Shaman

Before you read

• Beta was capped at 30. Everything from 31 to 60 below is from data, not play.
• Talent text is from talentsforever (beta build 70630) checked against our 70009 client. Numbers can still move.

Elemental (ranged caster)

• New Earthbound (16-point pick): casting Earthbind Totem roots nearby enemies for 5 sec.
• New Lava Burst (21-point talent, moved up on 16 Oct). Keep Flame Shock on the target for it.
• Elemental Mastery is the 31-point talent and needs Lava Burst. In Forever it also speeds up Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst and drops the Chain Lightning cooldown for 15 sec.
• Elemental Alacrity cuts the cast of Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning and Lava Burst. Call of Flame adds fire damage and a longer Flame Shock.

Enhancement (melee, off-tank option)

• Stormstrike moved up to the 16-point slot, so it lands at 25.
• New Mental Dexterity: attack power equal to your Intellect. New Mental Quickness: spell power from part of your Intellect.
• New Maelstrom Weapon: melee hits build stacks. Spend 5 stacks on Lightning Bolt.
• New Improved Stormstrike: mana regen while casting for 15 sec, and dodges or parries can reset Stormstrike.
• New Shamanistic Focus: cheaper Shocks and Lightning Shield.
• New Rage of the Farseer (31-point): +30% attack speed for 25 sec, 3 min cooldown. Blizzard removed its spell cast speed part in beta.
• Spirit Weapons gives parry and lowers threat, or raises it while Rockbiter is on.

Restoration (healer)

• Mana Tide Totem moved up to the 16-point slot (25).
• New Riptide (31-point): instant heal plus a heal over time on a short cooldown. Chain Heal heals more on a target with Riptide.
• New Water Shield: orbs return mana, and your spell crits also give mana back.
• New Mindfulness: part of your mana regen keeps ticking while you cast. Every spec can take it.

Levelling

• Enhancement is the pick: three guides agree.
• Elemental is weak at low levels and gets good once Lava Burst and the deep talents arrive.
• Option: a Resto mana build (Mindfulness, Water Shield) to 30, then respec Enhancement.
• Every build, as an interactive tree you can step through by level, is on the Builds tab. The levelling tree and rotation are on the Levelling tab.
• New Ghost Wolf: client data says a 3 sec cast, and Improved Ghost Wolf 2/2 makes it instant and usable indoors. ! Icy Veins says a shorter base cast. Check in game.

Roles

• Elemental: ranged dps. Enhancement: melee dps. Restoration: healer.
• Tank: ! unconfirmed. Some guides pitch Enhancement with Spirit Weapons and Rockbiter as a dungeon off-tank. Shaman is not on Icy Veins' tank tier list and the client has no single-target taunt, only Stoneclaw Totem.
• Icy Veins raid tier lists have no ranking yet for any spec.

Totems (all specs)

• New Call of the Elements (20), Ancestors (30) and Spirits (40) drop up to 4 totems with one 3 sec cast.
• New Totemic Projection (22) moves your totems up to 30 yd. Totemic Recall (20) picks them up for some mana back.
• New Fire Nova is now a spell that goes off from your active Fire totem. Fire Nova Totem is gone.
• New Strength of Earth, Grace of Air, Windfury and Flametongue Totems now buff the whole raid.
• Flametongue Totem no longer stacks with Windfury Totem. With Windfury or Flametongue Weapon on your main hand, your own matching totem does nothing for you.

Rotation: Elemental

Rotation: Enhancement

Rotation: Restoration

Stats

• New Melee, ranged and spell hit are now one stat, and crit the same. Blizzard names Enhancement as a big winner.
• New Bonus healing now also includes a third of your bonus spell damage.
• Top stat: spell damage (Elemental), weapon dps (Enhancement), healing (Resto). Guides agree on that.
• ! The order after the top stat differs between Icy Veins and Warcraft Tavern for every spec. No hit cap number is confirmed yet.

