Shaman Class Overview
Shamans are masters of the Elements who bring
a huge amount of utility, often through their unique totems such as Mana Tide Totem,
Spirit Link Totem,
Fire Elemental Totem and supporting talents like
Totemic Wrath. They can become Healers, Melee DPS and Ranged DPS, making
them extremely versatile.
Introduction to Shaman
Shaman is a versatile hybrid class which can Melee DPS, Ranged DPS, or heal. All
Shaman roles use Mana as their primary resource, though its importance as a resource
is mostly limited to Restoration, the healing specialization. Because of gear similarities
due their Primary attribute being shared, you will usually find Ranged / Healer Shamans
(Intellect) or Melee Shamans (Agility), and only rarely Shaman who
mix both Intellect and Agility specializations.
Shaman Specializations
Shaman is able to choose
from three specializations: Enhancement,
Elemental, and Restoration.
Enhancement — Enhancement is a melee DPS spec that deals significant spell damage as part of its core rotation due to
Maelstrom Weapon. While it is usually derided for its low single-target damage, Enhancement has massive area damage potential, great off-healing capabilities and a powerful defensive in
Shamanistic Rage.
Elemental — is a very strong ranged DPS with multiple DPS cooldowns in
Fire Elemental Totem and
Elemental Mastery, great mobility with
Glyph of Unleashed Lightning, and excellent group utility with critical raid buffs such as
Elemental Oath and
Totemic Wrath.
Restoration — is a specialist in stacked group healing with
Healing Rain and
Chain Heal, but also brings unique utility such as
Spirit Link Totem and
Ancestral Healing, as well as important raid buffs such as
Bloodlust /
Heroism and
Wrath of Air Totem, and is well suited for spot healing in between area heals with the
Tidal Waves mechanic.
What Specialization Should I Play?
Each Shaman specialization is very different and the specialization you should
play depends on how you like to enjoy the game. Enhancement is a good option for
players who enjoy the Battlemage feeling of melee DPS heavily mixed with
instant spells, Elemental is a powerful ranged DPS that brings an unique fantasy,
many buffs and high mobility, and Restoration is one of the best stacked raid healers
but can also spot heal very well with
Tidal Waves and
Riptide.
Enhancement
Enhancement is a great option on encounters where you are fighting many enemies
at once, but even outside of its mass area of effect damage niche, it is still a
very safe specialization to play that brings some important raid buffs and can
seamlessly contribute off-healing in emergencies.
Elemental
Elemental is one of the best casters to bring to 10-man raids because it brings
many caster raid buffs by itself, including the rare
Elemental Oath and
even rarer
Totemic Wrath, as well as
Bloodlust /
Heroism.
It is also just generally a good specialization because of its high damage numbers
and capability to deal significant damage while moving with
Glyph of Unleashed Lightning.
Restoration
Restoration is well known for its strong and area heals
Healing Rain
and
Chain Heal, but it can also provide huge unique support to its raid
group with
Mana Tide Totem,
Spirit Link Totem, and
Ancestral Healing,
and is a surprisingly strong spot healer while
Tidal Waves are active,
which should be most of the time, especially as
Riptide is meant to be
used on cooldown or close to.
How Viable is Shaman in Cataclysm?
Shaman is a popular class due to its role
flexibility, unique raid buffs, and also unique ability to soak Mail caster gear.
Enhancement is not the highest profile spec
but can still be quite strong in the hands of capable players. Elemental
is a very strong ranged DPS class with multiple DPS cooldowns, multiple rare raid
buffs, and great mobility, especially for a caster spec, making it an easy pick
for any sort of group. Finally, Restoration is
always a fantastic pick to solve area healing issues for large raids, but even in
small raids its capability to spot heal with
Tidal Waves should not be
underestimated.
Races for Shaman
In Cataclysm Classic Shaman can be played
as Dwarf or Draenei if you are playing Alliance, and as Orc, Goblin, Troll, or Tauren
if you are Horde. Draenei is the best Alliance Shaman race due to Heroic Presence
and
Gift of the Naaru, while Orc is the best Horde Shaman race for
DPS due to
Blood Fury and
Command, as well as
Hardiness
in PvP. For healing purposes Goblin also works, as it brings 1% extra Haste and
extra mobility with
Rocket Jump.
Alliance
Draenei's main racial ability is
Heroic Presence, which grants 1% spell hit. At level 85, this is equivalent to 103 hit rating, making this a fairly decent choice.
Gift of the Naaru can also provide some free healing.
Dwarves have a few notable racials, especially for Enhancement.
Mace Specialization grants 3 expertise skill when wearing a mace, making it be worth 90 expertise rating at level 85, which is alright but not great. The other notable racial,
Stoneform, removes all poisons, diseases and bleeds when activated and reduces all damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, making it a useful defensive racial ability.
Horde
Orcs remain the preferred choice for Horde DPS Shamans, especially for Enhancement, who can benefit from
Axe Specialization for extra 90 expertise rating at level 85.
Blood Fury gives 1169 Attack Power at level 85 and should be used with other cooldowns for maximum effect.
Command is a small but DPS boosting racial, and
Hardiness remains one of the top PvP racials.
Goblins are one of the two new races added in during Cataclysm. Their main racial is
Rocket Jump which is a great mobility ability and
Time is Money for 1% Haste, making them a fine race for Shamans, which can be great in specific encounters that stress your limited mobility.
Trolls are still a fine choice for all Shamans due to their strong cooldown
Berserking. This grants 20% Haste, which helps your throughput significantly when needed.
Beast Slaying is also a good bonus against beast enemies.
Taurens are the only race without throughput bonuses, but they do have
Endurance, which grants you 5% more base health. Note that base health is only the raw health that you gain from levels and does not scale with your gear at all, making it weaker than it appears at first glance.
War Stomp can also occasionally be useful to stop enemy casts.
Gearing and Stats
Shamans are relatively easy to gear due to a lack of competition for most Mail
pieces, especially Intellect ones where they are the only class that wants to roll
on them due to Mail Specialization, which forces each class to
equip only its highest armor class available.
Shaman are able to wear Cloth, Leather, and Mail armor, as well as
using a large variety of weapons, including staves, daggers, one-handed and two-handed
maces, one-handed and two-handed axes, and fist weapons. What is important is using gear
that has your primary stat (Intellect for Elemental and Restoration, Agility for
Enhancement) and is Mail in the case of armor, as it does not really matter whether
you use a dagger or a fist weapon (when assuming equal weapon speed for Enhancement),
for example, outside of cosmetic concerns.
Your stat priority as an Enhancement Shaman should be as follows: Agility
> Hit > Expertise > Mastery > Crit > Haste.
Elemental Shaman will instead want to prioritize: Intellect > Spell
Power on the weapon > Spirit / Hit > Haste > Mastery > Crit.
Finally, Restoration Shaman will aim for Intellect > Spell Power on
the weapon > Haste > Crit > Mastery > Spirit, although Spirit can be
much higher if Mana is an issue, especially as it also scales the Mana awarded to
the group by
Mana Tide Totem.
Agility Shaman will face competition from Hunters, and there will be high competition from many classes for some of the more rare weapons, trinkets, and jewelry pieces.
Shaman Addons and Macros
Addons and Macros can greatly improve your quality of life in Azeroth. Listed below are some of our recommended Addons and Macros for smoothing out your gameplay.
Changelog
- 10 May 2024: Page added.
This guide has been written by Seksi, original vanilla player and multi-class player, currently playing on Gehennas Horde. You can find him on the Classic Warrior, Mage and Shaman Discords, as well as the Icy Veins Discord.
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