The Game Dame

Sweet! Just like BRK and BBB, I got a letter asking me for some help. Imagine my delight!

“Hi Natalie. I have a level 30 shaman who I haven’t played much but would like to pick up again. Since I haven’t played her since before the 3.0.X patches, she is currently untalented. I was resto before, but would like to go elemental. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to suggest where to spend the talents, or suggest some sites that I could read which would help me. So much of the information that I find is geared towards endgame, and that helps somewhat, but doesn’t do much for where to put talents while leveling. My gear is mostly spellpower + intelligence based since I was resto, so I don’t think I will need to make many changes there.”

Well, thanks for asking, Little Shaman! It is true that you can find a whole lot of information out there for endgame. And, in fact, everyone and their mother (especially their mothers) has an opinion on how level 80s should spec. Simple Google searches will put you in touch with Elitist Jerks and WoW Insider jerks and lots of other jerks & non-jerks who believe they know more about the game than anyone else. In some cases, maybe they do. In most cases, though, who gives a rat’s patootie what they think? Especially about leveling and helping folks who don’t raid (yet or ever) or people who are simply trying to make it through Scarlet Monestary alive. As such, it is my pleasure to offer you my thoughts on your situation…

Here are two specs for your consideration. I recommend the first one, but you could also opt for the second one.

• Pure Elemental Tree: This build is the one I’d go with for PvE and leveling. It gets you the mana conservation of Elemental Focus as soon as possible. (I hate stopping to drink and I even resent having to carry mana pots. What am I, a Mage? Seriously.) At level 31, I’d take the final point on Eye of the Storm which helps you get your spells off without interruption.

• A Taste of Enhancement: This build skips Call of Flame for now, saving it for level 75 since some would argue that it doesn’t matter to you until you get Lava Burst — especially if you don’t use fire totems that much. [Tangent: There is a whole school of shamans out there who believe that, for the most part, totems are a waste of mana while leveling. I think this is a load of hooey. Granted, most solo fights don't require them, but there are many times when totems are quite useful even when not in a group. I used fire totems a lot when leveling, especially if I pulled too many mobs, almost like an extra DPS group member.] Okay, back to the spec. In this version you get to build a little into the Enhancement tree for the sake of Intellect, but it takes away some of your Elemental talent points. With this build, at 31 I’d take either Eye of the Storm or Ancestral Knowledge.

You’re dead-on, Little Shaman, as far as which stats to choose on gear. Spell power, Intellect, Crit, and Stamina are great for Elemental shamans. You’ll find that sometimes the cloth item will prove better than the mail item (you don’t need Agility unless you change to Enhancement) but as often as possible, stick to mail. In later levels you’ll have a chance to beef up your Hit Rating and Haste.

As for where to go as you progress further along, you can check out my build on the armory for reference. Some people will argue that Thunderstorm is only useful in PvP, but I disagree. I find it’s a good panic button in PvE when you get overwhelmed with mobs and need to get off a heal or just get the heck outta there. (Note that I only use Thunderstorm in group settings if chaos ensues and a wipe is imminent. God help you if you knock mobs off the tank and into the healer.) If you don’t want to take Thunderstorm, then I’d use that point in Thundering Strikes or Elemental Weapons in the Enhance tree.

As is the nature of the intarwebz, everyone has their own opinion. What advice do you readers have for our Little Shaman?

Shamans were given a free (forced?) respec today as part of the changes in Patch 3.0.8. My previous build was Elemental with some smatterings in the Resto tree so that I could be more efficient at off-healing. Turns out my guild is full of brilliant healers and other DPS hybrids who have more healy power than me, so I decided to ditch the pseudo-resto posing and just try to max out my DPS.

I liked what I saw in the first few levels of the Enhancement tree so I specced 14 points there instead of Resto. Respeccing plus the good things this patch brings for Elemental Shaman left me with some hefty improvement on my spellpower numbers, especially crits. Prior to the patch I’d been averaging 4500 on Lava Burst crits, but now I’m averaging close to 6000, with 6500 not that unusual. Wowser!

Sorry for not being able to link a live build. Seems that neither Blizzard’s nor Wowhead’s talent calculators have been updated yet so I had to take a screenshot.

My haste is now off the charts, too. I don’t even really need to wait for Lava Burst to cool down before using it (although I usually do to get some more damage out of Flame Shock).

When I used Elemental Mastery today, I noticed that it had changed. It stays up longer now, almost as if the buff is only timed now and doesn’t count how many spells you cast during the time (before you could only get the effect on 2 spells). I still see a counter on the buff but I don’t see the buff go away before the timer is up. I wonder if this is a bug or the new way the spell works now. Anyone see it in the patch notes? I missed it, apparently.