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Enhancement Shaman Guide for WoW Forever

Play Enhancement Shaman in WoW Forever: a level 30 leveling build, a Maelstrom Weapon raid build and a dungeon tank build, with rotation and totems.

ShamanEnhancementLevelingPvERaidsDungeonsDPSTankSolo

By stillsixty staffUpdated

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Variants

Overview

Enhancement is the Shaman who swings a two-handed axe or mace and throws lightning between swings. Forever rebuilt the tree around that idea. Maelstrom Weapon turns your melee hits into stacks that make your next Lightning Bolt instant and free. Stormstrike hits for full weapon damage and adds 20% to your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock. Rage of the Farseer caps the tree with 30% attack speed for 25 seconds.

The biggest change is how the spec scales. Mental Dexterity turns 100% of your Intellect into Attack Power, and Mental Quickness turns 30% of it into Spell Power. Intellect is a damage stat for you now, not just a mana pool, and gear with Strength and Intellect feeds both halves of your damage.

Enhancement is also the Shaman's leveling spec. Melee costs no mana, Shamanistic Focus makes your shocks cheap, and Improved Ghost Wolf gives you an instant, indoor Ghost Wolf from level 20. At 60 you have a raid build with real Lightning Bolt damage, and a tank build for five-player dungeons.

Strengths

  • Almost no downtime while leveling. You fight with a free melee swing and heal yourself between pulls.
  • Big, spiky damage: Windfury procs, Stormstrike and an instant Lightning Bolt that lands with the Stormstrike bonus.
  • Every stat you want is on the same gear. Strength, Intellect and Critical Strike all push both your melee and your spells.
  • Group buffs for melee: Strength of Earth Totem and one Air totem, Windfury Totem or Grace of Air Totem.
  • Instant Ghost Wolf and Reincarnation make travel fast and corpse runs rare.
  • A dungeon tanking build with dodge, parry, extra threat and Stormstrike resets.

Weaknesses

  • One weapon. Shamans don't dual wield, so your damage lives and dies on your two-hander.
  • Windfury is random. Your damage from pull to pull swings more than a Rogue's or Warrior's.
  • Every spell and totem costs mana, and melee doesn't restore any.
  • You stand in melee range. Cleaves, frontal breaths and knockbacks hit you like any other melee.
  • No single-target taunt. As a dungeon tank you hold mobs with threat alone, and Stoneclaw Totem is your only taunt: an 8-yard pull onto the totem.

What's new in Forever

New in Forever
  • Maelstrom Weapon (tier 6, 5 ranks): melee damage has a chance to take 20% off the cast time and mana cost of your next Lightning Bolt, stacking 5 times for 30 seconds. At five stacks Lightning Bolt is instant and free.
  • Stormstrike (requires level 40) strikes for normal weapon damage on an 8-second cooldown and adds 20% to your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock for 12 seconds. The bonus is yours alone.
  • Improved Stormstrike (new, 2 ranks): every Stormstrike gives 50% mana regeneration while casting for 15 seconds, and every dodge or parry resets Stormstrike's cooldown.
  • Mental Dexterity (3 ranks) gives Attack Power equal to 100% of your Intellect. Mental Quickness (2 ranks) gives Spell Power equal to 30% of it.
  • Rage of the Farseer (tier 7 talent, needs 30 points in Enhancement): +30% attack speed for 25 seconds on a 3-minute cooldown.
  • Shamanistic Focus (new): Shocks and Lightning Shield cost 45% less mana.
  • Thundering Strikes now gives 5% critical strike chance with spells as well as attacks, and Flurry gives up to 25% attack speed for 3 swings after a melee crit.
  • Spirit Weapons now also changes your threat: 30% less without Rockbiter Weapon, 30% more with it.
  • Improved Ghost Wolf at 2/2 makes Ghost Wolf instant and usable indoors.
  • Weapon imbues last 60 minutes. Windfury Weapon on your main hand stops you personally benefiting from Windfury Totem, and Flametongue Weapon does the same with Flametongue Totem.
  • Two-handed axes and maces need no talent. Flurry, Stormstrike and Windfury all work with your two-hander from the first point.

Talents

The leveling build. Thundering Strikes and Flurry keep your swings fast and critical, Mental Dexterity turns your Intellect into Attack Power, and Elemental Weapons and Ancestral Knowledge feed both. Ghost Wolf is instant from the moment you learn it at 20. Stormstrike requires level 40, so it waits for the 60 builds.

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

Elemental

0 points

Enhancement

21 points

Restoration

0 points

Talent order

  1. Levels 10–14: 5/5 Thundering Strikes. +5% critical strike chance with every attack and spell. It feeds Flurry later and Elemental Devastation at 60.
  2. Levels 15–17: 3/3 Mental Dexterity. Attack Power equal to all of your Intellect. At level 15 that is a large share of your total damage.
  3. Levels 18–19: 2/2 Improved Ghost Wolf. Ghost Wolf is instant and works indoors the moment you train it at 20, instead of a 3-second cast every time you move.
  4. Level 20: 1/1 Shamanistic Focus. Shocks and Lightning Shield cost 45% less mana.
  5. Levels 21–23: 3/3 Elemental Weapons. +20% to Rockbiter Weapon's Attack Power bonus, and later +40% to Windfury Weapon's.
  6. Level 24: 1/5 Ancestral Knowledge. +2% Intellect, which is +2% Attack Power from Intellect. It also opens tier 4.
  7. Levels 25–29: 5/5 Flurry. 25% attack speed for three swings after every melee crit. With 5% extra crit from Thundering Strikes, it's up for much of every fight.
  8. Level 30: 2/5 Ancestral Knowledge. +4% Intellect, which is more Attack Power, more mana and more healing between pulls.

