Shaman Class Overview
Shamans are masters of the Elements who bring
a huge amount of utility, often through their unique totems such as Healing Tide Totem,
Stormlash Totem,
Capacitor Totem, and
Fire Elemental Totem.
They can become Healers, Melee DPS and Ranged DPS, making them extremely versatile,
and their damage kit relies heavily on Nature and Fire damage with a little bit
of Frost mixed in, while healing is mostly Water-based.
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 hybrid Shamans who focus on Intellect
or Melee Shamans who focus on 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,
Elemental Mastery, and
Ascendance, and great mobility with
Lightning Bolt being castable on the move baseline. They also bring rare raid buffs such as
Elemental Oath.
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 10% extra health for the raid through
Purification, 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 with its powerful
Lava Lash spreading
Flame Shock
into huge
Fire Nova damage combo, 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
Burning 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
Lightning Bolt.
Restoration
Restoration is well known for its strong and area heals
Healing Rain
and
Chain Heal, but it also has great healing cooldowns in
Healing Tide Totem
and
Ascendance, and provides huge unique support to its raid group with
Mana Tide Totem,
Spirit Link Totem, and
Purification. Restoration
is also a surprisingly strong spot healer with
Tidal Waves and
Riptide.
How Viable is Shaman in Mists of Pandaria?
Shaman is a popular class due to its role
flexibility, unique raid buffs, and also unique ability to soak Mail caster gear.
Enhancement has an engaging playstyle that heavily
mixes in spells and is strong in the hands of capable players. Elemental
is a very strong ranged DPS class with multiple DPS cooldowns, 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 and multiple healing
and utility cooldowns should not be underestimated.
Races for Shaman
In Mists of Pandaria 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 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 some expertise skill when wearing a mace, 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 expertise rating.
Blood Fury gives significant Attack or Spell Power 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 were one of the two new races added back in 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 > Haste > Crit.
Elemental Shaman will instead want to prioritize: Intellect >
Spirit, Expertise, or Hit > Haste > Mastery > Crit.
Finally, Restoration Shaman will aim for Intellect > Haste
> Spirit > Crit > Mastery, although Spirit can be much lower priority
in short fights where your base Mana pool is enough.
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
- 15 Jun. 2025: Page added.