WoW Forever Shaman Guide — Talents, Abilities & Changes

Overview

Shaman keeps its totem-driven identity in Forever, but the update removes much of the setup tax. Totems have a shorter global cooldown and last longer, you can track, recall, and relocate them, and weapon imbues last 60 minutes. Elemental gains Lava Burst and a redesigned Elemental Mastery, Enhancement gains Maelstrom Weapon and a personal haste cooldown in Rage of the Farseer, and Restoration gains Water Shield and Riptide.

What Changed From Classic

Change	Details
Totems	All totems have a 1.0-second global cooldown instead of 1.5, totems that provide persistent buffs last 5 minutes instead of 2, and a tracking UI shows your active totems and lets you dismiss them with a right-click
Totem tools	New Totemic Recall, Totemic Projection, and Call of the Elements spells let you destroy, relocate, or summon your totems in a single cast
Weapon imbues	Now last 60 minutes instead of 5, and can be active at the same time as temporary weapon enchantments
Fire Nova	Now a spell you cast at the location of your current Fire Totem, instead of a totem you place each time
Group buff totems	Several party-buff totems now reach the whole raid, and Resistance Totems cover the entire raid group
Elemental Mastery	Redesigned as Elemental’s 31-point talent. It now speeds up your casts and removes a cooldown instead of guaranteeing a critical strike
Later-expansion spells	Lava Burst, Water Shield, and Riptide arrive as new talent spells borrowed from later expansions
Gold-medal talents	A new 16-point tier joins the 11, 21, and 31-point ones: Earthbound in Elemental, Stormstrike in Enhancement, and Mana Tide Totem in Restoration

Talent Trees

Structure stays Classic-minded: three trees and 51 points at level 60, with one-point gold milestone talents at 11, 21, and 31 points and a new one at 16. Elemental’s gold talents are Elemental Focus, Earthbound, Lava Burst, and Elemental Mastery. Enhancement’s are Shamanistic Focus, Stormstrike, Spirit Weapons, and Rage of the Farseer. Restoration’s are Water Shield, Mana Tide Totem, Nature’s Swiftness, and Riptide. Several Classic talents are gone, and a few, such as the totem and weapon talents, are now baseline. Each tree is covered below.

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Elemental Shaman Talents

Elemental gains Lava Burst and a redesigned Elemental Mastery, plus Lightning Overload to reward Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning. Several early talents moved up the tree so leveling Elementals can reach them, and Call of Flame now lengthens Flame Shock.

Talent	What Changed
Earthbound (new, 16-point)	Your Earthbind Totem immobilizes nearby targets for 5 seconds when cast
Lava Burst (new, 21-point)	A 2.5-second cast on a 10-second cooldown that deals Fire damage, increased by 20% when your Flame Shock is on the target
Elemental Mastery (redesigned, 31-point)	Requires Lava Burst. A 3-minute cooldown that reduces the cast time of Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst by 0.5 seconds and removes Chain Lightning‘s cooldown for 15 seconds
Lightning Overload (new)	Gives Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning a chance to cast a free second copy at half damage and no threat
Elemental Alacrity (renamed)	Moved much earlier in the tree. Reduces the cast time of Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and Lava Burst by up to 0.5 seconds
Call of Flame	Now also increases the damage of Flame Shock, Fire Nova, and Lava Burst, and lengthens Flame Shock
Trial by Fire (renamed)	Now increases Fire Nova‘s damage and reduces its cooldown
Eye of the Storm (redesigned)	Now reduces spell pushback while casting Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, and Lava Burst

Enhancement Shaman Talents

Enhancement becomes a melee-and-spell hybrid. Mental Dexterity and Mental Quickness turn Intellect into Attack Power and spell power, Maelstrom Weapon turns melee hits into faster Lightning Bolts, and Stormstrike moves to the 16-point slot with a much shorter cooldown. Rage of the Farseer gives you a personal haste cooldown at 31 points.

Talent	What Changed
Shamanistic Focus (new, 11-point)	Greatly reduces the Mana cost of your Shocks and Lightning Shield
Stormstrike (moved, 16-point)	Moved from the 31-point slot to 16 points, with its cooldown cut from 20 to 8 seconds. It now increases the damage of your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, or Earth Shock by 20%
Spirit Weapons (renamed, 21-point)	Now reduces your threat while Rockbiter Weapon isn’t active and increases it while Rockbiter Weapon is
Rage of the Farseer (new, 31-point)	A 3-minute cooldown that increases your attack speed by 30% for 25 seconds
Mental Dexterity (new)	Increases your Attack Power by a percentage of your Intellect, up to 100% at maximum rank
Mental Quickness (new)	Increases your spell damage and healing by a percentage of your Intellect, up to 30% at maximum rank
Improved Stormstrike (new)	Requires Stormstrike. Gives you a chance to regenerate Mana while casting after a Stormstrike, and a chance to reset its cooldown each time you Dodge or Parry
Maelstrom Weapon (new)	Your melee hits have a chance to build charges that shorten the cast time and Mana cost of your next Lightning Bolt, making it instant at enough ranks and charges
Improved Ghost Wolf	Rank 1 lets you use the form indoors with a shorter cast, and rank 2 makes it instant

