would suggest you take the points out of elemental and use them to get natures swiftness and toughness, which will make you much harder to kill(and shamans are mainly about healing and staying alive in PvP). However, if you dont sacrafice something for natures swiftness, I think it might hurt you in the long run. Its important both to keep us alive in many duels(when we would otherwise be interupted) and to save people who get focus fired when we ar healing in large groups.

I was probably going to respec at higher level to a pvp build similar to yours, this was just for pve to see how I like using weapons.

[hadrian]

Can you please post your current Template Zaknafien?
The old WoW Vault Links don't work.....

[Zaknafien]

I get these to help me interupt/snare better, and for IFNT.

Elemental Combat Talents (18 points)

Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.

Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.

Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.

This is important because it lets me get off more interupts. The other things arent that important.

Improved Fire Nova Totem - 2/2 points
Reduces the delay before your Fire Nova Totem activates by 2 seconds.

This makes FNT viable for PvP, and really helps our DPS.

Elemental Focus - 1/1 points
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.

Worth the point as long as Im up to it,


These are for ghost wolf, to make me more mobile. I dont melee all that much in PvP, so it isnt worth it for me to go farther.

Enhancement Talents (10 points)

Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.

Stepping stone.

Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 2 second.

Really important for both running and catching up.

Improved Lightning Shield - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by 15%.

This spells is really efficient. You should always have it up, which makes the talent worthwhile.



Nature's swiftness and ILHW are the reasons for this. It makes us much more capable both at dealing damage and healing. Remember to use NS to fit the situation, whether that means a Chain Lightning nuke or a quick heal.

Restoration Talents (23 points)

Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 6%.

Get this because HW is just always a bad idea.

Totemic Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your totems by 10%.

Efficiency is good.

Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.

This spell lets you heal when under attack by multiple enemies. Always get this.

Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.

Stepping stone.

Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 points
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.

The most important talent in the game. Learn to use this well, and save it until you need it.

Ancestral Healing - 2/5 points
Increases your target's armor value from items by 10% for 15 seconds after getting a critical effect from one of your healing spells.

Just a place to spend my last two points.

[hadrian]

Isn't it better to spend a point in "combat Endurance"?
(don't know how much the 10% are, but it sounds good, especial in longer fights..)

[Mithras]

Pretty much my same spec too, Zak. Im debating going a tad deeper in Enhance to level and then respec at 40-ish.

/shrug

[Geglash]

Hello there.

Since I only got my sham to lvl 28 in OB and I can't play WoW since I live in Sweden I didn't get the chance to test this out myself.

I was wondering if it would work to stack the effects of flurry, windfury weapon, windfury totem and stormstrike? If possible, has anyone tested it who could share his/her results? Is it worth it from a pve perspective?

/Geglash

[Hilperi]

Hmm this is what I have been thinking for my shaman

PVE:
first step is imp LHW, for obvious reasons, reduce mana cost on heals/totems to get there
second 5% block and IGW, its good to have a "sure" escape if I get jumped on
third NS...
then all the rest on enchant, thundering strikes, imp LS, flurry, parry and 2h talent, maby combat endurance on top of that, it still leaves me 7-9points or something for the highlvls and I think I know a lot better where to put them when I have actualy played that far ;)

PVP:
This im having some dificulty on deciding some of the talents, those that I'm sure of are...
same resto tree as in pve build, without combat endurance...
3x5 on shock talents and elemental focus... now I have few choises to go from here...

Option1:
Elemental Fury, imp Fire Nova, Ancestral Knowledge and 1point on IGW
This build would give me the option of fast burst dmg in the form of bolt/shock/NS bolt/firenova/melee hit/shock I think you can get them all in 5secs if preformed correctly, it would definately be huge amount of dmg in short time, especialy with the crit changes, the down side is a huge manacost ofcourse and this realy would only be an option in 1on1 imho... and I'm all about group pvp realy ;)

Option2:
Elemental Fury, 1point in imp Lightning Bolt, imp Fire Nova and maxed Elemental Mastery, no points left for enchant
Here I have changed the 5% max mana and 1 sec faster GW for a 1 sec faster Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, I think this build would suport the shamans party pvp role as suport hybrid caster quite nicely, LBolt has a nice DPM and with 2sec cast it would be possible to spam it quite alot...