Races (Horde)

• Orc: Blood Fury (+10% attack and spell power for 15 sec, 2 min), Shatter Curse (removes curses, less magic damage for a moment), Hardiness (stuns 20% shorter). Command only helps Hunter and Warlock pets.
• Troll: Berserking (10% haste for 15 sec), Regeneration (some regen in combat), Rapid Regeneration (a burst heal over 6 sec), Beast Slaying.
• Tauren: War Stomp, Endurance (5% health), Plainsrunning (speed builds while you run, not mounted), Cultivation.
• New Skyborne Windshaper: Walk on Air, Skysight (+15% run speed for 15 sec, 30% at an elemental convergence), Wind Blessed (2% haste), Elemental Insight (5% vs elementals).
• Icy Veins and Warcraft Tavern both pick Orc. Part of their reasoning is gone: Blizzard swapped Axe Specialization for Savage on 16 Oct, then removed Savage on 26 Oct. Blood Fury now has a 2 min cooldown.
• PvP realm: Icy Veins and Warcraft Tavern both rate Orc for PvP. Icy Veins says Hardiness is especially strong in PvP, and Grounding Totem is a great counter to crowd control there.
• One guide says race choice is within about 1% damage. Pick what you like.

Professions

• New Skinning makes a Camp Chair: 2% crit for anyone sitting at the campfire.
• New Leatherworking makes a Camp Tent: Rested XP of 5% of a level.
• New Alchemy makes a Mana Well: mana every 5 sec at the fire. Alchemy potions and elixirs also help.
• ! Pairing pick from one source only (Icy Veins): Skinning plus Leatherworking for levelling. Enchanting if you can afford it, for the Polished Driftwood Icon relic.
• ! unconfirmed: Cooking food now also gives +5% XP for a while (Icy Veins only).

Gear

• Rage of the Storm (Call of Air totem quest) is a named levelling upgrade in two guides.
• No pre-raid or BiS list is sourced yet. We will post one after launch.

Sources Blizzard dev notes · Blizzard deep dive · Blizzard campfire · Icy Veins · talentsforever · wowtbc

How to load a build

• Two links per build. The Icy Veins guide steps through it point by point. talentsforever shows the final tree.
• Wowhead Forever calculator: click the points in by hand. We have no verified Wowhead share string.
• Orders are Icy Veins' levelling builds (updated 17-18 Oct, after the 16 Oct talent changes). We replayed every point against the current trees: all legal.
• New 16-point talents are the row 4 one-pointers: Earthbound, Stormstrike, Mana Tide Totem.
• New Legacy "Talented" can start your points up to 5 levels early. You still end on 51.

Enhancement 8/32/11 (levelling, dungeon)

Icy Veins · talentsforever

Enhancement notes

• wowtbc's levelling order matches to 40, except point 24 goes into Ancestral Knowledge. It then takes Rage of the Farseer at 49.
• Both guides take the Resto mana talents (Tidal Focus, Mindfulness) before the capstone.
• Levelling as Resto first (optional): some players level to 30 on Resto (Mindfulness, Water Shield), then respec Enhancement. Use the first 11 points of the Resto build.

Dungeon off-tank ! unconfirmed

• Conquest Capped lists an Enhancement tank build (0/40/11 with Toughness and Anticipation). Shaman has no single-target taunt in the client, only Stoneclaw Totem, and is not on Icy Veins' tank tier list.
• Conquest Capped's calculator could not be read, so the tree above is built from its text: every Enhancement tank talent up to Rage of the Farseer, plus Tidal Focus 5, Mindfulness 3, Improved Reincarnation 2 and Water Shield. The last 6 Enhancement points are our pick: Ancestral Knowledge 5 and Earth's Grasp 1 (tougher Stoneclaw Totem). Our theory, untested.
• Use Rockbiter Weapon so Spirit Weapons raises threat.

Elemental 33/7/11 (dungeon, raid)

Icy Veins · talentsforever

• Most guides level Enhancement and respec Elemental at 30 or later. wowtbc's alternative level-60 Elemental build is also 33/7/11.

