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Enhancement Shaman guide

Melee DPS · our guide of 13 Oct 2026 Recommendation

Talent trees, every tier list's rating and the sim: the Enhancement tab.

In short

A melee damage dealer with a two-handed weapon, shocks and totems.
Number 10 of 20 damage specs in our newest sim run, at 713 DPS. Sourced: Sim · 11 Oct run
A burst of your own: Rage of the Farseer makes you attack 30% faster for 25 sec; since 24 Sep it no longer speeds up your casts. Sourced: Talent database, Dev notes · 24 Sep
Weak spot early: your burst arrives late, since Stormstrike sits behind 15 points in the tree and Windfury Weapon comes at 30.

How it plays

Up to level 30. Strength of Earth Totem and Lightning Shield up, Rockbiter or Flametongue Weapon on your weapon, Flame Shock and Earth Shock between swings, and Searing Totem or Fire Nova Totem on packs. Thundering Strikes adds crit chance to all spells and attacks, Ancestral Knowledge adds Intellect, and Shamanistic Focus makes shocks and Lightning Shield cost 45% less mana. At 30: Windfury Weapon, Stormstrike on cooldown, and Flurry, which needs Mental Dexterity 3 of 3; Mental Dexterity adds your Intellect to your attack power. Your 21st point buys Improved Stormstrike. Since 24 Sep, Flametongue Totem doesn't stack with Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem.

Sourced: Talent database, Dev notes · 24 Sep

At level 60. Theory Windfury Totem and Strength of Earth up, Rage of the Farseer with your trinkets, Stormstrike on cooldown, then a shock, and Lightning Shield. Stormstrike makes your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning or Earth Shock on the target deal 20% more damage within 12 sec. Maelstrom Weapon gives your melee hits a chance at a stack: each stack takes 20% off your next Lightning Bolt's cast time and mana cost, up to 5 stacks. Rage of the Farseer needs Mental Quickness 2 of 2, which adds up to 30% of your Intellect to your spells' damage and healing. Since 24 Sep, the same air totem from two Shamans no longer stacks.

Sourced: Talent database, Dev notes · 24 Sep

Talents at a glance

Level 20: Thundering Strikes 5, Ancestral Knowledge 3, Earth's Grasp 2, Shamanistic Focus 1
Thundering Strikes crit, Ancestral Knowledge mana, Earth's Grasp (Stoneclaw stun chance / Earthbind root) for open-world escapes; Shamanistic Focus (row 3 at 10).
Recommendation · See the trees · Open in the calculator
Level 30: Thundering Strikes 5, Ancestral Knowledge 3, Earth's Grasp 2, Shamanistic Focus 1, Improved Ghost Wolf 2, Mental Dexterity 3, Stormstrike 1, Flurry 3, Improved Stormstrike 1
Improved Ghost Wolf for mobility, Mental Dexterity 3/3 (Flurry's prerequisite), Stormstrike (row 4 at 15), Flurry 3, Improved Stormstrike with the 21st point (row 5 at 20, requires Stormstrike).
Recommendation · See the trees · Open in the calculator
Level 60: Thundering Strikes 5, Ancestral Knowledge 5, Earth's Grasp 2, Mental Dexterity 3, Improved Ghost Wolf 2, Shamanistic Focus 1, Elemental Weapons 3, Flurry 5, Stormstrike 1, Spirit Weapons 1, Mental Quickness 2, Improved Stormstrike 2, Maelstrom Weapon 5, Rage of the Farseer 1, Concussion 5, Reverberation 5, Elemental Focus 1, Elemental Alacrity 2
Rage of the Farseer requires Mental Quickness 2/2; Improved Stormstrike requires Stormstrike; Maelstrom Weapon 5/5 for instant Healing Wave / Lightning Bolt. Elemental: Concussion, Reverberation (shorter shock cooldowns), Elemental Focus, Elemental Alacrity 2.
Theory · See the trees · Open in the calculator

Rotation at level 30

Recommendation

Single target

Open with Strength of Earth, Windfury Weapon, Stormstrike.

Windfury Weapon (30)
Stormstrike on cooldown (talent)
Earth Shock / Flame Shock
Lightning Shield
Melee with a slow 2H

Groups

Fire Nova Totem
Magma Totem

Tip

Flametongue Totem no longer stacks with Windfury (24 Sep) — pick one.

Stats

Each guide's stat order as it gives it, the sim's stat weights, then ours. Guides dated before the last big tuning are shown but not counted.