Flexible points

  • Melee mobs hitting too hard: take 1/3 Anticipation at 30 instead of the second Ancestral Knowledge point for 2% dodge.
  • Leveling mostly in dungeons: take 2/2 Guardian Totems at 18–19 instead of Improved Ghost Wolf. Your Stoneskin Totem blocks 20% more for the whole party.

Races

Best races

Horde: Orc. Axe Specialization gives +1% critical strike chance with all attacks and spells while you hold an axe or two-handed axe, the weapon you want anyway. Blood Fury increases Attack Power and Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds every 2 minutes; line it up with Rage of the Farseer. Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%, and Shatter Curse blocks Curses and Banes for 8 seconds.

Horde tank: Tauren. Endurance adds 5% health and 1% Hit, and War Stomp stuns up to 5 enemies for 2 seconds when a pull goes wrong.

Alliance: Dwarf (new). Mace Specialization gives +1% critical strike chance with maces and two-handed maces. Stoneform removes Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases and cuts Physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds, which is also a tank cooldown.

All playable races

Rotation

Buffs

Single-target pull

  1. Pull with Flame Shock from 20 yards, or run in with the mob already tagged.
  2. Stand still and swing. Your two-hander does the damage.
  3. Use Earth Shock as your damage shock once Flame Shock is ticking, and keep it for casters that need interrupting.
  4. Flame Shock again when it drops off and your shocks are ready. Stormstrike joins this loop at 40.
  5. A mob that runs at low health gets Frost Shock.

Two mobs

Drop Searing Totem and fight both. Your Flame Shock goes on the one you aren't hitting, and the totem attacks one enemy at a time. If a third joins, Stoneclaw Totem taunts everything within 8 yards for a few seconds while you finish one.

Downtime

  • Heal between pulls with Healing Wave or higher ranks, and drink when you're under half mana.
  • Ghost Wolf between every camp. With Improved Ghost Wolf it's instant, so there's no reason to walk.

Stat priority

Leveling

  1. Strength
  2. Intellect
  3. Critical Strike
  4. Agility
  5. Stamina

Strength is your Attack Power. Intellect is Attack Power too, one to one through Mental Dexterity, and it pays for your shocks and heals. Critical Strike feeds Flurry. On a quest reward, a big weapon upgrade always beats anything on armor.

Gear

Weapons

Your two-hander is most of your damage while leveling. Buy or quest for a new one every 8–10 levels, and pick the slowest weapon with the highest top-end damage: Windfury procs from 30 add Attack Power to each extra hit, and Stormstrike at 40 hits for normal weapon damage, so a slow, heavy weapon keeps paying off. Orcs want axes, Dwarves want maces.

Armor

Take anything with Strength and Intellect, then Agility and Stamina. Intellect on caster leather is not wasted on you: it's Attack Power. Mail comes at 40.

Totem items

Keep Earth Totem, Fire Totem, Water Totem and Air Totem in your bags. The class quests are in the Shaman leveling guide.

Professions

Mining and Blacksmithing or Mining and Engineering is the raid pair. Blacksmiths make two-handed axes and maces along the way, and Engineering brings bombs and utility for tough fights.

Skinning and Mining is the leveling pair: you kill beasts all day, and both professions sell well on the auction house.

For gold, Skinning and Herbalism works too. Instant Ghost Wolf takes you from node to node without stopping.

Group play and dungeons

Your job as DPS is damage and totems. As a tank, it's threat and staying alive.

Totem stacking

Two Shamans in one group don't stack Windfury Totem or Grace of Air Totem. Flametongue Totem doesn't stack with itself, a weapon imbue or Windfury Totem. Split your totems with the other Shaman before the pull.

PvP

Enhancement kills fast in PvP. Stormstrike into a five-stack instant Lightning Bolt lands the Stormstrike bonus on a spell your target can't interrupt. Frost Shock keeps runners in range, Grounding Totem eats a Polymorph or Fear, and Tremor Totem breaks Fear for your team. Purge shields and Blessings on sight. Earthbind Totem slows everything around you, and Rage of the Farseer turns a stun on your target into a kill.

Tips

Save your stacks

Maelstrom stacks last 30 seconds. At five stacks, wait for Stormstrike if it's less than a couple of seconds away, then cast the instant Lightning Bolt inside the 20% window.

Imbue the right weapon

Windfury Weapon on your main hand turns off Windfury Totem for you, and Flametongue Weapon turns off Flametongue Totem. Use your own imbue and drop the totem for the rest of the group.

Your two-hander comes first. Replace your weapon before any other slot, and check the auction house at every trainer visit.

Intellect is a melee stat now. Don't vendor gear with Strength and Intellect.

Ghost Wolf everywhere. Instant and indoors at 2/2 Improved Ghost Wolf, it's faster than walking into any cave.

Train Flame Shock and Earth Shock ranks. They cost 45% less with Shamanistic Focus, and every new rank hits harder.

Macros

Stormstrike that also starts your auto-attack, so a fresh target never goes unhit.

Stormstrike
#showtooltip Stormstrike
/startattack
/cast Stormstrike

Earth Shock that interrupts your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

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

Rage of the Farseer with your racial in one press. Orcs use Blood Fury; Trolls replace it with Berserking.

Burst
#showtooltip Rage of the Farseer
/cast Blood Fury
/cast Rage of the Farseer

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

Ghost Wolf
#showtooltip Ghost Wolf
/cast !Ghost Wolf

Totemic Projection at your cursor: move your totems onto the boss without walking.

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

Changelog

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

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