Restoration 0/7/44 (dungeon, raid)

Icy Veins · talentsforever

Dungeon builds at 30 (Icy Veins)

Icy Veins' 21-point builds for level 30, the beta cap (PvE guides updated 25-28 Oct). Played in the beta.

Elemental at 30 (21/0/0)

Enhancement at 30 (0/21/0)

Restoration at 30 (0/0/21)

Raid builds at 60 ! theory, untested

• Nobody has played past 30 and raids open 9 Dec. These are wowtbc.gg's "Standard" Forever builds (read 31 Oct), checked talent by talent against the game's tree. One source.
• Each spec's raid rotation sits under its tree.

Enhancement (wowtbc, 17/33/1) · talentsforever

Elemental (wowtbc, 32/11/8) · talentsforever

Restoration (wowtbc, 0/12/39)

PvP at 60 ! theory, one source

• RankedBoost's Elemental PvP build (31/20/0), built on beta client 70450. Low confidence: one source, and nobody has played 60 yet.

Classic Era for comparison

Long-standing Classic Era builds, to compare with Forever. Open any of them in the planner to flip between the two games.

Macros

! Untested on the Forever client until launch.

• Shock then shield (Enhancement), from Conquest Capped. One line, paste as is:

/castsequence reset=combat Earth Shock, Water Shield

• Riptide on your mouseover, else your target:

#showtooltip
/cast [@mouseover,help][] Riptide

• Ghost Wolf that won't cancel itself on a double tap:

/cast !Ghost Wolf

Cooldown Manager (our suggestion)

• New Turn it on in Options, Gameplay Enhancements. It is off by default.
• Main row, Enhancement: Stormstrike, Earth Shock, Flame Shock.
• Main row, Elemental: Lava Burst, Flame Shock, Chain Lightning.
• Main row, Resto: Riptide, Nature's Swiftness, Mana Tide Totem.
• Second row: Rage of the Farseer or Elemental Mastery, your racial (Blood Fury, Berserking, War Stomp), trinkets, Totemic Projection, Grounding Totem.
• All ranks of a spell now show as one entry. Consumables come in a later patch.
• Weapon imbues such as Windfury Weapon can't be tracked yet (known issue).

Sources talentsforever · Blizzard dev notes · Blizzard known issues · Icy Veins Enh · Icy Veins Ele · Icy Veins Resto · Conquest Capped tank · wowtbc

New What changed for levelling a Shaman

• Stormstrike is the 16-point talent: level 25, 8 sec cooldown (was 31 points and 20 sec).
• Weapon imbues last 60 min (were 5) and stack with sharpening stones and weight stones.
• Totems: 1 sec global cooldown, buff totems last 5 min. Totemic Recall and Call of the Elements at 20, Totemic Projection at 22.
• Improved Ghost Wolf 2/2: Ghost Wolf is instant and works indoors.
• Mental Dexterity turns Intellect into attack power. Shamanistic Focus cuts Shock and Lightning Shield cost by 45%.
• Fire Nova is now a spell that goes off at your active Fire totem. Blizzard cut its damage on 16 Oct Beta
• Skyborne Windshapers do their Earth and Fire quests on Zephras Isle.

Which spec, when

• Enhancement 10-60. Icy Veins, Warcraft Tavern, Method and Conquest Capped all pick it. On our averaged tier list Shaman is 5th of 9 classes for levelling speed.
• Icy Veins on Enhancement: high burst, strong AoE early, lots of self-healing, very mobile from 20. Weak points: very high mana costs, needs weapon upgrades, slow to reach key talents.
• Optional Resto start. Icy Veins and Conquest Capped: take Mindfulness and Water Shield first, then respec Enhancement (Icy Veins at 25, Conquest Capped at 30). Use the first 11 points of the Resto order on Shaman builds. Beta respec cost started at 1 silver; launch price not announced.
• Elemental. Weak early (Blizzard says so). Conquest Capped: not recommended for levelling.
• New Dual Specialization at 40: keep a Resto spec for dungeons.

