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Elemental Shaman Guide for WoW Forever

Play Elemental Shaman in WoW Forever: a level 30 leveling build, a Lava Burst raid build and a Fire Nova dungeon build, with rotation, totems and gear.

ShamanElementalLevelingPvERaidsDungeonsDPSAoE

By stillsixty staffUpdated

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Variants

Overview

Elemental is the Shaman's ranged caster, and Forever finally gives it a full kit. The tree no longer ends in a single burst cooldown: it ends in Lava Burst, a hard-hitting Fire nuke on a 10-second cooldown that deals 20% more damage while your Flame Shock is on the target. On the way down you pick up Lightning Overload, which fires a free half-damage copy of your Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning, and a five-rank Elemental Fury that doubles your critical strike bonus.

The playstyle is simple and rewarding. Keep Flame Shock ticking, fire Lava Burst every time it comes back, and fill with Lightning Bolt. Chain Lightning and Fire Nova handle packs. Your totems buff the group while you do it. In Forever the buff and utility totems last 5 minutes and friendly totems reach 30 yards, so one set of buffs covers several pulls; your Fire totems still go down per pull.

Elemental also borrows from the other trees better than it did in Classic. Five points in Thundering Strikes give 5% critical strike chance to every spell you cast, and three points in Mindfulness let half of your mana regeneration continue while you cast. That fixes the Shaman's oldest problem: running dry halfway through a fight.

Strengths

  • Strong, front-loaded burst: Flame Shock into Lava Burst, then Lightning Bolts that crit for double the normal bonus with Elemental Fury.
  • Real AoE for a caster: Chain Lightning, Fire Nova around your Fire totem and Magma Totem.
  • Totems bring buffs, cleansing, resistances and a spell-absorbing Grounding Totem to every group you join.
  • Reincarnation brings you back from a wipe on your own, once an hour.
  • Earth Shock interrupts and locks the school for 2 seconds on a 6-second cooldown, and Frost Shock slows by 50%.
  • Real off-heals: Healing Wave and Lesser Healing Wave are always on your bar.

Weaknesses

  • Everything costs mana. Without Mindfulness and Elemental Focus you drink after every second pull.
  • Lava Burst and Lightning Bolt are cast-time spells, so melee pushback and interrupts hurt until Eye of the Storm arrives.
  • Your shocks share a cooldown: Earth Shock for the interrupt means no Flame Shock for 6 seconds.
  • Big crits pull threat in dungeons. Watch the tank's lead on every pull.
  • Lava Burst is the tier 7 talent and needs 30 points in Elemental first. You level to 39 without it.

What's new in Forever

New in Forever
  • Lava Burst is the tier 7 talent, your 31st point in Elemental (requires 3/3 Lightning Overload): 2.5-second cast, 10-second cooldown, 20% more damage with your Flame Shock on the target. Trainers teach new ranks at 50 and 60.
  • Lightning Overload is 3 ranks in tier 5: a 3%, 7% or 10% chance for Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning to cast a second, half-damage copy for free, with no threat.
  • Elemental Fury has 5 ranks, each adding 20% to your critical strike damage bonus with Fire, Frost and Nature spells and your Searing and Magma Totems.
  • Elemental Alacrity takes 0.5 seconds off Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Lava Burst at 3/3, and Call of Thunder is one point for +3% critical strike chance on Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning.
  • Call of Flame now boosts Flame Shock, Fire Nova and Lava Burst as well as your Fire Totems, by 15% at 3/3. Convection also discounts Lava Burst.
  • Eye of the Storm reduces pushback on Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Lava Burst by up to 70%. Elemental Reach adds 6 yards to those spells and 15 yards to Flame Shock.
  • Earthbound (new, tier 5): your Earthbind Totem immobilizes nearby enemies for 5 seconds when you drop it.
  • Fire Nova is a spell now, not a totem. It explodes around your active Fire totem for Fire damage on a 10-second cooldown. Improved Fire Nova cuts that to 6 seconds and adds 20% damage.
  • Buff and utility totems last 5 minutes (Strength of Earth, Mana Spring, Healing Stream and the like), and friendly totems reach 30 yards. Searing lasts 30 to 55 seconds by rank, Earthbind and Grounding 45, Magma 20 and Stoneclaw 15. Call of the Elements drops four totems in one 3-second cast, Totemic Projection moves your totems up to 30 yards, and Totemic Recall refunds 25% of their mana.
  • Elemental Mastery is gone. Your burst comes from Lava Burst and crits, not a cooldown.

Talents

The leveling build. Convection and Concussion make every Lightning Bolt cheaper and harder, Elemental Focus hands you free spells, Elemental Alacrity turns Lightning Bolt into a 2-second cast, and Eye of the Storm keeps it casting while a mob hits you.