Restoration Shaman Talents

Restoration gains two spells from later expansions, Water Shield at 11 points and Riptide at 31, and Mana Tide Totem moves to the 16-point slot. Mindfulness and Natural Grace sit earlier in the tree so other specializations can reach them.

Talent	What Changed
Water Shield (new, 11-point)	A new shield with 3 globes that restore Mana when you’re hit or land a critical spell. Only one shield can be active at a time
Mana Tide Totem (now 16-point)	Moved from the 31-point slot to 16 points
Riptide (new, 31-point)	Requires Healing Way. Heals the target instantly and over 15 seconds, increases the effectiveness of your Chain Heal on that target by 25%, and has a 6-second cooldown
Healing Way (redesigned)	Now increases the amount healed by your Healing Wave by up to 25%
Mindfulness (new)	Lets part of your Mana regeneration continue while casting
Natural Grace (renamed)	Moved earlier in the tree, and now reduces the threat generated by all your spells
Totemic Focus	Now also discounts Totemic Projection and the Call spells

New and Changed Abilities

These are the new and changed baseline abilities every Shaman gets, regardless of talents.

Ability	Level	What Changed
Totemic Recall	20	New. Instantly destroys all your totems and returns 25% of their Mana cost
Call of the Elements	20	New. Unlocks the totem bar, where you pre-program a set of four totems, one per element. It summons all four after a 3-second cast for the combined Mana cost
Totemic Projection	22	New. Teleports all your totems to a new location within 30 yards. 1-minute cooldown, and it costs 25% of your base Mana
Call of the Spirits	30	New. Lets you pre-program a second set of four totems
Call of the Ancestors	40	New. Lets you pre-program a third set of four totems
Fire Nova	Existing	Now a spell that erupts at the location of your current Fire Totem, so you can trigger it repeatedly without placing a new totem
Weapon imbues	Existing	All of your weapon imbues now last 60 minutes instead of 5, and can be active alongside temporary weapon enchantments such as stones and oils
Windfury Totem and Flametongue Totem	Existing	No longer weapon enchantments. They’re now buffs that reach the whole raid, you can’t benefit from either totem while you have the matching weapon imbue, and the two totems don’t stack with each other
Lightning Bolt	Existing	Ranks 4 and up now cast in 2.5 seconds instead of 3
Chain Lightning	Existing	Cast time cut from 2.5 to 2 seconds, and its Mana cost was reduced by about 35%

Race Options

Shaman stays open to Orc, Tauren, and Troll on the Horde side as in Classic Era, with two additions. Dwarf Shaman, one of the six new race/class combinations confirmed for launch, gives the Alliance its first Shamans in Classic Era, and Windshaper Skyborne can play Shaman on the Horde.

Tips & Tricks

Pre-program your totem sets. Call of the Elements, Call of the Spirits, and Call of the Ancestors each summon a pre-programmed set of four totems after a 3-second cast, so one cast replaces four placements, and Totemic Projection moves the whole set when the fight moves.

Fire Nova from one Fire Totem, again and again. It erupts at your current Fire Totem’s location, so you can trigger it repeatedly without placing a new totem each time.

Keep Flame Shock up before Lava Burst. Lava Burst deals 20% more damage when your Flame Shock is on the target, and Call of Flame boosts both and lengthens Flame Shock.

Gear Intellect as Enhancement. Mental Dexterity turns Intellect into Attack Power and Mental Quickness turns it into spell damage and healing, so Intellect works double duty alongside your weapon.

Use Rockbiter Weapon to tank in small groups. With Spirit Weapons, your threat goes up while Rockbiter Weapon is active and down when it isn’t, so you can switch between tanking and dealing damage.

Aim Chain Heal at your Riptide target. Riptide makes Chain Heal 25% more effective on its target, so cast your Chain Heals directly on the Riptide target.

Related Guides

• WoW Forever Druid Guide — another hybrid class that can fill any role, with new Shifting Power and Wild Growth talents
• WoW Forever Paladin Guide — another hybrid class that can tank, heal, or deal damage, with a new tanking Seal
• Hall of Thanes Guide — a level 13-18 Forever dungeon, bosses and loot
• Ruins of Lordaeron Guide — a level 15-20 Forever dungeon, bosses and loot