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This The War Within Shaman Guide outlines all the major changes the Shaman has undergone in The War Within expansion. This class is one of the most interesting, challenging, and encouraging for those, who want to tame the power of elements. By the way, read about the latest changes to the dynamic flight system in our Skyriding Guide.

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The War Within Shaman Guide 4.9

The War Within Shaman Overview

Shaman is an unusual class that can be Healer, Melee, or Ranged DPS, depending on spec. Acting as overlords of Earth, Fire, Water, and Air, they can invoke totems and Elementals to support and use mana as a resource. Ner’zhul, the first Lich King, and Thrall, Warchief of the Horde, were Shamans. Do you want to join them?

Shamans utilize the power of elements and can deal Elemental Damage and Nature Damage with their core spells, allowing you to implement an Elementalist Playstyle and enjoy the gameplay. Moreover, their various totems are a source of fantastic utility.

What is even more important, is that Shaman is the class that every Raid Leader wants to grab in the party thanks to the Bloodlust/Heroism ability. This is your pass to almost any PvE Environment, even if you are lower on ilvl or rating.

Shaman Strengths and Weaknesses

Just like any other class and spec, WoW Shamans have their strengths and weaknesses. Here, we gathered the complete table of the advantages and disadvantages of every Shaman spec. Depending on this info, you can make a decision on which spec suits you best.

ElementalEnhancementRestoration
Strengths✅Awesome flexibility  playstyle;
✅Tons of utility for a party;
✅Solid damage profile.
Windfury Totem for melee;
✅High single-target DPS;
✅Good cleave and AoE.
✅Great AoE healing;
✅Can heal on go;
✅Tons of utility for party and cheat death.
Weaknesses⛔️ Weak solo-target damage;
⛔️ Average performance.
⛔️ Complicated rotation;
⛔️ Damage is directly related to the effectiveness of your movements.
⛔️ Poor healing if the group is dispersed;
⛔️ No good option to avoid damage.

The War Within Shaman Changes

Shaman is the class that received a complete rework for the new expansion, and the amounts of changes impress. The Prepatch for WoW The War Within introduces significant changes to Shamans of all specs, including talent tree rework and new tier set 2pc and 4pc Bonus. Key adjustments include the inclusion of Deeply Rooted Elements, Ascendance, and Preeminence for increased strength. Primordial Surge is replaced by Splintered Elements, enhancing Haste, and prompting gear adjustments to reduce Haste.

Among other changes regarding Spec and Class Trees, new Hero Talent Trees for each spec should be mentioned. This is a step towards more customizable and fun gameplay in The War Within WoW. For a detailed breakdown of the new Hero Talent Trees, including the specifics of the trees added, please refer to this Detailed Hero Talents Guide.

The War Within Shaman Abilities

Elemental Shamans prove themselves valuable in both single-target and AoE damage. In raids and Mythic+, they rely on managing their primary resource – Maelstrom – effectively, and optimizing cooldowns for burst phases. They usually show decent damage profiles, and Shaman’s damage spells are among the strongest.

  • Lava Burst: High-priority single-target spell, especially powerful when used with Flame Shock active on the target due to guaranteed critical hits.
  • Earth Shock: A new choice node and a major Maelstrom spender, dealing significant burst damage; optimal for single-target scenarios.
  • Chain Lightning: Main AoE ability, generating Maelstrom and dealing damage to multiple targets.

Enhancement Shamans thrive in melee combat with a mix of physical and magical attacks. They are versatile in both single-target and cleave situations, focusing on cooldown management and maintaining uptime on key buffs and debuffs.

Restoration Shamans are powerful raid healers with strong AoE healing capabilities. They rely on managing totems effectively, using cooldowns strategically, and maximizing the benefits of talents that boost their healing throughput.

  • Chain Heal: Main raid healing spell, bouncing to multiple allies and supported by several talents for enhanced healing.
  • Riptide: Instant heal with a HoT component, crucial for maintaining consistent healing and proccing various talents.
  • Healing Rain: Ground-targeted AoE heal, effective in raid healing and when stacked groups take damage.