AoE levelling: what works

• Tools: Fire Nova (12, 10 sec cooldown, needs a Fire totem down), Magma Totem (26), Chain Lightning (32, 3 targets).
• Icy Veins plays the same priority on packs: alternate Flame Shock and Earth Shock, Fire Nova when mana allows. It also lists "can get overwhelmed by multiple enemies" as a weakness.
• Blizzard cut Fire Nova's damage and mana cost on 16 Oct; Conquest Capped now calls it an AoE tool, not a shock replacement. Chain Lightning got 35% cheaper the same day Beta
• No Forever source shows a Shaman big-pull levelling style. Expect 2 or 3 mobs per pull on the SF-Speed counter, and green mobs give less XP (see Levelling).

Enhancement talents (main build)

• Icy Veins' levelling order, the same as on Shaman builds (calculator links there).
• Why this order (Icy Veins): cheap Shocks at 20, Stormstrike as early as possible, mana back from Improved Stormstrike at 30, then Mindfulness and Water Shield before the deep talents. Maelstrom Weapon and Rage of the Farseer cost a lot of points for little levelling return.
• New Stormstrike is the row 4 one-pointer: it needs 15 points in Enhancement, so 25 is the earliest without Legacy.
• New Legacy Talented can start points up to 5 levels early, so Stormstrike at 20 on an alt. You still end on 51 (see Legacy system).
• Improved Ghost Wolf is done at 19, before you learn Ghost Wolf at 20.

Elemental and Restoration talents

Not the levelling pick, but here if you want them: Icy Veins' full orders, the same as on Shaman builds.

Restoration (0/7/44). Its first 11 points are the optional Resto start: Tidal Focus, Mindfulness, Improved Healing Wave 2, Water Shield.

Elemental (33/7/11). Weak early; most guides respec into it at 30 or later.

Rotation while levelling

Trainer: what unlocks when, and what to skip

Beta client data; (q) = class quest; ! = not in our client data, level from Warcraft Tavern / RestedXP

Not every rank is listed past 30: odd levels and some resistance or healing ranks are left out.

• Always train: Shocks (your main damage, Icy Veins), Windfury Weapon, Healing Wave and Lightning Shield ranks, your buff totems.
• New Every new Lightning Bolt rank is an upgrade over the last (Blizzard, 8 Oct) Beta
• Can wait if gold is short (our read, not a published rule): resistance totems, Windwall, Sentry, Chain Heal, Ancestral Spirit ranks. Lightning Bolt middle ranks too, if you pull with rank 1 like Icy Veins, until Maelstrom Weapon (47).
• Training costs are not published for Forever. Blizzard's only figure: Totemic Recall costs 22 silver Beta

Class quests: Earth (4) and Fire (10)

RestedXP Forever steps and ForeverChanges' quest data. Beta checked to 30.

• Earth, Orc/Troll (4): Canaga Earthcaller, Valley of Trials. Bring 2 Felstalker Hooves, drink the Earth Sapta at Spirit Rock, speak to the Minor Manifestation of Earth, hand the Rough Quartz back to Canaga.
• Earth, Tauren (4): Seer Ravenfeather, Camp Narache. 2 Ritual Salves from Bristleback Shamans, Earth Sapta at Kodo Rock, same finish.
• Earth, Skyborne (from 3): New Windshaper Boro, Thendal Village, Zephras Isle. Signet of Akir, then the Earth Sapta at the Rise of Spirits.
• Reward: Stoneskin Totem and the Earth Totem.
• Fire, Orc/Troll (10): Swart, Razor Hill. Tauren: Narm Skychaser, Bloodhoof Village.
  • Kranal Fiss at Far Watch Post (Barrens), then Telf Joolam on the narrow mountain path in Durotar. Do not fall off.
  • Fire Tar from Razormane in the Barrens, Reagent Pouch from Burning Blade Cultists in Dustwind Cave (Durotar).
  • Fire Sapta, kill the Minor Manifestation of Fire, light the brazier, carry the torch back to Kranal Fiss.
• Fire, Skyborne (10): New Sessaria Skystride, Valanaar, then Olariaan Swiftburn. Ends with a timed run back with the Eternal Flame.
• Reward: Searing Totem and the Fire Totem. New Warcraft Tavern and ForeverChanges both say Call of Fire also gives a relic; ForeverChanges names it Totem of Charged Flames !
• ! Warcraft Tavern says the Earth, Fire, Water and Air Totem items must stay in your bags, as in Classic. The items are in the beta client.

