Since expansion comes out next week, I was wondering who was gonna be the Shaman Wiseguy - and while I'm onna roll, what the best spec is for a n00b Shammy?

Jak is currently the Shammy WG. As for spec, I dunno. Elemental looks good for leveling, but I haven't really looked at the trees.

You want Enhancement for levelling, son.

You want Enhancement for levelling, son.


Hmm, the early Elemental talents has nice +damage stuff. Seems more useful. Enhancement seems like a good choice once you're past level 30, however. Then you can get deeper into the Enhacement tree, which looks more interesting.

Troo, elementally bits are nice, and I'm not going to deny that it's got its merits. I mean, it'd be like telling someone that he can't level up a warlock with affliction. But going by my own experience, Enhancement has been useful for levelz.

Enhancement.

EDIT: To qualify this statement, the fastest leveling shamans, prior to 2.0 were enhancement. Flurry + windfury is ridiculous. My shaman (who is nearing 40 with a little less than 5 days played) was pure enhancement.

I leveled a priest with pure holy, so ya'll can take a hike!

I leveled a priest with pure holy, so ya'll can take a hike!


I fucked Aro's mom.

I leveled a priest with pure holy, so ya'll can take a hike!


I fucked Aro's mom.


You and 8 million others. It comes free with every WoW account.

OH SNAP!

Gleja wins. MOMTALITY.

F, D, F, High Punch

Within sweep range

Kick, punch, it's all in the mind
If you wanna test me, I'm sure you'll find
The things I'll teach ya
are sure to beat ya
Nevertheless you'll get a lesson from teacha
now KICK

Kick

I was hoping you would respond with the reference
YOU HAVE FAILED ME FOR THE LAST TIME, ADMIRAL

Holy shit, you quoted Parappa/Lammy <3

I like Elemental for shamen.

I like Affliction for warlocks.

I like holy for soloing priests.

I like holy for soloing paladins.

I like a mostly balanced assassination/subtlety for rogues.

For my money, yes, Enhancement lets you do more damage. If you want to play a melee dps god, why the hell are you playing a shaman? You're playing a shaman for the FROSTSHOOOOOOK!!! and the TOTEMS TOTEMS TOTEMS! You know you are. So take the skill tree that represents what your class does best: elemental damage and mad totem skillz.

Also, your primary stat is stamina, but you'll want to keep your Spirit and Intellect high too, because your mana is always going to be a concern. You're very much like a warlock in that respect.

Raaar, shammies.

I didn't even level my shaman to 30; all my shaman knowledge derives from my observations in fighting them. That said: resto shaman are the hardest for me to kill on any class I've played, because they're able to sit there and heal themselves ad infinitem. However, the tree with stormstrike--is that enhancement?--all shaman with stormstrike and the associated bonuses are difficult as well. The thing is that although they can put out formidable burst damage, they usually lack in survivability ... so they're ultimately easier for me to handle.

I'm hoping to learn more about it when I level my own Draenei shaman. I kind of want it to be a learning process.

I'll restate it again that the Enhancement tree is the fastest and most effecient way to LEVEL a Shaman. Much like Arms/Fury is the most effecient way to level a warrior, or combat is the most effecient way to level a rogue. Can you level using other specs? Absolutely. It will take you longer, but it is certainly doable. End game? That's a matter of choice. All three trees have A LOT to offer.

Asking someone why they're playing an Enhancement shaman is like asking a druid why they're playing a feral spec, a paladin why they're playing retribution, or a warrior why they're playing fury. While those builds, at one time were not considered normal, they are certainly viable. Furthermore, it's been proven that those builds are not only viable, but desirable. Let people play what they want to play. As long as they can fill the role in their group, whatever that role is, who cares?

Enhancement spec'd Shamans can, and often are, melee dps gods. Plus, with enhancements to windfury, strength totems, and grounding totems, as well as the Unleashed Rage talent, what bonuses they add to the melee dps and survivability of their group can be staggering.

Restoration spec'd shamans can heal as well as druids or priests. Enhancement spec'd can melee as well as fury warriors. Elemental shamans can ranged dps about as good as warlocks. In fact, of all the three, their talents and shaman specific itemization tend to make their strongest role healing.

At least that's my experience playing on the Horde side in groups with Shamans and as a shaman (albeit < level 60). YMMV.

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I'll probably level the Shaman slower, I'm gonna try to twink him for WSG at an early level. I can wait to see how hordies like having earth binding totems all over the place. Yes, part of the reason for playing a shaman is outta pvp spite.lol

From my experience with my shaman I found that every tree has its great merits. For leveling I went primarily Enhancement with secondary in Elemental. I found this the easiest build for leveling...but really it depends on how you like to play. If you primarily want to cast with back up weapon I would say go primarily Elemental...if you want to run in and bash the hell out of things go Enhancement...When I hit 60 I had a guild that needed use of my resto tree so I respeced resto...self res with less of a cooldown was pretty sweet! And you would be surprised at how well a shammy can heal.
Anyway thats my two cents...my first character was a Shaman played one for quite some time...so if anyone has any questions I don't mind helping if I can