Hi, my name is Caperfin and welcome to my guide! For a long time there's been some negative stigma surrounding shaman dps in World of Warcraft, many players don't consider them optimal sources of damage and not worth a second look. However, this stigma is typically fueled by misinformation or players refusing to go the extra mile to make it work and much rather give up halfway and play something else.

Introduction
Race
Profession
Buffs

• Mind Control Buffs

• Special Event Buffs

Debuffs
Mana-gement
Gear + Enchants
Talents
Totems
Spells
Rotations

Before continuing, its important to remember you are not only going a certain route but also playing a class that demands a great deal of effort for players to recognize. An elemental shaman in a raid has the ability to not only provide a decent amount of personal damage but also the capability of supporting other teammates.


Races play a big part as we are grasping for any amount of extra efficiency possible. Shamans are exclusive to the Horde and are available to three races: Orc, Tauren and Troll. This section will talk about the most popular and efficient race for our goals. Next, lets see the most beneficial race within the Horde. As previously mentioned, we are gifted with three possible races: Orc, Troll and Tauren but sadly our bovine and green brutish friends don't yield any racial benefits. Therefore, our eyes are mostly set on Troll. Lets breakdown Troll just to see how they are the ideal race to pick.

Throwing/Bow Specialization: Skill with Throwing/Bow Weapons increased by 5.
Regeneration: Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat.
Beast Slaying: Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%.
https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=20554/berserking: Increases your casting and attack speed by 10% to 30%. At full health the speed increase is 10% with...

What does this mean?: Going Troll is the optimal race for dealing as much damage as possible on a target, they especially excel on bosses categorized as beasts.

Other Races

If you are dead set on going Tauren or Orc, go ahead. This isn't to say you should be forced to play a certain race, rather that you should be aware of the differences and make the according decision that aligns with your preferences.

Nature Damage in WoW

As a point of reference, anything that resembles an elemental (noticeable in MC) will have a rather high resistance to nature damage. All the Dragons of Nightmare found in the outside world are also immune to nature damage or tend to have the same kind of lofty resistance to nature that they do to fire (server dependent). The same applies for some creatures in: AQ, ZG and Naxx. Basically, if an environment has a disease or poison theme, expect nature damage to be hampered. Here is a chart to better explain the notion. Do not fret, there are items to counter this unfortunate downside, ex: , and the debuff that originates from among pieces of gear which decrease the magical resistance of the boss. Additionally, there are items that flat out bolster nature damage such as the 3 piece bonus from https://classic.wowhead.com/itemset=501. As previously stated we must go above and beyond as an elemental shaman to compensate for this downside.


During the harsh and lengthy process of leveling, select Herbalism and Alchemy. A valid case can be made for also having a lvl 5 alt stationed permanently in a major city to disenchant unwanted items through mail and store items at a bank for later use. Back to the subject at hand, herbalism contributes convenient reagents for alchemy and a strong source of revenue for our eventual endgame professions. It also prevents players from spending an exorbitant portion of time pestering strangers in Orgrimmar to craft potions. The objective is straightforward, gather a substantial supply of gold and a bank chock-full of fruitful potions the raid might need.
Down below are a few notable potions:

http://classic.wowhead.com/item=21546
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13452
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13445
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=17708
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13453
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=20007
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=3825
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=3387
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=18253
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13446
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13444
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13510
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=8956
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=9088

Next, I advise dropping Herbalism once the quantity of gold in one’s bags is overflowing and adopt the late game profession: Engineering to scoop up damage dealing explosives and a few useful tools for fellow raid members and yourself, such as:

http://classic.wowhead.com/item=10725
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=10646
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=18232
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=16022
http://classic.wowhead.com/item=16005

Finally, for secondary professions, I urge grabbing all of them as they all provide valuable assets. In terms of fishing, you can farm those elusive Stonescale Eels that are highly contested after for Flask of the Titans and make a great profit. First aid grants bandages for healing that don't require any mana to use and Cooking provides you with http://classic.wowhead.com/item=18254.