Class quests: Water (20) and Air (30)

• Water (20): Searn Firewarder, Orgrimmar (Warcraft Tavern adds Thunder Bluff). Then Islen Waterseer (Barrens, east near Ratchet), then Brine in the southern Barrens: fill the waterskin below her hut.
• ! Classic steps after that, unconfirmed for Forever: waterskins from the Tarren Mill well and the Ruins of Stardust (Ashenvale), then a corrupted elemental at the Brazier of Everfount in Silverpine. Reward: Healing Stream Totem and the Water Totem.
• Icy Veins: do it over time while questing, it is a lot of travel.
• Air (30): Searn Firewarder (Orgrimmar) or Xanis Flameweaver (Thunder Bluff), to Prate Cloudseer in Thousand Needles. Gives the Air Totem.
• New The weapon chain (Conquest Capped; Icy Veins and Warcraft Tavern agree on the reward):
  • Elemental Aid: kill Charlga Razorflank in Razorfen Kraul, loot the Tattered Note. The Horde version cannot be shared.
  • Storm, Earth, and Fire: 5 Twisted Totems each from Mirefin murlocs (Dustwallow), Maraudine centaur (Desolace), Lost Ones (Swamp of Sorrows), Dustbelcher ogres (Badlands). Only drops with the quest in your log. Mobs 34-42, all contested zones.
  • Blizzard sped up those respawns and drops on 8 Oct Beta
  • Heed My Call (elite): waves at the Thousand Needles steam pools, then the elite Ravaging Tempest. Bring a group at 30.
  • The Tempest's Weapons: Bath'rah the Windwatcher, Alterac Mountains.
• Reward pick: Rage of the Storm (slow two-handed mace, item level 40, Stormstrike deals 10% more), Lightning's Grasp (Ele) or Tidebringer's Claw (Resto).

Gear and stats while levelling

• Weapon damage first: every guide agrees. Icy Veins wants a slow two-hander, about 3.3 to 3.8 speed.
• Before 30: Rockbiter Weapon on a two-hander or a one-hander and shield (Method, Conquest Capped). It beats Flametongue and Frostbrand at those levels.
• From 30: Windfury Weapon on a slow two-hander (Icy Veins, Method, Conquest Capped).
• Two-Handed Axes and Maces is baseline now (no talent). Train the skills early: Hanashi in Orgrimmar (axes), Ansekhwa in Thunder Bluff (maces). Staves you know already; RestedXP buys vendor staves up to 20.
• Stats after weapon damage differ by guide. Icy Veins: Strength, then Intellect (mana plus attack power through Mental Dexterity), then Spirit, Agility, Stamina. Method and Conquest Capped put Agility first.
• New Hit and crit are one stat for melee and spells. Icy Veins: rare on beta gear, take them when offered.
• Weapon path (Icy Veins, Horde): Axe of Orgrimmar (Hidden Enemies, 10-14), Forsaken Greataxe (The Wrath of Rath'mael, 15-22), Twilight Maul (Blackfathom Deeps, 23-28), Corpsemaker (Razorfen Kraul, 29), Rage of the Storm (30).
• Conquest Capped: Shaman wears leather until 40.

