Enhancement Shaman Guide — Class Guides · WoW Wrath of the Lich King

Melee damage with weapon enchantments, Stormstrike and Flurry. The usual leveling tree.

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, Leveling
Top talent: Feral Spirit
Popular builds: 3
Version: WoW Wrath of the Lich King

How to play

Enhancement in Wrath weaves melee and spells: Maelstrom Weapon stacks from your melee hits until Lightning Bolt or Chain Lightning is instant, Lava Lash and Stormstrike are your strikes, Feral Spirit summons two wolves, and Mental Quickness turns attack power into spell power.

Windfury Weapon on the main hand, Flametongue on the off-hand; Stormstrike, Lava Lash, Flame Shock and Earth Shock when ready, and an instant Lightning Bolt at five Maelstrom stacks. Fire Nova and Magma Totem handle packs.

Enhancement brings Windfury Totem and Unleashed Rage to the raid and is strong in arenas.

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 Wrath of the Lich King.

Rotation and priorities

1Windfury Weapon on the main hand, Flametongue Weapon on the off-hand.
2Windfury Totem, Strength of Earth and a fire totem.
3Lightning Bolt at five Maelstrom Weapon stacks.
4Stormstrike and Lava Lash when ready.
5Flame Shock kept up; Earth Shock otherwise.
6Feral Spirit and Shamanistic Rage with trinkets and Heroism.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

Strong damage from both melee and spells.
Windfury Totem and Unleashed Rage for the raid.
Feral Spirit and your own heals.

Weaknesses

A busy priority.
Needs two good weapons.
Totem upkeep.

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
Hitto 263 rating for melee; spells want more
2
Expertise
3
Attack power
4
Haste
5
Critical strike
6
Agility

What to look for

Two one-handed weapons with high damage.
Hit and expertise first, then attack power and haste.
Some spell hit helps Lightning Bolt and shocks land.

Items worth chasing

Deathbringer's WillA trinket that procs Strength, Agility or haste.
Darkmoon Card: GreatnessA trinket that procs your best stat.
Tiny Abomination in a JarA trinket that stores up a free extra attack.

Builds

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

Elemental
Enhancement
Restoration

Enhancement Raider
DamagePvE
1952
19/52/0
Raid damage with 52 points in Enhancement, down to Feral Spirit, and 19 in Elemental.
- Lava Lash 1/1
- Mental Quickness 3/3
- Shamanistic Rage 1/1
- Maelstrom Weapon 5/5
- Feral Spirit 1/1
Glyphs: Glyph of Fire Nova (major), Glyph of Flametongue Weapon (major), Glyph of Feral Spirit (major)
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Enhancement Gladiator
DamagePvP
1457
14/57/0
Arena and battleground damage with 57 points in Enhancement, down to Feral Spirit, and 14 in Elemental.
- Lava Lash 1/1
- Mental Quickness 3/3
- Shamanistic Rage 1/1
- Maelstrom Weapon 5/5
- Feral Spirit 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting
Enhancement Leveling
DamageLeveling
1655
16/55/0
Leveling with 55 points in Enhancement, down to Feral Spirit, and 16 in Elemental.
- Lava Lash 1/1
- Mental Quickness 3/3
- Shamanistic Rage 1/1
- Maelstrom Weapon 5/5
- Feral Spirit 1/1
Open in the talent calculator Theorycrafting Talent order by level

Key talents

Feral Spirit · top talent, up to 1
Summons two Spirit Wolves under the command of the Shaman, lasting 45 sec.
Dual Wield Specialization · tier 7, up to 3
Increases your chance to hit while dual wielding by an additional 6%.
Dual Wield · tier 7, up to 1
Allows one-hand and off-hand weapons to be equipped in the off-hand.
Stormstrike · tier 7, up to 1
Instantly attack with both weapons. In addition, the next 4 sources of Nature damage dealt to the target from the Shaman are increased by 20%. Lasts 12 sec.
Static Shock · tier 8, up to 3
You have a 6% chance to hit your target with a Lightning Shield orb charge when you deal damage with melee attacks and abilities, and your Lightning Shield gains 6 additional charges.
Lava Lash · tier 8, up to 1
You charge your off-hand weapon with lava, instantly dealing 100% off-hand Weapon damage. Damage is increased by 25% if your off-hand weapon is enchanted with Flametongue.
Improved Stormstrike · tier 8, up to 2
When you Stormstrike, you have a 100% chance to immediately grant you 20% of your base mana.
Mental Quickness · tier 9, up to 3
Reduces the mana cost of your instant cast Shaman spells by 6% and increases your spell power by an amount equal to 30% of your attack power.
Shamanistic Rage · tier 9, up to 1
Reduces all damage taken by 30% and gives your successful melee attacks a chance to regenerate mana equal to 15% of your attack power. This spell is usable while stunned. Lasts 15 sec.
Maelstrom Weapon · tier 10, up to 5
When you deal damage with a melee weapon, you have a chance (higher than rank 4) to reduce the cast time of your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Lesser Healing Wave, Healing Wave, Chain Heal, or Hex spell by 20%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.

Enhancement 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.