As you probably know a character can have a theoretical cap of 32 beneficial buffs. The limit may differ from server to server or what is acknowledged as a buff. Also, some buffs are unobtainable due to certain patch restrictions or unable to stack with others. On a side note, I suggest installing NirkBuffRemover/NBR and Buffalo to help with overall buff management and ease of mind. Down below is a table of relevant buffs, separated into sub groups to better highlight their usefulness. Although, there is no strict order, you should still prioritize getting world buffs before obtaining other buffs.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=22589: +2% Spell Crit to all party members within 30 yards. (Does not stack with Moonkin Aura)
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=22888: +10% Spell Crit, +140 Attack power and +5% melee crit.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15366: +5% Spell Crit & Melee Crit, +15 all stats.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=22820: +3% Spell Crit.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=24858: +3% Spell Crit.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=18254: +10 Intellect.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=7764: +10 Intellect.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13937: +20 Intellect.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10157: +31 Intellect.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=20079: +50 spirit, +50 Stamina,
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=27841: +40 spirit for 30 min.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13511: +2000 mana for 2 hr. You can only have the effect of one flask at a time.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16609: +10 mana every 5 seconds, +15% Melee Haste, +300 Hp.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10497: +10 mana every 2 seconds.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=20007: +12 mana every 5 seconds.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=20748: +12 mana every 5 seconds. (A weapon buff & not a part of the 32 max buffs)
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=29166: +400% mana regen for 20 sec.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=23768: 10% damage. (A Intellect version of this buff also exists)
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13512: +150 damage done by magical spells & effects for 2 hr. Only 1 flask effect can be active at a time.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=13454: +20 damage dealt from spells & abilities.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=29534: +5% damage to melee, range and spell damage dealt.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10060: +20% spell damage & healing for 15 sec.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=17774: 2% chance when struck in combat of increasing all stats by 25 for 1 min.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=24425: +15 all stats, +10% move speed.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=9885: +16 all stats, +384 armor, +27 all resistances.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=21546: Increases spell fire damage by up to 40 for 30 min.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=8733: +15 frost damage, +5 Intellect and +5 spirit.

      https://classic.wowhead.com/item=3387/l ... ity-potion: Immune to physical attacks for 6 sec. (Also, prevents any threat generation for its duration)


Mind Control Buffs

I wouldn't be thorough if I didn't mention the wonderful world of Mind Control buffing. Refer to my video to learn more about Mind Control Buffing:




Special Event Buffs

On an ending note for buffs, we can also get buffs from special events/holidays. An example, is The Midsummer Fire Festival a seasonal event that celebrates the hottest season of the year. It starts on the (earthly) northern summer solstice, and lasts about two weeks (mid-late June to early July, usually). The next ones are Love is in the Air, Lunar Festival, Wickerman Festival and Scourge Invasion that all feature some useful buffs for dealing damage. It is possible for the Love is in the Air Capital Gift Collection buffs to be stacked with each other, ask around to find out its exact limits. The following buffs are separated by their event.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=22131: Increases Intellect by 30 for 1 hour.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=22134: Increases Intellect by 30 for 1 hour.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=23326: Increases damage done from spells by up to 23 for 1 hr.
      https://www.wowhead.com/spell=45444: 30% chance to deal 60 Fire dmg on any melee, ranged, or spell attack. (works outside only)
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=29338: Increases critical strike percent and spell critical strike percent by 3% for 1 hr.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/item=22238: Increases damage done from spells by up to 23 for 1 hr.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=26035: +10% to all stats for 30min.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=26393: All stats increased by 10% for 1hr.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=24705: Increase health & mana regeneration by 25% and Stamina by 25%.

      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=28681: Increases all damage caused by 10% for 30 minutes.

In conclusion, let's compile all of the buffs we have seen.
Here is a screenshot of the best buffs, we can get for our means: https://i.ibb.co/K7XR4Rh/dgdfgjh.png
Here is a screenshot of realistic buffs, we can get for our means: https://i.ibb.co/JsKTk7T/dfsdfwe.png


Having as many debuffs on the boss as possible is of paramount importance to dealing damage. Therefore, our interests are heavily tied to the release of patch 1.7, due to its extra 8 debuff slots introduction totaling to 16 debuffs. All debuffs on the list below benefit us in damage and are assumed to be at their maximum rank/talent improvement.

Mana-gement

When elemental shamans are talked about, they are often associated with going out of mana quickly. However, this is an outdated notion involving a lack of information or commitment from players to rectify. This isn't to say they never run out of mana, but rather that it is greatly exaggerated. Of course, the shorter a boss fight the better. Below is a list of mana regenerative items, you should look to acquire.

In order of granted mana:
      https://classic.wowhead.com/item=13444 grants a good chunk of mana and drops throughout the world quite often.
      https://classic.wowhead.com/item=18253 quite expansive but also grants health.
      https://classic.wowhead.com/item=12662 converts health into mana.
      https://classic.wowhead.com/item=14894 is created from a neck item and saves on time, money, etc… (the single root will disappear after 1hr.)
      https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11952 takes care of mana & health. Very easy to acquire so get a large amount and place them in the bank.