The War Within Shaman Rotation

WoW Shamans are an interesting and challenging class. You should always master your combat style and learn the spells to reach optimal high DPS or HPS. Here, we provide a few tips on how to effectively fight as an Elemental, Enhancement, and Resto Shaman.

When you are focused on DPSing during leveling or farming, this strategy should work for you:

  • Applying Flame Shock to your primary target and maintaining it throughout the fight is the best start.
  • Spend Maelstrom on Earth Shock for single-target or Earthquake for AoE. Aim to use these abilities when you have 60+ Maelstrom.
  • Use Elemental Blast on cooldown for the powerful damage and stat buffs it provides.
  • Use the best addons to track your DPS, or install addons that show you which spell to cast. For more information, you can use our handy WoW Addons Guide and increase your in-game quality of life.

The War Within Shaman Leveling

The best way to level up your Shaman is to do so in Elemental spec. Firstly, it is a ranged spec, which is always safer, and secondly, Elemental has a lot of AoE damage and high movement speed. Shaman is also very lucky because this class has Bloodlust, which will speed up the killing of bosses and completing quests.

Don’t hesitate to spend some gold on the items, that will ease your life drastically. And here’s a list of consumables and equipment for easier leveling:

  • Gunshoes — a very useful object to increase your move speed for 25 sec;
  • Light-Step Hoofplates — gives +20% mounted speed;
  • Goblin Glider Kit — allows you to slowly glide jumping off any cliff. Saves a lot of time;
  • Fried Bonefish — food from Shadowlands. Gives 263 move speed for 6s after killing an enemy.

In any case, leveling is easier when done by a professional. Reach out to our pro players and they will carry Power Leveling for you.

The War Within Shaman BiS Items

Shamans in WoW The War Within simply can’t do anything wrong with Reshii Wraps. Its self-adaptive stat combination is beneficial to both elemental spellcasting and melee storm builds. Enhancement Shamans adore its attack speed synergy, with Elemental users experiencing excellent crit chains on large pulls. Check out our complete Reshii Wraps guide here.

Best Shaman Cartel Chip Items

Also, in the current season, the Turbo Boost event provides a great opportunity to obtain powerful items for Puzzling Cartel Chips. Here’s a list of the best Shaman Cartel Chip purchases:

SpecBest Cartel Chip Purchases
Elemental Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
Restoration Shaman

The War Within Shaman Stats

Stats are always important, and your whole gameplay will be around finding gear with the prioritized stats. The priority can vary from spec to spec, as DPS and Healers usually have different aims.

  • Elemental Shaman’s priority goes as follows:
    Haste > Critical Strike > Versatility > Mastery;
  • Speaking about Enhancement Shaman, you are going to seek for these stats on your gear:
    Agility > Mastery > Haste > Critical Strike > Versatility;
  • Restoration Shaman’s priority slightly differs from previous ones as this is a healer spec. Here it is:
    Item Level > Versatility = Critical Strike > Haste = Mastery.

The War Within Shaman Consumables

Consumables, such as flasks, potions, and food, are often underestimated by inexperienced Shaman players, as they require an extra budget and one more key to press. But in fact, consumables are essential for Shamans in World of Warcraft as they boost stats and improve performance in raids and Mythic+ content. The same goes for enchants and gems: what seems expensive and unnecessary is essential and much needed for endgame content.

Shaman Flasks in The War Within

Shaman Combat Potions in The War Within

Shaman Health Potions in The War Within

Shaman Weapon Buff in The War Within

Best Shaman Food in The War Within

Best Shaman Gems in The War Within

Shaman Best Enchants in The War Within

SlotBest EnchantCheaper Version
WeaponThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Weapon – Authority of Fiery Resolve The War Within Shaman GuideThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Weapon – Council’s Guile The War Within Shaman Guide
CloakThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Cloak – Chant of Winged Grace The War Within Shaman GuideThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Cloak – Whisper of Silken Avoidance The War Within Shaman Guide
ChestThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Chest – Council’s Intellect The War Within Shaman Guide
BracersThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Bracer – Chant of Armored Leech The War Within Shaman GuideThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Bracer – Chant of Armored Avoidance The War Within Shaman Guide
LegsThe War Within Shaman Guide Daybreak Spellthread The War Within Shaman GuideThe War Within Shaman Guide Sunset Spellthread The War Within Shaman Guide
BootsThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Boots – Defender’s March The War Within Shaman GuideThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Boots – Scout’s March The War Within Shaman Guide
Ring – RegularThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Ring – Radiant Critical Strike The War Within Shaman GuideThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Ring – Glimmering Critical Strike The War Within Shaman Guide
Ring – CursedThe War Within Shaman Guide Enchant Ring – Cursed Critical Strike The War Within Shaman Guide