Option3:
No extra points in elemental...
IGW, imp LS, 2h weapon talent, and 3points in anticipation
This I would see more like a dueling build, with the max dmg LS I would make hit and run attacks on melee chars shocking them on the same time etc, anticipation to keep out as much dmg as possible, 2h talent to able biggest instat hit damage possible (hoping for a 5second 300-400dmg axe or something ;))

I have so much trouble about these builds that I'm posting here and hoping that someone has some input and suggestions about what I should go from here, as I said before, I like 2vs2-5vs5 pvp mostly and will be aiming for that all the time possible... thanks :)

[Apotheosis]

I know Zak has said that the 2h axe/mace talent isn't worthwhile, and in general I regard his opinion more highly than my own; however in this case I may disagree, and I have a reason I can articulate. Near end game, the choice for weapon becomes exceptionally difficult, and the upgrades to our equipment so rare, that it would seem beneficial to me to be as fully functional as possible. Although epics seem to drop much more frequently now, what if, say, that single 2h epic mace were to drop for me? It's theoretically possible I will never get a better 2h staff. So I'm not arguing that 2h maces or axes are better than staves in any general sense, I'm simply arguing that being able to use all three prepares us for more of the uber drops that may come our way. Does this make sense, or is it still not worth the talent point?

[Hogart]

Zaknafien having the 2 points into +% chance to give more armor to target when healed instead of Combat Endurance and 2h mastery I do not understand =/

[Mithras]

Zaknafien having the 2 points into +% chance to give more armor to target when healed instead of Combat Endurance and 2h mastery I do not understand =/


Those are my two differences to his build. I wanted the flexibility the 2H would give me and the other was just fluff. Seemed like a good place for a point. Every little bit will help.


Other than that, they mirror.

[Hogart]

I wanted the flexibility the 2H would give me and the other was just fluff. Seemed like a good place for a point. Every little bit will help.

I totally agree with you, even though the armor buff is really cool in my opinion its not as good as +10% regen and ability to wear 2h.. Dont know when to put points into 2h master though, i get the Crescent Staff at lvl ~20 and that can be used to atleast lvl 32. And after that a shield really help the grinding capacity as long as ive got a decent 1h weapon. And that can be bought in the AH with req arround lvl 30. Any comments?

[Mithras]

I wanted the flexibility the 2H would give me and the other was just fluff. Seemed like a good place for a point. Every little bit will help.

I totally agree with you, even though the armor buff is really cool in my opinion its not as good as +10% regen and ability to wear 2h.. Dont know when to put points into 2h master though, i get the Crescent Staff at lvl ~20 and that can be used to atleast lvl 32. And after that a shield really help the grinding capacity as long as ive got a decent 1h weapon. And that can be bought in the AH with req arround lvl 30. Any comments?

Im not going to "waste" a point into this until after I get NS. The next point will be 2H, then back to Elemental for me.

[Palmen]

What do you all think of this build for solo XP? whats good and whats bad, give me som hints and tips (i need a good Solo XP build for the EU beta and then EU live O_=)

Enchantment: 22
Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5
Thundering Strikes - 5/5
Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2
Improved Lightning Shield - 3/3
Two-Hand Axes and Maces - 1/1
Flurry - 5/5
Parry - 1/1

Restoration: 29
Improved Healing Wave - 5/5
Tidal Focus - 5/5
Totemic Focus - 5/5
Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5
Tidal Mastery - 5/5
Nature\'s Swiftness - 1/1
Purification - 3/5

[Hogart]

as stated before elemental is not as good as enhancement when you solo or level up. Use an Enhancement/Restoration build until you feel like respeccing for 1 gold to Elemental/Restoration at ~40

[XxEnderxX]

Does the combat regen work with trolls, so a troll shammy could get 20% combat regen?