As you familiarize yourself with a fight and the limits of your raiding partners, it will come intuitively what is the best to use. Its worth mentioning some items don't share a cooldown, thus can follow each other in quick succession.

Here are the two different cooldown categories:
   
My personal recommendation is to have a diverse pool of the items featured in this section to cater to any situation that might arise. Not only are there items that can help with mana but also Buffs that we previously looked at. If you find yourself regularly running out of mana, make your way to melee range of the target or start the fight from melee range, equip a powerful spell damage scaling weapon ex: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=19852 which is permanently enchanted w/https://classic.wowhead.com/item=18259 & temporarily enchanted w/https://classic.wowhead.com/item=3824 and auto-attack the target. Look into getting https://classic.wowhead.com/item=12217 and buffs that improve attack speed, strength and attack power. Another solution is to equip https://classic.wowhead.com/item=17780/ ... l-darkness & cast Rank1 Lightning Bolt to trigger https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16164/elemental-focus and re-equip your normal weapon to cast Chain Lightning. Later on in this guide we will explore Totems and downranking spells in Rotation to further aid with mana management.


Unfortunately, the gear we desire is also desired by other casters. Therefore, I suggest acquiring the gear listed in the Spreadsheet while assuming the role of a healing restoration shaman in the raid. Also, try your best to come the closest to 16% spell hit, we grab spell hit whenever possible. Down below, is a breakdown of stat priorities.

General Stat Priority
- Phase 1 & 2: Offers very little Spell Hit gear (Get https://classic.wowhead.com/item=12103 & https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11662).
Nature Damage>Spell Damage>Spell Crit>Intellect. Note: on long fights (+2.30min) prioritise Intellect over Spell Crit.
- Phase 3: More Spell Hit gear is available for us. Spell Damage>Spell Hit>Intellect>Spell Crit.
- Phase 4: Get https://classic.wowhead.com/item=19682, https://classic.wowhead.com/item=19379 & https://classic.wowhead.com/item=21565 (good items like these are featured in the Spreadsheet)
- Phase 5 & 6: Tons of magical reducing items are made available to us. Spell Damage>Spell Hit>Intellect>Spell Crit.

Down below is a url to a spreadsheet with a plethora of options for proper gearing. Enchants similar to gear need to be tailored for our purposes.

For the sake of generality and simplicity these talents setups assume a server between patch 1.9 - 1.12 and taking part in a serious guild who are confidently clearing raids. There is only 1 talent setup for elemental. (Technically, there is another but it involves being in melee and swinging a weapon and borders on too much of an enhancement playstyle thus deserving its own guide.)

https://classicdb.ch/?talent#hEzuVbMqoZVoez0x The default talent setup that is commonly used by most elemental shamans. Once you regularly, acquire a high amount of spell crit from buffs, a point is withdrawn from https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16089/elemental-fury and placed in https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16188 ... -swiftness. However, most people prefer the point in Nature Swiftness from the get go as an emergency healing button to alleviate stress from healers.


Against nature immune targets, a whole entire different playstyle, talent setup, buffs, etc... comes into fruition. A link will be provided to an entirely different guide shortly.


We’ll be asking our shamanistic brothers from the restoration side to land a hand in optimizing totem utility, so be considerate and compliment each others strengths within the group. Each individual totem listed below is in order of importance per category. Keep in mind, there can only be one type of totem per shaman so having another totem slave in the group is largely welcomed. Also the handful totems in our stockpile have different durations

      Earth
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10408: Generally is used if you happen to be in the tank raid group, which should not be the case.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=25361: Usually, placed by a healing shaman with the talent: http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16295
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10428: Diverts loose mobs off your tail and quickly allows readjusting of a target's positioning.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=8143: Mainly a situational totem to use when a boss encounter has fear, charm and sleep mechanics.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=2484: A tool for kiting/running possible unbound trash in an instance.

      Fire
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10438: Fire totems are seen are luxury. All fire totems are capable of criting, scale with spellpower & Flame Buffet.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=11315: Ideal for bursting down low hp adds on encounters.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10587: Continuous fire damage.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10479: Beneficial for fights involving high doses of frost damage.
      https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16387: Offers no significant benefit to us or others.