The War Within Shaman Best Race

Shamans do not have many race options. If you play for the Alliance, you only have 3 races available. The situation for the Horde is slightly better — here, you can choose between 5 different races. In any case. It’s up to you what to pick to enjoy the game, but we can provide you with some arguments for choosing a particular race.

Horde

The optimal choice for Horde Shaman is Goblin. This race provides us with several utility racials, which work perfectly well for Shamans: Rocket Jump for extra mobility, Time is Money for Haste boost, and Rocket Barrage to enhance the damage.

Alliance

An Alliance player would benefit from picking Dwarven Race for Shaman. Here, we can benefit from Might of the Mountain, granting us extra critical strike, and Stoneform to remove all negative effects and continue fighting.

If you want to test something new, you can try the new Earthen Race. Our team can help you to unlock it.

The War Within Shaman PvP

Generally, in PvP environments in the War Within expansion of World of Warcraft, Shamans still bring a versatile and dynamic play style. Their ability to switch between offense and defense, with powerful healing and utility spells, makes them always wanted in various PvP scenarios.

Enhancement Shamans are excellent for burst damage and mobility on Arena. Elemental Shamans offer strong ranged damage and crowd control. In the meantime, Restoration Shamans provide good healing, which is also great for 2v2 or 3v3 Arena.

Do you want to get the best rewards from PvP Activities? Get Forged Warlord achievement and a ton of additional prizes.

The War Within Shaman Best Professions

For more successful results in dungeons, it is best to study the Engineering profession, because it opens access to items like Disposable Spectrophasic Reanimator and Wyrmhole Generator: Dragon Isles.

However, if you want to make money, then Jewelcrafting, Alchemy, and Enchanting are your best bet. Each of these professions produces items that remain relevant throughout the expansion. For more detailed information, check out our The War Within Professions Guide.

The War Within Shaman Macros

The War Within Shaman Macros are the most useful instrument for your WoW gameplay. Macros allow you to avoid downtime by making your abilities cast without a delay, which always happens when you press the keys manually.

Shaman Macros
  • Focus Cast Macros. Benefits from using a focus target for various spells.
    #showtooltip
    /cast [@focus,exists] Wind Shear
  • Mouseover Macros. Allows casting spells on mouseover targets.
    #showtooltip
    /cast [target=mouseover] Cleanse Spirit
  • Self-Cast Healing Surge. Prioritizes yourself when casting Healing Surge.
    #showtooltip
    /cast [@player] Healing Surge
  • Totem Placement Macros. Drops totems immediately at your feet or cursor location.
    #showtooltip
    /cast [@player] Wind Rush Totem
  • Earth Elemental and Totem Cancel Macro. Cancels all active totems instantly.
    /click MyTotemFrame1
    /click MyTotemFrame2
    /click MyTotemFrame3
    /click MyTotemFrame4
  • Simple Mouseover Macros. Used for direct heals on mouseover targets.
    #showtooltip
    /cast [@mouseover] Healing Wave
  • Talent Conditional Macros. Casts different spells depending on chosen talents.
    #showtooltip
    /cast [known:Earthen Wall Totem] Earthen Wall Totem; Ancestral Protection Totem
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The War Within Shaman Guide 4.9

This is all the latest information we can share about Shaman Class in The War Within for now, but we keep our guides updated, so stay tuned for the latest The War Within Shaman news. Read other guides on our platform to get ready for The War Within exploration, and don’t hesitate to reach out to our team for any type of assistance.

Changelog

15 Aug. 2024 Guide added.
20 Nov. 2024 Guide updated for Patch 11.0.7.
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