Professions, consumables, macros

• Leatherworking + Skinning: Icy Veins, Method and Conquest Capped pick it. Crafted leather (Totemic Leather pieces) plus your own Camp Tent (rested XP to 5% of a level).
• Enchanting (Icy Veins, Warcraft Tavern): crafts the Polished Driftwood Icon, a Shaman relic for level 20+.
• Alchemy: Mana Well at the campfire, useful for a mana-hungry class (Icy Veins).
• Cooking for the food XP bonus and First Aid for bandages: see Professions.
• New A Sharpening Wheel camp buff does not stack with your Strength of Earth Totem. Pick a different feature for your camp.
• Carry water always. Reagents: Ankh (Reincarnation), Fish Oil (Water Walking), Shiny Fish Scales (Water Breathing). The Legacy perk Reagent Economy removes vendor reagents.
• Legacy: Conquest Capped picks Thrill of Adventure first for a Shaman (health and mana back after kills).
• Macros, ! test at launch. Shock then shield (Conquest Capped), refreshes Water Shield on every second press. One line:

/castsequence reset=combat Earth Shock, Water Shield

• Cheap pull (Icy Veins pulls with rank 1):

/cast Lightning Bolt(Rank 1)

• Ghost Wolf that will not cancel on a double tap:

/cast !Ghost Wolf

Route

• Orc/Troll: RestedXP keeps Shaman in Durotar to 12 (Call of Fire runs through Durotar and the Barrens), then The Barrens. See Horde 1-22 in Levelling.
• Tauren: Mulgore 1-12, then The Barrens. Skyborne: Zephras Isle 1-12 (Earth and Fire done there), then Silverpine 12-14.
• 17-22 per Levelling. Pick up Call of Water at 20 when you are in Orgrimmar.
• ! Icy Veins' Horde zones past that (one source): Stonetalon, Ashenvale and Hillsbrad 22-25; Thousand Needles, Ashenvale and Hillsbrad 26-30. No verified route past 22 (see Levelling).
• Ghost Wolf from 20 shortens every walk between hubs.
• Shaman trainers: Orgrimmar, Thunder Bluff, the start zones, Razor Hill, Bloodhoof Village, Zephras Isle, and Haromm in Stonard.

Dungeon picks

• Icy Veins (Horde): Ragefire Chasm 10-17, Ruins of Lordaeron 15-20, Wailing Caverns 18-23, Shadowfang Keep 21-28, Blackfathom Deeps 24-28, City of Dalaran and Razorfen Kraul 29-30.
• Weapon stops: Hidden Enemies (Ragefire, Thrall), The Wrath of Rath'mael (Ruins of Lordaeron, Deathguard Kristof in Brill), Corpsemaker (Ramtusk, Razorfen Kraul).
• Razorfen Kraul at 30+: kill Charlga for Elemental Aid on the same run.
• ! Tanking: Method and Conquest Capped tank levelling dungeons with a one-hander and shield, Rockbiter and Spirit Weapons. Shaman has no single-target taunt. See Shaman builds.
• Blizzard: dungeons must not be the fastest way to level. Legacy points per bracket: see Dungeons.

Common mistakes

• Spamming Call of the Elements on every pull: 3 sec cast for four totems you rarely need. Drop them one by one.
• Windfury Weapon on your main hand means your own Windfury Totem does nothing for you. Flametongue Totem and Windfury Totem do not stack.
• Fire Nova goes off at your Fire totem: drop Searing first.
• Rage of the Farseer no longer speeds up casting (removed in beta). Some guides still say it does.
• Forgetting the weapon trainer: Icy Veins says learn two-handed axes and maces as early as possible.
• Leaving Call of Air late: it is the best weapon you will see for a long time, but the elite step needs a group.
• Overkilling with mana: let melee finish low mobs, then heal with Healing Wave between pulls.

Unverified until launch

• Everything past 30: beta was capped there.
• Rage of the Storm stats (nerfed twice in beta) and the Water chain past Brine.
• Whether totem items must stay in your bags; Rockbiter, Flametongue and Frostbrand Weapon learn levels.

Sources Blizzard Mage and Shaman deep dive · Blizzard dev notes · Icy Veins Enhancement levelling · Warcraft Tavern · Method · Conquest Capped · Conquest Capped weapon quest · ForeverChanges · RestedXP