Or a troll means we don't need that talent.

thanks

-Ender

[Palmen]

It dosent stack.

so you can only get 10% hp regen as a troll shaman

[Hogart]

Are you 100% sure? =/

[Palmen]

99% sure.

It has been anserd befor in loads of threads, and everytime the anser is no. so im 99% sure of it ^^

[Blacktastic]

Question:

Is totemic focus (reduces mana cost of totems) really worth it? I was thinking I can skip that talent and instead put those points into improved lightning shield for that added damage when being hit.

Elemental Combat Talents (22 points)

# Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.
# Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.
# Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.
# Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.
# Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning spells by 6%.
# Elemental Fury - 1/1 point
Increases the critical strike damage done by your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%.



Enhancement Talents (8 points)

# Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.
# Improved Lightning Shield - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by 15%.



Restoration Talents (21 points)

# Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.
# Improved Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Reduces the casting time of your Healing Wave spell by 0.5 seconds.
# Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.
# Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.
# Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.

[hellion]

full rest to mana tide elemental to imp fire nova and clear cast.

[Hogart]

- Have anyone ever found stoneclaw totem any help?
- Also, the Static Totem or what its called (you can put it down to see enemies or smth like that), I cant really figure out any reason using it except a few. Like playing arround, maybe som backstabbing or smth?
- How viable is frostbrand weapon enchant? I can slow mobs in instances but thats about it.
- Bet there is more, add and write your own opinions?

[Doodle]

i use stoneclaw sometimes in PvE to get 1 or 2 hits off me if i happen to pull 3+ mobs or something

frostbrand i never ever use, i was all for windfury and its proc for teh win but as i reached 50+ i find myself using rockbiter over windfury, its just so so so much better

[karjak]

This should be cleaned up and made a sticky :o

[evilution]

there is no sticky worthy spec for a shaman.. too many choices and all can be viable depending on how you personally choose to play.

However the 75% heal through combat is, imo, required :)

[Blacktastic]

Elemental Combat Talents (16 points)

# Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.

# Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.

# Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.

# Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.



Enhancement Talents (3 points)

# Ancestral Knowledge - 3/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 3%.



Restoration Talents (32 points)

# Improved Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Reduces the casting time of your Healing Wave spell by 0.5 seconds.

# Tidal Focus - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.

# Improved Lesser Healing Wave - 5/5 points
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.

# Eventide - 5/5 points
Increases the duration of your Healing Stream and Mana Spring totems by 15%.

# Tidal Mastery - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and Nature damage spells by 5%.

# Nature's Swiftness - 1/1 point
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less than 10 seconds becomes an instant cast spell.

# Improved Mana Spring Totem - 5/5 points
Increases the effect of your Mana Spring Totem by 25%.

# Mana Tide Totem - 1/1 point
Summons a Mana Tide Totem with 5 health at the feet of the caster for 12 seconds that restores 140 mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20 yards.



and it only cost me 25g to realize I couldnt get elemental fury + mana tide D: !

Raid shaman build. Mana tide is a must if you expect to do the raid instances (onyxia, molten core, etc). No point was wasted in order to get mana tide. Believe me, if there was a way I could get elemental fury and mana tide, I would =[

[evilution]

fuck mana tide

[mr.toker]

Personally i would skip Restoration completely if going into PvP. At least in duels i would never stop and try to heal my self for any reason. I would loose valuable seconds of dmg that could finsih the game off even earlier. I mean casters is all too easy for a shaman (tauren for the war stomp). A healer such as druid or priest has no chance, same goes for mages. with Earth shock breaking their healing spells and long fireball casts they have no chance. Shaman still deals a lot of melee dmg with rockbiter adding on to that with light shield. Starting every battle off with a mana effective Fire Blast. With the Fire totem shooting off fireballs on the priest/warlcok after they fear u u have them covered (slowing their cast times very effectively untill u clear out of fear status). They have no chance. when in this situation add on with a strength of earth totem since they wont be dealing any melee dmg most probably.