Split 21/0/0 · 21 points at level 30 · Open in calculator

Elemental

21 points

Enhancement

0 points

Restoration

0 points

Talent order

  1. Levels 10–14: 5/5 Convection. 10% cheaper Shocks and Lightning Bolts. Mana is the limit on how many mobs you kill per drink, so this comes first.
  2. Levels 15–19: 5/5 Concussion. +5% damage on Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Earth Shock.
  3. Level 20: 1/1 Elemental Focus. A 10% chance after every damage spell to make the next one free.
  4. Levels 21–23: 3/3 Elemental Alacrity. Lightning Bolt drops from 2.5 to 2 seconds. That is 25% more Lightning Bolts per minute.
  5. Levels 24–26: 3/3 Call of Flame. +15% damage on Flame Shock, Fire Nova and Searing Totem. Your Searing Totem kills a fair share of every mob while you cast.
  6. Level 27: 1/1 Call of Thunder. +3% critical strike chance on Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning.
  7. Levels 28–30: 3/3 Eye of the Storm. 70% less pushback on your casts. Mobs that reach you no longer double the length of your Lightning Bolt.

Flexible points

  • Dungeon-heavy leveling: take 2/2 Improved Fire Nova at 28–29 and one Eye of the Storm point at 30. A 6-second Fire Nova around a Searing Totem clears trash packs.
  • Hard-hitting mobs: swap Call of Flame for 3/3 Elemental Warding, 10% less Fire, Frost and Nature damage taken, if casters are killing you.

Races

Best races

Shaman is open to both factions in Forever. The Alliance plays Dwarf; the Horde has four options.

Horde: Orc. Blood Fury increases your Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds every 2 minutes: line it up with Lava Burst and a fresh Flame Shock. Shatter Curse removes and blocks Curses and Banes and cuts Magic damage taken by 15% for 8 seconds, and Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%.

Horde: Troll. Berserking is a 10-second casting speed burst every 3 minutes. While leveling, Beast Slaying adds 5% damage against Beasts and Rapid Regeneration restores 50% of your health over 6 seconds between pulls.

Horde: Windshaper Skyborne (new). Wind Blessed gives 1% Haste on every cast, and Elemental Insight adds 5% damage against Elementals. Skysight and Walk on Air are travel tools.

Alliance: Dwarf (new). Mace Specialization adds 1% critical strike chance with all spells while you hold a mace or two-handed mace. Stoneform removes Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases and cuts Physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds.

All playable races

  • Orc: Blood Fury, Shatter Curse, Hardiness and Axe Specialization (+1% crit with an axe equipped).
  • Tauren: War Stomp stuns up to 5 enemies for 2 seconds, Endurance adds 5% health and 1% Hit, Plainsrunning builds up to 30% movement speed while you run, and Cultivation lets you grow a harvestable copy of an herb.
  • Troll: Berserking, Beast Slaying, Regeneration and Rapid Regeneration.
  • Windshaper Skyborne (Horde, new): Wind Blessed, Elemental Insight, Skysight and Walk on Air.
  • Dwarf (Alliance, new): Mace Specialization, Stoneform, Big Game Hunter (+5% damage to Beasts) and Find Treasure.

Rotation

Single-target pull

  1. Drop Searing Totem near where the mob will die, then open with Lightning Bolt from 30 yards. Train every Lightning Bolt rank: new ones arrive at 14, 20 and 26.
  2. Apply Flame Shock as the mob closes. Its damage over time runs for 12 seconds while you keep casting.
  3. Keep casting Lightning Bolt. Eye of the Storm stops a hitting mob from delaying it.
  4. Finish a low mob with Earth Shock once Flame Shock has run out, instead of starting another cast.
  5. If a mob runs at low health, Frost Shock slows it by 50% for 8 seconds.

Two mobs

Drop Earthbind Totem between you and the second mob, kill the first with Lightning Bolt, then Flame Shock the second as it arrives. From 22, Fire Nova around your Searing Totem hits both.

Mana and downtime

  • Keep Lightning Shield up. When something hits you, a ball of lightning strikes back, at most one every few seconds, three balls per cast.
  • Every Clearcasting proc from Elemental Focus is a free spell. Spend it on Lightning Bolt, your most expensive filler.
  • Healing Stream Totem at 20 and Mana Spring Totem at 26 run for 5 minutes. Drop them on the camp you are clearing, not on every pull.
  • Heal yourself with Healing Wave between pulls only when you're above half mana; below that, drink.

Stat priority

Leveling

  1. Spell Power
  2. Intellect
  3. Stamina
  4. Spirit
  5. Critical Strike

Spell Power adds damage to every Lightning Bolt, and at levels 10–30 small amounts go a long way. Intellect gives mana and spell crit. Wear whatever armor carries Intellect and Spirit, and upgrade the moment a quest offers Spell Power.

Gear

What to look for

Take any armor with Spell Power first, then Intellect and Stamina. Quest rewards beat vendor gear at every level. A one-handed mace or axe with a shield is your default setup: Dwarves want the mace, Orcs the axe.

