Shaman Class Guide — Class Guides · WoW Burning Crusade
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.
Draenei bring the shaman to the Alliance.
- Roles
- Damage, Healer
- Specializations
- 3
- Popular builds
- 7
- Version
- WoW Burning Crusade
How the shaman plays
In The Burning Crusade shamans come to both factions (Draenei for the Alliance) and become one of the most wanted raid classes: Bloodlust or Heroism speeds up the whole party for a short time, and totems such as Windfury, Wrath of Air and Mana Spring make a group much stronger.
Shocks still share a cooldown, Water Shield replaces mana regeneration for every spec, and Earth Shield gives Restoration a heal that sits on the tank.
Mana is still the limit, and totems still have to be dropped again after moving.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Bloodlust or Heroism: the strongest raid cooldown in TBC.
- Totems boost the whole party.
- Chain Heal and Earth Shield.
Weaknesses
- Totems only affect your party, so group placement matters.
- Few escapes.
- Mana runs short in every spec.
Specializations
The specs compared
Each spec rated from 1 to 5 at what it does in WoW Burning Crusade. Single and several targets mean damage for damage specs, healing for healers and threat for tanks; a spec's own guide names its ratings for its role.
| Rating |  Elemental |  Enhancement |  Restoration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single target | |||
| Several targets | |||
| Survivability | |||
| Utility | |||
| Solo and leveling | |||
| Ease of play |
- Elemental
Damage · 2 builds
Ranged nature and fire damage: stronger, cheaper Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning, and Elemental Mastery.
Top talent:
Elemental guide
Totem of Wrath - Enhancement
Damage · 3 builds
Melee damage with weapon enchantments, Stormstrike and Flurry. The usual leveling tree.
Top talent:
Enhancement guide
Shamanistic Rage - Restoration
Healer · 2 builds
Healing with Chain Heal, Healing Wave and healing totems.
Top talent:
Restoration guide
Earth Shield
Gear
- Mail; Enhancement dual-wields once it has the Dual Wield talent.
- Healers want +Healing, mana per 5 seconds and Intellect; Elemental wants spell damage, hit and crit; Enhancement wants hit, expertise, Strength and crit.
- Totems in the relic slot boost specific spells.
Each spec guide ranks its stats and says what to look for on its gear.
Shaman class quests
The quests that unlock class abilities, by the level each route starts at.