When fighting a melee char either use ur earth binding totem and be a puss, or just fight them straight up with a stoneskin totem. Fire totems dont make too much dmg in my opinion, nova is nice but not mana effective against 1 target, shock em. A rogue has too little life to take the major dps from a tauren shaman even though they do have the highest dps in the game it cant keep up with the armor and life that the tauren has. and against a warrior they dont match the dps of the shaman, from experience their life runs out before mine does. rockbiter dealing dmg + the every 5 seconds shock spells, it hurts.

I think Elemental Combat/Enhancement seems like a very viable choice on pvp servers. Maybe a bit weaker in PvE, havent thought about it. But in pvp i cant be bothered gettin broken off on long heal spells im waaaayy too impatient. comment if u want personally ill take this build either way cuz it just kicks ass. u become one big fast damage dealing son of a bull :D



Elemental Combat Talents (22 points)


Concussion - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your Shock spells by 5%.


Convection - 5/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shock spells by 10%.


Reverberation - 5/5 points
Reduces the cooldown of your Shock spells by 1 second.


Elemental Focus - 1/1 point
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.


Call of Thunder - 5/5 points
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning spells by 6%.


Elemental Fury - 1/1 point
Increases the critical strike damage done by your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%.




Enhancement Talents (29 points)


Ancestral Knowledge - 5/5 points
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.


Improved Lightning Shield - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by 15%.


Thundering Strikes - 5/5 points
Improves your chance to get a critical strike with your weapon attacks by 5%.


Improved Stoneskin Totem - 3/3 points
Increases the amount of damage absorbed by your Stoneskin Totem by 20%.


Improved Ghost Wolf - 2/2 points
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 2 second.


Improved Rockbiter Weapon - 2/2 points
Increases the Attack Power bonus of your Rockbiter Weapon by 10%.


Flurry - 5/5 points
Increases your attack speed by 30% for your next 3 swings after dealing a critical strike.


Parry - 1/1 point
Gives a chance to parry melee attacks.


Toughness - 3/5 points
Increases your armor value from items by 6%.




Restoration Talents (0 points)


None


As a footnote: switch rockbiter with windfury if u fancy it wont make a diff in build. fan of rockbiter here.

[Hogart]

I would never skip Natures Swiftness, never ever ever.

[Murad]

Here's my build, it's based around restoration, with enhancement in support. Following the build is a brief justification of why I picked this build. It's designed with a balance of benefit for raiding, grouping and pvping in mind. In solo pvp it it all but guarantees survival with improved GW allied to a healing spec, at a cost of killing more slowly than an elemental build.

Restoration Mastery
Tidal Focus
Rank 5/5
Reduces the Mana cost of your healing spells by 5%.

Totemic Focus
Rank 5/5
Reduces the Mana cost of your totems by 10%.

Eventide
Rank 5/5
Increases the duration of your Healing Stream and Mana Spring totems by 10 sec.

Improved Lesser Healing Wave
Rank 5/5
Gives you a 75% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while casting Lesser Healing Wave.

Tidal Mastery
Rank 5/5
Increases the critical effect chance of your healing and lightning spells by 5%.

Improved Mana Spring Totem
Rank 5/5
Increases the effect of your Mana Spring Totem by 25%.

Nature's Swiftness
Rank 1/1
Instant 3 min cooldown
When activated, your next Nature spell with a casting time less then 10 sec. becomes an instant cast spell.

Mana Tide Totem
Rank 1/1
18 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 140 mana every 3 seconds to group members within 20 yards.

Restoration Total: 32
Enhancement Mastery
Ancestral Knowledge
Rank 5/5
Increases your maximum Mana by 5%.

Thundering Strikes
Rank 5/5
Improves your chance to get a critical strike with your weapon attacks by 5%.

Improved Ghost Wolf
Rank 2/2
Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 2 sec.

Improved Lightning Shield
Rank 3/3
Increases the damage done by your Lightning Shield orbs by 15%.

