WoW WotLK Elemental Shaman guide: PvE and PvP talents, pumping

WoW WotLK Elemental Shaman force of nature, literally. Bending items to their will, they’re incredibly powerful if you have the right set of talents, so here’s a look at what you’ll need for PvP and PvE, as well as how to level up quickly in Blizzard’s MMO.

Shamans are one of the darker classes in WoW WotLK Classic. Divided into three different specializations (Elements, Enhancement, and Recovery), they can be played as a DPS or Healer, depending on which path you choose. Elemental Shaman is a damage spec armed to the teeth with the fury of nature and determined to make mincemeat of its enemies. This assumes you have the proper build and desire to go through the leveling process, because despite their magical prowess, they are one of the most difficult classes to play early in the game.

You like challenges? Then here is an overview of everything you need to know to play an elemental shaman in WoW WotLK; from the best PvE and PvP builds to how to level up efficiently.

Best race for WotLK Elemental Shaman

Only a select few races can play Shaman in WotLK, so you’re a bit more limited than usual. For Horde players, we recommend Troll for PvE-oriented warriors and Orc for PvP. Orc is also second only to Troll in terms of PvE, so if he wants to do both, this might be the better option. On the Alliance side, the Draenei are the only real option, mainly because they are the only race in the Alliance that can choose a class.

These races were chosen based on their synergy with specialization talents. In PvE, Troll’s Beast Slay increases damage dealt to animals by 5% and Berserk increases attack and cast speed by 10%. There isn’t really a downside here, especially since you can also get additional health regeneration with regeneration. Orcs, on the other hand, can counter pesky stuns in PvP harshly, and Blood Fury increases spell damage and healing, perfect for ranged DPS.

While you’re pretty much stuck with the draenei on the Alliance side, his Naaru feat is great with healing spells, healing players for 50 damage, and Heroic Presence increases hit chance by one, helping your group as a whole.

The best PvE talents for elemental shaman in WotLK

So you decided to kill monsters and not other people, that’s probably a good thing. For a PvE elemental shaman, the build is pretty strict, as you have to make sure you’re dealing with the poor mana pool of the class and also make sure you get your metaphor dollar for it. Below is the default build for PvE and we recommend sticking to it as much as possible.

Best PvP Talents for Elemental Shaman in WotLK

So instead of monsters, you want to rack your brains in the arena. It’s a dangerous course of action, but playing Elemental Shaman is one of the best options in PvP. You can deal massive amounts of damage from a distance, which means you can destroy health bars with the right talent. We have listed them below.

Elemental shaman level in WotLK Classic

Before we continue, you should know that leveling up an elemental shaman is tricky. The class has a mediocre mana pool, which means that if something goes wrong, you’ll have to fight. Even when things are going well, there are very few spells that really help you on defense, so you can find yourself constantly in the red. We say prepare to die, a lot.

If you’re willing to put up with countless gray screens, it’s worth it, as the class becomes incredibly powerful as you level up. To help yourself out, make sure to drop your Earth Power, Mana Spring, Wrath of Air, and Totem of Wrath totems whenever you can. These spells strengthen earth, water, air, and fire respectively and can help you tenfold. It’s also worth getting an Earthbind totem if you find your defensive stats aren’t very good. You’ll want to place this between you and your enemy to slow their progress.

When the fight starts, make sure you have a flame tongue weapon and a water shield. You can then use Chain Lightning in combination with Elemental Mastery while it’s on cooldown. Then continue killing with Flame Shock if your enemy survives the duration, or Earth Shock if the health bar is too high. If they’re still alive, lightning fast will seal the deal.

For those with a few more totems, you can throw a Stoneclaw totem to permanently stun enemies that attack it. You can take some out and let the others attack the totem, then use Fire Nova to destroy the enemies you chained up. Ring of Fire also works well with the Earthbind defensive totem we mentioned earlier, and will be even stronger if you have fire totems active at the same time, like Magma or Totem of Wrath.

The path of an elemental shaman in WoW is not an easy one, but I hope this guide will help you become the most devastating ranged fighter Azeroth has ever seen. If you want to try one of the other classic WoW classes, be sure to check out our WotLK Death Knight WoW guide if he’s looking for something a little more powerful.