      Air
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=25359: A priority totem within the air types that should be taken seriously.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10614: We are rarely in melee range, if not ever.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10601: Advantageous for fights involving high doses of nature damage, such as: Ahn’Qiraj.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=25908: Every raid group has a fellow totem putting down this totem, avoid dropping in the tank group within a raid.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=8177: Useful for redirecting ranged spells from susceptible mobs and bosses.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15112: Unfortunately, doesn't see much utility in most fights.

      Water
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10497: It should be put by a resto shaman witin our group with http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=16208.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=17359: A totem placed in our group originating from a talent ability by a healing resto shaman.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10463: Put by a resto shaman with Restorative Totems. In this scenario, return the favor by placing a regular MST.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=8166: Indispensable on fights with high poison output, ex: AQ bosses.
      https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=8184: Pragmatic for fights involving high amounts of fire damage, ex MC.
      http://classic.wowhead.com/spell=8170: Unfortunately, rarely sees the light of day.

World of Warcraft as a default only offers a few action bars to players, so consider installing an addon to increase the numbers of action bars available. Also, I suggest installing an addon that displays the bosses resistances. Totems are not included in this section.

https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15208 Rank10: The most commonly casted spell within our toolkit. https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15207/lightning-bolt Rank9: is used if Elemental Focus fails to proc after 3-4 casts of the previous spell.

https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10605: The second most commonly casted spell within our toolkit with a costly mana tax to it.

https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=29228: Used, if Flame Buffet among other fire related buff/debuffs are active. (situational, see Rotations.)

https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10473: Used, if the target is dying in less than 2.5 seconds. (situational, see Rotations.)


The following rotation will assume a simple tank-spank boss with very minimal or no nature resistance allowing our totemic friend to freely cause havoc unhindered. The following rotation is split into several sections to better highlight the course of action. Naturally, if you are unable to accomplish certain aspects of the rotation, simply weed out what you can.


Pre-Pull: Before the raid starts, make sure you are fully buffed and the appropriate totems are place on the ground. Equip 3 pieces of https://classic.wowhead.com/item-set=501 and attack a https://classic.wowhead.com/item=5052/u ... us-dig-rat by casting Rank1 Lightning Bolt on the rat to proc the tier set nature effect. Its also possible to cast Rank1 Lightning Bolt on the rat to trigger Elemental Focus (a mage can https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=12825/polymorph the rat, until either effects trigger.) If you are unaware of the rat item, refer to the Dig rat video and Doomguard video on how to take advantage of these weird items.


Pulling: Cast max rank Lightning Bolt and just before the bolt hits the boss, activate Limited Invulnerability Potion, all the while moving forward until 20 yards from the boss. Immediately, follow it up with Chain Lightning. At this point, all damage increasing debuffs should be on the boss.

Combat: If Garb's effect is not active, cast Rank1 Lightning Bolt until it procs, once it does then activate https://classic.wowhead.com/item=18820 and cast Chain Lightning every time its off cooldown, otherwise cast Lightning Bolt until the end of the trinket's duration.

Throughout a fight:
Do you have good gear, buffs and mana regenerative items? (refer to GEAR to value your gear)

Yes: Cast Chain Lightning when Garb procs. Otherwise, continuously cast Rank10 Lightning Bolt.
  - If Garb procs but Chain Lightning just went on cooldown, cast Lightning Bolt.
  - If Garb procs but Chain Lightning is coming off cooldown in 0.5 sec, wait the 0.5 sec to cast Chain Lightning.
  - If below 18% mana and Elemental Focus procs then cast Chain Lightning, otherwise cast Rank10 https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=15208, if Elemental Focus     fails to proc after 3-4 casts, Rank8 https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10392/lightning-bolt is used until Elemental Focus is procced which is used to either cast Chain     Lightning if active, if not Rank10 Lightning Bolt.

No: Cast Chain Lightning when Garb and Elemental Focus both proc at the same time. Otherwise, cast Rank9 Lightning Bolt.
  - If after 4 casts of Rank9 Lightning Bolt fails to trigger Elemental Focus, cast Rank8 twice and repeat.