Flurry
Rank 4/5
Increases your attack speed by 25% for your next 3 swings after dealing a critical strike.

Enhancement Total: 19

The main reason is that there are certain talents in enhance that are extremely useful. 5% to base mana complements a Tauren's racial hp bonus quite nicely. Improved GW is handy for getting out of a tight spot, or getting in frost shock range of a runner in PvP. For fighting a paladin 1 v 1, there isn't a more efficient mana/damage spell than improved lightning shield. Ally that to 5% increased melee crit chance and 4/5 flurry, and you have a nice mana-free source of damage (witchblade dagger or elven magi with rockbiter + sacred protector shield setup).

People talk about the shaman being a caster hybrid, but 1 v 1 against a paladin or in group pvp I find that to be inaccurate. If you try and front-load a paladin with shocks/nukes, you'll burn through your mana a lot faster than him. To have any hope of beating a paladin or being more than a 1-trick, 1-kill pony in pvp, mana-free damage and conservation of your m-pool is something I've found to be very important. As an aside, a great way to cheese a fight vs a paladin 1 v 1 is to use an earthbind totem, run off, bandage for a couple of ticks, and re-engage every time the recently bandaged icon fades. In group pvp, an elemental shaman is a mage that cannot AE, with a smaller mana pool. An elemental shaman is far less useful in a group/mass pvp encounter, than a shaman with NS and mana tide- that's just been my experience. NS is 1300 free instant-heal hps- mana tide is up to 1k mana for an 18 mana cost.

As for the cost of the mana tide totem- yes, it costs 11points to get there, but 11 points I'd happily spend having seen how useful it is. Suprisingly I find it useful in pvp also, even the best players, who spot it and kill it ASAP still allows me two ticks of the totem, at a cost of 18 mana. If you do the math, it's actually more mana efficient per fight than the mana-saving shock talent over time (I've tested this a few times). It's great usefulness in PvE is obvious, and I won't go into it much, save to say it sometimes turns a seemingly certain wipe into victory.

[mr.toker]

if u are so concentrated on pvping with for example paladins. then why all the points on improving ur mana totems for example. They are prety costly mana wise and the first thing i would do when fighting a shamn is put that sorry totem out of its misery. So then u need to put down another one and it will cost u even more mana and then he'll smack that one over too. Skip all those crap points on totem improvements and put em somewhere usefull is what i say.

none of the shamans final skills in their trees is worth a point I'd say

[Blacktastic]

Mana totem is very useful in raid instances.

Sure you may not be maximized for PvP, but your role in group PvP is not to do massive amounts of damage. Your role is to heal and catch any strays that flee. In a 1v1 situation, yes are not as powerful but if you are in a guild that raids often, you need to explore other talent options that better helps your team, rather than yourself.

[Murad]

if u are so concentrated on pvping with for example paladins. then why all the points on improving ur mana totems for example. They are prety costly mana wise and the first thing i would do when fighting a shamn is put that sorry totem out of its misery.

Just to be clear- I'm talking about mana tide totem. It costs 18 mana (yes, eighteen, not a typo)- and gives me 200ish mana every pulse. Assuming you can kill it within 4 seconds, that's 280 free mana. Most players, even the best ones don't manage to do that, so I get 2 pulses minimum, 480 free mana. That's more than you'll save doing ALL of the elemental enhancement mana saving talents per fight- I've tested it.



none of the shamans final skills in their trees is worth a point I'd say

You don't think a totem which costs 18 mana and gives 240 mana every 3 seconds is worth the talent points? I think it's worth every point spent, having tested it against the other builds available. 1 v 1, group pvp, raids, there isn't a situation that you could find where between 480 and 920 free mana isn't a good buy for an end-tree talent.

Nature's swiftness is also a must as far as I can see- it adds 1.3k on to your hitpoint total in effect- an instant healing wave. Roughly 4k unbuffed at the moment, which gives someone roughly 5.3k minimum hps they'll have to burn through. Add that to a 5.3k manapool with mana tide- that is survivability that isn't available from the elemental combat tree.