Guides differWeapon damage first on every guide; the order after it differs.

Where	Stat order
Guide · 5 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 Oct	Weapon damage › Hit and Expertise › Crit › Strength › Intellect › Agility › Spirit › Spell power › Stamina
Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 Oct	Weapon damage › Hit and Expertise › Crit › Strength › Intellect › Agility › Spell power › Spirit › Stamina
Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 Oct	Not ranked
Sim · stat weights level 60 · run 12 Oct, 5,000 iterations	Per 1%: Expertise 9.24 › Hit 6.12 › Attack speed 3.96 › Spell hit 2.28 tied with Crit 2.07 › Spell crit 1.09 Per point: Main-hand weapon DPS 2.04 › Off-hand weapon DPS 0.708 › Intellect 0.532 › Strength 0.438 › Spell damage 0.222 › Attack power 0.199 › Nature spell damage 0.153 › Agility 0.114 › Armour penetration 0.069 The DPS each stat adds, for a level-60 character on the engine's preset gear in a 2-minute fight on a beta engine: a direction, not a verdict. = marks a tie: stats within each other's margin. Not counted toward "Guides agree". Where they differ: ours puts Strength or attack power before Intellect, which the sim weighs higher per point; ours puts Agility before Intellect, which the sim weighs higher per point.
Ours Recommendation	Weapon damage (slow two-hander) › Hit › Crit › Strength or attack power › Agility › Intellect › Stamina Where ours differs: ours puts Agility before Intellect, which both guides rank higher.

Race

Each guide's race picks for Enhancement, then our pick for the Shaman.

Alliance

Guides agreeDwarf on 2 guides.

Guide · 5 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctDwarf
Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctDwarf
Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctDwarf
Ours, for the Shaman RecommendationDwarf S

Horde

Guides agreeOrc on 2 guides.

Guide · 5 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctOrc
Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctOrc, Tauren
Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctTroll, Orc
Ours, for the Shaman RecommendationOrc S

Professions

One guideOnly one guide names professions.

Guide · 5 Oct PvE, level 30 · read 12 OctSkinning, Leatherworking, Enchanting
Guide · 1 Oct PvE, level 20 · read 12 OctNot given
Guide · 9 Oct leveling, level 30 · read 12 OctNot given
Ours, for the Shaman RecommendationHerbalism + Alchemy; or Mining + Engineering

Level 20: best and second best per slot

Slot	Best	Second best
Head	Defender's Leather Hood Crafted: Leatherworking	—
Chest	Murloc Scale Breastplate Crafted: Leatherworking	—
Waist	Brawler's Leather Belt Crafted: Leatherworking	—
Feet	Murloc Scale Shoes Crafted: Leatherworking	—
Main Hand	Tail Spike Wailing Caverns	Encroacher's Claim quest Wrongly Blamed, Justly Corrected
Two-Hand	Smite's Mighty Hammer The Deadmines - Mr. Smite	Hammerbone quest Leaders of the Fang (Wailing Caverns)

Sourced: Guide · 26 Sep

Level 60: where gear will come from

Pre-raid: Blackmaw Hold, Krol'dok Stronghold, Alcaz Prison for weapons — weapon DPS is still the biggest single upgrade, and weapon-skill racials are gone, so pick by DPS not type.
Crafted: Blacksmithing weapons and 'Veteran's' mail/plate, Leatherworking 'Brawler's' leather; Enchanting ring Attack Power; Engineering gadgets.
Expertise is new — dodge/parry reduction on gear matters for anyone attacking from the front (tanks' targets included).
Raids open 9 December; no level-60 BiS exists yet.

Theory

What changed for Enhancement

8 Oct: Lightning Bolt ranks 1–5 retuned so each new rank is an upgrade; Fire Nova no longer triggers and uses up Elemental Focus.
Sourced: Dev notes · 8 Oct
1 Oct: Totemic Recall correctly restores mana; Disease Cleansing Totem 5-minute duration fixed; Ghost Wolf visible in bright areas.
Sourced: Dev notes · 1 Oct
Rage of the Farseer no longer increases spell casting speed; the developers say the talent works without it.
Sourced: Dev notes · 24 Sep
Totems: Flametongue Totem no duration, no stacking with Flametongue Weapon or Windfury Totem; Tranquil Air / Windfury / Grace of Air no longer stack across Shamans.
Sourced: Dev notes · 24 Sep