Situational:
  - If Power Infusion is cast on you for a certain portion of a fight, prioritize casting Chain Lightning above all. (Preferably, get this buff within     3-4 seconds into a fight)
  - In the same fashion, synergize your trinket activation with Garb proc, cast Chain Lightning followed by a Nature Swiftness, triggered by     Lightning Bolt. Technically, you can combo Nature Swiftness, Lightning Bolt and Garb as your trinket reaches 1sec (this is optimal) but     it's unpredictable, so I suggest activating https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=20554/berserking when your trinket has 10 seconds left. Use an addon to see you health in percentages and activate https://classic.wowhead.com/item=10646/ ... per-charge & remove stamina buffs ex: https://classic.wowhead.com/spell=10938 ... -fortitude or https://classic.wowhead.com/item=12662 to reach that health amount.
  - If at any point in the boss fight a constant application of Flame Buffet alongside other similar fire effects are applied, Flame Shock will be     casted when Chain Lightning is on cooldown. (Preferably, Flame Buffet should be applied in the pulling phase alongside trinket activation     and a Searing Totem should be placed)
  - If you need to move from one point to another, cast Frost Shock and Goblin Sapper Charge while moving and Crystal Charge once     again if moving is needed later on.
  - I also suggest to keep on you http://classic.wowhead.com/item=4945 which scales with spell damage, shadow related buff, debuffs, potions, etc... if     you are aiming to make other people in your raid jealous.

Insane guide, great job.
Even tho I dislike shamans, they bring up a lot of burst damage in PvP. Haven't seen any PvE elemental yet, I hope this give more people the incentive of doing so.

Really good guide gj!
(you're making me re-evaluate this class tbh LUL)

Will you make a guide about this melee elemental shaman, focusing on shocks? I want to try a max melee and spell hit build, focusing on int and spell power, with 2h weapon and as much procs as possible (maelstrom trinket, windfury, lifestealing etc)

Sarmatius wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Will you make a guide about this melee elemental shaman, focusing on shocks? I want to try a max melee and spell hit build, focusing on int and spell power, with 2h weapon and as much procs as possible (maelstrom trinket, windfury, lifestealing etc)

Yes, you read my mind exactly :)

All of your guides are amazing guys :DD
Splendid job

There's also a missing belt: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11662

The enchant list shows 1% haste, however to my knowledge that is melee haste only, not for casting speed.

Sorry for doublepost. I wasn't registered and now I can't edit my previous unregistered post, so I registered to prevent this mistake in the future.

@Psojed Thank you, I will look into to it.

What an amazing guide! I hope I get to raid as elemental shaman, since it's the most appealing spec to me, but all I've heard that they suck and people don't like to bring them to raids (or at least when the raids are current content in phases ie. MC in phase 1). I don't mind raiding as resto but ele shaman has 100% captured my interest. I also have a question regarding specs, how much does 31/0/20 outperform 30/0/21 in PvE?

Thanks for the guide here.

I'm tempted to go ele shaman, but it just feels super weak. Nature damage is a huge problem, and mana management seems like a huge problem.

Are there any other perks that can sell me on the class? I've done well solo-ing elites on a private server while leveling an ele shaman, but is that reasonable at level 60 on like DM East trash?

Additionally, what sucks is that the gear that an ele shaman needs to succeed all comes in with Phase 4 and ZG, but all the other casters also benefit from most of these same items so it's not like it really helps them out any more than the rest of the classes that an ele shaman is already behind.

LerssiPaska wrote: ↑

4 years ago

What an amazing guide! I hope I get to raid as elemental shaman, since it's the most appealing spec to me, but all I've heard that they suck and people don't like to bring them to raids (or at least when the raids are current content in phases ie. MC in phase 1). I don't mind raiding as resto but ele shaman has 100% captured my interest. I also have a question regarding specs, how much does 31/0/20 outperform 30/0/21 in PvE?

thank you very much for the support! To answer your question, 31/0/20 is in the early game while 31/0/20 is for the lategame. Stay tuned to the youtube I'll be releasing tons of ele related stuff.

Psojed wrote: ↑

4 years ago

There's also a missing belt: Ban'thok Sash

The enchant list shows 1% haste, however to my knowledge that is melee haste only, not for casting speed.

Sorry for doublepost. I wasn't registered and now I can't edit my previous unregistered post, so I registered to prevent this mistake in the future.

I've updated the gear sheet, thanks again.

Update:

- Added the Garb, Trinket, Nature Swiftness, Chain Lightning, Berserking combo in: Rotation.
- Added more solutions to circumvent/solve mana problems in: Mana-gement

Very nice guide Caperfin! I was just looking into possibly dpsing as an ele shaman so this will be helpful in making my decision :)

ClassicRaids wrote: ↑

4 years ago

Very nice guide Caperfin! I was just looking into possibly dpsing as an ele shaman so this will be helpful in making my decision :)

Thank you for the support, if you have any questions, feel free to let me know!