Welcome to our Elemental Shaman Ranged DPS guide for WoW Forever, tailored for PvE content. Here, you will learn how all you need to know to play the Shaman class as Elemental Ranged DPS. Click the links #below to navigate the guide or read this page for a short introduction.
Compendium of Spec Class Information for the World of Warcraft: Forever Beta
Elemental Shamans use the four natural elements to strike their enemies from
afar with powerful spells such as 
Lava Burst and 
Chain Lightning.
They also have access to Totems which provide unique buffs in a short range around
them and have unique utility for some Totems, such as the root effect provided by
Earthbound. While none of these abilities are available at Level 20, we
describe them here as a preview of sorts for what is to come in later Beta releases.
Lava Burst) and expected
lowered / removed Boss Elemental Resistances in WoW Forever should allow them to
be very strong, especially early on!
Leveling Information
While leveling to Level 20 you will mostly use 
Lightning Bolt and
Flame Shock to single target enemies down as you go. The early talents
are also fairly weak, making it a straightforward task.
The strongest Horde Shaman race is usually Orc due to having the
powerful racials 
Blood Fury, 
Axe Specialization, 
Hardiness
(for PvP), and the new Shatter Curse.
On the Alliance side, the only option available is Dwarf, which
has 
Stoneform, 
Find Treasure, 
Mace Specialization, and
Big Game Hunter, making it even stronger than Orc against Beast enemies
but generally weaker, otherwise.
Leveling Professions
In this early stage of the WoW Forever Beta, there are two main profession combos that we would recommend as an Elemental Shaman:
Skinning plus Leatherworking allows you to gather leather from beast kills and turn it into useful equipment for your character, which are likely to be better than quest rewards of a similar level in many cases!
The other good option is Herbalism plus Alchemy so you can gather your own herbs and mix your own potions/elixirs for stat buffs and healing while leveling. While you skip out on gear with this combo, the effect of the consumables is likely to more than make up for the difference in gear power.
Level 20 Talent Build
While early talents are not particularly exciting, you can still get 5% more
damage from 
Concussion, 15% more damage for Flame Shock and
Searing Totem from 
Call of Flame, a bit of damage reduction with
Elemental Warding (or Mana reduction with 
Convection if you
prefer), and finish the Level 20 build with 
Elemental Focus for a slightly
better Mana economy.
Spec Class Spells and Rotation
- Pre-place all of your Totems (with Call of the Elements at Level 20,
individually before), with Searing Totem being placed last just before
pulling due to its lower duration.
- Cast Lightning Bolt to pull from a distance.
- Cast
Fire Nova on cooldown if fighting 3+ enemies, typically in dungeons. - Cast Flame Shock immediately afterwards and refresh its damage over
time effect once it ends on long lived targets.
- Return to Lightning Bolt until the enemy is dead.
Make sure to keep buff totems such as 
Strength of Earth Totem down when
playing in a party that can use the buffs provided, as that will generally vastly
outweight your own damage gain from casting one more Lightning Bolt.
Totems
Totems are an unique Shaman mechanic which provide unique effects around their
area of effect when dropped. They can quickly be deployed and moved through the
new Call of the Elements and 
Totemic Projection abilities and are
unlocked as you level and do special quests for your Earth, Fire, Water, and (available
beyond Level 20) Air totems.
- Earth Totems sport a mix of offensive
buffs and defensive utility. Strength of Earth Totem is a buff totem that
provides extra Strength to your party,
Stoneclaw Totem is great at holding
aggro on enemies you are not attacking, 
Earthbind Totem slows enemies
around it, and 
Tremor Totem periodically breaks fears, charm, and sleep
effects. - Fire Totems are purely offensive.
Searing Totem attacks your target, while Fire Nova has been changed
from a Totem that explodes into a spell that causes a large radius explosion around
your current active Fire Totem when used.
- Water Totems are only unlocked right
on the cusp of the current Level 20 cap and only
Healing Stream Totem is
available, providing a small amount of healing to your party when used. - Air Totems only unlock at level
30, and are some of the most powerful totems, with
Windfury Totem being
a must-have melee buff and 
Grounding Totem being a great counter to CC
and other spell casting, especially in PvP.
Utility and Unique Tools
Besides their Totems, Shaman has some of the best miscellaneous utility in the game. While the full toolkit is not fully fleshed out at Level 20, you can already get some of these abilities early on:
Healing Wave and 
Lesser Healing Wave are single-target healing
spells that allow you to keep yourself healthy, or save party members in danger.
Purge dispels up to two beneficial effects from target enemies.
Ancestral Spirit is Shaman's resurrection spell for fallen allies.
Ghost Wolf transforms you into a wolf with 40% increased movement
speed and has a two second cast. This can be made instant (and allows its use
indoors) using Improved Ghost Wolf.
Earth Shock deals damage and interrupts enemy spell casts.
Frost Shock slows its target for 8 seconds, which is useful to kill
elite melee enemies, since you can easily make them never be able to touch you
while slowly killing them.
This toolkit only gets bigger as the level cap increases, so this section will receive new additions as we discover what Forever offers past the current cap.
Level 20 Gear, Stat Priority, and Consumables
As a Caster DPS, the stats you are looking for while leveling are similar to
those of end-game: anything that increases your damage so enemies will die fast
and not have the time to deal a lot of damage back to yourself. If needed for
soloing dangerous melee Elites you can use Earthbind Totem and shock spells
while running in circles around the Totem to prevent yourself from taking any melee
damage. Just using Frost Shock while running in circles is also an easy
option at Level 20.
Consumables
First and foremost, remember to bring Water with you, as Mana tends to deplete faster than its natural regeneration when engaged in prolonged combat, and drinking is the best way to get combat ready again quickly.
First Aid is now responsible not just for Bandages but also Healing potions such as Lesser Healing Potion, which are essential to carry around for emergencies.
Potions and Elixirs made by Alchemy are also very useful. Stat Elixirs like
Minor Arcane Elixir increase your damage while active and Stat Potions
such as 
Minor Spellblasting Potion increase your damage significantly for
a short period.
Cooking Food will now increase your experience gains by 5% for a long time, and give other useful stats, so make sure to stock up on it at all times while leveling!
Cozy Sleeping Bag
The 
Cozy Sleeping Bag from Season of Discovery seems to also be
present in WoW Forever, allowing you to gain extra experience and rested experience,
for yourself and any nearby party members, even if they do not have it themselves!
It has a lengthy unlock process that will take you all around the world:
Horde starts at a charred body near 46,74 in the Barrens, and then goes to the charred body at 37,50 in Westfall, while Alliance does the same in opposite order.
Afterwards, head to 40,52 in Stonetalon Mountains and look for a box next to a tent with a red cross on it. Click the nearby item to turn in the quest and proceed to a pile of dirt nearby at 40,50 for the next part of the quest.
Head to 49,13 in Loch Modan to turn in the next step at the top of the dam, to
a eagle statue. Finish by going up the Thoradin Wall at 87,49 in Hillsbrad Foothills
using a nearby cart to climb up the wall. Inside you will find the final turn in
spot (bag and note) to receive Cozy Sleeping Bag. Make sure to use it on
cooldown to speed up your leveling!
Changelog
- 18 Sep. 2026 (this page): Guide Added.