Weapons

Forever's caster weapons roll Spell Power at the levels where physical classes get their weapon upgrades, so a new caster weapon every 8–10 levels is normal. Take it even when it costs a few points of Intellect. A shield with Intellect or Stamina beats an off-hand with nothing.

Totem items

Your totems need the matching totem item in your bags: Earth Totem, Fire Totem, Water Totem and Air Totem. See the class quests in the Shaman leveling guide.

Professions

Herbalism and Alchemy is the Elemental pair. You burn Greater Arcane Elixirs, Mageblood Elixirs and mana potions every raid night, and Alchemy lets you make them yourself. Engineering is the raid alternative for its bombs and utility, paired with Mining to feed it.

For gold while leveling, take Herbalism and Skinning. Ghost Wolf lets you move between nodes fast, and both professions need nothing but your time.

Group play and dungeons

Your job in a group is damage, totems and interrupts, in that order.

  • Totems first. Every pull starts with the right set. Call of the Elements drops four at once, and you can bind two more sets to Call of the Ancestors at 30 and Call of the Spirits at 40: one for casters, one for melee, one for a fight that needs resistances.
  • Earth Shock interrupts. Earth Shock locks the school for 2 seconds on a 6-second cooldown. Assign yourself the healer mob on every pull with one.
  • Purge enemy buffs. Purge removes one magic effect; rank 2 at 32 removes two.
  • Cleansing totems. Poison Cleansing Totem and Disease Cleansing Totem remove a Poison or Disease from the party every 5 seconds, and Tremor Totem removes Fear, Charm and Sleep for 5 minutes.
  • Grounding Totem eats one harmful spell cast on a nearby party member every 10 seconds. Drop it before a boss's big single-target cast.
  • Resistance totems give up to 60 Fire, Frost or Nature resistance to the whole raid within 30 yards. Check the boss's damage school and drop the matching totem.
  • Off-heals and resurrection. You can heal a tank for a few seconds while the healer drinks, and Ancestral Spirit brings the healer back after a wipe.
Totem stacking

Two Shamans in the same group don't stack Windfury Totem or Grace of Air Totem, and Flametongue Totem doesn't stack with itself, a weapon imbue or Windfury Totem. Agree who drops which totem before the pull.

PvP

Elemental is a burst spec in PvP. Open with Flame Shock, follow with a Lava Burst for its 20% bonus, and finish with Lightning Bolts; Earth Shock shares the shock cooldown, so save it to interrupt a healer. Every PvP build should take Earthbound (the Elemental leveling build in our Shaman leveling guide has it at 49): Earthbind now roots everything nearby for 5 seconds when you drop it, which buys a full Lightning Bolt cast. Grounding Totem absorbs a Polymorph or Fear, and Tremor Totem breaks Fear on your whole team. Purge every Power Word: Shield and Blessing you see.

Tips

Flame Shock before Lava Burst

Lava Burst only gets its 20% bonus with your own Flame Shock on the target. Apply Flame Shock first, then Lava Burst, every time.

Shocks share a cooldown

Earth Shock, Flame Shock and Frost Shock all share one 6-second cooldown. If you Earth Shock to interrupt, your Flame Shock is late. Save Earth Shock for casts that matter.

Train at every even level. Lightning Bolt, Flame Shock and Searing Totem ranks are most of your damage. Level 32 brings Chain Lightning and Fire Nova rank 3.

Don't recast buff totems every pull. Strength of Earth, Mana Spring and Healing Stream last 5 minutes. Place them where you're clearing, and use Totemic Projection to move them with you. Searing and Magma Totem are the ones you drop fresh on each pull.

Keep an Ankh. Reincarnation needs one, and it saves a corpse run and a resurrection every hour.

Lightning Shield adds damage while leveling. A mob that hits you takes a Nature hit, at most one ball every few seconds and three balls per cast. It costs mana, so recast it between pulls.

Elemental Focus loves big spells. When Clearcasting procs, cast Chain Lightning or Lava Burst instead of Lightning Bolt.

Macros

Earth Shock that stops your current cast first, so you can interrupt out of a Lightning Bolt.

Stop and Earth Shock
#showtooltip Earth Shock
/stopcasting
/cast Earth Shock

Purge your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

Focus Purge
#showtooltip Purge
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Purge

Totemic Projection at your cursor: your totems land where you point.

Cursor Projection
#showtooltip Totemic Projection
/cast [@cursor] Totemic Projection

Lesser Healing Wave on whoever your mouse is over, or on yourself if it's over nothing friendly.

Mouseover heal
#showtooltip Lesser Healing Wave
/cast [@mouseover,help,nodead][@player] Lesser Healing Wave

Ghost Wolf that never cancels itself when you press it twice.

Ghost Wolf
#showtooltip Ghost Wolf
/cast !Ghost Wolf

Changelog

  • Guide published with Level 30, Level 60 Raid and Level 60 Dungeon builds.

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