Elemental Shaman Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic

Ranged nature and fire damage: stronger, cheaper Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, and Elemental Mastery.

A caster and fighter in leather, and later mail, who calls on the elements with shocks and totems. Shamans heal, deal damage with Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, or fight in melee with weapon enchantments. More about the shaman

Class: Shaman
Roles: Damage
Used for: Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent: Elemental Mastery
Popular builds: 3
Version: WoW Classic

How to play

Elemental is the lightning-casting tree. Elemental Fury makes your spell crits hit much harder, Lightning Mastery cuts the cast time of Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, Elemental Focus makes the spell after a crit cheaper, and Elemental Mastery makes one spell a free, certain critical strike.

The rotation is short: Lightning Bolt as filler, Chain Lightning when it is ready, shocks when you have mana, and Elemental Mastery on a Chain Lightning or Lightning Bolt for burst. Mana is the limit, and lower ranks of Lightning Bolt are cheaper.

Elemental is strongest in player-versus-player play, where Elemental Mastery, a Chain Lightning and an Earth Shock land as one huge hit. In Classic raids it is held back by mana and threat.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Classic.

Rotation and priorities

1Drop the totems your group needs: Mana Spring and a fire totem where useful.
2Lightning Bolt as your main spell.
3Chain Lightning whenever it is ready, even on a single target.
4Elemental Mastery for a certain crit, saved for burst.
5Earth Shock to interrupt healers and casters; Flame Shock while moving.
6A lower rank of Lightning Bolt when mana runs low.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Very high burst with Elemental Mastery and Chain Lightning.
Earth Shock interrupts at range.
Can switch to healing when needed.

Weaknesses

Runs out of mana fast.
High threat in raids.
Damage built on crits is unreliable.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

1
Spell damagenature damage counts
2
Critical strike
3
Hitto 16% against bosses
4
Intellect
5
Mana per 5 sec
6
Stamina

What to look for

Spell damage and crit on mail, leather or cloth: early on, cloth caster pieces are often your best.
A one-handed mace or dagger with a shield, or a staff.
Mana per 5 seconds for longer fights.

Items worth chasing

Briarwood ReedSpell damage and healing in a trinket.
Talisman of Ephemeral PowerA burst of spell damage on use.
Neltharion's TearA trinket of spell damage and spell hit.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

Elemental
Enhancement
Restoration

Lightning Mastery Stormcaller
DamagePvE
3120
31/0/20
Raid Elemental: Lightning Mastery and Call of Thunder for faster, crit-heavy Lightning Bolts, Elemental Mastery for a free guaranteed crit and Restoration for mana.
- Elemental Focus 1/1
- Storm Reach 2/2
- Elemental Fury 1/1
- Lightning Mastery 5/5
- Elemental Mastery 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Storm and Swiftness
DamagePvP
3021
30/0/21
Elemental PvP with a heal on demand: Eye of the Storm and Storm Reach for longer, steadier Lightning Bolts, plus Nature's Swiftness for an instant big heal.
- Elemental Focus 1/1
- Storm Reach 2/2
- Elemental Fury 1/1
- Lightning Mastery 5/5
- Nature's Swiftness 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level
Flag Carrier Hunter
DamagePvP
3120
31/0/20
Burst built to drop flag carriers: Elemental Mastery into a guaranteed critical Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning, with Eye of the Storm and Elemental Warding to keep casting.
- Elemental Focus 1/1
- Storm Reach 2/2
- Elemental Fury 1/1
- Lightning Mastery 5/5
- Elemental Mastery 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Elemental Mastery · top talent, up to 1
When activated, this spell gives your next Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell a 100% critical strike chance and reduces the mana cost by 100%.
Elemental Warding · tier 2, up to 3
Reduces damage taken from Fire, Frost and Nature effects by 10%.
Call of Flame · tier 2, up to 3
Increases the damage done by your Fire Totems by 15%.
Elemental Focus · tier 3, up to 1
Gives you a 10% chance to enter a Clearcasting state after casting any Fire, Frost, or Nature damage spell. The Clearcasting state reduces the mana cost of your next damage spell by 100%.
Call of Thunder · tier 3, up to 5
Increases the critical strike chance of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by an additional 6%.
Improved Fire Totems · tier 4, up to 2
Reduces the delay before your Fire Nova Totem activates by 2 sec. and decreases the threat generated by your Magma Totem by 50%.
Eye of the Storm · tier 4, up to 3
Gives you a 100% chance to gain the Focused Casting effect that lasts for 6 sec after being the victim of a melee or ranged critical strike. The Focused Casting effect prevents you from losing casting time when taking damage.
Storm Reach · tier 5, up to 2
Increases the range of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by 6 yards.
Elemental Fury · tier 5, up to 1
Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Searing, Magma, and Fire Nova Totems and your Fire, Frost, and Nature spells by 100%.
Lightning Mastery · tier 6, up to 5
Reduces the cast time of your Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning spells by 1 sec.

Elemental Combat abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.